The days are bright and filled with pain... Enclose me in your gentle rain... The time you ran was too insane... We'll meet again, we'll meet again

So my lone blog reader got on my case yesterday about slacking on my posts. This statement stunned me.

I have a reader?

Anyway, I know I've been slacking. School, work, and Call of Duty 4 have been taking priority post-Soxtober. On top of that, I really haven't had anything profound or interesting to say. The Sox simply got beat by a better team that deserved to punch their ALCS ticket. When Game 4 ended and the Rays stormed the field, I wasn't angry or heartbroken. I knew going into the series that the Sox would have to play out of their minds to beat Tampa. It just didn't happen.

Having watched this team all year long, especially when all the injuries hit, I knew what this team was. An overpaid softball team that somehow made the playoffs. They relied way too much on the long ball, and it was their undoing in the playoffs. When they couldn't hit any home runs, they had to string together multiple hits just to score a run. And they proved that throughout the series. To be honest, I was glad they at least took one game, showing the same heart and fight they did all year.

Those last three games of the regular season were like the playoffs to me. Intense, full of drama, and exciting. I was too hungover and napped through most of the Cleveland game, but the Detroit and Minnesota games were the most exciting games any of my Chicago teams had played in 3 years. It's highly likely they just expended too much energy in those games and just ran out of gas.

It was a thrilling, unexpected year. Full of plenty ups and downs. I'm proud of them for exceeding expectations, and for showing heart when their backs were to the wall.

But this isn't to say I was content with them losing in the ALDS. In fact, I was little disappointed. Sackless couldn't have possibly thrown a better game in Game 1, so that was a lost cause. But Game 2 was theirs. They had Kazmir against the ropes in the early innings, and they repeatedly let him regroup. It was frustrating. Tampa didn't win Game 2, the Sox lost it. But had they won it, and then Danks followed with his Game 3 gem, who knows what happens. Pink might have pitched better in Game 4, the hitters might have relaxed and hit more, and Tampa may have shriveled under the pressure. But we'll never know.

But this year's club taught me many things. Among them:

1. Ozzie is a much better manager than he gets credit for.
2. TCQ and Alexei are absolute studs.
3. While I will certainly miss Crede, Uribe earned the 3rd base job next year.
4. John Danks is stealing my heart from Mark Buehrle.
5. They desperately need a centerfielder/leadoff man.
6. I'm actually looking forward to seeing more of Clayton Kerosene.
7. Paulie's best days are long gone and Swish deserves the 1st base job.
8. AJ is a douche but wins games.
9. Pink is the ace of the staff.
10. My next big Sox purchase will be a Danks jersey.

So that's it. The playoff beard has been shaven. My lucky Ozzie jersey has a date with the wash machine. Ratty hat deserves a break. It was a fun season, I was glad to witness it. Kenny will make some moves, and the key pieces are there for another run next year.

And the Sox exiting the playoffs are a good thing. School is getting tougher, the Bears are leading a very winnable division, the Hawks drop the puck tomorrow (which I am downright schoolgirl-giddy about), the Derrick Rose Bulls are around the corner, and Guitar Hero 4 drops in 16 days. Oh, and one more thing.

134 days until Sox pitchers and catchers report for spring training.