WORLD CHAMPS! Did you ever think back in the random years of '89 or '74 or '52 or whenever that you'd one day be watching the Red Sox win the THIRD world championship of your life? In a span of ten years?

This team was so different than the other two. The others, despite all the other stuff that surrounded them, especially the '04 bunch, were supposed to be right there in October. This team was picked last, but just went about their bid'ness, never losing more than 3 in a row, always bouncing back no matter what. It was a smooth, steady ride. And even in the few times in the playoffs when bad things happened and all the dinosaur-type fans were sure it was the death of them, they forgot about it and moved on. Every single time. Right up to the last day, amidst talk of how they've got no plan for Game 7 and bla bla bla. These guys taught us how to expect your team will win. And that it was these guys is why that's so amazing. This is what the star-filled teams are supposed to do, only to not always have it work out. Not that there aren't stars on this team--Fox and TBS would say stuff like that forgetting that Papi and Pedroia and Ellsbury and Lester and Buchholz were on the team. And that stuff they say about a different hero every night--accurate in this case. Pedroia said it tonight after the game--people thought we just went and got players who were good guys, but the truth is, they could flat-out play ball. My JV team in high school all loved to drink booze and goof around on the bus and they were best of friends, but we sucked royal ass on the field, losing every game except one, to a team our coach referred to as the School for the Blind and Deaf. It's not chemistry, it's what you do with chemistry. And that's what you need when you're not an All-Star team.

Tonight it was Victorino with the big hit, after an expected full-throated a capella rendition of the lyric. Which seemed to ring truer and truer with each Victorino at bat over the last few months:

DON'T WORRY ABOUT A THING, Shaughnessey and WEEI callers and old-time fans who witnessed 2004 and 2007 but still think the world's gonna end every game....

EVERY LITTLE THING, every fake-ass controversy, every managerial decision, every instance of a guy doing poorly after three great weeks causing people to think he's suddenly a complete failure...

GONNA BE ALL RIGHT, because nobody does it like we do, not the preseason champion Blue Jays, not the decrepit Yankees, not the fearsome Rays and Tigers and Cardinals with their pitchers, who, granted, did a great job with our hitters, but we got it right when we needed it.

Lackey pitched winning baseball tonight. He was getting hit hard, but he did not break. And we all waited for the moment when he'd be pissed about having to come out. And when it happened, they were almost, kinda, maybe about to make it close, but our 'pen did their thing, and the party that started in the third inning was on again.

Before the third, there was tension, as the Cards got two on with nobody out in the second, and after Lackey busted out of that, we failed to score after getting our first two on in the bottom half. But after that, you had the feeling like we were gonna break through first. It was only a matter of time. (He says now.)

So we will have another rolling rally. So good, cubed.

I didn't get to a lot of games this year due to my work schedule, but I was okay with that since I'm doing work that helps people. "Doing what you love," and whatnot. But I followed this team from day one of spring training as I always do. And my mom got to go in my place for plenty of games, and boy did she see some amazing ones. Then in the postseason, I got to see a game in each round. The "My-ers" game, the Papi grand slam, and the first game of the World Series. All wins. I was lucky, and skilled!, to be a part of it.

On February 12th, my dad bet the Red Sox to win the World Series at 30-1 odds. At my wedding reception last month, he told us our present would be half of the loot. Which, in true gambling tradition, would itself then be gambled at a casino. So now we get to plan that trip. Nice little bonus.

And speaking of my wedding reception, how's this for awesomeness? I met my wife back when the Sox were reigning champs after the '04 series, we moved in together in '07, and we got married in '13.

Okay, back to the NESN locker room coverage. I'll write more later, you can bet on it.

Thank you Papi. And Pedroia. And Ellsbury. And Jonny Wadd. And Napoli. Lester. Buchholz. Freakin' Lackey! Even Drew hit a dong tonight. David Ross is the unsung MVP! To Papi's sung MVP. KOJI!!!!! The 'pen! Salty! Brooks Was Here! Every other guy down the line to Cherington and the owners and the scouts and Russell Nua and shit. THANK YOU ALL. Put ALL in something cappier than CAPS. Enjoy the cloud, Red Sox Nation. Parade Decade, 2004, 2007, 2013.

Okay I'll stop before this gets any more high-school-yearbook-y.