Yeah, I'll be the first to admit it, I'm one of those guys. Call it what you will, bandwagoner, fair weather fan, etc., still doesn't change the fact that I absolutely love the Red Sox, almost to a point where it's unhealthy. See, for life long Sox fans, the 2004 season was a vindication of sorts putting to rest the demons and easing the minds of many generations of Bostonians, especially those that wish their father could have been there to see that World Series Championship. And I guess that's where it starts for me. Growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, there was only, and for the most part still is, one thing that people only care about, Alabama Crimson Tide Football. That's what my family virtually rallies around as far as family get-togethers go. And at the time, the only thing me and my dad had in common. We had never had, and still really don't, have the greatest relationship ever, but in 2004, the Red Sox helped keep afloat a drowning father and son. That postseason was the first time me and my dad had really sat down and watched games together. Sure he was always there when the little league games were being played, but I was always worried about disappointing the old man and trying to make the big play, or walk off hit to hear what boy wants to hear, "I'm proud of you, son." This particular Red Sox season brought us together. Unified us in a way that Alabama Football had never done before. For once I was excited to get home, sit down with him, and actually watch baseball. Yeah we said there's no way the Sox would be able to pull it out. It hadn't happened in eighty-six years. Why would it change now? But it did. And that has changed the way I see my father, and baseball. I was fifteen years-old then, and even now as a twenty-two year-old, every now and then, we still sit and watch baseball, and occasionally knock back a beer or two. I'm not the biggest fan of them, but I'll sit with the old man and watch is, not publicly announced, Atlanta Braves, and he'll watch my, overly publicly announced, Boston Red Sox. Yeah, I fell in love with the Sox in 2004. But not only because they captured my attention and never let it go, but because they saved my relationship with my dad, and forever changed my life.