Episode 17: A Win for the Generations

20 years ago this week, an indelible moment in sports history took place.

I was 8 years old when the curse was reversed, and that time was the first exposure to sport fandom that I truly remember. One of my uncle’s burned all of the games from the ALCS up to Game 4 uninterrupted onto DVDs, which he gave to us (which if you grew up in the early aughts, you know how time consuming that was). I was with my dad at the local Stop and Shop trying to find the specific version of the championship DVD that was produced by NESN, which he then made us stay up late to watch. And yes, I even saw the Drew Barrymore/Jimmy Fallon romcom based on the 2004 season at the old Showcase Cinemas in my town (which may or may not be a guilty pleasure still)

As people reflect back on this time, most of the focus has been rightly placed on the comeback for the ages that was pulled off by the Sox. For me though, I think about fans like my dad and uncles. Fans that waited decades to see their team just win one title or try to honor the memory of their loved ones that passed on.

For this week’s episode, I wanted to focus on those kinds of stories as we talk with fans who withstood those lean years to finally celebrate in 2004.