Tribe vs. BoSox

Well, the ALCS starts tomorrow at Fenway, and all week I've been fielding this question: "For whom are you going to root?"

It would be feasible that I would root for either team, having lived in Boston (including during the infamous 2004 ALCS come back of the century and anticlimactic World Series victory). I am a big fan of captain Jason Varitek, owning  a shirt with his name and number. And when I first moved to Boston, I empathized immediately with Red Sox fans, having had the Cubs be my default baseball team for as long as I was old enough to understand following sports teams (which is pretty long, considering I'm a Husker and they teach 'em young in Nebraska). Plus, the history and legend alone is enough for anyone who enjoys the sport of baseball to cheer for the Red Sox.

Now, having moved to Cleveland mid-summer 2006, I've experience about a season and a half of Tribe baseball. The Jake is a great field, and Cleveland supports its sports teams with unbelievable tenacity considering the general success(or lack thereof) of most recent teams. You get the feeling that everyone's sort of holding their collective breath, waiting for it to be like the "good ol days" (aka 1990s) when the Indians were a challenging foe on the diamond. However, like the Cleveland Cavs appearance in last season's NBA Championship, a sports renaissance may be dawning in Cleveland, and that's an exciting thing to be a part of.

But my real reason for choosing a team to root for is a lot simpler than that. This guy was on my fantasy team in 2005, well before I moved to Cleveland (or knew too many players who weren't Cubs or Red Sox). This fact alone I believe disqualifies me from any "band-wagoning" accusations. You need look no further than center field... (

Grady Sizemore. *le sigh*

GO TRIBE!