Curse this!

The Red Sox season, or as I like to call it "The Passion of Johnny Damon," has been tumultuous. Starting in late December with the A-Rod-Manny-Nomar trade talks and culminating with a wild-card playoff berth, the Sox have been everywhere in the past year but find themselves right where they wanted to be, 11 wins from their first championship since 1918.\nI know people say this every season, but all signs point to this being the year for the cursed ones. You want examples? I got 'em.\nThey finally dumped that waste of skin known as Nomar. I don't want to be too harsh on Mr. Hamm though, he does a few things better than anyone on a baseball diamond. No one, and I mean no one, knows how to kill a rally quite like the oft-injured shortstop. If you need a bases loaded pop-out or an easy double play to end an inning, Nomar is your guy. Frankly, he's about as clutch as Bill Buckner.\nNext, you have to love what Pedro has done with his hair. How can you not pull for a guy who looks like Eriq La Salle from "Coming to America?" Can someone please get this guy an endorsement deal with "Soul Glo." Pedro may not be the pitcher he was three seasons ago, but his hair is definitely in Hall of Fame form.\nAlso, you have to consider the lack of a great team in the playoffs. Every team has a major weakness that can be exploited. \nThe Yankees' starting staff is thinner than Calista Flockhart on a diet. Sure they are the Yankees, but they have the best shortstop on their team playing third base, lost Jason Giambi to a BALCO related tumor and that regularly scheduled Gary Sheffield meltdown should come any time now.\nPicking the Angels has suddenly become trendier than those yellow Lance Armstrong bracelets, so you know they won't pull it off.\nMinnesota has filthy Cy Young candidate Johan Santana but little else. The Twins' lineup has a bunch of guys named Jacque, Corey, Torii and Christian -- sounds more like a boy-band than a batting order.\nThe Cardinals have one of the greatest lineups ever assembled, but pitching wins titles and the Redbirds should scare no one. Their top four starters are all having career years and give up the long ball like it's going out of style. Yeah, that makes me feel real safe in pressure situations.\nThe Braves won their division for the 13th straight year, and Bobby Cox should be commended because I have no idea how he pulled this one off. The only thing they have this year is Chipper Jones minus 50 points on his batting average and Andruw Jones plus 50 pounds on his waist. \nThe Astros might have the best starting pitching of the teams left, but in the playoffs Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell tend to disappear faster than cupcakes at Rosie O'Donnell's house. \nThe Dodgers traded away their team's heart and soul, Paul LoDuca, at the deadline and then backed into the playoffs, so they shouldn't be a problem. \nStill need more proof this is Boston's year? \nWhat about the facts that Aaron Boone is nowhere to be found, Grady Little is gone, they actually have a closer this year and Ben Affleck won't be bringing J-Lo to the games? \nOK, I'll admit it, this probably will not happen. Everyone knows the Sox are cursed and will find some way to lose it. But honestly, if they can't win the World Series with a Jesus look-alike patrolling center field, then we should probably embrace the fact that it's never going to happen.