Last night was awfully crazy, I wish we taped it

You know how sometimes on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you wake up in your bed, and start thinking "wait, how the hell did I get here?" Or "Jesus, I hope I didn't do anything too regrettable last night". And then you go out into your living room or dorm room, check your phone, start asking people "what the hell happened last night?"

It's almost 2 P.M. as I'm starting to write this, and I can tell you that I still don't totally believe what happened last night. And not because it was some crazy gnarly weekend story like I referenced above. I truly can't believe what happened last night happened. But it did. I didn't go to bed until almost 4 in the morning trying to decipher it, deciding whether this is more like Aaron Boone, David Tyree, or the Bruins blowing a 3-0 series lead against Philly. To be honest, it incorporates parts of all three nightmares. And there's just a little help from the Yankees-Rays game too.

The 2010 Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Semis and were looking towards a potential ECF match-up with Montreal. The 2011 Red Sox had a 9-game wild-card lead on September 2 and were already looking towards a potential Sox-Yanks ALCS. The Yankees were up 7-0 on Tampa last night. The 2010 Bruins lost the next three games but jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Game 7 at home. The 2011 Red Sox had gone 7-19 in September through last night's game but held the lead going into the bottom of the 9th with Jonathan Papelbon, he of just two blown saves all season, on the hill. Both the Bruins and the Red Sox lost their respective games 4-3.

Of course, both of these Boston teams had fatal flaws that as the seasons progressed, we knew they wouldn't be winning any championships. The Bruins didn't have a single 30-goal scorer and had Steve Begin playing on the second line and Dennis Wideman on the top defensive pairing. The Red Sox had John Lackey, Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller, and Andrew Weiland starting games in September (and damn near brought in Bruce Chen). The Red Sox also had no bullpen to speak of other than Papelbon and Aceves over the past month.

The Bruins went through a 10-game losing streak in the middle of the season. The Red Sox started 0-6 and 2-10 before finally--seemingly--turning things around and looking like the juggernaut they were designed to be.

The 2007 Patriots were expected to do great things on the field, after losing to the Colts in the AFC title game a year before and acquiring Wes Welker, Randy Moss, and Donte' Stallworth to help Tom Brady. The 2011 Red Sox were expected to do great things on the field, after an injury-plagued 2010 campaign saw them add Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to the arsenal. And for at least stretches, Gonzalez performed like Moss and Welker did. Crawford performed more like Stallworth for the entire season.

The '07 Patriots finished the regular season 16-0 and won their first two playoff games, and held a 14-10 fourth quarter lead on the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The '11 Red Sox were 82-51 at one point, had a 9-game lead in the wild-card, and were still threatening to challenge 100 wins for the first time since 1946. David Tyree caught a ball off his helmet. In the Yankees-Rays game, Dan Johnson (hitting .108 on the season) hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th to send the game to extras. Tyree never caught another ball in the NFL, and it's entirely possible Johnson will never hit another home run in the MLB. The Patriots lost 17-14, coming within 35 seconds of going 19-0. The Rays came back from down 7 to win, 8-7 in the 12th inning.

The more I think about it, there's really no similarities between Aaron Boone and the 2011 Red Sox, other than the fact that they both involve the Red Sox. But the 2003 Red Sox were clearly a superior team to this 2011 outfit. That lineup was solid 1-9. Maybe the '11 version had a few guys who out-performed several of the '03 members, but once you got beyond Ellsbury/Pedroia/Gonzalez/Ortiz, that was it. Anytime you sent out Crawford, Varitek/Saltalamacchia, Lowrie, etc. you were rolling the dice one way or the other. The 2003 Red Sox were good enough to win the World Series. The 2011 Red Sox were not. Point blank.

And perhaps the biggest shame of all is that it will cost Jacoby Ellsbury American League MVP. First 30-30 season in Red Sox history. That goes all the way back to 1901, people. He led the Majors in total bases, as well as extra-base hits (83), hit .322/.376/.552, played some very good D out in center, and drove in 105 guys out of the leadoff spot. He was third in the Majors in runs scored, third in hits with 212 (right behind Michael Young and Adrian Gonzalez, who each hit 213). Let's hope that this wasn't just a flash in the pan, but something that can become protocol for Ells.

Moving forward, the Red Sox have an awful lot of issues to address for a team with a payroll not too far from $200 million. John Lackey is clearly damaged goods. Carl Crawford didn't realize what jumping from Tampa Bay to Boston meant. There's question marks at catcher, right field, and shortstop for next year (although personally I'd love to see them bring Scutaro back. That's right, Scutaro is probably our best shortstop since Nomar. Wish I was joking). They need at least two starting pitchers, depending on the health of Buchholz. Beckett and Lester were both god-awful in the month of September. Daniel Bard regressed as the season went along. Papelbon is a free agent. What will happen with Terry Francona and Theo Epstein? 

It's too soon to answer many of those questions. So I'll leave them as they are for now. But just know that the Red Sox have missed the playoffs two consecutive seasons now. One happens. Two shouldn't. Three won't. Or else.