State of the Nation: How to lose a division in ten days

Ironic or just plain sad? Last year's damning Sox Photoshops are eerily relevant today

The debate has raged for the past few days, as the Red Sox were busy transforming what once was a magical season into another infamous disaster: could the Red Sox survive another late-season collapse, or would the psychological damage caused by blowing a 14 game lead destroy all hopes for a championship season?

Many have weighed in on both sides, with most supporters of the "no biggie" theory citing the Detroit Tigers of last year, a team that blew the Central division title on the last weekend of the season then went on to upset the Stanks and make it all the way to the Series.

Not to mention the fact that three of the last five world champs have come from the Wild Card, most recently our very own Sox in 04.

But to those ultimate optimists I say no friggin way. As in there is no friggin way Boston could recover from that kind of monumental meltdown and be mentally and psychically prepared for the rigors of the postseason.

The reason being that the Sox are backpedaling at an alarming rate, even for a team with a history of chokes under its belt.

After enjoying a 10-game lead following the first forty games of the season, a double-digit lead for most of the summer, and a steady 4-7 game margin as New york caught fire after the break, Boston is not only in danger of losing home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs but for the ALCS as well now that Anaheim and Cleveland have passed them for the league's best record.

How's that for a confidence booster.

Throw in the fact that the team is more banged up than Britney's cooch and that the once-heralded bullpen is now struggling to find one reliever who will not allow a game-losing hit and you've got the recipe for a Division Series ouster, not a World Series celebration.

So how does one team blow such a sizable lead in just a few short weeks? Let me count the ways.

1.) The injury bug struck again
Not only has super slugger Manny Ramirez missed the last 21 games with an obscure oblique injury, but now Coco Crisp (2 gms/back), Kevin Youkilis (4 gms/wrist) and Hideki Okajima (indefinitely/spent) have joined the Grillmaster on the physically unable to perform list.

2.)Lack of timely hits continues to derail offense
Partially due to the loss of Ramirez and the slumps of J.D. Drew and Youk, the Sox inability to cash in on numerous golden scoring opportunities, including a slew of bases loaded situations, over the past few weeks has severely cost this team

3.) Mediocre pitching from the starters and the pen
The starters for the most part have ranged from serviceable to spectacular in the second half, but too many times the man in charge of setting the tempo for the team has let the opponent wedge his foot in the door early, and then the once-rigid bullpen has allowed them to bust it open late

4.) Karma, baby, karma
A season full of rubbing people's noses in it, bragging about the superiority of the Sox over all other teams in the league, and a postseason planning session that started to take place in early July have all come back to bit the Nation in the ass big time.

And don't think that fucking 'Magic Number" countdown of the Globe homepage didn't have anything to do with it, either. That idea was almost as bad as spraying the World Series logo on the Fenway field before the ALCS is over.

Whichever side of the debate you fall on, if Boston can just take care of business this weekend here in Tampa Bay, then return home to Fenway and dispatch a couple of teams that are already making their offseason vacation plans, all will be right with the world.

If not it could be a very short foray into the month of October for our beloved Bosox.

Again.