Tell me I'm not dreaming?

In the daylight hours following a long night of celebrating, as I wipe the champagne out of my eyes (man I need a pair of Papi's special goggles), it still hasn't hit me that the Red Sox are World Champs once again.

After all, it was just four short seasons ago that this franchise was considered one of the unluckiest in all of sports, wading through eight decades of disappointment and heartache with the same sorry mantra serving as their psuedo-rallying cry: wait 'til next year....

Now, as RSN basks in the glow of Boston's second title in four years, that "woe is me" lament hasn't been replaced, but merely altered, to sound more like this: wait 'til next year!

That's right, the 2007 Boston Red Sox accomplished something that not even that special 2004 squad could achieve during that curse-busting 2004 Series sweep--they validated the current incarnation of the franchise as a true winner, not merely a high-payroll, flash-in-the-pan team.

The scariest thing about winning the title again is that with the arch rival Stankees in utter disarray thanks to the jettisoning of Joe Torre and the defecation, I mean defection of A-Rod, the Sox have now officially become the standard bearer, the hunted, the Vegas lock as the team to beat when it comes to winning titles for at least the next 5-10 years.

In other words they've become the New England Patriots.

Wait til next year.