Keller @ Large: Every Championship Should Be Savored
BOSTON (CBS) - How sweet it is!
From the four-game sweep of the Yankees in August and their rout in playoff round one, through the stunning defeat of the defending champion Astros and the beat-down in LA, our latest Boston sports title has been a beauty.
But to truly understand - and never take for granted - how special this is, a little reminder of what sour tastes like is in order.
Watching video of morose Dodger fans skulking out of Dodger Stadium Sunday night, I thought to myself: we can relate.
For decades before Boston's unbelievable 2002-on run of sports success, great moments like Carlton Fisk's game-winning homer in the 1975 World Series and the stunning Red Sox comeback against the Angels in the 1986 ALCS were overshadowed by heartbreaking failure.
Related: Red Sox' World Series Win Only Adds To Twilight Zone Of Boston Sports
If it wasn't the other guys beating us - think Joe Morgan in 1975's Game 7 or Bucky Dent in the 1978 one-game playoff - it was our own guys blowing it, often in the most indescribably painful ways, like Bob Stanley's wild pitch and Bill Buckner's fielding error in 1986.
And long before the dynasty came to Foxboro, there was Super Bowl futility, from the blowout by the Bears in 1986 to the heartbreak against the Packers in 1996.
Yes, there was always the Celtics to remind us what winning it all felt like. But even they endured stretches that seemed cursed, with the untimely deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. And before the Bruins won it all in 2011, there were 39 years of futility and too many men on the ice.
So it falls to those of us who suffered to make sure younger generations understand that every precious victory should be savored.
Just ask the Dodger fans who've seen another team celebrate on their home field back to back, and wonder when they'll get another shot at redemption.
