Most of you who know me know I'm a die hard Red Sox fan. Most of you also know that I live less than five miles away from the Bronx and Yankee Stadium. It's difficult going into bars around here and having fun discussions with the fans of the enemy.

The funny thing is I really have no angst for the Yankees, but I do feel an occasional twinge of despair when discussing them because they always seem to have the Red Sox' number.

Such was the feeling of despair I had towards the end of Game 3.

I was watching towards the end of the game, hoping somehow that the Red Sox could somehow score 11 runs in the bottom of the ninth. After all, nobody has come back from a 3-0 deficit, so, this was a must-win game. As the final out was recorded and Bill Mueller flied out to center against Tom Gordon, I couldn't bring myself to watch it being caught by Bernie Williams. As I turned off the tv... I shook my head and went to my refrigerator to get a glass of water. As I'm pouring the Brita (oh, hell, no, I don't trust New York tap water), I sighed out loud and repeated the score.

"Nineteen, eight."

And then, it happened. A voice from inside my head came up and shouted, echoing inside of my ears so that I couldn't miss it.

"EEN!!"

If I could see my own face, I knew that there was something really strange at work. Een? OK, I thought to myself and repeated the score of the game out loud.

And then it hit me. "EEN" was the unfinished part of the date, 1918. I don't know what it means, per se, but what I DO know is that ever since that pounding in Game 3, we have not lost.

And these weren't just wins... these were the most amazing wins in Boston Red Sox history.

So, as I sat down after game 3, pondering the fact that 1918 was within the score, yet not completed, I questioned whether or not we had purged the 1918 jinx by crystalizing in history the worst postseason loss, the longest nine-inning postseason game, and the score being an incomplete chant for Yankee fans across New York.

"NINETEEN EIGHT..."

"NINETEEN EIGHT..."

The curse is over.