I've followed the Rays for a couple years now. It started because I really liked watching Carl Crawford play, but grew when two BPers shifted to their front office (It's now at three.) Over the last two years, I've travelled down several times to do events or just watch some ball.

And I became a fan.

I like the park. I like the people. I like the team. I like the Rays.

After several years of being beaten down by a team I grew up with, I lost that passion. I didn't feel anything when they won and worse, I didn't feel anything when they lost. If you could have seen me on the couch during the Rays-Sox series, you would have seen that I felt a lot. And cursed a lot. And cheered.

Yeah, I cheered.

Forget the objectivity and remember the passion. This 2008 Rays team will be remembered for a lot of things, but the one thing I'll remember? They gave me my fan back. Call me bandwagon if you want, but in 2006, I was driving that bandwagon.

Congratulations Rays - 2008 AL Champs. Thank you, Stu, Andrew, Matt, Chaim, James, David, Dave, Scott, Matt, Carl, and everyone else with the Rays.