The Boston Red Sox have finally managed to reverse their fortunes after 86 years. The team?s futility, as well as the misery their fans have had to endure have ended.

The curse is over! The Red Sox, their fans, and the entire city of Boston are on cloud nine reveling in their glory.

There has been plenty of built up frustration over the years and understandably so. The entire town has been bursting at the seams. This is their moment to shine. This is their time to gloat. Can you blame them?

No matter how you look at it, their sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series has been an incredible achievement in sports history. Not for the fact that they beat an under matched Cardinals' pitching staff, but for the fact that they beat the New York Yankees in the ALCS, and on the way to winning the World Series.

Let?s be practical, this was the World Series. The Yankees are Boston?s sole nemesis and reason for the curse in the first place. How sweet it is for the Red Sox to drop the first three games, look like they are totally headed for another heartbreaking season, then rebound and win the next three games in nail-biting fashion.

Face it, a bounce here, a bounce there and the Red Sox curse continues. Game 7 was to be played on the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium where Babe Ruth and all the Yankee greats have played. This is where the baseball "gods" live.

The Yankees even summoned Bucky Dent to toss out the first pitch. The Yankees were supposed to win. It is how the script has been written for the last 86 years.

Not this year. Congratulations are in order to the "Red Sox Nation."

On Saturday October 30, the City of Boston hosted what is probably the biggest sports celebration in history. The parade route was unique, as the Red Sox took to their floats figuratively and literally. The route encompassed the streets near Fenway Park, as well as the waterways of the Charles River, and the crowd was estimated to be somewhere between two and three  million strong.

As I was watching highlights of the parade, it dawned on me as I watched Manny Ramirez carry a sign that read "JETER IS PLAYING GOLF TODAY. THIS IS BETTER!"

As a lifelong Yankee fan, I am seriously spoiled. There are no greater signs of respect than what Derek Jeter seems to receive on a daily basis. Not only from Red Sox fans, but fans of every American League city the Yankees visit.

While most of the baseball world is happy for the Red Sox, deep down I am not. In fact I am downright disgusted, and so is George Steinbrenner and the entire New York Yankee organization.

Steinbrenner is the best owner in all of professional sports, period. He wants nothing less than the best.

We Yankee fans admit we are spoiled. Steinbrenner is willing to spend whatever it takes. Yes, he has the resources to make his team better, but he operates the franchise so as to expect to be in the World Series each and every year. He understands that to put the fannies in the seats he needs to supply a winner. He has been very successful at doing that.

The Yankees have already begun their "winter meetings" in late October. Steinbrenner has already summoned the Yankee upper brass to Tampa to discuss the direction the team will take this off-season to improve their ball club.

While the Yankees will never shy away from adding another potent slugger to their lineup, they understand the importance of pitching. You can never have too much of it.

The Red Sox took this approach and it paid off. It is the real reason they won the World Series. Terry Francona did a wonderful job of mixing and matching his staff, especially in games 4, 5, and 6. He had a number of pitchers to call upon as the situations dictated, and went to the well often.

However, the Red Sox will be a one hit wonder I?m afraid. Do not expect them to repeat next year.

Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe, Jason Varitek, Orlando Cabrera and Mark Bellhorn, among others, are all free agent eligible. It will be interesting to see what the Red Sox do.

The Yankees on the other hand will be seriously on the move. Expect to see Carlos Beltran in a Yankees uniform next year. Beltran had a great post-season, therefore his stock has risen tremendously to a place that only the Yankees will probably be able to afford.

The addition of Beltran and a healthy Jason Giambi should give the Yankees one of the best line-ups the game has ever known.

The Yankees would like to insert a good lefty in the starting rotation. Look for them to sign Eric Milton of the Philadelphia Phillies. In addition, the Yankees will be very interested in Carl Pavano of the Florida Marlins.

You know Steinbrenner will re-visit a possible push for Randy Johnson if the Diamondbacks decide they do not want to pay his enormous salary. The Diamondbacks are obviously going nowhere.

Finally, Troy Percival of the Anaheim Angels is also a free agent. If the Yankees can somehow pull this one off and add him to the bullpen, along with the likes of Mariano Rivera and Tom Gordon, the Yankees will reduce their games to a six-inning affair.

If the force is with them this off-season, the Yankees should win the 2005 World Series and once again become in Pedro?s words, everyone?s "daddy."

By the way, before I forget, Jeter has those golf clubs on loan. He will give them back to Ramirez next year.

The force in Major League Baseball is with the "Empire," the greatest franchise in sports history.

The Yankees will spend what it takes to win. They are not the "Evil Empire" that Red Sox owner John Henry asserted last year.

Steinbrenner is only playing the game the way the rules are written. Henry should know. The curse is finally over!