So the Super Bowl has been played and the New York Giants are this year's champs. If you are like me then you enjoyed the game, but now you realize that the NFL season is over. Really, it is over. Nobody actually watches the Pro Bowl, do they? 

With the NFL now behind us after another exciting season, many of us are left with only antidepressants and the thought of spring training to get us through this winter melancholy. Now my seven-year old son and I are gearing up to watch as our beloved Boston Red Sox attempt to repeat as World Series champs. At the same time, my darling wife and 11-year old son have begun to sing Frank Sinatra's "New York New York," all the while proclaiming that 2008 will be the year that the New YorkYankees regain their throne.

Yes, April through October are those months in which the affectionate pet names that my wife and I use for each other are replaced with expletives that could only originate in either this heated rivalry --- or the Navy.

What does this rivalry hold in store for us in 2008? Have these two teams exchanged their customary roles in the American League East, or should we as fans, get ready for a decade of intense competition that will likely leave the rest of Major League Baseball overshadowed? 

The Red Sox have now won two World Series in the last four years and are well equipped to add another this year. They seem like they are starting to put together their own dynasty and are working on trying to move ever closer to those 26 championship rings of their New York rivals.

The Yankees, on the other hand, continue to win games and be one of the best teams in baseball year in and year out. But, their recent history in the post season has left some fans scratching their heads. The last three years have seen this team make an uncharacteristic first round departure from the postseason. This past 2007 season even saw Mother Nature thwart the Yankee's plans to get back to the World Series.

Although the recent post season accomplishments seem to greatly favor the Red Sox, the regular season records, and the off season action for that fact, seem to suggest this is not a crumbling of one empire and birth of another, but in fact a very long drawn out war between these two baseball regimes.

Sure the Yankees, have had postseason issues, and even their last two trips to the Fall Classic have ended in them being upset by a wild card team, but this team is like a heavyweight boxer. You can land a few good blows, and even knock them to the canvas, but they will get up and when they do you better get your gloves up. Put simply, the Yankees are out of it when they don't have any games left to play, and not a moment sooner.

Do you think it's only the fans who feel the impact of this battle for baseball superiority? It's not, and if you don't believe me, ask the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The Yankees and Red Sox have won 15 out of the last 20 AL East crowns. The Orioles won it in 1997, but since then it has been all Yankees and then the Red Sox in 2007.

What about the free agent battles? Remember when Alex Rodriguez was moments away from becoming a member of the Red Sox, but MLB stepped in and put a stop to it, only to have A-rod become the power source for the Yankees?

How about when the Yankees and Red Sox divvied up the great Curt Schilling – Randy Johnson combo of the Arizona Diamondbacks? Or the Johnny Damon signing, the Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K race, and most recently the Johan Santana chess match.

I remember the stories of the nuclear attack drills that my parents did in school during the Cuban missile crisis and I can picture all of these big league general managers doing the same whenever a big-name free agent becomes available. The Yankees will offer and the Sox will counter offer, or vice versa.

Either way, the end result will always be the same. Some player is going to get really rich, and the AL will become that much harder for anybody else to win.

What's the bottom line for 2008?

These two teams will go at each other like a couple of gladiators, and it will definitely be intense. Throw into the mix the excitement over young, potential superstars like Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Bucholz, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, and this may be one of the best seasons yet for one of sports most well known and bitter rivalries.

You want my prediction?

You'll have to wait. My divisional previews for both leagues are under construction and will soon be available for my adoring fan. (Thanks for reading Mom) Until then, I need to go taunt my wife and son, and start blasting the "Dropkick Murphys."