When I was growing up I really liked Boston. Larry Bird was still playing for the Celtics, the Patriots sucked and the Bruins were … well a hockey team. And then there was the Red Sox. First and foremost I am a Philadelphia sports fan, but in the days before Interleague play it felt ok to like an American League team, and I often told people the Red Sox were my second team. I even had a t-shirt of the “Killer B’s of Boston” which had caricatures of Wade Boggs, Tom Brunansky, Ellis Burks and Tony Pena (the Backstop). But then the Patriots won a Super Bowl in 2001, and the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and suddenly Boston fans turned from passionate bad-luck sports fans into … well, Yankee fans.

None of the Boston teams really have that a player that you hate (although you can’t really like anyone named Coco Crisp). Instead it’s more of the smug attitude that comes from the fans that really pisses me off, and maybe more problematic is the attention they get from the national media. Let’s just take a look at the so called “Red Sox Nation,” it’s as if the media has crowned them America’s team when it comes to baseball. But really I doubt there are so many more fans of the Sox than there are of other teams. In reality, across the nation there are probably more Yankee fans, unfortunately.

You hate Boston too, you probably just haven’t realized it yet because ESPN isn’t calling them the “evil empire” or talking about how they throw snowballs at Santa Claus. Instead they joke about “Manny being Manny,” or the Patriots perfect season, or they fawn over the “big 3″ for the Celtics. And just like a child who gets too much attention, the Boston fans have become spoiled little brats.

So what would be better than to give these fans a spanking with a three-game sweep starting with tonight’s game which is on ESPN. Normally you’d love our chances tonight with Cole Hamels going to the mound. But he’s given up 15 runs in his last 4 starts and he’s facing a resurgent Bartolo Colon who is looking a lot like the player he was in 2005 when he won the Cy Young.

But if the Phils can pull of a win tonight, and even bigger, take at least two games from the Sox, it will do a lot to legitimize their spot in the baseball elite. A good start would be if Charlie makes sure Tom Gordon stays off the field.