When the late John Denver sang about a Colorado Rocky Mountain High, this is what he must have meant. After sweeping the Colorado Rockies in four games, the Boston Red Sox have become the first team in Major League Baseball to win two World Championships in the 21st century - and Red Sox Nation is flying high.

For years, Red Sox fans suffered summer after summer and probably tagged the term, “wait ’till next year.” Sox fans have had to endure their Yankees’ friends for almost a lifetime. No longer. The 2004 Championship got a “monkey off their backs,” while this championship may signify a new era in Red Sox baseball.

When one looks at this Red Sox roster and its minor league system, the combination has all the earmarks of a juggernaut for years-to-come. It reminds me of another team from the American League East that was built in the mid-90s and won four championships in five years. With home-grown players on its current roster like Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, Papelbon, Lester, and Delcarmen, plus some nasty arms in their minor league system like no-hit-phenomenon Clay Buchholz and a kid named Masterson - added to their “rookie” pitchers Matsuzaka and Okajima - this organization is built for now and the future. And, don’t forget, the Red Sox were able to trade for baseball’s best pitcher, Josh Beckett, and World Series MVP, Mike Lowell, because they had prospects in the system to do so. So, love them or hate them, the Red Sox are here to stay.

World Series Thoughts

Employers throughout New England must have thought Halloween came early this year, as baseball fans headed to work today looking like zombies. For those lucky to be young enough (or foolish enough) to celebrate into the wee-hours of the morning after the Red Sox victory, I can just image what they looked like today. But c’mon Mr. Selig, what are you thinking? Why is a World Series game starting after 8:30 Eastern time on a Sunday night? And don’t give me this “prime time” television ratings stuff, as the biggest sports event in America - that little game called the Super Bowl, is also played on Sunday and is scheduled to kick-off at 6:18 Eastern time. Kids and hard-working people simply can’t stay up after midnight to watch your game. Why are you trying to hide your marquee event? Maybe it’s time the tail stops wagging the dog and you step up to do what’s right for your fan base and put the game on at a decent viewing-time.

Also, was it just me, but were you offended during the game by the two-headed monster called Rodriquez-Boras? Bud Selig and team owners must have been furious that these two money-hungry capitalists, Alex Rodriquez and agent Scott Boras, used MLB’s greatest stage to announce and promote that baseball’s albatross was opting out of his Yankees’ contract. While I know Fox talking heads had no choice but to make the announcement - its media-machismo 101 in play - I wish they had not prolonged the dialogue. Let’s hope the Yankees stick by their guns and not play the Rodriquez-Boros game and say sayonara to A-Rod - and that other owners also keep away from a duo that seems to have no interest in the game. It time for baseball owners to say, “Enough is enough.”

I have spent many years living in Southern California. From Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles – to Dana Point and San Clemente in Orange County – to Santee and Del Mar in San Diego. At one time, I considered myself a San Diegan. So with many friends throughout the area, my thoughts and prayers have been with them daily this week, as they deal with this historic catastrophe.

For those of you who have never had the opportunity to visit Santa Barbara, Marina Del Rey, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, San Clemente Pier, Cardiff-by-the Sea, Del Mar, La Jolla, Rancho Sante Fe, downtown San Diego, or the beautiful mountains east of I-5, you have no idea of the beauty being destroyed by these fires. However, the loss of homes and family possessions is even more devastating.

A San Diego friend, evacuated from her home and staying with a mutual friend stated, “I can’t even begin to explain the pain, especially not knowing if my home will be there or not when I’m able to return. This is so surreal.” She has been staying with a friend who lives on the ocean, and yet still needs to wear a mask when going outside, as the smoke and flames continue to be pushed west by the Santa Ana winds.

I usually try to get back to Los Angeles and San Diego to visit friends a few times each year. I was hoping to do so again prior to year’s end. I’m now afraid of what I will see. I’m even more afraid to learn how this may have affected the lives of my friends.

Whether religious or not, say a prayer for Southern Californians, especially the brave firefighters who try to save homes, businesses, and some of our country’s most beautiful areas.

Political correctness has reached a point of foolishness in recent years– even in the eyes of some well-known liberals. While I believe it was originally well-intended, it has become so outrageous that it has lost its purpose of teaching Americans to be more sensitive and tolerant to our country’s heritage and diversity.

Such is not is the case with the Cleveland Indians’ logo, Chief Wahoo – the most politically incorrect and offensive logo in sport.

How Major League Baseball and society in general has allowed this offensive, racist, stereotype logo to exist is mind-boggling. Some even think the team name – Indians – is offensive. I’ll leave that fight to the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, since there is current debate about the political correctness of using American Indian, Native American, or the aforementioned Indigenous People of the Americas.

The name Indians was supposedly derived in 1915 to honor an American Indian, Louis Sockalexis, who briefly played for Cleveland when they were known as the Spiders. Their offensive logo, Chief Wahoo, became their trademark mascot in 1947. The cartoon character was re-drawn with the stereotype red face in 1951.

Am I alone among non-American Indians or Native Americans finding this unacceptable and egregious? Where is the outcry from other minority communities? Would we allow a team to use the name of another minority group? Can you image the protests if a team used a black or brown cartoon character face as a logo?

Isn’t it bad enough that American history distorts the life and times of the American Indian? European colonization of the Americas nearly obliterated the population and cultures of Native Americans. Must we continue to be so insensitive?

Thank God the Red Sox won so I don’t have to look at that obnoxious Chief Wahoo logo any longer this year. It’s time MLB steps up and does what’s right.

Watching an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” I wondered, as Larry David got himself into trouble once again and was subsequently punished, if his sentence on the show could be used in society today.

Well, Larry had a limo driver who brought his wife and himself to some great restaurant. Larry ended up obsessing about the driver and the fact that he wasn’t going to eat dinner while Larry and his wife ate dinner. The entire meal was interrupted by Larry’s worrying, and he then decided to bring his leftovers to the limo driver during their dessert. Larry forgot a fork for the driver, and Larry went inside to grab a fork. On his way out he was stopped by the manager of the restaurant and was caught stealing the fork. The police were called and Larry ended up going to court to face a judge. The judge declared that because he made too much money that a fine would not fit the crime, and jail time was not fit for a crime so insignificant.

Hence, the judge wanted to make an example of Larry to let all people know that celebrities do not get to do what they want, when they want. Larry was sentenced to wear a giant sign over his body that read, “I steal silverware from restaurants,” while standing outside that specific restaurant. As guest after guest walked by and realized that he was Larry David, the creator of Seinfeld and that he was wearing that sign, the embarrassment and humility alone was punishment enough. This all led me to our society, and specifically athletes and celebrities who have committed crimes, and what their sentences would be if they were on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

1) Michael Vick: He killed dogs, gambled and yada, yada, yada. Everybody knows the guy is sick. Everybody knows the story – it was beaten into our brains with coverage, coverage and more coverage. Vick has tons of money and putting him behind bars might not be the answer, either. I would give him a life sentence in the dog department at Petco. Not only would animals that he would want to kill surround him, but also his job would be ridiculous, considering the fall from grace as a Pro Bowl NFL quarterback. The only dodging and weaving that Vick would do is around six-year old kids with their grandparents, as he made his way to the employee-only bathroom behind the cage of rabbits in the back of the store.

2) O.J. Simpson: This is a tough one, because he’s an embarrassment to society as is. Despite being found not guilty of murder charges, everybody believes he’s still guilty, nonetheless. So I sentence O.J. to 10 years as an auctioneer. He could stand up at the podium and auction off all of his own memorabilia before his eyes. “Next item up is O.J.’s life before 1994, when he had dignity, class and was respected as a great football player. Starting price is two packs of Bazooka Joe bumble gum.” O.J. was ordered by a judge to give the Goldmans (the parents of one of his victims) his gold Rolex watch that was approximately worth $20,000. It was a part of his sentence from the civil trial he lost in his murder case in 1994. O.J. owes like $32 million, and he hasn’t paid crap so far. Either way, O.J. sent the Goldmans his watch, but he sent a fake. That’s right, a fake Rolex from China worth $125. I guess O.J. figured if he fooled them once, maybe he could fool them again.

3) Marion Jones: So she admits she did steroids, big deal. I could care less about her and whether or not she juiced up. She should have spent less time rubbing herself with the “clear” and sprinted over to a dentist. That is one of the worst grills I’ve seen in my life. It looks as if she was kicked in the mouth and her teeth were put back together with tape. Her sentence is to spend the next five years of her life as the personal servant to the people she beat in the Olympics. This way they can show her who was really hurt and how they really feel about her cheating.

4) Adam “Pacman” Jones: Now, “Pacman” made it rain – tossing bills through the air at a strip club – and I actually commend him for that. Let’s face it, if I had 87 grand to throw in the air and have strippers dance around me while it rained down, I would do it. The other part about beating up strippers after they accidentally touched your green backs and then having your boys shoot the bouncers is another story. Since “Pacman” has other problems with the law, his sentence should be a bit more. I sentence “Pacman” to five years of service as the janitor at that very strip club and his wages will go to the bums of Las Vegas. But instead of handing them a check, “Pacman” has to cash his paychecks into $1 bills. He then has to make it rain, while the bums crawl all over him fighting each other for his money. This will also be televised on FOX as a reality show called, “When Makin’ it Rain goes Wrong.”

I’m sure there are more athlete-celebs to pick on, but I’ll keep it to four. The point is money means nothing to people like this, and even though my punishments are silly, maybe our judicial system needs to get a little creative to send a message that athletes and celebrities are not invincible.

According to reports out of New York, Joe Torre’s fate will be determined sometime within the next two weeks. GM Brian Cashman’s job is safe for at least another season - yet Torre is made accountable for the free agent signings that brought the Yankees busts like Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright and yes, even Mike Mussina.

The playoffs are about starting pitching, and while one might criticize Torre for not starting Andy Petitte in Game 1 against Cleveland, look at the starting staff Torre is stuck with. It was the worst of any team in the post season. Compare it to the Red Sox starters, or the Indians staff, or that of the Angels, or Diamondbacks.

Sure, Chien-Mien Wang can load up on W’s against the Devil Rays, Royals and Orioles while the vaunted Yankee line-up supports him with eight runs per game during the summer.

Come fall however, you don’t score eight runs a game, as the Yanks found out. You have to win 2-1 games in the playoffs, and the team Brian Cashman gave Joe Torre isn’t built that way.

Not right now anyway.

Finally seeing the error of his ways, Cashman has stockpiled young starting pitching that could make the envy of all baseball in two years. But at what cost, Torre’s job? If the Yankees let Torre go, they will increase the chances that Rodriguez, Posada and Duncan follow him out of the Bronx. And where will that leave the Yankees - back to the days of Horace Clark?

Torre took the Yankees to 12 straight playoffs and won four World Series - and he should have with the teams he had. Yet on closer inspection, to expect him to do more with the pitching staff he has been burdened with these last few years is unrealistic. Pitching rules the playoffs with a couple of big bats, which is why the Red Sox will win it all.

As for Torre, Angels skipper Mike Sciocia may have said it best today in LA. “I hope the Yankees do fire him. It’ll be one less team in the American league we need to worry about because no one can replace him.”

There is no doubt that the Yankees made Joe Torre. They probably even put him into the Hall of Fame. These days, however, the Yankees need Joe Torre more than Joe Torre needs the Yankees.

If you have never visited San Diego, I highly recommend you put the city on your list of must-see destinations. From the breathtaking views of San Diego Harbor at Cabrillo Point in Point Loma - to the downtown areas of Seaport Village, Old Town, and the Gaslamp District - to beautiful Balboa Park; home of San Diego’s Hall of Champions, the International Aerospace Museum, and the world-renown San Diego Zoo - to the beautiful shores of La Jolla, Del Mar, and Cardiff-by-the-Sea, it’s hard to refute its self-imposed billing of “America’s Most Beautiful City.”

I’ve had fun times and made good friends in San Diego. Though I am a born New Englander, I lived in San Diego many years, and I consider it my home-away-from-home. Today, I can feel my friends’ pain as I sit here 3000 miles away. So I want my former, fellow-San Diegans to know that I’m really not gloating as I watch my real home-town teams, the Red Sox and Patriots, continue their championship run, while the Padres squandered the playoffs and the Chargers fall from the NFL elite.

Don’t get me wrong, I relished watching the Pats upset the Chargers in last year’s playoff game - then, just recently, beating them again. Ironically, I was in San Diego the day after each of those wins by the Patriots…and it gave me great pleasure to listen to San Diego’s sports talk-radio and its whining fans. Recently, some envious friends foolishly talked about the “cheating” Patriots. Tell me, did Green Bay and Kansas City “cheat” too?

Also, after the Chargers playoff loss last year, I clearly remember many San Diegans calling for the head of Coach Marty Schottenheimer. Probably the same ‘fans’ chanting Marty! Marty! Marty! at the recent home-game loss to the Chiefs. And, maybe LaDainian Tomlinson should have saved his verbal rant on the Patriots last year (and again this year) for his own organization. Rather than his harsh words for the Pats’ players and Belichick, he should have focused on his own teammates and front office - owner Alex Spanos and General Manager A. J. Smith, who made the change to Norv Turner. It’s now only a matter of time for Spanos and Smith to look slightly north for their new savior…Pete Carroll.

Regarding the Padres, they only have themselves to blame. Sure the Rockies played great down the stretch winning 14 of their last 15 games, but the Padres could have derailed the Colorado run by winning more than 4 of the last 11 games. And how does “saving” Peavy for the playoff game look now? It couldn’t have been much worse throwing him out there on short rest the last day of the regular season. Playing for tomorrow is always dangerous in September.

But fret not my San Diego friends, as I lived for years saying, “Wait ’til next year.” Besides, while I’m sitting here in the snow this winter, you can always enjoy the sun…and head to some of my favorite spots in beautiful Del Mar like Bully’s, Jake’s and The Poseidon restaurants, or the famous Yogi’s Beach Bar on S. Coast Hwy. 101 in heaven - a.k.a. Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California.