Don't stop believing?

Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" was the anthem of the Chicago White Sox during the wonderful 2005 playoff run.

Last night, when the White Sox beat the Twins 1-0 in a dramatic 'play-in' game for the AL Central Division championship, the TV cameras kept returning to someone holding up a sign which evoked that song. The sign read, "We never stopped believing."

Ah, if only it were so.

Here is the cathartic benefit of an anonymous blog: I can confess to the Blogosphere, without fear of personal embarrassment, that I, in fact, stopped believing.

I was disgusted by the Twins' sweep of the Sox last week in the dome. When they jumped out to a 6-2 lead... then promptly gave up two more runs... and just as promptly left two more men in scoring position... I went to bed. I didn't stay up to see the Sox go down 7-6.

And when they came home to fatten up on a Cleveland team that was going nowhere, it was the Indians who feasted on Friday, then Saturday. And, somehow, the seemingly invincible Twins were losing, at home in the Dome, to the Kansas City Royals.

I had stopped believing.

When the Sox won, finally, on Sunday, I was almost aggravated. Why torture us like this. I didn't even want to watch. But Long Suffering Spouse did. And Buehrle looked great.

And then, of course, I had to watch Monday if only to keep Long Suffering Spouse updated.

But I had stopped believing. So, last night, I fully expected to have my heart ripped out.

And I was pleasantly surprised instead. And, now, I feel even better for having made a full confession. I feel so good, in fact, that my fearless (and almost certainly wrong) playoff predictions follow immediately.