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OT: skunks...don't know if you saw this...

Sox fans vow this is the year

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13068410&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&...

Mark Zaretsky , Register Staff 10/05/2004

HAWTHORNE, N.Y. — The motorcoach slipped stealthily into this leafy Westchester County enclave, having left Milford before daybreak, passing hundreds of unsuspecting work-bound Yankees fans as it zeroed in on its sacred goal.

Inside, along with a couple of dozen riders clad innavy blue and red, was a clandestine cargo that included numerous articles bearing the logo of the Boston Red Sox, a gold lame turban, a witch’s potion, sea salt and some sacred stones.

The goal was to get rid, once and for all, of that cursed curse!

You know which one.

Maybe all this "Curse of the Bambino" stuff isn’t really as daunting and immutable as it’s always been cracked up to be.

Maybe all the Red Sox Nation ever really had to do was click its heels three times and go visit Babe Ruth himself. Just spout some mumbo jumbo and ask nicely, and a century of futility might just fade away.

Maybe not.

But with the Red Sox set to face the Aneheim Angels in the playoffs at 4 p.m. today — under the ever-present spectre of the New York Yankees — Connecticut Sox fans took no chances.

Led by WPLR radio personalities Billy Winn and the Wigmaster, 25 die-hard Red Sox fans came to the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven to make peace with the Bambino and, with some luck, open the door — finally! — to the Red Sox’s future.

"It’s the curse!" said Mike Vollero, 41, of East Haven. Beyond that, "We just had some bad breaks," he said.

"I think we’re gonna pull it off and reverse this curse and make it happen," Vollero said.

Still, Ann Curcio of Bridgeport left nothing to chance. She made her own pinstriped New York Yankees voodoo doll and brought a few black-headed pins just in case.

"In the ankles," Curcio said, showing where she was going to stick it to the Yankees. "I don’t want to kill anyone — just hobble them a little."

The "Curse of the Bambino" goes back to 1920, when after winning five World Series, the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth’s contract to the Yankees for $100,000. Since then, the Yankees have won 26 World Series, far more than any other team. The Red Sox have been in just four and won none.

At the cemetery, on a perfectly cheerful hillside, John Kelly of New Haven approached the grave where George Herman Ruth and his wife, Claire, were buried. Kelly did so reverently but with determination.

Kelly pulled out a miniature Red Sox batting helmet and carefully placed it on a ledge that previously had been trimmed exclusively with New York Yankees memorabilia, including a pumpkin with a New York Yankees logo carved into it.

Kelly also pulled out a Red Sox keychain, a miniature Sox rug and a few other knickknacks, and put them up there as other Sox fans followed suit. Then he unfurled a Boston Red Sox beach towel and smoothed it neatly on the ground in front of the Babe’s final resting place.

"Maybe it’ll do something," Kelly explained later.

Then Winn and the Wigmaster approached the grave. Wearing a blue-, turquoise- and purple-sequined robe and the turban, Wiggie appoached as Winn announced, "Folks, we are gathered here at the foot of the great Bambino ... to remove the curse ..."

"Oh Sultan of Swat, oh great Bambino, these Red Sox fans beseech you," the Wigmaster continued. "Please give them some hope."

With that, they sprinkled sea salt on the ground as they had been advised to do by Sambina from the Curious Goods store in West Haven. Then they sprinkled the oily potion, and finally, buried the stones, which Winn said are supposed to soak up the curse.

"Now we will say the chant that will bring it all together," the Wigmaster said as they launched into a monotone, dirge-like spoken version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

"GO SOX!" they all screamed afterwards. "GO SOX! GO SOX!"