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 An open letter to Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe:
by erik lars myers
 Dear Mr. Shaughnessy,
Stop it. Really. Stop it, now. You've had your moment, and you need to stop. You invented your Curse, it went away, now it's time for you to do the same thing.
Why? Because, sir, you are an asshole.
You are divisive and evil. When the Red Sox finally won it all against the Yankees, you couldn't be happy along with the rest of the Red Sox Nation (yes, you coined the term, but it's outgrown you), you had to pipe up, immediately: "The Curse is not broken!" you screamed. That, sir, was the sound of your career beginning to implode.
I bet you cried on the night that the Red Sox won -- and not out of happiness, but because you were going to have to invent a new schtick. All those years of work, down the tubes in one joyous moment -- joyous to everybody but you.
Lately, since the win, as I'm sure you call the Red Sox's first World Series in 86 years, you've done nothing but broker in hatred. You could have written a nice send-off for Pedro, regardless of his unprofessional activity, because of his amazing years of service to the Red Sox, and place in the heart of the city of Boston. You could have shown heart, and compassion. Instead, you one-upped him and villified him. You could have written a nice piece about the ball and maybe done a little research about who owns the ball from other World Series wins. Instead, you started the scandal. You swim in it. When it looks like it's going to drop by the wayside, if people might move on, you include it in another column, where it doesn't belong, in a column about the trophy, even.
Please, do us, the Red Sox Nation a favor, and get out of the business. We're all intelligent, rabid, balls-to-the-wall baseball fans, and we can get angry about plenty of things on our own. We don't need your mediocre writing poisoning our attitudes any longer.
I long for the day when I click into Boston.com in the morning to read the latest articles on the Red Sox when I don't make it halfway through the article and think to myself, "What the hell? Who writes this trash?" and look up to see your name in the by-line. Is to too much to ask? To be able to enjoy my team's success without seeing you? Is it too much to ask to keep your seethingly evil ideas out of the 30-second opinions of uninformed pundits (see: ESPN's loud-mouthed quick-answer guys)?
Please, take a hint from either Bill Simmons or Peter Gammons -- they broker in knowledge and enjoyment, not yellow journalism. If you can't do that? Get out. Get out and let die-hard sports fans enjoy their team and their team's win without your constant downers, nay-saying, and noxious words.
We've earned it.
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