I was writing a long post until after 2:00 AM last night. I had intended to finish it now.

I thought I had saved it.

Apparently not.

@#$%@!#)%!@$%!!!

There's no way I can reconstruct it now.

It was an extended review of all we have seen over the last couple of years regarding a certain rivalry to be renewed on Sunday night in the Bronx.

Here are some random items from the now-vanished post:

For me the greatness of the rivalry, currently at its peak, exists between the white lines. ... What gives these clashes added allure is not all the peripheral hullabaloo but rather the extraordinarily high level of baseball that is played when these two historic franchises are at their best.

- "Sully"

I'm not even a Yankees or a Red Sox fan, and I have to admit that they've played the best, most dramatic games of the 2004 season. There were times it seemed like anyone could put on the uniforms and have an epic game: Your office could split on hometowns, put on a whiffle ball tournament, and the Red Sox-Yankees match-up would go 11 innings, decided on a miraculous over-the-cubicle-into-the-water-cooler diving stab of a line drive for the last out.
- Derek Zumsteg

What can happen in a best-of-seven that hasn't already happened between these two this season? What kind of heroics can top what we have already witnessed? Is Pokey Reese going to throw three innings of brilliant relief in a 18-inning 1-0 win? Will Jason Giambi pinch-hit in a critical jam and hit a ball that's never found for a grand slam home run to win the deciding game seven? I don't know, but it's going to be interesting and it should be great baseball.
- Derek Zumsteg

You might say that expectations were met - especially if you're a Sox fan.

This has been a very depressing winter all around in NYC, but it may finally lift. Let's get it on.

OK, not just yet. One sour grape to get off my chest (seriously mixed metaphor alert). So help me God and Bill James (don't any Sox fans remember his "Tracers" or other demolitions of old stories?) - in no particular order - if I hear one more reference to how the veteran leadership showed by Varitek in picking a fight with A-Rod for no particular reason "sparked the Red Sox's turnaround" or some other nonsense, I'm sending that person 100 autographed pictures of Derek Jeter (if it's made by a Red Sox fan) or 100 copies of each of "Moneyball" and "Win Shares" (if it's made by a know-nothing in the media). Dean Barnett, consider yourself warned.

Such veteran leadership, which worked so well that the Red Sox lost several games in the standings immediately thereafter and didn't start gaining for another 2 1/2 weeks, inspired the Red Sox to grant Varitek a captaincy and a $40 million contract, which should make him a wealthy man long after his knees have expired.

Previews to follow over the next few days...assuming I remember to hit the "Save" button.