To David Ovens: Thanks for all the tacos! Love, Jacoby Ellsbury

Is there anything more precious than a very young child presenting you with a gift? Not really. I mean, a six-year-old who has taken the time to pick something out or, if you're really lucky, make something for you... that's pretty special. Wanna know what my cousin gave me?

A Red Sox hat. That's right, I've lived here for nearly five (!) years, and so it was decided that I should own some team paraphernalia. I have a shirt, but it's in Japanese (of course it is!) and I have it more for the visual factor of the kanji than the Sox fandom. But a Boston hat is the ubiquitous chapeau of the Red Sox fan's wardrobe, and I can now be counted among said fans. I tried it on, and I immediately felt the longing for a Fenway Frank and some Sam Adams. I felt the frat-boy rambunctiousness welling up inside me, and I had to fight hard to resist the urge to run through Kenmore Square chanting "Yankees suck!" while climbing lightpoles and flipping cars.

Alright, so some of that may not be true. And although I like wearing hats about as much as I like being punched in the nose, it was a very sweet gift, and you can be damn sure that I rooted for the Sox and I was very happy when they won. There are instances, however, where this rooting for the Sox will cease and I will don blue and orange. Yes, I am a fan of the Mets, will always be. Even while living in Boston and Chicago, the Mets were my team. In the beginning of September, I was really, really hoping that the red-hot Mets would wind up in the World Series against the Sox for a rematch of the historic 1986 series (and we all know what happened and where I was). I would've proudly strolled down Yawkey Way with a Mets jersey despite the dirty looks and eggs thrown my way. But then, the worst collapse in baseball history occurred, and the Mets gave new meaning to the term "suck." As the ever-so-politically-incorrect website tshirthell.com put it, Ya Gotta Bereave. But there's always next year, and one can hope, hm?

But anyway, Jacoby Ellsbury, the rookie center fielder for the Red Sox has the dubious honor of being "the guy who won free tacos for America." Yes, if you visit a Taco Bell today between 2 and 5 PM, you can "steal" a taco just as Ellsbury stole second base in game 2 of the World Series. That was the inevitable conclusion of Taco Bell marketing chairman David Ovens' deal with major league baseball; the question was who would be the one to steal a base and provide 'sustenance' for the nation? (in quotes because Taco Bell doesn't really count as food) I really wanted David Ortiz to be the base-stealer. Obviously it wouldn't happen; the man has a bum leg, and even on a good day it would take him three minutes to reach first. But you never know (and hey, wouldn't that have been a coup for Taco Bell? Name a taco after Big Papi? It's a perfect name for a taco-esque product, don't you agree?). And while the games were being played in Colorado, it might've been possible for Daisuke to have stolen a base, leading to a Japanese take on the taco (note: asking for "taco" in Japan will result in your being served octopus. When I first went there, my host family told me that it was "taco night" and I had a very different picture of what they meant).

The funny thing about being in Boston right now is that the big story is not that the Sox won the World Series, but that the undefeated Patriots are destroying other pro teams by dozens of points. To make things more interesting, they're playing the undefeated Colts on Sunday, and the media is hailing this matchup as bigger than anything... including the World Series. Personally I'd like to see the Pats win, but it's more out of a thorough dislike for Peyton Manning than anything else (also, it's fun to root for someone named "Bruschi"). And one final thought: Rooting for the underdog, always fun... so let's go J-E-T-S.