Red Sox and Yankees. Yankees and Red Sox. Intertwined together in history much like Grant and Lee, Lincoln and Douglas, Kennedy and Nixon, Kerry and Fonda and chocolate and peanut butter.

Like ‘em, love ‘em, hate ‘em, despise ‘em.

There are many rivalries that illicit the same emotions. Cardinals-Cubs, Duke-North Carolina, UConn-Tennessee, USC-UCLA, Cowboys-Redskins, Celtics-Lakers. But it seems for whatever reasons the Sox and the Yanks draw more attention, especially over the last several seasons.

When both teams are even the rivalry tends to run hotter then a Louisiana fish boil. When one peaks over the other it isn’t just as much fun for either side.

As a Red Sox fan since I was 7 I just can’t bring myself to root for the Yankees unless for some reason it will be to the Red Sox benefit. Childish? Oh sure it is. But do you think I’m the only one?

I remember as far back as 1976 rooting for the Royals in the ALCS and the Reds in the World Series because as an 11-year-old I didn’t want to see the Yankees win. I don’t know if I was more heartbroken when Yaz flew out to Cesar Geronimo to end the ’75 Series or when Chris Chambliss hit the pennant winning home run in ’76 to send New York to the World Series against Cincinnati.

I remember rooting for the Dodgers in ’77 and ’78 after the Yankees beat the Sox in the playoff game and then won the pennant. And again in ’81. Hell I’m an American League guy except when it comes to the pinstripes. In 1995 I was so happy when Ken Griffey Jr. scored to beat them. In ’96 I pulled for the Braves and took Jim Leyritz name in vain, in 1998 I pulled for the Padres, in ’99 it was the Braves after the Yankees took out the Sox in the ALCS, in 2000 the Mets. All losing causes.

In 2001 I finally could smile as the Diamondbacks behind the pitching of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson and a timely hit by Luis Gonzalez proved that Mariano Rivera was human and the run was stopped.

2003 brought more heartbreak as Aaron Freaking Boone took Tim Wakefield deep into the Bronx night, but some young gun named Josh Beckett shut them down and the Marlins were victorious in the Fall Classic.

2004 was a dream. Down three zip and Millar yapping about don’t count us out. Dave Roberts steals a base, David Ortiz was magical, Schilling was a warrior and Derek Lowe, Johnny Damon, Keith Foulke and so many others were on the top of their games. I still get emotional watching Edgar Renteria’s bounce out to Foulke and the ensuing celebration. Sometimes I wonder if it actually happened.

This year may very well turn out to be not only an epic battle of ebbs and flows of the long arduous season that with one week left has still yet to be decided. But it could very well spill over once again into the post season and yet another ALCS battle. That would be three times in 5 years, 4 times since 1999.

These teams have played a ridiculous amount of games against each other since 1999. And not much has really been decided because the records are almost even head-to-head. Although Yankee fans will be quick to note they have beaten the Sox two of the three times in the playoffs and that they have 26 World Series titles to our six.

But what if you aren’t a fan of either team. Don’t you get tired of all this? Tired of all the hype, the so-called hatred and everything else that comes with Red Sox-Yankees.

I’m a Sox fan and even I get tired of it. I enjoy the game always have, I love good players and appreciate great play. I hate Derek Jeter but I’d put him on my team the first chance I got.

I wish for once we could go back to how it was before cable, before ESPN, before NESN, before YES, before the Internet, before sports talk radio and all the 24/7/365 coverage. Before all the sports anchors started to shout at me.

I want to go back to the way it was as a child when I got my Red Sox-Yankee information from the newspaper. When I got to watch a handful of games every summer on Channel 22 or Channel 18. When I spent my nights falling asleep listening to Ned Martin and Jim Woods describe the action on the radio.

And every once in while your team was on the NBC Game of the Week with Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek or Monday Night Baseball on ABC with Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell. It was simpler then.

I don’t recall the hatred as much between the fans then. I don’t recall the Yankees suck chants or 1918 or steroids. It was simpler then. We weren’t overloaded with information.

It seems as if every game is a “big game”. One team is putting the pressure on the other. The series will be full of drama. Enough already, I call bullshit!

I really feel sorry for the children of today. My kids will never know those simple pleasures because it’s not a way of life for us any longer.

But most of all I feel sorry for the fans of baseball who have to put up with this 18 times a year, then again in the post season and then have it shoved up their asses in the off season too.

It almost makes me want to find another team to root for. Some obscure team where I could go back to enjoying baseball the way I did in my youth.