It's been a tough week to be a Boston sports fan. As if the Red Sox loss wasn't enough, I walked off the golf course on Monday afternoon and was immediately informed that the Celtics had traded Antoine Walker and Tony Delk, 40 percent of their starting lineup last season, for a tall, white stiff with five years left on his enormous contract, a second year point guard with no experience and a throwback from the Rick Pitino error, I mean era. I'll get to the Celtics debacle later, don't you worry. I have to start with the Red Sox.

As you all can probably imagine, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2003, will go down in history as one of the most disappointing nights of my life. Obviously there have been worse things in the past and there will be worse things in the future, but I can't imagine anything being more disappointing.

You don't understand how depressing it is to be a Red Sox fan right now. You know the feeling right after you buy a new toy or game, that sense of excitement and joy, because you know you've just treated yourself to something that you will truly enjoy? Well, imagine that feeling, and then imagine driving home after buying this new toy, and getting rear-ended by a Mack truck, seeing the toy fly out of the car across the road and smash into a tree. Then, imagine the Mack truck continuing on its way and driving directly over the toy, crushing it into a million pieces.

That toy is the dream of every Red Sox fan. That truck is the Yankees. At least that truck driver will have to pay for the damages to the car and the toy, and possibly be charged with a hit-and-run. George Steinbrenner never does anything technically illegal. Don't get me wrong, Steinbrenner is a very questionable character, but he hasn't broken any rules or laws with his "I wonder how much I have to spend to buy a World Series?" strategy.

Okay, so maybe I'm a little bitter, but wouldn't you be bitter if you spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on something and saw all your hard work and dedication taken away from you and destroyed by your most hated enemy?

I love the Red Sox, I really do, but I don't think I can handle much more of this heartache. Mind you, I'm only 20 years old, but in sports fan years, I'm at least 50. It's mentally and physically draining to watch the Red Sox each year. After game seven of the ALCS, I felt like I was in mourning. My dad called me at 9 a.m. on Friday and asked if I was going to be wearing black all day, because he was seriously considering it. It's almost as if the Red Sox are a person suffering from a deadly, incurable disease every season; it's inevitable that they are going to die, but there's always a glimpse of hope that maybe someday there will be a cure.

Someday, sometime, somewhere, someone will find a cure for the Red Sox. And it will be beautiful and glorious and a day that millions of people will remember forever. I will never give up hope that someday during my lifetime the Red Sox will win the World Series. Call me crazy, call me a dreamer, and most importantly, call me dedicated. There will be no greater feeling than one day seeing "Red Sox World Champions" written in bold print, on the front page across every newspaper in America. On that day, even The Amherst Student will have sports on the front page.

What's up with the Celtics trade?

So can anyone besides Danny Ainge and Jim O'Brien give me a rational explanation as to why the Celtics would trade Antoine Walker and Tony Delk to the Mavericks for Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chris Mills and a draft choice? Come on now, Danny, don't try to tell me that the Celtics are even remotely improved by this trade.

Lafrenz is a 6'11" wide-body who can't score inside the paint, doesn't rebound particularly well, and has no toughness whatsoever. Sure, he's an above-average three-point shooter and a good shot blocker, but he's not even a significant upgrade over Tony Battie. At least Battie is somewhat athletic; Lafrenz can't even leave the ground when he jumps.

I hate this trade. Without Walker and Delk, the Celtics lack second and third scorers to compliment Paul Pierce. They also lose their top assist man, top rebounder and top free-throw and three-point shooters. They already traded J.R. Bremer and now they are giving point guard responsibilities to unproven rookie Maurice Banks and unproven second-year player Welsch.

Words don't even describe how mystified I am by this trade. I really hope Danny Ainge and company have something else in store for the team, because Ainge just turned a potential 50-win team into a team that may not even make the playoffs. Unbelievable.

And how does this trade make any sense for the Mavericks either? Not that they didn't make out like bandits, but how does Walker fit into the rotation? Could they realistically put a starting lineup of Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Antawn Jamison, Dirk Nowitzki and Walker out on the floor all at once with only one basketball? There's just not enough shots to go around. Walker and Jamison are both coming from teams where they were given free reign to shoot as much as they wanted, and both have been reluctant in the past to limit their hoistings.

As I said before, this has been a tough week to be a Boston sports fan. At least next week can't be any worse. Maybe the Marlins will even win the World Series and Steinbrenner will fire himself and the rest of the Yankees organization. Then, Major League Baseball will disband the Yankees, the Expos will move to New York, and peace on earth will finally be established. Can't a Red Sox fan dream?