There’s nothing better than bringing in a New Year when the Red Sox are reigning World Series champions and the Patriots haven’t lost since last January. Since the hot stove has been about as cold as Jackson Hole, Wyoming in the past month, I thought I’d supply a couple Sox-related anecdotes:

1. I went to a concert from a group called “Cowboy Mouth” who are from New Orleans. (They put on a great show, by the way, and if they’re playing near you I’d highly recommend them.) Prior to them taking the stage the sound board operator played Sweet Caroline. Kind of a strange song for a hard-rock group, but I of course was entertained. I’m unable to hear that song without screaming out “oh oh oh” and “so good, so good, so good” at the appropriate parts, which usually gets some strange glances. But at the concert I realized that I wasn’t getting any strange glances, instead, the entire crowd was doing the same thing. I’m not sure why the Cowboy Mouth crowd did this, they’re certainly not a Boston band, but it was just another Sox-taking-over-the-world story.

2. For the week before X-mas, my family took a trip to Hawaii. For some reason this hotel seems to attract Major League baseball players who have a beef with the Sox. The last time I was there was right after the 2003 playoffs where I ran into Jeff Nelson. This year, C.C. Sabathia was staying there. I resisted the urge to thank him for choking in the playoffs.

If 2008 is as good to the Red Sox as 2007 was, I’ll be a happy camper.