Yesterday, I put up my idea of a good motivational speech to give the Rays going into Game 7...

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You guys remember the Yankees of the '90s? Remember the whole "mystique and aura" thing? Remember how nobody could beat them? How it seemed like God was on their side and there was just nothing anyone could do to take them down?

A team could be up on them by 5 runs, but they'd score a couple and start coming back, and everything would fall apart. The other team would say, "Here we go again. We can't do this. They're the freaking Yankees." And they'd give up.

Now do you remember the Diamondbacks of 2001? They went into the World Series against the unstoppable Yankees and then watched their star closer throw two games away. Talk about mystique and aura. It was over. The Yanks had done it again. Through whatever supernatural forces they channeled, they were going to win yet another World Series.

But the Diamondbacks didn't give up. They took a look at the Yankees and said, "You know what? These guys are baseball players just like we are. That's it. And if we were good enough to get this far, then by golly, we're good enough to beat them. And they did it. They even came from behind in Game 7 to do it because they didn't let the Yankees scare them.

Now the Red Sox are the Yankees of this decade. They paid their dues by coming back from down 3-0 to beat the Yankees and then won two World Series. And now they're in everyone's heads. They pulled out all the stops and came back from 7 runs down to beat us, and last night you were scared of them. You feel like you're fighting against destiny. The Red Sox are the Red Sox, and that's it. You can't beat the Red Sox.

Well, let me tell you something. They're just baseball players like you are. And over the course of 25 innings, you outscored them 29-5. If you were good enough to do that, then you're good enough to win this series. Now go out there, look them in the face, and beat them down!

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Maybe they read it...

[Getty photos]