A Review of "Champions Again"

Yesterday I picked up a copy of the NESN DVD, "Champions Again" at the FYE store in Manhattan. Over the weekend I saw on NESN that FYE stores around New England were carrying it, so I stopped by the one on Sixth Avenue, and low and behold, there it was. (They were also selling the 2007 World Series video at an incredible low price of $4.99, after a $5 rebate. I guess I should have waited until now to pick it up there!) Back in 2004, NESN also released their own DVD of the Red Sox championship season, "Faith Rewarded" (which Yours Truly made an appearance in). This one is similar to that one, as "Champions Again" does a recap of the entire season. It hits the high points (the April comeback against the Yankees, the "Mother's Day Miracle," Clay Buchholz' no-hitter, etc.), as well as the low ones (the Gagne trade, the near-Yankee comeback). Overall, the DVD is well-done, with some interesting bonus footage, such as the last inning of the Buchholz no-hitter, the four consecutive homers against the Yankees in April, and the best of Orsillo and Remy (when RemDawg falls in the booth while doing air guitar). I didn't like hearing either John Sterling ("It is high, it is far..") or Michael Kay on this DVD, and I especially didn't like when the Yankees were narrowing the lead in September, seeing a flashback to some guy's home run at Fenway back in October 1978. (No need to mention names, as it's ancient history.) I can do without seeing that nonsense on a Red Sox championship DVD. I would also liked to have heard more of Joe Castiglione and the NESN guys' calls and less from Fox, but you can't have everything, I guess. But it doesn't take away from the DVD's quality. I especially liked that they included Mike Timlin's tribute on NESN to Tim Wakefield after the Sox won the Series. It's great to sit back on a cold winter's night and relive some great memories of another (I love writing that!) Red Sox championship season. Go get "Champions Again."