Fred, you may be somewhat senior to me, but the 30 additional years of fandom have taught me to expect frustration from our Red Sox. Although people think we agree on everything, as Spring Training was ending your fandom was getting the better of your reason. You were upbeat and optimistic about the teams chances. I predicted a 4th place finish (possibly last if things went terribly wrong). The team is in a tailspin right now, but they are doing better than I had expected so it isn't eating me up.
Do yourself a favor. Lower your expectations for this team. I think the best we can expect is a competitive team that will still be in the hunt for the second WC when September rolls around.