1967 didn't hurt a bit. Anyone who lived through it knows that season was pure joy even though they lost the World Series. In fact, 1975 wasn't painful. Rice and Lynn coming up as Rookies in the same season invigorated the fan base and the Big Red Machine was a prohibitive favorite. Also, we were without Rice for the World Series. The 1975 world Series was one of the most exciting World Series in history. Losing was disappointing, but not devastating because we had all these great young players plus Yaz. 1978 and 2003 were very painful because it was the Yankees, and 1986 was devastating because it was given away. The notion of long suffering Red Sox fans is preposterous, but it helps jackasses like Shaughnessy could sell books. Since 1967, being a Red Sox fan has been a lot of fun. No need for armor.