The vile 2004 Yankees, owners of history's most wretched collapse, may soon have company - and the world should shudder

Tonight, the Tampa Rays can make history: 

They can join the odious and repugnant  2004 Yankees, as the only MLB team ever to lose a playoff series after leading 3-0.

If you believe in juju - and who doesn't? - tonight's Game Seven  has global implications.  

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

The 2004 Yankee collapse came just days before U.S. President George W. Bush won re-election to his second term, a victory that eventually led to the Iraq War, the Great Recession and the psychological breakdown of Britney Spears. 

Any student of magical thinking will tell you that, considering Houston's record of cheating, a Rays' collapse would signal a similar impending wave of dread. Donald Trump's public rants - gibberish to many - could be the political equivalent of bangs on a garbage can lid.

Still, it's hard to say whether Tampa's collapse would equal the full shit-the-bed magnitude of the 2004 Yankee debacle. That horrible team - led by A-Rod and Javier Vasquez - traumatized its fans in a manner that can never be repeated. They won game three by a score of 19-8, and everyone on the planet knew that, to beat the lowly Redsocks, all they needed to do was show up.

So, they lost the next four. 

In comparison, the 2020 Rays would merely lose to America's most hated team. That's not nothing. And the agony could be amplified by a bench-clearing brawl or come-from-behind loss.  

If the Rays lose tonight, I hereby call for an immediate protective cordon to be established around Britney Spears. Our national juju nightmare might not be over. It might just be starting.