From the moment the Red Sox won the World Series, ending an 86-year drought of baseball titles in Boston, the stampede to cash in on the occasion was astounding. Multiple books have been released, including one by Stephen King that follows his season-long correspondence about the team with a fellow fan. More magazine "special editions" line convenience stores in Boston than regular issues. And of course, Major League Baseball came out with their World Series DVD as well, but for most Sox fans it fell short of capturing the drama of this season in Boston Red Sox history.

And so to join in the media blitz, the New England Sports Network (NESN) released their championship DVD today, and I have to say that it is the most thrilling record of this historic team that I've seen or read yet.

Unlike the MLB DVD, this video follows the entire season, from the heartbreaking loss in last year's ALCS to the victory parade through the streets (and waterways) of Boston. The video makes sure to recognize that the World Series victory was a season--as well as 86 years--in the making, and does so in a stylish manner. The editing down of an entire regular and post season into 80 minutes is a tremendous feat, and somehow it was done without shortchanging anything.

The DVD uses game footage from NESN, ESPN, and FOX Sports, and audio from those three networks as well as WEEI, the Red Sox radio network. A good mix of announcers across the board, including Yankee broadcasters, gives it a broad perspective while still providing veteran fans with the requisite and always entertaining Jerry Trupiano "homerun over-call".

Player and management interviews make up the majority of the commentary and add a unique inside view into the 2004 team. While a traditional husky-voiced narration sufficiently drips with hyperbole, it is the thread of Sox talking heads weaving throughout the piece that make it special. Fans want to know what players were thinking down 0-3 to New York in the playoffs. They want to see their heros talk to them. They want to hear, from the players' mouthes, how much it meant to bring a championship to the city of Boston.