Break out all your hyperboles, Red Sox Nation, Theo Epstein is back.

But there’s only so much of it I can take.

I thought that the drama that unfolded in October of 2004 could never be topped. The Comeback. The Sweep. David Ortiz. Curt Schilling. The Parade.

I also thought that what people said about Sox fans enjoying being hard-luck losers couldn’t be farther from the truth. All Sox fans want is to win; nobody relishes the notoriety of so much losing.

I was wrong.

The constant drama spewed from many sports writers and a great part of Red Sox Nation this winter casts them in a light of never-ending suffering. Check out these reactions to Epstein’s return, and you’ll see what I mean. There is little logic and way too much drama. And it’s not just talking about Red Sox fans who are mouthing off. Sports writers, radio personalities, talk show hosts; they’re everywhere, putting their own twist on a winter of discontent and trying to out-dramatize the last guy.

Dan Shaughnessey, the creator of the now defunct Curse, says that, “The Red Sox are afraid of what is written about them in the newspapers and what is said about them on WEEI.” “Afraid” of what the media says. I’m sure Shaughnessey would love that to be true; having that kind of power over such a prominent sports franchise and their ownership. The same ownership that ruined his Curse, traded Nomar in the face of criticism, and has better things to worry about than what crackpot writers and fans think about them.

Or how about this golden nugget from some fan (presumably): “This has been perhaps the worst off season in Sox history.” Really? Worse than selling Babe Ruth? Worse than the winters after 2003, 1986, 1978, or 1946?

What happened this off-season to make it so bad, one might ask. The Red Sox acquired one of the top prospects in the game (Andy Marte), one of the best young pitchers available (Josh Beckett), stabilized the bullpen (which was their weakest link last year), and added some solid role players to boot. They gave up a shortstop that has had a very good career but didn’t seem to thrive in Boston (Edgar Renteria), lost their centerfielder because their arch-enemies over-paid for him (Johnny Damon), saw Theo Epstein leave (but still seem to be part of the decisions) and then return again, had to deal with a disgruntled star (Manny Ramirez), and saw a few more guys from the Championship team leave town.

Pardon me if I don’t see that as such a horrible winter. In fact, there’s a lot of good that has come from all this.

But woe to the Red Sox! Now they need a shortstop (ignore the fact that they’ve got a solid player in Alex Cora to get by with until young prospect Dustin Pedroia is ready or they can trade for somebody else). They need a center fielder (their most glaring need, but there is still plenty of time to find a solution). They need a lead-off hitter (which is debatable, since they have a number of high OBP guys who can’t steal but will still be able to get on base at a very acceptable rate). And that’s about it.

Oh, and I should mention that their minor league system is considered one of the top ten in baseball and they have more than enough prospects to make deals to fill those holes today if they wanted.

Can you see why Red Sox fans are so upset? Can you understand their turmoil over a front office that doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing?

Neither can I. The Red Sox have some problems to solve, but no more than most other teams.

It’s shameful that people have to resort to hysterical reactionary garbage. It also begs the chicken-or-the-egg question of what came first: the over-emotional fan base that thrives off of being cast as losers, or the predatory media that needs to sell papers by making every move by the Red Sox a Shakespearean tragedy? (MMmMmM, that’s good hyperbole!)

Even a once-proud representative of what is good about New England sports, Bill Simmons, was found crying in his milk by complaining about the Patriots loss to the Broncos last weekend. The Sports Guy tosses away his own concept of giving teams a grace period after they win championships and stunningly pouts about the loss rather than celebrate three Super Bowls in the past four years. “Grace period, schmace period,” he says. More like, “credibility, schmedibility.”

What bothers me even more is that there are a number of Red Sox and Patriot fans out there who don’t fall prey to such tactics, but the hysterical part of the Nation drowns them out. I, for one, can’t complain about being swept out of the playoffs by the White Sox, or what happened in Denver last weekend. I can’t see what’s wrong about reworking the Red Sox into a franchise that exhibits long-term stability with sound contracts, a solid farm system, and decisions based on logic. Some mistakes will be made, and things won’t always be perfect. I can accept that.

And there are others out there who share this view. Level-headed people who can see the forest from the trees. Art Martone, of the Providence Journal (a city I love and it doesn’t surprise me that a voice of reason and intelligence resides there) says it best, and I’ll leave you with his words:

“Theo Epstein’s return may not reflect as well on the Sox as his leaving reflected badly on them, but no matter. It was a blunder that had to be fixed. It took a while, but they finally fixed it. That, more than a center fielder or a shortstop or a leadoff hitter, is what the Sox truly needed this offseason.”