Red Sox Nation -- a modest proposal

Those who follow the Red Sox know that they don't have fans. Oh no, other teams have fans. Not having won the World Series since 1918, the Red Sox have built up such a following of supporters that are so dedicated, so local, so passionate -- that they can only accurately be described as a "Nation."

My local paper had an article about some soldiers in Iraq who are life-long supporters of the Red Sox. That got me wondering -- there are undoubtedly soldiers in Afghanistan who are also Sox fans -- so does the term "Nation" need to be expanded to take into account our soldiers in other parts of the world? Shouldn't we include all the ordinary citizens in other countries who are pulling for the Red Sox?

I'd like to modestly propose that if, no when, the Red Sox win the World Series this year, they consider expanding "Red Sox Nation" to "Red Sox World." For all I know, there may be alien species on other worlds that have been following the Sox these many years and find themselves cheering for them now. Perhaps "Red Sox Universe" would be more appropriate?