Last modified: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 12:04 AM EDT Jay Rizoli of Franklin shows off an official Red Sox World Series Champions hat he purchased at another store while he and other customers waited at Dick's Sporting Goods in North Attleboro for a new shipment to arrive. (Staff photo by MIKE GEORGE) 'It never gets old' BY Brett Corrigan FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE The excitement had a feel similar to Christmas morning Monday in Red Sox Nation, as local residents lined up in stores across the area to snag their own official Red Sox World Series Champion merchandise. At Dick's Sporting Goods in North Attleboro a constant flow of customers, many already decked out in Red Sox apparel, with grins on their faces the size of Mike Lowell's MVP trophy, scrambled around tables of T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats scooping up enough for their relatives and friends. Upon walking into the store, shoppers were greeted with the familiar sounds of the song "Dirty Water" resonating throughout the aisles. "I thought it was great suspense, and it was great for Jon Lester, for what he's been through to come back and pitch like that, it must have been the day of their lives," said Dave Jones of Lincoln, R.I. "It's been really fun to watch the rookies and being able to see them come up from Pawtucket and see the system work so well," added his wife Rosemary. There were a variety of shirts in stock, and customers seemed to know exactly what they wanted for themselves and their family. Chris Montgomery of Plainville brought his two sons, Tyler and Matthew, and nephew Andrew Forte of Rehoboth to pick up their shirts just before school in the afternoon. "It never gets old," said Pam Delaney of Foxboro who was picking up shirts for her husband and some extras to bring to her relatives in Pennsylvania. "It was a tough game for them, but it's been great between the Patriots and the Sox winning." The fact that it was the team's second win in four years didn't stop fans from inundating the stores. One of the shirts for sale even read "The Faithful are Rewarded Over and Over: 2007, 2004, 1918, 1916, 1915, 1912, 1903." Dick's employee Marco Pacheco said that the store opened from midnight to 2 a.m. for those with postgame excitement-induced insomnia who wanted their piece of baseball memorabilia immediately. "We had a sizable crowd last night right after the game," Pacheco said. "We also opened this morning at 6." The store was also selling all American League Championship Series merchandise, which had only found its place on the shelves a week ago, for 75 percent off. It seemed however, that most customers already had those shirts and hats and were ready to flaunt the new ones they were about to purchase. Others held off last week with higher hopes for the team. "I didn't buy one (ALCS shirt) because I knew they were going to win the World Series," said Norman Ricard of Cumberland, R.I., as he looked for shirts for his son, granddaughter, girlfriend and self. The general sentiment seemed to be that 2004 was unforgettable, but winning the 2007 World Series brought the Red Sox to a new level and assured Red Sox Nation that an 86-year slump would not be repeated. "We finally got the monkey off our back in 2004, now they've shown they can do it again," Ricard said. "2004 was more exciting because it was new, but winning in 2007 brings them respect which is also important," Jones said. "I've been a Red Sox fan for 40 years and I thought I was going to die without seeing them win a World Series, so two just makes it even better." When asked if he'd always been a Red Sox fan, David Thibault of North Attleboro replied: "Is there any other team? I've always been a Red Sox fan, even when I couldn't stay awake while listening to them on the radio. The best thing about this year was all of the young people, they fooled the other team because no one knew who they were and didn't expect them to be good." At one point in the day, as the supply of fitted hats on the table dwindled down and store employees scrambled to the back room to bring out more stock, more than 20 fans gathered patiently at the front of the store. Soon enough an employee was back and began to crack open a fresh box of hats as the crowd anxiously peered over the counter and scrambled to registers. In those few minutes they waited however, they were all united and talking about the game. They knew nothing about each other except that they had all seen Coco Crisp's leaping catch and Bobby Kielty's pinch-hit homer. They didn't care if the person standing next to them was a lifelong fan or had jumped on the bandwagon in 2004. What mattered was they placed their faith, support and sleep in the hands, batting gloves and catcher's mitts of a winning team, and it was worth the ride.