This is it. Again. And if things go well, we might even get to write that one more time this week.

The fans and the faith are there. The question is whether the Curt Schilling of old will make an appearance, too.

Still, it’s clear that Terry Francona thinks this thing is going in the right direction. By getting by Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia with the over-powering Josh Beckett, the Sox got back home. Now the manager is officially throwing his typical “pro-player” manager approach out the window. Coco Crisp is sitting the bench with his horrendous ALCS on base percentage. Jacoby Ellsbury is playing center and batting eighth to try and provide some juice.

Still, the man at the center of it all, again, is Curt Schilling. Traditionally, that’s exactly where he’s wanted to be. Schilling loves the attention. He loves the pressure. He loves the chance to perform on the biggest stage.

So why do so many Sox fans have serious indigestion? Clearly, because Curt hasn’t been himself through much of this year. Gems like his near no-hitter and ALDS Game 3 aside, there have been plenty of mediocre starts thrown in there. Somehow, he has to dial up past brilliance if the Sox have a chance to keep going.

And if they do keep going, suddenly things could change drastically. Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose first American postseason has clearly been the worst of his career so far, has already gone on record saying he wants a shot at revenge. With his past results and his stuff - dialed up with extra determination - we’d be hard-pressed to bet against him if things got to a Game 7. With him pitching on extra rest, of course.

But that’s a big “if”. And while a lot of it may be up to Big Papi and Manny Being Himself against Fausto Carmona, most of it will probably revolve around Senor Schilling.

That’s your cue Curt. Here goes nothing. And everything, of course.

– Cameron Smith, Globe photo