Sports Redux: Epic Fail

Maybe someday, when all this is over, we'll sit down with (or maybe without) Terry Francona and we'll all have a good laugh out of all of this.

Because when it became obvious that Curt Schilling didn't have it (and he was OK, but clearly didn't have his A game, or even the B+ game he's been getting by with), maybe a different manager would have gone to Jon Lester, or Julian Tavarez (whoops! he's inactive) to go a few innings. Instead of having to dip into Okajima and Timlin too early. Which leaves not much in the bullpen except Eric Gagne. Which, from a traffic-control perspective, is a pretty good way to empty out Fenway early.

Yes, we'll laugh about this someday.

Not that we're blaming EVERYTHING on Gagne - Javier Lopez and Lester both get flicks in the forehead for allowing Cleveland's 7-run 11th, but come on. He'll do as a symbol of bullpen collapses until he proves to us he shouldn't.

Want some highlights? How about Manny Ramirez, knocking another Yankee out of the record book. His 23rd postseason home run passes Bernie Williams as the most all time, with the caveat that Lou Gehrig and Stan Musial never had LCSs and LDSs to beef up their stats. Mike Lowell followed Manny's shot to right with a homer to left, which gave the Sox a 6-5 lead. The tension mounted as the bullpens traded innings; Okajima and Papelbon pitched the Sox out of trouble, while Cleveland's Rafael Betancourt, who takes 17 1/2 minutes between each pitch (we counted) lulled the Sox bats into submission.

The best chance the Sox had for glory was the 10th, with the sluggers coming up. But Tom Mastny, who oughtta ask for a raise, got Ortiz to ground out and got Manny and Lowell to fly out, setting up the 11th inning and its ensuing carnage. In true Red Sox fashion, Trot Nixon provided a killer hit off Lopez in that inning.

Boston College should be movin' on up when the polls come out today. Number one LSU got shocked by Kentucky, and #2 Cal flopped against Oregon State. Meanwhile, #3 Ohio State and the #4 Eagles feasted on patsies (Kent State and Notre Dame, respectively), so the polls should be realigned and topsy-turvied once again.

Out West, the San Jose Sharks were feelin' good after tying the Bruins with a Milan Michalek goal. With less than 40 seconds to go. But those 40 seconds were too much to preserve the tie, as Aaron Ward won the game for the Bruins with 12 seconds to go. If you haven't been paying attention to the Bruins (we know you haven't; hell, we haven't), they went 3-2 on the Western swing. The Revolution, on the other hand, lost to Columbus 3-2 in their penultimate regular season game.

Pats. Cowboys. An undefeated team will be going down. **SPOILER ALERT** It'll be Dallas.