"That's not the way we drew it up," said Colorado manager Clint Hurdle. "Obviously we have to change our game plan," added Todd Helton. "You can't make any mistakes," chimed in shellshocked starting pitcher Jeff Francis. If you're Colorado, what else can you say?

The team that charged through September and most of October, and held Arizona to eight total runs in their mockery of an NLCS, looked like they hadn't played baseball in eight years, not eight days, as the Red Sox convincingly won Game One 13-1.

Every aspect of this game went Boston's way. The starting pitching was a mismatch, as Francis, the Rockies' putative ace, lasted just four innings, while Josh Beckett continued to pitch as if the month of October had killed his dog. Seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts (including five of the first six Rockies to come to the plate), and no pressure at all.

The bats. Was there a time, a week and a half ago, when we thought the Sox bats had been packed up early? Now the bats, which still have imprints of Indians pitchers on them, are producing runs like there's no tomorrow. They accounted for seventeen hits, eight doubles, a home run (hit by Dustin Pedroia on the second Colorado pitch of the ballgame). Eleven of the 13 RBIs came with two out. This team is firing on all cylinders.

The absolute lowlight for Colorado had to be the fifth inning; already in a 6-1 hole, the Rockies bullpen made Sox fans realize that there are worse fates on earth than Eric Gagne. Franklin Morales relieved Francis and gave up two singles, three doubles, a walk and a balk(!) for a game ERA of 94.50. Ryan Speier didn't help matters; he did his best early-season Rick Vaughan impression by throwing sixteen pitches, twelve for balls, allowing all of his inherited runners to score without doing any running. By the end of the sixth, the Rockies had thrown 180 pitches. And regretted most of them.

(For the record, we must note that Eric Gagne pitched a flawless inning and has thus far been one of the top five pitchers in the 2007 World Series. Dogs and cats, living together.)

There are other sports going on in town right now (Really. We looked it up.) Like the Patriots, who are busy assembling motivations to blow out everybody left on their schedule. The spat in the news this week is with Baltimore; former Raven and current Patriot Adalius Thomas remarked that his old teammates were glory hogs and showboaters. Current Raven and former murder suspect Ray Lewis replied that Thomas was a coward for taking his thoughts to the press instead of to Lewis himself. Lewis, for the record, made these remarks on his radio show.

There will be a lot of tired remote-control fingers in the Chestnut Hill vicinity tonight. Because the World Series is one thing, but #2 BC going to visit #8 Virginia Tech doesn't happen every day, either. There are lot of people waiting to see if BC deserves their lofty status, as VA Tech is a step above unranked UMass and Army.

If you've been a Celtics fan for the past 10 years (we know most of you haven't, so don't act like it now), you're probably as bemused as we are by the trade that sent old friends Mark Blount and Ricky Davis to Miami for old friend Antoine Walker. It's one of those rare trades that doesn't really help either team. Just thank goodness Danny didn't insert himself into the negotiations.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)