World Series, Game 1

Well, that went about as expected.

Seriously. I told you the Rockies pitchers would have their hands full. Okay, so I didn't expect them to walk in three runs in a row but if you really think about it, those runs were no big thing. The game was over by then. Truthfully, it was over in the bottom half of the first inning after Josh Beckett retired the Rockies on three K's and then the little Red Sox who could (Dustin Pedroia) went yard over the Green Monster before the Rockies defense could get comfortable.

I think the off days hurt the Rockies. Their timing was bad at the plate. They looked rusty and when you add the glaringly bright lights of your first World Series game as a player (only one Rockies player had been there before), it just adds up to a long, long, long night. I swear my dog could have predicted the outcome of this game.

Game 2 is the big game. Duh.

Really, it is. Schiling is beatable this season and it's unlikely he'll pitch as well as he did in Game 6 of the ALCS. From the Rockies point of view, they had to go in thinking Game 1 was the mulligan. Beckett being Beckett, the eight-day layoff and being the visitors besides -- it's a lot to overcome, even for a team that was so hot. But it's a long series and really all you have to do is win one game in the other guy's house.

So you got the rusty, first-time jitters, best-pitcher-in-baseball game out of your system. You just go out there and take Game 2.

Sounds so freaking easy, don't it?

The Red Sox are on a roll right now and I'm not sure there's anybody Colorado could put out on the hill who could shut them down. I mean the one game they lost in the last five they've played, they scored 7 runs. So they're gonna score. Which means the Rockies have to start hitting. And they have to do it against Curt Schilling, who until his very civilian last couple of seasons, was the closest thing baseball had to, well to Josh Beckett.

I can see the Rockies winning Game 2.

But I doubt it. Seriously.