Two teams enter, only one will leave

Just glancing at the final score -- Boston 11, Cleveland 2 -- makes Game 7 of the ALCS look like a blowout, but it wasn't. The game remained tense throughout, with the Red Sox clinging to a one-run lead for several innings. A baserunning mistake here, a fielding error over there, but the game stayed close. And then the Indians' bullpen imploded in glorious fashion, giving up eight runs in two innings (allowing five of them to be driven in by pint-sized leadoff man Dustin Predroia), and that's all she wrote. Hey, Cleveland, remember what Manny Ramirez said about losing the LCS -- there's always next year. It's not the end of the world. Who cares? (Oh, right: Indians fans.)

But now we have our Thunderdome match -- the experienced, fully-loaded Boston Red Sox against the youthful children of destiny, the Colorado Rockies, who haven't lost a game in a month. I have to give the edge to the Sox -- they've got home field advantage, they've got bigger firepower, they've got Josh Beckett, and the Rockies have been sitting at home playing Halo 3 for a week waiting for them to finish with the Indians. But who wouldn't love to see the Rockies complete this streak? (Oh, right: Red Sox fans. Honestly, I'm happy either way. I like both teams.)

This could a series for the ages, folks. Or it could be an embarrassing clusterfuck, like last year. Makes no difference to me -- I'm pumped.

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