Three of my best friends from childhood went to Game 1 tonight in St. Petersburg, and two of them talked some trash about the Rays getting ready to take down the Phils.
(The third guy - Dan "The Man" Trammel - flew down to attend the game with his dad and was very magnanimous despite being a Mets fan. Dan and his father had not been to a game since Rusty Staub was playing, so I am thrilled they got to be there. As a side note, Dan is responsible for many of the brilliant crossword puzzles in The Trentonian lately, and we thank him for that.)

As for the other clowns, I used one of my favorite Star Wars analogies to respond to their smack.
"Cole Hamels will show you the true nature of the Force. He is your master now."

As for the game, the pitching was magnificent. The Phillies were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and the Rays' 2-3-4 hitters were 0-for-12. This was a Classic indeed, and I hope the ratings bear out that someone outside of Philly and Florida watched it.

It is clear in this postseason that if Cole Hamels goes 7 innings with the lead, it's lights out with Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge. It reminds me of the Mariano Rivera-John Wetteland combination for the Yankees in 1996.

The Phils are three wins from a World Championship, and it's going to be a wild week.

Stay tuned later tonight.