The Boston Red Sox won the 2007 World Series. And a nation celebrated yawned.

I honestly thought the Colorado Rockies had a shot in this series, at least until about the second inning of game one. After that, it was just a matter of time. The Rockies certainly deserved to be there, but they were horribly outclassed by an outstanding Red Sox team.

But that's not the real story. The real story is how blase the feeling around it was. Sure, Red Sox nation cared, but, really, after winning the 2004 World Series, it wasn't the same.

And then there's the more pressing issue that we're all aware of but not many people talk about: the Red Sox are the new Yankees. Period.

Their payroll is enormous, they traded away young players for veterans to help them win championships right now, no longer are the Sox just expected to get to the playoffs. They are considered failures if they don't win the Whole Thing.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. The Red Sox have a financial advantage, and they'd be doing a disservice to their fans if they didn't use it.

But for some reason, people rail on the Yankees for spending, but not Boston. Now, the Red Sox don't spend as much as N.Y., but it's still a boatload. And that leads to certain expectations, and it's just not quite as fun when a team wins a championship when that's what is expected of them all along.

Take nothing away from the Red Sox or their fans - that's not what this is about. They earned the championship, which is what they were supposed to do all along.

A 13-1 blowout can lead to some hand-wringing, excitement or hyperbole. After the Red Sox decimated the Rockies in Game One, here are what some of the nation's sportswriters had in their minds.

- Mike Littwin, Rocky Mountain News: "For days, you’ve heard about nothing but Fenway and poetry. Now, when you think of poetry, you wonder what rhymes with blowout."

- Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times: "Only Josh Beckett thinks Josh Beckett is normal. The rest of us see Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Tiger Woods, Google stock, Simon Cowell, F-16 fighter jets, monster trucks, Springsteen, dominance, impenetrability."

- Bob Ryan, Boston Globe: "Shorn of Whatever It Was that enabled them to transcend all reason as they stampeded into the playoffs and then over, under, around, and through the Phillies and Diamondbacks, the Colorado Rockies looked very much like a team that had not seen a living, breathing major league opponent in nine days, and sending them out against the hottest postseason pitcher in the galaxy bordered on cruel and unusual punishment.

- Mark Kiszla, Denver Post: "This was the worst beatdown on national television for a Denver sports team since the Broncos went to Super Bowl XXIV and all they got was a lousy T-shirt, not to mention a heaping helping of humiliation served by the San Francisco 49ers.

While Manny was being Manny and Boston played bingo-bango-bongo off the famous left-field wall, did anyone else have a bad Rocky Mountain flashback to Super Joe Montana?

- John Harper, New York Daily News: "Okay, so a little rust was to be expected from the Rockies after an eight-day layoff. But nobody expected them to show up collectively as the Tin Man."

Time for our weekly look at the fascinating musings on sports internet message boards.

Blue And Gold - Notre Dame Football: "I realize that a lot of 'fair weather fans' will be jumping ship. A few of us will remain, but now's the time to really get on board. In 2,3,4,5 years when ND is competing for BCS supremacy season after season, I will not be accepting bandwagon jumpers." - LIShamrock

ESPN.com - MLB General: "Intelligently, the Rockies would be lucky to win a game ... it is sad but the True. Once again, I will be proven right." - giovanni.alexander

ESPN.com - NCAA Football: "Why does LSwho fans try to dis the mighty OSU? They have half a NC in the modern era unlike all the other Champs who won unanimous ones and here they are trying to dog a program who's rich football heritage makes theirs look like a joke. LSU is not an elite school and they have some midget playing RB who spazzes out everytime he runs for 4 yards. They lost to Kentucky (who cares if they're ranked, it's Kentucky) and were undefeated. Get off our nutz lsu fans." - DORSEY_HAS_NO_KNEES

Igglephans - Philadelphia Eagles: "Andy Reid is a Big Fat Idiot. Andy and fuck his players. Maybe he’s done the blind pig shuffle once in a while and come up with an acorn or two, but most of these cocksuckers don’t belong on an NFL field ... What’s left is the league’s premier collection of busts, chumps and jagoffs. A virtual who’s who of camp bodies and other teams castoffs. It’s fucking nauseating. Hit the fucking pike you fat fucking loser." - BirdBrawn

ESPN.com - MLB General: "KIDS IN AFRICA ARE HAPPY, THEY GET FREE HATS SHIRTS JACKETS ALL DONATED BY THE CLEVELAND INDIANS." - wangful

ESPN.com - NFL General: "Now that the Colts have locked up the SB ... who's gonna be the second best team in the NFL?" - KyleBollerCrazyGood7

ClanRam - St. Louis Rams: "Team MVP? P Donnie Jones ... He's a strong candidate for the Rams MVP so far in the first half of this season...." St.LouisRams41

When Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer at the U.S. Open last night, it was the continuation of an unfortunate trend for him. Roddick's career record against Federer now stands at 1-14, for a .066 winning percentage.

While this news must be disconcerting for Roddick and his fans, there are some baseball fans who feel a similar despair when their teams play a certain opponent.

In honor of Roddick's wretched record, here is a look at the 10 worst winning percentages in head-to-head match-ups in Major League Baseball history.

(Criteria: Records from 1901 through 2007, with a minimum of 162 head-to-head games, in the regular season only. Data from BaseballReference.com)

1) Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 54-109, .331 vs. New York Yankees

2) Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 56-107, .344 vs. Boston Red Sox

3) Texas Rangers: 226-351, .392 vs. Baltimore Orioles

4) (Tie) Kansas City Royals: 167-244, .406 vs. New York Yankees and Texas Rangers: 236-345, .406 vs. New York Yankees

6) (Tie) Oakland/Philadelphia/Kansas City A's: 755-100, .407 vs. New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners: 174-253, .407 vs. Oakland A's

8) St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles: 825-1193, .409 vs. New York Yankees

9) Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins: 760-1088, .411 vs. New York Yankees

10) Philadelphia Phillies: 762-1087, .412 vs. New York/San Francisco Giants

As you can see, the Yankees have proven to be problematic for some teams to beat. Those teams aren't alone, though. The Yankees have a .567 all-time winning percentage.

In fact, they have a .500 or better record against nearly every Major League franchise. Both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds have a 2-1 record against the Yankees, representing the only two teams with a winning record against them in regular season match-ups.

Many great philosophical questions have been pondered throughout time. What is knowledge? Does God exist? What is the nature of reality? In a similar vein, many great thinkers have ruminated this question: If the current pennant races were porn, what type of porn would they be?

N.L. Central - Amateur

This is the easiest race to define. Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis are in a race in baseball's worst division. In any other division, they would not be anywhere close to the lead. Clearly, the Brewers are baseball's version of the "casting couch" girl. They are apprehensive, unsure of themselves, and wondering what the hell they are doing.

N.L. West - Orgy

The N.L. West is a jumbled orgy. While Arizona's kids are on top for now, the whole division has switched positions throughout the season. San Diego and L.A. have had turns at the top, and are now fighting to be included in postseason.

N.L. East - Watersports

The New York Mets are the rich old men of the group. They simply enjoy toying with the other teams, only to denigrate them in the end. Atlanta and Philly are sandwiched in the middle, but are clearly looking up at the Mets.

A.L. Central - Role Play

Cleveland and Detroit have switched roles throughout the season. They can't seem to make up their mind about who wants to be in what role. Early in the year, Detroit was in the lead role, but now the Indians have made a charge in an attempt to takeover the Tigers as front runners.

A.L. East - S&M

In Boston, the Red Sox jumped out and dominated their opposition. Now, the Yankees have made a charge, and are attempting to get up from under the foot of their rivals. Having been the media's whipping boys for the first part of the season, New York is trying to release itself from the chains of second place.

A.L. West - MILF

In honor of L.A., the Angels are clearly MILF's of the West. The Mariners are doing their best to come from behind, but the wise Angels have veterans who have been there before and know what they are doing.

It's that time of week ... time to take a look at internet message board douchebaggery. Today, since they are always a trove of entertainment, we will stick with the ESPN.com boards.

- ESPN.com - NFL General: "Michael Vick needs Jesus. I think we should all be willing to forgive Vick, just as Jesus forgave the Jews, who killed him. I don't think anyone would say we should kill all Jews because they crucified Jesus. I think a small Jail Sentence, maybe 3-5 years would suffice for Vick. Above all Vick needs to find Jesus in his life, and get some morals and spirituality. Vick is still young, and there is hope for his life. I hope he gets out of football, finds God, and serves him the rest of his days." - NorthWestPA

- ESPN.com - NFL General: "any black person actually think vick is guilty? or is he being set up by the evil racist white people."
- lertanze14

- ESPN.com - MLB General: "If Barry took steroids why is he still hitting home runs? How many players have as many home runs as Barry and he does not even play everyday. How do you explain that no one else hit as many home runs and there were convictions for steroid use. How do you explain why he is still big and being tested regurally? Steroids are very short term."
- brandblue2

- ESPN.com - MLB General: "Derek jeter has hiv. I feel sorry for all the women who have hiv cuz of him." - barrybondsthegreatestever

- ESPN.com - MLB General: "ROTFLMFAO at Boston. 4 games i've been calling it all year, yankees will win the division despite being 14+ games back. Lol what a joke of a team. long live the yankees."
- GMenSeamen

- ESPN.com - College Football General: "The Oklahoma Sooners, the greatest CFB team in history, (check the record books losers), is again being singled out by the NCAA this year. We got cheated, and I mean CHEATED by the Pac10 and the NCAA last year in Oregon, and now this injustice. Jason White and Adrian Peterson both got robbed of the Heisman a few years ago. OU is the whipping goat of the National Communist Athletic Association."
- ProudRedneckSooner

- ESPN.com - College Football General: "Illinois: CONTENDERS. The ZOOK era has begun! meow!!!" - toonces_the_metrosexual

- ESPN.com - College Football General: "Favorite prison you have attended? One in Istanbul is my favorite." - RogerCraigNU

- ESPN.com - College Football General: "Reggie Bush sucks. 2 carries 8 yards, what a bust. No sarcasm, just an observation. Reggie will be lucky to get 700 yards on the ground this year, and that is in 16 games. What an overhyped ESPN failure."
- moparmanjames

- ESPN.com - College Football General: "Notre Dame will win the National Champsionship. They will go 12-1, 11-1 regular season. Only loss will be to Michigan in a close game. Michigan will go on to lose 2 games as usual, thus allowing ND to make the BCS Championship game. That's right, ND will beat USC in South Bend, and I can't wait to see the look on Pete Carrol's face. It will be a great season for the Irish." - GiantsKnicksYanksIrish

If you have never heard of Netball, you probably aren't alone. Played only by women in places such as Australia, the U.K., Jamaica and South Africa, the rules are similar to basketball, with a few exceptions. There is no backboard, the court is divided into three sections, and only two designated people are allowed to shoot.

Except the rules are a little bit different in South Africa. If you play there, you better have a racially diverse team if you want to win:

"Netball South Africa’s ruling works like this: If a team has five whites, then it must also include two blacks while a team of five blacks must have two whites. Teams that stick to these quotas will have six goals added to their score. Now, if a team have at least a 6:1 ratio they will get three extra goals but if they slip to 7:0 they get no goals added to their tally."

Since goals only count for one point, adding six onto a team's score is a fairly big deal.

For those of you who don't know, the reason this rule was conjured is because South Africa has had a few massacres problems with race relations over the country's history. This is an attempt to help remedy that.

Frankly, this seems like a good opportunity for Bud Selig to step up to the plate. If Netball can change the rules to help integrate the team, why can't Major League Baseball?

It' pretty simple. One run added to the game for each African-American player used. Problem solved. Except maybe for the Houston Astros. (Okay, in fairness, they have recalled 33 year old journeyman reliever Stephen Randolph three different times this season. Then again, they've also designated him for assignment twice.)

There may be some sticking points, though. What if a player has one black parent and one white parent? It would be odd for the Yankees to beat the Red Sox 4 1/2 to 4. And can you imagine how many different ways Tony LaRussa could come up with to utilize this rule?

Maybe Americans can learn something from the good people of South Africa. Just imagine Ebony and Ivory playing baseball alongside each other ... and the Latinos ... and Japanese ... and Canadians ... and Koreans.

Another Tuesday has come, which means it's time to look at the latest round of internet message board douchebaggery!

- ESPN.com (MLB General): "Their is no way that the Dodgers would give up Laroche and Loney for Texeira. Loney might be better than him already." - nickvanexcellent

- ESPN.com (MLB General): "Bonds haters ... Just shut up, you're riduclus rhetoric act and posts are re tarded. I mean, if you can not realize that barry is a VERY special player, and you might not ever see they type of hitter he is again, then i dont consider you real fans...So do everyone a favor who loves the game of baseball and respects and realizes how hard it is to hit a 95 mph fastball..SHUT UP." - ProBaseballAnalyst1

- Orioles Hangout: "Lets just say it now...Erik Bedard is the best Lefty in the game. You can talk about Santana, or Hamels or any other lefty in the game right now...and perhaps they have better stats...but they dont have better stuff." - Roy Firestone

- Sox Talk (Chicago White Sox): "Shouldn't Kenny Williams be able to talk Pitt. out of Jason Bay ? Isn't he getting too expensive for them ? Anybody knkow anything about what's going on with the Pirates ? I'd like the Sox to take advantage of some of these cash poor teams and get a couple of good players.

I think Bay would be great in LF for the Sox." - WHITESOXRANDY

- Dodger Blues: "Why not trade D.J. Houlton, Eric Stults, and Joe Beimel for Johan Santana? Twins will likely lose Santana to free agency. So they trade him to us and get three great young pitchers in return for him.

We are not losing anything." - Westwood Blues

- Phila Phans: "The Mets are the luckiest team in history. just unreal. Teams literally give them games." - GMAN

- Reds Zone: "Would you trade Adam Dunn and Homer Bailey to the Twins for their top 5 prospects???? Perferrably 3 pitchers and 2 position players." - Redmachine2003

- Marlins Baseball: "The Marlins should trade Dontrelle Willis to Boston, it would be an awesome deal:

Deal Option 1:
Redsox: Dontrelle Willis
Marlins: Hansack and Jon Lester

Deal Option 2:
Redsox: Dontrelle Willis, Andino, Scott Olsen
Marlins: Jon Lester, Jacob Ellsbury, and Mike Lowell" - marlins2219

As we all know, Major League Baseball has no salary cap, leaving teams to bid inordinate amounts of money on sometimes mediocre players. Huge contracts can burn teams, while other squads employ less expensive players who produce more.

Below is a comparitive look at statistics from two players at each position. One of them makes a huge amount of money, while the other does not. Can you guess which contract belongs to each set of statistics? Answers are below.

Catcher
A).315/.389/.495, 11 HR, 63 RBI
B).226/.261/.281, 2 HR, 22 RBI

Salaries: $13,000,000 and $387,500

First Base
A).315/.415/.548, 20 HR, 57 RBI
B).341/.389/.523, 9 HR, 52 RBI

Salaries: $15,000,000 and $500,000

Second Base
A).283/.328/.492, 19 HR, 57 RBI
B).281/.362/.470, 12 HR, 50 RBI

Salaries: $11,500,000 and $407,500

Third Base
A).297/.380/.501, 16 HR, 51 RBI
B).262/.338/.371, 4 HR, 39 RBI

Salaries: $12,000,000 and $1,000,000

Shortstop
A).253/.333/.316, 2 HR, 24 RBI
B).323/.383/.479, 10 HR, 48 RBI

Salaries: $9,000,000 and $405,000

Left Field
A).235/.394/.432, 12 HR, 43 RBI
B).337/.386/.570, 16 HR, 73 RBI

Salaries: $13,000,000 and $4,400,000

Center Field
A).333/.404/.528, 13 HR, 49 RBI
B).259/.343/.415, 7 HR, 38 RBI

Salaries: $4,350,000 and $395,000

Right Field
A).297/.353/.532, 19 HR, 56 RBI
B).256/.366/.385, 6 HR, 33 RBI

Salaries: $14,000,000 and $2,535,000

Starting Pitcher
A) 5-11, 5.32 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, .287 BAA
B) 8-3, 1.97 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, .192 BAA

Salaries: $9,000,000 and $750,000

Answers
Catcher:
A) Russell Martin - $387,500
B) Jason Kendall - $13,000,000

First Base:
A) Albert Pujols - $15,000,000
B) Dmitri Young - $500,000

Second Base:
A) Brandon Phillips - $407,500
B) Jeff Kent - $11,500,000

Third Base:
A) David Wright - $1,000,000
B) Scott Rolen - $12,000,000

Shortstop:
A) Jason Bartlett - $405,000
B) Edgar Renteria - $9,000,000

Left Field:
A) Pat Burrell - $13,000,000
B) Matt Holliday - $4,400,000

Center Field:
A) Aaron Rowand - $4,350,000
B) Ryan Church - $395,000

Right Field:
A) Alex Rios - $2,535,000
B) J.D. Drew - $14,000,000

Starting Pitcher:
A) Chris Young - $750,000
B) Jose Contreras - $9,000,000

(All salaries found at: Cot's Baseball Contracts)

Back in 2002, the baseball world was aghast at the introduction of the QuesTec "Umpire Information System." There was not a journalist, umpire or pitcher who thought it was a good idea. Frustration with the system was evident.

Supreme blowhard Curt Schilling acted like his typical self, throwing a temper tantrum and smashing a QuesTec system with a bat after a bad performance while with the Diamondbacks.

The MLB umpires union filed a grievance against the commissioner's office that went nowhere. First, they withdrew the unfair labor practice charge, then they reached a "settlement" that changed nothing, only stating that baseball would use more than QuesTec to evaluate umpires.

Dan Patrick got into the act as well, stating in 2003 that the Umpire Information System could "decide the outcome of the World Series" if a team from a QuesTec ballpark played a team that did not use QuesTec at their home field. Safe to say that did not happen, as in 2003, the Florida Marlins (non-QuesTec) beat the New York Yankees (QuesTec) and in 2004 the Boston Red Sox (QuesTec) beat the St. Louis Cardinals (non-QuesTec).

After all the initial outrage about what a disaster it would be, the controversy seemingly disappeared overnight. It is rarely brought up anymore, and many people were not even sure it was currently being used. In fact, it is still in play, and opinions have changed dramatically. Umpires have seen it's usefulness and journalists as well.

In an article earlier this year with the Cincinnati Post, umpire Charlie Reliford had this to say about the technology:

"Years ago we feared instant replay, but instant replay was our friend. It proved that we are the major league umpires we are. QuesTec has done that too. Nobody in my uniform wanted it. But technology has given us a different way to grade ourselves. It's a tool to make ourselves better by making adjustments."

In an article with the Hardball Times this February, David Gassko took a look at the worthiness of the system and detailed his own results:

"So the easy question to ask is, does it work? If QuesTec has forced umpires to call a more uniform strike zone, then the differences between umpires will be smaller than before QuesTec was installed. And in fact, there has been a greater than 25% reduction in the true spread (percentage of pitches each umpire has called a strike, compared to the spread in the data we would expect from random chance alone) between umpires since the MLB first installed QuesTec in selected major league parks, which indeed supports the usefulness of the technology."

So, after all that huffing and puffing, it turns out QuesTec is a good thing? Who'd of thought that actually giving something a chance instead of coming to an immediate conclusion would be so beneficial?