With sports reporters now providing hourly updates on Josh Beckett's back and overall mood, Kristen and Amy have put together a color-coded Josh Beckett Mood-o-Meter.

Peter frets.

The Onion reports:

Terry Francona Announces Josh Beckett Will Start Games 1, 4, 7, 2, 6, 3, 5

Also, the paper of record adds:

Chaos and destruction marred the opening of the World Series when Air Force B-52 bombers scheduled to make a ceremonial flight over the stadium before the start of Game 1 instead executed a series of low-level carpet-bombing runs and dropped an estimated 500 tons of incendiary and high-explosive munitions, utterly destroying Boston's historic Fenway Park. ...

Props to Youk and Big Papi, of course, but, oooh, that Beckett!

Papel-blog: Can Josh Beckett just pitch all the games? I hear he likes pitching on short rest.

Jeff Louderbeck: Post-season still agrees with Josh Beckett.

Teddy Kokoros: Beckett was amazing tonight:

As for the Sox batters, it was a good night, but they left a few too many runners on base for my liking. In their defense, some of those called strike 3 calls especially to Youk and Manny where bullshit. ...

Beth: Josh Beckett has succeeded in momentarily rendering me speechless:

... One of the things I've been most relishing when I've looked forward to this postseason is the chance to see the kind of f-bombing, fist-pumping freakout awesomeness I could only imagine would come along with October Josh. Instead, he actually looked like he was reining himself in a little. Which is a scary thought when you think about the wicked heat he was unleashing on the Angels all night long. ...

Kristen: Josh Beckett would like you to know that those 20 games were no fluke:

That was, without a doubt, the most mellow, least stressful playoff game I've ever witnessed. ...

Jere: That game went just like I hoped and thought it would. How often can you say that?

Game photos.

Ben Ostrander seems to have had enough of Dane Cook:

As I watch the first game of the ALDS, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Dane Cook for reminding me that there is only one October. Thank you, Dane Cook.

Way more Sox comments.

Sox Nest: Now THAT'S what we’re talking about!

Red Sox Chick: THIS is how the game should be played!

Red Sox Soul: Beckett's the ace.

Zach Hayes: The response of Josh Beckett following one of the biggest collapsing, stunning losses of the season cannot be underestimated.

Amy: How much do I hate Fox sports?

Wayne Braverman: If the Sox can win on Sunday night, then the race for the Eastern Division championship will pretty much be over.

More reaction.

Rob appreciates the 2007 Josh Beckett:

... One thing that impresses me a lot about Becks is that he is keeping his pitch count down. He only threw 103 pitches tonight. If we had needed him to, he could have easily started the 8th inning. But, we have Okajima, who got his 7th Hold of the season with a hitless inning. What a find he's been. What makes Okajima even more enjoyable to watch is the fact that the Yankees could have had bought him from Yomiuri before us, but didn't. ...

Zach Hayes, meanwhile, tries to make sense of the Dustin Pedroia situation.

Beth is happier this morning:

... There were a few mishaps early, many of them revolving around Manny playing left field like he was blindfolded--but in the end, the Sox finally seemed to stop hitting the snooze button and finally started playing some good baseball. ...

Red: Suddenly, everything is right again in the universe.

Zach Hayes looks at how all the players the Sox traded for Mr. Gopherball are doing.

At least, for the two remaining games in the current series. It's so bad Ben Ostrander doesn't even want to go downtown because:

Taking the D Line takes me too close to Fenway for comfort. ...

Nothing would surprise Red anymore:

Each subsequent game has brought horrors more ghastly and inexplicable than the previous, to the point that if Abreau and Damon simply drove a pick-up truck around the bases, mowing our players down one-by-one, I probably wouldn't flinch. ...

Beth: Josh Beckett is fast becoming my new Derek Lowe: the man I love to hate:

... The worst part is that we can still vividly remember when the Red Sox played like the Yankees are right now--taking pitches, patient at the plate, slugging when they have to, playing station-to-station on the basepaths, hitting one-through-nine, and holding the line on the mound. ...

Mats: Blech. Blech. Blech.

How bad is it? Kristin agrees with Tim McCarver on the Sox collapse.

Dan Kennedy: Boston Massacre, 2006.

Papel-blog: At least I got to hear the five most beautiful words in the English language: Rudy Seanez designated for assignment.

Redsock: What the fuck is wrong with these underachieving assholes?

... I hate Josh Beckett. Stupid asshole moron no-balls shithead. He's supposed to be an ace. Some fucking ace. Keep milking that 2003 World Series complete game, you asstard. ...