Sports Chowdah Recap for Dec 12-13: Isles Maroon Bruins, C's Make it 10 Straight, Pats Skid Stops At Two Games

OK....I'll admit to dragging my feet on this weekend's Sports Chowdah update in large part because I'm reluctant to bump that image of the late Bettie Paige from the top very top of this blog. But then again, that's not the only image of Bettie that's out there and I'm sure I'll come up with other, even more contrived excuses to feature her likeness on this blog.



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In a rematch of Superbowl XXXVIII (minus Janet Jackson's boob), the Patriots took on the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon at Foxboro. And seemingly just like that Superbowl, they weren't able to get much done offensively- at least until scoring their first TD on a 3-yard Kevin Faulk run with 1:08 left before halftime which tied the game at 7-7.

The Pats broke the tie with just over a minute remaining int the 3rd quarter on a 5 yard TD pass from Tom Brady to Ben Watson. Stephen Gostkowski added to the Pats lead with a pair of field goals from midfield (48 and 47 yards respectively). The only scoring for Carolina in the second half was a 36-yard field goal by John Kasay, giving New England the 20-10 win at home.

Tom Brady was 19 for 32 with one touchdown and one interception while Wes Welker had 10 receptions for 105 yards. Through the first 11 games, Welker has set an NFL reception record with 105. Linebacker Adelius Thomas was a benched on Sunday after criticizing coach Belichick's decision to send him, linebackers Gary Guyton and Derrick Burgess and WR Randy Moss home after showing up late to a team meeting Wednesday. New England will play Buffalo at Orchard Park next weekend.


The NY Islanders hosted the Bruins Saturday night at the Nassau County Collesium. Boston took a 2-1 lead in the second period on a goal by David Krejci but Matt Moulson tied the game with about five minutes remaining in that period. There was no scoring in the third period, which brought the game to overtime......all 24 seconds of it thanks to a Frans Nielsen breakaway almost as soon as OT started. Tim Thomas stopped 16 of 19 shots faced, giving Tukka Rask the night off, while Isles netminder Dwayne Roloson stopped 30 of 32 faced. So...at least the Bruins get the one point before heading back to Boston to take on the Phillies on Monday.


Saturday Night also saw the Celtics take on the Chicago Bulls at the United Center in a bid to win 10 straight. Long story short, it was a rout, and at times it was difficult to believe that this was the same Bulls organization that forced a 7th game with the Celtics in the first round of last season's playoffs. Rajon Rondo was 6 for 13 for 16 points while Rasheed Wallace had 15 points off the bench for the Celtics 106-80 win.