NCAA FOOTBALL- And just like that, the college football season is upon us [Yay!- NANESB!].
Thursday night marked the beginning of the first season in which the champions of college football will be decided by a playoff format instead of polls and sportswriters.
This also marked Texas A&M's first game since quarterback Johnny Manziel was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft earlier this year. Texas A&M started off the season ranked #21 and faced #9 South Carolina on the road in Columbia, SC on Thursday night.
Coming into the season opener, the Gamecocks could boast 18 consecutive home wins- the longest active streak on Division 1 Football. Aggies fans worried about A&M football post Johnny Manziel had to like what they saw from sophomore QB Kenny Hill, who had Texas A&M up over the Gamecocks 31-14 at halftime. In the second half, South Carolina had no answers for Hill who would go on to throw for 511 yards and complete 44 of 60 pass attempts and three TDs as the Aggies blew South Carolina out of the water by a 52-28 final. According to the USC press guide- which keeps records as far back as 1962- the previous record for passing yards allowed by the Gamecocks was 485 prior to Thursday night.
ACC- The 2014 Boston College Eagles football season got underway on Saturday with an all-Massachusetts melee, travelling to Gillette stadium to take on the UMass Minutemen.
After a scoreless first quarter, BC took a 6-0 lead on field goals from Alex Howell and Joey Launceford. After halftime, the Eagles managed to pad their lead thanks to a running TD from RB Myles Willis followed by a rushing TD from QB Tyler Murphy to make it a 20-0 game before UMass got on the board with 2:28 to go in the 3rd with a TD pass from QB Blake Frohnapfel to Tajae Sharpe.
However, in the 4th, the Eagles would put the game out of reach with a 43 yard TD completion from Murphy to WR Josh Bordner to open up the quarter and Launceford capped the BC scoring with a 21 yard FG to make it a 30-7 final.
Although Saturday's game took place about 40 miles from Chestnut Hill, the home opener for the Eagles will take place on Friday, September 5th when they host the Pitt Panthers.
ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- Defending national champions Florida State travelled to Texas on Saturday night to take on Oklahoma State. The Seminoles were ranked #1 heading into Saturday night's game and were able to get by a very game Cowboys [currently unranked- NANESB!] by a 37-31 final. 2013 Heisman trophy winning QB Jameis Winston went 25 for 40 with 370 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE- The Brigham Young Cougars managed to spoil the UConn Huskies home opener and debut of new head coach Bob Diaco on Friday. Thanks to four TD passes from BYU QB Taysom Hill, the Cougars cruised to an early lead and led UConn 28-7 at the half. BYU would go on to win by a 35-19 final at East Hartford.
UConn's homestand at E. Hartford will continue for the next two weeks as they host Stony Brook and Boise State [in that order- NANESB]. Both games are scheduled for a 12:00 PM ET kickoff.
BIG 12- Defending Big 12 Champions Baylor kicked off the 2014 and debut of their new stadium in Waco, TX in style with a convincing win over Southern Methodist University on Sunday night. With former president George W Bush and Heisman winner and Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III in attendance, the #10 ranked Baylor Bears routed the SMU Mustangs at newly-completed McClane Stadium by a 45-0 final. Bears starting QB Bryce Petty went 13-23 with 161 yards and 2 TDs before leaving Sunday night's game at halftime and being replaced by Seth Russell who also went 13-23 with 124 yards, a TD and an interception.
NFL- Just a quick reminder that the NFL season gets underway on Thursday, September 4th. The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks will host the Green Bay Packers with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 PM ET on Thursday night- the game will be televised on NBC.
The Patriots will open up the 2014 season on the road in Miami on Sunday- that game is scheduled to kick off a 1:00 ET and will be broadcast on CBS.
PATRIOTS- The New England Patriots sent backup QB Ryan Mallet to the Houston Texans in exchange for a conditional 7th round draft pick in the 2016 NFL draft. Earlier in the week, new England traded G Logan Mankins to Tampa Bay in return for TE Tim Wright and a 4th round draft pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
BOSTON RED SOX- After the shock of trading Lester [and most of the starting rotation from the 2013 World Series team- NANESB!] away wore off, the Sox had a pretty decent road trip to the Midwest and West Coast where they took two out of three from the Angels and swept the Cincinnati Reds during a brief two-game series at the Great American ballpark.
However, the disastrous homestand that took place once the Sox returned to Fenway was enough to make even the most die-hard and optimistic Sox fan write off the 2014 season as auditioning for the 2015 season. The series began with a split of the 4-game series with the Houston Astros before going 0-7 against the Angels and Mariners.
Boston bounced back somewhat on the road in the AL East, with the Sox taking two out of three from the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre before heading to Tampa Bay. The Red Sox won the Friday night series opener before being shut out in Saturday night's game by a 7-0.
On Sunday, Boston bounced back nicely by shutting out the Rays by a 3-0 final thanks to a complete game 3-hit shutout by Clay Buchholz. Clay struck out six batters and walked none while getting run support in the form of RBI singles from Christian Vazquez, Mookie Betts and Big Papi throughout the game.
After Boston took two out of three from the Rays over the weekend, Tampa is hoping to salvage a split on Labor Day. To that end, they'll send Drew Smyly [9-10; 3.31 ERA] to the mound to face off against Rubby de LaRosa [4-5; 3.81 ERA]. First pitch for this Labor Day game is scheduled for 1:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia may be missing at least a week after suffering from 'concussion-like symptoms' after a collision with Logan Forsyth during Saturday's 7-0 loss. With the rosters expanding on September 1, the Red Sox may not even have to put Pedroia on the DL although if it is a concussion, he will probably miss at least a week's playing time.
EVEN MORE RED SOX NEWS- The Red Sox and Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo have agreed to terms on a 7 year, $72.5 million contract last week. The sought-after Cuban defector became eligible after obtaining his US P-1A work visa and arrived at the team's Ft Meyers facility last Wednesday to begin workouts.
Although the regular season for the Red Sox minor-league affiliates is nearly over, Castillo may end up seeing time in the playoffs for the Ft Meyers Red Sox in the Gulf Coast League or the Portland Sea Dogs of the AA Eastern League or Pawtucket Red Sox of the AAA International League.
Showing posts with label Baylor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baylor. Show all posts
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Turkey Day Sports Chowdah Update- Patriots Buck Broncos in Historic Comeback; NHL Agrees to Massive Broadcast Deal with Rogers
Wow- very seldom does a marquee NFL game live up to the pre-game hype. Sunday night's Bronco's-Patriots matchup did exactly that, although you couldn't tell from the first half.
To start off with, literally everything was going Denver's way in the first half at Foxborough. With just under 10 minutes to go in the first quarter, Stevan Ridley fumbled the ball which was promptly recovered by Broncos LB Von Miller and run back 60 yards for a TD to give Denver the early lead.
On New England's next possession, Brady was sacked and lost the ball on the Patriots own 28 yard line. Denver recovered and was able to punch it in from the Patriot's 10 yard line thanks to two carries by RB Knowshon Moreno to give the Broncos a startlingly quick 14-0 lead.
With Ridley benched, LeGarrette Blount came in at RB and on the 3rd play of New England's drive, fumbled the ball at mid-field. The Broncos recovered [starting to sense a pattern?- NANESB!] and Denver was once again in New England's red zone thanks to carries by Knowshown Moreno and Montee Ball. They got as close as the Patriot's 6 yard line before the Patriots defense came up with a huge sack of Peyton Manning, costing the Broncos 10 yards and forcing them to settle for a FG to make it a 17-0 game.
Denver added to their lead in the second quarter- although this was on a 70 yard TD drive engineered by Manning that started on the Broncos own 30- not capitalizing on a Patriots turnover (surprisingly). The drive was capped by a 10 yard TD pass from Manning to TE Jacob Tamme to but the Broncos out to a seemingly insurmountable 24-0 lead.
So- did you turn off the TV by this point? Either because you were a disgusted Patriots fan or were expecting a much better ballgame despite not being emotionally invested in either team? I gotta confess: I did- although I did end up tuning in for the 3rd quarter.
Brady broke Denver's shutout bid right out of the gate with a quick strike in the 3rd quarter. The Patriots started out from their own 20 to open up the second half and Brady moved the ball by passing to Kenbrell Thompkins, Rob Gronkowski and Shane Vereen before the Patriots got on the board with a 5 yard TD pass to WR Julian Edelman. This made it a 24-7 ballgame and the Patriots were down by a mere three TDs.
On the Broncos first possession of the second half, Denver got the ball as far as midfield before Montee Ball fumbled and Pats LB Brandon Spike recovered, giving New England the ball back on the Denver 32. With the short field, Brady got inside the Broncos red zone thanks to completions to Gronkowski and Vereen before RB Brandon Bolden was able to punch it in on a 1 yard TD run to make it a 10 point game with the better part of one and a half quarters of football to play. Those Patriots fans optimistic enough to be talking about a comeback at halftime were suddenly starting to look downright prophetic.
The 3rd quarter wrapped up the way it began- with a quick scoring drive from the New England offense. Thanks to an 11 yard return from Edelman (who had fumbled earlier in the game), the Patriots started out on their own 35 yard line. The drive began with a completion from Brady to WR Kenbrell Thompkins for 14 yards to put the ball at mid-field before Brady connected with Edelman for a 43 yard pass to put the ball on the Denver 8. With 19 seconds to go in the 3rd, the Patriots made it a three point game thanks to an 8 yard TD pass from Brady to Gronkowski to make it 21-24.
Starting out from their own 22, the Broncos were able to run exactly one play in their first possession of the 4th quarter before Peyton Manning was picked off by rookie cornerback Logan Ryan. Starting from the Denver 30, New England required just two passes from Tom Brady- a 15 yard completion to Gronkowski and a 14 yard TD pass to Julian Edelman to give New England a 28-24 edge, their first lead of the night and seemingly impossible scenario during halftime.
The Patriots were able to add to their lead thanks to a lengthy drive that started out from their own 47 that took just under 5 minutes- although the Broncos defense stiffened and forced the Patriots to settle for a 31 yard Gostkowski FG to make it 31-24.
However, the Broncos weren't done yet. After getting the ball back on their own 25, Peyton Manning led a drive down to the New England red zone where they were able to tie up the ballgame thanks to a 7 yard Demariyus Thomas TD catch to know up the game at 31-31 with 3:06 remaining in the 4th.
Both the Patriots and Broncos weren't able to able to do much of anything in the remainder of regulation, forcing OT. Interestingly, the Patriots won the coin toss but Belichick elected to give the Broncos the ball to start out the OT.
Just like the end of regulation, both teams weren't able to do much of anything with Denver getting the ball into New England territory before a 10 yard penalty forced them to punt. The Broncos were then able to pin the Patriots back inside their own 20 on the ensuing punt, and New England was able to get as far as their own 37 before they had to punt on 4th and 4.
This went on for awhile, and it appeared as though the NFL would have its second tie game of the day [earlier in the day, the Vikings and Packers played to a 26-26 tie at Lambeau Field- NANESB!] but when the Patriots punted with 3:01 left in OT. Former Patriots WR Wes Welker was set to field the ball inside the 20, but the ball made contact with Denver WR Tony Carter, making it a live ball that Pats Safety Nate Ebner recovered at the Denver 13 yard line. After two runs up the middle, it was decided to go for the chip-shot FG on 3rd and 10 with 2:00 left in OT. Gostkowski's kick was good from 31 yards to give New England the 34-31 OT win.
Tom Brady went 34-50 with 344 yards and 3 TD passes while getting sacked 3 times. Peyton Manning went 19-36 with 150 yards, 2 TDs, 2 sacks and an interception. Wes Welker had a total of 31 yards and was a conspicuous non-factor in his return to New England while Knowshon Moreno had 224 rushing yards and 1 TD for the Broncos. For the Patriots, Julian Edelman had 110 receiving yards on 11 catches with 2 TD receptions.
The comeback from 24-0 is the biggest in the history of the New England Patriots and the ratings were the highest for a November football game in 17 years and the highest rated contest since NBC began the Sunday Night Football telecast in 2006.
For this upcoming Sunday, New England will travel to the Lone Star State to take on the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon with a kickoff scheduled for 1:00 ET. The rematch of the 2012 Divisional playoffs will be televised on CBS.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- Since it's Thanksgiving, this means that both the Cowboys and Lions will be playing [Not each other, tho- apparently the universe will collapse upon itself if Dallas and Detroit ever play each other on Thanksgiving- NANESB!].
The Detroit Lions will host NFC north rival Green bay at Ford Field- that game is scheduled for a 12:30 ET kickoff and is scheduled to be televised on FOX.
Later on in the day, the Dallas Cowboy will take on the Oakland Raiders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. The contest is set for a 4:25 ET kickoff and will be televised on CBS.
To wrap things up, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Pittsburgh Steelers for an AFC North matchup on a game that will be televised on NBC with a kickoff scheduled for 8:30 ET.
NHL- HUGE news out of Canada heading into the Thanksgiving break [ours, not theirs- NANESB!]. The National Hockey League and Rogers Communications [NYSE- RCI: TSX- RCI-A & RCI-B] have agreed to a 12 year, C$5.3 billion deal to broadcast NHL games in Canada, blindsiding competitors such as TSN and the state run Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
This isn't just Rogers getting a bigger slice of the pie- this is basically Rogers buying up the Marie Callendar's chain while TSN and the CBC were waiting for their waitress to bring them a slice of the pie and then telling TSN and the CBC that they've secured the rights to any pies sold for the next 12 years.
Under the deal, the CBC will retain their iconic Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts, but only after Rogers has already selected their first pick for that night's matchup on their networks.
The deal with Rogers- Canada's largest wireless and cable provider- also includes rights to the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals. Although no official announcement has been made, it's widely believed that Rogers will re-sell some rights to Bell Canada [NYSE- BCE]- Bell and Rogers are joint majority owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Curiously, ADRs of Rogers traded on the New York Stock Exchange were down slightly after the announcement.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- Wow...that was pretty embarrassing.
The Boston Bruins headed into the Thanksgiving weekend on the wrong end of an absolute beatdown at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings as the Bruins lost by a 6-1 final on Wednesday night at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. Jarome Iginla accounted for the lone Bruins goal (which came late) while the Red Wings got tallies from Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Tatar, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Drew Miller and Gustav Nyquist.
The loss ends a 5-game streak where the Bruins managed to get at least one point and had won eight of their last 10 games.
The Bruins will return back to the TD Garden for a Friday afternoon for another Original 6 matchup when they host the New York Rangers. Puck is scheduled to drop at 1:00 ET and the game will be televised on NBC.
NCAA FOOTBALL- Big upset last weekend in the top 25 standings as the only undefeated team in the Big 12 was felled by a conference opponent late in the regular season- and it wasn't even close.
In Stillwater, OK, the Oklahoma State Cowboys managed to put up 49 points on the #3 ranked Baylor Bears on Saturday night, going on to win by a final of 49-17. At halftime, the Bears were trailing by a score of 14-3, but Oklahoma State came out in the second half to score three unanswered TDs in the 3rd quarter and won this one going away. Baylor slips to #9 in the AP standings while OSU vaults past them into #7.
So out of all the Top 25 teams, this leaves Alabama, Florida State, Northern Illinois and Fresno State as the remaining undefeated teams as they head into 'rivalry week' and their respective conference championships.
Perhaps the most compelling Rivalry Week matchup will be Saturday's Iron Bowl between #1 Alabama and a resurgent Auburn program, who comes into this weekend ranked #4. Kickoff from Auburn is scheduled for 3:30 ET and the game will be televised on CBS and can be heard on XM Channels 86 and 91.
Other Rivalry week matchups featuring undefeated teams from the BCS Top 25 include #16 Fresno State on the road against San Jose State on Friday- kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 PM ET on Friday afternoon and the game will be televised on CBS Sports network.
#2 Florida State, meanwhile, will travel to Gainesville, FL to take on the struggling Florida Gators, who are coming off a 26-20 stunning home loss to FCS Georgia Southern. To round out the BCS undefeteds, #14 Northern Illinois thumped the Western Michigan Mustangs by a 33-14 final on Tuesday night and will await the winner of Friday's Buffalo-Bowling Green State game for the MAC title game on December 6th.
To round out the BCS undefeateds on Rivalry Week, #3 Ohio State travels to the Big House in Ann Arbor, MI for The Game- that kicks off at 12:00 PM ET and will be televised on ABC and XM Channel 91.
While it doesn't involve an undefeated BCS title contender, another rivalry game of potential interest will pit #6 Clemson against #10 South Carolina, which kicks off at 7:00 ET and will be televised on ESPN.
BOSTON COLLEGE- No record-setting afternoon for RB Andre Williams, but the senior RB had a productive afternoon nonetheless on Saturday with 2 TD runs and 263 yards total against Maryland in the Eagles' 29-26 win over the Terps.
The final game of the regular season also happens to rekindle the old Big East-era rivalry with Syracuse as the Eagles will travel to the Carrier Dome to take on the Big Orange for the first time in three years and for the first time with Syracuse as a member of the ACC. This will be the Eagle's first trip to the Carrier Dome in 9 years and Syracuse needs a win to be bowl eligible while Boston College is looking to run the table and win their fifth straight game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 ET and the game on XM channel 191 and will be streamed on ESPN3.
Steven Senne- APNFL- I'm not gonna lie to you. Part of the reason it took me so long to do a sports update is because Sunday night's game at Gillette left me at a loss for words (the good kind!). Sure preparations for Thanksgiving was part of it, but it's hard to summarize Sunday night's primetime Broncos-Patriots game in mere words, but here's my attempt-
To start off with, literally everything was going Denver's way in the first half at Foxborough. With just under 10 minutes to go in the first quarter, Stevan Ridley fumbled the ball which was promptly recovered by Broncos LB Von Miller and run back 60 yards for a TD to give Denver the early lead.
On New England's next possession, Brady was sacked and lost the ball on the Patriots own 28 yard line. Denver recovered and was able to punch it in from the Patriot's 10 yard line thanks to two carries by RB Knowshon Moreno to give the Broncos a startlingly quick 14-0 lead.
With Ridley benched, LeGarrette Blount came in at RB and on the 3rd play of New England's drive, fumbled the ball at mid-field. The Broncos recovered [starting to sense a pattern?- NANESB!] and Denver was once again in New England's red zone thanks to carries by Knowshown Moreno and Montee Ball. They got as close as the Patriot's 6 yard line before the Patriots defense came up with a huge sack of Peyton Manning, costing the Broncos 10 yards and forcing them to settle for a FG to make it a 17-0 game.
Denver added to their lead in the second quarter- although this was on a 70 yard TD drive engineered by Manning that started on the Broncos own 30- not capitalizing on a Patriots turnover (surprisingly). The drive was capped by a 10 yard TD pass from Manning to TE Jacob Tamme to but the Broncos out to a seemingly insurmountable 24-0 lead.
So- did you turn off the TV by this point? Either because you were a disgusted Patriots fan or were expecting a much better ballgame despite not being emotionally invested in either team? I gotta confess: I did- although I did end up tuning in for the 3rd quarter.
Brady broke Denver's shutout bid right out of the gate with a quick strike in the 3rd quarter. The Patriots started out from their own 20 to open up the second half and Brady moved the ball by passing to Kenbrell Thompkins, Rob Gronkowski and Shane Vereen before the Patriots got on the board with a 5 yard TD pass to WR Julian Edelman. This made it a 24-7 ballgame and the Patriots were down by a mere three TDs.
On the Broncos first possession of the second half, Denver got the ball as far as midfield before Montee Ball fumbled and Pats LB Brandon Spike recovered, giving New England the ball back on the Denver 32. With the short field, Brady got inside the Broncos red zone thanks to completions to Gronkowski and Vereen before RB Brandon Bolden was able to punch it in on a 1 yard TD run to make it a 10 point game with the better part of one and a half quarters of football to play. Those Patriots fans optimistic enough to be talking about a comeback at halftime were suddenly starting to look downright prophetic.
The 3rd quarter wrapped up the way it began- with a quick scoring drive from the New England offense. Thanks to an 11 yard return from Edelman (who had fumbled earlier in the game), the Patriots started out on their own 35 yard line. The drive began with a completion from Brady to WR Kenbrell Thompkins for 14 yards to put the ball at mid-field before Brady connected with Edelman for a 43 yard pass to put the ball on the Denver 8. With 19 seconds to go in the 3rd, the Patriots made it a three point game thanks to an 8 yard TD pass from Brady to Gronkowski to make it 21-24.
Starting out from their own 22, the Broncos were able to run exactly one play in their first possession of the 4th quarter before Peyton Manning was picked off by rookie cornerback Logan Ryan. Starting from the Denver 30, New England required just two passes from Tom Brady- a 15 yard completion to Gronkowski and a 14 yard TD pass to Julian Edelman to give New England a 28-24 edge, their first lead of the night and seemingly impossible scenario during halftime.
The Patriots were able to add to their lead thanks to a lengthy drive that started out from their own 47 that took just under 5 minutes- although the Broncos defense stiffened and forced the Patriots to settle for a 31 yard Gostkowski FG to make it 31-24.
However, the Broncos weren't done yet. After getting the ball back on their own 25, Peyton Manning led a drive down to the New England red zone where they were able to tie up the ballgame thanks to a 7 yard Demariyus Thomas TD catch to know up the game at 31-31 with 3:06 remaining in the 4th.
Both the Patriots and Broncos weren't able to able to do much of anything in the remainder of regulation, forcing OT. Interestingly, the Patriots won the coin toss but Belichick elected to give the Broncos the ball to start out the OT.
Just like the end of regulation, both teams weren't able to do much of anything with Denver getting the ball into New England territory before a 10 yard penalty forced them to punt. The Broncos were then able to pin the Patriots back inside their own 20 on the ensuing punt, and New England was able to get as far as their own 37 before they had to punt on 4th and 4.
This went on for awhile, and it appeared as though the NFL would have its second tie game of the day [earlier in the day, the Vikings and Packers played to a 26-26 tie at Lambeau Field- NANESB!] but when the Patriots punted with 3:01 left in OT. Former Patriots WR Wes Welker was set to field the ball inside the 20, but the ball made contact with Denver WR Tony Carter, making it a live ball that Pats Safety Nate Ebner recovered at the Denver 13 yard line. After two runs up the middle, it was decided to go for the chip-shot FG on 3rd and 10 with 2:00 left in OT. Gostkowski's kick was good from 31 yards to give New England the 34-31 OT win.
Tom Brady went 34-50 with 344 yards and 3 TD passes while getting sacked 3 times. Peyton Manning went 19-36 with 150 yards, 2 TDs, 2 sacks and an interception. Wes Welker had a total of 31 yards and was a conspicuous non-factor in his return to New England while Knowshon Moreno had 224 rushing yards and 1 TD for the Broncos. For the Patriots, Julian Edelman had 110 receiving yards on 11 catches with 2 TD receptions.
The comeback from 24-0 is the biggest in the history of the New England Patriots and the ratings were the highest for a November football game in 17 years and the highest rated contest since NBC began the Sunday Night Football telecast in 2006.
For this upcoming Sunday, New England will travel to the Lone Star State to take on the Houston Texans on Sunday afternoon with a kickoff scheduled for 1:00 ET. The rematch of the 2012 Divisional playoffs will be televised on CBS.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- Since it's Thanksgiving, this means that both the Cowboys and Lions will be playing [Not each other, tho- apparently the universe will collapse upon itself if Dallas and Detroit ever play each other on Thanksgiving- NANESB!].
The Detroit Lions will host NFC north rival Green bay at Ford Field- that game is scheduled for a 12:30 ET kickoff and is scheduled to be televised on FOX.
Later on in the day, the Dallas Cowboy will take on the Oakland Raiders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. The contest is set for a 4:25 ET kickoff and will be televised on CBS.
To wrap things up, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Pittsburgh Steelers for an AFC North matchup on a game that will be televised on NBC with a kickoff scheduled for 8:30 ET.
NHL- HUGE news out of Canada heading into the Thanksgiving break [ours, not theirs- NANESB!]. The National Hockey League and Rogers Communications [NYSE- RCI: TSX- RCI-A & RCI-B] have agreed to a 12 year, C$5.3 billion deal to broadcast NHL games in Canada, blindsiding competitors such as TSN and the state run Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
This isn't just Rogers getting a bigger slice of the pie- this is basically Rogers buying up the Marie Callendar's chain while TSN and the CBC were waiting for their waitress to bring them a slice of the pie and then telling TSN and the CBC that they've secured the rights to any pies sold for the next 12 years.
Under the deal, the CBC will retain their iconic Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts, but only after Rogers has already selected their first pick for that night's matchup on their networks.
The deal with Rogers- Canada's largest wireless and cable provider- also includes rights to the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals. Although no official announcement has been made, it's widely believed that Rogers will re-sell some rights to Bell Canada [NYSE- BCE]- Bell and Rogers are joint majority owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Curiously, ADRs of Rogers traded on the New York Stock Exchange were down slightly after the announcement.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- Wow...that was pretty embarrassing.
The Boston Bruins headed into the Thanksgiving weekend on the wrong end of an absolute beatdown at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings as the Bruins lost by a 6-1 final on Wednesday night at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. Jarome Iginla accounted for the lone Bruins goal (which came late) while the Red Wings got tallies from Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Tatar, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Drew Miller and Gustav Nyquist.
The loss ends a 5-game streak where the Bruins managed to get at least one point and had won eight of their last 10 games.
The Bruins will return back to the TD Garden for a Friday afternoon for another Original 6 matchup when they host the New York Rangers. Puck is scheduled to drop at 1:00 ET and the game will be televised on NBC.
NCAA FOOTBALL- Big upset last weekend in the top 25 standings as the only undefeated team in the Big 12 was felled by a conference opponent late in the regular season- and it wasn't even close.
In Stillwater, OK, the Oklahoma State Cowboys managed to put up 49 points on the #3 ranked Baylor Bears on Saturday night, going on to win by a final of 49-17. At halftime, the Bears were trailing by a score of 14-3, but Oklahoma State came out in the second half to score three unanswered TDs in the 3rd quarter and won this one going away. Baylor slips to #9 in the AP standings while OSU vaults past them into #7.
So out of all the Top 25 teams, this leaves Alabama, Florida State, Northern Illinois and Fresno State as the remaining undefeated teams as they head into 'rivalry week' and their respective conference championships.
Perhaps the most compelling Rivalry Week matchup will be Saturday's Iron Bowl between #1 Alabama and a resurgent Auburn program, who comes into this weekend ranked #4. Kickoff from Auburn is scheduled for 3:30 ET and the game will be televised on CBS and can be heard on XM Channels 86 and 91.
Other Rivalry week matchups featuring undefeated teams from the BCS Top 25 include #16 Fresno State on the road against San Jose State on Friday- kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 PM ET on Friday afternoon and the game will be televised on CBS Sports network.
#2 Florida State, meanwhile, will travel to Gainesville, FL to take on the struggling Florida Gators, who are coming off a 26-20 stunning home loss to FCS Georgia Southern. To round out the BCS undefeteds, #14 Northern Illinois thumped the Western Michigan Mustangs by a 33-14 final on Tuesday night and will await the winner of Friday's Buffalo-Bowling Green State game for the MAC title game on December 6th.
To round out the BCS undefeateds on Rivalry Week, #3 Ohio State travels to the Big House in Ann Arbor, MI for The Game- that kicks off at 12:00 PM ET and will be televised on ABC and XM Channel 91.
While it doesn't involve an undefeated BCS title contender, another rivalry game of potential interest will pit #6 Clemson against #10 South Carolina, which kicks off at 7:00 ET and will be televised on ESPN.
BOSTON COLLEGE- No record-setting afternoon for RB Andre Williams, but the senior RB had a productive afternoon nonetheless on Saturday with 2 TD runs and 263 yards total against Maryland in the Eagles' 29-26 win over the Terps.
The final game of the regular season also happens to rekindle the old Big East-era rivalry with Syracuse as the Eagles will travel to the Carrier Dome to take on the Big Orange for the first time in three years and for the first time with Syracuse as a member of the ACC. This will be the Eagle's first trip to the Carrier Dome in 9 years and Syracuse needs a win to be bowl eligible while Boston College is looking to run the table and win their fifth straight game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 ET and the game on XM channel 191 and will be streamed on ESPN3.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Sports Chowdah Update- Colts Out of Luck in Foxborough; Oregon, Kansas State Losses Leave Fighting Irish Sole Undefeated FBS Team; Got Melk? Toronto Does
AP Photo/Steven Senne
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- This weekend's matchup between the Colts and the Patriots marked the first time that the Indianapolis had played New England without starting QB Peyton Manning on the Colts roster since 1998. While Manning was recovering from spinal fusion surgery this time last year, the Colts struggled mightily under QB Kerry Collins and the final weeks of the Colts' season were referred to as the 'Andrew Luck Sweepstakes' as the bottom NFL teams were vying for the Stanford starting QB Andrew Luck.
Prior to the game, one of the broadcasters observed that as Tom Brady (not to mention current Colts teammate Adam Vinatieri) made his first Super Bowl appearence in February 2002, Andrew Luck was in the 6th grade. And despite getting out to the quick start in the first quarter, with the Colts getting out to an early 14-7 lead. The Pats would end up tying the game at 14-14 on a Julian Edelman punt return early in the second quarter. New England would take the lead for good when Pats cornerback Aquib Talib picked off Andrew Luck two plays into the Colts' next drive, returning it 59 yards for a pick-six.
The Pats and Colts would then trade field goals, giving New England a 17-24 lead at halftime. However, the seconds half was pretty much all New England as Brady connected with Julian Edelman and then Rob Gronkowski to make it 38-17 at the end of the 3rd and CB Alfonzo Denard intercepted an Andrew Luck pass and returned it 87 yards for paydirt. Although this was followed up by a 43 yard TD pass from Luck to Colts WR TY Hilton, the Patriots would get rushing TDs from Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen to tie a franchise scoring record with 59 points [I'm wondering the the guys dressed up as minutemen who fire off a volley from their muskets brought enough powder Sunday- NANESB!].
New England wins this one going away by a 59-24 final on Sunday. Tom Brady went 25-35 with 3 TDs and 331 yards while the rookie Luck went 27 for 50 with 334 yards, 2 TDs and 3 interceptions (two of them run back for TDs).
However, the victory came at a cost as TE Rob Gronkowski suffered a broken forearm with less than 4 minutes to go in Sunday's contest. Gronkowski reportedly had surgery on his forearm on Monday and is expected to miss anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks.
The Patriots only have a couple of days off as their next game will be on Thanksgiving against the Jets at the Meadowlands. New England has won 15 out of the last 19 regular season contests against their AFC East rival, although the Patriots needed overtime to get past the Jets at Gilette Stadium earlier this season. The prime-time matchup is set to kick off at 8:20 ET and will be televised on NBC.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- A couple of rather noteworthy developments from week 10 that I failed to mention.
- Somewhere in Miami, there's champagne corks popping as the Atlanta Falcons, the NFL's last undefeated team, suffered their first loss of the season at the Louisiana Superdome to Drew Brees and the resurgent New Orleans Saints by a 31-27 final. This Sunday, the Falcons managed to squeak past the Arizona Cardinals by a 23-19 final despite QB Matt Ryan throwing 5 picks.
- The NFC West leading San Francisco 49ers and the St Louis Rams had the NFL's first tie under the league's revised overtime rules after the teams headed into OT knotted at 24-24 and swapped missed FG attempts.
- Week 10 saw at least four teams lose their starting QBs- three of them due to concussions. Colin Kaepernick came in for San Francisco's Alex Smith in their game against St Louis while Nick Foles had to come in for Michael Vick in Philadelphia's loss to the Cowboys. In prime time games from Week 10, Bears QB was knocked out of Sunday night's game against the Houston Texans while Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger left Monday night's contest with Kansas City.
- Week 11 saw three overtime games (none of them ending in a tie) with the Cowboys needing OT to get past the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay getting past Carolina 27-21 in the extra quarter and the Houston Texans rallying past the Jacksonville Jaguars by a 43-37 final in OT.
AP Photo/Dan RyanNCAA FOOTBALL- Almost concurrently, two of the top-ranked teams in the polls were dealt their first losses of the season Saturday night.
Baylor jumped out to a 28-17 lead over #1 Kansas State in the First half and opened it up from there, upending the Wildcats hopes for a shot at the BCS title game after the Bears dealt them a 52-24 loss.
While that was going on, #2 Oregon and #13 Stanford were locked in a tight, low-scoring game with the Ducks up 14-7 late in the 4th when Stanford managed to tie it up on a 9 yard TD pass from Kevin Hogan to Zach Ertz with 2:17 to go and forcing OT, where Stanford's Jordan Williamson clinched the game with a 37 yard FG.
The Ducks loss could set up a scenario where they may not even be playing in the Pac 12 title game. Should Stanford beat #17 UCLA, then both the Cardinals and Bruins will meet in a rematch the following week in the Pac 12 chamionship game. Oregon has one remaining regular season game- their intrastate rivals, #15 Oregon State. If the Bruins and Ducks win their respective games this weekend, they'll meet in the December 1st Pac 12 title game.
The loss comes as good news for Notre Dame, who after shutting out Wake Forest 38-0, will travel to Los Angeles to take on the USC Trojans for their regular season finale. USC is coming off of a 10-point loss to crosstown rivals UCLA.
Meanwhile, Kansas State's remaining game is against the Texas Longhorns on December 1st. Should Notre Dame lose and Kansas State, Oregon and Alabama win out, that will once again murky up the FBS championship picture as there would be a number one-loss teams vying for a spot in the National Championship- the Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators have entered some chamionship conversations as well pending the outcome of their 'rivalry weekend' games; Alabama has Auburn to cap off the regular season while Georgia has the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets and Florida has the 10th ranked Florida State Seminoles.
BOSTON COLLEGE- While it's been an off year for Virginia Tech, it's been even more of an off year for the BC Eagles. Although the Eagles got off to a 13-3 lead at halftime, the Hokies clawed back and the second half was a back and forth affair that saw Boston College take a 23-20 over the Hokies with 5 minutes to go in regulation before Virginia Tech tied it up with a late FG with 1:10 remaining.
The Hokies got the ball first in the OT and scored a TD on their opening posession, meaning that BC needed a touchdown of their own just to extend the overtime. However, the game ended when Chase Rettig's completion to RB David Dudeck was only good for 8 yards on 4th and 12 from the Hokies 27 yard line. Eagles lose by a final of 30-23 in OT at Chestnut Hill.
The Eagles will wrap up their disappointing football season with an away game against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Raliegh on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 ET.
ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- The University of Maryland Board of Regents has accepted an invitation from the Big 10 conference and will start playing there starting with the 2014-2015 academic season. Maryland was a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference during its 1953 founding.
This followed reports over the weekend that Rutgers was set to join the Big 10, exiting the Big East conference. Maryland will become the furthest south member of the Big 10 conference as well.
The move has also sparked speculation on whether or not there would be any movement from either UConn or UMass to fill the vacancies left in eithethe Big East and ACC left by Rutgers and Maryland's respective departure [Although the ACC announced last year they would be adding the Pitt Panthers and Syracuse Orangemen beginning with the 2013 season- NANESB!].
UMASS- Despite shutting out Buffalo 13-0 in the first half, the Bulls came roaring back in the second half and capitalized on some UMass special teams errors to get on the board and take the lead.
Buffalo got on the board with a blocked punt attempt returned for a touchdown, slicing the UMass lead in half. The Minutemen then took a 19-7 lead on a 3 yard rushing TD from RB Micheal Cox. However, the two point attempt failed and the Bulls would go on to score three unanswered TDs to go on and win by a 29-19 final.
UMass wraps up their MAC debut season with one final home game this Saturday at 3:00 PM against the Central Michigan Chippewas at Gilette Stadium.
UCONN- Interestingly, after already having one in late October, this is another bye week for the Huskies. Their most recent game was a 24-17 home win over the Pitt Panthers at East Hartford and on Saturday, they'll travel to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville to take on the 9-1 Louisville Cardinals at Noon eastern before wrapping up the regular season at home against the Cincinnati Bearcats at home on Dec 1st.
Although this has been a disappointing year for UConn Football, the 4-6 Huskies still have an outside shot at a bowl game if they somehow manage to win their final two games of the season.
NEW HAMPSHIRE- Even though they were blown out by the Towson Tigers by a 64-35 final on Saturday (including Towson running the score by a 34-7 margin in the second half), the 8-3 UNH Wildcats have made the NCAA FCS bracket.
The Wildcats- who finished 3rd in the Colonial conference- will face off against the Wofford Terriers at Spartanburg, SC on December 1st. The game will kick off at 2:00 ET and will be streaming on ESPN3.
Villanova and Old Dominion have also made the tournament.
MLB- The Toronto Blue Jays have followed up their acquisition of Jose Reyes, Mark Buerligh and Josh Johnson from the Florida Marlins by signing free agent outfielder Melky Cabrera to a 2 year, $16 million deal this week.
After playing the first half of the 2012 season with the San Frnacisco Giants, Cabrera recieved a 50 game suspension earlier this season for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs after the All Star Game. Although he was eligible for the postseason roster, the Giants declined to bring Cabrera back after serving his suspension.
The Blue Jays also announced the return of Josh Gibbons as the team's manager after John Farrell left for Boston last month.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Hump Day Sports Chowdah Update- Denver Steels One @ Home; Tide Rolls in BCS; B's Weather Northern Invasion; NBA Champs Give C's Texas Sized Trouble
NFL- Holy crap....I didn't see this so much as catch it on the radio. Even if I did see it, I probably still wouldn't have believed it.
In case you've been living somewhere without TV or Twitter for the past couple of days, here is how Wild Card weekend wrapped up in Mile High. Embedded below is the ENTIRE overtime from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos game.
Yeah- your eyes do NOT decieve you. One play and *BAM!* it's ovah. There was a whole slew of new overtime rules that were explained at the very beginning of Sunday's OT [basically no more sudden death OT if a field goal is kicked- first one to score 6 points wins- NANESB!].
Tebow's TD pass to open up OT sets up a meeting with the New England Patriots in Foxborough, MA Saturday night at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.
The Steelers/Broncos game on Sunday evening had capped what was previously been a Wild Card weekend of blowout contests.
Things got underway on Saturday with the Houston Texans notcing their first-ever postseason win after beating the Cincinnati bengals 31-10 at home. This was followed up on Saturday night with the Detroit Lions trying in vain to play catch-up with the NFC South champion Saints as New Orleans clinched that one by a 45-28 final.
On Sunday afternoon, the Giants built upon a 7-2 halftime lead over the Atlanta Falcons to run away with the contest, going on to win by a 24-2 final.
This weekend's matchups are as follows:
SATURDAY- 1/14:
New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers- 4:30PM ET [FOX]
Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots- 8:00PM ET [CBS]
SUNDAY- 1/15:
Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens- 1:00PM ET [CBS]
New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers- 4:30PM ET [FOX]
OTHER NFL NEWS: The body of the 21 year old son of Green Bay Packers assistant coach Joe Philbin was found by searchers in the Fox River on Monday. Police in Oshkosh, WI are trying to piece together the actions of Micheal Philbin in the hours leading up to his death.
A night watchman at a nearby business called police reporting that he heard somebody calling for help from an area adjacent to the river at a bout 2:30 AM Sunday. Police, fire and dive teams searched the area but initially found nothing.
Investigators do not immediately suspect foul play, but suspect alcohol may have been a factor.
NHL- The regular season Stanley Cup rematch on Saturday turned out to be a little anti-climatic as the Canucks were able to hold off a late Bruins charge and win by a 4-3 final....all four of Vancouver's goals coming with the man advantage.
Corey Schneider stopped 36 of 39 shots faces while Tim Thomas stopped 32 of 36 shots faced. This was a pretty chippy affain, with the Bruins getting assessed 48 penalty minutes and Vancouver getting 52 total.
The big story was the NHL suspending Brad Marchand for a hit on Vancouver's Sami Salo on Saturday.
Marchand clipped Salo towards the end of the second period in Saturday's game and was assessed a major penalty and game-misconduct. By Monday, the NHL had issued a 5-game suspension for Marchand and he will reportedly forfeit $150,000 in pay. Marchand will reportedly be able to return on Jan 19th, when the Bruins play the New Jersey Devils.
The league considers Marchand a repeat offender, havng been been suspended two games last March.
On Tuesday Night, the Marchand-less Bruins hosted the Winnipeg Jets and were trailing 3-2 heading into the 3rd period. Boston would rally in the 3rd, getting goals from Nathan Horton (just 8 seconds in no less), Tyler Seguin and Benoit Pouliot (the latter coming on the power play) to take the lead for good and win by a final of 5-3.
Tukka Rask had the start in net and turned aside 29 of 32 shots faced while the Bruins had all of 13 penalty minutes assessed against them.
The Bruins will next face the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Puck drops at 7PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
Game one had the Vermont Catamounts against the UMass Minutemen, and after Vermont got off to an early 1-0 lead, the game would head into OT knotted up at 2-2. The fact that the contest even made it to overtime was made all the more impressive by the fact that the Minutemen's Patrick Kiley was given a 5 minute major penalty with less than 3 minutes to go in regulation. Not only was UMass able to successuflly kill of the e5 minute major in the 3rd and into OT, but Catamounts defenseman Michael Paliotta was called for boarding with 1:16 remaining in overtime. UMass defenseman Michael Marcou managed to score with 22 seconds left in OT to give the Minutemen the 3-2 OT win. Sophmore goalie Jeff Teglia notched his first career win witht the Minutemen after making 24 saves on Saturday.
The UMass win was followed up by a higer-scoring contest between the University of New Hampshire Wildcats and the Maine Black Bears Forward Brian Flynn scored a minute and a half into OT to break a 4-4 deadlock, giving Maine the 5-4 victory. Saturday night's win is the Black Bear's 7th win in their last 8 games.
OTHER NCAA HOCKEY NEWS: Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey coach Charles 'Lefty' Smith passed away in his South Bend, IN home at the age of 81. In a statement, the University said that Smith died of natural causes.
Smith started Notre Dame's hockey program back in 1968 and compiled a 307-320-30 record in his 19 year tenure as the Fighting Irish head coach. In 1973, Smith was awarded the WCHA's Coach of the Year. After his coaching career, Smith became facilities manager for the Irish, continuing to work until his retirement a month ago.
NCAA FOOTBALL- Well, I learned something new on Monday night: Apparently Tigers can lay eggs.
That's exactly what the #1 ranked LSU Tigers did in the BCS championship game against the Crimson Tide at the Superdome as #2 Alabama shut out the Bayou Bengals 21-0.
Flawless execution on 'Bama's part notwithstanding, many spectators were left wondering how different the game might've looked if the #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys were invited to the BCS Championship game instead of a conference opponent for LSU [I sent out a tweet half-seriously implying that the Fiesta Bowl was actually the REAL BCS title game- NANESB!].
So when all was said and done, the apparent highlight for Louisiana college football this Bowl season was the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns last-minute victory over San Diego State in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, also played in the Superdome.
OTHER NCAA FOOTBALL NEWS- Baylor's Heisman-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III announced that he would forego his senior year at Baylor to enter the NFL draft on Wednesday.
NBA- Oh yeah...the NBA season is underway.
The Boston Celtics dropped to 4-5 on Wednesday night after losing to the reigning NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks by an 85-90 final. Dirk Nowitzki got by Kevin Garnett with what would be the game-winning laup with 5 seconds left in the 4th.
The Celtics will next take on the 10-2 Chicago Bulls on Friday night at 8:00PM ET, with the game being televised on ESPN.
In case you've been living somewhere without TV or Twitter for the past couple of days, here is how Wild Card weekend wrapped up in Mile High. Embedded below is the ENTIRE overtime from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos game.
Yeah- your eyes do NOT decieve you. One play and *BAM!* it's ovah. There was a whole slew of new overtime rules that were explained at the very beginning of Sunday's OT [basically no more sudden death OT if a field goal is kicked- first one to score 6 points wins- NANESB!].
Tebow's TD pass to open up OT sets up a meeting with the New England Patriots in Foxborough, MA Saturday night at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.
The Steelers/Broncos game on Sunday evening had capped what was previously been a Wild Card weekend of blowout contests.
Things got underway on Saturday with the Houston Texans notcing their first-ever postseason win after beating the Cincinnati bengals 31-10 at home. This was followed up on Saturday night with the Detroit Lions trying in vain to play catch-up with the NFC South champion Saints as New Orleans clinched that one by a 45-28 final.
On Sunday afternoon, the Giants built upon a 7-2 halftime lead over the Atlanta Falcons to run away with the contest, going on to win by a 24-2 final.
This weekend's matchups are as follows:
SATURDAY- 1/14:
New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers- 4:30PM ET [FOX]
Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots- 8:00PM ET [CBS]
SUNDAY- 1/15:
Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens- 1:00PM ET [CBS]
New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers- 4:30PM ET [FOX]
OTHER NFL NEWS: The body of the 21 year old son of Green Bay Packers assistant coach Joe Philbin was found by searchers in the Fox River on Monday. Police in Oshkosh, WI are trying to piece together the actions of Micheal Philbin in the hours leading up to his death.
A night watchman at a nearby business called police reporting that he heard somebody calling for help from an area adjacent to the river at a bout 2:30 AM Sunday. Police, fire and dive teams searched the area but initially found nothing.
Investigators do not immediately suspect foul play, but suspect alcohol may have been a factor.
NHL- The regular season Stanley Cup rematch on Saturday turned out to be a little anti-climatic as the Canucks were able to hold off a late Bruins charge and win by a 4-3 final....all four of Vancouver's goals coming with the man advantage.
Corey Schneider stopped 36 of 39 shots faces while Tim Thomas stopped 32 of 36 shots faced. This was a pretty chippy affain, with the Bruins getting assessed 48 penalty minutes and Vancouver getting 52 total.
The big story was the NHL suspending Brad Marchand for a hit on Vancouver's Sami Salo on Saturday.
Marchand clipped Salo towards the end of the second period in Saturday's game and was assessed a major penalty and game-misconduct. By Monday, the NHL had issued a 5-game suspension for Marchand and he will reportedly forfeit $150,000 in pay. Marchand will reportedly be able to return on Jan 19th, when the Bruins play the New Jersey Devils.
The league considers Marchand a repeat offender, havng been been suspended two games last March.
On Tuesday Night, the Marchand-less Bruins hosted the Winnipeg Jets and were trailing 3-2 heading into the 3rd period. Boston would rally in the 3rd, getting goals from Nathan Horton (just 8 seconds in no less), Tyler Seguin and Benoit Pouliot (the latter coming on the power play) to take the lead for good and win by a final of 5-3.
Tukka Rask had the start in net and turned aside 29 of 32 shots faced while the Bruins had all of 13 penalty minutes assessed against them.
The Bruins will next face the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Puck drops at 7PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
Jeffery Roberts- Daily Hampshire GazetteNCAA HOCKEY: The NCAA Doubleheader for Frozen Fenway wrapped up on Saturday with both contests heading into OT.
Game one had the Vermont Catamounts against the UMass Minutemen, and after Vermont got off to an early 1-0 lead, the game would head into OT knotted up at 2-2. The fact that the contest even made it to overtime was made all the more impressive by the fact that the Minutemen's Patrick Kiley was given a 5 minute major penalty with less than 3 minutes to go in regulation. Not only was UMass able to successuflly kill of the e5 minute major in the 3rd and into OT, but Catamounts defenseman Michael Paliotta was called for boarding with 1:16 remaining in overtime. UMass defenseman Michael Marcou managed to score with 22 seconds left in OT to give the Minutemen the 3-2 OT win. Sophmore goalie Jeff Teglia notched his first career win witht the Minutemen after making 24 saves on Saturday.
The UMass win was followed up by a higer-scoring contest between the University of New Hampshire Wildcats and the Maine Black Bears Forward Brian Flynn scored a minute and a half into OT to break a 4-4 deadlock, giving Maine the 5-4 victory. Saturday night's win is the Black Bear's 7th win in their last 8 games.
OTHER NCAA HOCKEY NEWS: Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey coach Charles 'Lefty' Smith passed away in his South Bend, IN home at the age of 81. In a statement, the University said that Smith died of natural causes.
Smith started Notre Dame's hockey program back in 1968 and compiled a 307-320-30 record in his 19 year tenure as the Fighting Irish head coach. In 1973, Smith was awarded the WCHA's Coach of the Year. After his coaching career, Smith became facilities manager for the Irish, continuing to work until his retirement a month ago.
NCAA FOOTBALL- Well, I learned something new on Monday night: Apparently Tigers can lay eggs.
That's exactly what the #1 ranked LSU Tigers did in the BCS championship game against the Crimson Tide at the Superdome as #2 Alabama shut out the Bayou Bengals 21-0.
Flawless execution on 'Bama's part notwithstanding, many spectators were left wondering how different the game might've looked if the #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys were invited to the BCS Championship game instead of a conference opponent for LSU [I sent out a tweet half-seriously implying that the Fiesta Bowl was actually the REAL BCS title game- NANESB!].
So when all was said and done, the apparent highlight for Louisiana college football this Bowl season was the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns last-minute victory over San Diego State in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, also played in the Superdome.
OTHER NCAA FOOTBALL NEWS- Baylor's Heisman-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III announced that he would forego his senior year at Baylor to enter the NFL draft on Wednesday.
NBA- Oh yeah...the NBA season is underway.
The Boston Celtics dropped to 4-5 on Wednesday night after losing to the reigning NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks by an 85-90 final. Dirk Nowitzki got by Kevin Garnett with what would be the game-winning laup with 5 seconds left in the 4th.
The Celtics will next take on the 10-2 Chicago Bulls on Friday night at 8:00PM ET, with the game being televised on ESPN.
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