Long Overdue Championship Weekend Sports Chowdah Update- Nevermore! Patriots Rally Past Ravens, Advance to AFC Title Games; Kung Fu Gripping, Red Sox Sign Pablo Sandoval; Pedro, Big Unit Biggio and Smoltz Heading to Cooperstown; B's Blank Blueshirts; Rondo Heads to Dallas

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- Heading into the playoffs, the Patriots weren't looking particularly sharp. After thrashing the Miami Dolphins in weeks 15- avenging their season-opening loss and New England won the division in convincing fashion. However, the Patriots barely bested the Jets in the Meadowlands in Week 16 thanks to a 17-16 win over New York and fell to Buffalo by a 17-6 final after starting most of their second-stringers.

After a first round bye, the Patriots were set to host Baltimore after the Ravens upended the AFC North champion Steelers in the first round. This would be the fourth time since the 2009 season that the Ravens and Patriots met in the playoffs, with Baltimore winning two out of the first three matchups.



Early on, it looked as though it appeared the Ravens would add to their all-time playoff lead against the Patriots. Ravens QB Joe Flacco took their first two possessions and marched down the field for two quick TDs to take a 14-0 lead while the Ravens defense held New England to a couple of three-and-outs in the first quarter.

However, late in the first the Patriots put together a good-looking drive that included a 40 yard completion from Brady to Gronkowski and was capped by a 4 yard TD run by Brady on 3rd and goal. New England got on the board with 48 seconds left in the first and it was now a 14-7 game.

Despite increased pressure on the pocket from the Ravens defense, a fired-up Tom Brady managed to find the end zone late in the 2nd quarter on a 15 yard completion to Danny Amendola- with the WR fighting for key extra yardage to get into the end zone to tie the game at 14-14 after Stephen Gostkowski's point-after. However, almost as soon as the momentum was swinging the Patriots way, the Ravens came up with a key pick at mid-field with just over a minute to go in the half. Joe Flacco and company made the most of that thanks to a pass-interference call against Patriots CB Darelle Revis. With only 10 seconds to go, the Ravens quieted the crowd at Foxborough with an 11 yard TD pass from Flacco to TE Owen Daniels to put Baltimore back on top, 21-14.

In the second half, the Ravens managed to get a pass-interference call on 4th and 6 to set them up inside the New England red zone- altho they were pushed further back to the 16. However, Flacco connected with RB Justin Fosett for a 16 yard TD reception and give Baltimore a 28-14 lead and giving New England a bigger hole to climb out of. However, that's exactly what Brady and company did, with the Patriots QB connecting with Gronkowski on a five yard TD pass to make it a 21-28 game with 6:48 to go in the 3rd. After holding the Ravens to a 3 and out, Baltimore was forced to punt and the Patriots were able to start from their own 30.

What happened next could undoubtedly be considered the highlight of the game. After moving the ball to midfield on two quick plays, Brady quickly lateralled the ball to WR Julian Edelman. Edelman then threw the ball to a wide open follow WR Danny Amendola for a 51 yard TD pass to tie the game at 28-28.

On Baltimore's next possession, DB Devin McCourty picked off Flacco at the Ravens 37, giving New England a short field that they were unable to capitalize on. On the Ravens' next possession, they managed to march down the field pretty efficiently, including converting on a 4th and 1 along the way- but were shut out of the end zone, forced to settle for a FG with 10:17 left in the 4th quarter. With the Ravens back on top by a 31-28 score, New England couldn't afford any more three and outs.

Starting on their own 26 yard line with 10:10 remaining in regulation, the Patriots offense managed to get big chunks of yards while burning off some of the clock. With 5:13 left in the game, the Patriots took their first lead of the day on a perfectly thrown 23 yard TD pass from Brady to WR Brandon LaFell, putting the Patriots on top 35-31. Flacco once again put together a solid drive, getting to midfield in time for the 2 minute warning. However, with 1:38 left, Flacco went long from the Patriots 36 yard line only to be picked off in the end zone by Patriots SS Duron Harmon. The Ravens still had a timeout left, which prevented New England from simply kneeling down three times in the victory formation and running out the clock, so Ryan Allen had to punt. The Ravens got the ball back on midfield with just 4 seconds left, giving Baltimore just enough time for a hail-mary pass that the Patriots managed to bat out of the end zone.

The Patriots would only lead for just over five minutes, but it was all they'd need as they go on to win by a 35-31 final in what many are already calling an instant classic.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL PLAYOFFS- The New England Patriots will be facing the Indianapolis Colts and starting QB Andrew Luck in the AFC championship game this weekend at Foxborough. As rusty as the Patriots looked in the first quarter, the Broncos looked almost as bad for their entire game after their first round bye. Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos fell to his former team, losing by a 24-13 final at Denver. So demoralizing was the loss that the Broncos fired head coach John Fox within days and many are openly speculating that this may be the end of QB Peyton Manning's career, if not his tenure with the Broncos.

Meanwhile, in what was dubbed 'Ice Bowl II', the Cowboys made their first postseason visit to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI since the 1967 NFL Championship Game. While the temperatures were much more mild than in 1967, like the original title game the Packers ultimately prevailed- although what looked like a 32 yard completion from Cowboys QB Tony Romo to receiver Dez Bryant on 4th and 2 that would've put the ball on the Green Bay 1 yard line was overturned after challenged by Green Bay. The Packers would go on to win by a 26-21 final and will face the Seattle Seahawks in the Pacific Northwest for the NFC title next week. Seattle beat NFC South champions Carolina by a 35-17 final.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- With the end of the regular season, a number of new coaching vacancies and hirings have been announced. On Friday, the Chicago Bears announced that recently-dismissed Denver head coach John Fox would be their new head coach. Meanwhile, former Jets head coach Rex Ryan will be staying within the AFC East as the Buffalo Bills named him their new head coach after Doug Marrone opted out of his contract.

The biggest news came earlier this month when- after weeks of speculation- San Francisco 49ers and head coach Jim Harbuagh parted ways at the end of the regular season. By December 30th, the University of Michigan announced Harbaugh as their head coach, replacing Brady Hoke after a disappointing 2014 campaign.

RED SOX- The Red Sox have been letting no grass grow under their feet in the offseason. After signing Koji Uehara to a two year contract extension, Boston signed free agent 3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval to a five year, $100 million contract. During his 2014 championship run with the San Francisco Giants, Sandoval batted .279 with 16 homers and 73 RBI. The same week as the massive Sandoval deal was announced, Boston announced that one-time prospect Hanley Ramirez was signed to a 4 year deal worth an estimated $80 million.

Another former Red Sox farmhand returning home is Justin Masterson, who Boston signed to a one year contract worth just over $9 million in December. The Red Sox also ended up trading OF Yoenis Cespedes, RHP Alex Wilson and a prospect to the Tigers for starting pitcher Rick Porcello who was 15-13 with a 3.43 ERA with Detroit last year. Within a day of the Porcello deal, the Red Sox also sent starters Rubby De LaRosa and Allen Webster to Arizona in exchange for pitcher Wade Miley.

De LaRosa and Webster weren't the only Red Sox to make their way to the NL West- shortly before Christmas, the Red Sox announced that they had sent 3B Will Middlebrooks to the San Diego Padres in exchange for C Ryan Hanigan.

BASEBALL HALL OF FAME- The 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees have been announced and Red Sox fans can expect a familiar face among the honorees.

Pitchers Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and John Smoltz were first-ballot hall of famers while former Houston Astros 2B Craig Biggio made it to Cooperstown after his 3rd year of eligibility. Martinez, who has an ERA of 2.93 over his 17 year MLB career, has played for the Dodgers, Expos, Red Sox, Mets and Phillies. However, Martinez's career highlights (and lowlights) were in Boston. During the 1999 ALDS, Martinez came into the game in the 4th inning against the Indians and threw five no-hit innings of relief. The 2004 World Series was one of only two World Series appearances for Pedro- he threw a shutout in Game 3 at Busch Stadium against the Cardinals and even drew a walk in one of his at-bats.

Martinez was an 8 time All Star and has three Cy Young trophies to his name and led the AL in strikeout in 1999, 2000 and 2002.

The lanky Randy Johnson- dubbed "Big Unit"- had a slightly longer career, breaking into the bigs with the Expos in 1988 before playing nearly a decade with the Seattle Mariners. After a single season with the Astros, Johnson then signed with the newly-formed Arizona Diamondbacks in their second season and is best known for his performance in the 2001 World Series where he was credited with three wins in the dramatic 7-game series against the Yankees. In the deciding game 7, then-manager Bob Brenly pulled Curt Schilling in the 8th with one away before bringing in Miguel Batista to get out one batter [who happened to be Derek Jeter- NANESB!] and having Johnson- who started Game 6- come in to pitch relief. Johnson got all four batters he faced out and was credited with the win after Mariano Rivera loaded the bases and Luis Gonzales hit a single past a drawn-in Derek Jeter in the bottom of the 9th.

BOSTON BRUINS- Let's face it- it's been a pretty rough couple of weeks for the Bruins, but not too long after the calendar flipped over to 2015, something seems to be clicking for the B's.



On Thursday night, Tukka Rask turned aside all 30 shots he faced while Boston got goals from Bergeron in the first, Krejci in the second and Eriksson in the 3rd to get by the Rangers 3-0 in a nationally televised contest. The win puts the Bruins back in the playoff picture with about a week to go until the NHL's All Star break.

The win over the Rangers is the Bruin's 5th straight (this includes two shutouts) and Boston hopes to keep the momentum going on Saturday when they travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets. Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

2014 NHL WINTER CLASSIC- The 2015 NHL Winter Classic has come and gone- taking place at Nationals Park in Washington DC on New Years day with the Capitals hosting the Blackhawks.



The Capitals got out to a pretty quick 2-0 lead with tallies by Eric Fehr and Alex Ovechkin, but thanks to goals by Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad, the Blackhawks were able to tie the contest up at 2-2 in the second. It looked as though the contest would be headed to overtime, but a late penalty on the Blackhawks led to a Caps power play and with 12 seconds left in regulation, Troy Brouwer was able to give Washington a 3-2 lead with a late goal on the man advantage. The Capitals would hang on to win in the remaining 11 seconds of regulation by a final of 3-2.

According to ESPN.com and TSN's Bob McKenzie, Boston is reportedly the front-runner to host the 2016 Winter Classic. Fenway Park was the host for the 2010 Winter Classic where the Bruins hosted the Flyers. However, there has been no official word from the NHL and other venues such as Denver or the Twin Cities are also reportedly under consideration. An announcement from the league is expected by February.

NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL- Regrettably, I missed most of the Volleyball season- although I was able to catch some of the finals back in December.

The Brigham Young Cougars women's volleyball team holds the distinction of becoming the first NCAA women's volleyball program to advance to the finals after upending #14 Nebraska and #2 Texas. However the Lady Cougars were swept by defending champions Penn State. This would be the Nittany Lions 2nd consecutive women's volleyball title, giving Penn State an NCAA record total of seven volleyball titles and their sixth in the last eight years.

BYU fell in three sets (21-25, 24-26 and 14-25) to the Nittany Lions at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Center. Nittany Lion juniors Megan Courtney and Aiyana Whitney led the offense with 11 kills each while senior Nia Grant had nine kills to her credit.

NCAA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP- With the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl serving as a playoff for the first ever NCAA FBS Championship playoff, the Oregon Ducks made quick work of the Florida State Seminoles on New Year's Day [with Ducks fans and players mocking QB Jameis Winston by chanting "Noooo means Noooo!" to the tune of the Seminoles fight song after the game- NANESB!] after beating FSU by a 59-20 final. The loss was Florida State's first in 29 games- including last year's NCAA Championship game, which was the last under the old system.

Later on that day, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans would determine who the Ducks faced in the NCAA title game. This one turned out to be much closer, with the Ohio State Buckeyes prevailing over Alabama by a 42-35 final. This set up a Jan 12th meeting between the Ducks and Buckeyes at AT&T stadium in Arlington, TX for all the marbles [for the first time ever, no less- NANESB!]. Early in the matchup that featured Heisman-winning QB Marcus Mariotta against the Buckeye's 3rd string quarterback was going Oregon's way early on, with the Ducks getting out to an early 7-0 lead before Ohio State seemed to find their footing and go on to win by a 42-20 thanks in large part to Ezekiel Elliot's 4TD and 246 yard performance.

NCAA FCS CHAMPIONSHIP- After holding off a late rally by Illinois State, the North Dakota State Bison have won their fourth straight FCS title last weekend. The NDSU Bison were trailing the Redbirds 27-23 late before re-taking the lead on a 5 yard rushing TD from Carson Wentz to give North Dakota State a 29-27 lead. Just to make the final minute of regulation more interesting, the point after attempt was successfully blocked by the Redbirds.

With less than a minute to go, Illinois State was able to put together a drive that got them to midfield, but with just 8 seconds left, Redbirds QB Tre Robertson threw an interception to seal the win for the Bisons.

NBA- It's the end of the era for the Boston Celtics as the last of the Big Three from the 2008 Championship team was traded away to the Dallas Mavericks. In return for Rondo, Dallas will send Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder and Jameer Nelson to the C's and Boston will also receive a conditional first round pick in the 2015 draft and a second round pick in the 2016 draft.

Rondo, who had spent his entire NBA career in a Celtics uniform prior to the December 18th trade, returned to the Garden on January 2nd and had a season best 29 points as the Mavericks cruised to a 119-101 win over the Celtics.

All American Sports Chowdah Update- Forgive Me Padres, For I Have Sinned; Beat-All Bailey, Red's Starter Part of No-No Homers Club Again; The Butler Did It- Celtics Wrap Up Short Head Coaching Search With Stevens Hire

NEW POLL UP- With about 10 days to go until Major League Baseball's All Star Break, look to the left for a new poll to vote in. Feel free to weigh in on what you think is the most difficult division in MLB this season. For some reason, Blogspot will only let me put in four possible answers (instead of being able to list all six divisions), so looks like you can only choose from those four.

Jim Rogash, Getty Images

BOSTON RED SOX- The Red Sox second interleague series of the season got off to a pretty good start on Tuesday night when John Lackey allowed just one unearned run during eight innings of work against the Padres during Boston's 4-1 win. Lackey allowed six hits- including a solo homer to San Diego 1B Jesus Guzman in the 7th- and struck out six while recent Paw Sox callup Brandon Snyder continues to impress, breaking a scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the fourth by hitting a 1-out bases-clearing double off the Monster towards deep center to give Boston a 3-0 lead [although he got greedy attempting to and was thrown out at third attempting to stretch it out into a triple- NANESB!].

Wednesday night's matchup was more of a pitcher's duel with Lester getting the start against San Diego's Edinson Volquez. Playing in an American League park, the Padres slotted OF Kyle Blanks into the DH spot and it paid immediate dividends as he drove in a two out RBI in the first inning to give San Diego the early lead.

Although the Red Sox were able to get runners on board in the bottom of the first thanks to a ground-rule double by Victorino, an infield hit by Dustin Pedroia followed by a stolen base, a familiar face put the kibosh on any further attempts at bringing a run home when Padres SS Pedro Ciriaco caught a line drive off the bat of Big Papi and stepped on second to get Pedroia out and end the threat.

The Red Sox were able to tie the game up at 1-1 after Mike Carp led off the bottom of the 4th with a single and came home on a Saltalamacchia RBI double. The Padres looked like they were in trouble in the bottom of the 7th after Nick Vincent led off the inning by giving up a double to Dustin Pedroia and then intentionally walking David Ortiz, but Luke Gregerson came out of the bullpen and struck out Daniel Nava, got Carp to fly out to shallow center before striking out Saltalamacchia to end the Red Sox threat.

After Junichi Tazawa struck out the side in the top of the 8th, Koji Uehara came on in the top of the 9th and got the first two batters out before walking Guzman. However, he got Yasmani Grandal to fly out and end the inning for the Padres.

For the bottom of the 9th, John Farrell decided to lead off the inning with Johnny Gomes coming on as a pinch-hitter. That paid off handsomely, as this happened after working the count to 2-2:

Red Sox win it in walkoff fashion for the 8th time this season, with Gomes' pinch hit solo homer giving Boston the 2-1 win in the bottom of the 9th. The Red Sox will wrap up their homestand with a 4th of July day game at Fenway- Eric Stults [6-6; 3.51 ERA] gets the start against Allen Webster [0-2; 9.50 ERA]. The game gets underway at 1:35 PM ET, 10:35 AM Pacific and will be televised on NESN.

After the Independence Day game at Fenway, the Red Sox will take off for a 10-game west coast road trip, starting with the Angels in Orange County on Friday night before moving on to Seattle for a four-game series and then a 3-game set against Oakland before the All-Star break.

AP Photo/Al Behrman

OTHER MLB NEWS- Cincinnati's Homer Bailey threw a complete game no-hitter against the defending World series champion San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. This is the first no-hitter of the 2013 and second of Bailey's career- the first of which was the second most recent no-hitter in MLB, dating back to September 28, 2012 when Bailey no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park towards the end of the regular season.

Bailey's no hitter was in jeopardy in the top of the 7th- after a leadoff walk to San Francisco outfielder Gregor Blanco, former Red Sox and Blue Jays SS Marco Scutaro grounded out to third as Blanco advanced to second. Giants catcher Buster Posey then hit a broken-bat ground ball towards first with Reds 1B Joey Votto shaded about midway towards second. Bailey broke late from the mound to first and it looked like Posey would reach first and break up the no-no until Votto threw to third base where Blanco was caught in the rundown.

The Reds got runs on a Votto sac-fly in the first off of Giants starter Tim Linceum and a 2-run Brandon Phillips homer in the bottom of the 6th for the 3-0 win. While there have been a couple of flirtations with no-hitters, the closest anyone came prior to Tuesday night was Texas' Yu Darvish, who was one out away from a perfect game against Houston when Astros SS Marwin Gonzalez singled the first week of the regular season.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The Dallas Morning News is reporting that former Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians outfielder Manny Ramirez has signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. The controversial slugger tested positive twice for banned performance enhancing drugs- the most recent of which took place in 2011 before the outfielder abruptly announced his retirement rather than face a 2nd suspension.

In 2012, the Oakland A's signed Manny to a minor league contract where he batted .302 with 19 hits and 14 RBI in 17 games with the AAA Sacramento River Cats. The deal called for a $500,000 bonus if he was called up from the minors, but within two weeks of his reinstatement, he requested (and was granted) an outright release from Oakland.

Since then, he has been playing ball for Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League and the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese professional league over in Taiwan. Since the 2008 trade that sent him from Boston to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny has played for the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.

Manny is expected to start as a DH for the AAA Rangers affiliate, the Round Rock Express. Manny will report to Round Rock on July 4th and participate in team exercises before being activated.

The Rangers have a history of giving second chances to players long suspected of using performance enhancing drugs. Texas was the last MLB team Sammy Sosa played for in 2007- two years after his English-speaking abilities seemed to abandon him while being questioned about steroid use in Major League Baseball. Sosa reportedly tested positive for performance enhancing drugs as far back as 2003- the findings were uncovered as part of a federal investigation of the infamous BALCo labs.

PATRIOTS- A witness in the Aaron Hernandez case that police were hoping to interview was killed in a single-car accident in Connecticut over the weekend.

Police say 33-year-old Thaddeus Singleton III of Bristol was killed when the car he was driving slammed into the Farmington Country Club early Sunday morning. The Hartford Courant reported that investigators wanted to speak to Singleton because of his relationship with Hernandez.

Singleton is married to Hernandez's cousin, and police say the car involved was registered to Hernandez's uncle. Their home has been searched several times by Massachusetts police investigating a 2012 double homicide linked to the former NFL star.

Police seized a vehicle from that home on Friday.

The cause of the accident has not been determined. Police said a woman in the car was in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Her name has not been released.

Meanwhile, investigators continue to gather and search for more evidence as Hernandez remains in a jail cell charged in the murder of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, of Dorchester

Police documents show that police located a white hooded-sweatshirt and a baseball cap allegedly worn by Hernandez the night Lloyd was murdered at an apartment Hernandez rented in Franklin.

Investigators said they also found a valet parking ticket from the W Hotel, which is within walking distance of the Rumor nightclub.

Investigators initially believe that Hernandez had Odin Lloyd killed after the semipro player was seen talking to people at the Rumor nightclub that Hernandez had a falling out with. However, police are also looking at Hernandez's involvement in a 2012 double homicide in South Boston and believe that the former Patriots TE orchestrated Odin's death because they thought he knew too much about the South Boston killings.

BOSTON CELTICS- With the Doc Rivers era over for barely a week, the Celtics made an early and highly unexpected move to fill their coaching vacancy on Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, Celtics GM Danny Ainge announced the hiring of Butler University head coach Brad Stephens to replace Doc Rivers as head coach of the Boston Celtics. Stephens led the Butler Bulldogs to back to back NCAA Men's title games in 2010 and 2011 (where they lost to Duke and UConn, respectively). Most recently, Butler lost to Marquette in the third round of the 2013 NCAA tournament.

The Celtics and the 36 year old head coach agreed to terms on a 6 year, $22 million contract. This would not be the first time the C's had hired a coach out of the NCAA- in 1997, the Celtics hired Rick Pitino away from the Kentucky Wildcats. However, this would be the first time since 1948 that the Celtics would hire a collegiate coach with no professional experience when the NBA's predecessor- the Basketball Association of America- was only two years old.

Meanwhile, the Butler basketball program made official their move from the Atlantic-10 to the Big East effective July 1st.

Sports Chowdah Update- Former Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez Arrested, Charged With Murder; Red Sox Kick Wang Around; What's Up Doc? Blockbuster Trades By C's Wipe Away Any Trace of Big 3 Era as Rivers Flows West

PATRIOTS- Former Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez was arrested on charges of murder this week after the body of an acquaintance was found less than a mile away from his N. Attleboro, MA home. I say 'former' because the Patriots cut him within two hours of his arrest on Wednesday afternoon.

The prosecution alleges that Hernandez orchestrated the murder of 27 year old Odin Lloyd during the overnight hours of June 16th and June 17th. Lloyd, a semipro linebacker with the Boston Bandits, had been dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée at the time of the murder.

According to investigators, after seeing Odin talking to a some people at a Boston nightclub who earlier had a falling out with Hernandez, the tight end summoned two friends from Connecticut. After texting Lloyd, Hernandez and two accomplices arrive at Lloyd's house around 2:30 AM. Lloyd's sister sees him get into a silver Altima and receives a final text message from him at 3:23 AM- around the same time a silver Altima that Hernandez had rented is seen on a security camera driving into a secluded area of an industrial park less than a mile from Hernandez's home. Shortly before 3:30 workers at a nearby business report hearing the sound of gunshots.

The following day, Hernandez returns the Altima to the rental agency and asks for another vehicle, after the driver's side mirror is damaged. Hernandez claims he doesn't know how it happened while getting another vehicle. After Hernandez leaves, the attendant finds a spent shell casing from a .45 pistol. Later that day, Odin's body is discovered at an area where sand and gravel are stockpiled at the North Attleboro industrial park.

A subsequent search of the Hernandez's apartment turned up a clip from a .45 semiautomatic. Investigators also learned that Hernandez's cell phone and home security system were destroyed (likely deliberately) shortly after Lloyd's slaying and the tight end hired housekeepers to scrub his mansion after the slaying.

In addition to Hernandez, police have arrested three suspected accomplices in Florida and Hernandez's hometown of Bristol, CT this week. All of them are facing extradition to Massachusetts to stand trial for their role in Lloyd's murder and Hernandez was denied bail after being deemed a flight risk.

The Bristol County Sheriff also said that police are looking into Hernandez's alleged involvement in a 2012 double slaying in South Boston and that Lloyd may have been killed because Hernandez thought he knew too much.

A civil-suit alleging that Aaron Hernandez shot a man in the face outside a Miami nightclub was filed in a Florida federal court last week as well. Meanwhile, the Patriots announced that they would offer a free jersey exchange to fans who had purchased a Hernandez #81 jersey at the team's shop in Gillette Stadium or through the team's website.

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

RED SOX- After completing a sweep of the brief two game series against Colorado- including Tuesday night's outing where the Red Sox notched 20 hits in their 11-4 win- the Red Sox had a chance to add to their lead in the AL East and cool off the torrid Blue Jays, who had won 17 of their last 22 games in June to put them within striking distance of the AL East lead [although still dead last- NANESB!]. The last time Toronto starter Chen-Ming Wang faced the Red Sox was four years ago while wearing pinstripes, and he lost to knuckleballer Time Wakefield in the Bronx.

Although Wang would get through the first inning without allowing a hit, the wheels came off in the second inning when he allowed 7 runs in just ⅔ of an inning. Dustin Pedroia's two out, two run homer knocked Wang out of the game. With plenty of run support early on, Lester seemed to be cruising along- although he gave up a 2-RBI double to Maicer Izturis in the top of the 5th and allowed two singles to lead off the top of the 8th where the runners eventually came home when Jinuchi Tazawa gave up a sac-fly to Jose Reyes and an RBI groundout to Jose Bautista to make it 7-4. That would be the final, though, as Koji Uehara came in for his second straight save- and like Wednesday's afternoon game against the Rockies, he got all three batters he faced out in order.

Lester went seven complete innings and improves to 8-4 after struggling mightily while Toronto falls back to .500 with the loss. The 7-run second inning was enough for Boston and Dustin Pedroia led the scoring by going 1-2 with a homer and 2 RBI. Lester threw a total of 94 pitches and the seven innings was his longest outing of the season so far. Game two of the four game weekend series will get underway from Fenway Friday night at 7:10 ET. The pitching matchup will feature Allen Webster [0-2; 11.25 ERA] against Toronto's Josh Johnson [1-2; 4.60 ERA] and the game will be televised by NESN.

OTHER SOX NEWS- The Red Sox selected New Castle, IN high school pitcher Trey Ball as their first overall draft pick in the 2013 MLB draft. The 6'6" left from the Hoosier State is the highest selection for Boston since the 1993 pick of outfielder Trot Nixon.

BOSTON CELTICS- Shortly after the NBA approved of an unorthodox trade that sent head coach Doc Rivers to the LA Clippers for a first round pick in the 2015 NBA draft, Celtics GM Danny Ainge orchestrated a blockbuster deal that sent two-thirds of the Big Three to Brooklyn in exchange for Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, Reggie Evans, Kris Joseph, a signed-and-traded Keith Bogans and first round picks in the 2014, 2016 and 2018 draft- plus the right to trade up if the Nets' pick is higher than Boston's in 2017. The Nets will be getting Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce- the longest tenured member of the Celtics. Garnett apparently had to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to go through and have the Nets agree to take on his entire salary through the 2014-2015 season.

The trade was foreshadowed by weeks of on-again/off-again talks between the Celtics and Clippers over Doc's exit from Beantown and landing on the west coast. The Celtics are still on the hook for the final three years and $21 million of his contract. In addition to head coach, Doc was also named vice-president of basketball operations- a position that would give him a greater say in the front office.

May Day Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Win Big With Bats and Feat of Clay; After Trailing Early Bruins Finish Game 1 Boston Strong; Back- But Not in Black, Celtics Showing Life in the Knick of Time

BOSTON BRUINS- After finishing the regular season seemingly with a whimper, the Bruins were set for their first round opponent- Northeast Division rival and fellow Original 6 member Toronto, who's fans had been waiting since 2004 for a playoff appearance. As the CBC points out, nobody had ever posted live updates about a Maple Leafs playoff game or live-tweeted one, since those social media platforms were still a few years away from being introduced.

Game one of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals got underway Wednesday night at the TD Garden. James van Riemsdyk got the blue and white on the board early with a power play goal less than two minutes into the first, but Boston would tie it up with a Wade Redden tally with less than five minutes to go and then take the lead on this Nathan Horton power play goal with 11.7 seconds left in the first period:



Horton's tally would turn out the be the game-winner, but the Bruins added two more in the second with even strength goals by David Krejci and Johnny Boychuk in the second period as Toronto scrambled.

The Bruins would go on to win Game 1 by a 4-1 final and Tukka Rask stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced. Leafs goalie Jamie Reimer faced twice as many shots and allowed four goals in game one while David Krecji had a goal and a pair of assists Wednesday night.

Despite the lackluster finish to the regular season where they had lost seven out of their last nine, the Bruins are off to a good start in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Game two is set to take place on Saturday with the puck dropping at 7:00 ET. The contest will reportedly be televised on NESN, CBC and CNBC.

Nathan Denette- Canadian Press

RED SOX- Wednesday night's opening matchup of the Stanley Cup playoffs wasn't the only Boston vs Toronto matchup going on.

After Jon Lester was hung with his first L of the season in a high-scoring 9-7 loss to the Blue Jays, Clay Buchholz took to the mound on Wednesday night in Toronto.

Clay would get some run support early thanks to a two run home by Stephen Drew in the top of the second to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. As Buchholz was confounding the Toronto bats, allowing just two hits and three walks over seven innings worth of work, the Boston batters seemed to have Jays starter Mark Buehrle figured out as he gave up solo homers to Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava in the top of the 4th to make it a 4-0 Red Sox lead. With two away in the top of the 7th, Buehrle was pulled for Esmil Rogers who allowed Jonny Gomes to come home on a wild pitch to make it 5-0. With Dustin Pedroia on first base, the Jays decided to walk DH David Ortiz to get to Mike Napoli. That would prove to be a huge mistake as Napoli blasted a Rogers offering into the Sightlines Restaurant for a 3-run homer, breaking the game wide open with an 8-0 lead. Alex Wilson would come in in relief of Buchholz in the bottom of the 8th and give up a 1-out RBI triple to Brett Lawrie, but Boston would get out of the inning without any further damage and tack on two additional runs in the top of the 9th- including a Mike Carp solo homer to make it a 10-1 game.

The Red Sox would cruise to a 10-1 win thanks to the explosive bats and a strong seven innings by Buchholz, who is now 6-0 with a 1.01 ERA. Napoli would go 3-4 with two homers and 4 RBI while SS Stephen Drew would go 3-5 with a homer and two RBI.

Thursday night's game will have Ryan Dempster [1-2; 3.30 ERA] going up against the Jay's JA Happ [2-1; 3.86 ERA]. Despite the 1-2 record [along with some no decisions thrown in along the way- NANESB!], Dempster has 43 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched so far this season. First pitch is at 7:07 ET and the game will be broadcast on NESN and Rogers Sports Net.

Jesse D. Garrabrant- Getty Images

BOSTON CELTICS- After Sunday's win in the Garden to keep the series against the NY Knicks alive and stave off the sweep, the Celtics received some bulletin board materiel from the Knicks Kenyon Martin before Wednesday's Game 5. Martin had told his teammates to 'wear black- funeral colors' in anticipation of burying the Celtics at Madison Square Garden.

For Game 5, the Knicks got off to a torrid start, scoring 11 unanswered points to start off the game, but the Celtics would cut into their lead before halftime, getting their first lead of the night with 5:45 remaining in the 2nd quarter, leading 45-39 at halftime. In the second half, they started to pull away thanks in large part to Paul Piece's 10 points in the 3rd quarter.

From there, the C's would cruise to a 92-86 win, stunning the home crowd at Madison Square Garden. This would be Boston's second playoff win in the post Big Three era. Apparently some harsh words were exchanged after the game after C's reserve player Jordan Crawford [who didn't see a second of action in Game 5- NANESB!] got into a shoving match with Carmello Anthony and Ray Felton- although it was pretty mild in comparison to January's much publicized ballyhoo between Anthony and Garnett.

The somewhat unheralded Jeff Green led Celtics scoring on Wednesday night with 18 points, including going 2-2 from 3 point range. The remaining duo from the Big Three- Pierce and Garnett- had 16 points each while Jason Terry was once again productive coming off the bench with 17 points.

With the win, the series heads back to Boston for a Game 6 on Friday night, which will get underway at 7:00 ET and will be broadcast on ESPN. Boston is trying to become the first NBA team to come back from an 0-4 series deficit in a playoff series.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- After trading off their first round pick to the Minnesota Vikings, the New England Patriots had two second round picks and selected Southern Mississippi LB Jamie Collins and Marshall WR Aaron Dobson (52nd and 59th overall). Rutgers figures prominently in the Patriot's 3rd round selection when they chose former Scarlet Knights CB Logan Ryan and SS Duron Harmon (83rd and 91st overall). New England only had one pick on the 4th round- TCU WR Josh Boyce- and didn't have another selection until the 7th round where they selected Illinois DE Michael Buchanan and Rutgers LB Steve Beauharnais.

OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS- Former Sooners and Patriots head coach Chuck Fairbanks passed away in his suburban Phoenix, AZ home last month. The 79 year old, who coached Heisman winner Steve Owens with the Oklahoma Sooners and was coach when the Patriots earned their first playoff berth since the AFL-NFL merger, had been battling brain cancer at the time.

Fairbanks came to New England from Oklahoma in 1973 and within three years the Patriots were in their first playoff game since the 1963 AFL Championship. While he drafted popular quarterback Steve Grogan out of Kansas State, Fairbanks was sued by the Patriots for breach of contract when he told then-owner Billy Sullivan he wanted out of the remainder of his contract in order to become head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. Fairbanks had reportedly been recruiting for Colorado whole still New England's head coach in 1978. The dispute was resolved when a group of Colorado boosters bought out the remainder of Fairbanks' contract in October 1979.

After his coaching career- including a short lived stint in the USFL- Fairbanks dabbled in real estate and golf course development and consulted for NFL teams in training camp, including the Cowboys when former Pats and Giants head coach Bill Parcells was at the helm.

OTHER NFL NEWS- Former broadcaster and New York Giants kicker Pat Sumerall passed away at the age of 82 in Texas on April 16th.

Born and raised in Lake City, FL, Sumerall attended the University of Arkansas where he would play both tight end and placekicker for the Razorbacks between 1949 and 1951. Although drafted in the fourth round by the Detroit Lions, Summerall played for the New York Giants and put the first points on the board for the G-Men during the 1958 NFL Championship Game- dubbed 'The Greatest Game Ever' by some and considered by many to be the starting point of the NFL's ascendency [the Giants would go on to lose by a 23-17 final- NANESB!].

However, Sumerall is best known for calling NFL games in his smooth, calm voice. Initially that voice found a home on local stations in New York and then CBS Sports. However, by the early 1990s, upstart FOX sports surprised the broadcast industry by outbidding CBS for the rights to the NFC broadcast package [to this day, CBS maintains the rights to the AFC broadcasts- NANESB!]. At FOX, he was reunited with the loud and boisterous John Madden as his broadcast partner. The duo called three Super Bowls together, including their final game- the Patriot's surprise win over the heavily favored St Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans.

Sumerall's also did voiceover work for the NFL and lent his voice to appearences on The Simpsons and Family Guy as well as radio ads for True Value hardware and Dux Beds.

Boston Strong SportsChowdah Update: Lackey's Back....ey, Houston Runs into Texas-Sized Problems at Fenway; Senators Veto Bruins Chances At Clinching Northeast Division Title; Celtics Avoid First Round Sweep;

Marty Schwalm- AP Photo

RED SOX- After a promising start to the series, the Red Sox came into Sunday afternoon hoping to close out a 4-game sweep of the visiting Houston Astros. Sunday afternoon's game was also noteworthy because it was the first start for John Lackey since leaving the 5th inning of a game against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre on April 6th. Since then, the Sox have shuffled the lineup using either Alfredo Aceves or Allen Webster as the fifth starter.

But with both Aceves and Webster sent down to Pawtucket, there would be no shuffling and Lackey would make only his second start since 2011 on Sunday. Although Lackey struggled somewhat out of the gate- allowing a 2-out RBI single from Ronny Cedeno for Houston to take the early lead- the Red Sox tied things up at 1-1 thanks to a Big Papi RBI single in the bottom of the first, although the Sox would leave the bases loaded to end the inning.

However, in the bottom of the 4th and with two away, SS Stephen Drew cleared the bases with an RBI triple to break the deadlock and give Boston a 3-1 advantage. That would actually be all the Red Sox would need for the day, but Dustin Pedroia and Mike Carp each had RBI doubles to give Boston a 5-1 lead.

Lackey struggled a bit in the 6th, allowing 3 straight singles with only one away, but the Astros were unable to capitalize after Lackey got the next two batters out. In the bottom of the 7th, Big Papi added to the Boston lead with an RBI double. From there, the Red Sox would cruise to a 6-1 win over Houston, sweeping the four game series at Fenway. Boston has now won 7 out of  their last 10 games and have already tied the club record for wins in April with a total of 18. They have a chance to surpass that high water mark on Tuesday night when they start a six game road trip with three apiece in Toronto and Texas.

Jon Lester [4-0; 2.27 ERA] will get the start on Tuesday night at the Rogers Centre against the Blue Jays Brandon Morrow [0-2; 5.27 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for the somewhat random time of 7:07 ET and the game will be broadcast on NESN and Rogers Sports Net.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Red Sox reliever Joel Hanrahan will return to the Red Sox lineup on Tuesday. Hanrahan last appeared in the 9th inning of the April 13th home game against Tampa Bay and was relieved by Koji Uehara after walking the first two batters he faced.

Hanrahan has reportedly lost out to Andrew Bailey as the Sox closer. Currently Hanrahan is 0-1 with 3 saves and an ERA of 11.57 on the season.

Steven Senne- AP

NHL- The rest of the NHL was waiting for the Bruins to finish up their regular season on Sunday evening in a matchup against Ottawa that was originally scheduled for Patriot's Day, but was postponed due to security concerns in the wake of the Boston Marathon bomings.

Despite the Bruins clawing back to tie Sunday's game at 2-2 in the 3rd period, the Senators scored two unanswered goals to give them a 4-2 lead and the win in the regular season finale. Coming into the game, it was already established that both teams would be in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it was just a matter of determining who they would face. With either a regulation win or overtime loss, the B's would have been facing either the NY Rangers or NY Islanders in the first round.

Instead, the Bruins finish up one point behind Montreal in the Northeastern division standings and fourth overall in the eastern conference- behind Pittsburgh, Montreal and Washington [despite having more points than the Capitals- NANESB!].

Either way, there was at least a 66% chance that the Bruins would be facing another Original 6 team for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The regulation loss on Sunday earns them a series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Game one of the first round series between the Leafs and B's is set to take place on Wednesday night at 7:00 PM ET with the game being televised on NESN and the CBC.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- The complete first round matchups of the Stanley Cup playoffs will look a little like this:

Los Angeles Kings @ St Louis Blues- Game 1 starts on 4/30 at 8:00 ET

Minnesota Wild @ Chicago Blackhawks- Game 1 starts on 4/30 at 8:00 ET

Detroit Red Wings @ Anaheim Ducks- Game 1 starts on 4/30 at 10:30 ET

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Boston Bruins- Game 1 starts on 5/1 at 7:00 ET

NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh Penguins- Game 1 starts on 5/1 at 7:30 ET

San Jose Sharks @ Vancouver Canucks- Game 1 starts on 5/1 at 10:30 ET

Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens- Game 1 starts on 5/2 at 7:00 ET

NY Rangers @ Washington Capitals- Game 1 starts on 5/2 at 7:30 ET

NBA- Well, it took overtime, but the Boston Celtics managed to avoid a first round sweep at the hands of the New York Knicks on Sunday.

After taking the first three games of the series, the Knicks had managed to erase a 20-point deficit in the 3rd quarter at the Garden on Sunday afternoon to tie the game up at 84-84. Jason Terry- who was 7-10 in FGs and had 18 points on the night- helped Boston pull ahead with a crucial 3 pointer with about 50 seconds to go in OT.

The Celtics would go on to win by a final of 97-90 in OT, avoiding an embarrassing sweep at home at the hands of their Atlantic Division rivals. Despite going 9-20, Paul Piece led the scoring for the Celtics with 29 points while Jeff Green went 9-22 with 26 points on the night.

Game 5 is set to take place Wednesday night with a start of 7:00 and will be televised on TNT.

Sports Chowdah Update- National League Comes Up Giant in Mid-Summer Classic; Ray Allen Takes a Shine to South Beach

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

ALL STAR GAME- Well, one possible upside of having so few Red Sox players at this year's All Star Game is that they can't be blamed for the colossal trainwreck that was the American League's performance. I would say Ron Washington manages the American League All Stars like President Obama manages the economy, except Washington's performance isn't costing anybody their jobs.

The wheels came off to the AL in the top of the first after Detroit's Justin Verlander got touched up for five runs. Milwaukee's Ryan Braun scored the first of many runs with a 1-out RBI double. After striking out Joey Votto, Verlander then walked the Cardinals' Carlos Beltran and the Giants' Buster Posey before Posey's teammate- Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval- cleared the bases with a 3-RBI triple. For good measure, Atlanta's Dan Uggla brought Sandoval home on an RBI single for the 5th run of the inning allowed by Verlander.

In the bottom of the first, the Yankee's Derek Jeter led off with a single, but he would be the only batter to even reach base until the bottom of the 4th. By then, the NL All-Stars would add 3 more runs- an RBI single from St Louis' Matt Holliday and a 2-run homer from the Giants' Melky Cabrera off of the Rangers' Matt Harrison.

And that would basically be it as the National League cruised to an easy-looking 8-0 win. San Francisco Giants players accounted for 5 of the NL's 8 RBI's and the winning pitcher was Giants starter Matt Cain who allowed one hit over two complete innings of work. Cabrera was also named MVP of the All Star game.

This is the third straight season which the National League has won the All-Star gam and the largest margin of victory in the history of the Mid Summer Classic. The win means that once again, the NL Pennant winner will have the first two games of the World Series at home.

Detroit's Prince Fielder was the winner of Monday night's Home Run Derby at Kauffman Stadium, besting the Blue Jays' Jose Bautista 12-7 in the final round.

Next year's All Star game is slated to have the Bill Maher-funded New York Mets play host in Queens at Citi Field.

Jim Rogash- Getty Images

RED SOX- After dropping three out of four games to the Yankees the weekend before the All Star break, the Red Sox hit the halfway mark at .500.

Although 2B Dustin Pedroia went on the DL, one pleasant surprise for Red Sox fans has been the performance of Pedro Ciriaco since getting called up from Pawtucket to play second base. Seeing limited time with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, Ciriaco was batting .301 with four homers and 21 RBIs through 64 games with the Paw Sox this season.

In just three games with Boston, Ciricao is batting .538 with 4 RBI, 2 stolen bases and 4 runs scored.

The Red Sox resume regular season play on Friday when they travel to Tampa Bay for a 3-game series against the Rays. Franklin Morales [1-2; 3.50 ERA] will get the start against the Ray's Jeremy Hellickson [4-5; 3.41 ERA] on Friday the 13th. The game is scheduled to get underway at 7:10 ET and will be televised on NESN and FOX sports Florida. DirecTV Sattelite and Time Warner Cable subscribers will reportedly be getting a free week of baseball with MLB Extra Innings being shown for free for the first week of the second half of the baseball season.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Outfielder Carl Crawford is expected to return to the diamond in Pawtucket on Thursday evening for what could be his final rehab start before heading back to Boston if all goes well. Scott Podsednik, also rehabbing in Rhose Island, is expected to start at DH for the Paw Sox on Thursday as well.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL EAST- The Toronto Blue Jays have locked up power-hitting first baseman Edwin Encarnacion before he was slated to become a free agent at the end of this season.

Encarnacion has been hitting .295 with 23 homers and 58 RBIs at the halfway point of this season. The 3 year extension is reportedly worth $27 million.

BOSTON CELTICS- Like many predicted, the Big Three era in Boston has come to an end with the defending Champion Miami Heat luring Ray Allen out of Beantown.

Although the C's had agreed to a contract extension with Kevin Garnett earlier in the offseason, Boston's signing of free agent guard Jason Terry from the Dallas Mavericks earlier this month brought a level of uncertainty for Allen Assuming he had stayed with the Celtics.

Allen, the NBA's leading 3-point shooter, was signed to a 3 year contract that garuntees $3 million in the first year with Miami the same day the heat announced they had reached an agreement with free agent forward Rashard Lewis who most recently had played for the Washington Wizards.

OTHER CELTICS NEWS- The Celtics had two first round picks in the 2012 NBA draft, selecting Jared Sullinger from Ohio State and Syracuse's Fab Melo. Melo's Orangemen teammate Kris Joseph was selected by the C's in the second round.

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers' son- North Carolina's Austin Rivers- was the 10th overall pick in this year's NBA draft and selected by the New Orleans Hornets.

Sports Chowdah Update for 7/1- Sox Work Extras For Series Split With M's; KG Sticking With Celtics; Big Papi Going to Kansas City

AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

RED SOX- Saturday night's game was something of a letdown after Beckett was cruising through the first five innings, allowing just one hit. However, after allowing a 1-out single to Ichiro Suzuki, Beckett walked the next batter he faced and a poorly played Kyle Seager fly ball dropped in to load the bases. M's catcher John Jaso would then get a 2-RBI double to put Seattle ahead 2-0.

Boston tied the game up at 2-2 in the top of the 7th thanks to a Ryan Kalish RBI groundout and Will Middlebrooks coming home from 3rd on a passed ball. Unable to break the deadlock in 9 innings, the game went to Extras. The Red Sox had already left two runners on in the 9th and did so in the top of the 10th. Seatlle would get a runner to come home from 3rd on a Chone Figgins sac-fly in the bottom of the 11th to give the Mariners the 3-2 win in extra innings. Boston could only hope for a split of the 4-game series against Seattle.

Sunday afternoon's game was a low-scoring affair with Seattle once again scoring first- Chone Figgins coming home on an Ichiro sac fly off of Doubront to make it 1-0 Seattle in the bottom of the 3rd. It was a forgettable outing for Doubront, notwowrthy in that he escaped only allowing the one run in less than 5 innings of work and issuing a career-high five walks.

But the Red Sox bullpen held the M's to just that one run. After striking out 6 in seven shutout innings, M's starter Jason Vargas got Brent Lillibridge to pop out to center before giving up a solo homer to Dustin Pedroia to tie the contest up at 1-1. Like Saturday night, nothing would get resolved in nine innings. However, the top of the 10th got off to a good start as Kalish hit a 1-out double to get himself into scoring position. Kalish would then advance to 3rd on Dustin Pedroia's single before coming home on a Big Papi RBI sac-fly to make it 2-1 Boston. Aceves would have a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th to preserve the Boston win and cement a split of the 4 game series at SafeCo.

The west coast swing continues on Monday night as the Sox head down to the East Bay area to take on the A's. Daisuke Matsuzaka [0-2; 4.91 ERA] will get the start against Oakland's Jarrod Parker [4-3; 2.57 ERA]. The game gets underway at 10:05 ET, 7:05 PT and will be televised on NESN.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The rosters for the 2012 MLB All Star game in Kansas City were announced on Sunday afternoon. For the first time in 11 seasons, only one Red Sox player will be in the midsummer classic- David Ortiz will be going as a DH for the American League [none of this first base crap this year, since its an AL ballpark- NANESB!].

The Rangers and Yankees will be well represented as far as All Star starting position players go. Texas will be sending C Mike Napoli, 3B Adrian Beltre, and OF Josh Hamilton while the Yankees will have SS Derek Jeter, OF Curtis Granderson and 2B Robinson Cano going. The Angels will be well represented too, with Jared Weaver and CJ Wilson scheduled to pitch for the AL while outfielders Mike Trout and Mark Turmbo are part of the All Star reserves.

NBA- After the NBA season, Celtics head coach Doc Rivers told Boston media that the club was interested in keeping the Big Three together as long as it was feasable.

The C's are reportedly a thrid of the way there with this week's signing of Kevin Garnett. Opting not to test the free agency waters, KG and the C's agreed to a 3 year $34 million contract this weekend.

Sports Chowder Update for June 10- National Catastrophe at Fenway; The Devil Zone, NJ Stays Alive in Cup Final; The Heat is On- Miami Surges Past C's in Game 7

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

RED SOX- Damn those Beltway insiders!

The Boston Red Sox capped a rather forgettable week by getting swept by the first place Washington Nationals over the weekend. On Friday night, Nats phenom Stephen Strasburg struck out 13 batters in six innings of work while 19 year old rookie Bryce Harper went 3 for 5 with a homer and 3 RBI in Boston's 7-4 loss to the Nats.

Saturday saw the return of Daisuke Matsuzaka to the Red Sox lineup after an extensive trip through the Red Sox minor-league system as part of his rehab. Dice-K went 5 innings, allowing four earned runs and five hits and a walk while striking out 8 but was outdueled by Washington's Gio Gonzalez who went 6 and ⅓ innings and allowing two earned runs on three hits (including Saltalamacchia's 2-run homer) in the Nationals' 4-2 win.

Sunday's game saw the Nationals rally from a 2-1 defecit to briefly take a 3-2 lead on a 2-RBI double in the top of the 7th before the game was tied back up at 3-3 thanks to a Scott Podsednik RBI groundout in the bottom of the 7th. However, after Alfredo Aceves walked Bryce Harper in the top of the 9th, Nats outfielder Roger Bernadina belted a 2-out RBI double to give Washington the 4-3 lead, which they held on to after Tyler Clippard managed to get the last 3 outs of the game.

Having been no less than 2 and a half games out of the AL East lead last week, the Red Sox have fallen back to dead last and are now 6 games behind in the AL East standings. Earlier this week, Boston had dropped two out of three games against Baltimore at Fenway. For Monday, the Red Sox will head down to Miami to take on the Marlins. Josh Beckett [4-6; 4.04 ERA] will get the start against his former team while the Marlins send Josh Johnson [3-4; 4.56 ERA] to the mound. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN and gets underway at 7:10 ET.



ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Although they ended up losing the weekend series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Seattle Mariners managed to no-hit the Dodgers despite going through six pitchers to do so.

Kevin Millwood threw six hitless innings before leaving with a groin injury on Friday night at SafeCo. That brought reliever Charlie Furbush out of the pen for ⅔ of an inning. Stephen Prior, who came on after Furbush and threw all of ⅓ an inning and faced just one batter was credited with the win. Lucas Luetge then came on for ⅔ of an inning. This was followed up by Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen, who got all three outs in the bottom of the 9th to preserve the 1-0 win (Seattle's only run came in the bottom of the 7th when Kyle Seagar brought Ichiro Suzuki home with an RBI single.

The combined no-no was the first of its kind this season and fourth no-hitter of the 2012 baseball season and already the second no-hitter this month. On April 21st, the Mariners themselves were on the other end of White Sox starter Philip Humber's perfect game.

Interestingly, this is not the first time six MLB pitchers were credited with a no-hitter. A June 2003 interleague game between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees unfolded in a similar manner when then-Astros starter Roy Oswalt left the game early with Pete Munro, Kirk Sarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner combining to no-hit the Yankees in the Bronx.

NCAA FOOTBALL- Authorities in Alabama have identifies a suspect in the fatal shooting of three people at a party near the Auburn campus over the weekend. Two of the deceased have been identified as former football players- Edward Christian and Ladarious Phillips- as well as 20 year old Demario Pitts. Three others were wounded by gunfire at the party. Christian had previously quit the team due to a back injury.

Police are looking for 22 year old Desmonte Leonard of Montgomery, AL who is accused of opening fire at the apartment complex to party took place in and starting a fight with partygoers over a woman. Leonard could be facing three counts of capital murder.

Paul Bereswill/Getty Images

STANLEY CUP FINALS- After falling into an 0-3 hole in the Stanley Cup finals, the New Jersey Devils are within a game of tying up the series at 3-3 after their 2-1 win over the LA Kings on Saturday.

The Devils got on the board late in the first with a Zach Parise power play tally [right when the announcer was talking about the King's near-flawless penalty killing in the postseason- isn't it always that way? NANESB!]. It was an uncharecteristically sloppy goal that Kings netminder Jonathan Quick coughed up after attempting to clear the puck, but it put the Devils on the board .

Justin Williams got the Kings on the board and tied things up at 1-1 early in the second, but about five minutes later, the Devils re-took the lead on a tip-in from Bryce Salvador. Despite outshooting the Devils 9-3 in the 3rd period, Broduer turned aside every shot he faced and the Devils hung on to win by a 2-1 final, forcing a Game 6 on Monday night.

So with the Devils a win away from tying the Cup Final and the King a win away from Clinching it, Game 6 will get underway from Staples Center on Monday night at 8:00 ET; 5:00 Pacific time- the game will be televised on NBC and the CBC.

NBA- The Boston Celtics season- and in all likelyhood, the Big 3 era- has come to an end with their Game 7 loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night.

The Miami Heat surged late and pulled away from the Celtics late in the 4th quarter, outscoring the Celtics 28-15 to pull away for good and clinch the Eastern Conference title with the 101-88 win at South Beach. Lebron James led the scoring with 31 points 12 rebounds and two assists. On the Celtics side of the ball, Rajon Rondo led the way with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.

The win sets up an appointment with the Oklahoma City Thunder who came from behind to best to San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals last week. This would be the second year in a row the Heat have advanced to the NBA Finals- last year they lost to the Dallas Mavericks 4 games to 2.

Game 1 between the Heat and the Thunder is set to take place Tuesday night at 9:00 ET in Oklahoma City and will be televised on ABC.

Sports Chowdah Update- Jersey Chore, Devils Fall Into 0-2 Stanley Cup Hole; Jays-ed & Confused, Toronto Touches Up Bard; Heat Wilt In the Garden

BOSTON CELTICS- After putting the Miami Heat in a big hole early in Game Four on Sunday night, the Celtics managed to squander an 18 point lead against the visiting Miami Heat in the 4th quarter at the Garden.

However, for all the talk of offensive prowess and superstars like LeBron James, the turning point in Sunday night's game [and possibly the series- NANESB!] came courtesey of somebody who had exactly zero points on the night. With the contest tied at 89-89 at the end of the 4th and heading to OT.

Although the Celtics managed to take a 1-point lead, but not before Paul Pierce had fouled out of the game less than a minute into OT. One of the biggest plays in OT for Boston came not from Rondo or Garnett, but Mickael Pietrus who had a grand total of zero points on Sunday night. With less than two minutes to go and the C's desperately clinging to a 92-91 lead, Pietrus came up with two huge offensive rebounds to keep the clock going and retain posession for the C's after two missed shots. Then, with Miami heading back up the court, Pietrus drew the sixth foul of the evening on LeBron James- the first time LeBron fouled out of a game as a member of the Miami Heat.

With less than 25 seconds to go in OT, the C's made it a two point game when Rajon Rondo went 1 for 2 from the free throw line to make it 93-91. On the Heat's next possession, Dwayne Wade let loose from outside the line with a shot that looked like it was going to make it and give Miami the lead as time expired, but it ultimately clanged off the rim.

The Celtics didn't win this one so much as survive it. Paul Pierce had 23 points on the night along with 6 rebounds before lgetting tossed out of the game in OT. Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists while Mickael Pietrus had the two pivotal offensive rebounds in OT.

The win is Boston's second in a row in the Eastern Conference Finals and sends the series back to South Beach knotted up at 2 games apiece. Although the Heat could do little to stop Rajon Rondo, who had an NBA playoff-best 44 points in Game 2, Miami was ultimately victorious in that contest. So far, each team is undefeated in their home arena in the Eastern Conference finals.

With the series knotted at 2 games each, this basically becomes a best-of-3 series. Game 5 will get underway from South Beach on Tuesday night with a tipoff time of 8:30 ET on ESPN.

The winner of the Miami-Boston series will take on the winner of the San Antonio-Oklahoma City series out west. Like the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference finals are also knotted up at 2-2.



STANLEY CUP FINALS- Two games at Newark's Prudential Center, two overtimes but despite the best efforts of New Jersey's veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur, the Los Angeles Kings are seperated from Lord Stanley's cup by all of two wins.

After an Anze Kopitar tally broke a 1-1 deadlock in OT of Game 1, the Devils found themselves trailing again for most of Game 2 on Saturday night after an unassisted Drew Doughty goal in the first before Ryan Carter knotted the contest up at 1-1 with a goal early in the 3rd. Nothing was resolved in the rest of regulation, so like the series opener Game 2 went to OT. Also like Game 1, the deadlock was broken by the Kings in overtime after Jeff Carter figured out how to get one by Brodeur with 6:18 remaining in OT.

With the Kings two wins away from clinching the Stanley Cup Champioship, the series heads out to the West Coast beginning Monday. The puck drops at 8:00 ET, 5:00 PT at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Network and the CBC.

BOSTON BRUINS- Goalie Tim Thomas announced that he plans on taking next season off. The late-blooming netminder said in a message on his facebook page "At the age of 38, I believe it is time to put my time and energies into those areas and relationships that I have neglected, That is why at this time I feel the most important thing I can do in my life is to reconnect with the three F's. Friends, Family, and Faith".

Thomas reportedly told Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli that he was considering taking a year off on Friday. However, Thomas left open the possibility of a return to the NHL and expressed an interest in trying out for the US Olympic team in the 2014 Winter games. Had Thomas simply announced that he was retiring, the Bruins would've been responsible for a $5 million annual cap hit. Instead, Thomas is due $3 million for the 2012-2013 season although he had waived his no-trade clause back in 2010.

Although Thomas' plans to miss the 2012-13 season to take a sabbatical come to a surprise as some, the Bruins would still be in pretty good shape as far as goaltending is concerned. The Bruins still have Tukka Rask [although he becomes a restricted free agent in July- NANESB!] as well as Anton Khudobin as their top two goalies.



MLB- For the first time in their 51 year history, the New York Mets have a no-hiter to their name. The Mets milestone was reached on Friday night when starter Johan Santana threw a complete game no hitter against the St Louis Cardinals in their 8-0 shutout of the defending World Series champions. Santana threw a career high 134 pitches in the franchise's first ever no-hitter. Former Met Carlos Beltran, appeared to break up the no-hit bid in the top of the 6th with a liner over 3rd base, but it was immediately ruled foul by the 3rd base umpire- despite the fact that it kicked up some chalk.

Left fielder Mike Baxter preserved Johan's no-no bid at great personal expense, crashing into a wall while successfully chasing down a Yadier Molina fly ball [As of Sunday, Baxter was on the 15 day DL with a displaced right collarbone- NANESB!]. Mets catcher Josh Thole caught a foul tip off the bat of 2011 World Series MVP David Freese on a 3-2 count to complete the game.

With the Mets no-hitter in the books, this leaves the San Diego Padres as the only MLB franchise that doesn't have a no-hitter to their name.

OTHER METS NEWS- Noted misogynist and HBO talk show host Bill Maher announced on Sunday that he recently became a minority shareholder of the team. After being sued by one of the trustees for victims of embezzler Bernie Madoff last year, the Mets ownership decided to raise funds by The Mets management selling an undiclosed number of limited partner shares for $20 million each. Although Maher declined to say how much he paid for his share if the Mets, but the sale reportedly took place around the same time as the limited partner shares were made available.

RED SOX- Although the weekend got off to a promising start for the Red Sox, Sunday ended with a fizzle for the Sox as Daniel Bard got touched up for five runs in 1⅓ innings, including a 3 run homer by Jose Bautista. Boston would go on to win by a final of 5-1, with Boston's only run coming in the top of the 5th thanks to a Kelly Shoppach solo homer. Boston won the first two games of the weekend series thanks to strong outings by Clay Buchholz and Felix Doubront. However, Boston lost Subday afternoon's game by a 5-1 final.

The Sox return to Fenway on Tuesday to take on the Orioles, who were knocked out of first place by Tampa Bay over the weekend [after the weekend, Boston and Toronto are tied for last place in the AL East, although both teams are only 3 games out of 1st place- NANESB]. Jon Lester [3-4; 4.79 ERA] is scheduled to get the start against Baltimore's Jason Hammel [6-2; 3.06 ERA] on Tuesday night at 7:10 PM. The game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER BLUE JAYS NEWS- Blue Jays 3B Brett Lawrie left a food court at a popular Toronto mall seconds before a gunman opened fire on patrons, killing one and wounding several others.

Lawrie was one of the first to break the news on Twitter on Saturday evening. He had gone to the mall with a friend shortly after the Blue Jays lost to the Boston Red Sox in a Saturday afternoon game.

''Pretty sure someone just let off a round bullets in eaton center mall ... Wow just sprinted out of the mall ... through traffic,'' Lawrie tweeted. ''People sprinting up the stairs right from where we just were ... Wow wow wow.''

He later tweeted that he was ''Rattled right now.''

On Sunday, Lawrie said he felt lucky because he left the food court 10 seconds before the shooting.

''It was instant panic,'' Lawrie said before Sunday's game against the Red Sox. ''It was as if you stepped on an ant hill and then everyone just flooded out of the place. ... I just got out of there as fast as possible. I was the first person out of there.''

Lawrie said he wanted to get the news out fast.

''I just thought I'd give it out there just to anybody that could have been in the mall or anybody that needed to get there ASAP, I thought I could give them a good piece of information,'' he said.

Lawrie, a Canadian, said he never thought something like that could happen at the Eaton Centre, a Toronto landmark that is popular with tourists.

Toronto police identified the slain man as Ahmed Hassan and believe the shooting is gang-related. Although shootings have been on the rise in recent years north of the border, they are still relatively rare in Canada and Toronto prides itself on being one of the safest metropolitan areas in North America. Although the gunman wasn't publicly identified, a Toronto police spokesman said that between video survaillence footage, eyewitness accounts and the deceased's gang affiliation, they know the identity of the shooter.

Rainy Day Sports Chowdah Update- Tiger in the Tank, Sox Scuff Up Verlander Thanks to Feliz Nava-dad; 'Doc' Hits DL in Philly; Devils Egged Onto Cup Final

After dropping two out of three against the Tampa Bay Rays at home over the weekend- including a gut wrenching 4-3 loss on Sunday in which the Rays went ahead in the top of the 9th on a 2-run homer by Sean Rodriguez- the Red Sox played host to the team that swept Boston to start off the regular season.

Monday's 7-4 win over the Tigers came at a price for the Red Sox as Dustin Pedroia left the game with a jammed thumb. Although Pedroia sat out Tuesday's game while hoping to avoid a longer stint on the DL.

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

With Cy Young winner Justin Verlander on the bump against Boston on Tuesday night, runs against Detroit figured to be as valuable as the missing paintings from the 1990 Gardner Museum Heist, but Mike Aviles got the Sox on the board with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the 2nd inning.

Meanwhile, Daniel Bard put a few runners on base but was managing to pitch four innings of shutout baseball but had a grand total of one run for support until the bottom of the fourth. After allowing singles by Youkilis, Aviles and Podsednik, Verlander got Nick Punto [filling in for Pedroia on Tuesday] to pop up for the second out of the inning. With two away, into the batter's box stepped Daniel Nava. Verlander managed to get a 3-2 count on the left fielder, but Nava sent a 100 MPH Verlander offering into left field, clearing the bases with a clutch 3-RBI double.

As it turned out, the Sox would need every bit of run support. In the top of the 5th, the Tigers got on the board thanks to a solo home run from Jhonny Peralta to make it 4-1. In the bottom of the 5th, Big Papi drove home Adrian Gonzalez to once again make it a 4-run game but got thrown out at third after trying to stretch a double into a triple on the throw home.

Prince Fielder would account for the rest of Detroit's offense that night with a solo homer and an RBI single while Big Papi would hit a solo homer to once again widen the gap for Boston. Boston goes on to win by a final of 6-3, with Daniel Bard going 5⅓ innings with Hill, Atchison, Miller, Padilla coming in out of the bullpen and Alfredo Aceves notching his 12th save of the season after closing out the 9th. The game was halted by a rain delay of about 40 minutes in the bottom of the 8th- no word whether or not 1/32nd Cherokee Elizabeth Warren triggered the delay with an authentic Native American rain dance. Verlander was pulled after 6 innings, allowing 10 hits and 5 runs while striking out 7.

The win puts the Red Sox above .500 for the first time this season. While it may not sound impressive, Boston is actually all of 3 and ½ games out of first place in the AL East with Tampa Bay and Baltimore tied for first place. Game three of the four game series against Detroit gets underway at 7:10 PM ET on Wednesday. Jon Lester [3-4; 4.72 ERA] gets the start against Detroit's Drew Smyly [2-1; 3.14 ERA] for game 3 which will be televised on NESN.

OTHER MLB NEWS- Philadelhpia Phillies ace Roy Halliday is expected to miss anywhere from 6-8 weeks, landing on the 15-day DL with a right shoulder injury. Through 11 starts, Halliday is 4-5 with a 3.98 ERA.

In a seperate development, former Phillies and Astros starter Roy Oswalt signed a 1 year $5 million minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers. Last season, Oswalt went 9-10 with an ERA of 3.69 for Philadelphia although he spent some time on the DL with a bad back. Pending a physical, Oswalt is expected to start for the Ranger's AAA affiliate in Round Rock, TX.

NHL- After breezing through the Vancouver Canucks, St Louis Blue and Phoenix Coyotes, the Los Angeles Kings are heading to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since the 1993 season. The Kings will play the New Jersey Devils, who won their last Stanley Cup championship in 2003 against another Southern California team- the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Devils bested the New York Rangers 4-2 in the Eastern conference finals while the Kings bested the Phoenix Coyotes 4 games to 1 in the Western Conference finals.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals is set to take place Wednesday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Wednesday night and will be televised at 8:00 PM ET (5:00 Pacific) on NBC and CBC.

NBA- While the Stanley Cup finals get underway, the NBA Conferences finals got underway over the memorial day weekend. The Miami Heat currently hold a 1-0 edge after a 93-79 win over the Celtics at South Beach on Monday night. Game 2 is set to take place Wednesday night at 8:30 ET and will be televised on ESPN.

Over in the Western Conference, the San Antonio Spurs took a 2-0 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 120-111 on Tuesday night.