Sports Chowdah Recap for Oct 17-18: Tragedy in Storrs; Extra Extra! Yanks Take 2-0 ALCS Lead After 13; Snow Contest @ Gillette; Winning Convincing-Lee

(File Photo/AP)
JASPER HOWARD: 1989-2009

University of Connecticut cornerback Jasper Howard was stabbed in an altercation near the UConn Student union at 12:30AM Sunday morning. Howard was airlifted from Windham Community Memorial Hospital to St. Francis where was pronounced dead.

The Hartford Courant has more on this.

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
The Philadelphia Phillies took a 2-1 lead in the NLCS at Citizen's Bank ballpark Sunday Night on the strength of Cliff Lee's eight shutout innings, winning by a final of 11-0. Lee gave up only three hits in his outing while Dodgers starter Hideki Kuroda lasted only 1 and 1/3rd innings, giving up 6 runs. Ryan Howard was 1 for for with 3 RBI and a run scored while Jason Werth has a 2 run homer and Shane Victorino a 3-run homer. Game 4 will be Monday night with Joe Blanton on the bump for the Phils and Randy Wolf starting for the Dodgers.

It took 13 innings to decide a winner at Yankee stadium on Saturday night (early Sunday, east coast time) but a leadoff solo home run by Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the 11th off of Brian Fuentes when the Yankees were down by a run extended another cold and occasionally rainy game in the Bronx. More costly errors for the Angels, as Maicer Izturus' throwing error with runners on in the bottom of the 13th, allowing Jerry Hairston Jr. to score the go ahead run.

(Elsa/Getty Images)

To say it wasn't even close in Foxboro on Sunday would be something of an understatement. New England effortlessly rolled over the hapless Tennesee Titans/Houston Oilers 59-0 in the driving Global Warming.....I mean....Climate Change....damn! I mean snow at Gillette Stadium today. Apparently there hasn't been this one-sided a beatdown since the Bicentennial, when the then-L.A. Rams beat the Atlanta Falcons by the same score in 1976. Tom Brady was 29 for 34 with 380 yards and six touchdowns. Just out of curiosity, where was this offense for the 2nd half of last week's game in Denver? Or overtime? Curiously, after facing a bunch of then-undefeated teams (Atlanta, the Jets, Baltimore and Denver), New England winds up with two winless opponents (Tennessee and Tampa Bay) for consecutive weeks.

The New York Jets lost in overtime to the Buffalo Bills at the Meadowlands in E. Rutherford, NJ, 16-13. Joe Namath was 10 of 29 for 119 yards with five turnovers after taking a 13-3 lead today.....wait. Did I say Joe Namath? I did it again....I keep getting him and Mark Sanchez mixed up for some reason. Mark Sanchez was 10 for 29, with 119 yards and five interceptions today. [Five? Wait- that's as many interceptions from Mark Sanchez all day as touchdowns from Tom Brady had in the 2nd quarter- NANESB!]. This brings the Jets record to 3-3, with a 1-2 record within the AFC East.

Boston College running back Montel Harris rushed for 264 yards and 5 TDs as the Eagles beat the North Carolina State Wolfpack 52-20 in former Eagle's coach Tom O'Briens return to Chestnut Hill. Harris broke the school's records for touchdowns in a single game and yardage in a single game; the previous best was 253 in 1972 by Phil Bennet [Yes, I had to look that up- NANESB!]. The Eagles are now 5-2 and take on the 4-2 Fighting Irish next week at South Bend.

Phoenix's Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced for a 4-1 Coyotes win over the Boston Bruins at Glendale, AZ Saturday night. The Bruins also have traded RW Chuck Kobasew to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for RWs Craig Weller and Alexander Fallstrom on Sunday. The next game for the B's will be at home against the Nashville Predators on October 21st.

Sports Chowdah Recap- October 10-11th: Halo, Goodbye- Angels Sweep Sox; Snow Place Like Home- Global Warming Plays Havoc w/NLDS; Rask outlasts Isles

(Photo: Getty Images/Jim Rogash)
And just like that, the Red Sox season is over- on the wrong end of a first round sweep of the Angels for a change. Although Boston was able to generate some offense Sunday (6 runs on seven hits), Johnathan Papelbon gave up the go-ahead 2-RBI single to Vlad Guerero in the top of the ninth. The Angels held on to win 7-6 and will advance to the ALCS. And before the champagne corks hit the floor in the visitors locker room, there was already talk of unloading Papelbon. So I guess now would be the time for the recriminations, finger-pointing and second-guessing. I had a feeling Red Sox Nation would be in for something like this as recently as the forgettable series split at Kansas City. The following series against the Yankees and Blue Jays (0-6) did nothing to reassure me. Now all that's left between now and Febuary in Ft. Meyers is to speculate on who's coming in as a free agent, who's in the pipeline in the minors and who's going to be leaving, traded or retiring.

With that said, I'd like to offer my congratulations to the Angels organization. Don't let up now- Win it for #34.

(Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

After Saturday's game at Coors Field was postponed due to Global Warming, the Phillies and Rockies got underway Sunday Night. Neither Philly starter J.A. Happ or Rockies starter Jason Hammel made it through the 4th inning. Colorado blew a 3-1 lead in the 4th and the Phillies hung on to win 6-5 after Brad Lidge's first postseason save of 2009.

And, alas, baseball under the Metrodome is over and done with as the Twins were eliminated from the ALDS when they lost to the Yankees 4-1 [who didn't see that coming?]. I wonder how eager people will be for outdoor baseball in the Minnesota come April 2010.

And since I didn't really have time to update on Saturday, the Cardinals were eliminated by the Dodgers in Game 3 at Busch Field.

(Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Elsewhere in the Mile-High city, the Patriots gave up a 17-7 halftime lead to lose 20-17 in OT on a 41-yard Matt Prater Field Goal. The game more or less lived up to its billing [Josh McDaniels against his former mentor, blah blah blah] although not exactly the desired outcome (of course, I'm biased). Would've been nice to see some more first downs from the Pats offense in the 2nd half. Oh...and memo to Brandon Merriweather. Save the strutting and trash talking until.....oh...I dunno....maybe some time after the game! I'm sure that crap would be okey-dokey at the University of Miami, but try acting like you've made a big play before- might not give the other team extra downs inside the red zone late in the game, mmkay?

Not completely off-topic, but I've been getting all kinds of folks coming up to me unsolicited at the bar and telling me how cool they think the Patriot Pat/AFL throwback Pats uniforms are. Some of these people are also Pats fans, some of them self appointed NFL Throwback Fashion Police. Still, my response is usually something along the lines of 'Are you freakin' kidding me? Am I the only one who remembers them finishing 1-15 or 3-13 while wearing those uniforms?'. Don't get me wrong- I actually like the look and everything, but it's not as though it's harkening back to the franchise's glory days.

So as it stands right now, the Broncos are 5-0 and the Patriots are 3-2. Next week, New England hosts the winless Tennesee Titans.

One bright spot- perhaps the only bright spot as far as I'm concerned- this weekend was the Bruins game against the NY Islanders on Saturday. Leading 3-0 in the third period, the Islanders had yet to record a shutout against Boston in their 37-year history. At the end of regulation, that still held true as the Bruins would get on the board with goals from Marc Savard, Byron Bitz and Matt Hunwick. Blake Wheeler and Marc Savard managed to get the puck past Dwayne Roloson in the shootout, while Tukka Rask was beaten by a shot from Rob Schremp but stopped a Kyle Okposo shot to clinch the shootout win. Rask faces 38 shots, stopping 35 in his first start of the season.

On Saturday afternoon, Boston College lost to #5 ranked Virginia Tech 48-14, which makes them 1-2 against the ACC. The Eagles will host North Carolina State this week.

Sports Chowdah Recap for October 7th.

I was peripherally aware of the tripleheader underway in the MLB playoffs yesterday- the Phillies had pretty much wrapped up Game 1 of the NLDS against Colorado by the time I finished work yesterday.

The Twins got out to an early 2-0 lead against the Yankees in the Bronx, but that didn't last long as the Yankees scored 7 unanswered runs. Gotta wonder about Gardenhire's decision to throw Lariano into what was looking more and more like a lost cause for the Twins at that point. But then again, I'm probably underestimating how depleted the Twins bullpen was after Tuesday's 12-inning affair.

Rounding out the tripleheader was LA's Jeff Weaver getting the win over St. Louis' Chris Carpenter in Game 1 of that series. Lots of runners stranded in scoring position for both teams last night, but the Dodgers managed to win 5-3.

And let's not forget today's big showdown between Boston and Anaheim.

Oh...wait- you thought I was talking about baseball still? Sure- why the hell not?

Another tripleheader later on today, starting with Rockies/Phillies, then Cardinals/Dodgers and finally Red Sox/Angels for the nightcap.

As far as I know, here are the ALDS Probables:

Game 1- Jon Lester vs John Lackey

Game 2- Josh Beckett vs Jared Weaver

Game 3- Clay Buchholz vs Scott Kazmir.

[NOTE: ESPN Mobile listed Game 3 Starters as TBA vs Joe Saunders late yesterday]

One final note- F Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins signed a 3-year contract extention yesterday.

What's in a Name?

Just to clarify- since the blog is only a few days old- the actual title is meant to cut both ways. On the one hand, it lives up to it's billing when discussing current events, the railroad industry, the economy, photography, the media, politics and pop culture. The title was derived from the parody movie Not Another Teen Movie, which in fact was a teen movie.

Having said that, the title is also meant to be tongue-in-cheek when I'm discussing....well...the current state of New England sports in depth. But setting up a blog dedicated exclusively to the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins or Celtics would be hauling the proverbial coals to Newcastle; there's not shortage of blogs and forums that are out there specializing in that topic that have been around much longer than I have, and frankly, can offer perspective that I can't.

So welcome to my humble little corner of the blogosphere.

Sports Chowdah Recap for October 2-4: Clean Sweep for Beantown; Desperately Seeking AL Central Winner; Cure for Gang Green Found In New Orleans

(photo courtesey Getty images/Yahoo sports)

Well, from what I understand Baltimore only has themselves to blame for today's loss at Foxboro by virtue of their inability to convert on a pivotal 3rd and short and 4th and short deep inside New England's red zone late in the 4th quarter. In any case, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good (one would think a 11-5 record would be good enough for a postseason berth, remember?) so that leaves both teams with a 3-1 record right now. Also, I was only able to follow the game on radio, so I missed all the 300 lb linebackers sporting pink.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox ended the regular season with a 4-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians at Fenway this weekend, beating Cleveland 12-7 for the final regular season home game. Among other things, this marks Eric Wedge's last game as manager for the Tribe. But enough about that, you'll probably want the probable starters for the ALDS.

Game 1- John Lester (vs John Lackey?)

Game 2- Josh Beckett

Game 3- Clay Buchholz

(photo courtesey of AP/Yahoo Sports)

The Bruins looked alot better yesterday as they ran roughshod over the Carolina Hurricanes 7-2. There were seven different goal scorers for the Bruins (Savard, Ryder, Wheeler, Sturm, Wideman, Thornton, Hunwick) with all but Wheeler's and Thornton's goals coming on the power play. Tim Thomas faced 27 shots on goal, stopping 25. By no means do I consider this 'revenge' for last season's Game 7 Eastern Conference Semifinal loss. Instead, I'll just leave it at a good start to the regular season.

(photo courtesy of nolesports.com)

Boston College won it's second straight game against an ACC opponent (this time in regulation), holding on to beat the Seminoles 28-21 at Chestnut Hill. Bobby Bowden was unavailable for comment immediately after the game, as his midsection was filled with hot coals that were being used to grill a porterhouse.

ELSEWHERE: Another 3-0 NFL team's bid to remain undefeated fell by the wayside as the New York Jets fell to the New Orleans Saints, 24-10. The next Joe Namath....I mean.... Mark Sanchez went 14-27 with 138 yards, 3 interceptions and was sacked 4 times.

Apparently 162 games just isn't enough to decide who will win the AL Central pennant. So Detroit and Minnesota will go at it Tuesday for all the (AL Central) marbles.

The Puck Drops Here

Actually, that's not true at all. The blog is hardly 24 hours old and I'm already derelict in my blogger duties, I guess.

I will unambiguously be away from the computer watching tonight's game with some friends at a bar. Bruins and the Caps- I can't be the only one who's thinking that this is the matchup they should've had for the upcoming 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway.

Anywhoo- looking forward to that and some west coast games to boot.

Update: Well- that sure sucked. 4-1 Caps.

Not Another New England Sports Blog! The Debut-

Welcome to the blog that's exactly what it says it isn't!

Just a little something I cobbled together while celebrating the puck dropping on Bruins' season and the Red Sox triumphantly securing the AL Wild Card by getting swept by the Blue Jays (huh? How does that work?).

I'll be bringing up other topics (such as current events, the economy, travel, etc.) so feel free to stop on by.