Magnolia State Madness Sports Grits Chowdah Update- Mississippi Blues for Aggies, Crimson Tide; Royal Flush- Kansas City Sweeps Angels to Advance to 1st ALCS Since 1985; Patriots Bounce Back Against Cincinnati.

NCAA FOOTBALL- Every once in awhile, I'll encounter a subset of football fans who are outright dismissive of college football, sneering that REAL football is played on Sundays- as though their favorite NFL player was cultivated in some magic football orchard hidden off from the rest of the world until their product was ready. On Saturday, I genuinely felt bad for those people.

Where to start? Obviously the biggest story of Saturday afternoon was the Ole Miss vs #1 Alabama game in Oxford, MS. For the first time since 2003, when Eli Manning was the Rebels QB, Ole Miss bested the Alabama Crimson Tide thanks to a 4th quarter rally. This also marks the first time since 1962 that the Rebels have gotten out to a 5-0 start.

Midway through the 4th quarter, Mississippi trailed 17-10 before pulling even on a 34 yard TD pass from Bo Wallace to WR Vance Sanders with 5 and a half minutes remaining in regulation. With the ensuing kickoff, Alabama's Christion Jones fumbled and Mississippi recovered on the Alabama 31 yard line. It didn't take long for the Rebels to capitalize, with Wallace connecting with RB Jaylen Walton for a TD catch and run to put Ole Miss up 23-17 with just under 3:00 remaining in the 4th. The Rebels attempted to go for two, but were unsuccessful, giving Alabama one last chance to pull ahead for good in the final minutes.

With just 37 seconds to go, the Tide had one last shot at the end zone, but Rebels outfielder-turned-DB Senquez Golson managed to get his hands on a Blake Sims pass attempt in the end zone and after a lengthy review was able to corral it for a galme-clinching INT.

Wallace ended up throwing for 251 total yards and 3 TDs, including two in the fourth quarter. The victory propels Ole Miss to 3 in college football polling as well.

This Saturday, the Running Rebels will travel to College Station, TX to take on #14 Texas A&M.

ELSEWHERE IN THE SEC- Saturday's stunner in Oxford was by no means the only upset in the SEC, let alone NCAA Football. The only-slightly-less-favored Aggies fell to Mississippi State in Starkville by a 48-31 final in what ended up being a track meet. Like in-state rival Ole Miss, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are out to a 5-0 start and will host #2 Auburn this weekend.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- The upsets actually began as early as Thursday night, with the Arizona Wildcats holding on against the #2 Oregon Ducks by a 31-24 final. On Firday night, the Utah State Aggies handed #18 BYU their first loss of the season, going on to win 35-20.

On Saturday, Texas Christian handed the Oklahoma Sooners their first loss in a wild one at Amon G Carter Stadium in Fort Worth that included Horned Frogs LB Paul Dawson picking off Sooners QB Trevor Knight's pass and running it back 41 yards for a TD early in the 4th quarter. On the point after attempt, it was successfully blocked before being run back for 2 points by Sooners DT Jordan Phillips to cut TCU's lead to 37-33. However, that would be the last of the scoring and #25 TCU remains undefeated and advances to #9 in the college football standings while #4 Oklahoma was handed their first loss and dropped down to #11 in the rankings.

But there was more......especially out on the West Coast. Utah ended up beating #8 UCLA by a final of 30-28 while Arizona State trailed #16 USC late in the fourth. The Sun Devils had the ball on the Trojans 46 and trailed 34-32 with just 7 seconds left in the game when this happened.



The Trojans would go on to lose by a 38-34 final, their second loss since playing Boston College at Chestnut Hill and their first loss of the season within the Pac 12 conference.

MEANWHILE IN THE ACC- The Boston College Eagles had the weekend off after their September 27th 24-21 loss to Colorado state, but will resume this weekend in Raleigh, NC as they take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3 streaming.

NFL- And then there were none.

The last of the undefeated teams in the NFL this season turned out to be the Cincinnati Bengals, and that only lasted until Sunday night against New England at Gillette Stadium.

Heading into Sunday night's game there were a number of storylines- could the Pats and Brady bounce back after last week's fiasco at Arrowhead, not to mention the final remaining undefeated team in the NFL [Arizona also got out to a 3-0 start, had a bye and then lost to the Broncos earlier in the day- NANESB!]. But what really had people talking during and after the game was the Patriot's tribute to the cancer-stricken daughter of defensive lineman Devon Still in the 3rd quarter.

During a timeout in the third quarter on Sunday night, the Patriots let Still know that they were with him and his daughter during their battle. Patriots cheerleaders donned Still’s Bengals jersey as the music video played on the big screens, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft donated $25,000 to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Leah’s name.

Still was shown on the big screen following the music video, and got a little emotional when he received an ovation from the Gillette Stadium crowd. You could see tears stream down his face,

Reaction across Social Media was quick, with accolades for the Patriots as well as pledges of support from other NFL players and owners for Devon and Leah Still. Still was sporting a nose strip that had the hashtag #LeahStrong on the Sunday night game.

Meanwhile, on the field Brady seemed to have quieted his critics with a TD pass in the first half as well as a 1 yard Stevan Ridley TD run and 3 Gostkowski field goals to make it a 20-3 game at the half.

Cincinnati scored on their second possession of the second half with a 37 yard TD pass from QB Andy Dalton to WR Mohamed Sanu to make it a 20-10 lead for New England, but on the following possession, Brady capped an 86 yard drive with a 16 yard TD Pass to TE Rob Gronkowski to put New England up 27-10. Things only got worse for the Bengals when they fumbled the ensuing kickoff and it was recovered by Kyle Arrington on special teams and run back for the second Patriots TD in just 6 seconds of playing time.

Unlike Kansas City, the Patriots would go on to cruise to a 43-17 win, with all the scoring in the 4th quarter coming off the leg of Gostkowski. Tom Brady would go 23-35 with 292 yards and 2 TDs while Cincinnati's Andy Dalton would go 15-24 with 204 yards and 2 TDs. Stevan Ridley would lead New England's ground attack after rushing for a total of 113 yards and a TD.

This sets up only the second intra-conference matchup for New England this weekend when the Patriots travel to Orchard Park, NY to take on the Buffalo Bills, who are sporting a similar 3-2 record [but do have at least one win against an AFC East opponent this year- NANESB!]. Kickoff is at 1:00 ET and the game will be televised on CBS.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- Week 6 gets underway with a Thursday night AFC South matchup between the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts. Kickoff is 8:25 PM and the game will be televised on the NFL Network.

MLB PLAYOFFS For the first time since 1985, the Kansas City Royals are advancing to the American League Championship Series. This comes after the team completed a sweep of the Anaheim Angels at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday night- a sweep of the team that could boast the best regular season in MLB, no less.

The only time the favored Angels led was in the first inning when outfielder Mike Trout belted a 412 foot solo homer to deep left center off of starter James Shields- I'm not talking just game 3, but the only time in the entire American League division series. In the bottom of the 3rd, a shaky CJ Wilson ended up loading the bases with singles to Nori Aoki and Lorenzo Cain and waling Billy Butler after striking out Eric Hosmer. That brought up the home-grown Alex Gordon, who belted a 2-2 offering off of the wall in left center field to clear the bases with a 3-RBI double and give the Royals the lead back as they led it 3-1.

Halos manager Mike Socia went to the bullpen early, but that wouldn't slow down the Royals as they got two more runs in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to a 2-run Eric Hosmer homer to make it a 5-1 game. The Angels would close the gap a little thanks to a 391 foot solo homer from Albert Pujols, but the Royals would start of pull away in the 4th thanks to a Mike Moustakas solo homer and Lorenzo Cain RBI sac fly to give KC a 7-2 lead.

The Royals would go on to cruise to an 8-3 win over the Angels, sweeping the team with the best record in the Majors. This sets up a meeting with the Baltimore Orioles, who put the finishing touches on a sweep of their own, bouncing the AL Central winning Detroit Tigers from the first round of the postseason.

NLDS- Meanwhile in the National League Division series, it will be a rematch of the 2012 NLCS after the St Louis Cardinals bested the LA Dodgers 3 games to 1 in the first round while the San Francisco Giants also got by the Washington Nationals by a similar margin, including an 18 inning marathon in the nation's capital last weekend.

That series gets underway on Saturday night and will be televised on FOX and FOX Sports One.

NHL- It's here! It's here!

The NHL regular season got underway on Wednesday night with the Bruins taking on the Flyers at the TD Garden.



Reilly Smith got the scoring started in the first with a power play tally midway through the first. Through 2 periods, Rask turned aside 13 shots from Philadelphia while Steve Mason turned aside 19 of 20 shots from the Bruins, keeping the Flyers very much in the game.

Just four minutes into the 3rd, the Flyer managed to tie the contest up at 1-1 thanks to a Sean Coutourier goal. However, Chris Kelly would notch the go-ahead goal for the B's with just a minute fifty to go. The Bruins hang on to win by a 2-1 final in their home opener and will immediately travel to Detroit to take on the Red Wings for Thursday night's game.

Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30 ET at Joe Louis Arena and the game will be televised on NESN.

Division Series Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Wrap up Series Against Rays, Advance For First Time Since 2008; Tigers Roar Parst Oakland on Verlander Gem; Dodgers Tomahawk Chop Braves Out of Playoff Picture

I cannot overstate how much I love this time of year. Sure the days get a little shorter and there's a little chill in the air, but as the leaves explode into brilliant hues or orange, red and yellow in the New England countryside, there's also some electricity in the air. It's October, and the Red Sox are not only still relevant, but they've also been dominant.

Mike Carlson- AP

RED SOX- For the first time since the 2008 ALDS, the Red Sox are advancing to the American League Championship series. Interestingly, they bested the team that ended their 2008 playoff run in order to advance.

Tampa Bay was no stranger to must-win games coming into game 3 on Monday night, having played three elimination games the week before- besting the Blue Jays in the 'final' regular season game to qualify for a tiebreaker game with the Texas Rangers the following day. The Rays win in Arlington, TX won them a trip to Jacobs Field where they shut out the Cleveland Indians under the 1-game Wild Card elimination format.

On Monday, the Red Sox got out to the early lead to make it 3-0 in the top of the 5th, but Rays 3B Evan Longoria knotted the game up at 3-3 with one swing of his bat in the bottom half of the 5th.

The Rays briefly took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the 8th on a Delmon Young RBI groundout with a runner at third. But in the top of the 9th, Will Middlebrooks drew a leadoff walk and had Xander Bogaerts replace him as a pinch runner. Dustin Pedroia would tie the game up on an RBI groundout but the inning would end with a Mike Carp strikeout, stranding a runner on 3rd.

It appeared as though the game would be heading to extras when Koji Uehara got the first two Rays batters out in the bottom of the 8th, but Jose Lobaton came in to pinch hit to give Tampa Bay the walkoff 5-4 win over Boston- winning their fourth 'must win' game in a little over the week.

Boston wasn't really interested in heading back to Fenway and being put in a must-win scenario themselves, so for Game four they brought out Jake Peavy to face Jeremy Hellickson.

Hellickson only made it to the top of the 2nd inning and manager Joe Maddon pulled him after walking the bases loaded with nobody out. Jamey Wright came in and got Saltalamacchia to strike out before former Red Sox infielder James Loney snagged a ball off the bat of Stephen Drew that looked as though it was heading to right field for a sure base hit and managed to double-up the runners.

The Red Sox frustration grew as Maddon went to the bullpen seemingly every inning, getting a new pitcher to face the Red Sox batters each time. But Peavy kept Boston in the game, shutting out the Rays until the 6th inning when he gave up a leadoff double to Yuniel Escobar followed by a Lobaton groundout to move the runner over to 3rd and a David Dejesus RBI single. Peavy then got Will Meyers to fly out to center before John Farrell pulled him to bring in reliever Craig Breslow, who ended the inning by striking out Loney.

In the top of the 7th, Johnny Gomes flew out to center to start off the 7th before Xander Bogaerts replaced Stephen Drew and drew a 1-out walk. Will Middlebrooks struck out before Jacoby Ellsbury singled, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 away. After Maddon brought in Joel Peralta, Ellsbury successfully swiped second, giving the Red Sox 2 runners in scoring position. The rookie Bogaerts came home to tie the game on a wild pitch uncorked by Peralta while Ellsbury advanced to third. Victorino the legged out an infield single to plate Ellsbury- the Red Sox went from being shut out to scoring two runs when the ball didn't even leave the infield.

Not wanting to take any chances, Farrell brought out Uehara with a runner on and two away in the bottom of the 8th. In the top of the 9th, the Red Sox got some insurance after Shane Victorino was hit to load up the bases with one out. Once again, it was Bogaerts who crossed the dish to put Boston up 3-1 thanks to a Pedroia sac fly to right.

Uehara would come back on for the 9th and strike out Longoria to end the game and wrap up the ALDS. After a week of surviving must-win games, the season finally ends for the Tampa Bay Rays as they fall to Boston in the ALDS, 3 games to 1.

It's also worth pointing out that Johnny Gomes, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Will Middlebrooks all notched their first career postseason hit in the ALDS. Although he has yet to get a postseason hit, rookie SS Xander Bogaerts has already scored three runs in the last two games of the ALDS while Peavy pitched well but didn't factor into the decision.

Juan H Gonzalez- Detroit Free Press

ELSEWHERE IN THE ALDS- After Tuesday night's celebration in the visitor's locker room at Tropicana Field, the Red Sox were awaiting the winner of the series between the Oakland A's and Detroit Tigers. Earlier on Tuesday, the Tigers had rallied from going down 0-3 to hang on for am 8-6 win over the AL West champions in Comerica Park, forcing a deciding game 5 back in Oakland for Thursday night.

Game 5's pitching matchup was Game 2 rematch featuring rookie Sonny Gray against 2011 Cy Young winner Justin Verlander. Verlander threw a gem in the pitcher's duel that was Game 2, but had no decision and the A's ultimately won on a walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the 9th.

Thursday night was another story, however. While Gray got off to a good start, he served up a 1-out 2 RBI homer to Miguel Cabrera in the 4th to make it 2-0 Detroit. Omar Enfante would make it a 3-run game in the top of the 6th after grounding into a fielder's choice with a runner on 3rd with only 1 out.

Meanwhile- kind of like Red Sox pitcher Brandon Workman earlier this year- Justin Verlander took a no-hitter into the 7th inning at the Oakland Coliseum. Unlike Workman, the first hit Verlander gave up stayed in the park- a 2 out Yoenis Cespedes single that did no damage.

After manager Jim Leyland had starter Max Scherzer come out of the bullpen for game 4 and pitch two innings, Verlander most of the Tigers pitching staff the night off, throwing 8 shutout innings while giving up two hits and striking out 10 batters. Joaquin Benoit came out of the pen for the save, getting the first two batters out before allowing a double to former Red Sox infielder Jed Lowrie and hitting Yoenis Cespedes with a pitch. However, Benoit would get Smith to fly out to end the ballgame and wrap up the series for Detroit.

This sets up a Boston vs Detroit ALCS with Game 1 slated for Saturday. Jon Lester will get the start against Anibal Sanchez. First pitch from Fenway is scheduled for 8:07 ET and the game will be televised on FOX.

NATIONAL LEAGUE- The LA Dodgers rallied late in Monday night's game to beat the Atlanta Braves and take the series. Atlants had just taken a 3-2 lead on a Jose Costantza pinch hit RBI single in the top of the7th, but in the bottom of the 8th, Juan Uribe belted a 2 run homer to put the Dodgers up for good, giving them nearly five days off as they awaited the winner of the Pittsburgh/St Louis Series.

Meanwhile, my dreams of a 1903 World Series rematch have been dashed by the St Louis Cardinals, as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday at PNC Park by a 2-1 final to force a deciding Game 5 which the Cardinals won by a 6-1 final on Wednesday night.

First pitch for Game 1 of the Dodgers/Cardianls NLCS is scheduled for 8:37 ET from Busch Stadium on Friday night and the game will be televised on TBS.

NFL- Tom Brady's streak of 52 consecutive games with a TD pass came to an end on Sunday and not surprisingly, the Patriots were handed their first loss of the season in a rain-drenched Paul Brown stadium.

Former Patriot Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis scored the only touchdown of the day for Cincinnati with a TD run on 4th and goal in the 4th quarter, but it would be all the Bengals needed in the 13-6 win over New England on Sunday.

Although the Patriots head home for Week 6, it doesn't get easier with the Pats hosting 5-0 New Orleans. A bit of good news is that Rob Gronkowski has been listed as day to day, although it's unlikely he'll start Sunday. The TE had missed every game after leaving last season's playoff game against the Houston Texans with a forearm injury. In the offseason, Gronkowski had multiple surgeries on his arm as well as an additional prodecure to clear up an infections.

NHL- The Boston Bruins were dealt their first loss of the season and were shut out for the first time since February 2012 on Thursday night when the visiting Colorado Avalanche came away with a 2-0 win.

LW Ryan O'Rielly gave the Avs the lead late in the first period with a power play goal while JS Giguere turned aside all 39 shots he faced in his season debut for Colorado. The Avs are off to a 4-0 start under head coach Patrick Roy- their best start since relocating to Denver from Quebec City during the 1995-1996 season.

The 2-1 Bruins will travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets on Saturday afternoon for their first away game of the 2013-2014 season- Columbus is also sporting an identical 2-1 record.

Puck drops at 2:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

Sports Chowdah Update- We're No Saints, NFL Hands Down Sanctions to New Orleans Over Bounties; C's Buck Milwaukee's Win Streak; B's Tank in San Jose

NFL- The league announced this week that Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down a 1-year suspension for New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton as a result of a 'bounty' program among the team's defensive players and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams between 2009 and 2011.

Williams has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL while Saints GM Mickey Loomis received an 8-game suspension and assistant coach Joe Vitt was suspended for 6 games.

Goodell also fined the Saints organization $500,000 and the team forfeits their 2-nd round draft picks for this year and 2013.

The bounty program dates back to their 2009 championship season where defensive players and Williams would award players cash prizes for hits on opposing players from a pool that was said to be as much as $50,000. Knocking an opposing player out of the game or injuring him to the point where they had to be carted off the field was reportedly worth $1000 to $1500. The first year New Orleans was thought to have the bounty program the Saints faced QBs Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning in the postseason as well as Tom Brady in the regular season.


OTHER NFL NEWS- Shortly after Peyton Manning was introduced as the Broncos newest quarterback in a press conference on Wednesday, Denver announced a trade that sent Broncos QB Tim Tebow to New York Jets in exchange for a 4th round draft pick. For a few hours on Thursday, reports were circulating that the deal between the Broncos and Jets had hit a contractual snag and Denver was instead negotiating with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the announcement was made official later on that day.

Tebow's arrival in New Jersey [seriously- the Jets and Giants should drop their 'New York' prefixes if they keep playing their home games in New Jersey. Right now, the Buffalo Bills are the ONLY NFL team that plays their home games in the state of New York- NANESB!] has fuelled speculation over the future of Jets QB Mark Sanchez. However, New York Jets head toe sucker coach Rex Ryan issued a statement on Friday reiterating that Sanchez would remain the Jets starter heading into the 2012 season.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- Free agent RB Ben Javus Green-Ellis signed a 3-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday. Green-Ellis appeared in all 19 games of the Patriot's season last year and had 11 TDs and 667 rushing yards for the 2011 season.

As the law offices of Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis leave, the Patriots have signed free agent WRs Brandon Lloyd and Donte Stallworth while agreeing to a 1-year contract extension with Deion Branch.

Stallworth arrives from the Washington Redskins with 309 yards and 15 TDs in 11 games for the 2011 season while Brandon Lloyd split time between the Denver Broncos and St Louis Rams last year. Between the two clubs, Lloyd appeared in 15 games with 70 catches and 966 yards.


OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS- Former New England Patriots and New York Giants head coach Ron Erhardt passed away at the ago of 80 at his home in Boca Raton, FL on Wednesday.

Born and raised in North Dakota, Erhardt was North Dakota State's head coach, winning a number of NCAA Division II titles before he started out in the NFL with New England as a backfield coach in 1973. Erhardt retained that position until 1978 when he was promoted to head coach by then-owner Bill Sullivan after then-head coach Chuck Fairbanks was suspended by management for breach of contract after he agreed to serve as head coach at the University of Colorado.

Ernardt led the Patriots to a 9-7 record in 1979 and a 10-6 record in 1n the 1980 season, but missed the playoffs both years. Erhardt was dismissed after a dismal 2-14 campaign in 1981. The following season, he was hired as the Giant's offensive coordinator. He remained in that position with the Giants during their championship Run in Super Bowl XXI and Superbowl XXV.

After Giants Head Coach Bill Parcells retired [the first retirement of many, as it turned out- NANESB!] from the Giants in 1990, Erhardt left New York for Pittsburgh to become the Steelers offensive coordinator through 1996. He then briefly returned to the Meadowlands in 1998 for a 1 year stint as head co-ordinator during the Jets disastrous 1996 campaign where they had a 1-15 season before announcing his retirement.

NBA- The Celtics have won their second straight game on Thursday night, beating the Milwaukee Bucks by a 100-91 final. Paul Pierce led the scoring for Boston on Thursday with 25 points along with 9 rebounds and 2 assists. Kevin Garnett had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists while Mickael Pietrus came off the bench for 13 points.

Boston's win snaps a 6-game win streak by the Milwaukee Bucks and puts the C's in good position for their Friday night matchup against the division-leading 76ers. Currently Boston is a half game behind Philadelphia for first place in the Atlantic conference.

Friday night's game gets underway in Philly at 8:00 PM ET and will be nationally televised on ESPN.

BOSTON BRUINS- The San Jose Sharks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first of last night's game against the Boston Bruins thanks to a Joel Pavelski tally less than 4 minutes into the first. San Jose's Daniel Winnik made it a 2-0 game early in the third before Zdeno Chara got the Bruins on the board with just under five minutes remaining in regulation. However, Boston wasn't able to get anything else past netminder Antti Niemi and the Sharks hang on to win by a 2-1 final.

Tim Thomas stopped 25 of 27 shots faced and Niemi turned aside all but one of the 17 shots he faced. Neither team capitalized on their lone power play opportunity in Thursday night's game.

The Bruins West Coast road trip continues through Southern California this weekend as they play back-to-back games in Los Angeles and Anaheim. On Saturday night, the Bruins will take on the Kings at LA's Staples Center at 9:00 PM ET, 6:00 Pacific in a game that will be televised on NESN and the NHL Network.

For Sunday, the Bruins will travel down the I-5 to Anaheim to take on the Ducks at 8:00 ET, 5:00 Pacific. That game will be televised on NESN as well.

Not Quite Past Expiration Date Sports Chowdah Update- Pats 86 Ocho Cinco and Cincy; Lester Pitches Gem in Emerald City; End of Lowell Connector?

It's that most wonderful time of the year.

This is something I can say with little exaggeration or hyperbole as I've taken to referring to the phenomena as the 'glorious overlap' where fans had the enviable dilemma of which game they wanted to tune in for- baseball, NCAA football, NFL Football or (depending on how far some of the baseball teams advance in October) NHL hockey- when those games were being played concurrently. For me, this was a fairly recent phenomena that I was unfamiliar with until my discovery of XM Radio, DirecTV and internet streaming broadcasts.

Of course, as any New England sports fan worth their salt could tell you, we had the dilemma of trying to figure out which playoff caliber (if not championship caliber) team to watch in late September or early October more than one season over the past decade. It's a good problem to have- although I think that this year, the Red Sox may be taking the initiative in helping me whittle down my sports viewing choices in October. But until then, there's still some baseball to be played.

Otto Greule Jr./Getty Images

MLB: After dropping two out of three in Mogadishu by the Bay Oakland over the weekend, the Red Sox travelled north to Seattle to take on the Mariners. On Monday night, Jon Lester got the start against Doug Fister and got some run support in the top of the 2nd off the bats of rookies Daniel Nava and Lars Andersen (plus a run coming in on a Josh Reddick groundout) to make it a 3-0 game. The Mariners couldn't get a runner past 2nd base until the bottom of the 7th when Lester gave up a one out walk to Franklin Guttierez followed by a Jose Lopez single that put Guttierez at 3rd and a Casey Kotchman groundout to make it a 3-1 game before Lester got out of the inning.

More run support came in the top of the 8th when Marco Scutaro drew a leadoff walk and Ryan Kalish homered to right field to make it a 5-1 game. Daniel Bard would close things out in the 9th to make it a 5-1 final for Boston.

Lester allowed just 3 hits, 3 walks, one run while striking out 12 in eight innings of work. This gives Lester his 17th win of the season and became the fifth Red Sox pitcher to have back to back seasons where he reached the 200 strikeout mark, joining Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Cy Young and Smokey Joe Wood. Monday night's win was #17 on the season for Lester.

There was a Jed Lowrie sighting at SafeCo on Tuesday night as the shortstop went 2-4 with two homers and 3 RBI on the night in support of Daisuke Matsuzaka. Dice-K went 6 innings, giving up eight hits and five runs while walking four and striking out three. Reliever Rich Hill got the win by getting the only batter he faced Tuesday night- Casey Kotchman- to ground out. Big Papi managed to put the Sox away for good with a 3 run blast in the top of the 8th inning as the Sox managed to hang on for a 9-6 win.

For tomorrow's day game (Pacific Time) in the series finale, Clay Buchholz (15-7; 2.53 ERA) will go up against David Pauley (2-7; 4.39 ERA) at 6:40 PM Eastern, 3:40 Pacific.

OTHER SOX NEWS: Far more competent sports bloggers than myself are reporting that the Red Sox have already released their 2011 regular season schedule. Reportedly, the Sox will be hosting the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres for interleague play while travelling to Houston, Philly and Pittsburgh.

Infielder Mike Lowell told the Boston Herald this week that he would be retiring at the end of this season.

"I'm retiring. I just don't want to make it a song and dance because I don't think that's necessary, but if someone needs something official, yeah, I'm going to retire. This is going to be my last year."

The veteran infielder arrived from the Florida Marlins in 2006, included with the Josh Beckett trade as part of a salary dump, but would go on to win MVP of the 2007 World Series. Lowell's playing time would diminish after undergoing hip and thumb surgeries and the arrival of Victor Martinez who could start as catcher, first base or DH.

[Thanks for all you did, Mike. You were a class act all the way and will be missed- NANESB!]

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

NFL: And as it turned out, I was ready for some football now that the games count.

And I wasn't the only one, as this action-packed photo of Wes Welker indicates. Welker looked like he hardly missed a beat after a season ending injury and knee surgery at the end of last season, scoring two TDs on 64 yards and 8 receptions.

Brady went 25 for 35 with 258 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions after getting a new contract and coming away unscathed from a car wreck a few days prior to the season opener. LB Gary Guyton ran an intercepted Carson Palmer pass back for 59 yards and a touchdown while WR Brandon Tate on special teams returned the opening kickoff of the 2nd half for another New England TD to make it 31-3 New England.

Cincinnati would chip away at the lead some, but all the TO's, Ocho Cincos and Pac Man's couldn't help them, as cornerbacks Devin McCourty and Darius Butler were able to stifle 'Batman' and Robin (i.e Ochocinco and Owens).

Patriots win by the final of 38-24 against Cincinnati, although it wasn't even that close. This upcoming weekend, the Pats will take on the Jets at East Rutherford, NJ.
Apparently if dropping the home opener to Baltimore on Monday Night Football wasn't bad enough, the Jets seem to be having a hard time handling sultry TV Azteca sports babe Ines Saenz.

OTHER PATS NEWS: The Lawrence Maroney era is now over. The Pats sent the RB to the Broncos in exchange for a 4th round draft pick in the 2011 draft.

NCAA FOOTBALL: There is no pre-season in college football, but you could make the case that starting off with back-to-back home games against Weber State and Kent State is the next best thing as the BC Eagles handled the Kent State Golden Flashes pretty easily with a 26-13 win on Saturday at Chestnut Hill.

Eagles QB David Shinskie went 18 for 27 with 214 yards and 2 TDs while Clyde Lee had 54 yards receiving and a touchdown. This brings the Eagles record to 2-0, although they have yet to face an ACC opponent. The BC Eagles have this Saturday off before opening up ACC play at Chestnut Hill against Virginia Tech.

Va Tech is coming off a 16-21 loss to James Madison of the FCS Colonial Athletic Association (remember them?) on Saturday.

Elsewhere in New England, UConn's home opener featured a pretty brutal and one-sided beatdown of the Texas Southern Tigers by a final of 62-3. The Huskies will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Temple Owls of the Mid America conference on Saturday.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAAF: Former USC Trojan and current New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush forfeited his 2005 Heisman trophy in an unprecedented move Tuesday. The running back said that the scandal involving him receiving improper benefits while at USC 'should not stain the dignity of this award'. This is the first time in the award's 75 year history that it was forfeited by a winner.

The University of Southern California Trojans are under NCAA sanctions for the 2005 scandal and ineligible to play in any bowl games for the next three seasons. The Heisman Trophy Trust is considering their next move now that the trophy's been returned.

The Western Athletic Conference has initiated a lawsuit with Fresno State and Nevada to remain in the conference trough the 2011-2012 academic season before heading to the Mountain West Conference. WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said that the conference had to be notified prior to July 1 of this year before any such move could be approved, otherwise they're obligated to remain in the conference for the next two years.

Split Pea Series Sports Chowdah Update- Hallowed Halls: Bloodied Sox Split Series in Bronx; Pre-Season Footbal with A Side of Rice

The somewhat depleted Red Sox came away from their weekend 4-game series with the Yankees splitting the series at 2 games each in the Bronx. The series got off to a good start for Boston with a 6-3 win behind Clay Buchholz's pitching performance and Ryan Kalish's 2-run homer in the top of the 6th on Friday night.

Lackey and Beckett were were stuck with the losses on Saturday and Sunday, with the Yankees winning 5-2 in the day game Saturday and 7-2 for the Sunday night game. During the Sunday night game, Derek Jeter passed Babe Ruth on the career hits list with 2,874 hits for 38th all time with a 2nd inning single and Yankees starter Dustin Mosley got the W.

But the Sox had a chance to salvage a split from the 4-game series with a win today. Jon Lester pitched 6 and 1/3rd shutout innings with run support from a Bill Hall RBI single and a JD Drew groundout with a runner at third in the top of the 2nd inning. Over the first six innings, Lester gave up 2 hits before giving up a single to Jorge Posada, a double to Marcus Thames and hitting Austin Kearns with a pitch to get into a bases loaded with one out jam in the bottom of the 7th.

On came Daniel Bard to keep the Yankees off the board with runners everywhere with nowhere to put 'em. Bard would strike out Jeter and Swisher to end the threat, but go on to give up a solo homer to Mark Teixeira to lead off the bottom of the 8th. A-Rod would then single before Robinson Cano grounded out and Jorge Posada walked. Bard got new Yankees acquisition Lance Berkman to pop out to left field before Papelbon came on for a 4-out save. In the bottom of the 9th, Papelbon struck out Granderson before walking Jeter and then striking out Swisher and Teixeira to close out his 28th save of the year and Boston's 2-1 win.

The Sox will travel north to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays Tuesday night. The Jays came off a convincing 3-game sweep of Tampa Bay over the weekend and on Sunday carried a Brandon Morrow no-hitter into the 9th at the Rogers Centre before Evan Longoria was able get a 2-out single. Morrow would close it out for the 1-0 Toronto win. Daisuke Matsuzaka (8-3; 3.96 ERA) will go up against Ricky Romero (9-7; 3.37 ERA).

OTHER SOX NEWS: Carlos Delgado signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox last week in the hopes of getting called up to Boston by September. Delgado hadn't played a major-league game since May 2009 and went 0-3 against Scranton Wilkes-Barre's Kei Igawa in Pawtucket's 2-1 loss at PNC Field in Moosic, PA on Monday night

NFL: Are you ready for some football!? Me neither.

Neither were the Cowboys or Bengals during Sunday night's pre-season Hall of Fame Game, apparently. Dallas came away with the 16-7 in over Cincy, but the real story was the NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2010.

Not surprisingly, receiver Jerry Rice was a first ballot Hall of Famer. Rice had a record-setting 1549 receptions for 22,895 yards and 197 career TD's in a 20 year NFL career, most of which was spent in San Francisco as the favorite target of Joe Montana and Steve Young. Rice also played for the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks later on in his career.

Running back Emmitt Smith, the last of the Cowboy's 'triplets' (Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin) to be nominated to the hall of fame was also inducted over the weekend. Smith had a career 18,355 yards and 164 rushing TD's (both league bests).

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: President Obama took time out of his busy schedule of golfing, shooting hoops and fundraising to welcome the New Orleans Saints for the defending Super Bowl Champion's traditional visit to the White House this weekend. The team was welcomed with a number of Gulf Coast dishes in the East Room and a band playing 'When the Saints go Marching In'. Later on, Saints players also met with injured soldiers and their family members recuperating at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

NHL: An arbitrator upheld the league's invalidation of Ilya Kovalchuck's big money 17-year contract on Monday.

The NHL's decision went into arbitration after the NHL Player's association filed a grievance against the league, but the arbiter ruled that the Devils and Kovalchuck circumvented the NHL's salary cap with the 17 year $102 million deal by having the salary taper off sharply in the last five years.

Technically Kovalchuck remains a free agent, but has already expressed an interest in attempting a 2nd time to sign long-term with the Devils.

Saturday Night Cuppa Sports Chowdah- WIld Card Weekend Pretty Tame So Far, Rangers Corral B's, Hockey On Yawkey Revisited

The NFL postseason got underway this afternoon with the Cincinnati Bengals hosting the NY Jets. In a performance that was only moderately better than last week's, the Bengals got off to the early 7-0 lead, but ultimately lost to New York 24-14. This puts Cincinnati's postseason winless streak at 19 years.

Another January NFL winless streak was snapped in the late game. The Dallas Cowboys have won their first postseason game since 1996, thrashing the Philadelphia Eagles 34-14 Saturday night. I would like to take this opportunity to offer my congratulations to the Cowboys fans- just remember that the New England Patriots have won three Superbowls and the Pittsburgh Steelers have won two since Dallas last notched a postseason win.

Already without Patrice Bergeron (fractured thumb) and Marc Savard (partially torn right knee ligament), the Bruins fell to the Rangers 3-1 at the Garden Saturday afternoon. Dennis Wideman was the only Bruin to score and this was the last B's home game before embarking on their west coast road trip where they will take on the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night. While I'm not thrilled about the loss to NY, I'm just glad they got through the game without having another starter go on the DL. The team announced that they expect Savard to miss at least 3-4 weeks.
(Barry Chin/Boston Globe)


Just because the 2010 Winter Classic is over doesn't mean they're done playing hockey at Fenway. The Boston College Eagles and Boston University Terriers faced off in the shadow of the Green Monster Friday night on the same ice that the Bruins and Flyers played on a week prior. The Terriers got out to a quick 1-0 lead and held off the Eagles to win 3-2. The men's game was a nightcap to an earlier Women's game where Northeastern fell to the UNH Wildcats 5-3.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman rejected a proposal from Massachusetts State Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo on making Boston the permanent home of the League's New Years Day outdoor Winter Classic Games. In a reply to DeLeo (D-Winthrop), the commissioner wrote:

“. . . The dictates of fairness require the league to share the Winter Classic experience with other cities. One truly special attribute of the Winter Classic is its uniqueness, and we intend to preserve that precious resource on behalf of our clubs, our business partners and our fans.”

[snip]

"Based on its outstanding performance as our host city in 2010, Boston is - and will be - considered in an extremely favorable light when Winter Classic sites and participants are being considered in the years to come...”

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the Winter Classic held in Fenway every year...but I don't think you'd have to look too far to see traces of bias on my part. I thought it was pretty presumptuous of DeLeo to suggest the NHL commit to Boston and nowhere else for one of its marquee events, but I'll chalk up the request as 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained'. Having said that, I think the next best thing would be to make an outdoor NCAA Hockey tournament at Fenway a regular feature. Perhaps set up the rink around this time of year and invite teams from the CCHA or WCHA (i.e. North Dakota, Michigan, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Minnesota) and have them play a rotation of 'host' teams from Hockey East or have the first round of the Beanpot played with Fenway as the venue. Just a though, as I'm not sure how willing the Red Sox are to have a rink in the park every year.

Reports are circulating that USC head coach Pete Carrol may be the next Seattle Seahawks head coach. If true, this would be troublesome for USC on a few different levels. Frequently in the BCS conversation every year, the Trojans finished with a 9-4 record- all four of those losses coming against Pac 10 opponents.- and had to settle for an appearance at the Emerald Bowl [which they beat Boston College....I know- NANESB!]. There's also the matter of USC losing receiver Damian Williams and tailback Joe McKnight to the NFL draft. McKnight also sat out the Emerald Bowl due to an ongoing NCAA investigation regarding his use of a Land Rover owned by a Santa Monica businessman.


Elsewhere: Reuters is reporting that two members of Togo's Soccer delegation were killed and a third was seriously wounded and airlifted to Johannesburg after the national team's bus was sprayed with gunfire in an ambush by insurgents in Angola. Togolese officials identified the slain men as media-relations officer Stanislas Ocloo and assistant coach Amele Abalo. Backup goaltender Kodjovi Obilale was evacuated to South Africa. The team was leaving their practice facility in a convoy when attacked.

Friday Night Cuppa Chowdah; Like a Colt From The Blue- Indy Still Perfect, Blackhawks Down B's, 76ers 86 C's Win Streak, Bengals' Henry Dead at 26

(Reuters photo)

Cincinnati Bengals WR Chris Henry died at the age of 26 from injuries sustained while falling out of a moving pickup truck on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators said that Henry jumped into the back of the pickup during whats being called a 'dometic situation' with his girlfriend as she began driving off and were trying to determine if he fell or was forced out of the vehicle. Henry had been suspended by the league after being arrested four times since being drafted in 2007, but had remained out of legal trouble since signing a contract extension with the Bengals in 2008. henry had been on the injured reserve list for the last month with a dislocated forearm sustained during the Bengals Nov 9 win over Baltimore.


(AP)
The Bruins dropped their third straight game in a back and forth affair Friday night against the resurgent Blackhawks. David Krejci put the Bs up 1-0 halfway through the first period, but Chicago answered with goals from Krist Versteeg and Patrick Sharp to take a 2-1 lead in the second period before Daniel Baille got one past Hawks netminder Antti Niemi to tie the game back up. However, Johnathan Toews scored a goal with less than a minute remaining to put the Hawks on top at the end of the 2nd. In the 3rd, Johnny Boychuck got a game-tying goal about 6 minutes in, but the Hawks re-took the lead thanks to an Andrew Ladd goal. With just under 3 minutes left in regulation, David Krejci got his second goal of the night to force overtime and ultimately a shootout where Antti Niemi stopped Patrice Bergeron and Blake Wheeler while Tim Thomas allowed goals from Patrick Kane and Johnathan Toews for Chicago's shootout win. The Bruins come away from Friday night's shootout loss with one point while the Buffalo Sabres handily defeated the Maple Leafs 5-2 at Buffalo. This currently gives Buffalo a 5 point lead over the Bruins in the Northeast Division.

OTHER NHL NOTES: Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman was present at Friday Night's Blackhawks/Bruins game at the United Center, reportedly scouting for additional players for Team Canada in the upcoming 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Mark Recchi had two assists in Friday's losing effort for Boston. Recchi currently leads all active players with 909 assists and 1,461 points.


The Celtics 11-game winning streak was snapped at home Friday by the Philadelphia 76ers, themselves less than a week removed from halting their 12-game losing streak. The Celtics led by as many as 15 points in the third before Philly took an 84-85 lead. Elton Brand tipped in Mareese Speights missed jumper in the closing seconds of regulation and Paul Pierce missed a jumper and Ray Allen was unable to do anything with the rebound that would've put Boston ahead. Philadelphia wins 98-97 and the Celtics are 8-4 at the Garden this season, compared to their 12-1 road record.


The Indianapolis Colts remained undefeated after Thursday night's back and forth affair in Jacksonville. Colts QB Peyton Manning threw for 308 yards and four touchdowns in Indy's 35-31 win over the Jaguars. Jacksonville QB David Garrard with 23-40 with three TDs, 223 yards and one interception. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, Garrard's only interception came with just over a minute to play in the 4th when he overthrew Mike Thomas on 3rd down and 10 and the pas was picked off by Indy's Jacob Lacey.