World Cup-O-Plenty Sports Chowdah Update- Brazilian Whacks, Germany Steamrolls World Cup Host to Advance to Final; Magic Carp-et, Red Sox Earn Split of White Sox Series With Carp Walkoff; Hot in Cleveland, Lebron Announces Return

RED SOX- After taking two out of three from the Yankees in the Bronx to wrap up the month of June, the Red Sox managed to win exactly one game in Fenway last week, getting swept by the Cubs [and barely avoided being no-hit in the opening game of the series- NANESB] and dropped two out of three against Baltimore over the 4th of July weekend.

The opening game of this week's series against that other Chicago team [y'know, the one that had actually won a world series in the last 106 years- NANESB!] got off to a less-than-promising start when the ChiSox shut out Boston by a 4-0 final in Monday's opening game. On Tuesday, the Red Sox managed to get on the board, but Chicago erupted for a big 9th inning to put the game away and beat Boston by a 8-3 final.

On Wednesday, the White Sox once again jumped out to an early lead and were cruising along with a 4-0 advantage in the top of the seventh inning, but the Red Sox got on the board with an RBI single from Dustin Pedroia and RBI doubles from David Ortiz and Jonny Gomes to cut the Chicago lead to 4-3.

The bottom of the 9th started off with Jackie Bradley Jr being retired on a pop foul. With one away, Pawtucket callup Mookie Betts- who made his MLB debut in the June 29th game against the Yankees- was hit by a pitch and was on first when Daniel Nava stepped into the batter's box to pinch hit for Christian Vasquez. The decision to have Nava pinch-hit paid immediate dividends when he hit a game-tying RBI double to left center, bringing Betts home. With the winning run on second, Brock Holt would hit an RBI single to give Boston a walkoff 5-4 win in the bottom of the 9th.

For Thursday afternoon's game, White Sox starter Jose Quintana got some early run support when Jose Abreu hit an RBI double off of Jon Lester in the top of the first to give Chicago an early 1-0 lead. However, after Quintana cruised through the first five innings, the Red Sox bats got through in the bottom of the 6th starting with Stephen Drew and David Ross leading off the frame with walks before Jackie Bradley Jr got the Red Sox on the board with an RBI single that plated Drew to tie the contest up at 1-1. The runners advanced to 2nd and 3rd on Brock Holt's groundout before Pedroia grounded out to 3rd base. However, Big Papi was able to put the Red Sox on top with a 2-out 2 RBI double to give Boston a 3-1 lead.

However, that lead would not hold up in the top of the 9th when Koji Uehara uncharacteristically blew a save- allowing a leadoff single to Alexei Ramirez before surrendering a 2-run homer to pinch-hitter Connor Gillespie with one out. Koji retired Tyler Flowers and Leury Garcia to prevent any further damage, but the game was tied at 3-3.

After an uneventful 9th in which the Red Sox went in order, the game headed to extra innings. Andrew Miller came on in the top of the 10th to relieve Uehara and gave up a leadoff single to Adam Eaton. Gordon Beckham then sac bunted to move Eaton into scoring position but Miller got Dayan Viciedo and Ramirez to ground out and end the inning.

In the bottom of the 10th, Daniel Nava pinch hit for Jonny Gomes led off with a walk. Mookie Betts then laid down a sac bunt that got Nava to 2nd before Stephen Drew was intentionally walked. Mike Carp came on to pinch hit for David Ross and with the count at 2-2, this happened:


Carp- on only his 3rd at bat since going on the DL over Memorial Day weekend- wins the game in extras with an RBI single to left to give Boston it's second walkoff win in less than 24 hours and a split of the series against the White Sox.

The Red Sox have one more series to go before the All-Star break where they'll travel to the Lone Star state for a 3-game series against the Astros starting Friday evening. John Lackey [9-6; 3.84 ERA] is scheduled to get the start against Scott Feldman [4-5; 3.86 ERA]. First pitch from Minute Maid Park is scheduled for 8:10 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- The Red Sox have designated catcher AJ Pierzynski for assignment. The veteran catcher was hitting just .254 with 4 HR and 31 RBI this season, but was struggling mightily in his last 18 games- going 11 for 62 and batting .177 since June 14th. In addition to David Ross, the Red Sox have called up catcher Christian Vazquez from AAA Pawtucket. In 66 games with the PawSox, Vazquez has been batting .279 with 3 HR and 20 RBI. Last season, Vazquez led the Eastern League with a 46.5% caught stealing rate.

In addition to designating Pierzynski for assignment, the Red Sox also sent pitcher Brandon Workman down to Pawtucket and recalled starter Rubby De LaRosa.

ELSEHWERE IN THE AL EAST- The New York Yankees have designated veteran outfielder Alfonso Soriano for assignment. Soriano originally came up through the Yankees system in 1999 and left as a free agent in 2004 for the Texas Rangers. He also played outfield for the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs before returning to the Yankees in 2013.

Meanwhile, Yankees rookie starter Masahiro Tanaka [12-4, 2.51 ERA] went on the 15 DL and is expected to undergo an MRI after he was reportedly diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. Tanaka had been the only bright spot in an otherwise shaky Yankee starting rotation and is in the first year of a 7-year $155 million contract.

The Yankees also traded starter Vidal Nuno [2-5; 5.42 ERA] to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Brandon McCarthy [3-10; 5.01 ERA] in what many consider an attempt to stabilize the back end of their rotation.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The first 'big' trade of the 2014 season took place when sough-after Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija was traded to the Oakland A's last week. Despite a respectable 2.83 ERA, Samadzija had a 2-7 record with the Cubs in 2014.

Samardzija not only played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team, the Valparaiso, IN native was also an All American Wide Receiver for the Fighting Irish football team and was drafted in the 5th round of the 2006 MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs. In exchange for Samardzija and starting pitcher Jason Hammel [8-5; 2.98 ERA], the Cubs receive top prospects including SS Addison Russell, P Dan Straily, OF Billy McKinney and a player to be named later.

Samardzija made his A's debut in Oakland against the Toronto Blue Jays, going 7 innings and allowing 4 hits and 1 earned run in the A's 4-2 win over Toronto.

FIFA WORLD CUP- Wow- and to think some people call soccer 'the beautiful game'. The Brazil/Germany was so ugly that I think this picture of an attractive yet dejected Brazil fan should sum it up quite nicely, rather than any stills from the game.

Brazil- the host nation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup- lost their semifinal game to Germany by a 7-1 final. And by all accounts the game wasn't even that close. Germany got on the board 11 minutes into the first half and added four more goals between the 23rd and 29th minutes to take a 5-0 lead. The Germans would go on to win by a 7-1 final- probably allowing that one goal because they felt bad for the host nation at one point.

I don't follow soccer regularly, but I know enough that allowing five goals in the span of six minutes tends to indicate that you're not that good of a team. Apparently the school of thought is that Brazil was automatically qualified for a Word Cup berth by being the host nation, which led to some complacency on their part. Yet even if that were the case, Brazil still breezed through pool play suffering nothing worse than a scoreless tie with Mexico. However, Brazil advanced past Chile in the Round of 16 with penalty kicks after regulation ended with a 1-1 tie and the host nation then bested Colombia by a 2-1 final.

Despite the humiliating loss that has led to all sorts of internet memes, the Brazilians do have one more game left- a consolation match against Holland on Saturday while Argentina will advance to face Germany in the Championship game.

ELSEWHERE IN THE FIFA WORLD CUP- Since it's this late in the tournament and we're talking about four teams that AREN'T Team USA, you can probably guess that the United States has been eliminated from the tournament.

Although the USA was eliminated by Belgium in the Round of 16, Tim Howard's historic performance against the Belgians was what had everyone talking. Despite a sustained attack throughout much of regulation, the Belgians weren't able to break through until extra time.



Despite an unprecedented 16 saves by Howard, the Belgians would go on to win by a 2-1 final. Julian Green would score the lone goal for the USA- which also came in extra time while Belgium would be eliminated by Argentina in a 1-0 shutout in the following match.

NBA- Nearly four years to the day after LeBron James announced his decision to leave Cleveland for Miami in a fit of overblown self-promotion, the NBA superstar has announced that he will return to Cleveland.

Instead of an overhyped half-hour ESPN special, the decision was announced with slightly less fanfare in a SI.com article.

When I left Cleveland, I was on a mission. I was seeking championships, and we won two. But Miami already knew that feeling. Our city hasn't had that feeling in a long, long, long time. My goal is still to win as many titles as possible, no question. But what's most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio

The decision came as a surprise to many given the bellicose and acrimonious reaction from Cleveland fans [and some in the Cavs front office- NANESB!] a few short years ago over the media circus surrounding his free agency.

NHL- The Colorado Avalanche have signed free agent Jarome Iginla to a 3 year $16 million deal last week. During the 2013-14 season, the 37 year old RW had 30 goals and 31 assists in 78 games played.

Iginla's departure leaves the Bruins with about $5.6 million in salary cap space and may go towards signing restricted free agents Torey Krug and Rielly Smith.

Quickie Weekday Sports Chowdah Update: Welcome to Seidenberg; Cleveland Nearly Rocks C's Again; Tigers Crown A Prince; 74 Dead in Egyptian Soccer Riot

BRUINS: The second half of the Bruins 2011-2012 campaign got underway at the Garden Tuesday night when they played host to the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night.

Despite a 3-game losing streak heading into the All-Star break, the Senators had closed to within a few points of the Bruins in the Northeastern conference standings, raising the stakes for the B's home game against a divisional opponent.

This was also Tim Thomas' first start in net since opting out of a team visit to the White House before the All-Star break- Tukka Rask was between the pipes for their 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals in the last game before the All-Star break.

Former Senator Zdeno Chara looked every bit the Fastest Shot winner from the All Star skills competition when he drilled the puck past goalie Craig Anderson and into the back of the net all the way from the blue line to give Boston the 1-0 lead on a power play goal at the 8:02 mark in the first.

The Senators' Colin Greening would get the equalizer with 1:20 remaining in the first to send both teams into their locker rooms with the game tied 1-1 at the 1st intermission.

The Bruins would have some chances early in the second, but fail to capitalize. As the period went on, the Senators were successfully able to pressure the Bruins and keep the puck on the B's end of the ice. This resulted in the Sens taking a 3-1 lead on goals from Erik Karlsson and Kyle Turris before the Bruins were able to make it a 1-goal game thanks to a Milan Lucic goal in the final minute of the 2nd period.

A little over 2 minutes into the 3rd, Brad Marchand would get the game-tying goal to make it 3-3 on another Boston power play. Then, not to be outdone by Chara's early goal from the blueline, 7 minutes into the 3rd Dennis Seidenberg shot the puck towards the Ottawa net from center ice. While it lacked Chara's velocity, it seemed to have the movement of a Tim Wakefield knuckleball and got by Craig Anderson to make it 4-3 Boston.

Lucic had a glorious opportunity to pad the Boston lead at a little over 10 minutes into the 3rd period, but Anderson was able to get a glove on Lucic's breakaway shot from near point-blank range [perhaps if Lucic had attempted the shot from center ice or the blue line....just sayin' -NANESB!].

Boston hangs on to win their first game afer the All-Star break by a 4-3 final, putting some distance between themselves and 2nd place Ottawa in the process. Tim Thomas had 30 saves on 33 shots faced while Craig Anderson allowed 4 goals out of the 30 shots he faced. There were no power-play opportunities for the Senators, meaning all of their goal Tuesday night were even-strength. The Bruins, however, scored twice on their 4 power play opportunities Tuesday night.

The B's will next play host to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. The game gets underway at 7:00 PM ET and will be televised on the NHL Network/

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: The Montreal Gazette has retracted a column in which writer Jack Todd accused the Bruins goalie of being motivated by racism in his decision to opt out of the White House luncheon for the team.

“What’s worse, you know Thomas would not have done this with the liberal Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House,” Todd wrote. “Truth is, he felt free to dis Barack Obama, because Obama is black.”

[Wow! That's highly original and groundbreaking! Accusing somebody who doesn't like President Obama's policies of raaaaacism- I don't think I've heard of somebody doing that since....whaat time is it? I guess...noon-ish NANESB!]

Perhaps I wasn't paying attention, but last I heard not even Thomas' harshest critics in the USA decided to venture down that particular path of cheap-shottery. Memo to petulant, Vietnam-era draft-dodger Jack Todd- giving President Barack Hussein Obama a pass on his numerous and collossal fuck-ups simply because of his skin color is about as racist as planting a burning cross in somebody's yard [only not as overtly racist- NANESB!].

The Montreal Gazette eventually pulled that one sentence from Todd's column after determining Todd offered zero evidence to back up such an incendiary claim [of course, that never stopped a progressive journalist before. Or perhaps I'm being paranoid; I mean it's not like there's a history of liberal journalists getting together to coordinate how to present progressive politicians and policies in the best possible light while colluding on how best to assail conservatives or anything- NANESB!].

CELTICS: The Boston Celtics are now a .500 team after Tuesday night's road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Although unlike their collapse at the Garden on Sunday where they allowed 12 unanswered points towards the end of the 4th quarter, the C's managed to survive another late rally from the Cavs. In the 4th quarter on Tuesday night, Cleveland managed to trim a 22 point deficit to just 2 points- although Boston would hang on to win by a final of 93-90.

Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass had 13 points each [with Bass coming off the bench with and getting 6 rebounds as well- NANESB!] while Paul Pierce had 20 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists on the night.

After Tuesday night's game, the C's will travel home to take on the 7-15 Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. Game gets underway at 7:30 PM ET and will be televised on Comcast Sports New England.

RED SOX: The Red Sox have signed free-agent pitchers Vincente Padilla and John Maine to minor league contracts.

Padilla most recently pitched in the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen and had a 4.15 ERA with 5 holds in 2011. Maine's most recent MLB experience was with the 2010 Mets where he went 9-9 with a 4.35 ERA. In 2011 he signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies and went 1-3 with a 7.43 ERA in 11 starts while playing for the Rockie's AAA affiiate in Colorado Springs.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: The Detroit Tigers have signed one of the marquee free agents of the offseason. Former Milwaukee Brewers 1B Prince Fielder has finalized a 9-year $214 million contract with the Tigers and was introduced in a press conference this week.

During the Brewers 2011 campaign, Fielder batted .299 with 38 home runs and 120 RBI. A number of teams, including the Marlins, Rangers and Nationals, considered themselves in the running to sign the power-hitting son of 1B/DH Cecil Fielder, who's big league career spanned the mid-1980s to late 1990s and included six seasons in Detroit.

SOCCER: More than 70 people were reported dead in a riot that broke out after a soccer game in Port Said, Egypt.

Fans of the home Al-Masry club swarmed the field after their upset 3-1 win over the top-ranked Egytian team, Al-Ahly. A melee broke out where Al-Masry fans began throwing rocks and sticks at the players and fans of the Al-Alhy club, Many of the dead were said to have been caught up in the ensuing stampeded as Al-Alhy fans made their way towards the exit.

Hey Now! You're An All Star! Sports Chowdah Update for 1/29- Stars Are Out For NHL, NFL on Sunday; Cavs Halt C's Win Streak

CHRIS WATTIE/REUTERS

NHL: The 2012 NHL All-Star Game from Place in Ottawa is in the books, and the winner is Team Chara.

For those of you unfamiliar with the format, for the past couple of years the NHL has shied away from the Eastern Conference vs Western Conference or North America vs the World Format and instead, named two captains ahead of the All Star Break and then had those Captains draft other players selected to the All Star game. This year, the two captains were hometown favorite Daniel Alfredsson of the Senators and defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.

So for both the skills competition and Sunday's All-Star game, Team Chara consisted of the following:

[Forwards] Joffrey Lupul, RW, Toronto; Pavel Datsyuk, C Detroit; Evgeni Malkin, C, Pittsburgh; Tyler Seguin, C, Boston; Marian Hossa, RW, Chicago; Corey Perry, RW, Anaheim; Phil Kessel, RW, Toronto; Patrick Kane, RW, Chicago; Jarome Iginla, RW, Calgary; Marian Gaborik, RW, NY Rangers; Jordan Eberle, RW, Edmonton

[Defense] Kimmo Timonen, D, Philadelphia; Ryan Suter, D, Nashville; Brian Campbell, D, Florida; Dion Phaneuf, D, Toronto; Dennis Wideman, D, Washington

[Goalies] Tim Thomas, G, Boston; Carey Price, G, Montreal; Jimmy Howard, G, Detroit

[Rookies] Luke Adam, C, Buffalo; Raphael Diaz, D, Montreal; Colin Greening, LW, Ottawa; Cody Hodgson, C, Vancouver; Ryan Johansen, C, Columbus; Gabriel Landeskog, LW, Colorado

The 'Hometown' [and Alfredsson did exhibit a bias in favor of the Senators when making his picks- NANESB!] Team Alfredsson consisted of:

[Forwards] Jason Spezza, C, Ottawa; Claude Giroux, C, Philadelhpia; Steven Stamkos, C, Tampa Bay; Daniel Sedin, LW, Vancouver; Henrik Sedin, C, Vancouver; Milan Michalek, LW, Ottawa; James Neal, LW, Pittsburgh; John Tavares, C, NY Islanders; Scott Hartnell, LW, Philadelphia; Logan Coutre, C, San Jose; Jason Pominville, RW, Buffalo.

[Defense] Erik Karlson, D, Ottawa; Kris Letang, D, Pittsburgh; Shea Weber, D, Nashville; Dan Girardi, D, NY Rangers; Keith Yandle, D, Phoenix; Alexander Edler, D, Vancouver

[Goalies] Henrki Lundqvist, G, NY Rangers; Jonathan Quick, G, Los Angeles; Brian Elliot, G, St Louis.

[Rookies] Sean Couturier, C, Philadelphia; Justin Faulk, D, Carolina; Carl Hagelin, LW, NY Rangers; Nick Johnson, RW, Minnestoa; Matt Read, RW, Philadelhia; Craig Smith, C, Nashville.



Sunday's all-star game came one day after Zdeno Chara broke his own record in the skills competition for hardest slapshot, notching a scalding 108.8 MPH. This is the 5th consecutive All Star Skill Competition where Chara has won the hardest shot portion of the Skills competition.

It being an All-Star game, keeping track of the scoring is a pretty tall order. Rangers RW Marion Gaborik had himself a hat trick thanks to an early goal in the second period to break a tie and put Team Chara up 4-3, ironically besting Rangers teammate Henrik Lunqvist to put Team Chara up on top.

In net, Tim Thomas stopped 18 of 21 shots faced- including denying hometown favorite and Team Alfredsson captain Daniel Alfredsson the hat trick late in the 2nd, with the game tied at 6-6.

After Claude Grioux would get a tally for Team Alfredsson to tie the game at 8-8, Team Chara would start to pull away thanks to goals by Marian Hossa, Corey Perrey and the captain himself, Zdeno Chara.

Team Chara goes on to win by a final of 12-9 with Chara's fellow Slovak Gaborik earning the MVP honors for his 3 goals and 1 assist for the afternoon.

The Bruins resume play on Tuesday night with a home game against All-Star host Ottawa. The puck drops at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

Columbus, OH has been announced as the host city for next year's NHL All-Star game.

NFL: Miami Dolphins WR Brandon Marshall accounted for 4 of the AFC's 8 TD's at the Pro Bowl in Honolulu's Aloha Stadium as the AFC trounced the NFC by a 59-41 final on Sunday evening.

Marshall had 6 catches for 176 yards and the 4 TDs on Sunday while Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald had 6 receptions for 111 yards and 3 TDs in the losing effort. Although eight Patriots were selected to the Pro-Bowl, none of them were in attendence in Honolulu on Sunday. For the Giants, QB Eli Manning and DE Jason Pierre-Paul were also named to the Pro Bowl, but not in attendence as both teams arrived in Indianpolis to prepare for Super Bowl XLVI

NBA: The Celtics let one get away from them late on Sunday night as they were edged by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavs scored 12 unanswered points to finish up the 4th and snap the C's 4-game win streak (including sweeping the Orlando Magic on home-and-away game). Cavs Point Guard Kyrie Irving made the go-ahead layup with all of 2.6 seconds ramaining in regulation to give Cleveland the win.

The 9-10 Celtics will get a chance for some retribution when they hit the road for a rematch of Sunday's game at Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland. That game gets underway at 7:00 ET and will be televised on CSNE Tuesday night.

Hearty San Francisco Sports Chowdah Update- Giant Gains By the Bay; Leafs Shut Out; Celtics Turn Down Heat; Ponder-ous Florida State Loss in Raliegh

I was flipping around between the World Series, the Bruins and the NC State/Florida State games last night, so instead of being able to tune in to all three games, it was more like trying to get caught up on all three games.

WORLD SERIES: And just like that, the San Francisco Giants are out to a 2-0 lead in the 2010 World Series. I'm not really surprised by that as much as I am the margin of San Francisco's victories.

They jumped all over Cliff Lee in Wednesday night's 11-7 win- the Ranger's starter didn't even make it through the 5th inning, getting yanked with two away after giving up an RBI double to Freddy Sanchez and RBI singles to Aubrey Huff and Cody Ross. It got even worse for the Ranger (who did lead 2-0 early in the game) when Darren O'Day came on and gave up a homerun to deep left off the bat of Juan Uribe to make it 8-2 by the time the 5th inning was finished. Despite that, the Rangers were able to cut into the lead on a Bengie Molina RBI double and a David Murphy single to make it an 8-4 game. However, the Texas bullpen would continue to self immolate, giving up three more runs in the bottom of the 8th, and while the Rangers were able to score 3 more runs in the bottom of the 9th, it was too little too late.

For Game 2, Branch Rickey's quote about baseball being a game of inches never seemed more accurate when Ian Kinsler led off the top of the 5th inning with a booming double off of Giants starter Matt Cain that bounced off the top of the wall and teetered back into play. Had it rolled the other way, it would've been a 1-0 Texas game. Instead, Kinsler was stranded at second and Edgar Renteria belted a solo homer that put San Francisco up 1-0. Texas' CJ Wilson went 6 decent innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits. But all of that would be forgotten when the Rangers bullpen once again took over and self-immolated, giving up 7 earned runs on fice hits and four walks to give San Francisco a 9-0 lead. The Giant's Matt Cain threw 7 and 2/3rds shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out two for the Giants' 9-0 win on Thursday night.

For Game 3, the series heads to Arlington, TX with Colby Lewis getting the start against Jonathan Sanchez on Saturday night. Lewis has gone from closing out the Yankees to being the last, best hope for the Rangers in this World Series. First pitch is at 6:57 PM Eastern Time.
NHL: Phil Kessel earned the gratitude of the crowd at TD Banknorth Garden Thursday night when the Bruins played host to the Maple Leafs after 1st round draft pick Tyler Seguin tallied an insurance goal. Almost as soon as the red light went off behind Toronto's Jonas Gustavsson, the Bruins faithful broke out into a spontaneous, taunting chant of "Thank you, Kessel!".


Kessel's demands for a new, pricey contract or else be traded from Boston culminated in the September 2009 deal where he wound up in Toronto in exchange for Toronto's first overall draft pick in the 2010 NHL Draft as well as another one in the 2011 draft. Let us not forget that the Maple Leafs are responsible for giving us Tukka Rask as well....

But back to last night's game....Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring with his first goal of the season coming on a Bruins power play with less than a minute left in the first period. Seguin's goal- even strength- came in the second period with assists from Michael Ryder and Dennis Seidenberg and Tim Thomas faced on 20 shots from the Leafs in Boston's 2-0 shutout win. The Bruins head into Saturday night's game at Ottawa with a 5-2-0 record.

The Bruins had the option of sending Seguin down to Providence after nine games, but after the game, Claude Julien announced that they plan on keeping him in Boston for the rest of the year.

NBA: Can you believe the NBA season's here already? After beating Lebron James' new team pretty convincingly, the Celtics stumbled against a LeBron-less Cavs. In the 4th quarter, with the game tied 86-86, Cavs Guard Anthony Parker hit a 3 pointer that was subject to review over whether or not the shot clock had expired and if his toes were on the line. Doc Rivers, not surprisingly, objected- saying it was one of the longest seconds in NBA history.

So after beating the Miami Heat at home Tuesday night by a final of 88-80 (this coming despite a 31 point night by LeBron), the C's fall to Cleveland by a final of 87-95, giving them a .500 record. The C's will next host the Knicks on Friday night.

NCAA FOOTBALL: The North Carolina State Wolfpack managed to come back from a 21-7 halftime deficit against #16 Florida State on Thursday night. Facing a 4th and goal from the 1-foot line with 2:44 left, the Wolfpack decided to go for the go-ahead touchdown instead of the game tying field goal, and it paid dividends, putting NC State up 24-28. But Florida state would march right back down the field from their own 29 yard line on the next possession, and when it looked as though the Seminoles would score the go-ahead TD with less than a minute left. However, 'Noles QB Chris Ponder fumbled the ball inside the NC State 10 yard line, effectively putting away the game for the Wolfpack by the 28-24 final.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NCAA: A 20-year old Notre Dame Student died Wednesday when a tower used to film the football team's practices collapsed. Declan Sullivan was filming the practice from a hydraulic scissors lift for ND's athletic department. Most of the Midwest had been experiencing harsh weather for the past few days and the National Weather Service reported that there was wind gusts of up to 51 MPH in the area at the time of the incident.

NFL: The Minnesota Vikings have listed QB Brett Favre as questionable for starting Sunday's game against the New England Patriots. Two fractures were discovered in Favre's ankle after the Viking's Sunday night game against Green Bay. The latest injury puts Favre's NFL-record of 291 consecutive starts in jeopardy. Head coach Brad Childress announced that it will likely be a gametime decision on his part.

Sports Chowdah Weekend Re-Cap; Orange Crushed in World Cup; Sox Overcome Shadowy Charachters, Pick Up W Before All-Star Break

It's over.

At long last, the FIFA 2010 World Cup is mercifully over. Marred by questionable officiating and incessant vuvuzelas throughout, the 2010 tournament was put out of it's misery with a final showdown between the Netherlands and Spain on Sunday.

Now granted this was between a team that hadn't advanced to the finals in over 30 years versus a team that had never finished better than 4th place making an appearance in it's first-ever World Cup final, but neither one of them really seemed like plucky underdogs that had overcome long odds to get where they were. Then again, that's probably why they got as far as they did in the first place.

Andres Inesta scored the game's only goal with 4 minutes left in injury time, breaking a scoreless tie and negating the need for a penalty shootout at Johannesburg's Soccer City. Spain beats the Netherlands by a final of 1-0 to win its first ever World Cup title.


As for the Dutch....umm....well....at least those sea walls are holding up well and the North Sea hasn't reclaimed 2/3rds of your country.

Other World Cup News: Oracle Paul has been getting death threats from irate fans. Some of those death threats have taken the form of calamari recipies. Paul is an octopus residing at the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen Germany who went 8-0 in his World Cup picks. Paul would 'predict' the winner of an upcoming match by having his food lowered in two seperate boxes throughout the tournament- each marked with the competing nation's flag. Whichever box Paul went into first was deemed his pick, and much to the chagrin of German, Dutch and Argentine football fans, his 'predictions' have come true. Aware that Paul's safety could be in jeopardy due to his accurate but unpopular picks, some Spanish officials have offered Paul sanctuary in the Iberian peninsula while some Spanish businessmen have made a €30,000 offer for 'Pulpo Paul'.


MLB: The Red Sox came into Sunday's game losing 5 out of their last 6 contests, so Sunday was as good a day as any to try and stop the bleeding heading into the All-Star break.

Getting no-hit for the first five innings probably wasn't the best way to go about it. To make things even more interesting, there were mechanical problems with the retractable roof at the Rogers Centre, leaving much of the infield in shadows for the first 4 innings, making it that much more difficult for batters to see the ball leave the pitcher's hand [this didn't provide the Jays with that much of an advantage, either- NANESB!]

However, the Red Sox were able to break up Jesse Litsch's no-hit bid in the top of the 6th with a Marco Scutaro double. Darnell McDonald would bring Scutaro and himself home with a homer to deep left to break the scoreless tie with 2 outs before being followed up by a solo-shot from Big Papi to put Boston up 3-0. Toronto's Aaron Hill made it a 1-run game in the bottom of the 6th with a 2-run homer off of Daisuke Matsuzaka. Matsuzaka was good for 6 innings of work, allowing six hits, two runs and five strikeouts while Daniel Bard held the Jays hitless over the next two innings and Papelbon closed it out for his 20th save.

Of course, today's win came with a price. 3B Adrian Beltre- who was named to the All-Star team- left Sunday's game in the 6th inning with what is belived to be a strained left hamstring. Beltre says he is day-to-day and will travel to Anaheim for the Mid-Summer Classic and determine whether or not he should play from there.

The Red Sox will host the Texas Rangers immediately after the All-Star break. Tim Wakefield is tentatively scheduled to be the starter

OTHER RED SOX NEWS: Josh Beckett gave up two hits and one run- a solo homer- in four innings of work during Sunday's PawSox home game against the Syracuse Sky Chiefs at McCoy Stadium. No firm timetable has been set for Beckett's return.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Longtime Yankees Stadium PA announcer Bob Sheppard, sometimes dubbed 'the voice of God' by New Yorkers, passed away at age 99 in his Long Island home on Sunday. Sheppard started out with the Yankees in 1951 and during the final year of the original Yankee Stadium Sheppard's voice was recorded and then used to announce lineups over the PA system due to his deteriorating health.

The Texas Rangers- despite bankruptcy and an uncertain ownership outlook- managed to pull off the biggest trade of the season so far with their acquisition of pitcher Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners for 1B Justin Smoak and three minor leaguers. Earlier in the week, the Yankees were considered the runaway favorite in the Cliff lee sweepstakes.

NBA: Shortly after LeBron James' announcement of joining the Miami Heat, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert accused the NBA star of quitting in the middle of the playoff series against Boston and claimed Cleveland would win an NBA title before Miami would. Attention whores Mark Cuban and Jesse Jackson have also chimed in on the whole LeBron deal, but I tend to tune them out.....

C Jermaine O'Neal signed a two year deal with the Celtics on July 8th.

Sports Chowdah Recap- Orange You Glad It's an All Euro World Cup Final? Death Rays Strike Again

UPDATE- 7/8: The most highly-anticipated free-agent NBA signing of the offseason took place earlier today with LeBron James announcing that he intends to sign with the Miami Heat, turning down a 6-year $128 million contract with the Cavs to head to Florida. Reportedly, the most that Miami could offer James was $99 Million over 5 years- so James took a pay cut to play in Florida.

The announcement came two days after Miami announced they had agreed to contracts with Toronto's Chris Bosh and the Heat's own Dwayne Wade.

WORLD CUP: And just like that, the World Cup is down to the last two teams.



{Spoiler Alert! Both of them are European}


The last non-EU team, Uruguay, was eliminated by the Dutch on Tuesday night, despite getting an injury-time goal to make it a one goal game. The Netherlands advances to their first World Cup final since 1978 after sending Uruguay packing with a 3-2 win in Cape Town.

Meanwhile, after depriving Paraguayans the spectacle of a streaking lingerie model in their capital, Spain went on to shut out Germany 1-0 on Wednesday night. Carles Puyol scored the lone goal of the game in the 72nd minute off his noggin. After the game, German head coach Joachim Loew said he was certain Spain would go on to win the World Cup at a press conference in Durban.

So there you have it. This will be Spain's first ever appearance in the World Cup final, which is set to take place July 11 at Johannesburg's Soccer City. Uruguay and Germany will play the third-place game in Port Elizabeth the day prior.

And on a personal note, might I add that while the female contingent of Spanish and Dutch fans hardly traipse around in bhurkas, Brazil's female fan base tended to be more abundant, exhibitionist and photogenic....which was all the more reason I was a little sad to see them go.

MLB: Well....I was going to insert some pithy commentary about how the Red Sox seem to manage to find somebody like a Daniel Nava or Darnell McDonald to oh-so-capably step up and fill the void when one of the starters winds up on the DL.....but then Boston went and dropped 4 straight games.

*Ouch.*

Within the division

*Double-ouch*

Which is relevant because not only does it mean Tampa Bay vaults past Boston for 2nd place in the AL East, but because if there's any sort of tie between either the Red Sox and Yankees or Red Sox and Rays for the AL East pennant or Wild Card, one of the tie breakers is going to be that team's record within the division.

Just to add insult to injury, did I mention that Boston lost the final game of their home stand to the lowly Orioles? I did catch some of Tuesday night's game with Felix Doubront on the mound. There was also the intruige of Doubront going up against his former manager in Boston's South Atlantic League affiliate Greenville Drive, Gabe Kapler. Kapler went 0 for 2 with two walks on the night and Doubront was pulled in the 6th in the 3-2 loss to Tampa. Kevin Youkilis

Tim Wakefield was charged with six runs in Wednesday night's 6-4 loss to Tampa Bay while the Rays David Price became the first AL pitcher to win 12 games this season.

Boston will travel to Toronto to kick off a 3-game series against the Blue Jays on Friday night. The probable starters will be Jon Lester (10-3; 2.76 ERA) versus Ricky Romero (6-5; 3.39 ERA).

MLB All-Star Game: Jon Lester, Adrian Beltre, Clay Buchholz, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Victor Martinez have been named to the 2010 MLB All-Star roster. However, at least half of the 6 players named to the All Star game in Anaheim will have to sit this one out, since Buchholz, Pedroia and Martinez have been on the DL.

Kevin Youkilis is in the running for a online campaign to be named to the last AL All Star spot, along with Minnesota's Delmon Young, Texas' Michael Young, the Yankees Nick Swisher and the ChiSox's Paul Konerko.

Tomorrow is the last day for voting *hintity hint hint*

Sports Chowdah Recap: Pink Bats Come Alive in Fenway & Quiet By the Bay, Flyers Force Game 7, C's Even Series w/Cavs

It's been awhile, hasn't it? Alot's been going on in the sports world since I last updated, and not much of it centered in Boston either.

MLB: Well, after dropping the first two games to the Yankees by at least a touchdown (yeah yeah- wrong sport, but that's how bad it was), the Red Sox managed to salvage Game 3 of the series on the nationally televised Sunday night game with a convincing 7-inning performance from Jon Lester, giving up 4 hits, two runs and two walks while striking out 7 and walking two batters and getting the 9-3 win. Jeremy had a home run and 3 RBI, going 1 for 4 on the night and Big Papi had an RBI ground-rule double.

This was followed up by a 7-6 win over Toronto on Monday and strong outing by Matsuzaka Tuesday night good for a 6-1 win. Toronto managed to avoid the sweep yesterday on a two-hit, 7-inning shutout effort by Shaun Marcum.

The Sox have tonight off and will start a 3 game series against the Tigers at Comerica park on Friday night with Buccholz getting the nod for Boston and Max Scherzer starting for Detroit.

Other MLB News:
Part of the joy of being an XM subscriber is that you can tune in to some of the out-of town games if you think the one you're listening to is a dud. Such was the case on Mother's day when I was driving around in the hills and waiting for the Sox/Yankees Sunday night game to start. Second-place NANESB! baseball broadcast poll finisher Dave Niehaus had jut informed listeners on the out-of-town scoreboard update that not only was there a no-hitter brewing down in Oakland, but a perfect game.

Not just a perfect game, but Oakland starter Dallas Braden was throwing a perfect game against the white-hot Tampa Bay Rays. I mean, you gotta figure that it's difficult enough to get 27 straight outs against 'scrub' teams like the Orioles or Royals, but the AL-East leading Rays? Seems like a tall order. I was able to tune in in time for the top of the 9th at the Colesium and Gabe Kapler grounding out to short for the final out of the game and the 4-0 Oakland win.

Even before the perfect game, Dallas Braden made some headlines when he called out A-Rod for breaking one of the unwritten rules of baseball when the Yankees were playing in Oakland in late April. When asked about the incident, Slappy McBluelips had this to say:

"He told me to get off the mound," he said. "I was a little surprised because I never heard that, especially from a guy with a handful of wins [17] in his career."

Hmm....guess Braden's stock went up even further all around MLB. Well...since I am inherently biased towards Boston, this does remind me a little of Dustin Pedroia chirping at A-Rod when he threw an elbow at the Sox shortstop in a pretty weak effort to break up a double-play and the Yankees announcers saying something along the lines of "Who does this Pedroia kid think he is?". That was in 2007, the same year Pedroia would win Rookie of the Year. One sure sign that you've arrived is to earn the snide, dismissive contempt of the Yankees fans and media. Way to go Dallas.

MLB Comissioner Bud Selig announced that he has no plans to move the 2011 MLB All-Star game from Arizona, despite non-stop bitching pressure from advocacy groups and union thugs to move next year's mid-summer classic elsewhere in response to Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration laws. Over the past week, several city councils have passed resolutions threatening to boycott the state over Arizona's law, while the law itself reportedly has an approval rating of 70% in Arizona and over 60% support nationwide. It's not often I get to say this, but Selig made the right decision here.

NBA: Man.....as infrequently as I've been doing the sports updates, looks like there's only one or two Celtics game that takes place between updates. It seems like there are no close games in this series against the Cavs. After winning 97-87 at home on Sunday, the Celtics went on the road and stunned the Cavs again with a 120-88 beatdown of Cleveland at Quicken Loans arena Tuesday Night. LeBron James was kept pretty quiet with only 15 points on the night while for Boston, Rajon Rondo had 16 points and 7 assists and Ray Allen had 25 points on the night.

The Celtics have the opportunity to finish off the Cavs tonight at the Garden and start fuelling speculation on where LeBron James could win p as a free agent.

NHL: The 7 game series giveth and the 7 game series taketh away. After getting out to a 3-0 lead over the Flyers, Philly has come back to even the series at 3 games a peice, beating the Bruins 2-1 in the most recent game on Wednesday night. Milan Lucic would wind up with the only tally for the Bruins that night, coming with a minute left in regulation while Tukka Rask stopped 25 of 27 shots faced. The all-or-nothing Game 7 will take place Friday night.

Other NHL News: I'm not as surprised about this as I was about the first round upset against the Washington Capitals, but this should still be filed under 'H' for 'Holy crap!'. Montreal beat the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 in Game 7 of their series to advance to take on to the winner of the Philly/Boston series.

Long Overdue Sports Chowdah Update: Extra Special Rubbernecking Version

Wow....where does the time go? To be honest, I was more than a little embarrassed at the Red Sox getting swept by Baltimore last weekend (hell- wouldn't you be?) as well as the C's lackluster performance in Game 1 against the Cavs. The only silver lining last weekend was the Bruins taking the opening games from the Flyers, although not before Philly rallied from 2 goals down to tie the game and send it into overtime.

However, everything from Monday onwards has been gravy for the teams inside the Hub. Again, this is one of those deals where us Boston sports fans should savor it while it lasts, since not every week is going to be good for the Boston teams.....at least simultaneously. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), due to some real-world obligations, I was able to catch very little of the action after Monday night and only update the blog infrequently.

(Getty Images)

MLB: No point in complaining about how come the Sox couldn't show similar signs of life against the Angels back in October. A four game sweep is a four game sweep- and as Patriot's Day weekend has shown, it's better to be the ones holding the broomhandle than to be the ones caught up in the bristles.

While swivelling my head to catch the Bruins and Celtics at my friendly neighborhood watering hole, I saw that the Red Sox managed to put up 17 runs on the Angels Monday night...and while last week's series opener against the Blue Jays saw the Sox reach double-digits, this one was nowhere near as close with Boston getting the 17-8 win.

Turns out that wouldn't be the only time the Sox put up double-digits against the Angels this week. After taking Game 1, the Red Sox took the next two games (all while putting less than 10 runs on the board) which led to today's game and Daisuke Matsuzaka's first start at Fenway this year.

Dice-K was wild in the first, giving up 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning, but would go on to settle down and retire 13 of the last 16 batters he faced. The Red Sox would start to rally (no simians involved this time) with a 2-run Victor Martinez homer in the bottom of the 3rd and a 5 run bottom of the 5th (including 2 more RBIs on a double from Martinez) to take a 7-4 lead before the Angels came back with 2 of their own on a Mike Napoli home to make it a 1-run game in the top of the 6th. But Boston would get some insurance in the bottom of the inning with a bases-loaded walk to JD Drew followed by a Beltre RBI-single, Jeremy Hermida reaching on a Howie Kendrick fielding error with the bases loaded and Darnell McDonald grounding into a fielder's choice to bring in Drew to put Boston up 11-6. Manny DelCarmen, Hideki Okajima and Ramon Ramierez closed out the game for the Sox.

The Sox travel to the toilet Bronx tonight to take on the Yankees tonight with Josh Becket going up against Phil Hughes.

Other MLB News: Longtime Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell passed away on Tuesday at age 92. Harwell had been with the team for 40 years, finally retiring in 2002. But even after retiring, Harwell would occasionally call a few innings during some regular season Tigers games as well as the 2005 All Star game at Comerica Park and Detroit's appearance in the 2006 World Series for ESPN Radio, Fox and Fox Sports Detroit. Ernie Harwell announced late last year that he had inoperable cancer. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Lulu, four children and seven grandchildren.

Harwell was the recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C Fricke Award in 1981 in which he delivered the following speech:

Baseball is the President tossing out the first ball of the season and a scrubby schoolboy playing catch with his dad on a Mississippi farm. A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That's baseball. And so is the big, fat guy with a bulbous nose running home one of his 714 home runs.

There's a man in Mobile who remembers that Honus Wagner hit a triple in Pittsburgh forty-six years ago. That's baseball. So is the scout reporting that a sixteen year old pitcher in Cheyenne is a coming Walter Johnson. Baseball is a spirited race of man against man, reflex against reflex. A game of inches. Every skill is measured. Every heroic, every failing is seen and cheered, or booed. And then becomes a statistic.

In baseball democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rulebook. Color merely something to distinguish one team's uniform from another.

Baseball is a rookie. His experience no bigger than the lump in his throat as he begins fulfillment of his dream. It's a veteran too, a tired old man of thirty-five hoping that those aching muscles can pull him through another sweltering August and September. Nicknames are baseball, names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.

Baseball is the cool, clear eyes of Rogers Hornsby. The flashing spikes of Ty Cobb, an over aged pixie named Rabbit Maranville.

Baseball just a came as simple as a ball and bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. A sport, a business and sometimes almost even a religion.

Why the fairy tale of Willie Mays making a brilliant World's Series catch. And then dashing off to play stick ball in the street with his teenage pals. That's baseball. So is the husky voice of a doomed Lou Gherig saying., "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”

Baseball is cigar smoke, hot roasted peanuts, The Sporting News, ladies day, "Down in Front", Take Me Out To The Ballgame, and the Star Spangled Banner.

Baseball is a tongue tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball!

In other broadcaster news, Brewer's Hall-of-Fame announcer Bob Uecker was released from a Milwaukee hospital yesterday after successfully undergoing heart surgery.

"You know what....? Go ahead and tase me, bro"

From City of Brotherly Love to "Don't Tase Me Bro!" : Controversy erupted at a Philadelphia Phillies home game on Monday night when Philadelphia Police tasered 17 year old fan Steve Consalvi as he was sitting quietly in the stands, minding his own business. Wait...what? Oh....Mr. Consalvi was tasered after running out onto the field and eluding security. I guess I'm supposed to be wringing my hands over 'excess force' or something, but wouldn't you know it? My give-a-damn broke the second Consalvi started running around on the field.

NBA: It's been awhile, hasn't it? The Celtics lost game one to the Cavs last weekend before they came roaring back in game 2 Monday night. Ray Allen led the C's scoring with 22 points while Rajon Rondo tied a C's playoff record with 19 assists and Kevin Garnett had 10 rebounds. Boston scored early and often, heading into halftime with a 52-48 lead. From there on out, it was pretty much all Celtics, all the time with Boston outscoring the Cavs 31-12 in the 3rd and taking a 25 point lead into the 4th. Cleveland would cut into the lead and make it appear close, closing the gap to 10 points with just over 3 minutes left. But Boston would close out the game with an 11-3 run for the 104-86 win, which ties the series at one game each.

That was Monday night- Game 2 isn't until tonight at the Garden.

Other NBA News: The Los Phoenix Suns generated some controversy this week by sporting 'Los Suns' jerseys in their playoff game against San Antonio on May 5th. While Arizona's recent anti-illegal immigration measure has brought Arizona and its capital increased public attention, apparently the 'Los Suns' jerseys were part of an already existing Cinco de Mayo promotion to draw in Hispanic viewers and fans in Arizona that's already been in place for a few seasons. The San Diego Padres routinely market south of the border, while the LA Dodgers have a large Hispanic following and the Angels are actually owned by an American of Mexican descent. So one shouldn't be too surprised if pro teams in another border state also begin marketing to the sizable Hispanic population as well.

Having said that, I have no problem with the Arizona law and I think noted US Constitutional scholar Phoenix guard Steve Nash has no idea what he's talking about when interviewed by ESPN's unfunny excuse of a whatever he is Tony Kornheier this week:

"I'm against it. I think that this is a bill that really damages our civil liberties and I think that it opens up the potential for racial profiling, racism. I think it's a bad precedent to set for our young people, I think it represents our state poorly in the eyes of the nation and the world. I think we have a lot of great attributes here and I think that it's something we could do without and hopefully will change a lot in the coming weeks."

Well now...since you put it that way, Steve, how about the Suns take the high road and have 'Amnesty Night'. Since somebody asking to see papers (whether it's a visa, passport, driver's licence or Suns tickets) sets a bad precedent and violates civil liberties, anybody who shows up at the arena should just waltz right in and plunk themselves down wherever they want- the broadcast booth, the 3 point line or even the owner's suite. Of course, the concessions should be free and all you can eat as well. Now, since 'Amnesty Night' is a pretty expensive proposition, I don't think that players like Nash will mind if Suns management takes some money from Nash's paycheck to cover the costs of throwing the doors open to anybody who wants to show up.

NHL: In what seems like the blink of an eye, the Boston Bruins are up 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers. I caught some of Game 2 Monday night when I wasn't swivelling my head around to look in on the C's and Red Sox, and I caught some of Game 3 the other night when the Bruins already had a 3-1 lead. Apparently Philly scored first for their only lead of the series so far in the first. Boston would answer right back with two goals, one from Blake Wheeler and one from Miroslav Satan less than 2 minutes apart late in the first to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Mark Recchi added to the Boston lead early in the 3rd and Patrice Bergeron would get an empty-netter with just under two minutes left in the 3rd to make it a 4-1 win for the Bruins.

The Bruins will start game 4 tonight without the services of David Krejci who had his wrist dislocated in Game 3 and Marco Sturm left game one with a torn MCL and ACL in his right knee. Both are expected to be out for the remainder of the season.

Marshmellow Peep Chowdah Recap for April 4, 2010: Sox Rally Past Yanks in Home Opener; C's Hang On to Top Cavs

After much buzz and anticipation, the Red Sox and Yankees opened up the 2010 MLB season with a night game at Fenway on Easter. Pero Martinez was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to the home crowd's delight, and for awhile it appeared as though the Sox could use him back in uniform.

Opening night's pitching matchup put Red Sox ace Josh Beckett against the Yankee's CC Sabathia. Neither pitcher allowed a baserunner in the respective 1st inning of work. However, the Yankees would take a 2-0 lead on solo home runs by Jorge Posada and offseason acquisition Curtis Granderson in the 2nd inning. The Sox managed to cut that lead in half when Kevin Youkilis doubled, Big Papi grounded out to 1st (moving Youk to 3rd) and Adrian Beltre got his first RBI as a member of the Red Sox on a sac-fly to deep center field.

However, New York managed to pad that lead when Beckett gave up a pair of RBI singles in the 4th to Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter. Then, Brett Gardner sprinted home from 3rd on a double steal as Victor Martinez didn't bother checking the runner at third while trying to throw Jeter out while running from 1st to 2nd. That made it 5-1 Yankees and the home crowd restless. It was looking like one of those deals where one would try and reassure anybody who's willing to listen by with the boilerplate 'It's OK- it's only one game......can't win 'em all' to try and take some of the sting out of getting spanked by one's detested arch-rivals live on National TV.
Beckett only lasted 4 & 2/3rds innings before he was pulled, giving way to Scott Schoenweis who was signed barely a week ago. However, things weren't going to be much easier for Sabathia. The Red Sox were able to chip away at the Yankee's lead in the bottom of the 5th when Marco Scuatro's single drove in JD Drew with two away.

Sabathia continued showing signs of wearing down and in the bottom of the 6th, he walked Dustin Peroia had Victor Martinez to double off of him before Youkilis tripled, driving in the two baserunners before being relieved by David Robertson.

The Yankees would re-take the lead when Ramon Ramierez would give up two hits and a walk, only logging one out in his appearence. Hideki Okajima would come on and the two inherited runners would score- Mark Teixera on a Robinson Cano groundout to first and A-Rod on a Posada single- to put New York back up 7-5.

But bound and determined to make anybody who shut off the game when the score was still 5-1 Yankees kick themselves the following day, Chan Ho Park came on in relief of Robertson to start off the bottom frame of the 7th. Marco Scutaro got things started with a single, and after Ellsbry struck out, Dustin Pedroia planted one in the bottom rows of the Monster seats to tie the game at 7-7. Youkilis would double to center field off of Park before Park was yanked for Damaso marte. Youk would advance to 3rd on a wild pitch and then score on a passed ball to put the Red Sox up 8-7.

Daniel Bard had a relatively smooth outing in relief for the Sox, getting the first two batters he faced out in the top of the 8th before walking Nick Johnson. Randy Winn came on to pinch run for Johnson, but was out at second when Teixera grounded into a fielder's choice to end the top half of the 8th.

The Red Sox would go on to add an insurance run off of pinstriped headhunter ChokeJoba Chamberlain when Mike Cameron had a 1-out single and went home on Pedroia's single to make it 9-7 in the bottom of the 8th.

Fresh from ESPN reminding us how Jonathan Papelbon closed out the 2009 playoffs, Papelbon came on in the top of the 9th to close out the first game of 2010 for Boston. The Red Sox closer got A-Rod to ground out to 3rd pretty quickly, then had Robinson Cano fly out to center before giving up a single to Posada. Before anybody could say 'Ruh roh!' he got Curtis Granderson to ground out to 3rd.

It wasn't pretty for much of the time, but it was good for a 9-7 win and first place in the AL East. Okajima is credited with the win, Park gets hung with the loss and Paps is a perfect 1:1 in save opportunities. Interesting stat I caught after the game- offseason free-agent pickups Mike Cameron, Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro were a combined 5 for 9 with 3 RBIs Sunday night. These are 3 guys Epstein said the Sox were signing for their defense, so I guess anything else is a nice little bonus then.

Even if we went with the NHL's 'Three stars' deal, it would be hard to narrow down tonight's stars to just three. Dustin Pedroia was 2-4 with 3 RBI, two runs, a home run, a walk and a strikeout. Kevin Youkilis was 3-4 with three runs, three hits and two RBI. I was pleasantly surprised by Schoenweiss' outing as well, although Adrian Beltre would probably get the (hypothetical) 3rd star for his 2-RBI evening.

Pretty good debut for Beltre, Scutaro and Cameron tonight. Both teams won't play again until Tuesday night with AJ Burnett starting for the pinstripes and Jon Lester taking to the bump for the BoSox.

Other Red Sox News: The Red Sox placed pitcher Boof Bonser on the 15-day DL with a right groin strain retroactive to March 26th. Bonser may be optioned to AAA Pawtucket once he comes off the DL.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was also placed on the DL with a neck strain in order to make room for Scott Schoenweis on the opening day roster. RHP Junichi Tazawa is expected to have season-ending ligament surgery on his elbow next week as well.

NBA: Wow....could somebody please explain this to me? The C's basically couldn't buy a win against the Rockets or Oklahoma City all last week, yet somehow blow a 22-point lead against the best team in the NBA and still manage to hang on for the win? I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Sounds like quite the roller-coaster I missed while I was out doing family-type stuff for Easter. LeBron was pretty busy at the Garden this Easter, scoring 42 points and with 7 rebounds on the day. None of the Cavs other starters even broke past the 20-point mark today, and James was 0-9 from 3 point range. Cleveland scored 23 of the first 28 points in the 4th quarter, which resulted in them taking their first lead of the game at 104-103 with just under 3 minutes remaining in regulation. However, James missed some pivotal free-throws in the final minute of regulation and decided to try for the three point attempt instead of passing to an open Antwan Jamison to tie the game at 2 with time expiring. The Celtics wound up escaping with the 117-113 win at the Garden.

Ray Allen had a good day for Boston- his best as a Celtic, as a matter of fact- with 33 points, 3 rebounds and hitting 6 out of 9 attempted 3 pointers and going 7 for 7 from the free throw line. Kevin Garnett, when he wasn't exchanging words with LeBron, had 19 points on the day, 8 rebounds and was 9 of 10 from the free throw line. Kendrick Perkins had 10 points and as many rebounds for the afternoon.

The Celtics will take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.

NFL:Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins ESPN announced Sunday night. The Redskins are reportedly giving up a 2nd round pick in this years draft and a third or fourth round pick in the 2011 draft for McNabb's services.