Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE this time of year?
Kevin Cox- Getty Images
PATRIOTS- In their second prime-time matchup since week two, New England found themselves facing off against an NFC South opponent for the second straight week.
If last week's game against the Buccaneers was any indicator, Brady seemed to be settling into a groove with his corps of new receivers and vice-versa. However, they would have their work cut out for them in Week 4 on the road in the Georgia Dome against Boston College alum Matt Ryan and two of the NFL's best receivers.
The Falcons got on the board first with a Matt Bryant FG in the first before New England capped a 75 yard drive with a Brady to Matt Mulligan completion to put New England up 7-3. A 48 yard FG from Gostkowski made it 10-3 New England before Atlanta tied the contest up at 10-10 thanks to a 21 yard reception from Matt Ryan to TE Tony Gonzalez with just 38 seconds to go in the first half.
After another FG from Gostkowski in the 3rd quarter put the Patriots back on top, New England looked as though they were going to blow this one wide open at the start of the 4th quarter thanks to a 47 yard TD run from LaGarrette Blount to make it 20-10. Although the Falcons managed to drive down into New England's red zone, Michael Buchanan sacked Matt Ryan on 3rd and 5 from the New England 18 yard line, forcing Atlanta to settle for three points but still making it a 1-score game at 20-13.
The Patriots struck back quickly, thanks to two long completions from Brady to Edelman before Brady connected with WR Kenbrell Thompkins for an 18 yard TD pass. On the very first play of Atlanta's next possession, CB Aquib Talib managed to pick off a Matt Ryan pass and got as far as the Falcons 31 yard line before settling for a field goal, making it a 30-13 game with just over 6 minutes remaining in the 4th.
However, Atlanta would not go quietly and closed the gap thanks to an 11 yard TD pass from Ryan to Gonzalez before recovering the onside kick at mid field. Ryan got the Falcons as far as the Patriots 7 yard line, but Atlanta would have to settle for a field goal. New England successfully recovered the ball on Atlanta's next onside kick attempt and was simply looking to wind the clock down and get a first down on 4th and 1 at the Falcons' 37, but Brady fumbled the snap and although he recovered it, the Patriots turned it over on downs. Ryan looked as though he would make the Patriots pay when he found Julio ones for a nearly flawless 49 yard completion. However, with 36 seconds left and on 4th and 7 from the Patriot's 10, Aquib Talib broke up a Matt Ryan pass attempt to Roddy White in the end zone. New England got the ball back and Brady took a knee to run out the final seconds of the game.
New England moves to 4-0 for the first time since their 2007 dalliance with perfection. Next week, the Patriots will travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 PM kickoff on Sunday and will be televised on CBS Sports.
MLB- WILD CARD- It looks as though 162 games wasn't enough for the Texas Rangers or Tampa Bay Rays.
On the final day of the regular season, the Indians managed to leapfrog both Texas and Tampa Bay after winning 10 straight games to conclude the 2013 regular season to take the first Wild Card berth. This is Indians manager Terry Francona's first trip to the postseason since 2009 when he was still with the Red Sox. This is also Francona's first season as the Indians manager. The Tribe will await the winner of Monday's Rangers/Rays game.
First pitch for the Rays and Rangers Wild Card game is scheduled for 8:07 PM ET and will be televised on TBS.
Alan Diaz- AP
MIAMI MARLINS- And just like that the regular season is in the books, and it wasn't exactly uneventful.
While the Miami Marlins won't be going to the postseason, the end of their regular season was pretty noteworthy as starter Henderson Alvarez threw a no-hitter. Not only did the 23 year old Venezuelan starter get his no-hitter against the defending AL Champion Detroit Tigers, but he got it in an unorthodox manner and saw the game clinched when he was in the on deck, not the mound.
It was still a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 9th when Giancarlo Stanton came home on a wild pitch with the bases loaded for Miami's 1-0 win. The no-hitter was the Marlin's first since September 2006 when Anibal Sanchez no-hit the Arizona Diamondbacks.
RED SOX- The regular season for Boston ended on a less-than-glorious note after dropping two out of three to the Orioles over the weekend. Despite the losses, the Red Sox finish the season tied with St Louis for the best record in MLB with 97 wins and 65 losses.
This means that not only will Boston wait until Friday for their next game, they won't know who their opponent is until after two separate play-in games starting on Monday night. The Oakland A's finished one game behind Boston and will host the AL Central champion Detroit Tigers for the ALDS.
BOSTON BRUINS- Although the Bruins had a chance to close out the series against the New York Rangers with a sweep on Thursday night, the blueshirts came from behind twice to force an OT where the series and New York's season was kept alive on a Chris Kreider goal to give the Rangers a 4-3 win and force a Game 5 in Boston on Saturday.
And although a number of Boston fans confidently declared "Good- that means we can close out the series in front of the home crowd at the Garden", these were the same Rangers who would go on to advance past the Capitols after trailing in the series 2-0 and forcing 7 games.
For some of the doubters, plans were being made for a possible Game 6 as the Rangers would jump out to a 1-0 lead halfway through the first thanks to a power play goal from Dan Girardi.
But Boston would get on the board and tie the game up at 1-1 early in the second thanks to a power play goal from Providence callup Torey Krug. Gregory Campbell would give the Bruins their first lead of the day with an even strength goal at 13 minutes and 41 seconds into the 2nd period. But given the Rangers never-say-die attitude from Thursday night game, it appeared as though no lead was safe. Early in the third, Tukka Rask came up huge to keep the Bruins out in front.
The Bruins would not get any insurance whatsoever until the Rangers pulled Lundqvist late in the 3rd, at which point Campbell put the Bruins up by two with an empty-netter and giving them a 3-1 lead with less than a minute to go in regulation. The Rangers season comes to a close and the Boston Bruins advance to play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals thanks to the 3-1 win on Saturday. Tukka Rask did not allow another goal after giving up that power play tally to Girardi in the first, turning aside 28 of 29 shots faced while Lundqvist stopped 29 of 31 shots faced.
RED SOX- Thursday marked Terry Francona's return to Fenway for the first time since the 2011 season in which he was fired after Boston's late-season implosion- and to be sure, it started out as a triumphant one as his Cleveland Indians as they kicked off the 4-game series at Fenway with a 12-3 thumping of the Red Sox on Thursday night.
Friday night's contest saw Lackey get his third win of the season as the Red Sox jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back in their 8-1 win over the Tribe.
Jon Lester was given the start and struggled early on in Saturday's afternoon's contest, allowing 4 runs on 10 hits over seven innings. The Red Sox briefly managed to tie the contest up at 3-3 in the bottom of the 6th on a Jonny Gomes sac fly before former Red Sox Mike Aviles put Cleveland back on top coming home on a wild pitch in the top of the 7th. However, the Tribe bullpen imploded in the bottom of the 8th when reliever Vinnie Pestano gave up RBI doubles to Mike Carp and Dustin Pedroia followed by a 2-RBI single to Daniel Nava after intentionally walking Big Papi with two out.
Cleveland opened up the 9th with a leadoff single from Michael Bourn, but reliever Junichi Tazawa got the next three batters out to give the Red Sox the 7-4 win on a drizzly Saturday afternoon in Fenway.
The Red Sox will go for the series win on Sunday afternoon with Felix Doubront [3-2; 5.61 ERA] on the mound against Cleveland's Corey Kluber [3-3; 5.19 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 ET and the game will be televised on NESN. After the Cleveland series, the Red Sox will take part in their first interleague matchup of the season when the host Philadelphia on Monday.
This was something I meant to wrap up on Monday, but as you can imagine, events of that day understandably put any update on the back burner. Sports are an integral part of Boston's social fabric and whoever placed those bombs along the Marathon route clearly took that into account long ago when they were selecting their target. I also want to take this opportunity to thank those of you who were asking about the well-being myself and my family and friends- everybody is OK [some even joking that they knew I was safe since a marathon route was the last place on earth anybody would expect to find me- NANESB!].
For the time being, I'll be posting any developments on the Marathon bombing as a seperate matter- and there have been a number of developments since Monday night.
Mark Duncan- AP Photo
MLB- Monday's deadly marathon bombing took place within 45 minutes of the conclusion of the Red Sox game on Patriot's Day- the Rays were reportedly already on their way to the airport and the Red Sox were still in the clubhouse when the bombs went off along Boyleston Ave.
Security was stepped up at ballparks across the league on Monday night, including LA's Dodger Stadium for Jackie Robinson Night, and by Tuesday, MLB and many teams were showing their support for the city of Boston in the deadly bombing.
The archi-rival Yankees played Red Sox favorite Sweet Caroline in their stadium as solidarity to the Boston bombing twitter.com/IBAF_Baseball/…
— IBAF (@IBAF_Baseball) April 17, 2013
Most notably, the arch-rival New York Yankees flew a banner on their stadium with dual Red Sox and Yankees insignias that read "We Stand United"". Fans also were sporting Boston jackets and handmade signs showing their support for the people of Boston, and in the 8th inning, Yankees fans sang along to Neil Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline' as it was played over the PA system- a Fenway tradition. Throughout the night, the scene was repeated in Milwaukee, Atlanta, Chicago, Oakland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Miami- the Brewers reportedly added the extra touch of including the Cheers theme song.
RED SOX- The weekend series at Fenway against Tampa Bay included Friday's game getting postponed due to rain, Clay Buchholz taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning on Sunday and blowing a 2-1 lead in the top of the 9th only to win thanks of a walk off Napoli RBI-double in the bottom of the 9th on Patriots Day.
On Monday afternoon- in the immediate aftermath of the deadly Maraton bombing- the Red Sox left town to play their first game against a team outside the AL East this season. Appropriately enough, the matchup featured a familiar face- former Red Sox manager and ESPN analyst Terry Francona, who was announced as the Cleveland Indians new manager in the offseason.
The pitching matchup featured Ubaldo Jiminez against Felix Doubront and the Red Sox pounced on Jiminez early as the bases were loaded up with one out before allowing a bases loaded walk to David Ross, and then a sac fly to Pedro Ciricaco, an RBI single to Jacoby Ellsbury, a walk to Victorino to re-load the bases, a bases loaded walk. Cody Allen came in to relieve Jiminez and immediately gave up a bases-clearing double to Mike Napoli. Although Middlebrooks struck out to end the inning, the Red sox jumped out to a 7-0 lead.
Doubront was starting to struggle in the fifth inning, allowing a run to come home on a passed ball as well as a sac-fly in the bottom of the 2nd. Although his pitch count was close to 100, he managed to get out of the inning and was able to turn it over to the bullpen, which was able to preserve the five run lead. The Red Sox win their first non AL-East contest of the season by a 7-2 final and Doubront stayed in the game long enough to earn the W.
Interesting side note, this is the second night in a row that the Red Sox players all wore the #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. The Red Sox wore them to mark the occasion in their Patriots Day game against the Rays. Since Cleveland had Monday night off, they observed Jackie Robinson night on Tuesday.
For Wednesday night, former Red Sox starter Justin Masterson [3-0; 0.41 ERA] will go up against Alfredo Aceves [0-0; 6.75 ERA]. First pitch is at 4:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
NHL- Coming into Monday night, the Bruins were riding a two game skid [against the Islanders and Hurricanes- teams I thought they'd have a better showing against] and were scheduled for a pivotal tilt against the Ottawa Senators when the bombs along the Boston Marathon route struck.
The deadly attack resulted in the Bruins to postponing that important Monday night contest- the game is now scheduled for night of April 28th at the garden. Wednesday night's home game against the Buffalo Sabres is still slated to take place as scheduled with the puck dropping at 4:30- the game will be televised on NBC Sports Network.
MLB- After falling into an 0-2 hole at home, the San Francisco Giants capped off a 3-game rally on Thursday afternoon at Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark.
The Giants broke a scoreless tie in the top of the 5th inning with a Brandon Crawford RBI-triple followed by Crawford coming home on a throwing error by Reds shortstop Zack Cozart to give them a 2-0 lead. Before the Reds could get out of the inning with no further damage, Giants catcher Buster Posey belted a grand slam to put the Giants up 6-0.
Although the Reds would chip away at the San Francisco lead thanks to 2 RBI's each from Brandon Phillips and Ryan Ludwick, Giants reliever Sergio Romo was able to close out the game despite giving up an RBI single to Ludwick.
Despite no starting pitcher for the Giants making it as far as the fifth inning through the first three games, the Giants won three in a row on the road to advance to the NLCS where they'll await the winner of the NLDS matchup between the Cardinals and Nationals.
NLDS- Speaking of the Cardinals and Nationals, one day after St Louis absolutely dominated the Nats in Game 3 by a final of 8-0, the Nationals forced a decicive Game 5 in dramatic fashion.
With the game tied at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th at Nationals Park, Nats outfielder Jayson Werth led off the inning and fought off a dozen pitches from Lance Lynn before this happened:
For those of you who can't view the embedded video above, you're missing out on Werth belting a solo homer to deep left for the 2-1 win in Game 4 [What is it about hair and the MLB postsseason? There was the '04 Red Sox 'idiots' and now Jayson Werth bearing more than a passing resemblance to the GEICO caveman- NANESB!].
The walk-off win, which ties the series at 2-2, is also notable in that it is the first postseason baseball win in the nation's capital in nearly 79 years. Game five gets underway on Friday night at 8:37 PM ET and will be televised on TBS.
ALDS- One night after the Oakland A's rallied in the bottom of the 9th against Detroit to force a Game 5, Tiger's starter Justin Verlander pitched a complete game 4-hit shutout of the A's to advance to the ALCS. Detroit Center fielder Austin Jackson put the Tigers on the scoreboard in the top of the 3rd with an RBI double before coming home himself on a wild pitch by A's starter Jarrod Parker.
Although that would be all the Tigers needed, they blew the game open in the top of the 7th starting off with another Jackson RBI base hit before getting 3 more runs on a bases-loaded walk, a hit and a throwing error.
Verlander didn't need alot in the way of run support, but he got it anyways in the Tiger's 6-0 win over Oakland. The Tigers will now await the winner of Game 5 between the Yankees and Orioles.
AL EAST- Over in the all-AL East playoff series, Yankees manager Joe Girardi's decision to bench 3B Alex Rodriguez for pinch hitter Raul Ibañez in the bottom of the 9th paid immediate dividends as the outfielder tied Game 3 up at 2-2 before going on to win it in the bottom of the 12th with another solo homer and give the Yankees the 2-1 series edge.
However, Baltimore came back on Thursday night and drew first blood, getting out to a 1-0 lead on a Nate McClouth solo homer in the 5th. The Yankees would eventually tie on a Robinson Cano RBI groundout and the game would head into extra innings where Baltimore's JJ Hardy belted an RBI double to deep center to give the O's the 2-1 lead. Jim Johnson got the Yankees out in order in the bottom of the 13th to preserve the Baltimore win, forcing a decisive Game 5 on Friday which is scheduled to start from Yankee Stadium at 5:07 ET and will be broadcast on TBS.
Girardi has again courted controversey by announcing that he is benching high salaried slugger Alex Rodriguez for Game 5.
CLEVELAND INDIANS- Former Red Sox manager and ESPN analyst Terry Francona was announced as the Tribe's new manager on Monday. Francona and the Indians had agreed to terms on a 4 year contract, although he hinted at staying longer during Monday's press conference where he was formally introduced as Cleveland's newest manager.
After contending for the first four months of the season, the Indians dropped out of contention late and manager Manny Acta was fired on September 27th. Francona was selected over Bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr- whose name has been brought up as a possibility in the Red Sox manager sweepstakes- took over as acting manager for the remainder of the season in Cleveland.
The Francona family has ties with the Indians that go back nearly 50 years. Francona's father, Tito Francona spent 6 seasons of his 15 year baseball career with the Indians, narrowly missing out on the AL Batting title during the 1959 season. After starting out with the Montreal Expos as an outfielder in 1981, son Terry played a single season for the Tribe in 1988. The younger Francona also spent time in the Cleveland front office before arriving in Boston.
AP Photo/Steven Senne
NFL- The New England Patriots got their first look at the post-Indianapolis Peyton Manning over the weekend and one would guess that for three quarters they liked what they saw.
New England headed into the locker rooms at halftime with a 17-7 lead and only added onto that with a productive 3rd quarter including Brady rushing to a TD on 3rd and goal followed immediately by Pats DE Rod Ninkovitch sacking Peyton Manning on the Broncos 14 yard line. The sack resulted in a fumble that was recovered by big Vince Wilfork. On the very next play, Stevan Ridley punched in in for the TD on an 8 yard run to put New England up 31-7.
However, with a little over a quarter to go, Manning appeared to rally his team, starting with a TD pass inside the Patriots Red Zone with just 1:08 to go in the 3rd.
After a sack of Brady mid-field with just over 8 minutes to go in the 4th, the Broncos recovered the ball mid-field and were able to hit paydirt six plays later to make it 10 point game. On the Patriots' next possession Stevan Ridley coughed up the ball on the Broncos 37 yard line. The Broncos were able to get the ball as far as the New England 11 yard line and threatened to make it a three point game with just under four minutes to go, but RB Willis McGahee fumbled and the ball was recovered by Pats linebacker Jermaine Cunningham with 3:42 remaining. The Patriots were then able to get a first down and wind down the clock from there, preserving the 31-21 lead and giving New England a 3-2 record.
This Sunday, the Patriots will travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seattle Seahawks- also sporting a 3-2 record. Kickoff is at 4:05 PM ET, 1:05 PM PT, and the game will be televised on CBS.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas knocked the Pittsburgh Steelers into 3rd place in the AFC North thanks to a last-second field goal in the Titans'26-23 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Titans QB Matt Hasselbeck went 25-44 with 290 yards along with a TD and an interception and was sacked three times while Steelers starting QB Roethlisberger also had 1 TD pass and an itnerception to his name while going 24-40 with 363 yards in the losing effort.
The Titans got the ball back from Pittburgh at mid-field with 48 seconds remaining and the game tied at 23-23 after a missed Shaun Suisham FG attempt from 54 yards. Hasselbeck then completed a pass to TE Jared Cook on 3rd and 5 before Cook tightroped along the sidelines for a total gain of 25 yards, the first down, getting Bironas in FG range and stopping the clock with 39 seconds to go.
Bironas was 4 for 4 on the night while Suisham went 3 for 4 in FG attempts, with the critical miss from mid-field coming late in the 4th and giving the Titans excellent field position.
DETROIT LIONS- Actor and Detroit Lions defensive legend Alex Karras has passed away in a southern California hospice at the age of 77. The son of Greek immigrants, Karras grew up in northwestern Indiana and went to college at Iowa. During the 1956 season, he was on the first Hawkeyes team to earn a berth in the Rose Bowl, going on to beat Oregon State by a 35-19. That same year he was named an All American and was a runner-up in the 1957 Heisman trophy race. Shortly before being drafted by the Detroit Lions, Karras had reportedly declined an offer to play with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
In his 16 year NFL career, Karras had 4 interceptions and recovered 16 fumbles and was selected to the Pro Bowl 4 times. Sometimes known as 'the angry duck', Karras was suspended for the 1963 season due to his ownership of a Detroit bar known for illegal gambling.
After his NFL career, Karras went on to a reasonably successful acting and broadcast career. In 1972, he hosted a CFL pregame show on the CBC affiliate in Windsor, Ontario- just across the river from Detroit, MI. In 1974, he had a cameo as the burly and dim-witted Mongo in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. Later on that year he also started a two year stint in the Monday Night Football broadcast booth.
Starting in the 1980's Karras also played sports reporter George Papadopolis on the ABC sitcom Webster. Along with the dimunitive Emmanuel Lewis, Karras also starred alongside real-life wife Susan Clark. In 1991, he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Karras' later life was marked by heart disease, dementia and cancer. He passed away on Wednesday, October 12.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS- The New Orleans Saints have earned their first win since news of 'Bountygate' broke and made history in the process.
On their second possession of the night and trailing the visiting San Diego Chargers 7-0, Drew Brees completed a TD pass to WR Devery Henderson to break Johnny Unitas' record of consecutive games with at least 1 TD pass. The record has stood for 52 years until the Sunday night game.
The Saints would go on to win the Sunday night game by a final of 31-24, snapping a 4-game losing strak. Despite being suspended by the NFL over the Bountygate scandal, the league allowed Saints coach Sean Payton to attend the game in anticipation of Brees reaching the milestone.
NCAA FOOTBALL- After week after playing only half a good game against the Clemson Tigers in Chestnut Hill (losing by a 45-31 final), the BC Eagles headed to West Point to take on Army.
The Black Knights were coming off an embarassing 23-3 loss at home to Stony Brook of the FCS and still searching for their first win of the season.
With Boston College leading 31-27 and Army driving the ball late in the 4th quarter, the Black Knights decided to go for it on 4th and goal, but were stopped on the 1 yard line with just over 2 minutes remaining. Although the Eagles got the ball back, they were in the shadow of their own end zone and went 3 and out, burning just over 20 seconds off the game clock.
The ensuing punt gave Army the ball on Boston College's 38 yard line with 1:09 remaining in the game. After the Black Knights advanced the ball as far as the Eagle's 29, Boston College was hoping to come up with a stop on 3rd and 1. Instead, Black Knights QB Trent Steelman rushed 29 yards for paydirt to give Army the late 34-31 lead. Although BC would get the ball back with just under a minute to go, their last posession was more a comedy of errors than anything else and the game ended when Eagles WR Bobby Swigert coughed up the ball at the BC 33 with 11 seconds to go.
Army hangs on for the 34-31 win, their first of the season, while BC drops to 1-4. The Eagles will travel to Talahassee this weekend to take on #12 Florida State, who are coming off a stunning loss of their own, dropping a 17-16 decision to North Carolina State last weekend.
RED SOX- The Red Sox came into Firday night's game at Cleveland's Jacobs Field losing losing seven out of their last nine games- including Thursday night's series opener.
However, Clay Buchholz stopped the bleeding with an outstanding performance, going the distance on Friday night. After allowing an early solo home run to Asdrubal Cabrera in the bottom of the first, Clay settled down, allowing just one other hit and striking out six in Boston's 3-2 win over Cleveland. Clay got run support from a Dustin Pedroia RBI single in the top of the 4th and a 2-run Cody Ross homer in the top of the 6th. The Tribe would pull to within one in the bottom of the 6th thanks to a Ezequiel Carrera sac fly, but that would be it as far as runs scored off of Buchholz went.
Saturday's game will feature Franklin Morales [3-2; 3.14 ERA] starting for Boston while Zach McAllister [4-4; 3.60 ERA] gets on the bump for Cleveland. The game gets underway from Jacobs/Progressive Field at 6:05 ET. Naturally, the game will be televised on NESN.
OTHER RED SOX NEWS- 3B Will Middlebrroks suffered what turned out to be a broken right wrist after getting hit by a 95 MPH fastball in the top of the 9th on Friday night's game.
Early reports indicate that Middlebrooks is likely to miss the remainder of the season. The Red Sox have recalled light hitting infielder Danny Valencia from AAA Pawtucket to take Middlebrooks' place on the roster.
OTHER MLB NEWS- Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Derek Lowe was formally released bt the team on Friday. Lowe had am 8-10 record with a 5.52 ERA this season. Boston and Baltimore had reportedly expressed interest in getting Lowe when the Indians placed him on waivers earlier this week, but neither team had followed through on their rumored interest.
Lowe is best known for being the Red Sox pitcher of record in the clinching games of the American League Division Series, the ALCS and the 4th and deciding game of the 2004 World series- thie first pitcher to do so. The Red Sox 2004 World Series championshi was also his last with Boston and he has since played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves before re-joining the AL with the Indians earlier this season.
OLYMPIC VOLLEYBALL- The women's beach volleyball gold medal game was an all-USA matchup pitting the duo of Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings versus Jen Kessey and April Ross.
Treanor and Walsh swept Ross and Kessey two sets to none in the Gold medal game in what Treanor adamantly insisted were her final Olympics. The duo of Walsh and Treanor have won gold in Athens, Beijing and now London- this is in addition to three FIVB beach volleyball titles. If Walsh wants to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, she will need to look for a new partner.
The postgame celebrations were marred somewhat by the partial collapse of the floorboards backstage at the Horse Guards Palace- Treanor, reportedly still wearing her gold medal, slid halfway into the hole but was uninjured along with some of the The venue had to be built from scatch after the Queen's diamond jubilee celebration earlier this summer, but completed in time for the opening ceremonies.
The Chinese duo of Zhang Xi and Xue Chen won the bronze medal match, besting Brazil's Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca. After a dissapointing start to the 2012 campaign, Xi and Chen rebounded to take their second consecutive Olympic bronze medal.
For the indoor women's volleyball, the USA Women's team once again bested South Korea to advance to the gold medal game, which sets up a rematch of the 2008 Olympic gold medal game between the USA and Brazil. South Korea will face Japan in the Bronze medal game.
OLYMPIC SOCCER- It was a rematch of last year's women's World Cup, only with different results.
Japan was attempting to become the first team to win consecutive World Cup and Olympic championships while Team USA was hoping to repeat their success in Beijing from four years ago.
Before a crowd of more than 80,000 at Wembley Stadium, Team USA got out to a relatively early lead thans to midfielder Carli Lloyd who hit paydirt about 8 minutes in. After the opening goal, Japan then dominated as far as time of posession went, but their quality scoring chances were either blocked by USA goalie Hope Solo or went off the post.
Lloyd would then give the USA some insurance with a second goal to make it 2-0 team USA early in the second half, but Yuki Ogimi cut the lead in half and put Japan on the board in the 63rd minute. Japan would get some quality scoring chances late and threaten to knot the contest up at 2-2, but Team USA managed to fend off the late rally and outlast Japan.
USA wins the gold medal game thanks in large part to Carli Lloyd. Goalie Hope Solo officially faced 7 shots on goal, stopping six of them. The women's national team has already planned a barnstorming victory tour, facing Costa Rica in forward Abby Wambach's hometown of Rochester, NY and Australia in Carson, CA in September.
Over on the men's side of the pitch, Mexico's national team stunned the heavily favored Brazilian team, going on to win by a 2-1 final for Mexico's first ever gold medal in soccer. Curiously, depsite winning five World Cup titles, Brazil has yet to win Olympic gold in the event. Mexico got on the board early with a goal from Oribe Peralta in the opening minute of the match- the quickest Olympic goal since FIFA started tracking such statistics 36 years ago.
This is not just a case of having attractive women out there as a sort of publicity stunt. The Dutch women, as it turned out, were quite good at Field Hockey.
'How good?' you might be asking? Try undefeated throughout the 2012 Olympics.
In the preliminary round, the Dutch women blazed a day-glo orange swath through Japan, Great Britain, South Korea, China and Belgium- shutting out the latter two.
The Dutch would need a shootout at the end of regulation to get past New Zealand in the semifinals. In a match that no doubt brought unwarranted comparisons to the Falkland Islands war, Argentina and Great Britain faced off in the semifinals for their respective pool. However, unlike the Falklands campaign, Argentina would come away victorious and face the Dutch in the gold medal game.
On Friday's gold medal game, Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel would put the Dutch on the board with a tally in the second half while Maartje Paumen would give Holland a 2-0 lead. Goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek kept Argentina off the board altogether and the Netherlands Women's team would go on to win their second straight Olympic gold medal after beating China 1-0 in the gold medal game at the 2008 games in Beijing.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters photo
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE- Shares of one of the most widely recognized professional sports clubs went public on Friday afternoon.
Manchester United Football Club [NYSE: MANU] traded flat for much of Friday, closing out at $14 per share, down slightly from the openeing price of $14.05.
The venerable British football club was purchased by American businessman Malcom Glazer in 2005, who also owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The purchase reportedly saddled Man U with close to a billion dollars in debt and high interest payments.
The Glazers will maintain control of the club by way of a tiered structure. The Class A shares available to the General Public providing one vote per share held while Class B shares would translate to 10 voted per share held. The Glazers would own both Class A and Class B shares, but retain the majority of their holdings in the more influential Class B shares. This makes it more difficult for an outside entitity to launch a hostile takeover over Manchester United through the publicly traded shares.
The Initial Public Offering makes Man U the most valuable sports franchise in the world, putting its estimated worth at around £1.5 billion- or US$ 2.3 billion, more than the Los Angeles Dodgers were sold for earlier this season.
NFL PRESEASON- The New England Patriots got their first win of the preseason with a low-scoring affair against the New Orleans Saints at Foxboro on Thursday night. Tom Brady saw limited starting time, going 4 for 7 with all of 30 yeards while backup QB Brian Hoyer went 8 for 15 with the game's ony TD in the 7-6 win over New Orleans.
The Patriots will next take on the Philadelphia Eagles at Foxboro on Monday night in a nationally televised game that gets underway on ESPN at 8:00 ET.
NBA- The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired Dwigt Howard fromt he Orlando Magin in a 4-team 11 player megadeal. The deal sends Andrew Bynum from Los Angeles to Philadelphia while Andre Iguodala goes from Philly to Denver.
Howard had earlier demanded a trade from Orlando and refused to start in some games, demanding that the magic fire head coach Stan Van Gundy
RED SOX- Heading into Thursday night's series opener at Fenway against the Cleveland Indians, the Red Sox had won exactly two games since the April 28th pitchers duel between Jon Lester and White Sox starter Jake Peavy- including an excruciating 17 inning affair at Fenway that saw the O's cap a sweep of the BoSox and Baltimore infielder Chris Davis get the win over Red Sox outfielder Darnell McDonald last Sunday. Yes- by the time the 17th inning rolled around, both Boston and Baltimore had depleted their bullpens and were using position players; the first time two teams had put a position player on the mound since George Sisler of the St Louis Browns went up against Detroit's Ty Cobb on the final day of the 1925 season.
Although the road trip to Kansas City got off to a promising start, the Red Sox dropped the next two games at Kauffman Stadium and then dropped the opening game against the Tribe after returning to Fenway. Beckett went up against former Red Sox starter Derek Lowe and lasted all of 2⅓ innings as the Indians teed off against him for 7 earned runs before he was pulled. Turns out the Tribe didn't even need Danielle Peck as a distraction for Beckett's most recent start
NOT a factor in Thursday night's fiasco against the Indians
Instead, it was Beckett's golf game was at the fore when after being scratched from the lineup with a sore lat muscle in his back. Yet, on his day off, Beckett was able to get in a game of golf- sore back and all. Beckett stood by his golf game, insisting that what he did on his day off was his business.
After good start by Clay Buccholz where he went 6⅓ innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 8 hits and 3 walks, the Red Sox managed to hang on for the 7-5 win on Friday night. Saturday's game saw Felix Doubront go up against Zach MacAllister and was a much more brisk and lower scoring affair than Friday's game. The Red Sox got on the board in the bottom of the third on RBI doubles from Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. Mike Aviles would bring in another runner with an RBI sac fly to make it 3-0 Boston in the bottom of the 4th. Indians 2B Jason Kipnis would put the Tribe on the board in the top of the 6th to make it a 3-1 game, but the Red Sox would make it a 3-run game once again thanks to a booming solo homer that cleared Landsdowne St off the bat of Cody Ross.
Alfredo Aceves would come out of the bullpen for a 1-2-3 ninth inning and preserve the Red Sox win- their first back to back wins since their torrid 6-1 road trip at the end of April.
The Red Sox try for the win of the 4-game series on Sunday afternoon with Cleveland starter and former Red Sox product Justin Masterson [1-2; 4.89 ERA] will go up against Daniel Bard [2-4; 4.83 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
OTHER RED SOX NEWS<- The Red Sox have acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik from the Philadelphia Phillies for cash considerations on Friday. A member of the 2005 World Series Champion White Sox, Podsednik was a non-roster invitee to the Phillies spring training. After spring trainin, Podsednik was assigned to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs where he's been batting .203 with six stolen bases so far. The transaction will have the sppedy outfielder sent to Pawtucket first and reportedly includes an opt out provision if Podsednik isn't called up by this time in June.
OTHER MLB NEWS- New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is out for the season after tearing an ACL during batting practice before the Yankees hosted the Kansas City Royals last week. Rivera was carted off the field and is scheduled to undergo surgery and has been taking blood thinners for a recently discovered blood clot in his right leg.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels has recieved a 5 game suspension from MLB for throwing at Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper. Hamels admitted to intentionally throwing at Harper during the May 6th game inside the Beltway. Harper got a measure of revenge by stealing home in the Nationals 9-3 loss to Philadelphia that night.
Hamels is scheduled to return to the mound on Sunday at Citizens Bank ballpark on Sunday night against the San Diego Padres and starter Jeff Suppan. Interestingly, Harper survived Hamels' plunking only to risk injury at him own hand a few days later after throwing a fit in the visitor's dugout in Cincinnati. After going 0-5 against the Reds, Harper slammed his bat against the wall before it shattered, with part of it catching him right below the eye. This resulted in a gash that required 10 stitches and he was sporting a bandage for Saturday night's game against the Reds.
Although the regular season actually began with the Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners splitting a 2-game Series in Japan's Tokyo Dome last week, the regular season in the USA (and Canada) gets underway tonight when the new-look Marlins host the defending World Series Champion St Louis Cardinals in their brand new downtown Miami Ballpark.
Unlike the Mariners/A's series in Tokyo, the Marlins home opener will be broadcast at a reasonable hour (7:05 PM ET; 4:05 PM PT) on a network that most people get (ESPN). Miami's Josh Johnson is slated to get the start while the Cards' Kyle Lohse takes the mound for the defending World Series Champions.
Oddly enough, this will be a 1-game series, as the Marlins will depart for Cincinnati for the Reds home opener on Thursday afternoon while the Cardinals travel to Milwaukee for the Brewers home opener on Friday.
Even though there will be more games played on Thursday, it's still not quite a full slate. There will be exactly two American league games on Thursday afternoon- one of them will be the Detroit Tigers hosting the Red Sox. The Bobby Valentine era officially begins in the motor city as Jon Lester is scheduled to get the start going up against 2011 Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander.
Both teams were the subject of considerable attention in the offseason- Boston for firing manager Terry Francona and losing closer Jonathan Papelbon to free agency and the Tigers for signing one of the biggest-name free agents out there this offseason; former Milwaukee Brewers slugger Prince Fielder.
The other American League game on Thursday features the Cleveland Indian hosting the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field. Helmed by former Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell, Toronto had amassed an impressive 23-7 record in Spring Training, although Thursday's contest will show if any of that translates into success in the regular season.
This is the time for brash preditions and unbirdled optimism- where even the long-suffering fans of teams like Kansas City or Pittsburgh can start off with a clean slate.
RED SOX: After dealing with 104° heat in Arlington, TX for their four-game series against the Rangers (which the Red Sox won the final three in convincing fashion), the Red Sox headed back to Boston just in time for the approach of Hurricane Irene.
Upon returning to Fenway, not only did they have to deal with forces of nature, but an Oakland A's team that was still smarting from allowing an unprecedented three grand slams in one game to the New York Yankees in last Thursday's 22-9 spanking of Oakland (although the A's took the first two to win the series).
Tim Wakefield continued his futile, almost Groundhog Day-esque quest for 200 wins on Friday night- it did not end well, with A's starter Gio Gonzalez getting plenty of run support in Oakland's 15-5 win.
As bad as that was, Hurricane Irene's approach was of more concern. Although the worst of the storm was expected to move out of the region by Monday and the Red Sox had the day off, Oakland was supposed to play Cleveland that day. With the storm expected to arrive on Sunday, it was decided to play Sunday's game as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.
Jon Lester had to wait out two rain delays in Game 1 to get the 9-3 win, including a 2 hour and 15 min dealy in the 7th. Apparently Game 1 couldn't have been made official after 7 innings because that would've effectively cancelled game 2 according to MLB rules.
For Game 2 of the doubleheader, Erik Bedard gave up his second single of the day before nature once again intervened in the top of the 5th. After another rain delay (the 3rd on the day) play resumed with Alfredo Aceves on the mound going three hitless innings to get credit for the win.
After riding out the remnants of Irene and an off day on Monday, the Red Sox will host the Yankees beginning Tuesday night. The Yankees took two out of three games played against Baltimore in a series that also required some shuffling and rescheduling thanks to Hurricane Irene. Game 1 will feature CC Sabathia (17-7; 2.99 ERA) going up against John Lackey (12-9; 5.98 ERA). First pitch will be at 7:10 ET and the game will be televised on NESN and the MLB Network.
OTHER RED SOX NEWS: The Red Sox sent Ryan Lavarnaway down to Pawtucket this week. The catcher filled in for Big Papi while he missed a week with bursitis, batting .303 and with 3 RBIs over 7 games with Boston. Boston then very briefly called up RHP Scott Atcheson before sending him down to Pawtucket for RHP Micheal Bowden over the weekend. Bowden is 3-3 with a 2.73 ERA for the Paw Sox this season.
Brownwood, TX firefighter Shannon Stone w/son Cooper at fire station- Heather Klein Photo
The statue will depict Mr. Stone and his six-year-old son Cooper attending a Rangers game. The full-size bronze statue is likely to be located outside the home plate gate of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
“We feel that this statue will be a most fitting tribute,” commented Rangers CEO and President Nolan Ryan. “It will not only serve to honor Mr. Stone’s memory but also to recognize Rangers fans and baseball fans everywhere.
“I have discussed the project with Jenny Stone, and she and the Stone family will be involved in the design and creation of the statue.”
Jenny Stone issued the following statement:
“We continue to be appreciative of Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers as we deal with the loss of Shannon. Shannon and Cooper had a special relationship, and we are touched and grateful that it will be memorialized at one of their favorite places. Our hope is that this statue will not be a symbol of our family tragedy but rather a reminder of the importance of a family's love - love of each other, love of spending time together, and love of the game.”
The Rangers, who will fund the project, are in the early stages of considering sculptors to design and create the statue.
The statue is tentatively titled 'Rangers Fans' and is expected to be completed in time for the 2012 season.
CLEVELAND: Jim Thome arrived back in Cleveland after being placed on waivers by the Minnesota Twins last week. With Tribe DH Travis Hafner out for the season and possibly needing foot surgery, Thome was acquired by the Indians after the Twins went 20 games under .500 and were 16 games out of 1st place before Thome was dealt.
Thome was initially drafted in the 13th round of the 1989 MLB draft and made his debut as a third baseman towards the end of the 1991 season. Thome left for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003 and has since logged time with the White Sox and Dodgers before the Twins signed him to a 1-year deal in 2010.
Earlier this summer, Thome hit career home run #600 with the Twins- that number is now 602. The veteran DH has a .277 batting average in his 20 year MLB career.
BALTIMORE: UMass alum and Cy Young winner Mike Flannigan was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head on his Maryland property last week. The Maryland state medical examiner ruled his death a suicide and friends and family said he had seemed despondent over financial issues.
Flannigan started out with Baltimore in the 1975 season winning a Cy Young in 1979 and the World Series in 1983. In 1987, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays where before returning to the O's for the 1991 and 1992 season. The left-hander had a career record of 167-143 and a 3.90 ERA. After retiring, Flannigan worked in the front office in Baltimore before becoming a color commentator on the team's TV network.
NFL: The Patriots might've missed Hurricane Irene with their preseason trip to the Motor City, but they came up empty against the Lions. In a game that was actually less exciting than any of the three rain delays at Fenway, Lions QB Matthew Stafford wetn 12-14 with 200 yards and 2 TDs in Detroit's 34-10 preseason win over New England.
A final preseason game is scheduled for Thursday night this week in which the Pats will take on the NY Giants at Foxboro.
PATRIOTS: The philanthropist wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft passed away last week. Myra Kraft, 68, had been fighting cancer for an extended period of time.
The daughter of Lithuanian immigrants who settled in Worcester in the 1930s, Myra Kraft was active in the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and Boys & Girls Club of Boston and managed the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation and Kraft Family Foundation. For the past two years, Myra had served as chair of the board of directors for the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley.
In leiu of flowers, the Kraft family has asked that donations be made to the Myra & Robert Kraft Giving Back scholarship fund for the Boys & Girls Club of Boston.
NFL: Almost as an afterthought, the NFL lockout has come to an end. The final major obstacle appeared to be the implementation of a wage system for rookie players, which was cleared last week and approved by the NFL player's association.
Since then, this has set off a flurry of trades, free agent signings and transactions that had been building for months, since free agents couldn't be signed while the lockout was still in effect.
The New England Patriots acquired Defensive Tackle Albert Haynesworth from the Washington Redskins in exchange for a 5th round pick in the 2013 draft. The Redskins signed Haynesworth to a big money contract in 2008 that included a then-NFL record $41 million in guaranteed money.
The Pats also signed flamboyant former Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco to a 3 year deal, although it wasn't immdiately disclosed what the Bengals got in return [aside from peace & quiet- NANESB!]
Other noteworthy transactions in the past couple of days include the Miami Dolphins reportedly finalizing a trade deal that would New Orleans Saints RB Reggie Bush to South Beach. Free agent quarterback Matt Hasselbeck left Seattle after signing a multi-year deal with the Tennessee Titans after they cut Vince Young.
MLB: Red Sox Manager Terry Francona notched career managerial win #1000 in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners. True to form, the understated manager downplayed the milestone in the postgame press conference.
[On a personal note, I sometimes shudder to think where the Red Sox might've ended up without Francona. Not just the 2004 and 2007 World Series, but bouncing back from that atrocious 2-12 start this season- NANESB!]
The Red Sox managed to sweep the Mariners over the weekend before playing host to the Kansas City Royals. During that series, another milestone was reached.
On Wednesday's game against the Royals, David Ortiz scored his 1000th RBI with Boston in memorable fashion as he belted a Bruce Chen offering into the bullpen with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 5th to break the game wide open for Boston. The grand slam ties Papi with SS Rico Petrocelli (1963-1976) for 2nd all time in Red Sox history- Ted Williams has 17 to his name.
Dustin Pedroia also extended a career-best hitting streak to 24 games and John Lackey didn't have to worry about much in the way of run support in Wednesday night's 12-5 win over the Royals.
However, the series was bookended by close losses to Kansas City, with Monday night's 14-inning 3-1 loss and Thursday's 4-3 loss. Josh Beckett Gave up a 3-run homer to KC DH Billy Butler and an RBI double by 3B Mike Moustakas to give KC the 4-2 lead in the top of the 4th during Thursday's day game that would turn out to be the game-winner. Dustin Pedroia made it a 1-run game and kept his hitting streak alive with a solo homer in the bottom of the 8th, but Joakim Soria was able to close out the game for KC in the bottom of the 9th after giving up a 1-out single, preserving the Royal's 4-3 win.
The Red Sox will next travel to Chicago from some Sox on Sox action when they take on the White Sox Friday night. Tim Wakefield (6-3; 5.15 ERA) gets the start against Gavin Floyd (8-9; 4.11 ERA) and the game will start at 8:10 PM ET, 7:10 Central.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Former Yankees and Expos pitcher Hideki Irabu was found dead in his Southern California home on Wednesday afternoon. Irabu was billed as 'Japan's Nolan Ryan' when he signed with the Yankees in 1997. The San Diego Padres had originally purchased his contract from the Chiba Lotte Marines, but he refused to join San Diego, insisting he would only play for the Yankees.
Irabu had been playing in Japan and for Long Beach in the independent Western League after falling well short of the high expectations for him in New York. Between 2008 and 2010, Irabu was also arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct and suspicion of DUI by police in both California and Japan.
ANGELS: After giving up an unearned run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 1st inning, the Angel's Ervin Santana threw a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field on Wednesday afternoon. Santana struck out 10 and walked one (the batter in the 1st inning reached on an error) in nine no-hit innings of work. Santana pitched the 1st complete game no-hitter for the Angels since 1984 behind Mike Witt and their first no-hitter since 1990- 7 no-hit innings from Mark Langston and the final two hitless innings from Mike Witt, again.
The win was Santana's first against the Tribe in 11 starts and the first no-hitter thrown at Jacobs/Progressive Field.
NATIONAL LEAGUE: The San Francisco Giants have acquired Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran for righty prospect Zach Wheeler. Boston, Texas, Atlanta and Philadelphia were among the rumored destinations where Beltran would end up by the trade deadline, but Wednesday's trade ended that speculation.
On Thursday, the Chicago Cubs dealt outfielder Kosuke Fukudome to the Cleveland Indians for minor leaguers Abner Abreu and Carlos Smith. This season, Fukudome had a .279 batting average with three homers and 13 RBI in 87 games with the Cubs.
NCAA FOOTBALL: Former Boston College linebacker and cancer survivor Mark Herzlich was signed as an undrafted free agent by the NY Giants last week.
He was cleared to play after a routine checkup on Monday. Interestingly, Herzlich is one of 14 players to have an NFL Flims camera crew follow him as the league is documenting their transition from pre-draft workout to their first NFL game.
NHL: Just when you think you might have things figured out, guess again!
Unable to hold onto a pretty commanding 3-0 lead over the weekend, the Bruins went down 1-0 early against the Lightning on Monday night. Simon Gagne would get one past Tim Thomas just 1 minute and 9 seconds into the first to give Tampa the early lead. But unlike Saturday, that would be it.
Playing to a full house that included the C's Rajon Rondo and Pats head coach Bill Belichick, the Bruins would rally in the second, pulling even on Nathan Horton's even strength goal four and a half minutes into the period and taking the lead on a Brad Marchand tally around the 16 minute mark.
Tampa would furiously try and get one past Thomas in the 3rd to get the equalizer, but Thomas managed to turn aside all of them, even when starter Mike Smith was pulled for the extra attacker late in the 3rd. Rich Peverly would give the B's the breathing room they needed with all of 13 seconds remaining in regulation after scoring an empty-netter.
Dwayne Roloson did not get the start in net Monday- Lighting head coach Guy Boucher went with Mike Smith between the pipes. Over the weekend, Smith did not allow a goal after Roloson had given up three in the 1st period. However, on Monday Smith allowed two goals on 19 shots while Tim Thomas turned aside all but one of the 34 shots he faced.
The Bruins win Monday night by a 3-1 final and lead the series 3 games to 2. The Eastern Conference finals shifts back to Florida for Wednesday night, with a 8PM ET puck drop- the game will be televised on VS and the CBC.
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: The Bruins or Lightning now know who they'll be going up against once the Eastern Conference finals are wrapped up.
It might've taken double OT on Tuesday night to secure the series win against the San Jose Sharks, but the Vancouver Canucks needed all of five games to advance to the Stanley Cup finals after winning the Western Conference finals 3 games to 1.
Kevin Bieksa scored a wobbly knuckler 10 minutes into the second OT in Vancouver Tuesday night to send the Canucks to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1994.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL: The Hennepin County Medical examiner's office released a report that NY Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard died from an accidental mix of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone. Boogaard was a few months shy of his 29th birthday at the time of his May 13th death and had his season ended b a concussion earlier this year.
MLB: After getting 7 and ⅓ innings from Clay Buccholz Monday night, the Red Sox bullpen could not manage to hold onto a 2-1 lead, giving up 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Although JD Drew and Jed Lowrie would get 1-out singles in the top of the 9th, the game ended when OF Carl Crawford grounded into a double-play.
Tuesday night featured a matchup between Josh Beckett and Fausto Carmona that was a little more reminiscent of the 2007 ALCS.
Although the Tribe would get on the board first with an RBI single from OF Ezequiel Carrera in the bottom of the 2nd, the Red Sox would take the lead in the top of the 3rd and then add to it in the top of the 7th after Big Papi led off the inning with a double and Jason Varitek hit a 1-out homer to right field to make it 4-1.
Cleveland would get a run back in the bottom of the 9th thanks to a 1-out Travis Buck solo homer off of Papelbon. 1B Matt LaPorta belted another Papelbon offering pretty deep to left, but that ended up being out #3 and the Red Sox hang on to win by a final of 4-2.
Tomorrow's day game will wrap up the 3-game series before the Sox move on to Detroit. Jon Lester (6-1; 3.68 ERA) will get the start against Mitch Talbot (1-0; 1.46 ERA). The game gets under way from Jacobs Field (I consider 'Progressive' a slur) at 12:05 PM ET.
MLB: WWII Navy Veteran and Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller passed away in a Cleveland area hospice on Wednesday night. The 92 year old was suffering from acute leukemia and pneumonia.
Feller, a first ballot hall of famer, first appeared with the Indians at the age of 17 in 1936 and stayed with the Indians his whole career. His career totals of 266 wins, 3,827 innings pitched, 2,581 strikeouts and 279 complete games remain a franchise record to this day.
The day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Feller enlisted in the United States Navy and ended up as a Gun captain serving on the USS Alabama until 1945.
"I'm proud of that decision to enlist," Feller said. "It was important to serve your country. I didn't worry about losing my baseball career. We needed to win the war. I wanted to do my part."
Feller never considered himself a war hero: "The soldiers that didn't come back were the heroes. It's a roll of the dice. If a bullet has your name on it, you're a hero. If you hear a bullet go by, you're a survivor."
Feller also was on the last Indians team to win a World Series title. Although he went 0-2 in the 1948 World Series against the Boston Braves of the NL, Cleveland would go on to win the series 4 games to 2.
Feller would retire in 1956 and go on be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1995, a museum in his hometown of Van Meter, IA opened up and in retirement, 'Bullet Bob' or 'The Heater from Van Meter'- as Feller was sometimes referred to in his playing days- was a regular fixture around Cleveland's Jacobs Field.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Just when it was looking like highly prized free agent pitcher Cliff Lee had to choose between the Yankees or Rangers, the Philadelphia Phillies swooped in- seemingly from out of nowhere- and signed Lee to a 5 year $120 million deal.
In taking the Phillies offer, Lee leaves an estimated $30 million on the table that the Yankees were offering and leaves the Bronx Bombers scrambling to try and find any big-name free agent they could sign this offseason. I imagine this signing is a particularly bitter pill to swallow in the Big Apple, not only for the blow to the Yankees, but also the fact that the NY Mets are on the same division against a team that features a starting rotation of Roy Halliday, Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee and....um......Joe Blanton? OK....you gotta admit the first four are pretty formidable.
*The Washington Nationals have signed free agent right-fielder Jayson Werth to a 7 year, $126 million contract this week. In his final season with the Phillies, Werth had a .296 batting average with 27 homers and 85 RBI
NFL: Brett Favre's streak of consecutive regular-season starts was snapped Monday night in Detroit when the Vikings home field was moved from the collapsed roof of the Metrodome to Detroit's Ford Field. The streak that began on September 13, 1992 on the road against Tampa Bay unceremoniously came to and end as backup QB Tavaris Jackson and the Vikings offense sputtered in their 21-3 loss to the NY Giants.
That was actually Game 1 of a rare late-season Monday Night doubleheader (although unless you had DirecTV or Sirius/XM, the Vikings/Giants game was only broadcast in NY and the Twin Cities). The regularly scheduled Monday Night game got underway in Houston's Reliant Stadium shortly after Favre's streak was snapped And while I have not rooting interest in either team, the nationally televised Monday Night Football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans got very interesting very late.
The Ravens took a 21-7 lead into halftime and almost immediately added to that with a 103 yard kickoff return by Baltimore's David Reed to make it a 28-7 game. At this point, the casual observer would've figured it was over, shut off the TV and found something else to do.....clean up around their place, go to a Christmas party, update their crappy blog.....anything but continue to watch this one-sided ass kicking.
In all honesty, I didn't tune in until the score was 28-13 Baltimore, but wouldn't you know it? That Reed kickoff return was it for the scoring for Baltimore in the second half. Texans QB Matt Schaub engineered two drives in the 4th quarter- including one from their own 5 yard line with 2:42 remaining in regulation- to tie the game with a successful 2 point conversion attempt with 21 seconds left in the 4th.
So on to overtime- Baltimore's offense gets the ball to start off the OT, but the drive sputters when Ravens QB Joe Flacco[who just happens to be a Colonial Athletic Association alumnus- NANESB!] was sacked for an 11 yard loss on 3rd and 10 from Baltimore's own 41 yard line. Texans get the ball back, but thanks to a pretty good punt and shoddy return by Texans special teams, they're pinned inside their own 10 yard line. Schaub's first pass attempt falls incomplete. His next pass attempt is complete to Ravens CB Josh Wilson, who runs the interception back 12 yards for the Ravens TD in a 34-28 OT win. NHL: The only Sabre to get on the board against the Bruins on Wednesday night was returning RW Drew Stafford, but that's all Buffalo would need. Stafford injured his shoulder in a November game against Montreal, and while returning in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Stafford re-aggravated the injury. The Wednesday night game would mark his first time back on the ice since Dec 3rd.
And apparently he decided to celebrate with a hat trick. David Krejci would open up the scoring in the first with a goal just two and a half minutes in, but Stafford got Buffalo on the board with a power-play goal to tie the contest up at 1-1 with less than 90 seconds left in the 1st. After a scoreless 2nd period, the Bruins briefly took the lead in the 3rd on a Micheal Ryder power play goal. Stafford would knot the contest back up with an even strength goal to make it 2-2 30 seconds after Ryder's tally and then put the Sabres up for good on his 2nd power play goal of the night midway through the 3rd with what would prove to be the game-winner.
Stafford scored his 3rd career hat trick and the Sabres win by a final of 3-2 at the HSBC arena on Wednesday night. TukkaRask stopped 32 of 35 shots faced while Buffalo's Ryan Miller let in two on 34 shots faced.
This is the second straight loss for Boston, although they're still only two points behind Montreal for 1st place in the Northeastern division.
Speaking of Montreal, the Bruins will travel there for Thursday night's game. Puck drops at 7 PM Eastern time.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL: The Glendale, AZ City Council approved a 30 lease agreement with new Coyotes owner, Chicago financier Matt Hulsizer.
The City council's decision comes a few weeks before a December 31st deadline to find a new owner for the team or have it relocated. The city also asked the council to authorize the sale of up to $125 million in municipal bonds to accommodate the terms of the lease.
NBA: Yikes...they don't come much tighter than that.
Instead of rolling over as they had done so many times before for so many teams, The New York Knicks put up an uncharacteristically tenacious fight on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
And since I missed most of the game, might as well fast forward to where it really counts, with Paul Pierce hitting what he thought would be the game winning with all of 0.4 seconds left in the 4th. However, the KnicksAmareStoudemire immediately heaved a 3 pointer that was good, but after the referees reviewed the videotape, they determined that the ball left Stoudemire's hands after the final buzzer had sounded.
Boston hangs on to win this one by a final of 118-116 for their 11th straight win. The Wednesday night win brings to an end the Knicks own, respectable win streak of 8 games.
The Celtics will next take on the Atlanta Hawks at home on Thursday night. For the 2nd week in a row, the C's will be broadcast nationally on TNT at 8 PM Eastern, 5 Pacific.
This has been one of those weeks that I simply gotta savor as a New England sports fan, and the biggest news being made so far is by a team that won't play a regular season game for another five months.
RED SOX: Good Lord- Why stop with Adrian Gonzalez?
Wondering of the Red Sox had any more tricks up their sleeve for the MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando, I headed off to bed assuming that Carl Crawford and the Angels were close to a terms on a contract. Then I woke up this morning to learn that free agent outfielder Carl Crawford signed a huge deal with the Red Sox.
The former Tampa Bay left fielder and the Red Sox had reportedly agreed to a preliminary deal for 7 years and reportedly worth $142 million. Crawford had a .307 BA last year while driving in 90 runs (and scoring another 110 himself) with 19 home runs and 47 stolen bases.
With 8 stolen bases and a .324 batting average against Boston, I would've been reasonably satisfied if Crawford was on his way out to the West Coast to face a team the Red Sox only face a few times in the regular season. Thanks to Theo playing it close to the vest, I wasn't even aware of the Red Sox and the extent of their interest in the speedy outfielder. Apparently this caught the rest of the league as well as the sports media off guard.
OTHER MLB NEWS: 92 year old Hall of Fame pitcher and former Cleveland Indian Bob Feller has been moved from the Cleveland Clinic to a hospice in the Cleveland area. Feller made his debut with the Indians in July 1936 and joined the US Navy the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After serving on the USS Alabama until 1944, Feller rejoined the Indians in 1945.
Feller retired in 1956 with 266 career wins, a career ERA of 3.25 and a total of 2,581 strikeouts. Six years later, Feller was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility and in 1995 the Bob Feller Museum opened up in the Hall of Famer's hometown of Van Meter, IA. Earlier this year, Feller was diagnosed with leukemia.
NFL: The Indianapolis Colts travelled to Nashville, TN to take on the struggling Tennessee Titans for this week's Thursday night game. The injury-depleted Colts had dropped three straight games against the Patriots, Chargers and Cowboys coming into the Thursday game, leading to all sorts of questions about the health of QB Peyton Manning as well as Indy's dimming playoff prospects with their 6-6 record.
The Titans were worse off, coming into Thursday night's game losing five in a row and roiled by injuries and very public infighting between QB Vince Young (now on the DL) and coach Jeff Fischer.
After going 25-35 with 319 yards and 2 TDs, including a 46 yard TD pass to WR Reggie Wayne, Manning demonstrated that the Colts weren't quite finished for the season in Indy's 30-28 win (it wasn't quite that close, as Titans QB Kerry Collins managed to find the end zone for a 3rd time as regulation expired). Presently, the Colts are a half game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South while the loss pretty much stuck a dagger in the Titan's season.
NHL: Sad to say, I completely missed Thursday night's Bruins home win against the NY Islanders- although I understand there was a Tukka Rask sighting.
The Bruins held off a 2nd period surge from the Islanders where they were outshot 17-9, but still managed to get a shorthanded goal off the stick of Brad Marchand and held on to a 2-1 lead heading to the second intermission.
In the 3rd, Micheal Ryder got what would prove to be the game-winner on a power play goal with about 5 minutes remaining, and while the Islanders would come right back to make it a 1-goal game less than 2 minutes later, Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron would put the game out of reach with two empty-netters of their own with less than two minutes left in the 3rd to give Boston the 5-2 win over the Islanders.
Tukka Rask and Rick DePietro each faced 35 shots on the night, with Rask stopping 33 (but not a penalty shot from Frans Nielsen, incidentally) and Lucic had two goals on the night.
I did catch the pretty awesome Tuesday night game against the Buffalo Sabres, including the extra 50 seconds of sudden death overtime after Mark Recchi scored the game-winning goal [seen at the 4:55 mark below].
Recchi's shot came in and out of the net so quickly, it's possible the officials assumed it had simply hit a crossbar, but it was reviewed during the next stoppage of play, which came some 49 seconds later. Recchi's power-play goal was made official and the Bruins won by a final of 3-2 in OT. Tim Thomas stopped 28 of 30 shots faced while Ryan Miller blocked 33 of 36 shots on the night.
The Bruins will next play host to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday Night at the Garden. The puck drops at 7PM ET, 4PM Pacific.
NBA: Well, much like tonight's Bruins game, I wasn't able to catch any of tonight's C's game either [TWO nationally televised Celtics games back to back? What are the odds!?- NANESB]. Looks like this one peaked late, though.
If the embedded video isn't working, you're missing Kevin Garnett bank in an alley-oop pass with only 1.4 seconds left in regulation to give the Celtics the 102-101 win over the 76ers for their 9th straight win on Thursday night.
I DID catch most of Wednesday Night's home game against the Denver Nuggets. They didn't bother playing Carmello Anthony, even though he appeared to be healthy, which no doubt fuelled more speculation that a trade from Denver was imminent.
The C's were up by as much as 19 in the first half, but the Mello-less Nuggets managed to chip away into the Boston lead, coming within one point of them before heading into the half trailing 52-59.
In the second half, Boston really began to pull away and win by a final of 105-89 and Denver head coach George Karl is still looking for career win #1,000.
The Celtics' road trip continues into the weekend with a swing through Charlotte, NC against the Bobcats on Saturday night- also at 7PM Eastern.
NCAA FOOTBALL: Well, we're down to one last regular season game this weekend, and that's the Army/Navy game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia this Saturday at 2:30 PM ET. Interestingly, both teams head into Saturday's game already accepting invitations to Bowl Games. The Army Black Knights have a 6-5 record and will be taking on the Southern Methodist Mustangs in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl in Ft. Worth, TX on December 30 while the Navy Midshipmen sport an 8-3 record and will go up against the San Diego State Aztecs in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on December 23rd.
ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: Florida head coach Urban Meyer, citing family concerns, announced his resignation on Wednesday afternoon. This comes after a fairly disappointing 7-5 season fir the Florida Gators. Meyer was hospitalized with chest pains after last year's SEC championship game against Alabama, but eventually decided to stay on through the 2010 season. There had been speculation that Florida was interested in Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, but Mullen said he had no immediate plans to leave Mississippi State.
ACC: Nebraska's athletic director has denied reports that head coach Bo Pelini is a candidate to fill the coaching vacancy for the Miami Hurricanes. He told a Lincoln, NE newspaper that he neither gave Pelini permission to interview with Miami, nor had Pelini sought permission.
BOWL SCHEDULE: And here is the lineup of Bowl games for the next few weeks-
12/18 NEW MEXICO BOWL, Albuquerque, NM- BYU Cougars vs UTEP Miners; 2PM ET ESPN
HUMANITARIAN BOWL, Boise, ID- Northern Illinois Huskies vs Fresno State Buldogs; 5:30 PM ET ESPN
NEW ORLEANS BOWL, New Orleans, LA- Ohio Bobcats vs Troy Trojans; 9PM ET, ESPN
12/21 BEEF O'BRADY BOWL, St. Petersburgh, FL- Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles vs Louisville Cardinals; 8PM ET, ESPN
12/22 MAACO BOWL, Las Vegas, NV- #20 Utah Utes vs #10 Boise St. Broncos; 8PM ET, ESPN
12/23 POINSETTIA BOWL, San Diego, CA- San Diego St. Aztecs vs Navy Midshipmen; 8PM ET, ESPN
12/24 HAWAII BOWL, Honolulu, HI- #24 Hawaii Warriors vs Tulsa Golden Hurricanes; 8PM ET, ESPN
12/26 LITTLE CAESAR'S BOWL, Detroit, MI- Toledo Rockets vs Florida Int'l Golden Panthers; 8:30 PM ET, ESPN
12/27 INDEPENDENCE BOWL, Shreveport, LA- Air Force Falcons vs Georgia Tech Yellowjackets; 5PM ET, ESPN2
12/28 CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL, Orlando, FL- #22 West Virginia Mountaineers vs NC State Wolfpack; 6:30 PM ET, ESPN
INSIGHT BOWL, Tempe, AZ- #14 Missouri Tigers vs Iowa Hawkeyes; 10PM ET, ESPN
12/29 MILITARY BOWL, Washington DC- East Carolina Pirates vs Maryland Terrapins; 2:30PM ET, ESPN
TEXAS BOWL, Houston, TX- Illinois Illini vs Baylor Bears; 6PM ET, ESPN
VALERO ALAMO BOWL, San Antonio, TX- #16 Oklahoma St Cowbowys vs Arizona Wildcats; 9:15PM ET, ESPN
12/30 BELL ARMED FORCES BOWL, Ft. Worth, TX- Army Black Knights vs SMU Mustangs; 12:00PM ET, ESPN
NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL, New York, NY- Kansas State Wildcats vs Syracuse Orangemen; 3:30PM ET, ESPN
MUSIC CITY BOWL, Nashville, TN- North Carolina Tarheels vs Tennessee Volunteers; 6:40PM ET, ESPN
HOLIDAY BOWL, San Diego, CA- #17 Nebraska Corhuskers vs Washington Huskies; 10:00PM ET, ESPN
12/31 MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL, Charlotte, NC- USF Bulls vs Clemson Tigers- 12:00PM ET, ESPN
SUN BOWL, El Paso, TX- Miami Hurricanes vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish; 2PM ET, CBS
LIBERTY BOWL, Memphis, TN- Georgia Bulldogs vs UCF Golden Knights; 3:30 PM ET, ESPN
CHICK FIL A BOWL, Atlanta, GA- #19 South Carolina Gamecocks vs #23 FSU Seminoles; 7:30 PM ET, ESPN
1/1 TICKET CITY BOWL, Dallas, TX- Northwestern Wildcats vs Texas Tech Red Raiders; 11:59AM ET, ESPNU
OUTBACK BOWL, Tampa, FL- Florida Gators vs Penn St Nittany Lions; 1PM ET, ESPN/ABC
CAPITAL ONE BOWL, Orlando, FL- #15 Alabama Crimson Tide vs #7 Michigan State Spartans; 1 PM ET, ESPN/ABC
GATOR BOWL, Jacksonville, FL- #21 Mississippi State Bulldogs vs Michigan Wolverines; 1:30PM ET, ESPN2
ROSE BOWL, Pasadena, CA- #4 Wisconsin Badgers vs #3 TCU Horned Frogs; 5PM ET, ESPN/ABC
FIESTA BOWL, Tempe, AZ- #25 UConn Huskies vs #9 Oklahoma Sooners; 8:30PM ET, ESPN
1/3 ORANGE BOWL, Miami Gardens, FL- #5 Stanford Cardinals vs #12 Virginia Tech Hokies; 8:30 PM ET, ESPN
1/4 SUGAR BOWL, New Orleans, LA- #6 Ohio State Buckeyes vs #8 Arkansas Razorbacks; 8:30PM ET, ESPN
1/6 GODADDY.COM BOWL, Mobile, AL- Middle Tenn St. Blue Raiders vs Miami (OH) Redhawks; 8PM ET, ESPN
1/7 COTTON BOWL, Arlington, TX- #11 LSU Tigers vs #18 Texas A&M Aggies; 8PM ET, FOX
1/8 BBVA COMPASS BOWL, Birmingham, AL- Pitt Panthers vs Kentucky Wildcats; 12PM ET, ESPN
1/9 KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL, San Francisco, CA- BC Eagles vs #13 Nevada Wolfpack; 9PM ET, ESPN
1/10
BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, Glendale, AZ- #1 Auburn Tigers vs #2 Oregon Ducks; 8:30PM ET, ESPN
