Super Sports Chowdah Update- Seattle Slew in the Meadowlands, Steamrolls Denver; Bruins Cruise Past Canucks; Former Red Sox Ace Announces Cancer Diagnosis

SUPER BOWL XLVIII- Wow. Here I was thinking that it was against federal law to slaughter Broncos en masse.

This one was pretty much over on the first play from scrimmage, and I mean literally. Although it didn't necessarily decide the game right then and there, Denver started out the game on their own 14 with a botched snap that flew over Manning's head and into the end zone for a safety, giving Seattle an early 2-0 lead.

Right away, Broncos fans were fretting whether or not that safety would come back to haunt them later on in the game. As it turned out, that was a non-issue as that would be as close as the game would get. Although the Broncos defense would manage to keep the Seahawks out of the end zone in the first quarter, Seattle did manage to get two FGs from kicker Steven Hauschka to make it an 8-0 game- still a one score game, but one that seemed increasingly out of reach with each offensive drive by Denver that sputtered and couldn't get past the 50 yard marker.

Still, Seattle didn't make the lead seem truly insurmountable until the second quarter when Hawks RB Marshawn Lynch capped a drive that began on the Broncos 37 with a one yard TD run- the first of the day- to put Seattle in front 15-0. The Broncos looked like they had managed to regain their composure and after starting out on their own 16, got as far as the Seahawks 44 before LB Malcolm Smith picked off Peyton Manning and returned it 69 yards for the second Seahawks TD with just under 3 and a half minutes to go in the half.

A shellshocked Denver headed into the locker room down 22-0 and things wouldn't get any better for them in the second half, when Seattle return man Percy Harvin returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for another Hawks TD to put them up by a score of 29-0. After adding on with a 21 yard TD pass from QB Russell Wilson to WR Jermaine Kearse to make it 36-0, the Broncos finally got on the board with a 14 yard TD pass from Manning to Demaryius Thomas and a successful 2 point conversion to make it 36-8.

However, it wasn't even that close- and to emphasize that point, the Hawks got another TD on their opening possession of the 4th quarter to make it 43-8, and that would be the final for Super Bowl XLVIII. Don't let the score fool you, though- it wasn't even that close. Malcom Smith was named Super Bowl MVP while Seahawks QB Russell Wilson went 18 for 25 with 206 yards and 2 TDs

Sunday's Super Bowl win marked the first big league sports championship to come to Seattle since the 1979 Supersonics brought home an NBA title after beating the Washington Bullets 4 games to one.

On Wednesday, the city of Seattle held a parade in which about 700,000 fans and revelers crammed into the downtown area of the Emerald City to honor the newly-crowned Super Bowl champions- something that was probably unthinkable when this July 2013 Forbes article crowning Seattle as America's Worst Sports City was published.

BOSTON BRUINS- In a rematch of the 2011 Stanley Cup final at the TD Garden on Tuesday night, the Boston Bruins came out on top, handing the Vancouver Canucks their 5th straight loss- quite a reversal of fortune when the Canucks blew away Boston by a 6-2 final on Boston's western Canada road trip back in December.

Milan Lucic opened up the scoring a little over 5 minutes into the first while Jarome Iginla would give Boston a 2-0 lead on a power play tally 8 minutes into the second. Rafael Diaz would make it a one-goal game for Vancouver with a goal at the 11 and a half minute mark,, but Danny Paille would give the Bruins some insurance with about 3 minutes to go in the second to make it 3-1- and that would be the final after a scoreless 3rd period.

Tukka Rask stopped 27 of 28 shots faced and the Bruins were 1 for 3 on their power play opportunities.

Wednesday is a travel day for Boston and on Thursday, they will face off against the St Louis Blues. The Blues come into Thursday night's game with a 37-12-6 record, good for 2nd place in the Central Division. Puck is scheduled to drop at 8:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

RED SOX- Former Red Sox and Diamondbacks ace Curt Schilling announced that he has been diagnosed with cancer. Schilling pitched in the big leagues for 20 years with the Orioles, Phillies, Diamondbacks and Red Sox. His career highlights came in huge postseason games against the Yankees- such as Game one of the 2001 World Series when he was with the Diamondbacks and Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Undoubtedly, Schilling's most famous moment with the Red Sox was game 2 of the 2004 World Series against St Louis- better known as the 'bloody sock game' after injuring his tendon earlier in the ALDS before having it surgically stabilized.

Schilling- along with then-teammates Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Johnny Damon, Kevin Millar and Jason Varitek- became affectionately known as the 'Idiots' and the team became the first to win an MLB postseason series after losing the first three game.

Schilling would struggle with injuries later on in his tenure with Boston but was still effective during the 2007 postseason when the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS and swept the Colorado Rockies to win their second World Series in three years. In March 2009, Schilling announced his retirement from baseball and took on work as a analyst for ESPN and started up his own gaming studio. As a player, Curt Shilling also started up an organization that provided support for sufferers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS- AKA Lou Gherig's disease) called Curt's pitch for ALS.

There was no immediate word from Schilling of ESPN on the type of cancer or his prognosis. ESPN has reportedly given Schilling medical leave.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Napoli Ever After; Prodigous Blast Ends Extra Innings Deadlock; Trouble Brewing For Milwaukee's Braun

Michael Dwyer- AP Photo

RED SOX- After a two day break that felt like a mini-offseason, the Red Sox (along with the rest of MLB) finally came out of the all-star break on Friday. Right out of the gate, the Red Sox would open up the second portion of their season with a series of pivotal matchups against opponents with the AL East matchup, starting with the Yankees on Friday night. Thanks to homers by Jacoby Ellsbury and Johnny Gomes and a solid 6⅓ innings from Felix Doubront, the Red Sox went on to win the series opener by a 4-2 final.

In Saturday afternoon, the Yankee's Hideki Kuroda pitched 7 shutout innings in New York's 5-2 win over Boston, setting up the rubber game of the series to be televised nationally on ESPN's Sunday night baseball with CC Sabathia going up against Ryan Dempster. I actually had some misgivings about that, considering the last time the Red Sox were on Sunday Night baseball, they were shut out by the Angels. But then again, I've pretty much had it with people who complain about Red Sox/Yankees games being nationally televised given how relatively few Red Sox games have been nationally televised this season.

The Yankees jumped on Ryan Dempster early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead by the second innings. Sabathia seemed to be cruising through the first couple of innings, but the wheels started to come off in the bottom of the 3rd. Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning with a double and moved to 3rd on a sacrifice by Shane Victorino before coming home on a 1-out Pedroia RBI single to put the Red Sox on the board. Big Papi would then single, bringing up Mike Napoli- who knocked a 1-2 Sabathia offering clear out of the ballpark. Never mind Landsdowne Street- Napoli's 3rd inning blast likely came down on Elliot Street in Exeter, NH. The three run shot put the Red Sox up 4-3.

In the bottom of the 4th, Sabathia managed to load the bases with nobody out. Shane Victorino made him pay with a 2-RBI single to put the Red Sox up 6-3. Johnny Gomes led off the bottom of the 5th with a solo homer that cleared the Monster seats in left field to make it 7-3 Boston.

However, the Yankees whittled down Boston's lead to 5-7 in the top of the 6th with RBI singles from OF Brett Gardner and 2B Robinson Cano after chasing Dempster from the mound. The Bronx bombers then managed to tie the contest up 7-7 in the top of the 7th thanks to a costly throwing by Iglesias and Luis Cruz grounding into a fielder's choice with a runner on 3rd and only one out.

The Yankees bullpen, however was nearly perfect against the Red Sox after Sabathia left, giving up just one hit against Boston before forcing extra innings. In the top of the 11th, Pedro Beato came out of the pen for the Sox and got two quick popouts from Wells and Lilibridge before giving up a single to shortstop Eduardo Nunez. However, Saltalamacchia gunned down Nunez when he attempted to steal second to end the inning [even though it looked like Nunez had come in before Pedroia's tag and was safe on a replay- NANESB!].

Adam Warren came on in relief for the Yankees and got Pedroia to fly out and Big Papi to hit into the shift. It looked like Warren would have a 1-2-3 inning and had a 3-2 count on Mike Napoli when this happened:



And just in case I botched embedding the video, Mike Napoli belts a solo homer to the deepest part of the park to give Boston the 8-7 win over the Yankees in 11 innings. The win is Boston's 9th walkoff win of the season as the Red Sox take two out of three from the Yankees. Napoli went 2-6 with 2 HR and 4 RBI on the night while Shane Victorino would go 2-5 with 2 RBI and Gomes would go 1-4 with the solo homer.

It does not get any easier for the Olde Towne Team as the Red Sox get ready for a 4-game tilt with the Tampa Bay Rays, who come into Monday night's contest only a game and a half behind Boston for first in the AL East. After the Sox/Rays series at Fenway, the Sox will travel down to Baltimore for a weekend series against the O's.

Brandon Workman [0-0; 5.4 ERA] will see his first start since taking a no-hitter against the Oakland A's into the 7th inning prior to the All Star break while Tampa Bay sends Matt Moore [13-3; 3.44 ERA] to the mound on Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Shortstop Stephen Drew returned to the lineup on Saturday after being on the DL since June 28th. On Sunday night's game, Drew was 0-3 with a walk and a run scored.

EVEN MORE RED SOX NEWS- Yahoo Sports is reporting that the Red Sox are negotiating a record-breaking $100 million deal with second baseman Dustin Pedroia, making the gritty infielder the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future. Sources indicate both parties are open to a deal and it's just a matter of hammering out years and dollars. While nothing has been finalized, the deal could rival the 6 year $100 million contract that was agreed upon by the Tampa Bay Rays and Evan Longoria.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Despite all the talk about A-Rod, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun is the first MLB player to face sanction over the Biogenesis scandal. Braun was named the National League MVP in 2011 but tested positive for PED's in the offseason. Braun successfully appealed the suspension, claiming the urine sample in question was mishandled by a laboratory technician.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig announced the penalty Monday, citing Braun for multiple unspecified "violations" of baseball's drug program and labor contract. Braun will miss the Milwaukee Brewers' final 65 games without pay, costing him about $3 million of his $8.5 million salary.

Under the agreement reached by MLB and the players' association the specifics of Braun's admission won't be made public.

"We commend Ryan Braun for taking responsibility for his past actions," said Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice president for economics and league affairs. "We all agree that it is in the best interests of the game to resolve this matter. When Ryan returns, we look forward to him making positive contributions to Major League Baseball, both on and off the field."

Union head Michael Weiner said in a statement: "I am deeply gratified to see Ryan taking this bold step. It vindicates the rights of all players under the joint drug program. It is good for the game that Ryan will return soon to continue his great work both on and off the field."

Braun's acceptance of a suspension marks a 180-degree turnaround from his defiant spring training news conference in Phoenix last year, after his 50-game ban was overturned.

Braun will be suspended the remainder of the season without pay- reportedly losing more than $3 million as a result. Braun will also miss the postseason, although since the Brewers are dead last in the NL Central and have the second worst record in the National League.

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Oakland starting pitcher Bartolo Colon, Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz and Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta have also been implicated the Biogenesis Clinic scandal.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Grimm Prognosis for Rangers in Game 1 at Fenway; MLB Expected to Dish Out Suspensions Over "BALCO East" Clinic; Fit For a King- LA Shows Signs of Life in Western Conference Final

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

RED SOX- If Ryan Demptser was worried about getting some run support in pursuit of only his third win of the season, the Red Sox bats put those concerns to rest quickly on Tuesday night's home game against the Rangers.

Rookie Texas starter Justin Grimm lasted only 1⅔ innings and surrendered eight earned runs, and the Red Sox were just getting started. Among the second inning highlights was rookie Jackie Bradley Jr hitting his first career homer- a 2-run blast to make it 4-0 at the time. After Grimm gave up a single to Daniel Nava and walked Mike Carp, the Rangers starter got Dustin Pedroia to fly out before Big Papi belted a 2-RBI triple off of him into the triangle at center field. Ortiz hardly had time to catch his breath from ambling around the bases before coming home on a Mike Napoli sac fly. Grimm would then give up a double to Saltalamacchia before getting the hook from manager Ron Washington.

Boston would jump on top by an 8-0 margin in the second inning and never look back from there. After getting swept by the Rangers in Arlington last month, the Red Sox teed off on Grimm and the Texas bullpen, notching 19 hits in their 17-5 win over the Rangers. There were literally too many hits to count, but the highlights included a slumping Stephen Drew going 4-5 with a homer and 2 RBI, Mike Carp going 3-4 with a homer and 3 RBI, Jackie Bradley Jr's going 1-5 and with 3 RBI- including his first career homer- and Big Papi's first triple since 2011. The 17 runs represents a season best from the Red Sox.

Dempster went 7 innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs and striking out six for just his 3rd win of the season and Jason Frasor is the only pitcher out of the Texas bullpen who didn't allow a hit on Tuesday night.

As gratifying as the win was, it still only counts as one game and the two teams will go back at it on Wednesday night. John Lackey [3-5; 2.96 ERA] is scheduled to get the start against Alexi Ogando [4-2; 3.08 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 ET and the game will be televised on NESN and ESPN2.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The head of a Miami-area clinic accused of supplying performance enhancing drugs to MLB players has agreed to be interviewed by the league, which will likely result in some big-name suspensions according to ESPN.

Tony Bosch, founder of the now-shuttered Biogenesis of America, reached an agreement this week to cooperate with MLB's investigation, two sources told "Outside the Lines," giving MLB the ammunition officials believe they need to suspend the players.

One source familiar with the case said the commissioner's office might seek 100-game suspensions for Rodriguez, Braun and other players, the penalty for a second doping offense. The argument, the source said, is the players' connection to Bosch constitutes one offense, and previous statements to MLB officials denying any such connection or the use of PEDs constitute another.

Sources said Bosch will meet with MLB officials in New York on Friday to begin sharing information and materials. He is expected to meet with lawyers and investigators for several days. The announcement of suspensions could follow within two weeks.

Sources said discussions between Bosch and MLB were delayed while Bosch's lawyers spoke to the U.S. Attorney's office to get a sense of what sort of legal jeopardy Bosch might face. Before he would agree to a deal, sources said, he wanted an assurance that MLB could help mitigate any criminal exposure. MLB officials promised to do what they could, but do not have the power to stop a federal criminal investigation.

Investigators have had records naming about 20 players for more than a month. But without a sworn statement from Bosch that the records are accurate and reflect illicit interactions between the players and the self-described biochemist, the documents are little more than a road map.

Besides Rodriguez and Braun, other players named in the Biogenesis client list include Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Nelson Cruz, Francisco Cervelli, Jesus Montero and many others who are identified by codename.

A spokeswoman for Yankees 2B Robinson Cano's foundation also appears on the client list, but according to MLB sources, the New York infielder is in no immediate danger of suspension.

The New York Yankees likely anticipated the news about the Biogenesis client list- at least as far as A-Rod was concerned. Over the weekend, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner made comments expressing his disappointment in the third baseman who signed a new 10-year $275 million contract in 2007. Yankees GM Brian Cashman also stated in an interview that A-Rod clearly hadn't lived up to his massive contract. It's likely these statements were made during the series against the Red Sox over the weekend to preempt any announcement from MLB regarding A-Rod's involvement in the Biogenesis labs scandal.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS- Although they fell into a quick 0-2 hole in the Western Conference finals, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings remain undefeated at home in the postseason, and Tuesday night was no different.

Like Game 1 of the western Conference Finals, the Kings got out to an early 1-0 lead. However, unlike Game 1, Los Angeles was able to maintain their lead- although it looked somewhat tenuous in the 3rd period.

Justin Williams put LA on the board just 3:21 into the game and Slava Voynov got what would prove to be the game-winner six and a half minutes into the second period. Midway through the second period, Chicago's Duncan Keith hit Jeff Carter with a high stick. Carter would leave the game and require multiple stitches while the Blackhawks are waiting on word from director of player safety Brendan Shanahan on whether or not Keith will receive a suspension.

Chicago got on the board and cut the lead in half in the closing seconds of the second period on an unassisted goal by Bryan Bickell. Kings netminder Jonathan Quick would be kept busy in the third, but Dwight King would clinch the game late for LA as he tallied an empty-netter to put the Kings on top 3-1.

The series will resume will LA trailing 2 games to 1 on Thursday night. Wednesday night's NHL action will feature the Game 3 of the Eastern conference finals from Boston as the Bruins look to go up 3-0 on the Pittsburgh Penguins.

NBA- After a decisive 7th game against the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat are the Eastern Conference champions. The Heat bested the Pacers by a 99-76 final in Game 7 on Monday night. Miami's LeBron James led scoring for the Heat with 32 points, 8 rebounds and four assists on the night.

The Heat will face the San Antonio Spurs, who completed a sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies a week prior to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Game one is set for Thursday night in Miami and will get underway at 9:00 ET. The game will be televised on ABC.

OTHER NBA NEWS- Point guard Jason Kidd has announced his retirement from the NBA this week. Kidd was named co-rookie of the year along with Grant Hill back in 1995 and was an all-star ten times throughout his 19 year career. In addition to leading the NBA in steals in 2002 and assists per game in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004, Kidd also won a gold medal with the US Men's Olympic basketball team during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

After playing for the Cal Golden Bears, Kidd played for the Mavericks, Suns, Nets and most recently, the New York Knicks.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update/Reminder- Bowl Season Kicks off This Weekend.

It's been nearly a week since the Bowl schedule was released, but I've fallen behind on that and couple of other things.

Even though I have no strong rooting interest in this year's slate of Bowl games, here is the complete game and TV schedule. Pretty much all games aside fromt he Cotton Bowl and Sun Bowl will be televised on the ESPN family of networks.

Gildan New Mexico - Nevada vs. Arizona

University Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Saturday, December 15, 1:00 p.m., ESPN

Famous Idaho Potato - Toledo vs. Utah State

Bronco Stadium, Boise, Idaho

Saturday, December 15, 4:30 p.m., ESPN

S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia - BYU vs. San Diego State

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

Thursday, December 20, 8:00 p.m., ESPN

Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg - UCF vs. Ball State

Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida

Friday, December 21, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

R+L Carriers New Orleans - East Carolina vs. Louisiana-Lafayette

Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Saturday, December 22, 12:00 p.m., ESPN

MAACO Las Vegas - Washington vs. Boise State

Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada

Saturday, December 22, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Sheraton Hawaii - Fresno State vs. SMU

Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii

Monday, December 24, 8:00 p.m., ESPN

Little Caesars Pizza - Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan

Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

Wednesday, December 26, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman - San Jose State vs. Bowling Green

RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Thursday, December 27, 3:00 p.m., ESPN

Belk - Cincinnati vs. Duke

Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

Thursday, December 27, 6:30 p.m., ESPN

Bridgepoint Education Holiday - Baylor vs. UCLA

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

Thursday, December 27, 9:45 p.m., ESPN

AdvoCare V100 Independence - Ohio vs. Louisiana-Monroe

Independence Stadium, Shreveport, Louisiana

Friday, December 28, 2:00 p.m., ESPN

Russell Athletic - Rutgers vs. Virginia Tech

Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida

Friday, December 28, 5:30 p.m., ESPN

Meineke Car Care of Texas - Minnesota vs. Texas Tech

Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas

Friday, December 28, 9:00 p.m., ESPN

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces - Rice vs. Air Force

Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas

Saturday, December 29, 11:45 a.m., ESPN

New Era Pinstripe - West Virginia vs. Syracuse

Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Saturday, December 29, 3:15 p.m., ESPN

Kraft Fight Hunger - Navy vs. Arizona State

AT&T Park, San Francisco, California

Saturday, December 29, 4:00 p.m., ESPN2

Valero Alamo - Texas vs. Oregon State

Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

Saturday, December 29, 6:45 p.m., ESPN

Buffalo Wild Wings - TCU vs. Michigan State

Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona

Saturday, December 29, 10:15 p.m., ESPN

Franklin American Mortgage Music City - North Carolina State vs. Vanderbilt

LP Field, Nashville, Tennessee

Monday, December 31, 12:00 p.m., ESPN

Hyundai Sun - USC vs. Georgia Tech

Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas

Monday, December 31, 2:00 p.m., CBS

AutoZone Liberty - Iowa State vs. Tulsa

Liberty Bowl, Memphis, Tennessee

Monday, December 31, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Chick-fil-A - LSU vs. Clemson

Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

Monday, December 31, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

TaxSlayer.com Gator - Mississippi State vs. Northwestern

Everbank Field, Jacksonville, Florida

Tuesday, January 1, 12:00 p.m., ESPN2

Heart of Dallas - Purdue vs. Oklahoma State

Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Tuesday, January 1, 12:00 p.m., ESPNU

Outback - South Carolina vs. Michigan

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

Tuesday, January 1, 1:00 p.m., ESPN

Capital One - Georgia vs. Nebraska

Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida

Tuesday, January 1, 1:00 p.m., ABC

Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio - Wisconsin vs. Stanford

Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California

Tuesday, January 1, 5:00 p.m., ESPN

Discover Orange - Northern Illinois vs. Florida State

Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida

Tuesday, January 1, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Allstate Sugar - Louisville vs. Florida

Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Wednesday, January 2, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Tostitos Fiesta - Oregon vs. Kansas State

University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

Thursday, January 3, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

AT&T Cotton - Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma

Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Friday, January 4, 8:00 p.m., FOX

BBVA Compass - Pittsburgh vs. Ole Miss

Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama

Saturday, January 5, 1:00 p.m., ESPN

GoDaddy.com - Kent State vs. Arkansas State

Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama

Sunday, January 6, 9:00 p.m., ESPN

Discover BCS National Championship - Notre Dame vs. Alabama

Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida

Monday, January 7, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

[Hat tip- Austin Chang]

It's also worth noting that the NCAA Women's volleyball championship between Texas and Oregon will also take place on Saturday night at the Yum!/KFC Arena in Louisville, KY at 7:00 PM ET

Championship Weekend Sports Chowdah Update- Chief's Belcher Kills Girlfriend, Self; Patriots Clinch AFC East Title; Rick Majerus Passes Away at Age 64; NCAA Volleyball Finals Under Way; Boxer 'Macho' Camacho Dies From Gunshot Wound

John Rieger, US Presswire

NFL- Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot himself at the team's facilities in Arrowhead Stadium moments after murdering his 22 year old girlfriend- Kasandra M Perkins- on Saturday morning.

Belcher had reportedly shot Perkins nine times at their home before speeding the relatively short distance to the Arrowhead stadium. Kansas City general manager Scott Pioli and former Patriots defensive coordinator and current Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel were summoned to the parking lot where they came face-to-face with Belcher, who thanked the two men for giving him a chance in the NFL before putting the gun to his head and pulling the trigger.

Needless to say, the football world in general was stunned by this grim turn of events and Kansas City's disappointing 1-10 season suddenly paled in comparison to Saturday's murder-suicide.

Originally from Long Island, Belcher played Division I-AA football [now called FCS- NANESB!] for the University of Maine Black Bears of the Colonial Athletic Association between 2005 and 2008. Black Bears head coach Jack Cosgrove described Belcher as "a tremendous student-athelete" where he garnered preseason CAA honors and had 293 tackles and 18 sacks in 44 games before graduating with a bachelor's degree in child development and family relations.

The murder-suicide leaves Belcher and Perkins' 3 month old daughter, Zoey, without a mother or father. One of his former Maine teammates reportedly texted Belcher the night before the murder-suicide, congratulating him on the new arrival and joking about getting a gun to ward off future boyfriends. Belcher reportedly replied that he had at least eight firearms to choose from.

The Chiefs' decision to play the Carolina Panthers as scheduled [Kansas City would win by a 21-27 final- NANESB!] the following day came under criticism from some corners of the media. However, some of the media coverage itself drew withering criticism for painting Belcher in a sympathetic light and seemingly ignoring the fact that he killed his girlfriend.

ESPN's Tom Jackson had what many considered to be the most direct comment out of all the Sunday kickoff shows: ""Remember that Jovan Belcher, as we hear about what a great teammate he was and how close some of the guys where to him, that he is in fact a murderer. ... So as we look at the outpouring of sympathy that will go toward Belcher today, I would ask people to remember Kasandra Perkins."

3-month old Zoey is reportedly with Belcher's mother on Long Island while Chiefs players have announced plans to create a benefit fund for Perkins' daughter.

Photo/Rhona Wise

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- During Sunday's road game in Miami, the New England Patriots were held to fewer than 35 points for the first time since October 21st. However, despite this fairly noteworthy accomplishment, it was not enough to help the Miami Doplhins in their first matchup against New England this season.

Miami's Brandon Fields would fumble the ball on the Dolphin's first possession of the game, giving New England the ball inside the Dolphins red zone and a rushing TD from Stevan Ridley and putting New England on top 7-0.

With about 3:10 to go in the first and New England driving, Miami safety Reshad Jones managed to pick off Brady and appeared to run it back for a TD- however, the officials threw a flag on the return and the touchdown was negated. Miami would still get a 44 yard FG off the boot of Dan Carpenter to get on the board and make it a 7-3 game.

In the 2nd quarter, the Patriots would make it a 17-3 game thanks to a short brady TD pass to Wes Welker and a 43 yard Gostkowski FG. But instead of running away with it at the half, with just under seven minutes to go, Miami would start off what would be their last drive of the first half from their own 5 yard line thanks to a pair of penalties. However, when RB Reggie Bush wasn't running for 7 or 8 yards, Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill would throw 12-15 yard passes to put Miami on New England's goal line inside the two minute warning. To cap off the drive, Tannehill would punch it in himself to make it a 17-10 game at the half and make it a one-score game.

There would be no scoring in the 3rd quarter and despite moving the ball inside the Dolphin's 2 yard line to start off the 4th, Brady was sacked twice and New England had to settle for the FG to make it 20-10.

Miami's next drive would bring them inside the New England 10, but LB Jarod Mayo managed to sack Tannehill at the 15, forcing the Dolphins to settle for a FG and 4th and 15.

From there on out, Carpenter and Gostkowski would exchange FG's to make it a 7 point game and while Miami would attempt to get one last posession with 31 seconds to go in regulation, the Patriots would recover the onside kick to close out the game by a 23-16 final.

New England hangs on to win this one and clinch their 9th AFC East title in 10 seasons, joining the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos in clinching their respective divisions on Sunday.

The Patriots next opponent- the 11-1 Houston Texans- have clinched a playoff spot, but the AFC South title isn't official yet. This will be a prime-time matchup [one of the relatively few New England is scheduled to appear in- NANESB!] with the two teams going at it from Foxbourough, MA on Monday night football. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 PM ET and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.


NCAA FOOTBALL- The UConn Huskies, the only New England FBS school with a shot at a bowl game, instead ended the regular season with a 34-17 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday. Between Boston College, UMass and Connecticut, the three schools had 8 wins between them in the 2012 Football season. The Minutemen and Eagles wrapped up their respective regular seasons last week.

While this wasn't entirely unexpected for UMASS's FBS debut season, this is the second straight year the Eagles finished under .500 and were Bowl ineligible.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- Pretty busy Championship Saturday, so I'll try to wrap it up as best I can. In what was no doubt the most anticipated game over the weekend, Alabama held off the Georgia Bulldogs to punch their ticket to the BCS Championship game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on January 7th.

There was a pair of conference championship games on Friday night as #8 Stanford held off #16 UCLA by a 27-24 final to win the Pac-12 title. Meanwhile, over in Detroit the #21 Northern Illinois Huskies needed double OT to get past the #17 Kent State Golden Flashes with that one ending in a 44-37 win for NIU.

The OT Championship games resumed on Saturday when the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes got past Central Florida by a 33-27 final for the Conference USA title. The Sun Belt title game wasn't anywhere near as close as Arkansas State routed Middle Tennessee State by a 45-0. #12 Florida State held off a game Georgia Tech [don't let that 6-6 record fool you, I guess- NANESB!] to win by a 21-15 final in prime time while the Wisconsin Badgers simply demolished Nebraska by a 70-31 final in the Big Ten title game.

It was just another Saturday in the Big 12- albeit the final Saturday of the regular season which saw a couple of contests pitting ranked teams against one another. The most marquee matchup was the primetime game between #7 Kansas State and #23 Texas on Saturday- which was sort of a de-facto Big 12 title match. Although they looked a little lost and confused in the first half, the K State Wildcats had a great second half and pulled away from the Longhorns to win by a final of 24-42. #11 Oklahoma managed to beat Texas Christian by a 24-17 final and Baylor played spoiler to #24 Oklahoma State, taking care of business in Waco by a 41-34 final.

The only remaining regular season college football game this upcoming weekend is the annual Army-Navy game from Philadelphia. The game will be televised on CBS and kicks off a 3:00 ET.

OTHER NCAA NEWS- Wisconsin Badgers head coach Bret Bielema has been announced as the new Arkansas Razorbacks head coach on Tuesday. The announcement came barely 48 hours after Wisconsin handily beat Nebraska in the Big Ten title game and earned a spot in the Rose Bowl and third straight Big Ten title.

Bielema was with Wisconsin for 7 seasons and has an overall record of 68-24. He replaces interim Razorbacks head football coach John L Smith, who in turn replaced former head coach Bobby Petrino after the University dismissed him amid revelations he was having an affair with a University of Arkansas Athletic Department employee.

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

NCAA HOOPS- St Louis Billikens head coach Rick Majerus passed away at the age of 64 this weekend. The jovial basketball coach was perhaps best known for helming the Utah Utes to the 1998 NCAA Men's final and had just one losing season in his 25 year coaching career.

Majerus ended the Billiken's 12 year NCAA tournament drought last season and St Louis took a contest with top regional seed Michigan State down to the wire. Throughout his coaching career, the Wisconsin born Majerus also was head coach of Marquette, Ball State and Utah- as well as a brief stint as an assistant with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks in the 1980s. Overall, Majerus had a record of 516-217 as a head coach.

Having been the Billiken's head coach since 2007, Majerus announced in August that he would not be returning due to ongoing health issues- he had been suffering from heart problems for the last 20 years. Assistant coach Jim Crews has been the Billiken's interim coach since then.

Yale Athletics photo

NCAA VOLLEYBALL- Well, the regular season for NCAA Women's volleyball has wrapped up and the only New England schools who earned an invite to the Division 1 tournament are Yale and Fairfield.

Yale finished the season with an impressive 14-0 record and clinched the Ivy League title, only to lose to Bowling Green 3 sets to 2 in the first round.

Fairfield Stags celebrate their MAAC volleyball title

Like last season, Yale and another small school from Connecticut [not UConn- NANESB!] were the lone schools representing New England in the NCAA women's volleyball tournament. Last year, Sacred Heart university of Fairfield, CT was felled by Stanford in the first round. This year, it was a different school from the same Connecticut town.

Siena's Lesli Akeo (#9) and Taylor Akana (#12) in action against MAAC opponent Fairfield- Photo: JS Carras- Troy Record

Fairfield, which plays Division volleyball in the Metro Atlantic Conference, had a 15-3 regular season record and came from behind to best the Siena Saints in the MAAC tournament. Siena hasn't appeared in the NCAA tournament since the 2008 season.

However, Fairfield was swept out of the tournament by the USC Trojans last week- the same volleyball program that had eliminated Yale in the first round of last year's tournament.

Louisville's Katie George and Haley Pouliezos seen celebrating win. Scott Utterback- Courier Journal photo

BIG EAST VOLLEYBALL- Despite a pretty good regular season in which they went 19-12, the UConn Huskies made an early exit from the Big East tournament after losing to the Cincinnati Bearcats by a final of 3 sets to 2 on November 16.

UConn finished the regular season in 4th place in the Big East. However, the Big East tournament loss was particularly frustrating as no less than three Big East teams had been selected to the 2012 NCAA tournament. Louisville won the Big East title after sweeping the Marquette Golden Eagles 3 games to none, but both Marquette and Notre Dame managed to secure at-large bids. However, Marquette was swept by Creighton and Notre Dame was swept by Ohio State in the first round.

Louisville came into the tournament ranked #10 and managed to get by Belmont in the first round but lost in the following round to Michigan.

ACC VOLLEYBALL- The BC Eagles women's volleyball wrapped up their 2012 with a 13 game slide, with the soon-to-be-departing the ACC Maryland Terrapins getting a measure of revenge over Boston College for an earlier loss in September. Boston College finishes the regular season with a record of 10-22, behind every school but Virginia in the ACC.

For the ACC tournament, Florida State defeated Miami 3 sets to 1 to clinch the 2012 ACC Volleyball title. Besides FSU, North Carolina, Miami and North Carolina State earned at large bids. However, North Carolina State and Miami made early exits with the Hurricanes losing 3 sets to 2 to the College of Charleston and the Wolfpack losing 3 sets to 1 to Texas A&M in the first round.

The Tarheels and Seminoles managed to advance to the second round with Florida State sweeping Hofstra and North Carolina getting past Cal. However, in the seond round, the Tarheels were dispatched in Ames, IA by the Iowa State Cyclones while the Purdue Boilermakers eliminaetd the Seminoles.

COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION VOLLEYBALL- Depsite a promising regular season in which they finished with a 20-7 record, the Northeastern Huskies lost in the first round of the CAA volleyball final to James Madison.

Towson finished the regular season ahead of Northeastern and beat the Huskies in head-to-head competition last month, but they ended up losing in the CAA champioship game to Hofstra before Hofstra was eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the first round.

BOXING- Professional boxer Hector 'Macho' Camacho died at a hospital just days after being shot multiple times in him hometown of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The southpaw had won major championships in featherweight, lightweight and welterweight categories.

Camacho's family moved to New York when he was three and repeatedly got into street fights as a teen. A teacher persuaded Camacho to take up boxing as a more constrictive outlet and within a few years, he began winning amateur titles around New York.

Some of Camacho's noteworthy opponents include Sugar Ray Leonard, Julio Caesar Chavez and Oscar De La Hoya. Throughout his boxing career Camacho won a total of 45 matches by knockout- including a bout where he reportedly ended Sugar Ray Leonard's career.

Camacho's body was laying in state for two days in San Juan Puerto Rico before being transported to New York for burial at the request of his mother and sisters. However, the open casket viewing was disrupted when an altercation between Camacho's sisters and a woman claiming to be his girlfriend broke out.....because funeral catfights are apparently the best kind of catfights.

Monday Night Sports Chowdah for Dec 5th- March on the Penguins; Pats Barely Avoid Indy Trap; Colonial Football's Maine Event; Spartan/Badgers Redux

Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

NHL: The Bruins winning ways continue as the calendar flips over from November to December, with Boston beating the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Garden for Game 2 of the home and away series over the weekend.

The Bruins won by a 4-1 final with Tukka Rask turning aside 21 of the 22 shots he faced from the team that drafted him on Saturday night. Currently the Bruins are 4-0 against the Maple Leafs and won't be seeing them again until March 2012.

Saturday's win was a preamble to an important matchup on Monday night that would pit the Bruins against the top team in the Eastern Conference- the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were in the lineup for the Pens on Monday and had gone 5-1-1 since Crosby's return.

After a scoreless 1st period, Greg Campbell got the Bruins got on the board with a goal at about the 3 minute mark in the 2nd period, beating Marc Andre Fleury.

However, shortly after taking the 1-0 lead, the Bruins would find themselves having to kill a 5-on-3 penalty for 50 seconds- a power play that Pittsburgh ultimately was unable to cash in on.

Benoit Pouliot would then score for the Bruins to give them a 2-0 lead, but late in the second, the Pens would have another 2-man advantage as Pouliot went to the bin for goaltender interference and Rich Peverly would get two minutes for hooking. Once again, the Bruins were able to successfully kill both penalties, shutting out the Pens 2-0 and heading into the 3rd period with a power play on a Jordan Staal interference penalty.

The Pittsburgh penalty would lead to Boston's 3rd goal of the night, this time off the stick of Tyler Seguin. The Pens would end Thomas' shutout bid with about 11 minutes to go in the 3rd period, but Boston would go on to win by the 3-1 final. Tim Thomas stopped a season-high 45 of 46 shots, Thomas' 10th consecutive win between the pipes. The Bruins went 1 of 5 on the power play for the night as well.

Monday night's win pulls the Bruins to within one point of the Eastern Conference leaders- which at this time is still the Penguins.

From Pittsburgh, the Bruins will be heading to Manitoba for the first time December 1995 to take on the Winnipeg Jets. This will be Boston's first-ever visit to the MTS Centre. Currently, Winnipeg has an 11-11-4 record and is riding a 2 game win streak.

MLB: Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine's departure from ESPN created an opening on that network's Baseball Tonight program. Within days, that opening was filled by Valentine's Red Sox predecessor, Terry Francona.

ESPN announced on Monday that Francona would be joining the network as a baseball analyst for Baseball Tonight, Sunday Night Baseball as well as contributing to shows on the ESPN radio network and ESPN.com.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Well, the Army/Navy game notwithstanding, the regular season pretty much wrapped up this weekend with various championship games and a few belated 'rivalry' games.

Championship weekend kicked off with the inaugural PAC-12 championship game on Friday night, pitting #Oregon against UCLA. This one was pretty much all Oregon as the Ducks blew UCLA out of the water by a 49-31 final.

In a much closer but more overlooked contest on Friday night, Northern Illinois rallied late, scoring 23 unanswered points in the second half to win the Mid-America Conference Title Game by beating the Ohio Bobcats 23-20.

Things got off to a pretty turbulent start on Saturday, with Southern Mississippi upsetting #7 Houston in the Conference USA championship, upending the Cougars by a 49-28 final.

After trailing for most of the first half, the #1 LSU Tigers came back strong in the second half and ran roughshod over the #12 Georgia Bulldogs, winning that one by a 42-10 margin.

Over in the ACC title game, the Clemson were matched up against the #5 Virginia Tech Hokies after the Tigers lost three out of their last four contests (including a 37-13 drubbing by NC State and a 34-13 beating from in-state rival South Carolina). After a 10-10 tie at halftime, Clemson went on to score 28 unanswered points against the Hokies to runa away with the ACC Title.

The closest Championship contest on Saturday afternoon was no doubt the inaugural Big 10 Championship Game, which was pitted Wisconsin against Michigan State. This was a rematch of a regular season game that saw the Spartans win on an improbable Hail Mary from QB Kirk Cousins as time expired back in October.

Although the Badgers got out to an early 21-7 lead in the 1st at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the Spartans came right back on two TD Passes from Cousins and another TD from RB LeVeon Bell to make it 29-21 Spartans at the half.

With the Spartans leading 39-34 in the 4th, the Badgers got to start from their own 36 after a good return. The Badgers started a 10-play drive, including converting on a 4th down and 6 to take the 42-39 lead (the 2 point conversion was good).

After a 3 and out by the Spartans, the Badgers would get the ball back with just under 3 minutes left and bleed away the clock, getting a pivotal first down on a Michigan State penalty. Badgers win the first-ever Big 10 football title game by a 42-39 final, avenging the earlier loss to Michigan State.

AP Photo

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: It wasn't Championship Saturday everywhere, though. There were still some regular season games to be played in the Big East, Mountain West, Big 12 and Western Athletic Conference.

UConn was playing for bowl eligibility while the Cincinnati Bearcats were positioning themselves for a share of the Big East title in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.

The Bearcats took advantage of some early UConn errors to get out to an early 14-0 lead thanks to fumbles and interceptions by Huskies QB Johnny McEntee. It would be a 28-6 halftime lead for the Bearcats at the half, with Uconn getting on the board thanks to two David Teggart FGs.

UConn would start to make a game of it in the 2nd half, ultimately closing the gap to 35-27 thanks to a pair of Teggart FGs in the 3rd and two TD passes from McEntee in the 4th, but Cincinnati would go on to win by the 35-27 final.

This leaves UConn with a 5-7 record meaning that just one year after going to the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona, UConn Football will be staying put for Bowl season. This also sets up a curious scenario where Cincinnati, West Virginia and Louisville are all co-titleholders in the Big East.

AP Photo

NCAA FOOTBALL- FCS: The FCS championship got underway in late November, and heading into the weekend, two New England schools from the Colonial conference were still very much in the hunt.

At first, the Maine Black Bears looked like they had a tall task of taking on the Appalachian State Mountaineers on the road in Boone, NC. However, after taking a 13-6 lead into the half, the Black Bears broke the game wide open in the second half, with RB Pushuan Brown's 31 yard TD run serving as the exclamation point in Maine's 34-12 win over Perennial FCS/Division I-aa favorite App State.

The victory eliminates the Mountaineers and sets up a showdown with the Georgia Southern Eagles in Statesboro, GA at 2 PM ET on Saturday. Georgia Southern had already beaten the Old Dominion Monarchs (another CAA team) to advance and face the winner of Maine/App State.

ELSEWHERE IN THE FCS: The Montana State Bobcats survived a late scare from the UNH Wildcats in Bozeman, MT on Saturday. Montana State's Darius Hones intercepted a pass from UNH's Mark Becker at the Bobcat 3 yard line. A shanked punt then gave the Wildcats the ball back with 17 seconds remaining in the 4th, Becker connected with WR Justin Mello to make it a 26-25 game with 7 seconds to go in regulation. However, instead of tying the game up on the point after, Mike MacArthur's kick clanged off the upright, allowing Montana State to squeak by.

This sets up a meeting between the Bobcats and Sam Houston State university in Huntsville, TX this weekend.

NFL: Altough they got out to an early 31-3 lead over Indianapolis, the Patriots ended up sneaking by the hard-luck Colts on Sunday. With no Manning in sight, Indy nevertheless managed to put up 21 unanswered points in the 2nd half, including two TD passes from current Colts QB Dan Orlovsky to WR Pierre Garcon. Still, New England managed to hang on for the 31-24 win.

Tom Brady went 29-38 with 289 yards and 2 TDs while Orlovsky went 30 for 37 with 353 yards, 2 TDs and an interception.

Boston Hearld Photo

An interesting side note to Sunday's game was that injured Colts QB Peyton Manning showed up at Gilette Stadium before the game and briefly chatted with rival QB Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick before talking with fans and some of the minutemen in period cosutmes along the sidelines.

“I signed a tons of autographs for Patriots fans before the game and they couldn’t had been nicer,” Manning said. “They were all wishing me a healthy recovery and missed seeing me out there and I really do appreciate that. I’ve been getting a lot of support from my Colts fans and people across the country. But when it comes from fans of probably your biggest rival, and I’m sure some of them have probably said stuff that wasn’t so nice over the years, I thought it was pretty classy.”

[I could've told you that, Peyton- but then again, I'm incredibly biased- NANESB!]

Of course, anybody in Foxbourough on Sunday could see for themselves that the Colts/Patriots rivalry had lost much of its luster without the Colts MVP quarterback.

The Patriots have one more NFC East opponent in the regular season- the 4-8 Washington Redskin, who they'll take on this Sunday at 1 PM ET on CBS.

Salty Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Royal Pains in Midwest; Things Get Uggla; Pats Keelhaul Bucs; Some Goodwill, Danica Leaving IndyCar?

RED SOX: After finishing their road trip with a whimper by dropping 2 out of 3 games to the Mariners, the Red Sox travelled home for a quick 3-game series against Tampa Bay (again, dropping two out of three) before heading to the heartland for a 4-game series in Kansas City.

Not unlike his start against Seattle, game one got off to a little bit of a choppy start with Josh Beckett on the mound as he gave up a leadoff double in the top of the 1st to 3B Alex Gordon. Gordon was brought home thanks to a sac bunt that moved him to third and a Billy Butler sac-fly to put KC in front 1-0.

The Sox got the equalizer in the top of the 2nd when Jason Varitek drove home Josh Reddick with an RBI single, although he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. The Red Sox then took the lead on a 2-RBI single from Dustin Pedroia in the 3rd before KC got it right back with a 2-run Alex Gordon homer in the bottom half of the inning. Pedroia would come to bat with Ellsbury on 2nd and two away in the top of the 5th and get what would be the game winning RBI with a single (that like Varitek, he was thrown out trying to stretch into a double).

Daniel Bard would come on in the 8th and Papelbon would close out the game in the 9th to preserve the 4-3 Boston lead. The 7 innings thrown by Beckett puts him at 10-5 while Papelbon's save was his 29th of the season.

On Friday night, KC got out to the early 1-0 lead on an RBI sac fly hit by Alex Gordon off of Andrew Miller, but that's all Miller and the bullpen would allow as they managed to tie the game up on a Darnell McDonald RBI triple before taking the lead on a Jacoby Ellsbury sac fly in the top of the 4th.

In the top of the 5th and with two out and two away, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia belted a 3-run homer to give the Red Sox plenty of insurance at 5-1. The Sox would get two more to make it a 7-1 final. Miller gets the win after giving up a run and 3 hits in 5 and ⅓ innings of work while Alfredo Aceves worked 3 and ⅔ scoreless innings allowing one hit and striking out 3 to preserve the 7-1 lead.

Boston takes the first two in KC, setting up a matchup tomorrow between Tim Wakefield (6-5; 4.90 ERA) who has gone winless in his last four starts and Kansas City's Felipe Paulino (1-9; 4.30 ERA).

OTHER SOX NEWS:: David Ortiz is expected to miss up to a week with bursitis in his right heel. He was scratched from the lineup right before the start of the day/night doubleheader with Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Ryan Lavarnaway was called up from Pawtucket and replaced Big Papi in the lineup on Thursday night's game at DH, going 0-4.

Kevin Youkilis was placed on the DL this week as well with back problems and is also expected to miss a week.



ELSEWHERE IN MLB- MINNESOTA: On Monday night's game against Detroit in Comerica park, Minnesota slugger Jim Thome managed to belt career home runs #599 and #600 as the Twins out dueled the Tigers by a 9-6 final. On the landmark knight for the veteran slugger, Thome went 3-4 with 5 RBI, accounting for most of the Twin's offensive output that evening.

Thome's 3-run shot off of Daniel Schelerth in the top of the 7th made him the 8th major leaguer to enter the 600 Home Run club.

ATLANTA: Braves 2B Dan Uggla's hitting streak stopped at 33 games over the weekend. The Chicago Cunbs kept the red hot Uggla hitless for the first time in a month. Uggla's hit streak in July/August stopped just shy of the 1949 hit streak mark set by Red Sox outfielder Dom DiMaggio (or more recently, Benito Santiago's 34-game hit streak with the San Diego Padres in 1987). Uggla's hit streak now stand as the longest in Braves history, surpassing outfielder Rico Carty's 31-game hit streak in 1970.

CHICAGO CUBS: Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano (9-7; 4.82 ERA) abruptly announced his retirement after getting shelled by the Braves a week ago. Zambrano didn't even last 5 innings and gave up 8 earned runs as well as a career worst 5 homers. Zambrano was ejected after throwing inside on consecutive pitches to Atlanta 3B Chipper Jones.

Within days, the Cubs placed Zambrano on the disqualified list when it became clear he wasn't going to walk back his comments about retiring. The Players Association is protesting the actions the Cubs have taken against the hotheaded hurler in an effort to reduce any sanctions or fines that might be forthcoming.

After the Zambrano fiasco, the Cubs also announced that General manager Jim Hendry was terminated on Friday afternoon. Curiously, owner Tom Ricketts claimed he reached the decision on July 22 and told Hendry that day, but for whatever reason both parties didn't make any public announcement until nearly 3 weeks later- after the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline as well as the August 15 deadline to sign this year's draft picks.


NFL: QB Tom Brady went 11 for 19 including two TD passes in Thursday night's preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady worked for the first half and connected with TE Aaron Hernandez for a 16 yard TD pass and then WR Chad Ochocinco for TD pass #2. Ben Jarvus Green Ellis had two rushing TDs of his own, including one to close out the first half in New England's 31-14 preseason win over Tampa Bay.

The next preseason game for New England will be at Ford Field against the Detroit Tigers on Sat. Aug 27th. at 8PM ET.

NCAA FOOTBALL: One time Miami Hurricanes booster and convicted money launderer Nevin Shapiro made good on a jailhouse threat to disclose to the NCAA and the press improper benefits he gave to Hurricanes players while they were still with the university including cash, merchandise and parties on a yacht he owned that featured prostitutes.

Shapiro pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money laundering in September 2010 and was sentenced to a 20 year sentence in June. In a jailhouse interview, Shapiro detailed how he used funds from an ongoing Ponzi scheme going as far back as 2002 to finance donations to the University of Miami football and men's basketball programs in addition to giving out cash and favors to Hurricanes players.

The NCAA has notified University of Miami administrators that it's considering invoking a 'willful violators' clause to circumvent a 4 year statute of limitations on any investigation into the Miami athletic program. Traditionally, the NCAA’s bylaws would only allow it to sanction the Hurricanes for infractions that occurred during the four years prior to receiving a letter of inquiry from investigators. For example, if Miami received a letter of inquiry for a case on Sept. 1, 2011, the NCAA could only sanction the school for applicable violations dating back to Sept. 1, 2007. But the clause – reserved for “a pattern of willful violations” – can spin a probe back to the earliest applicable infractions.

Applied to the Shapiro allegations, it means the NCAA could reach as far back to early 2002, when the booster said he began funneling benefits to Hurricanes players. And if the probe stretched back to 2002, it would overlap with Miami’s two-year probationary period from the baseball program, which was leveled from February 2003 to February 2005. That could potentially tag the Hurricanes athletic program with a “repeat violator” label and make the school further susceptible to the NCAA’s so-called death penalty.

Only one Division one NCAA football program has been given the 'death penalty' before- the Southern Methodist University Mustangs in 1988. The NCAA banned the football team from taking the field in the 1987 season, and although away games were technically permitted the following season, SMU administrators decided it wasn't feasible to field a team for seven scheduled Away games that were already scheduled.

In 2003, the Miami Hurricanes baseball program was on probation from the NCAA for violations during the 1998-1999 seasons. If Shapiro's claims are true and the timeline match up, then he was funneling money to Miami players before the university even started probation.

NCAA HOOPS: Wow- if this is a 'Goodwill tour', I'd hate to see what the Georgetown Hoyas Malice Tour to China would look like.

The video above is from an altercation on Friday in Beijing between the Hoyas basketball team and the Shanghai Bayi Rockets- a squad that reportedly has ties to China's People's Liberation Army. The bench-clearing brawl erupted with less than 10 minutes to go in the game and the crowd threw plastic water bottles at the Hoyas as they left the court.



MOTORSPORTS: ESPN is reporting that Indy Car driver Danica Patrick is expected to announce a full-time move to NASCAR beginning next season. While the full details and terms of her contract have yet to be finalized, Patrick is expected to race primarily in the Nationwide series (something she's already appeared in) and make appearences in select Sprint Cup races.

Swelterin' Sports Chowdah Update; Jay Walkingoff in The Fens; Rocket Trouble

After dropping the final game of the 3-game series at Arlington, TX last weekend, the Sox went back to Fenway and played host to the visiting Angels, winning 2 out of 3 games before facing the always-troublesome Toronto Blue Jays.

Let's just say that Friday night's 16-2 ass kicking at the hands (and bats) of the Blue Jays was not how a team trying to chase down two division opponents for a playoff berth wasn't an ideal start.

Saturday's game would go a little better for Boston, but it would need to be decided in extras. Tonight's game pitted Daisuke Matsuzaka against Ricky Romero and Victor Martinez got the scoring started in the bottom of the 3rd when he had a 2-RBI single that plated Darnell McDonald and Marco Scutaro.

In the top of the 4th, John McDonald had an RBI double that plated Aaron Hill. Lyle Overbay triding scoring from 2nd, but was tagged out at the plate after a collision with Victor Martinez to make it 2-1 Boston.

Martinez would bring in a third run in the bottom of the 5th after Scutaro and JD Drew got on base with back to back singles w/one away. After Big Papi struck out, Adrian Beltre would bring home JD Drew on an RBI single before Mike Lowell struck out.

Boston's 4-1 lead was short lived, though, as Jose Bautista led off with a single and Vernon Wells doubled immediately afterwards, with C John Buck hitting a sac-fly deep enough to plate Bautista from 3rd. After getting Aaron Hill to pop out, Overbay belted a homer to deep right to make it a 4-4 game.

The score would remain deadlocked until extras, with Bard and Papelbon coming out of the pen after Dice-K's 8 innings of work. With Casey Jansen on the mound for Toronto in the bottom of the 11th, Jed Lowrie hit a 2-2 offering into the stands in deep right-center field for the solo shot and walkoff 5-4 win.

The rubber game is set to take place tomorrow, with Toronto's Shaun Marcum (11-6; 3.69 ERA) going up against Clay Buchholz (14-5; 2.36 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 PM Easter, 10:35 AM Pacific.

OTHER SOX (DL) NEWS: Well...that didn't take long. If you had a feeling Pedroia might've been brought back up off the DL too quickly, you're probably right. The Boston 2B started in all of two games this week before going back on the DL. No timetable has been set for his estimated return.

There was a Jason Varitek sighting as well, as the team Captain was taking early BP with the team on Saturday night. Terry Francona said that the team, doctors and Varitek had a conference call earlier and came to the conclusion that while his broken foot from July 1 is healing nicely, 'Tek still isn't ready to come back yet.

Trade deadline acquisition Jarrod Saltalamacchia remains hospitalized with some sort of infection. Saltalamacchia was placed on the DL with some sort of infection in his lower right leg on Thursday and hospitalized. Francona reported that the infection is alot more localized and that doctors are still awaiting the results of some blood tests done earlier.

Hideki Okajima, who was on the 15-day DL earlier this month with a strained hamstring, gave up a hit in a scoreless inning of relief against the Buffalo Bisons at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo, NY on Saturday afternoon.

Also down in Pawtucket, 1B Carlos Delgado went on the 7-day disabled list this week due to soreness in his left hip (his surgically repaired right hip hasn't been a problem so far, according to the team).

Catcher Kevin Cash was also sent down to Pawtucket for a rehab assignment after a hamstring problem. Instead of travelling with the team to Allentown, PA or Buffalo and Rochester, NY, it was decided to send Cash to single A Lowell of the New York-Penn league to continue rehabbing.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: New York Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez was placed on the 15-day DL with a left calf strain Saturday.

A Federal grand jury indicted Roger Clemens on perjury charges for allegedly giving false testimony to Congress about his use of steroids and HGH. A 6 count grand jury indictment claims that Clemens instructed a Congressional inquiry with 15 statements that were part of his testimony while under oath.

NFL Pre-Season: Pats beat Atlanta 28-10 on Thursday night. Wake me when the games count in the standings. I'm not paying attention to the contract melodrama surrounding Tom Brady at the moment either since I'm starting to think most of it is sound anf fury signifying nothing for the yammering heads on ESPN to prattle on about for some 20 minutes every weekday.

ESPN: Speaking of which, ESPN 'personality' and AOL columnist Jay Mariotti was arrested in Los Angeles after officers responded to a 'domestic incident'. Mariotti was booked on an undiclosed felony charge and released on $50,000 bond early Saturday morning.

"Hey Now, You're An All-Star" Sports Chowdah Update for July 12-14

Well....that only took 14 years.

Atlanta Braves C Brian McCann was the unlikely hero for the National League on Tuesday night, driving in 3 RBIs to secure the National League's first All-Star win since 1996.

Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps was credited with the win with just five pitches worth of work and the Dodger's Jonathan Broxton held off a late rally in the bottom of the 9th for the 3-1 win. Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria scored the only run of the night for the AL in the bottom of the 5th on a Robinson Cano sac-fly. The Yankees Phil Hughes was hung with the loss while the ChiSox's Matt Thorton gave up the game-winning double to McCann in the top of the 7th.

The win on Tuesday night also means that the National League will have home field advantage to start off this year's World Series.

Tuesday night's game capped off three days of festivities including the 2010 MLB futures game, the Home Run Derby and the Legends/Celebrity Softball game.

Although six Red Sox players were nominated to the 2010 All Star game, only Adrian Beltre, David Ortiz and Jon Lester saw the light of day Adrian Beltre struck out in his only at-bat, leading off the bottom of the 9th while Papi went 1 for 2 with a single, also in the 9th. Lester had a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 6th.

The Celebrity Softball game featured actors Mario Lopez and Micheal Clarke Duncan along with rapper MC Hammer, and former MLB players Bo Jackson and Tim Salmon...

as well as Access Hollywood anchor Maria Menounos.
Victoria's Secret model Marissa Miller.
And USA Olympic Softball gold medalist Jennie Finch.

The home run derby took place on Monday night
Not too surprisingly, Big Papi pretty much won that contest going away after squaring off against Florida's Hanley Ramierez in the final round. Papi was interviewed by Erin Andrews afterwards, where he said a few words in honor of the late Jose Lima who passed away earlier this year. I'm just hoping his explosive performance at the Derby doesn't wear him down further into the regular season- anybody else notice a slump in his performance after an equally impressive HR Derby at the All-Star game in Pittsburgh a few years back?

Speaking of ESPN and Erin Andrews, the ESPYs were on tonight- just a hop skip and jump up the I-5 from Anaheim at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater. I caught some of the red carpet show prior to the actual awards at the same bar I caught the concurrent Red Sox/Celtics/Bruins games (all nationally televised, no less) before I had to go to work for a few hours.

(Reuters)

Had no idea Erin Andrews was so tall...or Danica Patrick was so diminutive. Yea- I know Erin's wearing heels, but she's towering over the Indycar driver like a sequoia over a garden gnome....

OK....slight exaggeration on my part, but the size differential is noticeable.

Sports Chowdah Update- USA Advances At the Last Minute; Sox Road Trip off to Rocky Start; Anybody Else Feeling a Draft?

"IN YOUR FACE, ALGERIA!!"

Well- that was a close one. I actually caught my first televised 2010 World Cup game on Tuesday; Mexico versus Uruguay. Tuned in just in time to see Uruguay's Luis Suarez score the only goal of the match right before halftime before getting distracted and losing interest. I was quite disappointed to learn Tommy Smythe wasn't calling the game for ESPN- as it turned out the diminutive Irishman was broadcasting with ESPN Radio for Wednesday's USA/Algeria game. I tuned in fairly late for that one (vuvuzelas and all) and it appeared for all the world that the USA would be eliminated from the tournament with a scoreless draw. And that's how it would end in regulation- but there was three minutes of injury time remaining and throughout the second half, the announcers were commenting on how tired the Algeria players were looking. Algeria's goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi gave up a rebound in the 91st minute when USA Midfielder Landon Donovan finally booted one past Mbolhi for the only goal of the game. The win means that Team USA advances to play Ghana in the next round on Saturday.

Elsewhere in the World Cup: Argentina took down Greece 2-0 Tuesday in the 'self-inflicted-economic-ruin' Pool of the FIFA World Cup.


In a schadenfreude-tastic moment, Portugal beat the ever lovin' shit out of North Korea by a total of 7-0 on Monday. Apparently the Kim Jong Il endorsed Juche ideal of insular self-reliance is no match for a moderately talented (and well fed) team from a Western European liberal democracy. It reportedly got so bad that at one point, the Chinese fans the North Korean regime paid to travel to South Africa renounced their North Korean citizenship that they never had.


MLB: After dropping the first two games against the Colorado Rockies in Denver, the Red Sox managed to avoid the three game sweep in extra innings on Thursday night [better at this late date than in October 2007, I suppose- NANESB!]. Papelbon failed to seal the deal in the bottom of the 9th, giving up a one out 2-RBI single to Brad Hawpe to tie the game at 11-11. Having said that, there's something in the Colorado air that seems to agree with Dustin Pedroia.

Dustin Pedroia put the Sox up 13-11 with 2-out 2 run homer in the top of the tenth off of Huston Street- Pedroia's 11th inning dinger was his third of the night, going 4 for 5 with 5 RBI on the night. 3B Adrian Beltre was a respectable 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and a homer of his own. Papelbon had a 1-2-3 bottom of the tenth to hang on for the win.

The Sox will head back to sea-level tomorrow night where they take on the San Francisco Giants in the City (and ballpark) by the Bay. Tim Wakefield (2-5; 5.33 ERA) is expected to go up against Jonathan Sanchez (5-5; 2.90) for Friday night's game.

Other Red Sox News: 20-year old Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland, along with his rather Ron and Sox GM Theo Epstein, spoke to reporters in a conference call. Westmoreland announced that he does plan on returning to baseball and has taken an "all-business" approach to rehab. Ron Westmoreland said that Ryan was able to walk around on his own power the day after his surgery on a cavernous malformation of his brain back in March. The Westmorelands have actually attended games at Fenway Park and Pawtucket's McCoy stadium this season.

WIMBLEDON: Like the World Cup and soccer, I don't normally follow tennis that much. Having said that, the match between the USA's John Isner and Frenchman Nicholas Mahut was one for the ages as Isner defeated Mahut by a final of 70-68 in the fifth set, with the match clocking in at 11 hours and 5 minutes spanning over three days. On the first day, the match was suspended on account of darkness and was eventually moved to one of the courts on the periphery of Wimbledon. Three-time Wimbledon champ John McEnroe was present for all 20 of Thursday's games between Isner and Mahut.

This epic matchup broke pretty much every record in the book on the very same day the Queen of England visited Wimbledon for the first time in 33 years.

NBA: The Celtics chose Texas guard Avery Bradley with their first round (19th overall) selection in the 2010 NBA Draft. Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody was selected in the second round- 52nd overall.