Not Another New England Sports Blog!: FIFA

Showing posts with label FIFA. Show all posts

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Don't Cry For Me Argentina Sports Chowdah Update- Germany Bests Gauchos For 4th World Cup Title; Jeter Take A Bow, Yankees Shortstop Goes 2-2 In Final All-Star Appearence.

WORLD CUP- Seems as though this year's FIFA tournament flew right by....not that I'm a huge fan of 'the beautiful game', but that's not to say attractive, scantily clad women with little more than paint representing the colors on the flag of their homeland on their bodies are without merit.

After humiliating host nation Brazil in the semifinals, Germany advanced to face Argentina in the final game of the 2014 World Cup final. Unlike the contest against Brazil, this was a low-scoring affair that went to a scoreless tie after 90 minutes and sending the game into extra time.

However, the only goal of the game would come in the 113th minute as Mario Goetze got one past Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero to give Germany a 1-0 lead- a lead Germany wouldn't relinquish in the remaining time.

The win gives the Germans their first World Cup title in nearly 24 years and their fourth since 1954. To put it in some historic perspective, the last time Germany won the FIFA World Cup, they were listed as 'West Germany'. This is also the 3rd straight World Cup title for a European team with Spain winning it in 2010 and Italy winning the 2006 World Cup.

Interestingly, there was an odd dynamic in play prior to the final where the Brazilian hosts were rooting for the Germans, despite the hugely lopsided 7-1 win over Brazil in the semifinals. While the Germans were most inhospitable on the pitch, the fans and players were reportedly courteous and gracious guests while in Brazil- German midfielder Mesut Ozil used his World Cup earnings to pay for 23 Brazilian children to undergo surgery. On the other hand, Argentina and Brazil are archrivals and Argentine fans reportedly did not miss an opportunity to taunt their Brazilian hosts with chants of "Brazil- how does it feel now that daddy's home?" and boasting that they would take the World Cup back home with them. That turned out not to be the case, although it ended up being a much closer game than the semifinals.

As for the host nation, they managed to get shut out by the Dutch by a 3-0 final during the consolation game. Over the final two games of the tournament, Brazil was outscored by a combined 10-1 and the loss against Germany in the semifinal was the worst since 1920 when they were shut out by Uruguay by a 6-0 final.

MLB ALL STAR GAME- In a mid-summer classic that was light on Red Sox, Derek Jeter and Mike Trout were the ones in the limelight in the Twin Cities as the American League managed to best the National League by a 5-3 final on Tuesday.

Adam Wainwright started out for the National League and promptly gave up a leadoff double to Derek Jeter before Mike Trout belted a triple to bring the Yankees SS home and put the AL up 1-0. After Wainwright got Cano to strike out, he surrendered a homer to Miguel Cabrera to put the AL up 3-0 before getting Nelson Cruz and Jose Bautista out.

However, Jon Lester would come on in the top of the 2nd and after getting Giancarlo Stanton to pop out, he allowed a single to Aramis Ramirez before Chase Utley and Jonathan Lucroy belted back-to-back RBI doubles to make it a 3-2 game. However, Lester was able to escape any further damage by getting Carlos Gomez to pop up in foul territory and getting Andrew McCutchen to fly out to center field.

In the top of the 4th, Chris Sale would come on in relief of Yu Darvish and after getting the first two outs would end up hitting Chase Utley with a pitch before giving up a deep RBI double to LuCroy to tie the contest up at 3-3.

The score remained that way until the 5th when Trout hit a 1-out RBI double with runners on first and second before Jose Altuve hit a sac fly to make it a 5-1 game.

The AL bullpen, which included Koji Uehara, made sure that lead held up as Twins closer Glen Perkins came in and got the last three batters he faced out in the 9th inning.

The American League goes on to win by a 5-3 final, ensuring that whoever wins the AL pennant later on this year will start out with home field advantage in the World Series. In his final All-Star appearance, Derek Jeter went 2-2 and scored a run while Mike Trout went 2-3 with 2 RBI and was named the All Star Game's MVP while Max Scherzer was named the winning pitcher. For the National League, Jonathan LuCroy went 2-2 with 2 RBI.

BOSTON RED SOX- After splitting a 4-game series with the White Sox at Fenway last week, the Red Sox travelled to Houston where they managed to take two out of three from the Astros- including an 11-0 shutout of Houston on the final game before the All Star Break.

Clay Buchholz [4-5; 4.52 ERA] got the start on Sunday's romp in Houston and boasted 12 Ks in a complete game effort that saw him allow only 3 hits. He will get the start again when the Red Sox return to Fenway on Friday night to take on the Kansas City Royals to kick off the second half of the season, who are currently sitting at second place in the AL Central. James Shields [9-5; 3.65 ERA] is expected to start for Kansas City and the game will be televised on NESN with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 ET.

Friday, July 11, 2014

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday, June 27, 2014

Sports Chowdah Update- Twice as Freaky, Giant's Lincecum No-Hits Padres For Second Time Since 2013; Sweepless in Seattle, Red Sox avoid M's Sweep; V is For Vandetta Vanderbilt

MLB- For the second time in less than a year, San Francisco Giants starter Tim Lincecum has thrown a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. The lanky San Francisco starter known as 'The Freak' when he first came up through the Giants organization in 2007 threw a total of 113 pitches and allowed just one baserunner in nine innings of Wednesday's 4-0 win over the Padres. Wednesday afternoon's outing was much more efficient than his career high 148 during the July 13, 2013 no-hitter against the Padres at San Diego's PetCo Park. During his outing, Lincecum struck out 6 batters and allowed just one walk.

Lincecum's no-no was the Giant's fourth no-hitter since 2009- three of them against the Padres. Last season, Lincecum's no-hitter at PetCo Park came less than two weeks after Cincinnati's Homer Bailey threw a no-hitter against the Giants at the Queen City's Great American Ballpark. Interestingly, the Reds- the last team to no-hit San Francisco- are in the city by the Bay this weekend to face the Giants.

With Wednesday's no-hitter, Lincecum became the first Giants pitcher to throw two no-hitters since Christy Matthewson no-hit the Chicago Cubs in 1905. Lincecum also is the first MLB pitcher to no-hit the same team twice since Cleveland's Addie Joss no-hit the Chicago White Sox in 1908 and again in 1910.

RED SOX- Wednesday night also marked the return of Clay Buchholz from his rehab stint in AAA Pawtucket as the Red Sox were looking to avoid the sweep in Seattle.

The Red Sox got off to a promising start early as David Ortiz belted a 2-run homer off of Hisashi Iwakuma in the first inning, but the Mariners would take the lead in the bottom of the 2nd when Kyle Seager belted a solo homer off of Buchholz, followed by a 2-run homer off of Mike Zunino to give Seattle a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the 3rd, Jackie Bradley Jr led off with a double to right center followed by a Brock Holt single that put JBJ on 3rd with nobody out. Bradley then came home on a Nava RBI single to tie the contest while Holt moved to second. Dustin Pedroia then flew out to right field with no advance by the runner before Big Papi beat the shift and hit a single to right, bringing Holt all the way home and once again giving Boston the lead before Iwakuma struck out Gomes and Pierzynski to end the inning.

The Red Sox managed to chase Iwakuma from the mound in the top of the 5th after the Mariners starter gave up back to back singles to Holt and Nava before walking Pedroia to load the bases with nobody out. Tom Wilhelmsen came out of the Seattle bullpen and got Big Papi to hit into a double play, but not before another run crossed the plate for Boston to make it a 5-3 Red Sox lead.

As it turned out, that extra run would come on handy as Brad Miller belted a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the 8th for Seattle and make it a 1-run game. Buchholz would then get Stefen Romero to fly out before Andrew Miller came in from the Red Sox bullpen and got Mariners pinch hitters Willie Bloomquist and Cole Gillespie to strike out.

For the bottom of the 9th, Koji Uehara came out of the Sox bullpen and quickly got Robinson Cano out before allowing a single off the bat of Kyle Seager and then walking Logan Morrison to give the Mariners the potential game-tying run in scoring position with only one away. However, Koji would get Mike Zunino to strike out and then get Dustin Ackley to ground out to first to end the Seattle threat and close out Boston's 4-5 win over the Mariners.

Wednesday night's game closes out a rather lackluster West Coast road trip in which the Red Sox lost three out of four to the Oakland A's in Alameda County and dropped two out of three to Seattle at Safeco Field.

The Red Sox road trip continues on Friday night, albeit much closer to home, when they take on the New York Yankees in the Bronx. Brandon Workman [1-0; 2.88 ERA] is scheduled to get the start against New York's Vidal Nuño [1-4; 5.88 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN and the MLB network.

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES- For the first time in Vanderbilt's 120+ year history, the Commodores can celebrate winning a men's national title in any sport after besting Virginia in the College World Series in Omaha on Wednesday night.

On Monday, the Commodores were seemingly poised to squander a considerable lead and held off the Cavaliers to win Game 1 by a 9-8 final. Virginia evened up the series on Tuesday night with a 7-2 win over Vanderbilt, forcing the deciding Game 3 on Wednesday.

The Commodores got out to a quick 1-0 lead after Virginia catcher Robbie Coman threw a ball into center-field with runners at first and second who were attempting the double steal. Dansby Swanson came home from 3rd while Bryan Reynolds went from 2nd to 3rd on the errant throw.

Virginia managed to tie the game at 2-2 in the 6th inning on a bases loaded grounder to Vandy SS Vince Conde that clanged off his glove and allowed the runners to advance safely. However, Vanderbilt took the lead for good when John Norwood belted a solo homer in the top of the 8th inning just past the 335 sign at Omaha's TD Ameritrade Field. Vanderbilt's Adam Ravenelle came out of the bullpen to close out the game and Vandy's first NCAA baseball title.

FIFA WORLD CUP- Despite losing Thursday afternoon's contest to Germany by a 1-0 final in rainy Recife, Team USA advances out of Group G and will face Belgium on Tuesday July 1. In Pool play, the USA has amassed a 1-1-1 record with a 2-2 draw against Portugal over the weekend. Although Portugal has a similar 1-1-1 record, the USA edged Portugal out by virtue of the goals allowed differential. Portugal's first win of the 2014 FIFA World Cup came on Thursday afternoon in their 2-1 victory over Ghana in the Brazilian capital city of Brasilia- besides the draw against Team USA, the Portuguese were shut out by Germany 4-0 in the first game of the 2014 FIFA tournament.

OTHER WORLD CUP NEWS- Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has been banned from the 2014 World Cup after FIFA determined he intentionally bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay's' 1-0 win over Italy on Tuesday. Suarez left for Uruguay on Thursday after FIFA came down with the ruling.

According to the BBC, this isn't the first incident involving biting that Suarez was involved in. In April 2013, while playing for Liverpool, Suarez was given a 10 game ban for biting Chelsea's Brianaslav Ivanovich's arm during an English premier league match. As captain for Dutch soccer club Ajax in 2010, Suarez received a 7 game suspension for biting the shoulder of PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Hump Day Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Engineer Twin Killing at Fenway; Feat of Clayton, Dodgers Starter Kershaw Throws No-Hitter; Team USA Gets By Ghana in 1st Round of World Cup While Reigning Spain Mainly Plain; Bruins, Thronton Part Ways; Suprred to Action, San Antionio Wins 5th NBA Title

RED SOX- The streak-ey Red Sox followed up Rubby De LaRosa's gem on Monday night with a couple of pitcher's duels at Fenway on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon.

On Tuesday, Jon Lester got run support in the form of a Pedroia RBI single in the 1st and a Bogaerts sac fly in the 3rd [Brock Holt was the runner that crossed the plate both times- NANESB!] and was able to outlast former Yankees starter Phil Hughes in Boston's 2-1 win on Tuesday night.

Wednesday was an afternoon game as the Red Sox were getting ready to leave on a west coast road trip. Twins starter Kyle Gibson confounded the Red Sox bats, ultimately striking out 8 and not allowing a hit until the bottom of the 5th. Lackey pitched nine complete shutout innings, but got no decision in the afternoon contest.

The first RBI of the game came when Twins outfielder Chris Parmalee belted a solo homer in the top of the 10th off of Koji Uehara in the top of the 10th to give the Twins the first lead of this week's series at Fenway.

However, after Minnesota reliever Casey Fein got Dustin Pedroia to fly out for the first out of the bottom of the 10th, David Ortiz managed to tie the contest up 1-1 with a solo homer that wrapped around the Pesky pole.

But the Red Sox weren't done with the extra-inning heroics....not by a longshot. Speaking of long shots, that's exactly what Mike Napoli did with an 0-2 pitch from Casey Stein that didn't come down until it reached the bleacher seats in the triangle behind deep center field. Boston wins by a 2-1 final, sweeping a surprisingly low-scoring series against Minnesota after splitting a 4-game series against Terry Francona's Indians. Despite scoring a combined total five runs over 3 days, the Red Sox are 3-0 this week. Despite allowing an uncharacteristic homer, Koji Uehara was credited with the win on Wednesday and now has a 2-1 record.

Hopefully some of this momentum will carry over to the west coast as the Red Sox will resume play on Thursday night in Oakland. Jake Peavy [1-4; 4.53 ERA] will get the start against Oakland's Scott Kazmir [8-2; 2.05 ERA] with first pitch scheduled for 10:05 ET, 7:05 PT- the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Red Sox starter Brandon Workman has lost an appeal with MLB and will begin serving a 6-game suspension for throwing at Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria last month. Despite Rays pitchers- including starter David Price- hitting three Red Sox batters, no Tampa Bays pitchers have faced any MLB sanction from the May 30 contest.

Also on Wednesday, the Red Sox released outfielder Grady Sizemore outright. In 52 games with Boston this season, Sizemore has struggled- batting .216 with 2 HR and 15 RBI. June has been particularly hard on him as he's lost playing time with the emergence of Brock Holt and has been batting .133 with only 1 RBI in 30 at-bats.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS- There have been only two no hitters in Major League baseball so far this season and both of them belong to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On Wednesday night, Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw struck out 15 in an 8-0 rout of the Colorado Rockies. The only baserunner to reach was outfielder Corey Dickerson who reached on a throwing error by infielder Hanley Ramirez in the 6th inning, costing Kershaw the chance at a perfect game. Still, Kershaw set down the rest of the batters he faced in order.

Earlier in the season, Josh Beckett threw a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 25th. Interesting, Kershaw's no-hitter was the 19th called by Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully throughout his career calling games in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles- this includes no-hitters thrown against LA, the most recent of which was a combined 6-pitcher no-hitter for the Mariners against LA at Safeco field in Seattle in June 2012.

NCAA BASEBALL- The final four teams for the NCAA College world series are almost set as the Texas Longhorns got by the UC Irvine Anteaters by a 1-0 final in Omaha on Wednesday night.

A baserunning error by the Longhorn's Ben Johnson in the 6th inning cost Texas a run. Johnson hit the ball into the left field corner and advanced to 3rd base, but was called out after it was determined he didn't touch first base. Mark Payton then hit a single that would've easily scored Johnson to give them a 1-0 lead, however, the Anteaters ended the Longhorn threat with no runs allowed.

Instead, CJ Hinojosa got Texas on the board with a solo homer in the 7th inning to give Texas the 1-0 lead that held up thanks to the Longhorns relievers. With just the second 1-0 game in the college World Series since 1985 and only the 23rd homer in the CWS since the venue was moved to TD Ameritrade Park from Rosenblatt stadium in 2011, Texas will now advance to face Vanderbilt on Friday.

Meanwhile, Virginia awaits the winner of Thursday nights contest between the TCU Horned Frogs and Ole Miss Running Rebels. First pitch from Omaha is scheduled for 5:00 ET and the game will be televised on ESPN.

FIFA WORLD CUP- We're already a few days into the FIFA World Cup from Brazil and Team USA is off to a good start.

Rookie John Brooks was the difference-maker in Monday's match against Ghana when the substitute scored in the 86th minute to break a 1-1 deadlock. Team USA would go on to win by a 2-1 final, avenging an earlier loss to Ghana's 'Black Stars' from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. After Monday's win, the USA will have nearly a week's rest to go up against Portugal on Sunday from Arena Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil.

For the World Cup, the USA plays in what some have called 'The Pool of Death' which includes Portugal, Ghana and Germany.

Meanwhile, it's all over for defending World Cup champion Spain. They were blown in by the Netherlands in a devastating 5-1 loss to open up the tournament with a rematch of the 2010 title game before being shut out 2-0 by Chile. For a bit of perspective, Spain allowed all of two goals during their 2010 run in South Africa.

NBA FINALS- In a rematch of the 2013 NBA title that saw Miami win it in 7 games against San Antionio, the 2014 edition was nearly all San Antonio. The Spurs closed out the series with a exclamation point, crushing Miami by a 104-87 final in Game 5, and it wasn't even that close.

Forward Kawhi Leonard was named the tournament MVP and the title was head coach Greg Popovich's fifth since starting his tenure in San Antonio in 1996.

NFL- In a ruling from the US Trademark and Patent office this week, the Washington Redskins may lose copyright protection for their name and logo after the Agency's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that the name was disparaging of Native Americans.

The Redskins organization announced that they would appeal the ruling and the team's copyrighted name and logo will still be protected during that time. While a number of Native American groups [including some of the Navajo Code Talkers from WWII- NANESB!] have said they have no issue with the Redskins name, a number of local and federal politicians- including US Senate Majority leader Harry Reid [D- NV] have called upon the organization to change names and threatening legal or legislative action to do so [because all the other problems in America- ESPECIALLY on Indian reservations- have been solved- NANESB!].

Redskins owner Dan Snyder has so far resisted pressure to change the Redskins name and mascot. The team was originally formed in 1932 as the Boston Braves and played at Fenway Park before moving to Washington DC in 1937.

BOSTON BRUINS- The Boston Bruins have decided not to re-sign defenseman Shawn Thornton. The 36 year old became a free agent at the end of the season.

Thornton, who has been with Boston since 2007 has been in two Stanley Cup finals, winning it against Vancouver in 7 games in 2011. However, at the end of the season Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli indicated that the game was moving away from the fisticuffs that Thornton specialized him and that they would make a decision about his future in Boston over the next few weeks. More recently, Thornton received a 15 suspension last season for his beatdown of Pittsburgh Penguins enforcer Brooks Orpik after Thornton blindsided him and dragged him down to the ice.

The announcement allows Thornton to pursue other offers as a free agent and a number of teams would be interested in having a veteran player with his playoff experience on the ice.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Sports Chowdah Update- O No! Sox Come out On Top Thanks To Workman-Like Effort; Kings For More Than A Day, LA Takes Commanding 3-0 Lead in Cup Final; Dulled Chrome, California Chrome Misses Shot at Triple Crown

RED SOX- After a disastrous road trip through the rust belt where they lost five out of six games, the Red Sox were back in the AL East on Monday, facing off against Baltimore at Camden Yards and on the wrong end of a 4-0 shutout.

On a rainy Tuesday night, the Sox looked to reverse their fortunes with Brandon Workman on the mound. Heading into a scoreless 3rd inning, Workman got a bit of run support when Mike Napoli hit a 2-out RBI single that plated Brock Holt. Despite a couple of rain delays, Workman was able to maintain his rhythm and fooled most of the Baltimore batters he faced, not allowing a hit until the 6th inning. Miller, Tazawa and Uehara came out of the bullpen to make Napoli's RBI stand up. Workman goes on to pitch 6⅔ innings of 1-hit ball, allowing one walk and striking out four. Boston goes on to win by a 1-0 final and after losing ten straight, winning seven straight and then losing five straight [going back to May 14th- NANESB!] the Red Sox have won two out of their last three games- although the recent streak has put Boston 9 games out of first place, it still isn't bad enough to put them in the AL East cellar. Currently Toronto leads the AL East and both Baltimore and the Yankees are tied for 2nd place at 5 and a half games.

The series will continue Wednesday night with ex-Dodger Rubby De La Rosa [1-1; 2.84 ERA] going up against Baltimore's Wei Yin Chen [6-2; 4.13 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Former Red Sox manager and one of the last remaining Brooklyn Dodgers Don Zimmer has passed away at the age of 83. Zimmer, who survived a near-fatal beaning in the minor-leagues would go on to play 2nd base for the Brooklyn Dodgers for their only World Series title in Ebbets Field.

Zimmer was teammates with Jackie Robinson for a few seasons and remained with the Dodgers for a year after their move to Los Angeles. Between 1960 and 1965, Zimmer bounced around between the Cubs, Mets, Reds and Senators before playing a single season for the Toei Flyers in Japan. As a player, Zimmer had a career .235 batting average and 91 homers along with 352 RBI.

After his playing days, Zimmer found work as a manager- first for the San Diego Padres and Montreal Expos before landing with the Red Sox between 1974 and 1976. After the Red Sox won the AL Pennant in 1975, an infamous 'Zim' moment was during the wild and chaotic Game 6 of the 1975 World Series was when Boston had the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the 9th with 2B Denny Doyle on 3rd. After a fly ball to shallow left, 3rd base coach Zimmer saw Doyle start to break and shouted "No! No!". Doyle apparently thought Zimmer was shouting "Go! Go!" and continued running towards home plate, only to be cut down by the throw from shallow left. Cincinnati was able to get out of the 9th and force extra innings, setting up Carlton Fisk's legendary and photogenic walk-off homer off a Pat Darcy pitch in the 12th inning.

The Red Sox lost the World Series and the following season, manager Darrel Johnston was fired in July and Zim was named interim manager before the position was more permanent. Although Boston finished flat in 1976, the Red Sox would win 90+ games between 1977-1979. However, this would include the infamous 'Boston Massacre' in which the Yankees trailed the Red Sox by as much as 14 games late in the season only to force a 1-game playoff that was decided by a home run from light-hitting Yankees catcher Bucky Dent.

Zim was also known for his acrimonious relationship with lefty pitcher Bill 'Spaceman' Lee during his time in Boston and reportedly avoided starting him during the infamous 1-game playoff against New York in 1978 despite Lee's winning record against the Bronx Bombers.

After being fired from Boston, Zim spent time coaching or managing with the Rangers, Yankees, Rockies, Cubs, Giants and Rays. In 1999, Zimmer filled in for Yankees then-manager Joe Torre while he was recovering from prostate cancer, going 21-15 during that timeframe. In 2003, Zimmer returned to Fenway as bench coach for the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS. During Game 3, the benches cleared after Manny Ramirez charged the mound after a high and inside pitch from Roger Clemens. Zimmer came out of the dugout and charged Pedro Martinez- Martinez responded by throwing Zimmer to the ground [the TV announcers had initially mistaken the 72 year old Zimmer for Yankees starter David Wells- NANESB!].

With Tampa Bay, Zimmer worked as a senior advisor to the Rays and was a regular fixture around the dugout during Spring Training and home games at Tropicana field. Zimmer also had the distinction of being the last Brooklyn Dodger player who was still in the majors- either as a coach or in the front office. While with the Rays, he wore a uniform that changed numbers each year- the numbers represented the years he had spent in baseball, with his most recent number being 66. In an interview, Zimmer said he prided himself on being able to draw a paycheck his entire life from the game he loved.

STANLEY CUP- Wow- looks like I have some catching up to do.

For starters, no Bruins hockey for the better part of a month after they lost in Game 7 of the eastern conference semifinals to the Canadiens. The Canadiens themselves were bested in 6 games against the New York Rangers while the Los Angeles Kings got past the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks in a roller-coaster 7-game series.

The first two games of the Stanley Cup final got underway at the Staples Center in Los Angeles- in each of those contests, the Kings rallied from behind to tie the game late and force OT with the Kings winning Game 1 by a 3-2 final in OT and Game 2 by a 5-4 final in double OT.

On Monday, the Kings did not need extra-time to take care of the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. With time expiring in the first period, the Kings got on the board with a goal from Jeff Carter to make it 1-0 Los Angeles. This was followed up by goals from Jake Muzzin and Mike Richards in the 2nd to give LA a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead while Jonathan Quick turned aside all 32 shots he faced to secure the Kings' 3-0 win.

After being on the wrong end of a 3-0 lead earlier in the playoffs, the Kings now have a commanding 3-0 lead over the Rangers and can secure their second Stanley Cup championship since 2012 with a win at Madison Square garden on Wednesday night. It's do-or-die for New York as Game 4 gets underway from Madison Square Garden tonight at 8:00 ET and will be televised on NBC Sports and the CBC.

HORSE RACING- After winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, there was all kinds of buzz surrounding California Chrome heading into this weekend's Belmont Stakes. California Chrome was poised to be horse racing's first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

After stumbling out of the gate, Chrome ended up finishing 4th to Tonalist and finishing in a near dead heat with Wicked Strong. A review of the starting gate showed that one of the horses next to him- Matterhorn- accidentally stepped on California Chrome's heel and had a small chunk taken out of it. The defeat led to an on-air post-race tirade from California Chrome's owner Steve Coburn, who referred to Tonalist's owners as 'cowards' and criticized owners who ran their horses in the Belmont Stakes but not the Preakness or Kentucky Derby.

FIFA WORLD CUP- Just days before the 2014 World Cup is set to get underway in Brazil, soccer's international governing body- FIFA- is under scrutiny for their bidding process in which the Middle Eastern emirate of Qatar named the host country of the 2022 World Cup. Qatar beat out competing bids from Australia, Japan, South Korea and the USA.

Since Qatar was announced, there have been allegations of bid-rigging and bribery on the part of FIFA according to the British Sunday Times. The newspaper claims to have been given e-mail correspondence between FIFA delegates and Qatari officials where a reported £3m in payoffs were given.

Qatari soccer official Mohammed Bin Hammam reportedly gave money and gifts to African members of the FIFA delegation to influence the governing body's votes and paid more than €300,000 to a Tahtian FIFA official who was caught in a Sunday Times sting soliciting money in support for a bid from people posing as American FIFA delegates.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Up All Night Sports Chowdah Update: Sweet 16- Sox Score Late, But Not Often; Ain't that a Kick in the Head? Japan Rallies Late

RED SOX: It took awhile, but the Red Sox managed to push a run across home plate in Tampa Bay on ~~Sunday night's~~ Monday mornings game at Tampa Bay to win their first series coming out of the all-star break.

The last time Josh Beckett started at Tropicana field, all eyes in Boston were elsewhere watching the Bruins in Vancouver for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. They missed a gem, too, with Beckett allowing one hit in a complete game shutout of the Rays.

Of course, Beckett had some run support last time around. On Sunday night, he allowed one hit over eight shutout innings and striking out six. Tampa's Jeff Neimann had similar sucess against Boston batters, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out 10 batters, so it was no surprise that the game would head to extra innings.

Frustratingly, the Red Sox left the bases loaded in the top of the 9th and 11th innings while Tampa was able to get a couple of speedy leadoff runners on in extra innings, only to leave them stranded as well.

Heading into the top of the 16th inning, it looked as though it would amount to nothing more than another blow opportunity as Josh Reddick led off the inning with a walk and got as far as third after Varitek got him over to second on a sac bunt and then to 3rd after Marco Scutaro reached on what was ruled a single. However, Ellsbury flew out to shallow left- to shallow to bring home Reddick.

With 2 away, Dustin Pedroia finally managed to beak the scoreless deadlock with an RBI single to right field before Adrian Gonzalez gave the ball a ride to deep right for the 3rd and final out. Papelbon came on for a 1-2-3 bottom of the ~~ninth~~ sixteenth to nail down the 1-0 win. Alfredo Aceves went 3 innings and struck out two (although he hit back to back batters in the bottom of the 15th) for the win.

Monday night's game is set to get underway at Camden Yards and will have Tim Wakefield (5-3; 4.74 ERA) starting against Baltimore's Brad Bergesen (1-6; 5.65 ERA) at 7:05 PM ET.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS:David Ortiz will begin a 3-game suspension on Monday night after last week's whiff-tastic brawl with Baltimore pitcher Kevin Gregg at Fenway Park. Both Ortiz and Gregg were initially suspended for four games, but each of them had one game shaved off after their appeals and will begin their respective suspensions on Monday in time for the 3-game series between Baltimore and Boston.

Carl Crawford is expected to return from the DL for Monday night's game against the O's as well.

WORLD CUP: Japan rallied late twice against Team USA- including a goal in the 117th minute by Homare Sawa in Sunday's World Cup final on Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany to force the match to be settled by penalty kicks.

Japan goaltender Ayumi Kaihori made in impressive quasi-bicycle kick-save on the first penalty shot she faced and a two handed save on the next, Team USA missed on Cali Lloyd's attempt- altho Abby Wambach was able to bury her attempt. However, Saki Kumagi was able to beat hope-solo for the tournament-deciding shot and the win to the Japanese.

Tournaments like these aren't always about what country 'deserves' the championship, but in light of recent events in Japan, I'd say Japan certainly could use a transcendent, unifying moment like this to boost their morale after the 1-2 punch dealt by mother nature and Marie Curie in March

Thursday, July 14, 2011

M-O-O-N, That Spells Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Cap 4-Game Sweep of O's; Jeter Becomes Baseball's Latest Mr 3000, USA Women Advance to World Cup Final

Parting contestants on Sox Appeal will recieve these 2011 American League All-Star Jerseys from Russel Athletic- AP Photo

RED SOX: Boston headed into the All Star break with a 1-game lead over the Yankees after finishing up a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in a 4-game series that could be described as confrontational.

A source of concern given his last couple of starts, John Lackey threw 6⅔ innings of shutout baseball on Saturday's 4-0 win against Baltimore. Sunday's game wasn't quite the same story, with PawSox callup Kyle Weiland only lasting 4 innings and giving up 6 runs in the top of the 2nd. The Sox were able to surge ahead and win by an 8-6 final for the final game of the first half.

Although the Red Sox have yet to play a game in the second half, they made some headlines today when MLB handed down four game suspensions to both David Ortiz and Kevin Gregg for their brawl (or attempted brawl) Friday night. The league also handed down one game suspensions to O's Pitcher Mike Gonzalez and manager Buck Showalter after the pitcher threw at Ortiz on Sunday's game. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and John Lackey also recieved fines for their role when the benches cleared Friday night.

No word yet on whether Gregg or Ortiz plan on appealing their suspensions.

On a side note, the Red Sox have yet to play an inning in the second half of the 2011 season, but have already gained an additional half game on the Yankees after the Blue Jays thumped the Bronx Bombers by a 16-7 final at the Rogers Centre Thursday night. MLB network is reporting that this is the most number of runs scored in Blue Jays history without hitting a home run.

ALL STAR GAME: The All Star festitivities in Phoenix got underway with the Yankee's Robinson Cano besting Boston's Adiran Gonzalez in the Home Run Derby on Monday.

On Tuesday night, Gonzalez would provide the AL with their only run on the evening with a solo shot off of Philly's Cliff Lee in the top of the 4th inning to briefly put the AL on top 1-0. Beckett never made his scheduled appearence after being scratched from the midsummer classic after experienceing lingering soreness in his knee.

The NL would take the lead for good in the bottom of the 4th thanks to a 3-run shot off the bat of Milwaukee's Prince Fielder (who could very well have out Brian Wilson-ed Brian Wilson in the facial hair category). The NL would go on to win by a final of 5-1 and secure home field advantage for the World Series this year.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Between the weather and the matchup against Tampa Bay, I was having my doubts whether or not it would happen before the All-Star break, but Yankees captain Derek Jeter had reached the 3000 hit milestone. Firday night's game in the Bronx was rained out and wouldn't be made up until September and there was some doubts that the weather would hold for Saturday's game. However, the weather cooperated and Jeter was batting leadoff, getting hit #2999 in the bottom of the first.

Hit #3000 would come in the form of a game-tying solo homer in the bottom of the 3rd, making Jeter the first Yankees player to reach the 3000 hits milestone [kind of surprising, given the Hall of Famers that have put on pinstripes in the past- NANESB!]. Jeter went 5 for 5 with 2 RBI on the day in New York's 5-4 win over Tampa.

Heading into the All-Star Break, the Yankees captain surpassed the late Roberto Clemente for career hits and is closing in on Detroit's Al Kaline and his mark of 3007.

A rather disturbing side note to all this (which the NY media is treating as rather whimsical) is that the fan who caught Jeter's 3000th hit ball might have the IRS after him now that the Yankees have lavished luxury box seats and autographed memorobilia on him in exchange for the ball.

Yankees fan Christian Lopez, a 23 year old Verizon salesman from Highland Mills, NY was willing to return the ball to the team for free, but the Yankees decided to treat him and his family to luxury box seats for the remaining home games this season as well as autographed bats, balls and jerseys- all with an estimated value in excess of $30,000. While the Jeter ball would've easily fetched six figures on the open market, some say the IRS may view the seats given to Lopez as income, citing contestants on The Price is Right being taxed for some of their prizes as precedent [which makes no sense- there's some reasonable expectation you could walk away from a game show with thousands of dollars. No so much an afternoon at the ballpark. Trust me- NANESB!]

FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP- What did I miss? Just about everything, it turns out. The USA Women's team has been doing quite well in the FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany this week (minus vuvuzelas, hopefully). The USA's Alex Kreiger helped the USA advance past Brazil in the quarterfinals in the penalty shot phase of the game to break a 2-2 deadlock on Saturday.

On Wednesday, they knocked out France in the semifinals by a 3-1 final. The win earns them a trip to the finals where they take on Japan for the title, after the Japanese team downed Sweden- also by a 3-1 margin- to advance.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Weeknight Sports Chowdah Helping- 8 Is Enough For B's; Blocked Kicks Be-Devil #23 Arizona; Cubs Legend Santo Passes Away; Mind in the Qatar

NHL: He's baaaaaack!

A day after blanking the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 on the road, the Bruins returned to the TD Banknorth Garden to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. And on Thursday night, they had Marc Savard back in the lineup for the first time in 23 games.

But Savard's return was almost an afterthought as the Bruins simply demolished the Lightning by an 8-1 final. Lightning netminder Mike Smith was pulled after allowing five goals on 21 shots faced and replaced with Dan Ellis- who allowed 3 goals in 10 shots faced.

Victor Headman got the only goal of the night from Tampa and Tampa's Steven Stamkos- tied with Sidney Crosby for the most NHL goals- was scoreless in his 4th straight game.

David Krejci opened the scoring at about the 11 minute mark of the first and had two goals and an assist on the night. Perhaps surprisingly given the high score, there were no hat tricks on the night. Dennis Seidenberg, Milan Lucic, Shawn Thornton, Blake Wheeler, Mark Recchi and Michael Ryder also had goals in Thursday night's rout. Tim Thomas even notched an assist while turning away 37 of the 38 shots he faced.

The Bruins will head north next to take on the last-place Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

OTHER NHL NEWS: Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano is reportedly in talks with Pennsylvania businessman Terry Pegula regarding the sale of the team. Golisano founded payroll processing company Paychex [NASDAQ: PAYX] in the early 1970s and acquired the Sabres in 2003. In May of 2009, Golisano announced that he would be moving to Florida to escape New York's high taxes.

NFL: Love or hate him, the revival of Michael Vick's NFL career continued on Thursday night's game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans.

Vick went 22 for 33 in passing with two TD's, along with a rushing TD and another 40 yards rushing in Philly's 34-24 home win over the Houston Texans. Although they trailed at halftime by a 20-10 margin, the Texans would pick up some momentum and take a 24-20 lead in the 4th before Vick rushed for one TD and found Owen Schmitt for an insurance TD with just over 4 minutes left in the 4th.

The win gives the Eagles an 8-4 record and puts Philly in sole possession of 1st place in the NFC East at the moment.

NCAA FOOTBALL: I did manage to tune in for this one, believe it or not. Although leading for awhile, the Arizona State Sun Devils were kept out of the end zone until well into the 4th quarter.

After taking a 6-0 lead into halftime, the Sun Devils trailed on the Arizona Wildcats first touchdown of the game and the 3rd quarter would close out with Arizona up 14-6 although the Sun Devils would cap off another drive with a FG to open up the 4th. Taking advantage of a Wildcats turnover mid field, the Sun Devils marched down the shortened field on a five and a half minute drive for their first TD of the game- and a successful 2 point conversion made it a 17-14 Sun Devils lead.

With 7 minutes left in the 4th, the Wildcats would turn it over again, this time failing to convert on a 4th and 1 at their own 29 yard line. However, they did manage to keep the Sun Devils out of the end zone. Arizona State had to settle for yet another Thomas Weber FG to put them up 20-14. The Wildcats would get the ball back with just under 3 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter and start off in good field position thanks to a 43 yard return from Travis Cobb. Arizona QB Nick Foles would then make a series of quick passes for gains of anywhere from five to 15 yards before scoring the game-tying TD with 33 seconds remaining in regulation, but Wildcats kicker Alex Zendejas missed the point after attempt, leaving the game tied at 20-20 and forcing overtime.

For the first overtime, the Wildcats and Sun Devils would trade field goals. Arizona State would lead off the 2nd OT with only their 2nd touchdown of the night, and while the Wildcats would respond in kind, Zendejas would miss the point after attempt for the 2nd time. Sun Devils win in double OT by the final of 30-29 and Airzona State is now bowl-eligible.

All in all, not bad for a Thursday night game. Slow start, but very interesting 4th quarter that I was able to catch thanks in large part to XM radio and ESPN3.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: The first official Bowl matchup of the 2010-2011 Bowl season has been announced, with the Navy Midshipmen taking on the San Diego State University Aztecs in the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl on December 23rd 2010. Since Qualcomm stadium is not even a few miles from the SDSU Campus and there are several Naval bases in and around the city of San Diego, this would almost be like having TWO home teams going head-to-head.

NBA: Ray Allen went 1-6 from 3 point territory on Wednesday night, but nailed one with 10 seconds left in regulation as the Celtics nearly squandered a 96-80 lead in the 4th quarter against the Trailblazers and hung on to win 99-95. Basically, that was a third of Allen's scoring on the night, since he went 3-12 and was held to just 9 points- still, timing is everything.

Paul Pierce led the scoring on the night with 28 points- including going 4 for 5 from 3 point range- for Boston's 5th win in a row.

The C's will play host to the Chicago Bulls next on Friday night.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NBA: Well....so much for LeBron James' much ballyhooed return to Cleveland. The flagging Miami Heat rebounded big time in their stopover at Quicken Loans arena on Thursday night, with ex-Cav James getting 38 points on the night. This one wasn't even close, with the Heat running away with it by a final of 118-90.

MLB: WGN Radio in Chicago is reporting that former Cubs 3rd baseman and current broadcaster Ron Santo has passed away at the age of 70. Starting in 1960, Santo played 14 seasons in Chicago and had a career .277 batting average with 342 home runs.

He began his broadcast career with the Cubs in 1990 and was an unabashed homer who would draw a following because of his emotion and enthusiasm rather than a polished or matter-of-fact broadcast style. In 1971, Santo revaled that he suffered from type 1 diabetes and by 2002, he had to have both legs amputated

WORLD CUP SOCCER: The small Persian Gulf state of Qatar was announced as the surprise winner for hosting the 2022 World Cup Tournament by FIFA- the sport's governing body- beating out the USA, Japan, Australia and South Korea.

Qatar would be the first Muslim country to host a World Cup tournament and the tiny emirate has pledged to undertake around $50 billion in infrastructure improvements leading up to the tournament.

OK....a couple of things. What exactly are the laws in Qatar regarding alcohol consumption? Also- Do you see these young women?

Are they going to have to cover up in accordance with Islamic law in some countries? Because if so, FIFA might as well have just shot themselves in the foot (both feet if Qatar plans on being 'dry' through 2022). It literally has taken alluring and sultry Latinas to coax me to even feign an interest in soccer long enough to humor them, and if the female fans are now required by the host country to dress up like Bedouin tents, then what exactly is the point? If I were so inclined, I might as well take in a 2022 World Cup game in front a jumbo public TV screen in Buenos Aires, rubbing elbows with Porteñas clad in powder blue and white paint and not much else. And I suspect there will be more than a few actual fans of the game asking themselves the same question and coming to the same conclusion.

I know not every country in the Gulf reigon is as strict as Saudi Arabia, but this still begs the question regarding exactly how strict the rules are in Qatar.

[Hat tip to Marty McFly and Centaur of C2 for the updates of the Sabres and Ron Santo, respectively]

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Uganda Plays Host to African Union Summit 2 Weeks After Bombings

Uganda's president called for stepped up efforts by African Union forces against Somalia's al-Shabaab militia during the AU summit in Kampala. The summit takes place less than two weeks after twin suicide bombings targeting an Ethiopian restaurant and a rugby club in Uganda's capital killed 76 people, most of them gathered to watch the championship game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Investigators found an undetonated explosive vest in the trash outside a nightclub, indicating a there was an attempted attack on a third location in Kampala.

Somalia's so-backwards-it-would-be-comical-if-they-didn't-have-RPGs Al Shabaab militia claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in retaliation for Uganda's participation with the AU peacekeeping force stationed in Somalia.

The lone American fatality was identified by the State Department as 25 year old University of Delaware graduate Nate Henn, who was active in the Invisible Children project. The project documents the use of child soldiers forcibly conscripted by rebels in northern Uganda during the ongoing civil war there while raising money for schools and job-training programs.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

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

It's over.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday, June 24, 2010

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.