Sports Chowdah Update- Fifty 28 Shades of Gray, Patriots Romp at Indy; Bruins Shake the Blues at the Garden; Hurricane Warnings and High Tides, Mississipi State Falls to Alabama while Florida State Surges against Miami

NFL- November has proven to be a pretty good month for New England so far, with the Patriots bookending their bye week with convincing wins over division leaders.

The first weekend in November has the Patriots hosting Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, and the outcome was far less dramatic than the last time Denver came to Foxborough. This time around, the team with the big first half lead managed to hang on to it as New England rolled to a 43-21 win against the Broncos.

Coming out of the bye week, New England faced an equally important test against another AFC division leader as the Patriots travelled to Indianapolis to take on Peyton Manning's former team, the Colts.

Right off the bat, congratulations to those of you who happened to start RB Jonas Gray on your fantasy team on Sunday. RB Jonas Gray out of Notre Dame, who had moved from the practice squad to the starting roster less than a month ago, opened the scoring with a 4 yard TD run in the first to give New England the early 7-0 lead. The Colts quickly came back with a drive of their own that put them in the Patriot's red zone, but they had to settle for a chip shot FG off the leg of Adam Vinatieri to make it 7-3.

Late in the second quarter, Gray found the end zone once again to put the Patriots up on top 14-3 before Andrew Luck led a quick counterattack to put the Colts within 4 points after hitting paydirt on a 10 yard reception by WR Hakeem Nicks with 55 seconds to go in the first half, making it a 14-10 New England lead.

However, during the opening drive of the second half the Patriots started pulling away, thanks to the first Pats TD of the night to someone NOT named Jonas Gray when Brady found TE Tim Wright for a short TD pass to go up 21-10. On the following possession, the Colts would only get as far as the Patriots 35 yards line, but they were able to convert that to points thanks to a successfully 53 yard FG attempt by ex-Patriot Vinatieri. With 3:30 to go in the third, the Patriots made it a 28-13 game thanks once again to Jonas Gray who successfully punched it in from the 2 yard line.

The Colts showed some signs of life late in the 3rd when they made their way down to the Patriots 4 yard line before the game clock flipped over to the 4th quarter. Luck connected with OT Anthony Costanzo to make it a one score game with the Patriots now leading 20-28. However, not only did the Patriots manage to score another TD thanks to an 80 yard drive capped by yet another Gray TD, but they were able to bleed nearly 5 minutes off the clock, putting New England up 35-20 with just under 9 minutes to go in the game. With the clock ticking, Andrew Luck and the Colts offense were pressured to go for it on a 4th and 12 at midfield, but Luck threw the ball incomplete, giving the Patriots an even shorter field to work with and less than 7 minutes to go in the game. The Patriots essentially put the game away on a 26 yard reception and TD from Brady to Gronkowski where he was shedding tacklers like a maple sheds its leaves this time of year- this comes AFTER destroying former teammate and Colts safety Sergio Brown by blocking him into an NBC camera trolley along the sideline.

New England goes on to an pretty easy-looking 42-20 win on Sunday Night Football and will next host the Detroit Lions [who, interestingly, aren't playing on thanksgiving- NANESB!]. Interestingly, this may be the first time ever that the Patriots and Lions have ever played each other when both teams were leading their respective divisions.

OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS- After being released by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, free agent RB and former Patriot LeGarrette Blount signed a two year deal with New England on Thursday. Blount was released by the Steelers less than 24 hours after the Steelers 27-24 Monday Night Football win over the Tennessee Titans after complaining about getting no carries in the game.

Although some sportswriters believed the Pats had their eyes toward the future when bringing Blount back [Ridley is currently on the DL and Shane Vereen is a free agent at the end of the season- NANESB!] that became more apparent when Jonas Gray missed practice on Friday. Something similar happened last month when CB Darrelle Revis missed practice last month, but he ultimately ended up playing in the Oct 26th win against the Bears.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AFC EAST- Sunday afternoon's game between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets has been postponed and is rescheduled to be played at Detroit's Ford Field on Monday night. Over the last few days, the Buffalo area had been hit by a series of winter storms with accumulation up to six feet in many areas.

Initially, the Bills were optimistic that they could get the stadium ready in time for Sunday's game and were offering fans $10 and hour and free game tickets to assist in shoveling out the stadium. However, the snowfall clogged the surrounding highways to the point where some players were arriving at Ralph Wilson stadium via snowmobile and the forecast is calling for even more snowfall between now and Sunday.

Kickoff is scheduled for Monday at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised locally in both the Buffalo and New York City markets on CBS.

NHL- After a pretty disappointing week that saw the Olde Towne Team lose big to Original Six rivals Montreal and Toronto, the Bruins seemed like they found their rhythm once again after returning to the Garden and doubling up the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 over the weekend.

The win in Tuesday night's home game against the visiting Blues was made all the more strange by the fact that the Blues outshot Boston by nearly a 2:1 margin- 33-17, but Tukka Rask was able to record the shutout while Patrice Bergeron scored in the first and Torey Krug scored in the 3rd [both even-handed- NANESB!] to make it a 2-0 Bruins win.

Boston will travel to Columbus for a 1-game road trip on Friday before retuning home to the Garden on Saturday to host the Canadiens. That game will get underway at 4:00 and will be televised on both NESN, CBC and the NHL Network.

NCAA FOOTBALL- And then there was only one- at least in the "Power Five" conferences.

The Alabama Crimson Tide shook things up in the BCS and put themselves back in the championship hunt after beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa, AL by a 25-20 final on Saturday. Both 'Bama and Mississippi State now sport similar 9-1 records, with Bama holding the edge thanks to their head-to-head record against Mississippi State. The win propels the Crimson Tide to #2 in the Nation while Mississippi State falls to number four.

This weekend, Alabama has a fairly easy contest against FCS Western Carolina at Tuscaloosa before the Iron Bowl against Auburn at the end of the month while the rest of Mississippi State's games are against the SEC with Vanderbilt this weekend and the rivalry game at Ole Miss at the end of the month at Oxford, MS. There is also the matter of the SEC championship game- since Bama and Mississippi State are both in the SEC East division, one of them would go on to face the leader of the SEC west [which could be either Georgia or Missouri if the standings hold up over the next two weeks- NANESB!].

ELSEWHERE IN THE NCAA- Despite trailing most of the game against in-state rival Miami, the Florida State Seminoles pulled out a late win to continue their undefeated season. The 'Noles pulled ahead for good with just over 4 minutes to go in the 4th quarter when Freshman RB Dalvin Cook ran 26 yards for the go-ahead TD. FSU holds in to its top ranking by going on to beat Miami by a 30-26 final.

Florida State will finish off their regular season hosting Boston College, followed by the Florida Gators for Rivalry week and a showdown with #18 Georgia Tech for the ACC Title Game on Dec 6th.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- After getting out to a 13-3 lead over the Louisville Cardinals, the Boston College Eagles gave up five unanswered touchdowns to Louisville and would go on to lose by a 38-19 final in Chestnut Hill two weeks ago. After a week off, the Eagles now face a monumental challenge when they travel to Tallahassee to take on #1 Florida State this weekend. The Eagles regular season wraps up with a Rivalry Week contest against Syracuse at Chestnut Hill on Nov 29th.

Qucikie Sports Chowdah Update- BC Kicks Off Season With Bay State Battle; Johnny Gone Lately- Post Manziel Aggies Run Roughshod Over Gamecocks;

NCAA FOOTBALL- And just like that, the college football season is upon us [Yay!- NANESB!].

Thursday night marked the beginning of the first season in which the champions of college football will be decided by a playoff format instead of polls and sportswriters.

This also marked Texas A&M's first game since quarterback Johnny Manziel was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft earlier this year. Texas A&M started off the season ranked #21 and faced #9 South Carolina on the road in Columbia, SC on Thursday night.

Coming into the season opener, the Gamecocks could boast 18 consecutive home wins- the longest active streak on Division 1 Football. Aggies fans worried about A&M football post Johnny Manziel had to like what they saw from sophomore QB Kenny Hill, who had Texas A&M up over the Gamecocks 31-14 at halftime. In the second half, South Carolina had no answers for Hill who would go on to throw for 511 yards and complete 44 of 60 pass attempts and three TDs as the Aggies blew South Carolina out of the water by a 52-28 final. According to the USC press guide- which keeps records as far back as 1962- the previous record for passing yards allowed by the Gamecocks was 485 prior to Thursday night.

ACC- The 2014 Boston College Eagles football season got underway on Saturday with an all-Massachusetts melee, travelling to Gillette stadium to take on the UMass Minutemen.

After a scoreless first quarter, BC took a 6-0 lead on field goals from Alex Howell and Joey Launceford. After halftime, the Eagles managed to pad their lead thanks to a running TD from RB Myles Willis followed by a rushing TD from QB Tyler Murphy to make it a 20-0 game before UMass got on the board with 2:28 to go in the 3rd with a TD pass from QB Blake Frohnapfel to Tajae Sharpe.

However, in the 4th, the Eagles would put the game out of reach with a 43 yard TD completion from Murphy to WR Josh Bordner to open up the quarter and Launceford capped the BC scoring with a 21 yard FG to make it a 30-7 final.

Although Saturday's game took place about 40 miles from Chestnut Hill, the home opener for the Eagles will take place on Friday, September 5th when they host the Pitt Panthers.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- Defending national champions Florida State travelled to Texas on Saturday night to take on Oklahoma State. The Seminoles were ranked #1 heading into Saturday night's game and were able to get by a very game Cowboys [currently unranked- NANESB!] by a 37-31 final. 2013 Heisman trophy winning QB Jameis Winston went 25 for 40 with 370 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE- The Brigham Young Cougars managed to spoil the UConn Huskies home opener and debut of new head coach Bob Diaco on Friday. Thanks to four TD passes from BYU QB Taysom Hill, the Cougars cruised to an early lead and led UConn 28-7 at the half. BYU would go on to win by a 35-19 final at East Hartford.

UConn's homestand at E. Hartford will continue for the next two weeks as they host Stony Brook and Boise State [in that order- NANESB]. Both games are scheduled for a 12:00 PM ET kickoff.

BIG 12- Defending Big 12 Champions Baylor kicked off the 2014 and debut of their new stadium in Waco, TX in style with a convincing win over Southern Methodist University on Sunday night. With former president George W Bush and Heisman winner and Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III in attendance, the #10 ranked Baylor Bears routed the SMU Mustangs at newly-completed McClane Stadium by a 45-0 final. Bears starting QB Bryce Petty went 13-23 with 161 yards and 2 TDs before leaving Sunday night's game at halftime and being replaced by Seth Russell who also went 13-23 with 124 yards, a TD and an interception.

NFL- Just a quick reminder that the NFL season gets underway on Thursday, September 4th. The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks will host the Green Bay Packers with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 PM ET on Thursday night- the game will be televised on NBC.

The Patriots will open up the 2014 season on the road in Miami on Sunday- that game is scheduled to kick off a 1:00 ET and will be broadcast on CBS.

PATRIOTS- The New England Patriots sent backup QB Ryan Mallet to the Houston Texans in exchange for a conditional 7th round draft pick in the 2016 NFL draft. Earlier in the week, new England traded G Logan Mankins to Tampa Bay in return for TE Tim Wright and a 4th round draft pick in the 2015 NFL draft.

BOSTON RED SOX- After the shock of trading Lester [and most of the starting rotation from the 2013 World Series team- NANESB!] away wore off, the Sox had a pretty decent road trip to the Midwest and West Coast where they took two out of three from the Angels and swept the Cincinnati Reds during a brief two-game series at the Great American ballpark.

However, the disastrous homestand that took place once the Sox returned to Fenway was enough to make even the most die-hard and optimistic Sox fan write off the 2014 season as auditioning for the 2015 season. The series began with a split of the 4-game series with the Houston Astros before going 0-7 against the Angels and Mariners.

Boston bounced back somewhat on the road in the AL East, with the Sox taking two out of three from the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre before heading to Tampa Bay. The Red Sox won the Friday night series opener before being shut out in Saturday night's game by a 7-0.

On Sunday, Boston bounced back nicely by shutting out the Rays by a 3-0 final thanks to a complete game 3-hit shutout by Clay Buchholz. Clay struck out six batters and walked none while getting run support in the form of RBI singles from Christian Vazquez, Mookie Betts and Big Papi throughout the game.

After Boston took two out of three from the Rays over the weekend, Tampa is hoping to salvage a split on Labor Day. To that end, they'll send Drew Smyly [9-10; 3.31 ERA] to the mound to face off against Rubby de LaRosa [4-5; 3.81 ERA]. First pitch for this Labor Day game is scheduled for 1:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia may be missing at least a week after suffering from 'concussion-like symptoms' after a collision with Logan Forsyth during Saturday's 7-0 loss. With the rosters expanding on September 1, the Red Sox may not even have to put Pedroia on the DL although if it is a concussion, he will probably miss at least a week's playing time.

EVEN MORE RED SOX NEWS- The Red Sox and Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo have agreed to terms on a 7 year, $72.5 million contract last week. The sought-after Cuban defector became eligible after obtaining his US P-1A work visa and arrived at the team's Ft Meyers facility last Wednesday to begin workouts.

Although the regular season for the Red Sox minor-league affiliates is nearly over, Castillo may end up seeing time in the playoffs for the Ft Meyers Red Sox in the Gulf Coast League or the Portland Sea Dogs of the AA Eastern League or Pawtucket Red Sox of the AAA International League.

Wild Card Weekend (and then some) Sports Chowdah Update- 'Nole and Void, Late FSU Drive Caps BCS Title Game; Wild Wild NFL Wild Card Weekend Sets Up Some Familiar Opponents

Without a doubt, the football gods have certainly been smiling down on both the NFL and NCAA over the last couple of weeks. When I wasn't travelling for the holidays, I was doing my best to watch some of these instant classics.

Chris Carlson- AP Photo

NCAA FOOTBALL- This was supposed to be the final year of the BCS format, and if you're a fan of the game you couldn't have asked for a much better finish than the BCS Championship game from Pasadena's Rose Bowl on Monday night.


The title game pitted SEC's Auburn Tigers- no stranger to unlikely late-game heroics- against ACC Champion Florida State and Heisman winning freshman QB Jameis Winston. The Seminoles got on the board first with a 35 yard FG from Roberto Aguayo five minutes into the first quarter before Auburn responded with a drive that was capped by a 12 yard TD pass from QB Nick Marshall to RB Tre Mason with three and a half minutes to go in the first, making it 7-3.


The Tigers would score two more TDs in the second quarter to give Auburn a 21-3 lead before the Seminoles found the end zone for the first time thanks to a 3 yard rushing TD from 'Noles RB Devonta Freeman to make it 21-10 Auburn with less than two minutes in the half.


The 3rd quarter was pretty uneventful, with the 'Noles chipping away at the Auburn lead thanks to another Aguayo FG, making it 13-21 Auburn. This merely set the stage for a wild 4th quarter as Jameis Winston connected with Chad Abram on the 'Noles opening drive to put Florida State within one. Nursing a 21-20 lead and with the momentum starting to swing FSU's way, the Tigers had to settle for a chip shot FG from Cody Parkey after getting as far as the Seminoles 6 yard line with just over 5 minutes remaining, expanding the Auburn lead to 24-20.
That Auburn lead quickly went by the wayside on the ensuing kickoff when Levonte Whitfield went the distance- returning the kickoff 100 yards to give the Seminoles their first lead since the first quarter, 27-24.

Starting out on their own 25 with four and a half minutes to go, the Tigers were able to march down the field to FSU's 37 before Tre Mason was able to break free for a 37 yard TD run on 2nd and 15.

The good news for Auburn was that they were back out on top 31-27. The bad news was that there was still a minute and nineteen seconds to go for Winston and FSU to take the lead. After getting the ball back on their own 20, Jameis Winston connected with WR Rashad Greene for 49 yards, giving FSU the ball on the Tigers 23 with 1:05 left. A pass interference call on Auburn gave FSU the ball at the Tigers own 2 yard line. With 21 seconds to go, Winston connected to WR Kelvin Benjamin to put FSU back on top by 34-31.


There would be no last second heroics for Auburn as FSU's kickoff was returned to the Tigers 17 as Auburn lateraled the ball with before the game ended. Florida State breaks the SEC's winning streak in the FBS by going on to win by a 34-31 final. The last time a non-SEC team won the FBS title game was the Texas Longhorns in 2006.


This also marked the last game of the current BCS format before it goes to a playoff format in which the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl act as a semifinal in which the winners will advance to a BCS title game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- Here are the finals from the other bowl games:

Gildan New Mexico Bowl-
Washington State 45 Colorado State 48

Las Vegas Bowl-
Fresno State 20 USC 45

Idaho Potato Bowl-
San Diego State 49 Buffalo 24

R+L Carrier New Orleans Bowl-
Tulane 21 LA-Lafayette 24

Beef O'Brady's Bowl-
Ohio 20 East Carolina 37

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl-
Boise St 23 Oregon St 38

Little Caesar's Bowl-
Pitt 30 Bowling Green 27

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl-
Utah State 21 Northern Illinois 14

Military Bowl-
Marshall 31 Maryland 20

Texas Bowl-
Syracuse 21 Minnesota 17

Fight Hunger Bowl-
BYU 16 Washington 31

New Era Pinstripe Bowl-
Rutgers 16 Notre Dame 29

Belk Bowl-
Cincinnati 17 North Carolina 39

Russell Athletic Bowl-
Miami (FL) 9 Louisville 36

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl-
Michigan 14 Kansas State 31

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl-
Middle Tennessee 6 Navy 24

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl-
Mississippi 25 Georgia Tech 17

Valero Alamo Bowl-
Oregon 30 Texas 7

National University Holiday Bowl-
Arizona State 23 Texas Tech 37

Advocare V-100 Bowl-
Arizona 42 Boston College 19

Hyundai Sun Bowl-
Virginia Tech 12 UCLA 42

Auto Zone Liberty Bowl
Rice 7 Mississippi State 44

Chick Fil A Bowl-
Duke 48 Texas A&M 52

Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl-
Nebraska 24 Georgia 19

Heart of Dallas Bowl-
UNLV 14 North Texas 36

Capital One Bowl-
Wisconsin 24 South Carolina 34

Outback Bowl-
Iowa 14 LSU 21

Rose Bowl-
Stanford 20 Michigan State 24

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl-
Central Florida 52 Baylor 42

Allstate Sugar Bowl-
Oklahoma 45 Alabama 31

AT&T Cotton Bowl-
Oklahoma State 31 Missouri 41

FedEx Orange Bowl-
Clemson 40 Ohio State 35

BBVA Compass Bowl-
Houston 24 Vanderbilt 41

GoDaddy.com Bowl
Ball State 20 Arkansas State 23

PENN STATE- Former Nittany Lions head football coach Bill O'Brien announced that he would be leaving Penn State to fill the head coaching vacancy with the Houston Texans. O'Brien, Penn State's first new head coach since 1966, took over from the late Joe Paterno amid allegations his successor and Penn State officials attempted to cover up sexual abuse committed by former offensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky between the late 1990s and 2009.

Under O'Brien, the Nittany Lions went 14-10- including 8-8 against Big Ten opponents- over the last two seasons. O'Brien fills the head coaching vacancy left in Houston when the Texans fired Gary Kubiak in December. After winning their first two games of the 2013 season, the Texans would go on to lose 14 consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Penn State officials are reportedly set to announce Vanderbilt's James Franklin as their new football head coach over the weekend.

Elise Amendola- AP

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- As far as both week 17 and the first round of the playoffs went, the NFL couldn't have asked for much more than what took place.

The Patriots came into week 17 after a satisfying 41-7 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, essentially knocking Baltimore from playoff contention before wrapping up the regular season with a home game against the Buffalo Bills. With New England clinching a playoff berth by winning the AFC East, all that was left to play for on Dec 29th was a first round bye.

New England would go on to beat Buffalo by a 34-20 final in a rainy Gillette Stadium to secure a first round bye (along with Denver) in the playoffs. They had to wait for the outcome of the games for the Wild Card weekend to see who their opponent would end up be- they get a somewhat familiar for in the Indianapolis Colts, but this is the first time the two teams have met in the postseason since Peyton Manning's departure from Indy.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- I cannot stress how much week 17 in the NFL exceeded expectations. The day started with the Ravens, Steelers, Dolphins, Chargers, Bears, Cowboys, Packers, Eagles and Cardinals with an outside shot at making the playoffs. By the end of the first round of games the Ravens and Dolphins were eliminated while Pittsburgh took care of Cleveland but still needed things to break Kansas City's way in the afternoon game to punch their ticket into the postseason.

In the NFC, a couple of long-standing division rivalries essentially became de-facto conference championship games- Green Bay bested the Chicago Bears in a surprisingly high-scoring game at Soldier Field to clinch the NFC North title while Philly bested the Cowboys by a 24-22 final in Dallas to be the lone NFC East representative in the postseason in the last primetime game of the regular season on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, it was an all AFC West Week 17 out west as the Broncos ran roughshod over the hapless Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers dodged a bullet when the Chief's Ryan Succop missed a 41 yard FG attempt with the game tied at 24-24 with 8 seconds to go in regulation. The Chargers would end up punching their own ticket into the postseason and eliminating the Steelers when Nick Novak nailed a 36 yard FG with five and a half minutes remaining in overtime.

Wild Card weekend got underway with the Colts matched up against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. The Colts fell into a seemingly insurmountable 31-10 hole at halftime and an early turnover quickly made it 38-10 Chiefs in the early part of the second half. However, after giving KC the short field and capitalizing on the turnover with 13:39 to go in the 3rd, the Colts would keep the Chiefs out of the end zone and came roaring back to win by a 45-44 final.

Meanwhile, the Saints racked up a road win over the Phillies at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night, going on to win by a final of 26-24.

Interestingly, the only contest of Wild Card weekend that wasn't close was the Bengals hosting the Chargers on Sunday afternoon. Cincinnati went into the locker rooms at halftime with a 10-7 lead but San Diego would go on to score twenty unanswered points to make it a 27-10 win and set up a rematch with division rival Denver on Sunday.

Wild Card weekend wrapped up with the 49ers travelling to Lambeau Field to face the Packers. San Francisco seemed undaunted by the cold temperatures and frozen tundra, going on to beat Green Bay by a 23-20 final.

This weekend's matchups are set- on Saturday, the Seahawks are coming off of their bye week to host the New Orleans Saints. That game kicks off at 4:35 PM ET, 1:35 PT and will be televised on FOX. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the Patriots will host the Colts after their first round bye. This prime time matchup is scheduled to kick off at 8:15 PM and will be televised on CBS.

On Sunday, the Panthers will host the 49ers at Bank of America stadium at 1:05 PM ET and can be seen on FOX while the Divisional weekend wraps up with the Broncos hosting the San Diego Chargers in the Mile High city with kickoff at 4:40 ET and can be viewed on CBS.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS- The Indianapolis Colts announced this week that they have signed former Patriots receiver Deion Branch. Branch, who was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXIX has also logged time with the Seattle Seahawks and had worked out with the Colts in the previous month.

Sports Chowdah Update- Rolled Tide, Auburn Stuns #1 Bama As Time Expires; Patriots Stage Texas-Sized Rally in 2nd half Against Struggling Houston;

Todd Van Emst Photo

NCAA FOOTBALL- War damn Eagle indeed.

Wow- I know I'm several days behind on this unless you've been hidden away in a Tibetan monastery for the last several weeks, but allow me to set the table anyway.

Coming into Saturday's game, the annual Auburn-Alabama Iron Bowl had implications beyond an in-house SEC rivalry. The undefeated Crimson Tide came in ranked #1 while a resurgent Auburn was ranked #4- which had all the ingredients of a compelling contest and lots of buzz about the BCS title game implications.

Fast forward to the 4th quarter- with just under a minute to go, the Auburn Tigers managed to tie the contest up at 28-28 thanks to a pass from QB Nick Marshall to receiver Sammie Coates. On their next possession, Alabama managed to get as far as the Tigers 38 yard line with just 1 second left on the clock. In an attempt to avoid OT [which they successfully managed, just not in the way the Tide envisioned- NANESB!, Alabama sent kicker Adam Griffith onto the field to try and boot a 57 yard FG. Realistically, the worst that could happen would be that Griffith would miss and the game would head to overtime.....or so Alabama head coach Nick Saban though.

Griffith's FG came up short, but Auburn CB Chris Davis was in the end zone and cleanly fielded the missed FG attempt. Words defy what happened next- so let's try some video:



It has to chafe Alabama fans knowing that if just one Tide player could've tackled Davis or nudged him out of bounds at any point during his 109-yard return, the outcome of Saturday's Iron Bowl- not to mention the SEC title game and most likely the FBS Chapmionship- could've been dramatically different.

While not exactly a stunning upset on the scale of Appalachian State-Michigan circa 2007, Auburn moves up to #3 in both the AP and USA Today rankings while Alabama slips down to #4. The Tigers win also sets up an SEC title game with......the Tigers. Auburn will take on the #5 ranked Missouri Tigers at the Georgia Dome for the 2013 SEC Championship. Missouri and Auburn both come in sporting identical 11-1 records- all the more impressive considering both teams had a lackluster 2012 season and that this is only Missouri's second season playing SEC football after jumping ship from the Big 12 after the 2011 season.

ACC FOOTBALL- A state attorney for Florida announced on Thursday that they will not be pressing charges against Florida State Seminoles QB and Heisman candidate Jameis Winston. A female FSU student accused Winston of sexually assaulting her in an off-campus apartment in Tallahassee, FL in December 2012. State prosecutors reportedly determined there was insufficient evidence against Winston to press charges.

The decision clears the way for Winston to travel with the team to Charlotte, NC to take on the #20-ranked Duke Blue Devils in the ACC title game on Saturday night. The last time the two teams played head to head was in Tallahassee during the 2012 season- the Seminoles thumped the Blue Devils by a 48-7 final. Should #1 Florida State beat Duke [and let me say how odd it is to be talking about Duke and title games outside the context of basketball- NANESB!], that pretty much punches FSU's ticket to the BCS Championship game. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 PM ET and the game will be televised on ABC.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- Boston College wrapped up their regular season with a loss in the Carrier Dome to they Syracuse Orangemen- the first matchup between the former Big East rivals since Syracuse moved to that Atlantic Coast Conference. The Eagles had a 31-27 lead in the 4th quarter before Syracuse drove the ball 75 yards in just under 2 minutes for the go ahead TD to make it 34-31 Syracuse with 17 seconds left in the ballgame.

Syracuse would go on to win by a final of 34-31 and are now eligible for a bowl game in their first year of playing ACC football. As a matter of fact- in addition to Boston College, Florida State, Duke and Syracuse- seven other teams in the ACC are now bowl-eligible. It would actually be shorter to mention the list of teams NOT going to any kind of bowl [at least based on their record- NANESB!]: North Carolina State, Wake Forest and Virginia.

BIG TEN- Were it not for the wild finish in the Iron Bowl, perhaps The Game between Michigan and undefeated Ohio State would've been first and foremost in college football-centric headlines

With archrival Michigan sporting a lackluster 7-5 record, Saturday's game against undefeated Ohio State was pretty close. After Ohio State took a 42-35 lead with just over 3 minutes remaining in the Big House, the Wolverines capped a drive of just under 2 minutes with a short TD pass from QB Devin Gardner to TE Devin Funchess to make it a one point game. However, instead of opting for a game tying point after kick, the Wolverines opted to go for the potential go-ahead 2 point conversion. But the 2 point conversion failed and Ohio State managed to survive the late Michigan threat, escaping with a 42-41 win and briefly facing all sorts of questions about their worthiness as a BCS team before the Iron Bowl later that day.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- Alabama wasn't the only undefeated team to fall over the Thanksgiving weekend. The last remaining obstacle for Fresno State out in the Mountain West and a possible BCS Bowl berth was the San Jose State Spartans on Black Friday. In a game that saw San Jose State score a late TD in the first half to cut the Bulldogs lead to 42-41....yes- you read that right. Both teams had combined for more than 80 points before the first half had concluded. However, in the second half San Jose State took the lead for good and would go on to win by the final of 62-52. So not only is Fresno State's perfect record now blemished [it should involve an asterisk, however, since their September 14th game against Colorado was cancelled due to flooding in the Boulder area- NANESB!] but so is any shot at going to a BCS Bowl game.

The Bulldogs will still face the Utah State Aggies on Saturday in the Mountain West championship game, which Fresno State will host. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:00 ET and the Aggies sport an 8-4 record heading into Saturday's contest.

Richard Wolowicz- Getty

NHL- Surprisingly, despite being two months into the season the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens had yet to meet this season heading into Thursday night's game at the Bell Centre.

Gregory Campbell got the B's on the board early to bring Boston out to an early 1-0 lead, but play was stopped after the Habs' Max Pacioretty checked Johnny Boychuk into the end boards and Boychuck was unable to get back onto his feet and had trouble breathing, prompting the medical staff to examine him before he was wheeled out of the arena.

The Habs would then score two unanswered goals in the second period, including one by Pacioretty to make it a 2-1 game- Montreal would go on to win by a 2-1 final after a scoreless 3rd period. Boychuk underwent examination at a Montreal hospital but was reportedly back with the team after the game and cleared to travel with the team back to Boston.

No word on whether or not Boychuk is cleared to play in Saturday night's home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

David J. Phillip- AP

NFL- Once again, the New England Patriots found themselves down at halftime by a significant margin and once again they were able to rally.

Granted many observers said they shouldn't have trailed the struggling Houston Texans by a 17-7 margin to begin with but in the 3rd quarter, New England scored back to back TDs to take a 21-17 lead before the Texans re-took the lead when QB Case Keenum scrambled for a 5 yard TD run to go up 24-21.

New England re-took the lead early in the 4th quarter thanks to a 7 yard TD run from LeGarrette Blount. On the next drive, Houston RB Ben Tate got his 3rd TD of the year to put the Texans back on top 31-28. However, the game would come down to not one, but two Gostkowski FG's from the 53 yard line- including what would turn out to be the game winner with 3:12 remaining.

The Patriots go on to win by a 34-31 final at Reliant stadium while the struggling Texans lose their 10th in a row. For this upcoming weekend, the Patriots will host the Cleveland Browns- the franchise that Bill Belichick got his start with in the NFL.

MLB- The Jacoby Ellsbury era in Boston has come to an end as the free-agent outfielder agreed to a 7 year, $153 million contract with the New York Yankees. The massive signing of the former Boston outfielder seemingly triggered a wave of departures of free agents from the Bronx- outfielder Curtis Granderson agreed to a 4 year, $60 million deal while free agent 2B Robinson Cano signed on to a $240 million 10 year contract with the Seattle Mariners.

Sports Chowdah Update- Tiger Trap in ALCS; Hawk Heaven- Seattle Rallies Late Against Pats; New England FBS Schools 0 for October; Navy Thinks Big (East);

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson

NFL- This one you can't blame on the replacement officials.

Unlike last week's home game against Denver, the first half of the Patriots road game against the Seahawks was a back-and-forth affair with a couple of lead changes before the Patriots went in front by a 17-10 score late in the first half and had a chance to break the game wide open after Seahawks punter Jon Ryan mishandled a snap deep in Seattle territory on 4th and 4, giving the Patriots the ball back on the Seahawks own 24 yard line with 40 seconds to go. Brady got the Patriots down to the Seattle 3, but couldn't punch it it in. However, with two seconds to go and before New England could bring Gostkowski out for the FG attempt, the [full time] referees huddled and decided that Brady was guilty of an intentional grounding penalty with less than 6 seconds remaining. This included a 10 second runoff of the clock, meaning there would be no FG attempt and Seattle dodged a HUGE bullet.

At the time, any New England fan worth their salt was wondering exactly how the penalty at the end of the first half would come back to haunt them as the teams headed into the locker room with the Patriots up 17-10.

I get the feeling its a matter of 'when', not 'if', that intentional grounding penalty @ the end of the half will bite #Patriots in tucchus
— Fen Wei (@Fenway_Nation) October 14, 2012

As it turns out, we wouldn't have to wait very long to find out. Seattle's defense would hold the Patriots to two Gostkowski FG's, giving the Pats the 23-10 lead.

With less than 10 minutes to go in the 4th, Seattle quickly got themselves back in the game thanks to WR Golden Tate's 51 yard run on the following posession plus a 15 yard penalty against New England tacked on to the end of the run, followed by converting 4th and 3 thanks to a 10 yard TD pass from QB Russel Wilson to WR Braylon Edwards to cut into New England's lead by a score of 23-17.

The Seahawks would get the ball back with 2:38 to go with a good field position thanks to a 25 yard Leon Washington punt return and on 1st and 10 from mid-field, Wilson connected with WR Sidney Rice for a 46 yard catch and run to give the Seahawks a 24-23 lead- and the dire warning from myself and others at the end of the first half loomed large as the Patriots got the ball back with 1:08 left, but weren't able to do anything with it, going 4 and out deep in their own territory and turning over the ball with rougly 50 seconds to got. From there, Seattle got the ball back and simply took a knee to run out the clock.

Former Patriots head coach Pete Carroll gets a measure of revenge against his former team as the Seahawks won on Sunday by a 24-23 final.

Brady went 36-58 and had 395 yards along with 2 TDs and 2 interceptions while Seattle's Russel Wilson went 16-27 with 293 yards and 3 TDs, so those of you who had Wilson on your fantasy team (and didn't bench him) were in for a pleasant surprise. This is New England's second loss to an NFC West team by less than two points in the closing minutes of a game- all three of New England's losse have been by a margin on one or two points so far.

Seattle goes on to play the San Francisco 49ers on the NFL Network's Thursday night game while New England hosts the Jets in Foxbourough on this Sunday. Kickoff is set for 4:25 PM ET and the game will be televised on CBS.

The loss puts the entire AFC East in the unusual position of having every team hold a 3-3 record. This actually puts the Patriots in 2nd place behind the Jets. Sunday's game is sure to break the deadlock one way or the other.

OTHER NFL NEWS- Baltimore Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis is expected to miss the remainder of the season with an injury to his triceps in his right arm. This is Lewis' third stint on the DL in ten seasons. Lewis turns 38 next spring, and the season-ending injury has cast some doubt on his future in Baltimore.

The Ravens will face the Houston Texans this Sunday- the Texans are coming off of their first loss of the season, leaving the Atlanta Falcons as the NFL's only undefeated team so far this season.

DENVER BRONCOS- Monday Night's game between the Broncos and San Diego Chargers gave Patriots fans reason to think that their team was fortunate to be 3-3 after fending off a 2nd half Denver rally in hindsight.

Despite an atrocious 1st half in which the Chargers jumped out to a 24-0 lead, the Broncos staged a remarkable comeback in the second half in which the defense not only kept the Chargers off the scoreboard, but ran up 35 unanswered points for the 35-24 win. Like New England, the win gives Denver a 3-3 record.

NCAA FOOTBALL- Well, not quite 2 weeks into October and I'm going to make the bold prediction that none of the BCS schools in New England will be appearing in any bowl games this season.

The only reason the UMASS Minutemen didn't lose this weekend was because it was their bye week. Despite playing the undefeated Bobcats well in a 37-34 loss at 'home' [i.e. Foxbourough- NANESB!] in Week 5, the following week was a dramatically different story as the Minutemen were on the losing end of a 52-14 thumping in Kalamazoo.

This weekend, the Minutemen will take on the 4-3 Bowling Green Falcons at Gillette Stadium.

BOSTON COLLEGE- UMASS isn't the only FBS school in Massachusetts to have allowed 50 or more points against their last opponent.

Boston College had a tough road game in Tallahassee against 12th ranked Florida State and looked as though they would make a game of it on their opening posession as they took the football and marched down the field to the Seminoles 1 yard line before getting shut out of the end zone on 4th and goal. From there on out, it was all Noles all the time as they cruised to a 51-7 over Boston College.

The Eagles travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech- who currently sport a woeful 2-4 record- on Saturday at 3 PM ET.

UCONN- The Huskies- who are the only New England FBS school to have been above .500 this season- are on a 2-game skid after losing a week 6 matchup to Big East for, #22 Rutgers, by a 19-3 final. Last weekend, the Huskies blew a late lead against Temple after giving up a late TD to the Owls with 42 seconds left to tie up the game 14-14.

Connecticut got the ball first in OT but missed a chip shot FG. Temple got the ball back and made their FG attempt from the 29 yard line, giving them the 17-14 OT win.

This week, 3-4 UCONN travels to the Carrier Dome to take on the Syracuse Orangemen. This will likely be the last time the Huskies face Syracuse as the Orange are set to jump to the ACC beginning in 2013. Currently Navy sports a 3-3 record and faces Army each December during the Army-Navy game. This will likely continue once Navy football is integrated into the Big East.

NAVY- The US Naval Academy Midshipmen football program has reportedly agreed to start playing in the Big East conference starting in 2015. Navy has been playing football as an independent since 1879.

The move would leave the Army Black Knights as the only service academy that plays FBS football as an independent- the Air Force Academy Falcons have been playing in the Mountain West conference since the late 1990s.

AP Photo/Paul Sancya

MLB- After nearly giving away Game 1 of the ALCS in the bottom of the 9th, the Detroit Tigers have taken a 3-0 series lead on the New York Yankees.

Tuesday night saw the series move to Detroit's Comerica Park and Tigers ace Justin Verlander on the mound. Verlander went through the first three innings without allowing a baserunner while he got some run support in the form of a line-drive solo homer from Delmon Young to make it 1-0. Detroit then added to their lead in the bottom of the 5th with an RBI double from Miguel Cabrera to make it 2-0.

Verlander would end up pitching 8⅓ innings before allowing a solo homer to Eduardo Nunez in the top of the 9th. Despite giving up 2-out back to back singles to Mark Teixera and Robinson Cano, reliever Phil Coke got ALDS hero Raul Ibanez to strike out to end the ballgame and give Detroit a commanding 3-0 lead in the ALCS.

The Yankees have been playing without team captain Derek Jeter since game 1 after he left Game 1 of the ALCS with a fractured ankle. The injury has left the Yankees without Jeter for the remainder of the season- this is the first time since the 1990s the Yankees have been in the postseason without Jeter, closer Mariano Rivera or catcher Jorge Posada.

Detroit took Game 1 of the ALCS in Yankee Stadium by a 6-4 final in 12 innings, despite blowing a save in the bottom of the 9th. On Sunday afternoon, Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez threw 7 shutout innings in Detroit's 3-0 win at Yankee Stadium.

Game 4 is set to take place on Wednesday night at Comerica Park, with CC Sabathia [15-6; 3.38 ERA] taking the mound for the Yanks while Max Scherzer [16-7; 3.74 ERA] will get the start for Detroit. First pitch is scheduled for 8:07 ET and the game will be televised on TBS.

NATIONAL LEAGUE- The St Louis Cardinals have advanced to the ALCS in the most heart-ripping-out-iest manner possible after a deciding Game 5 in the nation's capital Saturday night.

After jumping out to an early 6-0 lead, the Nationals seemingly thwarted a Cardinals rally in the bottom of the 5th that cut the Nats lead in half. Even though a Daniel Descalso solo homer in the top of the 8th made it a 1-run game for the Cards, the Nats got a run back in the bottom of the 8th to make it a 7-5 Washington lead. However, the Washington bullpen imploded in the top of the 9th, allowing a leadoff double to Carlos Beltran before issuing two out walks to Yadier Molina and David Freese. Descalso then hit a 2-RBI single to tie the contest up at 7-7 and suck the air out of Nationals Ballpark before Pete Kozma singled and drove in two more runs, giving them a 9-7 lead.

The Nationals were unable to get any kind of offense going in the bottom of the 9th and the Cardinals rally punched their ticket to the NLCS where they faced off against San Francisco.

After splitting the first two games at San Francisco, the series moves to St Louis Wednesday afternoon. Game 3 gets underway at 1:07 ET Wednesday afternoon and will be televised on FOX.

BC's Katty Workman has garnered ACC Freshman of the Week honors no less than three times this season. John Quackenbos/ BC Athletics Photo

NCAA VOLLEYBALL- After a successful road trip to North Carolina earlier this month where Boston College beat Wake Forest and swept the Duke Blue Devils, the Lady Eagles had a brief flirtation with .500 before falling back to a game under .500 after getting swept in three sets by #12-ranked Florida State and a hard-fought loss against the Miami Hurricanes on Chestnut Hill this weekend. Courtney Castle and Katty Workman both had double-doubles in the 5 set loss to Miami and finished up the match with more kills, assists and digs than the Hurricanes. Currently, the Eagles sport a 10-11 record, going 4-5 against ACC opponents.

This upcoming weekend will see BC Volleyball return to the Tarheel state for matches against the North Carolina Tarheels and NC State Spartans.

On Monday, the ACC named outside hitter Katty Workman and NC State middle blocker Alesha Wilson ACC volleyball players of the week.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA VOLLEYBALL- Across town and in the Colonial conference, the Northeastern Huskies women's volleyball team is on a tear having won nine in a row, including six against CAA opponents. This upcoming weekend, the Huskies will face Delaware and current CAA leader Towson- whose volleyball team has won 12 consecutive games, and also sports a 6-0 record in the Colonial conference.

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cuppa Sports Chowdah Runneth Over- Pats Get Past Ravens W/Help of Sturdy Branch; B's Off to Capital Start; BC's Woes Continue

NFL: Well, that was pretty awesome. I managed to tune in just in time for the 4th quarter of Sunday's Baltimore/New England game with the Ravens leading 20-10. That was answered by a drive that started on the Pat's own 40 and was capped by a Brady TD pass to Deion Branch (who hardly looked as though he missed a practice) to make it a 3 point game. The Ravens would get as far as mid-field on their next possession, but punted it away on 4th and 1.

The game-tying drive for New England started on their own 14 yard line and threatened to sputter when the Pats were penalized 15 yards after advancing the ball to the Ravens 35 yard line, but a 24 yard completion from Brady to TE Rob Gronkowski brought up 2nd and 1, where the Pats would drive the ball inside the Baltimore 10, but have to settle for the game-tying field goal to cap off a methodical drive that burned nearly 7 minutes off of the clock.

After going three and out from their own 20, Baltimore punted and Wes Welker had a 22 yard return to put the ball at mid-field with 45 seconds left in regulation. However, Brady would get sacked by Haloti Ngata before Brady's hail-mary pass was intercepted in the end zone for a touchback as regulation expired with the game tied at 20-20.

Overtime started off with each team going three and out, although Baltimore was able to string together some first downs, they still ended up punting. However, they were able to keep the Patriots pinned deep on their own end of the field- at least until rookie Romanian punter Zoltan Mesko booted the ball 65 yards from their own 14 to put the Ravens inside their own 20. The Ravens subsequently went three and out, giving the Pats good field position for another sustained drive, distributing the ball between Welker, Branch and Algie Crumpler before Stephen Gostkowski kicked a relatively easy field goal (with just under 2 minutes left in OT) to give New England the 23-20 win.

Tom Brady went 27-44 with 292 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and got sacked three times. In his first game for New England since Superbowl XXXIX, Deion Branch had 9 receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. For Baltimore, Joe Flacco went 27-35 with 285 yards and 2 TDs and getting sacked three times. Ray Rice was the Ravens leading receiver with 88 yards and Derrick Mason had 100 yards on 8 carries to lead Baltimore's rushing game.

Not a bad way to come off of the bye week. The Patriots have won 3 in a row and are now 4-1. This weekend, they'll travel to southern California to take on the San Diego Chargers at 4PM ET, 1 PM Pacific.

OTHER PATS NEWS: Brandon Merriweather issued an apology to Ravens TE Todd Heap after a helmet-to-helmet hit. Merriweather and two others were fined earlier this week for what the NFL called dangerous and flagrant hits. Merriweather was fined $50,000 for the his but faces no suspension

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: Speaking of Southern California, former Pats, Chargers and Dolphins linebacker Junior Seau was released from a La Jolla, CA hospital with minor injuries after the SUV he was driving plunged off of a seaside cliff in Carlsbad, CA on Monday night. The accident came within 12 hours of his arrest and release by police in Oceanside, CA on domestic violence charges after an argument with his 25 year old girlfriend. Seau told investigators he fell asleep at the wheel- Carlsbad police say that the lack of skidmarks on the seaside highway are consistent with Seau's account. Moreover, they say that no drugs or alcohol were present.

Greg Fiume/Getty

NHL: The Bruins are back in the continental United States and off to a pretty good start. I caught most of their 4-1 win over New Jersey on Saturday, and on Tuesday night, they travelled to Washington DC to take on the Caps in which the game was quasi-nationally televised on Versus. David Krejci and Milan Lucic got the scoring started for Boston with a goal each and just over two minutes apart in the 1st. Washington's Marcus Johansson managed to cut the Bruins lead in half in the 2nd period, but Matt Hunwick put the game away with some insurance in the 3rd to make it 3-1. Caps netminder Michal Neuvirth was pulled after allowing the two Boston goals in the first and has since been listed as day-to-day with flu-like symptoms while Tim Thomas stopped 35 of 36 shots faced.

The Bruins head back for their home opener Thursday night against the Caps with a 3-1-0 record. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7PM ET/4 Pacific.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Damn- they played better than the last three weeks, but Boston College couldn't get off the schnide against Florida State. Turnovers by the Seminoles nearly cost them the game, but with a little over 11 minutes to go, a 42 yard TD run by 'Noles WR Bert Reed put them up for good by a score of 24-19. At least 10 of those points for BC came off of turnovers from Florida State QB Charlie Ponder, but it obviously wasn't enough for the W. Montel Harris had 26 carries for 191 yards, but no TD's.

The Eagles head back to Chestnut Hill and will host 4-2 Maryland on Saturday.

OTHER BOSTON COLLEGE NEWS:

Credit where credit's due, CNN ran this story on BC linebacker Mark Herzlich's overcoming bone cancer to return to the lineup this season. Kinda puts a disappointing 0-4 slide into perspective.

OTHER NCAA FOOTBALL NEWS: Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LaGrande suffered a spinal cord injury during last weekend's game against the Army Black Knights and is said to have no movement below his neck. The junior was rushed to Hackensack University Medical center where he underwent emergency surgery and remained in the intensive care unit. Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano says that LeGrande is in good spirits and is aware "...of the new set of challenges ahead of him". As of Wednesday night, there was no further updates on his condiditon.

UConn QB Cody Endres has been suspended for the remainder of the season for an unspecified violation of school rules. Redshirt freshman Michael Box is listed as Endres' backup. Endres replaced the erratic Zach Frazier halfway through the September 25 game against Buffalo and could also be a possible replacement.

MLB: Holy crap! These games are just flying by, aren't they? The Giants are one game away from their pursuit of their first World Series title since moving out to San Francisco, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead in the NLCS.

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers have a 3-2 series lead on the Yankees after splitting the first two games at Arlington, TX and winning the first two games at Yankee stadium. The Yankees won Wednesday's game by a margin of 7-2, setting up a Game 6 back in Arlington with Colby Lewis tenatively scheduled to start against the Yankee's Phil Huges on Saturday.

BP Begins Static Kill Procedure on Deepwater Horizon Well

Crews have been steadily pumping drilling mud into the undersea gusher over the last few days in a bid to permanently seal the blown out well at the DeepWater Horizon site.

The process seems to be working so far and crews will start pumping cement into the well over the next few days while an 18,000 foot relief well is being drilled. The relief well would intersect with the blown out well, but work on that has to wait until concrete is added to the plug. The concrete could also take at least a day to dry and settle.

Elsewhere, NOAA officials had reported that as much as 70% of the oil that spilled from the Deepwater Horizon site has been burned, skimmed, collected, dispersed or naturally dissolved. The report also states that the estimated amount of oil remaining in the Gulf would still be about 5 times worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William sound.

Some researchers have criticized the report as being incomplete and overly optimistic, though.

"This is just way too neat," said Larry McKinney, director of the Texas A&M University research center on the Gulf of Mexico. "How can you even do this at this point? There's a lot of oil still floating out there."

"This is a shaky report. The more I read it, the less satisfied I am with the thoroughness of the presentation," Florida State University oceanography professor Ian MacDonald told The Associated Press. "There are sweeping assumptions here."

The report comes after inconsistencies in BP and government estimates in exactly how much oil was pouring from the ruptured well site on a daily basis and even more inconsistencies on the length of the NOAA report. The NOAA initially said there was a more comprehensive 200 page report, but then retracted that and released a 10-page report.

Big Heapin' Bowl Of Sports Chowdah- The Seminole Works of Bobby Bowden; Washington Bullets Revisited? Devil in the Details- Satan to Sign w/Bruins

(AP/Phil Coale)
[OK- sorry about the lengthy delays in the sports updates. I've been gone for over a week, and when I did come back I was under the weather for a few more days. Plus, I was so pleased with the outcome of the 2010 Winter Classic that I felt it deserved its own separate post. But- NANESB!]

Bobby Bowden's coaching career finished on a pretty dad-gum good note Friday as the Florida State Seminoles beat the West Virginia Mountaineers 33-21 in the Gator Bowl at Jacksonville, FL. Bowden finished with a career 389-129-4 record and his 33rd consecutive season at Tallahassee with a winning record (7-6). Even the Mountaineers fans, recalling his 1970-1975 coaching stint at Morgantown, tacked a 'We [heart] U Bobby!' banner to the wall. Jimbo Fisher is set to take over as head coach at Florida State starting next season.


(John Woike/Hartford Courant)
The UConn Huskies capped off a turbulent season Saturday with a dominating 20-7 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Papajohns Bowl in Birmingham, AL. Andre Dixon rushed for 126 yards and was named Bowl MVP. Teammates brought out jersey #6- that of slain cornerback Jasper Howard- during the postgame awards. The Huskies are now 3-1 in bowl games since graduating from Division 1AA (the Atlantic 10/Colonial Athletic Association to be specific).

Other Bowl Finals:
12/30 Roady's Humanitarian Bowl- Boise, ID: Bowling Green 42- Idaho 43

12/30 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl- San Diego, CA: Arizona 0- Nebraska 33

12/31 Bell Armed Forces Bowl- Ft Worth, TX: Houston 20- Air Force 47

12/31 Sun Bowl- El Paso, TX: Oklahoma 31- Stanford 27

12/31 Texas Bowl- Houston, TX: Navy 35- Missouri 13

12/31 Insight Bowl- Tempe, AZ: Minnesota 13- Iowa State 14

12/31 Chick-Fil-A Bowl- Atlanta, GA: Virgina Tech 37- Tennessee 14

1/1 Outback Bowl- Tampa, FL: Northwestern 35- Auburn 38 [OT]

1/1 Capital One Bowl- Orlando, FL: Penn State 19- Louisiana State 17

1/1 Rose Bowl- Pasadena, CA: Ohio State 26- Oregon 17

1/1 Sugar Bowl- New Orleans, LA: Florida 51- Cincinnati 24

1/2 International Bowl- Toronto, ON: South Florida 27- Northern Illinois 3

1/2 Cotton Bowl- Arlington, TX: Oklahoma State 7- Mississippi 21

1/2 Auto Zone Liberty Bowl- Memphis, TN: Arkansas 20- East Carolina 17 [OT]

1/2 Alamo Bowl- San Antonio, TX: Texas Tech 41- Michigan State 31

NHL News- The Boston Bruins have agreed to a one year deal with free agent winger Miroslav Satan. The sinisterly-named Slovak (pronounced SHUH-tan) was seen on the ice with his new team at their practice facility in Wilmington, MA on Saturday. Satan had previously played with the Sabres, Islanders and Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. The contract is for 1 year and $700,000.

NBA News- The New York Post is reporting that Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton pulled guns on each other in a locker-room dispute over an unpaid gambling debt. The Wizards announced last week that Arenas admitted to bringing weapons to the team's facility and that they were turned over to team security. The team and NBA security say they're investigating the matter further. Washington DC has the strictest gun-control laws in the nation that make hardly any provisions for the carry and transport of firearms.

The Celtics returned from their forgettable west coast road trip and snapped their three-game losing streak Saturday night with a home win over the Toronto Raptors- despite having three of their starters sit out the game with injuries. Paul Pierce missed his fifth straight game following a series of relatively minor surgical procedures to clear up an infection in his right knee. Kevin Garnett was out for the second game night in a row due to a sore right knee and Rajon Rondo sat out Saturday's game with a sore right hamstring. Ray Allen had 23 points and Rasheed Wallace had 16 in the 103-96 Boston win.