Fall Classic Sports Chowdah Update- Jets Grounded by Pats in OT; Kung Fu Panda Flying High in Game 1 of World Series;

AP Photo/Stephan Savoia

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- Between snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, there was a whole lot of snatching going on late in Sunday's game at Foxbourough.

After the Jets got a TD on their opening posession, New England's Devin McCourty took the ball back 104 yards to tie the game at 7-7 on a kickoff return for a TD.

For the second straight week, it was looking as though the Patriots were going to pull away thanks to a 17 yard TD reception from Brady to Gronkowski late in the 1st and then got two more after Jets QB kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone after fumbling the handoff to RB Shonn Greene on the Jets own 12 yard line. The safety made it a 16-7 game, but the Jets were able to cut the Patriots lead to 7 thanks to a late 54-yard Nick Folk FG. The teams headed into the locker room for halftime with the Patriots up 16-10.

For their first possession of the 3rd quarter, the Jets were able to march the ball down into the new England Red Zone, but were unable to punch it in on 3rd and 2 from the Patriots 3 yard line, settling for a 21 yard FG to make it 13-16.

But on the next posession, the Patriots marched to ball 78 yards down the field to give them a 23-16 lead. The drive took 6:43 and was capped by a short TD pass from Brady to Gronkowski.

However, momentum began swinging the Jets' way when the 4th quarter got underway. With just under 6 minutes to go, New York closed the gap to 23-20 on a 7 yard TD pass from Sanchez to TE Dustin Keller. The Jets defense then held New England to a 3-and-out before getting the ball back and moving as close as the Patriots' 25 yard line. After being stopped on 3rd and 4, Nick Folk made a 43 yard FG to tie the contest up at 23-23.

Near-disaster struck on the following posession when Devin McCourty fumbled the kickoff return inside the Patriots' own red zone and the Jets covered on the New England 18. However, on 3rd and 7, Pats LB Dont'a Hightower came up with the second most important sack of the game [the most important? That was yet to come- NANESB!] dragging down Sanchez for a 10 yard loss and forcing the Jets to attempt a FG instead of going for it on 4th and 17. Still, Folk's 43 yard FG was good and the Jets took the lead for the first time since the 1st quarter, going agead by a 26-23 margin with 1:37 to go in regulation.

On the following kickoff, McCourty managed to hang on to the ball and got it as far out as the New England 21. This gave Brady and the Pats offense a little over 90 seconds to drive the ball down into FG range [or try and get the kill shot with a TD- NANESB!]. And that's exactly what happened as the Patriots marched down the field, getting as far as the Jets 25 with 16 seconds remaining. As time expires, Gostkowski kicked a 43 yard FG to tie the contest up at 26-26 and force overtime.

This was the first time the Patriots had to play under the NFL's revised OT rules and New England won the coin toss and got the ball to start off with. Starting from their own 16, the Patriots moved the ball thanks to a series of short passes to Welker, Woodhead, Hernandez and Deion Branch, advancing as far as the Jets 30 before bringing in Gostkowski for a 48 yard FG attempt which was good.

Under the old rules, that would've ended the ballgame right there, but the new format allowed the Jets a posession with which the could tie the game or go ahead with a TD for the win. However, after a couple of quick gains that brought New York from their own 15 to near mid field, Mark Sanchez was sacked by DE Rod Ninkovitch and then fumbled the ball. New England recovered the football, thus ending the game right there. After dropping the late lead, Patriots come from behind to force OT and shut the Jets out in OT, winning by a final of 29-26.

Brady went 26-42 with 2 TDs and 259 yards while Rob Gronkowski had 6 receptions on the day, two of them for TDs.

This weekend, the Patriots will travel to jolly old England for a rematch of Super Bowl XXXVI against the St Louis Rams. This is actually considered a home game for the Rams and will kick off at 1PM Eastern time.

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

WORLD SERIES- Perhaps the best baseball news as far as I was concerned came last Tuesday when the Detroit Tigers competed a sweep of the New York Yankees thanks to an 8-1 shellacking in Game 4 at Comerica Park in which Yankees starter CC Sabathia gave up 6 earned runs before getting pulled in the top of the 4th. Matt Scherzer pitched a gem through 5⅔ and the Tigers advanced to their first World Series berth since 2006.

And for awhile, it was looking as though it would be a rematch of the '06 World Series with the Cardinals taking a commanding 3-1 lead over the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS. However, the Giants would come roaring back and win the next three games by a combined total of 20-1, including shutouts thrown by Barry Zito in Game 5 and Matt Cain in Game 7.

For Game 1 of the World Series, the Giants appeared to have picked up right where they left off, taking an early 1-0 lead thanks to a Pablo Sandoval homer off of Tigers ace Justin Verlander in the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the 3rd, Giants Outfielder Angel Pagan reached when what looked like a routine ground ball took an odd bounce off of 3rd base and squirted into shallow left field with two away. Pagan then came home on an RBI double from former Red Sox infielder Marco Scutaro, who the Giants picked up from Colorado in an unheralded midseason transaction. Scutaro's base hit gave the Giants another run and brough up Pablo Sandoval to the plate where he once more went yard on Justin Verlander to give San Francisco a 4-0 lead.

As it turns out, that would be all they would need for Game 1, but starter Barry Zito helped his own cause by adding to the lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the 4th and Sandoval would get his 3rd homer of the night- another solo shot in the bottom of the 5th to make it 6-0 Giants. The Tigers would get a run on a Miguel Cabrera RBI in the top of the 6th, but Detroit would answer with RBI base hits from Buster Posey and Marco Scutaro.

San Francisco would cruise to the easy 8-3 win in Game one with Barry Zito getting his first-ever win in the World Series and Pablo Sandoval becoming the 4th big leaguer to hit 3 home runs in a single World Series game, joining Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols.

On Thursday night, Game 2 of the 2012 World Series turned out to be more of a pitcher's duel with Giants starter Madison Bumgarner outlasting Detroit's Doug Fister- who took a line drive off of his noggin in the 2nd inning- in a 2-0 Tigers loss. Thursday night's win gives Detroit a 2-0 series lead. Fister was examined by doctors postgame and showed no additional symptoms of a concussion.

The series heads back to Detroit on Saturday, with Friday being a travel day for both teams and the media. Ryan Vogelsong [14-9; 3.37 ERA] gets the start for San Francisco against Detroit's Anibal Sanchez [9-13; 3.86 ERA] at Comerica Park. San Francisco backup catcher Hector Sanchez will reportedly be the NL Champion's designated hitter while playing in the American League ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 8:07 PM ET and the game will be nationally televised on FOX.

I think the image is pretty self-explanatory. AP Photo/Charles Krupa

BOSTON RED SOX- So barely a year after Terry Francona's departure from Boston, the Red Sox have decided to revisit the Francona epoch with the signing of Toronto Blue Jays manager John Farrell. Farrell was the Red Sox pitching coach between 2007 and 2010 before being hired on north of the border and was announced as the 46th manager in the club's history.

The Red Sox had also interviewed Brad Ausmus, DeMarlo Hale and Tim Wallach for the managerial spot. While this is sometimes done for show and the eventual favorite eventually gets hired anyway, there were some doubts as to whether or not Toronto would release Farrell from his contract. In his first season as the Blue Jays manager, the team had improved to 81-81, but in 2012 Toronto finished just a game ahead of the last place Red Sox and the Jays were more willing to part with him.

From the perspective of owner John Henry and GM Ben Cherrington, Farrell has the advantage of being familiar with some of the players and front office staff. The Red Sox had to part with infielder Mike Aviles in order to coax Toronto into releasing Farrell. The 50 year old former pitching coach still had a year remaining on his contract with the Blue Jays.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS- Former San Diego closer Heath Bell has made his way back to the NL West in a surprise move announced over the weekend.

Just one year into his 3 year, $27 million contract with the Florida Miami Marlins, Bell was traded to Arizona in exchange for infielder prospect Yordy Cabrera who came to Arizona in a deal with Oakland that sent outfielder Chris Young to that AL Team by the Bay.

The Marlins will also reportedly pay $8 million of the $21 million still owed on Bell's contract. JJ Putz would remain the D-Backs closer while Bell would move into a setup role.

Earlier in the month, there had been widespread speculation that the New York Yankees were looking to deal Alex Rodriguez after a disappointing performance in the postseason. The Marlins were considered a likely candidate since Rodriguez was from the area and the Yankees were willing to eat a large portion of his contract in order to deal the high-salaried infielder. Dealing Bell could fuel speculation that the Marlins are getting ready to clear salary cap space for a possible A-Rod deal, although the fact that Bell went 4-5 with a 5.09 ERA for the Marlins could mean that Miami was just willing to get rid of a relief pitcher who wasn't working out for them.

NCAA FOOTBALL- Four former Louisiana State University football players, including 2011 Heisman candidate Tyrann 'Honey Badger' Mathieu were arrested by police in Baton Rouge, LA on drug charges.

Mathieu was dismissed from LSU's football in August after violating the University's substance abuse policy. Mathieu was arrested along with former starting QB Jordan Jefferson and former DB's Karnell Hatcher and Derrick Bryant on multiple counts of drug pesession as well as posession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Police were responding to a call about an individual- later identified as Jefferson- forcing his way through a gate at an apartment complex in Baton Rouge. After exchanging words with a maintainence man, the police were called and knocked on the door of an apartment where Mathieu answered the door. Officers noticed the strong smell of marijuana. A search of the apartment yielded 10 bags of high-grade marijuana and a digital scale.

BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES- Georgia Tech picked up their 3rd win of the season after a 37-13 thumping of Boston College in Atlanta last weekend. This was the first contest since the Yellowjackets fired defensive coordinator Al Groh.

The Yellowjackets had built up a 31-3 lead on Boston College before QB Chase Rettig connected on two TD passes, one to Alex Amidon late in the 3rd and another to TE Chris Pantale, to make it 31-17, but Georgia Tech got the last word in with a late rushing TD from RB David Sims with just over 5 minutes to go in the 4th.

This upcoming weekend, BC will host Maryland at Chestnut Hill and try and snap its ACC losing streak, this time against the 4-3 Maryland Terrapins.

UMASS- With the exception of one close game at Foxborough, the UMASS Minutemen haven't had much more luck with the Mid-America conference than they've had with the other FBS programs they've faced in their first season as a FBS program.

The futility continued last Saturday when they committed 4 turnovers against the Bowling Green Falcons, including a pick and 48 yard return from Bowling Green LB Dwayne Woods. Bowling Green shuts out the Minutemen by a 24-0 final.

UMASS will travel to Music City for their final non-conference game of the 2012 season on Saturday- taking on Vanderbilt in Prime Time. The 0-7 Minutemen come in to Saturday night's contest as 32 point uderdogs. Kickoff is at 7:00 ET and will be streaming on ESPN3.

BIG EAST- After last Friday's 40-10 loss to Syracuse at the Carrier dome, the Huskies are in their bye week. The Huskies are 3-5 overall and 0-3 against Big East teams heading into their off week and will face the South Florida Bulls. Presently USF is the only Big East football team with a worse record than UConn- also sporting an 0-3 record in conference. USF will play the Pitt Panthers this weekend before their home game against the Huskies.

ELSEWHERE IN THE BIG EAST The Cincinnati Bearcats have been knocked from the ranks of the undefeated. Coming into last weekend's game, Cincinnati was ranked #21 in the nation.

And it was a MAC team that spoiled the party for Cincinnati, with the Toledo Zips getting out to an early lead against the Bearcats. The Bearcats briefly took a 19-20 lead before Toledo's Bernard Reedy retuned a kickoff 91 yards for a Rockets TD to put Toledo on top for good as they went on to win by a final of 29-23

Leap Year & Then Some Sports Chowdah Update: O Captain My Captain- 'Tek Bids Farewell; The Devils- Owned; Saints Dogged w/Bounty Charges

RED SOX- After weeks of speculation and reports from the media, Red Sox captain Jason Varitek announced his retirement at a new conference in Ft. Meyers, FL on Thursday. The announcement comes less than two weeks after knuckleballer Tim Wakefield announced his retirement after 17 years with the Red Sox organization.



A graduate of Georgia Tech [where he and teammate Nomar Garciaparra won the 1994 College World Series- NANESB!], Varitek was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 1994. After spending time in the Cape Cod League and the independent Northern League during the lockout, Varitek agreed to terms with the Mariners and entered their minor league system in 1995. Within two years, both 'Tek and teammate and starting pitcher Derek Lowe were traded by Seattle to Boston for releiver Heath Sloclumb. 'Tek made his big league debut in September 1997, collecting a single in his one and only at-bat that year and would go on to earn the starting spot at catcher from Scott Hatteberg in 1998.



For the Boston faithful, the most memorable Varitek moment was undoubtedly the July 24th 2004 fight between him and Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez. With the Yankees leading in the 3rd inning and an errant Bronson Arroyo pitch sailing up and hitting Rodriguez on the elbow, the Yankees infielder had some choice words for Arroyo while heading off to first base. Deciding he should stop talking and take his base, 'Tek reportedly told A-rod "We don't thrown at .260 hitters" before the two came to blows, with Rodriguez shoving the Red Sox catcher while getting 'Teks mit in his face. This cleared the benches, with DH David Ortiz nearly coming to blows with Yankees reliever Tanyon Sturtze as he was trying to pull teammate Gabe Kapler out of Sturtze's headlock.

After warnings were issued, a back-and-forth game resumed with the Red Sox coming behind to win 11-10 in the bottom of the 9th thanks to a walk off homer from 3B Bill Mueller. The game was viewed a turning point in the season that saw the Red Sox win their first World Series title since 1918, and the fight in turn was seen as a pivotal turning point in that game.



I'm usually loathe to quote the Boston Globe's Dan Shaugnnessey [AKA the Curly Haired Boyfriend- NANESB!] but I think he nails it with this quote.

We have the iconic photo of Jason Varitek smashing his catcher’s mitt into the face of Alex Rodriguez. Try to find a saloon in Greater Boston that does not have this photo somewhere behind the bar.

It is the image of defiance.

It’s a memory of stepping up for yourself and for your team. It’s a Red Sox captain saying “no more’’ to the bully of eight-plus decades.

It makes Jason Varitek immortal.

Also making Varitek immortal is the fact that he is the only catcher in the history of Major League Baseball to have caught four no-hitters.


This includes the following-
Hideo Nomo on April 4th, 2001 at Baltimore
Derek Lowe on April 27, 2002 vs Tampa Bay
Clay Buchholz on September 1, 2007 vs Baltimore
Jon Lester on May 19, 2008 vs Kansas City

After being the first catcher behind the plate for four no-hitters, Varitek's cather's gear was sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on May 20th, 2008.

Interestingly, 'Tek is also one of two players to have ever played in a championship game for the Little League World Series, the College World Series and the MLB World Series [former Marlin's pitcher and Arizona alum Ed Vosberg was the other- NANESB!].

Varitek retires with a career batting average of .256 with 193 home runs and 757 RBI. In addition to the two World Series titles with Boston, he also won a gold glove and silver slugger in 2005 and was named to the MLB all-star game three times. His 11 postseason home runs are the most for any catcher in MLB.

Even as 'Tek's abilities as a catcher were in decline, he still was valuable in his experience behind the plate and coaxing consistent starts from Boston's younger and inexperienced starters when they were struggling. Like Wakefield's departure, the end of the Varitek era in Boston leaves a huge hole for Saltalamacchia to fill.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- The Red Sox will open up their Grapefruit League tilt with a doubleheader against the Northeastern Huskies at 2:35 PM ET and a nightcap against the Boston College Eagles at 7:05 PM ET. The latter game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER MLB NEWS- The league announced that they were expanding the playoff format to allow two additional teams from both the AL and NL to vie for a postseason berth via a single elimination game. This means that 10 of the 30 MLB teams could get into the playoffs- still fewer than any other professional league. The new system will take effect starting this season and is the first significant change to the playoff format since 1995.


BOSTON BRUINS- After remaining fairly quiet at the trade deadline [the Bruins did pick up veteran Brian Rolston- once part of the Ray Bourque trade- from the Islanders and BC alum Mike Mattau from the Devils system on Feb 27th- NANESB!], the Bruins returned home earlier this week only to be shut out by Ottawa's sophmore goaltender Robin Lehner in a 1-0 game Tuesday night.

On Thursday night, the Bruins hosted the Devils at the Garden, wrapping up the regular season series with New Jersey. The B's got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first with goals from David Krejci and Tyler Seguin. The Bruins would have an excellent opportunity to make it 3-0 when Krejci had a shorthanded breakaway eight and a half minutes into the first, but the Devil's Brodeur.

The Devils would not only get on the board, but take the lead in the second with goals from Zach Parise, Patrik Elias and David Clarkson to go up 3-2.

Early in the 3rd, however, David Krejci would get the equalizer from a tough angle to knot things up at 3-3 and eventually send the contest into OT. With two minutes to go in OT, Krejci gave Boston the go-ahead goal good for his second career hat trick and the 4-3 Boston win [altho' New Jersey gets a point for heading into overtime- NANESB!].

Brodeur made 21 saves on 25 shots faced while Tim Thomas stopped 28 of 31 shots faced. Both teams were 0-3 on power play opportunities.

The Bruins will be busy this weekend taking on the Islanders Saturday afternoon before travelling to Madison Square Garden on Sunday to take on the NY Rangers. Saturday afternoon's game gets underway at 1:00 ET and will be televised on NESN while Sunday's game will start at 12:30 and will be broadcast on NBC.

OTHER NHL NEWS- The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Ron Wilson on Friday, tapping Randy Carlyle as his replacement. Carlyle takes over with 18 games remaining for Toronto in the 2011-2012 camapaign.

The Maple Leafs were 4-9-1 in the month of February, losing six straight before Wilson was fired.

NCAA HOCKEY- #1 Boston College secured at least a share of the regular season title with a 5-1 win over the Vermont Catamounts Friday night.

Senior Barry Alalmedia scored twice and junior netminder Parker Milner made 29 saves for the Eagles in the next-to-last game of the regular season. The Eagles face off against the Catamounts on Saturday night at 7 PM for the regular seaosn finale two points ahead of archrival BU.

NFL- After reportedly being warned the the NFL against such action, defensive players and coaches from the New Orleans Saints maintained a 'bounty' program where players awarded themselves cash prizes for knocking out and injuring opposing players. Former Vikings QB Brett Favre and Cardinals QB Kurt Warner were reportedly among the targets with payouts doubling or tripling in the playoffs according to a report from NFL security.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the Saints and the players involved are likely to face fines or suspension and the organization may end up forefeiting a draft pick, according to an AP report.

The Washington Post is also reporting that the Redskins maintained a bounty system with defensive players while Williams was assistant coach in Washington in the mid 2000s.

NBA- The second half of the abbreviated NBA season is off to a much better star for the Celtics on Friday night as they won their third straight game since coming out of the All Star break.

Firday night's 107-94 win over the New Jersey Nets puts them above .500 once again. They have Saturday off, but will take on the New York Knicks at the TD Banknorth Garden on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET- the game will be televised on ABC.

Weeknight Sports Chowdah Update- Paterno Fired, Students Riot As Fallout From Abuse Scandal Continues; B's Slick Against Oilers; Thursday Night Lights

PENN STATE: As a Pennsylvania Grand Jury released a graphic report detailing the 40 charges being filed against former Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the Penn State University Board of Trustees fired head football coach Joe Paterno and University President Graham Spainer.


News of Paterno's dismissal was met with rioting from irate Penn State students who overturned vehicles, ripped out light poles and pelted pedestrians and police officers with rocks and bottles in State College, PA Wednesday night.

The 84-year old Paterno was fired after 46 seasons as Penn State's head football coach, with a career record of 409 wins and 136 losses, making him the winningest coach in NCAA Division 1 football history. Assistant coach Tom Bradley is expected to act as interim coach for the remainder of the season.

The Nittany Lions are currently ranked #12 in the country and are expected to host the #19 Nebraska Cornhuskers in Happy Valley on Saturday- Penn State's final home game of the season.

Assistant coach Mike McQueary, who testified to the grand jury that he had seen former offensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky molesting a young boy in the locker room showers in 2002, will reportedly miss Saturday's game due to unspecified threats. McQueary later told Paterno about what he had witnessed and Paterno had told then-athletic director Tom Curley, but no further action was taken.

Curley and former university Vice President Gary Schultz are charged with perjury and failing to report the 2002 incident.

In a twist that seems right out of a Stieg Larssen manuscript, the Centre County, PA District Attorney who investigated 1998 claims that Sandusky was engaged in inappropriate relationships with boys as young as 8 at Penn State facilities has been missing since 2005 and declared legally dead by his family. Although it would be tempting to fall into some conspiratorial mindset thinking that the Penn State scandal just now coming to light played a role in DA Gricar's disturbance, if foul play was behind the disappearance of the Pennsylvania DA, it came just weeks after Gricar was at a press conference announcing Centre County's biggest drug bust.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: There was some more ACC Football tonight. Mercifully, this didn't involve the hapless and outmatched BC Eagles getting stomped.

Under the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, it was the Virgnia Tech Hokies who continued their win streak against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Thursday night.

Georgia Tech was leading the Hokies 26-21 late in the 3rd period and appeared to have the Hokies as good as stopped on 3rd and 19 when Yellowjackets LB Jeremiah Attaochu took a swing at Hokies QB Logan Thomas for a 15 yard penalty and an automatic first down. Aided by a 44 yard run from RB David Wilson, the Hokies would score on that drive to make it 27-26 Virginia Tech. The Hokies would then get 10 more points in the 4th quarter to put the game away by a 37-36 final.

MISSOURI: The Mizzou Tigers made official their move to the SEC this week during an announcement at the campus student center. Missouri is the second team to leave the Big 12 for the SEC, with both Mizzou and Texas A&M expected to join the SEC at the start of the 2012 season.

MLB: 24 year old Washington Nationals rookie catcher Wilson Ramos was abducted by gunmen in his native Venezuela on Wednesday.

AP File Photo

According to a spokeswoman for Ramos' Venezuelan-league team, Ramos was abducted by multiple gunmen in full view of his fathers and brothers inside of his home at Santa Ines at 6:45 Wednesday night.

Reportedly no contact has been made with Ramos' family. In the recent past, family members of MLB players in Venezuela sometimes abducted for ransom, but this is reportedly the first time an active player has been abducted.

Ramos was acquired from the Minnesota Twins in a 2010 trade that sent All Star relief pitcher Matt Capps to the twin cities. This season, Ramos batted .267 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI while throwing out 28% of the runners who attempted to steal on him.

Kidnappings targeting wealthy and middle-class Venezuelans have been on the increase for more than a decade.

Venezuelan police said 618 kidnappings were reported in 2009, and the numbers have grown rapidly in recent years. In 1998, when President Hugo Chavez was elected, just 52 kidnappings were reported. Security experts say the real number of kidnappings today is much higher because many cases aren’t reported to authorities.

The wealthy have taken steps to protect themselves. Sales of armored cars have soared in the past several years. Bodyguards typically shadow major leaguers when they return to their homeland to play in the winter league.

It is not known what, if any, security precautions Ramos took while returning to Venezuela.

[Personally, I think Ramos' abduction is the logical outcome of more than a decade of socialist dictator Hugo Chavez's economic policies centered around avarice and class envy- NANESB!]

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Wow- I might've actually called this at the end of October.

Seven years after defeating the Cardinals to lead the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918, former Red Sox manager Terry Francona interviewed with St. Louis on Tuesday after Tony LaRussa announced his retirement last week just days after the Cardinals won their 11th World Series title.

Other potential candidates include former Cub Ryne Sandberg and Cardinals 3rd base coach Jose Oquendo. Among the anticipated candidates, Francona is the most experienced.

RED SOX: Speaking of interviews, the Red Sox are continuing their offseason interviews to replace Francona.

This week, they interviewed Cleveland Indians bench coach Sandy Alomar and are expected to interview Tigers 3rd base coach Gene Lamont and former Pawtucket Red Sox manager and Blue Jays 1st base coach Torey Lovullo.

Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux had announced that he was withdrawing his name for consideration for Boston's managerial vacancy.

Image- NBA Entertainment

NBA: Former Celtic and basketball hall of famer Ed Macauley passed away at the age of 83 in St Louis on Tuesday.

The lanky Macauley, also known as 'Easy Ed' played for a season with the St Louis Bombers of the Basketball Association of America before the Franchise went under and the Boston Celtics selected him in a 1950 dispersal draft.

Between the 1950-51 season and 1955-56 season, Macauley played for Red Auerbach's Celtics before being traded to the St Louis Hawks for Bill Russel. A few years after the deal, Russel and the Celtics faced off against Macauley and the Hawks in consecutive NBA Championships in 1957 and 1958. The Celtics won the title in '57 and the Hawks beat Boston in '58.

Macauley would go on to coach to Hawks for two seasons, taking them to the playoffs, but not making it to the NBA finals. In 1960, 'Easy Ed' was named to the basketball hall of fame at age 32- to this day, the youngest player to be admitted to the Naismith Hall. Interestingly, after moving back to the St. Louis area Macauley became an ordained deacon in the Catholic church in 1989.

The Celtics have retired Macauley's number 22.

NHL: After their forgettable October, the Bruins are now back to .500.

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Of course, it helps when you start piling up the wins against teams in your own division, but the Bruins homestand continued on Thursday night when they played host to the Edmonton Oilers (9-3-2).

The Bruins got out to a pretty quick 2-0 lead in the first before the Oilers knotted things up to send both teams to the locker room tied at 2-2. Early in the 2nd, the B's would get the lead back on a power play goal from Brad Marchand followed by a Tyler Seguin tally less than 3 minutes later to make it a 4-2 lead.

Heading into the 3rd period, neither team was able to find the back of the net until less than 5 minutes to go in regulation when Ryan Smyth was able to convert an Oilers power play with 7 seconds to go on the man advantage to make it a one-goal game. However, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand would score 30 seconds apart to pad the Bruins lead and give them the 6-3 win, making them a .500 team at 7-7-0.

Tukka Rask turned aside 27 of 30 shots for his second win while Devan Dubnyk allowed 6 of the 28 shots he faced by him. The Bruins went 2 for 5 on their power play opportunities on Thursday night.

Interestingly, Thursday night's game featured the top two picks of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft (the Bruins were using Tornto's pick that they obtained in the Kessel trade)- Boston's Tyler Seguin and the Oiler's Taylor Hall. Seguin had a goal and an assist while Hall had an assist.

The Bruins homestand continues with their next game on Saturday night, where they will host the 9-5-0 Buffalo Sabres at 7PM ET. The game will be televised on NESN for those of you in New England and the MSG network for those of you in Upstate NY.



NFL: Are you ready for some football? Some Thursday night football?

Don't sweat it- neither were the San Diego Chargers. Recently acquired from the Cincinnati Bengals, Raiders QB Carson Palmer went 14-20 with 299 yards, 2 TDs and an interception.

To be honest, I tuned in just in time to catch River's pass to Jacob Hester to make it a 24-17 game with the Raiders on top. And that was it- no more scoring. None.

With the win, the Raiders take posession of 1st place in the AFC West.

Next week's Thursday night game will feature the Jets and the Broncos.

Tuesday Night Sports Chowdah- Border Wars; USA Golden in World Jr Chamionships, Bruins Let Loose in Canada's Capital, Broncos Run The Table

(Canadian Press) U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

I have to say, I feel derelict in my duties as a sports fan to only notice that the IIHF World Under 20 Hockey Championship game was taking place only when the absolutely bored-sounding Ottawa Senators broadcasters gave the listeners the update from Saskatoon, SK to take their minds off the 4-1 thumping the Bruins were laying down on the home team Tuesday night. XM and the NHL Network were carrying the World Junior Championships live from Saskatchewan, so I figured that would be as good a time as any to tune in. Hell- I had only heard about Team USA's loss to Canada in the shootout New Year's eve second or thirdhand a few days after the fact.

Even though both the XM and NHL feed featured the slightly biased announcers from TSN, it was clear I made the right choice by tuning in towards the end of the first period when the match was tied at 2 goals a piece.

Team USA scored on a power-play goal by John Carlson (Hershey Bears of the AHL) just over a minute into the second period, but Canada came right back and scored the equalizer thanks to Taylor Hall (Windsor Spitfires of the OHL). That was enough for USA head coach Dean Blias to pull netminder Mike Lee (NCAA's St. Cloud St.) for Jack Campbell and the contest would head into the third period knotted at 3-3.

The third period was one for the ages and any meager attempt on my part to describe it on this little podunk blog would fail to do it justice, but I have to at least try. At the 4:12 mark of the third period, RPI Freshman LW Jerry D'Amigo made the twin behind Team Canada goalie Jake Allen (Montreal Jr. of the QMJHL). Team Canada coach Willie Desjardins pulled Allen in favor of Martin Jones (Calgary Hitmen of the WHL) in net for Canada. Just over two minutes later, Wisconsin sophomore Derek Stephan put one past Jones to put the USA up 5-3. However, the game was far from over and after nearly 10 minutes of pressure and swarming the net, Canada's Joran Eberle (Regina Pats of the WHL) broke through on a power-play goal to make it a one goal game and with a 1:25 remaining in regulation, Eberle scored again to tie the game on an even-strength goal and send the Championship game into overtime with what by rights should've been a back-breaker for Team USA.

However, at just over 4 and a half minutes into overtime USA's John Carlson shot beat Jones to the left side for the game winner and second goal of the game, deflating the crowd of 15,000 at Saskatoon's Credit Union Centre. Jack Campbell stopped 32 of 34 shots faced in 40 minutes of playing time and the USA won their second ever gold medal in the IIHF World U20 Championships. Congratulations guys, and good job overcoming what was no doubt that running-head-start-kick-to-the-nuts in the form of Eberle's game-tying goal. Hopefully this will whet the appetite of the 'grown-up' Team USA for the 2010 Winter Olympiad in Vancouver next month.

(AP)

While my attention was focused on the goings-on in Saskatoon, the Bruins had a pretty good night in Ottawa after coming off their 3-2 loss to the NY Rangers. Blake Wheeler notched two goals and an assist while Tim Thomas stopped 27 of 28 shots on goal faced. David Krejci and Mark Recchi also had goals for the Bruins, who scored all of their goals in the first period for the 4-1 win over the Senators.

(Idaho Statesman/Joe Jaszewski)

No hook and lateral or on-field marriage proposals this time around, but the results were the same as #6 Boise State's last appearance in Glendale, AZ. Although the game didn't feature nearly as many gadget plays as the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, I had to admire the chutzpah behind kicker Kyle Brotzman's 30-yard completion to TE Kyle Efaw on 4th and 9 during what would turn out to be the game-winning drive for the Broncos on Monday Night. Boise State beats #3 Texas Christian 17-10 and finishes with a 13-0 record on the year.

Ordinarily I'm not one of these 'let's all dogpile on the BSC system' people since I don't really have a dog in the fight, but this blogger thinks that pitting the undefeated Mountain West team against the undefeated WAC team was a huge cop-out on the part of the BCS when both teams earned the right to take on the SEC or Big 12 champions (or even the Gators). Now granted I think part of that stemmed from the fact that there were three undefeated teams from the rat-bastard conferences the BCS could never love (Cincinnati from the Big East as well as Boise St. and TCU), but I also think they were reluctant to have an SEC or Big 12 team embarrassed like what #7 Utah did to #4 Alabama in last year's Sugar Bowl.

Elsewhere, one of the less contrived matchups of the BCS pitted #9 Georgia Tech against #10 Iowa in the Orange Bowl. Now keep in mind Iowa started off the regular season barely squeaking past Div 1AA Northern Iowa by virtue of not one but two missed field goals at the end of regulation back in September, but went on a 9-0 tear until falling to Northwestern the first weekend in November. Despite outgaining the Yellowjackets 155 total yards to the Hawkeyes 403, the game was a fairly close 17-14 affair until Brandon Weghner's 32-yard TD run (which I tuned in from the IIHF final just in time to see) for Iowa late in the fourth, giving Iowa the 24-14 win.