NFL- Well....at least one of the Championship games was an instant classic.
Surprisingly the NFC title game on the West Coast got underway first, with the Green Bay Packers jumping out to an early 16-0 lead over the Seahawks up in Seattle in the first half thanks to three first half interceptions. However, Seattle's defense stiffened after those turnovers and more than once the Packers had to settle for a FG instead of getting 7 points.
In the seconds half, the Seahawks came roaring back and with just 1:25 to go in regulation they managed to take their first lead of the day on a 24 yard Marshawn Lynch TD run to put Seattle up 22-19 before the Packers managed to tie the contest up with 14 seconds to go on a 48 yard Mason Crosby field goal, forcing overtime.
After winning the coin toss, the Seahawks took the ball and won the game on a 35 yard TD pass from Russell Wilson to Jermaine Kearse, sending the Seahawks to their second consecutive Superbowl.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- The late game on Championship Sunday wasn't quite as close.
For the first time since 2006 and the first time since Manning departed for Denver, the Patriots and the Colts faced off in the postseason. In what would be the start of a trend, LeGarette Blount put New England on the board early after Josh Cribbs fumbled a punt that was recovered by New England inside the Colts 30 yard line.
The Patriots would get out to a quick 14-0 lead before the Colts got on the board with about five minutes to go in the first half from a short TD run from Zurlon Tipton to make it 14-7. However, the Patriots would add to their lead thanks to a Gostkowski FG with 9 seconds left in the half.
The second half was all New England as they would go on to score 28 unanswered points in the second half, including two more TD runs from Legarette Blount. The Patriots go on to win by a 45-7 final and advance to face the Seahawks in the Superbowl.
However, in the weeks leading up to Superbowl 49, the talk amongst the media has been about how the footballs used in the AFC title game were examined by the NFL and found to be underinflated. This created a unusually protracted media firestorm dubbing the scandal 'deflate-gate'- as though slightly underinflated balls were somehow responsible for the Colts defense collapsing like a house of cards whenever LeGarette Blount was carrying the ball.
Anywhoo, I've pretty much been embargoing the media and their vapid fixation on deflated balls in the runup to Superbowl 49. What I do know is that the big game kicks off Sunday night at 6:30 and will be televised on NBC
NHL- From one defending national champion going up against a New England team to another. After stumbling out of the gate, the Boston Bruins are having a pretty good 2015 so far.
Coming off a 5-2 win on the road against the Islanders on Thursday, Saturday night saw the Bruins hosting the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings. It looked as though the Bruins got on the board early in the closing seconds of the first period, but that goal was waved off when officials determined the clock was at 00:00 before the puck was in the net.
Even with the goal waved off, the Bruins managed to get on the board thanks to a Brad Marchand goal in the closing minutes of the second period to give Boston the 1-0 lead. Seven minutes into the third, Jordan Nolan got Los Angeles on the board and tied the game with a goal. However, 90 seconds later Chris Kelly put the Bruins back on top with a goal to make it 2-1 Boston and as the Kings pulled goalie Jonathan Quick late in the 3rd for an extra attacker, Marchand would get an empty-netter, his second of the night to make it 3-1 in favor of Boston.
The Bruins go on to win by the final of 3-1 with Rask stopping 30 of the 31 shots he faced on Saturday night while Quick ended up turning aside 30 of 32.
Boston will get the next couple of days off, with play resuming on Thursday night when they take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Puck drops at 8:00 ET and the game will be televised on NBC Sports Network.
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 40Ohio 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.
NFL- No matter how you slice it, last weekend was a pretty good one for the NFL.
REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi photo
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- Well, it wasn't quite as lopsided as last month's regular season matchup on Monday Night, but the end result was the same.
After besting the Cincinnati Bengals in a lethargic affair at Relialnt Stadium in Houston on Wild Card Weekend, the Texans advanced to play New England for the second round of the playoffs. A well-rested New England was coming off of their first-round bye with Rob Gronkowski coming off the DL.
The first half of Sunday's playoff game went a little differently than December's Monday Night blowout, with the Texans drawing first blood thanks to a 27 yard Shayne Graham FG on the Texans' opening possession. The Texans would maintain their 3 point lead throughout most of the first quarter as both offenses seemed to sputter but with just under four and a half minutes to go The Patriots got good field position and put together a 3 minute drive, hitting paydirt on a 1 yard TD run from RB Shane Vereen putting New England on top 7-3.
Thanks to a Gostkowski FG and another Vereen TD, the Patriots took a 17-3 lead with just under 4 minutes to go before halftime. The Texans were able to return the kickoff to midfield, giving Houston great field position for RB Arian Fosterto singlehandedly run the ball down the field for a Houston TD....which is exactly what happened with 1:15 to go in the first half to make it 17-10 New England.
After the Patriots went 3 and out on their own 30, they punted with 24 seconds left in the half- time enough, it turned out, for Texans QB Matt Schaub to make 3 quick completions for a total of 30 yards- good enough to move the ball down the field for a 55 yard FG attempt from Shayne Graham. And of course, I wouldn't be bringing this up if Graham's field goal attempt was no good- but it went through as time expired, and a much more game Houston trailed the Patriots by 17-13 at the half. It should also be worth noting that Graham's FG attempt was the longest successful FG in the playoffs at Gilette Stadium.
The second half, however, was another story as the Patriots began to pull away thanks to a Stevan Ridley rushing TD and a TD pass from Brady to Brandon Lloyd to make it 31-13 New England in the 3rd quarter. And while the Patriots would get another TD thanks to a 33 yard reception and run by Vereen to make it 38-13, the Texans would score twice in the 4th quarter to make it a 10 point game before Gostkowski kicked a FG with a little over a minute to go to make it a 41-28 win for New England.
ELSEWHERE IN THE AFC- The good news is that the Road to the Superbowl once again goes through New England. The bad news is that the Patriots will have to deal with the pesky Baltimore Ravens to get to the Super Bowl.
The Ravens advanced to the AFC Championship after a wild affair in Denver on Sunday evening that required double OT after an improbable pass from Baltimore's Joe Flacco was snagged by WR Jacoby Jones to tie the game at 35-35 with 31 seconds left in regulation. After a scoreless OT, the game at Denver headed into a second OT where the Ravens broke the deadlock thanks to a 47 yard FG by Justin Tucker.
Since Denver had clinched a first round bye and home field advantage, their elimination by Baltimore means that the Patriots now have the best record of the remaining teams and will host the AFC title game on Sunday.
The AFC Championsip Game between New England and Baltimore is set for Sunday evening at 6:30 ET and will be televised on CBS.
MEANWHILE IN THE NFC- Although we were about 30 seconds away from an all NFC West Championship game, there was no overtime on the NFC side of things. However, there was still one hell of a finish for one of the games.
Atlanta looked as though it wasn't getting off their playoff schnide after blowing a late lead against the visiting Seahawks on Sunday. After taking a 20-0 lead in the first half, Atlanta saw Seattle steadily chip away at their lead, finally going ahead thanks to a TD run from Marshawn Lynch with 31 seconds remaining in regulation toput Seattle up 28-27 and quieting down the home crowd at the Georgia Dome.
After getting the ball back on their own 28 with 19 seconds remaining, Matt Ryan managed two completions- a 22 yard completion to Harry Douglas and another completion to Tony Gonzalez good for 19 yards. Matt Bryant then kicked a 49 yard FG attempt to put Atlanta up 30-28 with 8 seconds remaining.
The Falcons escape by the skin of their teeth to win by a final of 30-28 and host this weekend's NFC championship game which is set to take place at 3:00 ET on Sunday and will be televised on FOX. The Falcons will be hosting the San Francisco 49ers who beat the Green Bay Packers pretty handily by a 45-31 final.
NCAA FOOTBALL- In what has to be one of the most bizarre off-the-field events in college football in recent years, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o was caught up in an elaborate online hoax after admitting that his girlfriend, 22 year old Lennay Kekua, had never existed.
Kekua had supposedly passed away from complications due to leukemia within hours of Manti's grandmother passing away on September 12th, 2012.
In a shocking announcement, Notre Dame said Te'o was duped into an online relationship with a woman whose "death" from leukemia was faked by perpetrators of an elaborate hoax. The goal of the scam wasn't clear, though Notre Dame said it used an investigative firm to dig into the details after Te'o disclosed them three weeks ago.
The hoax was disclosed hours after Deadspin.com posted a lengthy story, saying it could find no record that Kekua ever existed. The story suggests a friend of Te'o may have carried out the hoax and that the football player may have been in on it — a stunning claim against a widely admired All-American who led the most famed program in college football back to the championship game for the first time since 1988.
Te'o had reportedly known about the hoax prior to the Deadspin.com report, but was reluctant to go public with it out of embarassment or being accused of manipulating sentiment prior to the Heisman voting.
CYCLING- Cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted to doping during all 7 Tour De France bids in an interview with Oprah Winfrey this week.
During part 1 of the two-part interview, Armstrong seemed devoid of any emotion of remorse, but teared up during part two when mentioning how his son defended him at the time, unaware the doping allegations were true.
The admission may have sponsors such as the US Postal Service wanting some or all of their money back. In 2006, Armstrong sued Britain's Sunday Times for libel after their head sports writer accused him of doping- Armstrong and the paper settled out od court for more than $500,000. Now the paper may be suing Armstrong to recoup some of their money.
NHL- Just a quick reminder, the NHL season begins on Saturday- the Bruins will be hosting the NY Rangers at the TD Garden at 7PM ET on the NHL Network.
NFL- Three weeks into the regular NFL season and I've apparently made little to no mention to the fact that the league is operating with replacement referees due to an NFL lockout. Rather naiively, I thought it was a non-issue that would be quietly resolved before anything substantial could take place.
However, after Monday night's game it looks as though I was wrong on both counts. The nationally televised game from the Emerald City pitted the host Seattle Seahawks against the Green Bay Packers.
It was a low-scoring affair, and Seattle's defense punished Green Bay QB Aaron Walker by saking him 8 times in the first half. Despite the relentless harrassment of Rogers, the Packers were leading 12-7 late in the 4th and pinned deep in their own territory with less to two minutes to go. After going three and out, Green Bay was forced to punt from their own 4 yard line. The ensuing kick gave the Seahawks the ball at mid-field with 46 seconds to go in the 4th quarter.
Seahawks rookie QB Russel Wilson got the ball as far as the Packers 24 yard line as the clock ticked down. As time expired, Wilson threw a Hail Mary pass to WR Golden Tate in the end zone where the ball was momentrally lost among a sea of defenders and when everybody hit the ground, one official was signalling touchdown while another had signalled interception & touchback [shown above- NANESB!].
A further review of the replay showed that Packer's safety MD Jennings had snatched the ball out of the air as Tate was pushing off, but the touchdown call was upheld and after 10 minutes, the Packers were summoned out of the locker room for the point-after attempt to seal the Seahawk's controversial 14-12 win over Green Bay.
Before the game had even technically ended, the replacement officials game-deciding call had prompted fans, coaches, players and sports columnists to demand the NFL bring the ongoing lockout with the original officials to a close. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John Gruden and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young- both working as commentators for ESPN- voiced their displeasure with the in-game officiating right away both in-game and on the Monday Night Football postgame shows.
There is still a considerable gap between the NFL and the locked out referees over the issue of salary, but the call to close out Monday Night's game could prove to be the catalyst to take it off the back burner. Reportedly some of the replacement officials used by the NFL this season had been dismissed by the Lingerie Football League[a league which by rights I should probably know more about but am only marginally aware that it even exists- NANESB!] earlier this year.
It's also worth pointing out that the call on the field by the replacement referees was subject to review by NFL replay officials who weren't replacements. Earlier in the game there had been a number of penalties that kept what would turn out to be scoring drives alive.
The replacement officials issue will no doubt be revisited countless times before Thursday night's game between the Browns and Ravens.
Nick Wass/ AP Photo
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- Should Monday Night's game proved to have been uneventful, the sports media would no doubt still be discussing New England's Sunday Night Game against the Baltimore Ravens and the officiating that was done there.
Sunday night's game between two perennial division leaders would be the Patriots' first prime-time contest of the 2012 campaign. After the Patriors got out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, the Ravens came back to briefly take the lead in the 2nd thanks to two lengthy, sustained drives led by QB Joe Flacco to give Baltimore a 14-13 lead with less than two minutes to go in the opening half. However, after getting the ball back on their own 19 with 1:41 left in the 2nd quarter, New England hit paydirt on a short Brady pass to WR Julian Edelman with 2 seconds left to make it 20-14 at the half.
The Ravens opened up the second half by re-taking the lead on a three and a half minute drive that was capped by a short TD rub by RB Ray Rice to make it 21-20. The Patriots replied in kind, taking nearly 5 minutes off the clock as they marched down the field thanks mostly to relatively short passes by Brady or short runs by RB Danny Woodhead who was finally able to punch it in from the Ravens three yard line and give the Patriots the 27-21 lead. Although the Patriots would make a return trip to the Ravens end zone on their next posession, they would have to settle for a short Gostkowski FG to make it 30-21. The score would remain that way until the 4:01 mark of the 4th when the Ravens managed to punch it in for a TD after starting off on their own 8 yard line, making it a 28-30 Patriots lead.
New England would get the ball back and advance as far as midfield before Brady was sacked and the Patriots had to punt right around the 2 minute warning. With just under a minute to go in the game, Patriots CB Devin McCourty was called for a pass-interference penalty, giving the Ravens the ball inside the Patriots 10 yard line with the clock ticking. After calling one timeout in an attempt to freeze Ravens rookie kicker Justin Tucker [his first kick DID unambiguously split the uprights, too- NANESB!], Tucker's next kick soared over the right upright and was ruled good, giving Baltimore the 31-30 win as time expired.
Unsurprisingly, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was unsatisfied with both the officiating and result of the game, leading him to track down an official and grab him while asking for a review of whether or not Tucker's kick was good. Much was made of the on-field confrontation until Monday Night's 'Touchdeception' in Seattle. Both Belichick or Ravens head coach John Harbaugh had made clear their displeasure with the officiating from the replacement referees during Sunday night's game as well. Belichick can reportedly expect a fine and some sort of reprimand from the league this week.
Sporting a rare losing record, the Pats will travel to Orchard Park, NY next Sunday to take on the 2-1 Buffalo Bills- their first AFC East matchup of the 2012 season. The game gets underway at 1:00 PM ET and will be televised on CBS.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- Although there was one overtime game in week 1, Week 3 of the NFL season featured no less than three contests that went to overtime. The Tennesee Titans made a key stop on 4th and 1 to get their first win of the season- a 44-41 victory over the Detroit Lions at Nashville on Sunday. The Miami Dolphins scored late in the 4th to tie the game up at 20-20 before the Jets would get the Game winning FG with just over 6 minutes remaining in OT. And the Kansas City Chiefs stunned New Orleans by scoring 11 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to climb out of a 24-13 hole to beat the Saints on a 31 yard Ryan Succop FG with 6 and a half minutes to go.
This has been the first time there has been two or more overtimes since the NFL modified the rules for OT. Beginning this season, there will be no more sudden death overtime- each team will have at least one posession. If a team scores on their opening posession, the other team will have the opportunity to match or beat that score. If neither team has managed to score, then the next team to score will win [unless the clock runs out, meaning the game will end in a tie- NANESB!] making it 'sudden death' of sorts.
Charlie Niebergall/AP Photo
NCAA FOOTBALL- Saturday turned out to be a good day for much of the supposedly lowly Mid America Conference. The Central Michigan Chippewas pulled off what was easily the biggest upset of the day. Trailing the Iowa Hawkeyes 23-31 with less than a minute to go at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, the Chippewas managed to score nine unanswered points in the final 50 seconds- including a 13 yard TD pass from QB Ryan Radcliff to WR Titus Davis followed by a 47 yard FG from David Harman with 3 seconds left to give Central Michigan the narrow win over the Hawkeyes. Prior to the game, the Hawkeyes had been favored to win by as much as two touchdowns.
The Chippewas wouldn't be the only MAC team from Michigan to take down a favored oppoenent on Saturday. The narrowly-favored UConn Huskies fell to the Western Michigan Broncos thanks to a 4th quarter sack and strip of Huskies QB Chandler Whitmer. The loose ball was picked up by Broncos LB Desmond Bozeman and returned all the way for a TD to make it a 30-17 lead for Western Michigan.
The visiting Huskies would score a late TD with just 1:15 left in regulation, but UConn would fall to Western Michigan by a 30-24 final.
Over in DeKalb County, IL the Northern Illinois Huskies staged a come-from-behind win over the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas opened up the 4th quarter by running back a Jordan Lynch interception for 54 yards for a touchdown and a 23-13 lead over the Huskies. However, Northern Illinois would go on to score 17 unanswered points and pin the Jayhawks deep in their own end to close out the game and 30-23 win.
Of course, not all the games went so swimmingly for teams in the MAC on Saturday. While Eastern Michigan managed to keep the Michigan State Spartans out of the end zone for the first half and headed into the locker room with a 7-3 lead, the Spartnas scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to cruise to a 23-7 win over the Eagles. Meanwhile, in Knoxville, TN, the Akron Zips looked like they were too much for the Tennesee Volunteers to handle for most of Saturday night's contest, heading into the locker rooms tied 23-23 at the half before the Vols pulled away in the 4th quarter to make it a 47-26 final.
The UMass Minutemen's debut in MAC intraconference play was a little less noteworthy. They travelled to Oxford, OH to take on the Miami of Ohio Redhawks. While the final score was a bit more respectable than losing their first three games by a composite 145-19, the Minutemen still remain winless after their latest trip to the Midwest, falling to the Redhawks by a final of 16-27. This upcoming weekend, the Minutemen will host the undefeated Ohio Bobcats at Foxbourough. The Bobcats are currently favored in by as much as 24 points.
In fact, all three New England FBS teams will be playing at home this upcoming weekend. 2-2 UConn will host the 1-2 Buffalo Bulls at noon eastern time in East Hartford while Boston College comes off their weekend off to host the Clemson Tigers in ACC play. Kickoff in Chestnut Hill gets underway at 3:30 ET.
Georgia Tech Yellowjackets Librero/Defensive Specialist Nicki Meyer- Photo via Georgia Tech Volleyball on Facebook
NCAA VOLLEYBALL- After an all-New England tournament hosted at Northeastern earlier this month, most of the participating schools- UConn, Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard- began intraconference play in earnest [altho BC already has a win over Maryland from the Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills Invitational earlier this month- NANESB!].
Although Boston College dropped the first two contests to Northeastern and UConn, they managed to salvage a win in the New England Volleyball Challenge Tournament over Harvard on the final day.
The Eagles opened up ACC play against the Georgia Tech in Atlanta last Friday, challenging the Yellowjackets early but ultimately getting swept in 3 straight sets. BC Outisde Hitter Katty Workman- who had already garnered Freshman of the Week honors from the ACC had 13 kills in the losing effort for Boston while Ramblin' Wreck Librero Nicki Meyer (daughter of Ohio State Buckeyes head football coach Urban Meyer) was uncharachteristically quiet as Senior Bailey Hunter had 9 kills, leading the Yellowjackets. The Eagles then travelled to Clemson the following day, only to once again get swept, leaving them with a 7-8 record and 1-2 in ACC play.
This weekend, the lady Eagles will play host to Virginia (5-8) and Virginia Tech (9-4)at Chestnut Hill.
Meanwhile, the Northeastern Huskies managed to sweep the New England Volleyball Challenge Tournament defeating Harvard, Boston College and UConn before going on to face opponents from the Colonial Athletic Association. The 12-3 Huskies are 1-0 in CAA play (defeating Hofstra immediately after the New England Challenge Tournament) and will host UNC Wilmington and William & Mary at Solomon Court in Boston this upcoming weekend. Currently, only the 14-3 Towson Tigers sport a better record in CAA Volleyball.
UConn came away from the New England Classic with a 2-1 record and has gone 3-0 since then, defeating Sacred Heart, Villanova and Georgetown. Their overall record is 11-6, good for 3rd overall in the Big East behind Seton Hall and St John's- their upcoming opponent this weekend, as it turns out.
MLB- While nobody in the American League has clinched a playoff berth yet, at least two Division pennant winners came through this weekend.
Over on the West Coast, the San Francisco Giants secured the NL West pennant after taking two out of three from the San Diego Padres while the Cincinnati Reds secured the NL Central title after shutting out the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-0 at the Great American Ballpark- their only win in the 3 game weekend series against LA.
There will be no less than two playoff teams coming from the NL East as the Washington Nationals- sporting the best record in the league with 93 wins- are four games up on the Atlanta Braves who still aren't mathematically eliminated frmo winning the NL East pennant. The worst case scenario for the Braves currently is thet they'll secure the next-to-last playoff spot.
With just under a week to go in the regular season, the St Louis Cardinals currently hold the lead for the final NL Wild Card berth. With eight games to go for each team, the LA Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers are 4 and a half games behind St Louis.
Q: What's the difference between Tim Tebow and Barack Obama?
A: One is a charlatan and a phony Messiah who had a bunch of people fooled after some convincing performances in Denver. The other plays football for the Broncos.
PATRIOTS: As it turned out, the rematch of the regular season game between Denver and New England wasn't even close.
After a week of buildup in which many who had previously had a hard time taking the Broncos and QB Tim Tebow had since jumped on the Tebowmania and seriously predicted Denver's miracle run to continue.
For the opening posesson of the game, the Patriots started out on their own 20 and drove down the field thanks to a 43 yard run by TE Aaron Hernandez followed by a short 7 yard Brady to Welker TD pass to take the early 7-0 lead.
The Broncos were able to get a pretty good drive going on their next posession, starting out on their own 24 and advancing as far as the Patriots 37 yard line before LB Rod Ninkovitch sacked Tim Tebow, forcing a fumble that Pats LB Brandon Spikes recovered.
The Patriots were able to capitalize on the turnover as Brady capped the drive off with a 10 yard TD Pass to TE Rob Gronkowski to make it 14-0 in favor of New England.
When Denver got the ball back, they managed to get the ball as far as mid-field before being stopped on 3rd and 5 and punting. However, after pinning New England inside their own 15 yard line, Broncos free safety Quentin Carter picked off a Brady pass attempt and returned the ball to the Patriots 24 yard line, giving Denver an extremely short field to work with. Denver's short drive was capped off with a 5 yard TD run from RB Willis McGahee to cut the Patriots' lead in half, making it a 14-7 game.
However, that's as close as it would get for the Broncos as New England would score 21 unanswered points in the remainder in the first half (including a 61 yard catch and run from WR Deion Branch and two TDs from Brady to Gronkowski).
In the 3rd quarter, Brady completed a 17 yard TD pass to Aaron Hernandez to make it a 42-7 game and tie an NFL postseaon record with Steve Young for most TDs in an NFL postseason game (the 49ers Steve Young accomplished this in Super Bowl XXXIX against the San Diego Chargers). For the remainder of the game, the Broncos and Patriots would swap Field goals, making it a 45-10 game.
Brady even got a decent punt off late in the 4th, but that was overshadowed by the donnybrook that took place immediately after the kick. However, Tebow-mania is done for the season and the New England Patriots will now host the Baltimore Ravens at Gilette Stadium next weekend. New England wins this one by a 45-10 final with Brady going 26 of 34, 363 yards, 6 TDs and one interception. Rob Gronkowski accounted for half of those TDs, with 10 catches on the day and 145 yards.
The following day, the Baltimore Ravens held on late to win against the Houston Texans at home to advance to the AFC Champtionship game against New England which will take place at 3:00 PM ET at Foxborough, MA and be televised on CBS.
OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS: Patriots owner Robert Kraft invited the family of Peabody, MA fireman James Rice to Saturday's game. Rice, an 11 year veteran of the Peabody FD, was killed in a December 23rd apartment fire and was laid to rest on December 30th.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: Even if you weren't a fan of the 49ers or Saints, the game that preceeded Saturday's Broncos/Patriots game was worth tuning in for.
The 49ers got off to an early and seemingly commanding 17-0 lead, but the Saints and Drew Brees was able to chip away at it heading into halftime trailing by just a field goal, with the score at 17-14. A fairly quiet 3rd quarter set up an absolutely chaotic 4th that saw no fewer than three lead changes in the final 4:02.
After the Saints took a 32-39 lead with 1:37 to go in regulation, it appeared as though the 49ers were attemtping to play for the tie and set up overtime. With 1:12 to go and starting from the own 15, 49ers QB Alex Smith managed to drive the team as far down as the Saints 14 yard line, setting up this play to TE Vernon Davis:
San Francisco goes on to win by a final of 36-32. This sets up an NFC Championship game at home against the New York Giants, who stunned the defending Superbowl Champion Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday by a 37-20 final.
Joel Auerbach/Getty Images
NHL: After a lackluster start to their most recent road trip this weekend [namely a 4-2 loss in Raliegh, NC to the Carolina Hurricanes that few people saw because it was taking place concurrently with the Patriots taking Denver to the woodshed- NANESB!], the Bruins continued their swing through the Southeastern Division on Monday night, facing the division-leading Florida Panthers in Sunrise, FL.
Despite getting outshot 9-1 to start off the first period, Patrice Bergeron got Boston on the board less than 90 seconds after the puck dropped for the opening stanza. Despite being outshot by a total of 12-6, the Bruins carried that slender 1-0 lead into the 1st intermission. Panthers defenseman Jason Garrison would tie things up at 1-1 after getting the puck past Tukka Rask in the 2nd.
The Bruins would then re-take the lead with a power-play goal from from Bergeron with about 5 minutes to go in the 2nd. However, with just a few seconds remaining in the 2nd, Panthers C Shawn Matthias knotted up things at 2-2 with an even-strength goal.
After a scoreless 3rd period and OT, the game went to a shootout, with the first two shooters from each team missing on their opportunities. Stephen Weiss made his opportunuty count and Patrice Bergeron got the Bruins first goal of the shootout. However, Mikael Samuelsson missed his shootout opportunity for the Patherns and David Krejci was able to ice the win with his shootout goal against Scott Clemmensen.
Tukka Rask turned aside 38 of the 40 shots he faced in regulation and OT while Clemmensen stopped 32 of 35 faced. Boston was able to convert on their only power play opportunity of the night while the Panthers went 0-2 with the man advantage.
Although the Bruins remain atop the Northeast Division as far as the standings go, they're a point behind two other teams in the NHL at the moment- neither one of them having faced Boston; the NY Rangers and St Louis Blues.
On Tuesday night, the Bruins will face the hard-luck Tampa Bay Lightning who have lost 7 in a row. Puck will drop at 7:30 PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
NBA: The Celtics woes continue as they have now dropped five striaght, losing to the Chicago Bulls on Firday night, on the road to the Pacers on Saturday and then getting dropped by an 88-97 final by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
The C's will try and snap their skid on Wednesday night, when they face the 4-10 Toronto Raptors at the Graden. The game will be televised on CSNE and tips off at 7:30 PM ET
NFL: Q- What's the difference between Tim Tebow and Barack Obama?
A- One is a phony Messiah who fooled a bunch of people after some convincing performances in Denver. The other plays football for the Broncos.
Marc Piscotty/Getty Images
New England came into Mile High Stadium this week looking to clinch the AFC East and snap the Broncos 6-game winning streak on Sunday, which for awhile was looking like a tall order after barely holding off the Washington Redskins last week. Even before Tebow-mania, recent history hadn't been particularly kind to the Patriots at Mile High.
Starting at their own 20, the Broncos methodically marched down the field on the game's opening possession and hit paydirt when QB Tim Tebow rushed into the end zone from the Pats 9 yard line, although the point-after was blocked and returned as far as mid field before the play was blown dead- making it a 6-0 contest.
New England responded in kind, with a quick drive that saw Pats QB Tom Brady connect with TE Aaron Hernandez for a 46 yard catch and carry (most of those yards coming after Hernandez shed some tacklers and started running laterally to pick up some blockers) before Brady completed a 33 yard pass to WR Chad Ochocinco for #85's first TD pass of the season. Gostkowski's PAT was good and New England took a 7-6 lead.
Denver responded to New England's quick, efficient 2:25 scoring drive with an even quicker one of their own, starting from their own 18. Two minutes and 18 seconds later, Broncos RB Lance Ball rushed 32 yards for paydirt and the Broncos went for the pont-after to make it a 13-7 contest. The Patriots would do nothing when they got the ball back (they did get a 1st down thanks to a Denver penalty, but nothing came of it).
The Broncos started on their own 29 and get the ball as far as the Patriots 8 yard line before settling for a short Matt Prater FG to take a 16-7 lead. Curiously, after scoring so swiftly and with such ease to open up the game, that would be the last time the Broncos would find the end zone or split the uprights until the 4th quarter. New England would close the gap to 14-16 on the following drive after Wes Welker was ruled down at the 1 instead of in the end zone on a 19 yard pass from Brady, but Brady was able to connect with Hernandez for paydirt.
On the Broncos next possession, Lance Ball fumbled on the first play and Pats LB Rob Ninkovitch recovered it at the Denver 19 yard line. Althought they got the ball as tantalizingly close as the Broncos 3, they decided to play it relatively safe and opted for a short Gostkowski FG instead of trying to punch it in on 4th down, with New England taking the lead for the first time on Sunday by a 17-16 score.
Denver's next possession would be even more disastrous after Tebow was sacked and Pats DE Mark Anderson came up with the ball. With the short field, New England was able to move inside the Denver red zone and punch it in to make it a 24-16 New England lead.
After Denver's first three and out of the day, New England got the ball back with 40 seconds left in the half. That also turned out to be a 3 and out and with 14 seconds left in the half, Zoltan Mesko punted to Broncos return man Quan Cosby, who fumbled the punt with Dance Fletcher recovering for New England at the Broncos own 17 yard line with 3 seconds remaining. With no time to run a play, the Pats trotted out Gostkowski for a fairly short FG attempt which split the uprights as time expired in the first half, making it a 27-16 game at halftime.
After a halftime show that included a monkey riding a border collie (no- seriously!)the second half was seemingly all New England, with Tebow getting sacked and the Pats adding to their lead on a Danny Woodhead TD run to pad the lead to 34-16. Although Tebow would rush for another TD in the 4th, it was a case of too little too late. New England would get a 4th quarter TD of their own when Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis punched it in on 3rd and goal with 4 minutes and 10 seconds left to put the game away 41-23.
The Broncos haven't lost since October 30th against the Detroit Lions, but even with Sunday's loss, still retain first place in the AFC West.
Their sixth consecutive win, coupled with the New York Jets loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, means that New England clinches their 3rd straight AFC East title and ninth since the 2001 season.
New England will next host Miami on Christmas Eve (day) at 1:00 PM on CBS.
OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS: DE Aaron Carter will require season-ending surgery on his leg. Carter injured his leg in Sunday's contest against the Broncos and had to leave the field on a cart.
OTHER NFL NEWS: In a fairly surprising development that had members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins popping corks, the defending Superbowl Champion Green Bay Packers were handed their first loss of the season by the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
This loss was Green Bay's first regular season (or postseason) loss since December 19, 2010 in Foxborough, MA against the Patriots- nearly a year ago to the day [Altho' there was no Aaron Rogers starting for the Packers that night- NANESB!].
Sunday also marked Romeo Crennel's coaching debut in Kansas City after the Chiefs fired head coach Todd Haley.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: On the flip side of the win/loss ratio, the Indianapolis Colts won their first game of the season on Sunday, defeating the Tennessee Titans by a final of 13-27.
The win actually would put them in jeopardy of losing out on what many are calling 'The Andrew Luck Sweepstakes' [Assuming the #1 overall draft spot in the NFL goes to the Stanford QB- NANESB!], as they are now only a game behind the St Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings.
NHL: What was billed as a clash of the titans for first place on Saturday in the Eastern Conference it turned out it wasn't much of a battle.
The Bruins jumped all over Philly early and often, roughing up the Atlantic Conference-leading Flyers 4-0 by the first intermission before adding two more- one in the 2nd and one in the 3rd. Tim Thomas turned aside all 31 shots he faced on Saturday afternoon in Boston's very convincing 6-0 win.
However, on Monday night the Bruins opened up the scoring with a goal from Benoit Pouliot at the 12:13 mark of the 1st before the Habs got the equalizer off the stick of Tomas Plekanec not even a minute later to make it 1-1 heading into the 1st intermission.
Early in the second, David Krejci would break the deadlock to make it 2-1 and later in the 3rd, the Bruins would get the insurance goal from Brad Marchand to make the score 3-1. As it turns out, the Bruins would need that insurance goal as Erik Cole got a late tally for the Habs with less than 3 minutes to go to make it a 1-goal game. However, the Bruins would hold on to win their 5th in a row, with two out of their last three wins coming against opponents in the Northeast Division.
Tim Thomas stopped 33 of 35 shots faced while Montreal's Carey Price made 28 saves on the 31 shots he faced Monday Night. Neither team scored on the power play, with the Bruins failing to capitalize on a double-minor earlier in the game.
Boston will have most of the week off, not playing again until December 23rd [Christmas eve eve? NANESB!] at home against the Florida Panthers. The puck drops at 7 PM and the game will be televised on NESN.
OTHER BRUINS NEWS: Bruins F Milan Lucic received a 1-game suspension for his hit on Philadelphia Flyers C Zac Rinaldo, despite reports citing Rinaldo himself as saying the hit wasn't deserving of additional punishment. Lucic also forfeits more than $22,000 in wages for the hit.
NCAA FOOTBALL: The Bowl season got underway Saturday starting with the 2011 Gildan New Mexico Bowl, where Temple rolled over Wyoming by a 37-15 final [reportedly ratings were down on that one and the organizers were trying to line up a new sponsor from the area- NANESB!].
Later on in the day was the Famous Idaho Potatoes Bowl from Boise, ID. The Utah State Aggies led for most of the game in that one, but trailing 17-23 and with less than 20 seconds to go, Ohio Bobcats QB Tyler Tettleton ran the ball in for the game-tying TD and the point-after attempt was good (not always a given, particularly in the NCAA) to give the Bobcats the 24-23 victory and their first-ever Bowl win.
To cap off Saturday's slate of bowl games was the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl from the Superdome between the San Diego State Aztecs and Louisiana-Lafayette in what was almost literally a home game for the Ragin' Cajuns.
This was Lafayette's first bowl appearance since getting promoted to Division 1 football (now FBS). After entering the 4th quarter trailing 17-26, the Aztecs managed to put together some consistent drives and keep the Ragin' Cajuns out of the end zone before taking a 30-29 lead thanks to an 11 yard reception by Colin Lockett with 53 seconds remaining in the game.
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Starting from their own 18 and with 35 seconds remaining, the Ragin' Cajuns got the ball as far as the Aztecs 38 yard line before San Diego State committed a 5 yard offsides penalty with 4 seconds left on the clock. This would put the Ragin' Cajuns a 1st down and more importantly 5 more yards for Lafayette Kicker Brett Baer to split the uprights and give the Ragin' Cajuns their first ever FBS Bowl win by a final of 32-30.
Bowl Week continues with the Beef O'Brady Bowl from St Petersburg, FL featuring Florida International and Marshall on Tuesday night, the Poinsettia Bowl from San Diego between Louisiana Tech and #16 Texas Christian on Wednesday followed by the MAACO bowl from Las Vegas which pits 6-6 Arizona State against #8 Boise State Thursday night.
Photo: San Antonio Express-News, MICHAEL MILLER
NCAA VOLLEYBALL: First of all, I have to thank the NBA owners and players association for their labor dispute.
Why is that, Fenway? you might be asking- and with good reason. Under normal circumstances, the NBA season would've gotten underway in late October. Instead, with the protracted labor dispute there were no games for various regional sports networks such as Fox Sports West or Comcast New England to televise. So what other sport played on the hardwood was televised instead? NCAA Women's volleyball.
Although I've long considered volleyball a fast-paced and involving sport, the fact that there are so many attractive young women playing the game for any number of schools is further incentive to watch- not just the proverbial cherry on top- more like another sundae on top. [Let's see.....if given the choice of professional floppers, loudmouths and thugs versus fit, attractive college-aged women nimbly jumping around in short-shorts patting each other on the tucchus every five minutes- guess which one I'll be dedicating the majority of my time to?- NANESB!]
Sad to say, despite volleyball being invented in New England, schools from New England don't really fare too well in the NCAA Division 1 Volleyball tournament. This year, out of all the schools in New England, only Sacred Heart and Yale qualified for the 2011 Volleyball tournament and neither one of them advanced very far.
This is not due to cold weather neccesarily- Penn State and a number of schools from the midwest show up in the NCAA Finals on a fairly regular basis. In fact, Penn State holds the most Women's Volleyball Titles in the NCAA.
This year was no different, as the Illini advanced to their first ever Divison 1 Women's Volleyball match, pitted against UCLA for the title at San Antionio's Alamodome. For it's part, UCLA hasn't won a title in 20 years, although it did make a few Finals appearences in in the 1990s.
After getting off to a 1-0 lead, the Bruins found themselves knotted up 1-1 after the Illini went on a tear in the second set, but UCLA rallied late to take the 2-1 lead and went on to win the final set from there by a 3-1 final.
The win is UCLA's fourth volleyball title, putting them third all-time behind Penn State (5 titles) and Stamford (six titles). Interestingly, UCLA upended Penn State in this year's semifinals.
RUSSIA: Officials probing the plane crash site along the banks of the Volga river in Yaroslavl Russia have recovered the flight data recorder from the downed Yak-42 aircraft that was carrying members of the team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team of Russia's KHL.
The team was enroute to the Belorussian capital of Minsk for their season opener against Minsk Dinamo when the plane went down on Wednesday. Russian investigators from the Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee have recovered the black box, but caution that the device had gotten wet after being submerged after the crash. Even with the damaged black box, officals said they had been able to recover some data.
So far it is known that the plane's engines were running at the time of impact and that the crash took place on a clear day. The runway at Yaroslavl's Tunoshna airport was about three times longer than necessary for a Yak-42 to reach takeoff speeds, but investigators are looking at insufficient takeoff speed as one of the factors. Early reports claimed that the doomed flight was overloaded and struggling to reach altitude shortly after takeoff before clipping a nearby communications antennae.
Officials allowed Tunoshna airport to reopen on Thursday, but planes were prohibited from purchasing local fuel as investigators haven't ruled out the possibility that low-grade fuel led to the crash.
In Minsk, a requiem mass was held on Thursday at the arena where the KHL season opener was slated to take place.
The deceased include the following:
Lokomotiv Players and Personnel: Vitaly Anikeyenko Yury Bakhvalov Aleksandr Belyayev Mikhail Balandin Aleksandr Vasyunov Josef Vasicek Aleksandr Vyukhin Robert Dietrich Pavol Demitra Andrei Zimin Marat Kalimulin Aleksandr Karpovtsev Aleksandr Kalyanin Andrei Kiryukhin Nikita Klyukin Igor Korolyov Nikolai Krivonosov Yevgeny Kunnov Vyacheslav Kuznetsov Stefan Liv Jan Marek Brad McCrimmon Sergey Ostapchuk Vladimir Piskunov Karel Rachunek Evgeny Sidorov Karlis Skrastins Ruslan Saley Pavel Snurnitsyn Daniil Sobchenko Ivan Tkachenko Pavel Trakhanov Igor Urychev Gennady Churilov Maksim Shuvalov Artyom Yarchuk
Flight Crew Andrey Solontsev Igor Zhevelov Sergei Zhuravlev Vladimir Matyushkin Yelena Sarmatova Nadezhda Maksumova Yelena Shavina
There are two survivors of the plane crash include player Alexander Galimov and flight engineer Alexander Sizov. Both of them were airlifted to Moscow for further treatment, with Galimov sustaining burns on more than 80% of his body.
The KHL plans on resuming play on Tuesday, September 13. Officials from the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl organization say they intend to rebuild after Wednesday's tragedy and claimed to have already received calls from former players offering to come back and skate for the club once again. The KHL will fund the roster for Lokomotiv under the league's current option.
RED SOX: The Red Sox continued to limp through September, dropping the final two games of their 4-game series in Toronto.
Tim Wakefield's quixotic quest for elusive win #200 continues as the bullpen squandered an 8-5 lead on Wednesday night, with Toronto coming back in the 8th inning to score 5 runs before going on to win by a 11-10 final.
On Thursday, Andrew Miller allowed 5 earned runs and 8 hits and two walks in 5 innings of work against the Blue Jays. Toronto's Ricky Romero went 6 and ⅔ innings giving up 5 hits, 3 earned runs and three walks, striking out 7 for the win.
So far, the Red Sox have only won two games in the month of September and now 3B Kevin Youkilis was not posted in the lineup for this weekend's series at Tampa Bay. There was no immediate word on why Youkilis wasn't in the Friday night lineup.
Friday night's game at Tropicana Field will feature Wade Davis (9-8; 4.5 ERA) going up against John Lackey (12-11; 6.11 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10 PM and the game will be televised on NESN.
NFL: Are you ready for some football? So was I, as it turns out.
After a prolonged, contentious and highly public feud between the NFL players association and owners, the 2011 NFL season got underway Thursday night in a contest that pitted the previous two Superbowl champions against each other.
In a little noticed move immediately after President Obama's groundbreaking jobs speech, the NFL had scheduled their season opener for Thursday night in Lambeau Field, pitting the New Orleans Saints against the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. Packers QB Aaron Rogers went 27 of 35 attempts with 312 yards and 3 TDs in Green Bay's 42-34 win at Lambeau.
New Orleans QB Drew Brees actually had the better night statistically (32-49, 419 yards and 3 TDs) but the Packer's D was able to limit a number of New Orleans drives deep into their territory to field goal attempts.
OTHER NFL NEWS- INDIANAPOLIS: Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning underwent neck surgery, his third such procedure in 19 months and will miss the season opener at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Doctors and team officials from the Colts have been very ambiguous about a timetable for Manning's return. Some of the less optimistic (but still unconfirmed) reports claim he could miss the entire season.
Manning hasn't missed a start in 14 seasons, starting in 227 consecutive games for Indianapolis.
Veteran QB Kerry Collins, who most recently saw action with Indy's AFC South foe Tenessee Titans, will be starting for the Colts while Manning is out.
OTHER NFL NEWS- CHICAGO- The NFL has no plans to sanction or fine Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs for wearing cleats and gloves adorned with the colors of the US flag. Although technically a uniform violation, the league said that players could wear customized shoes and gloves for Week 1.
NCAA Football: Possible future conference-mates Oklahoma State and Arizona met at Stillwater, OK Thursday night. The 9th ranked Cowboys (2-0) handeled the Wildcats (1-1) fairly easily, winning by a 37-14 final.
Games on tap for Friday night include Arizona state vs #21 Missouri and Louisville hosting Florida International Univ.
ELSEWHERE IN THE BIG 12: After SEC presidents and chancellors welcomed a possible move to the SEC conference by Texas A&M, the move faces a roadblock in the form of Baylor university.
Bayolr is threatening to sue if the Aggies depart the Big 12 and the SEC must reportedly obtain waivers from each school before any such move, according to an e-mail from Big 12 commisioner Dan Beebe. One SEC chancellor said that Texas A&M must resolve any pending legal disputes within the Big 12 before becoming the 13th team in the SEC.
But as it turned out, there was a game to be played and it turned out to be a nearly prototypical 'tale of two halves' [and not just because I caught the 1st half on a fading AM radio station and the second half in (sort of) glorious hi-def on a plasma screen- NANESB!].
The Packers got out to a 21-3 lead (two of those the end result of turnovers from Ben Roethlisberger) late in the 2nd quarter before the Steelers were able to find the end zone on an 8 yard Roethlisberger to Heinz Ward TD pass to make it a 21-10 game at the half.
However, the Packers would have to continue in the second half without star cornerback Rod Woodson, who went down in the second quarter with what was initially classified as a 'left shoulder injury' but turned out to be a broken left collarbone.
The Packers would open up the second half by going three and out deep in their own territory, leaving the Steelers with the ball at mid-field on the ensuing punt. From there, the Steelers closed the gap to make it a 21-17 game with a quick-strike drive that relied exclusively on the rushing game.
While the Green Bay offense would continue to sputter, the Packers D would limit the Steelers to a missed 52 yard FG attempt from midfield after Roethlisberger was sacked on a lengthy drive of 4 and a half minutes. Green Bay wasn't able to do much with the ball at midfield other than pin the Steelers deep in their own territory on the ensuing punt.
The two teams would close out the 3rd quarter by trading 3 and outs. Pittsburgh got the ball back in good field position at the very end of the 3rd, but on the first play of the 4th quarter RB Rashard Mendenhall fumbled the ball and Green Bay linebacker Desmond Bishop recovered on the Packer's own 33 yard line (the runback gave Green Bay the ball on their 45 yard line). The Packers took advantage by marching down the field and going up by 6 when Aaron Rogers connected with WR Greg Jennings- this came after Rogers made key completions of 12 and 38 yards on 3rd and 7and 3rd and 10.
The Steelers would come right back with a lengthy drive and cash in on 3rd and 3 from the GB 25 yard line (after picking up 15 on 2nd and 18) before successfully completing a 2 point conversion to make it a 3-point game, with the Packers still on top 28-25 with just over 7 minutes left in regulation.
Green Bay would respond with a lengthy, time consuming drive that took a little over 5 minutes off the clock and put them deep in the red zone before deciding to kick a FG and make it a 31-25 advantage.
Pittsburgh would be assessed a penatly on the ensuing kickoff and have to start from deep in their own territory. Roethlisberger would be able to get the ball out to the Steelers 33 yard line, but that's as far as they would go because after failing to convert on 4th and 5 with 49 seconds remaining in the game.
So the Green Bay Packers come away victorious in their first Superbowl appearance since 1998- when it was Favre against Ellway.
Packers QB Aaron Rogers went 24 for 39 with 304 yards and 3 TDs and was named Superbowl XLV MVP....I'm not sure if they still do the 'I'm going to Disneyworld' thing, tho'.
Pretty good game, all in all. I thought it would be a complete blowout after the first half, but the Steelers made it interesting for a while in the second. The turnovers simply killed the Steelers, with 21 points coming off of turnovers.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: Shannon Sharpe, Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk have been named to the NFL Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee this weekend.
Tom Brady was named the regular-season MVP by all 50 panelists since the AP began using a nationwide panel of media members who cover the league. This is the first time ever a player had been unanimously selected for the MVP award.
NHL: The Bruins were dealt their first loss since the All-Star break on Saturday when they hosted the San Jose Sharks. Sharks netminder Antti Niemi stopped all 26 shots faced while Tim Thomas stopped 16 of 17 shots faced in the 2-0 loss (the 2nd San Jose goal came on an empty-netter later in the game).
Boston's next game will be on Wednesday at home against the Canadiens- this one will be televised on VS at 7PM Eastern, 4PM Pacific. The Habs are coming into TD Banknorth Garden off of a 4-1 loss to New Jersey on Sunday.
NBA: The Celtics didn't do much better on Friday night in Dallas, falling to the Mavericks 101-97 after a late rally by Dallas.
All in all, Sunday afternoon was a pretty good day for the Rajon Rondo, scoring 26 points in Boston's 91-80 win over the Orlando Magic. Paul Pierce had 18 points and Kevin Garnett had 16 on Sunday while Dwight Howard had 28 of his own in a losing effort for Orlando.
The Celtics will travel to Charlotte for a Monday Night tipoff against the Bobcats at 7PM Eastern.
NFL: Screw the conference championship games, Tom Brady had surgery on his right foot this week! The surgery, performed on Thursday by team physician George Theodore, involved inserting a screw into Brady's problematic right foot. If all goes well, Brady's recovery timetable should be around three months or so, in time training camp in late July or early August.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: Oh yea- it also happened to be Championship Sunday this weekend, so without any further ado:
AFC: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the final few minutes of the AFC Championship game, even if it was alot closer then it should've been.
The Pittsburgh Steelers took a 24-3 lead into halftime for the AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening. It didn't look like it for awhile in the 4th quarter, but that was all the Steelers would need to get by the Jets- despite New York scoring 16 unanswered points in the second half (their first 3 came with only 9 seconds to go before halftime).
The Jets made it a 5 point game with just over 3 minutes to go in regulation, capping off a 4 and a half minute drive with a short pass from QB Mark Sanchez to WR Jerricho Cotchery to make it a 24-19 game. The Steelers would get the ball back with just under 3 minutes remaining- meaning that if the Jets could force a 3 and out, they would have enough time for a 2 minute drill. Roethlisberger managed to get the Steelers as far as the Jets 40 yard line at the two minute warning, bringing up and important 3rd and 6 in which Big Ben made a 14 yard completion to Antonio Brown, sending all sorts of headgear flying off of Rex Ryan before crashing to earth as the Steelers simply took a knee and iced the game from there.
NFC: Well....these guys probably had a heart attack. I mean.....well....a bigger one than usual:
I came in a little late on this one- by the time I tuned in, Cutler was already on the bench [let the speculation abound- NANESB!] and the Packers were up 14-0.
Things would get interesting when Bears backup QB Todd Collins was benched in favor of Caleb Hanie late in the 3rd, which paid dividends right away when the Bears started a TD drive from their own 33 to cut the Packers lead in half. However, pinned deep in their own territory, Haine would be picked off by Packers nose tackle BJ Raji, who rumbled into the end zone to put the Packers up 21-7. The Bears would strike again on a quick drive where Hanie connected with WR Earl Bennett for a 35 yard TD reception to once again make it a 1-score game with just under 5 minutes in regulation left.
Chicago's defense forced a fairly quick 3 and out from the Packers, giving the Bears the ball back with just under 3 minutes in regulation on their own 29. However, Green Bay would put the game away when Hanie was picked off by Packers CB Sam Shields deep in Green Bay territory ith 37 seconds remaining.
Green Bay wins the first postseason meeting of the Bears and Packers since the outbreak of WWII by a final of 21-14. Although Caled Hanie acquitted himself reasonably well (13-20, 153 yards, 1 TD but two costly interceptions), Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback that will be going to north Texas for the Superbowl. The Packers QB was 17-30 with 244 yards on the day and two INTs.
This means Superbowl XLV will feature a matchup between two vintage NFL clubs (Packers go as far back as 1919 while the Steelers date to '33). Superbowl XLI is scheduled to kick off from Cowboys Stadium at 6:30PM ET on Saturday, Feb 6th on FOX.
NBA: The Celtics had their 5 game winning streak come to a halt on Saturday night in Washington DC. Wizards rookie John Wall banked in a pivotal 3 pointer in the games final minute to help beat Boston by an 85-83 final.
The Celtics had finished up a homestand where they managed to beat the Kings, Bobcats, Magic, Pistons and wrapped up a 110-86 win over the Utah Jazz the night before travelling to Washington. They will next take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at home on Tuesday night.
NHL: After completing the home/road sweep against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Boston Bruins had one more home game (where they lost to the Sabres on Thursday night) before their road trip out West got underway.
The change of scenery apparently did them some good as they came away 6-2 winners in Saturday night's game at Denver's Pepsi Center against the Colorado Avalanche. Although Colorado's Paul Stasny scored first, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand had two goals each (Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron would have goals as well). Tim Thomas stopped 32 of 34 shots faced on the night while the Avs pulled goalie Craig Anderson before the start of the 3rd.
The Bruins will next travel to the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday night to take on the LA Kings. Puck drops at 10:30 ET, 7:30 PT.
MLB: There's a 2004 Red Sox reunion of sorts taking place in the AL East, although not at Fenway Park. Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez have each agreed to separate one year deals with the Tampa Bay Rays this past week. SI.com reported that Damon's contract was worth $5.25 million with incentives while Manny's was in the neighborhood of $2 million. Both deals are pending a physical.
The Rays had lost Carl Crawford and Matt Garza to free agency earlier in the offseason.
POLL CLOSED: Thanks to those of you that voted. To hardly anybody's surprise, the Red Sox coming back to win the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees was the runaway winner for 'Most Memorable New England Sports Moment: 2000-2010.'
NFL: My highly placed sources indicate that there were some sort of football games that were played over the weekend, which was capped off the the New York Jets 28-21 win over New England at Foxboro on Sunday afternoon....wait.....*looks at paper*...that can't be right, can it?
*Re-examining newspaper*
What? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Damn it to hell! I hope Rex Ryan chokes on a hooker's big toe... Actually, I got to see the whole thing unfold in not-so-glorious hi def from start to finish. I had entertained thoughts of jumping off a bridge, but the nearest one is actually one of those little Japanese bridges that isn't too high, which kind of defeats the purpose. It's not like the Tobin bridge is right around the corner.
Tom Brady was sacked five times and had two turnovers on the day, going 29 for 45 with 299 yards and 2 TD passes. The weird thing is that more often than not, he'd have all the time in the world to throw, but most of the receivers downfield would be covered. This was somewhat offset by reasonably productive days from Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead, but promising looking drives would sputter midfield as the Jets defense tightened up. After trailing 14-3 at the half, the Patriots were kept out of the Jets end zone until the very end of the 3rd quarter on a short pass from Brady to Alge Crumpler.
New England successfully converted the 2 point attempt to make it 14-11 heading into the 4th, but the Jets came right back with a quick strike on the next possession and went up by a 21-11 margin. Shortly after Shayne Graham kicked a short FG to make it a 14-21 game, the Jets recovered the onside kick and ran the next play into the end zone to seemingly put the game out of reach at 28-14 (when they could've just gotten a first down and bleed out the clock from there, no less). The Pats would get the ball back on their own 41, and Brady would take all of a minute and 11 seconds to find Deion Branch in the end zone to make it a 'hold the phones' 28-21 game as Gillette stadium was rapidly emptying out [way to represent, Pats faithful- NANESB!], but once again, the Jets would recover the onside kick and take a knee wit 23 seconds to seal the win.
So this marks the second straight year that New England has lost at home in the playoffs....one and done. And perhaps with the hasty departure of the defending SuperBowl champions to a team that finished the regular season 7-9 and the team with the NFC's best record also making an early exit, the Jets win shouldn't come as a huge shock.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: The Steelers looked a little rusty in their Saturday game against Baltimore, but came back from a 21-7 halftime deficit to go ahead 24-21 before the Ravens would manage to tie it back up at 24 on their 1st possession of the 4th quarter. However, Baltimore would turn it over on downs late in the 4th and Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger managed to convert for a 58 yard completion to rookie WR Antonio Brown on 3rd and 19. The Steelers would take the 31-24 lead with just ver a minute and a half remaining in the 4th- that would be the final from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. This sets up an AFC Championship game in the Steel City between the Jets and Pittsburgh on Sunday the 23rd at 6:30PM ET.
I gotta say, the NFC matchups weren't nearly as close as I anticipated. Granted, I didn't think the Seahawks had another rabbit to pull out of their hat either. They lose by a 35-24 final at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday, and believe me, that was more a byproduct of the Bears defense taking the final 5 minutes off than it being an actual close game.
On Saturday, the Green Bay Packers simply ran away with it at the Georgia Dome as the Falcons laid an egg and lost by a 48-21 final coming off of their bye week. This sets up a good old fashioned black & blue Packers and Bears matchup for the NFC Championship game at Chicago- Sunday the 23rd at 3:00 ET. Interestingly, this will be the first time the Bears and the Packers have met in he postseason since Dec. 14th, 1941- exactly a week after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
NBA: He's baaaaaaaaack! And man oh man, did he come in handy on Monday night.
The C's had Saturday and Sunday off after a surprisingly close 99-94 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday. Monday night's home game against the Orlando Magic marked the return of Kevin Garnett for the first time in nearly 3 weeks after being sidelined with a right calf injury, and his presence was felt with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and that pivotal steal with 17 seconds remaining and the Magic down by 3.
Boston would go on to win by the 106-109 final- Ray Allen led the scoring with 26 points on the night, followed by KG's 19 and 'Big Baby' coming off the bench with 15. This would make it 3 wins in a row for the C's, and they will next face the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night at the Garden during this lengthy homestand. NHL: Seems like the Bruins and the Celtics are doing their utmost to make me realize that even after Sunday's debacle in Foxboro, it's still a mighty damn good time to be a New England sports fan.
The Bruins came into Monday night's home game against the Carolina Hurricanes winning three of their last four games (including a Patrice Bergeron hat trick in a 6-0 dismantling of the Senators last Tuesday)- although their most recent game was a 3-2 loss to the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
So not quite a week after Bergeron's first career hat trick, what could one possibly do for an encore? How about Zdeno Chara's first career hat trick? The big Slovakian defender's first tally came almost literally right when he stepped out of the penalty box in the 1st period to make it a 2-0 game with 8 and a half minutes gone by in the 1st period. This was followed by a power play goal (5 on 3) four and a half minutes later and another power play goal with just over 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd period.
Truth be told, the Bruin's could've won with just Chara's offensive contribution alone- Tim Thomas made 31 saves in the B's 7-0 shutout of the Hurricanes. Patrice Bergeron, Gregory Campbell, Mark Stuart and Michael Ryder also had goals in last night's game.
The B's will travel down to Raleigh for a rematch on Tuesday night in the away portion of the home-and-away series against Carolina.
