Instant Sports Chowdah Update- Failure to Launch, Patriots Survive Jets on Last Second Blocked FG; Wakey Wakey, Boston College Outlasts Deacons; Near Miss, LSU Hands Ole Miss First Loss of Season

NFL- With the longer-than-usual wait after last Thursday night's game, at times it almost felt as though the Patriots had a bye week.

The Patriots got out to an early lead in their only Thursday night game of the season, but a very game New York Jets team was never far behind. New England took a 17-12 lead against New York into halftime, thanks to a 39 yard Gostkowski FG as time expired in the 2nd quarter.

With 9 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, the Jets took their first lead of the night with a drive that was capped by a short Nick Ivory TD run to give them a 19-17 lead. On the following drive, the Patriots got as far as the Jets red zone, and even though they had to settle for another Gostkowski field goal, the Patriots re-took the lead with 4:10 to go in the first.

It looked as though the Patriots were beginning to pull away midway though the 4th quarter when Brady connected with WR Danny Amendola for a 19 yard TD reception to make it a 27-19 lead, but with just over two and a half minutes to go, the Jets capped an 81 yard drive that took just under 5 minutes with a 10 yard TD pass from Geno Smith to TE Jeff Cumberland to bring the Jets to within two- however, the two point conversion attempt failed and New England still clung to a 27-25 lead.

After the Jets defense held New England to a 3 and out, the Patriots were forced to punt and managed to succeed in pinning the Jets back at their own 12 yard line with just over a minute to go in regulation. With the clock ticking, the Jets were able to get the ball as far as the Patriots 40 yard line with just 5 seconds left on the clock, setting up a potential game-winning FG attempt of nearly 60 yards [difficult, but not impossible- NANESB!]. However, in a bit of payback from last year's Jets win on a FG, DT Chris Jones managed to Block Folk's 58 yard attempt as time expired, giving New England the 27-25 victory- their second straight win against an AFC East opponent.

The Patriots homestand will continue with an early afternoon game against the Chicago Bears with a 1:00 kickoff at Foxbourough on Sunday afternoon. The game will be broadcast on FOX and XM subscribers can listen on channel 85.

WORLD SERIES- Those of you who had their hearts set on an all-Missouri World Series have Giants infielder Travis Ishikawa to blame for that not taking place this year.

Ishikawa belted a walkoff home run in extra innings of Game 5 of the NLCS which ended the Cardinals season and punched the Giants ticket to their 3rd World Series since 2010.

The Giants faced a game Kansas City, who made pretty quick work of the Orioles in the ALCS. Despite San Francisco dominating Game 1 behind a commanding performance by starter Madison Bumgarner, going on to win by a 7-1 final, the Kansas City Royals came storming back in Game Two. This send to series to San Francisco tied at 1 game each.

After winnign Game 3 by one run, Kansas City headed into Saturday night's Game 4 with a 2 games to one lead and things were looking promising when the ROyals batters were able to chase Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong off the mound after just two and two-thirds innings and take a 4-1 lead over San Francisco. However, the Giants batters would go on to score a total of 10 unanswered runs, tying the game with a Hunter Pence RBI single and Juan Perez RBI sac-fly in the bottom of the 5th followed by a 2-RBI single by Pablo Sandoval and a Brandon Belt RBI single in the bottom of the 6th to San Francisco the 7-4 lead. However, the Giants weren't done and got plenty of insurance runs tacked on in the bottom of the 7th and would go on to win Game four by an 11-4 final and tie the series up at 2-2, ensuring that the series would head back to Kansas City regardless of outcome.

DENVER BRONCOS- On Sunday afternoon, Broncos QB Peyton Manning surpassed Brett Favre to become the NFL leader in career TD passes during the October 19th win against the San Francisco at Mile High. Manning recorded a total of 4 TD passes in that game and three TD passes in Thursday night's 35-21 win over the San Diego Chargers at Denver for a career total of 513.

Manning, who has been in the league since 1998, is only one of seven all-time NFL quarterbacks to surpass the 300 career TD mark- although the other two include both Tom Brady and Drew Brees.

NCAA FOOTBALL- After a close loss to Clemson on Chestnut Hill last week, the Boston College Eagles travelled to the Tarheel State to take on Wake Forest on Saturday. The Eagles took a 17-0 halftime lead into the locker room and were able to add onto it in the 3rd and 4th quarters, jumping out as far as 23-3 in the second half before the Deacons could get any kind of offensive rhythm going.

But with BC seemingly cruising in the 4th quarter, the Deacons managed to string together a drive that netted their first TD of the day with just over 8 minutes too go in the ballgame. Still trailing 23-10, Wake got the ball back deep in BC territory when BC sophomore Myles Willis funbled the kickoff deep in Eagles territory. Starting on BC's 15 yard line, the Wake offense was able to punch it in and make it a 1-possession game, with the Eagles still clinging to a 23-17 lead.

However, BC junior Justin Simmons was able to pick off Deacons QB John Wolford on the next Wake Forest possession, sealing the game for Boston College late in the 4th quarter. Eagles QB Tyler Murphy had 165 yards passing and a TD along with 77 yards rushing on the day. RB Jon Hilliman rushed for 101 yards and 2 TDs on the afternoon.

Next Saturday, Boston College will travel down to Blacksburg, VA to take on Virginia Tech. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 ET and the game will be streaming on ESPN3.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- Last week's highly-touted battle of the unbeatens lived up to the billing as #2 Florida State was able to get by #5 Notre Dame last Saturday by a 31-27 final. This leaves Florida State as one of the few remaining undefeated teams in the NCAA top 25 polling.

The Seminoles actually have this week off, but will return to action on Thursday night against 6-2 Louisville. That game gets underway at 7:30 ET and the game will be televised on ESPN.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- And then there was only one undefeated in the Magnolia State.

On Saturday night, the #24 LSU Tigers handed #3 Ole Miss their first loss of the 2014 season in Baton Rouge in what turned out to be a surprisingly low-scoring affair. The Rebels led 7-3 for most of the game until 5:45 to go in the 4th quarter when the bayou Bengals took their first lead of the night on a 4 yard TD pass from QB Anthony Jennings to TE Logan Stokes to put LSU up 10-7.

Although Ole Miss had a couple of late chances to tie the game or go ahead, they were undone by a penalty that put them out of FG range with 14 seconds left in the game. Instead of trying for the game-tying FG, Ole Miss opted for a Hail Mary since the penalty that had pushed them out of FG range. The game would end on LSU intercepting Ole Miss' 30 yard pass attempt with less than 10 seconds left, giving the Ole Miss Rebels their first loss of the season.

NHL- Hockey Night in Canada got underway on Saturday night north of the border with an Original Six matchup that pitted the Boston Bruins against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This was the first home game for the Maple Leafs since Wednesday's attack on Canada's Parliament, and the pregame ceremony honored Cpl. Cirillo, the Canadian soldier at the War Memorial who was shot dead by the gunman before he made his way to the parliament building.

For the Bruins, this was the first game after their 3-2 loss to the Islanders at home on Thursday night.

Carl Soderberg got the Bruins on the board early just three and a half minutes into the first. Tukka Rask made it hold up, carrying a shutout to the final five minutes of the 3rd period and David Krejci make it a 2-0 Bruins lead late in the 2nd before Greg Campbell and Dougie Hamilton scored less than two and a half minutes apart to give Boston a 4-0 lead.

Toronto broke through with a goal from Richard Panik with just over 5 and a half minutes to go in the 3rd, but the Bruins would go on to win by a final of 4-1.

After Saturday, the Bruins will head back to Boston where they'll face the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. The game will be televised on NESN and NBC Sports with the puck scheduled to drop at 7:00 ET.

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

Hump Day Sports Chowdah Update- Denver Steels One @ Home; Tide Rolls in BCS; B's Weather Northern Invasion; NBA Champs Give C's Texas Sized Trouble

NFL- Holy crap....I didn't see this so much as catch it on the radio. Even if I did see it, I probably still wouldn't have believed it.

In case you've been living somewhere without TV or Twitter for the past couple of days, here is how Wild Card weekend wrapped up in Mile High. Embedded below is the ENTIRE overtime from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos game.



Yeah- your eyes do NOT decieve you. One play and *BAM!* it's ovah. There was a whole slew of new overtime rules that were explained at the very beginning of Sunday's OT [basically no more sudden death OT if a field goal is kicked- first one to score 6 points wins- NANESB!].

Tebow's TD pass to open up OT sets up a meeting with the New England Patriots in Foxborough, MA Saturday night at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.

The Steelers/Broncos game on Sunday evening had capped what was previously been a Wild Card weekend of blowout contests.

Things got underway on Saturday with the Houston Texans notcing their first-ever postseason win after beating the Cincinnati bengals 31-10 at home. This was followed up on Saturday night with the Detroit Lions trying in vain to play catch-up with the NFC South champion Saints as New Orleans clinched that one by a 45-28 final.

On Sunday afternoon, the Giants built upon a 7-2 halftime lead over the Atlanta Falcons to run away with the contest, going on to win by a 24-2 final.

This weekend's matchups are as follows:

SATURDAY- 1/14:

New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers- 4:30PM ET [FOX]
Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots- 8:00PM ET [CBS]

SUNDAY- 1/15:

Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens- 1:00PM ET [CBS]
New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers- 4:30PM ET [FOX]

OTHER NFL NEWS: The body of the 21 year old son of Green Bay Packers assistant coach Joe Philbin was found by searchers in the Fox River on Monday. Police in Oshkosh, WI are trying to piece together the actions of Micheal Philbin in the hours leading up to his death.

A night watchman at a nearby business called police reporting that he heard somebody calling for help from an area adjacent to the river at a bout 2:30 AM Sunday. Police, fire and dive teams searched the area but initially found nothing.

Investigators do not immediately suspect foul play, but suspect alcohol may have been a factor.


NHL- The regular season Stanley Cup rematch on Saturday turned out to be a little anti-climatic as the Canucks were able to hold off a late Bruins charge and win by a 4-3 final....all four of Vancouver's goals coming with the man advantage.

Corey Schneider stopped 36 of 39 shots faces while Tim Thomas stopped 32 of 36 shots faced. This was a pretty chippy affain, with the Bruins getting assessed 48 penalty minutes and Vancouver getting 52 total.

The big story was the NHL suspending Brad Marchand for a hit on Vancouver's Sami Salo on Saturday.

Marchand clipped Salo towards the end of the second period in Saturday's game and was assessed a major penalty and game-misconduct. By Monday, the NHL had issued a 5-game suspension for Marchand and he will reportedly forfeit $150,000 in pay. Marchand will reportedly be able to return on Jan 19th, when the Bruins play the New Jersey Devils.

The league considers Marchand a repeat offender, havng been been suspended two games last March.

On Tuesday Night, the Marchand-less Bruins hosted the Winnipeg Jets and were trailing 3-2 heading into the 3rd period. Boston would rally in the 3rd, getting goals from Nathan Horton (just 8 seconds in no less), Tyler Seguin and Benoit Pouliot (the latter coming on the power play) to take the lead for good and win by a final of 5-3.

Tukka Rask had the start in net and turned aside 29 of 32 shots faced while the Bruins had all of 13 penalty minutes assessed against them.

The Bruins will next face the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Puck drops at 7PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

Jeffery Roberts- Daily Hampshire Gazette

NCAA HOCKEY: The NCAA Doubleheader for Frozen Fenway wrapped up on Saturday with both contests heading into OT.

Game one had the Vermont Catamounts against the UMass Minutemen, and after Vermont got off to an early 1-0 lead, the game would head into OT knotted up at 2-2. The fact that the contest even made it to overtime was made all the more impressive by the fact that the Minutemen's Patrick Kiley was given a 5 minute major penalty with less than 3 minutes to go in regulation. Not only was UMass able to successuflly kill of the e5 minute major in the 3rd and into OT, but Catamounts defenseman Michael Paliotta was called for boarding with 1:16 remaining in overtime. UMass defenseman Michael Marcou managed to score with 22 seconds left in OT to give the Minutemen the 3-2 OT win. Sophmore goalie Jeff Teglia notched his first career win witht the Minutemen after making 24 saves on Saturday.

The UMass win was followed up by a higer-scoring contest between the University of New Hampshire Wildcats and the Maine Black Bears Forward Brian Flynn scored a minute and a half into OT to break a 4-4 deadlock, giving Maine the 5-4 victory. Saturday night's win is the Black Bear's 7th win in their last 8 games.


OTHER NCAA HOCKEY NEWS: Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey coach Charles 'Lefty' Smith passed away in his South Bend, IN home at the age of 81. In a statement, the University said that Smith died of natural causes.

Smith started Notre Dame's hockey program back in 1968 and compiled a 307-320-30 record in his 19 year tenure as the Fighting Irish head coach. In 1973, Smith was awarded the WCHA's Coach of the Year. After his coaching career, Smith became facilities manager for the Irish, continuing to work until his retirement a month ago.

NCAA FOOTBALL- Well, I learned something new on Monday night: Apparently Tigers can lay eggs.

That's exactly what the #1 ranked LSU Tigers did in the BCS championship game against the Crimson Tide at the Superdome as #2 Alabama shut out the Bayou Bengals 21-0.

Flawless execution on 'Bama's part notwithstanding, many spectators were left wondering how different the game might've looked if the #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys were invited to the BCS Championship game instead of a conference opponent for LSU [I sent out a tweet half-seriously implying that the Fiesta Bowl was actually the REAL BCS title game- NANESB!].

So when all was said and done, the apparent highlight for Louisiana college football this Bowl season was the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns last-minute victory over San Diego State in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, also played in the Superdome.

OTHER NCAA FOOTBALL NEWS- Baylor's Heisman-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III announced that he would forego his senior year at Baylor to enter the NFL draft on Wednesday.

NBA- Oh yeah...the NBA season is underway.

The Boston Celtics dropped to 4-5 on Wednesday night after losing to the reigning NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks by an 85-90 final. Dirk Nowitzki got by Kevin Garnett with what would be the game-winning laup with 5 seconds left in the 4th.

The Celtics will next take on the 10-2 Chicago Bulls on Friday night at 8:00PM ET, with the game being televised on ESPN.

Sports Chowdah W/ A Side of Triptothan Update: No 11th Heaven For Bruins; BC Rocks Miami Like a Hurricane; The Longhorn Goobye

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

NCAA FOOTBALL: Boston College closed out the regular season on Friday with a trip to Miami to take on the struggling (altho' not as badly as the Eagles) Hurricanes.

The game seemed almost secondary to developments within the Miami program- it was decided that even if the Hurricanes were bowl-eligible that they would not accept any invitations due to an ongoing investigation and possible NCAA sanctions regarding former booster and Ponzi scheme mastermind Nevin Shapiro and the uncertainty on the status of football head coach Al Golden.

And I gotta say, despite getting out to the 14-10 halftime lead, Miami played like a team with other things on their mind in the 2nd half. Boston College got had the 1st possession of the 2nd half and after starting off on their own 20 yard line, managed to march down 80 yards in 3 minutes and 7 seconds to take a 17-14 lead on a 32 yard completion from QB Chase Rettig to TE Chris Pantale.

To open up the 4th quarter, the Eagles would get some much-needed insurance when BC linebacker Luke Kuechly picked off 'Canes QB Jackory Harris for a 45 yard return to the end zone to make it a 24-14 Boston College lead. The defense would then seal the deal by shutting down Miami's offense thanks in no small part to a number of takeaways. Harris would then go on to throw two more picks in the 4th quarter before Miami settled a late FG to make it a 24-17 game with 21 seconds left. The Hurricanes would attempt the onside kick, but it would go out of bounds to end the game and wrap up both the Eagles and Canes respective seasons.

Chase Rettig went 13-17 with 196 yards and 2 TDs while TE Chirs Pantale had 4 catches for 79 yards and 2 TDs. Miami's Jacory Harris went 23-39 with 245 yards, a TD and 4 interceptions on the day, three of them coming in the 4th quarter.

I wish I could take credit for this quote, but an anonymous netizen who was clearly paying attention to the game said that The Canes and Jacory Harris were making Boston College look like a top tier SEC team.

Boston College finished the 2011 campaign with a 4-8 record while the Miami Hurricanes wrap things up with a 6-6 record. Apparently wanting to send the crowd home happy in Miami, it was announced that Al Golden received an 8-year contract extension with the Hurricanes with about 12 minutes remaining in the game.

I gotta say, as disappointed as I've been with Boston College this year, it was still very gratifying to seem them beat the Hurricanes and win two out of their last three. I keep thinking back to that Freese FG attempt from point-blank range that clanged off the upright against Duke in week 3 and how much different this season could've been if the kick was good. Don't get me wrong, there were a number of other issues, but that seemed to be a backbreaker way too early for BC.

This would be the first time since 1999 (back when the Eagles were still in the Big East) that the BC Eagles were ineligible for a Bowl game, so that streak comes to an end this season.

For 2012, the BC Eagles are tentatively scheduled to have Army, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Maine as non-conference opponents, although an official, finalized schedule has yet to come out.

TEXAS: Thursday night marked the end of an era in the Lone Star state when the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies faced off for the last time in the foreseeable future thanks to the Aggies moving to the SEC starting next season. The rivalry's apparent finale was broadcast live on ESPN from Kyle stadium in College Station, TX.

The Aggies/Longhorns Rivalry dates back to 1894 and the two football teams have met each other in 118 total games since then.

A&M got out to the early 10-0 lead in the first quarter while the Longhorns were unable to get a 1st down until about 8 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Longhorns headed into the locker room down 16-7 at the half, but started out strong in the 2nd half, with Longhorns CB Carrington Byndom picking off a pass from Aggies QB Ryan Tannehill to close within two points. Although the Aggies would keep the Longhorns out of the end zone on their next possession, they managed to take the 17-16 lead on a chip shot 25 yard FG. Texas would then pad their lead on a short TD run from RB Cody Johnson to make it 24-16 Longhorns.

But after kicking a 32 yard FG in the 4th, the Aggies would come back late to take the lead on a 16 yard completion from Tannehill to WR Jeff Fuller to make it a 25-24 Aggies lead. But with 1:48 remaining Case McCoy was able to march the Longhorns down the field and into Aggie territory, including a mad 25 yard scramble from 1st and 10 on the Aggies 48. Well within FG range, the Longhorns allowed the clock to go down to 3 seconds before bringing on Justin Tucker to kick a 40 yard FG, which sealed to 27-25 Longhorns win.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: Pretty busy black Friday out there as far as College football went.

Despite a sloppy 1st half in Baton Rouge, the top ranked LSU Tigers came back strong in the 2nd half, blowing the #3 rated Arkansas Razorbacks out of they Bayou by a 41-17 final going on to win by a 41-17 final. Undefeated LSU will next face the #13 Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship game on December 3rd.

The #8 Houston Cougars handled Tulsa pretty easily on the road 48-16 to remain undefeated heading into next weekend's Conference USA Championship game, which they will host. The undefeated Cougars will likely face either Southern Mississippi or Marshall for the title game.

Other 'rivalry' games on Friday included the West Virginia Mountaineers rallying past the Pitt Panthers, scoring 14 unanswered points in the second half to win by a 21-20 final.

NHL: After rallying past a Buffalo Sabres team determined to assert their physical presence in a shootout Wednesday night to extend their winning streak to 10 in a row, the Boston Bruins played host to the Detroit Red Wings on black Friday.

Elsa/Getty Images

Once again, the Bruins rallied from behind to tie the game on an unassisted goal from Patrice Bergeron to tie the contest up at 2-2 and force OT. After the scoreless OT, Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi managed to get the puck past Tukka Rask in the OT while Nathan Horton had the lone shootout goal for Boston.

All good things must come to an end and the Red Wings snap the Bruins winning streak with their 3-2 shootout win, although Boston does get the one point for forcing the contest to overtime. This is actually the B's first shootout loss of the 2011-12 season, so at

For the first time in 16 years, the Bruins will host the Winnipeg Jets at the Garden on Saturday night. Back in November 1995, the Bruins managed to beat the Jets in regulation by a 5-4 final (and would actually sweep the season series with a 5-3 road win against Winnipeg a month later). The 9-9-4 Jets are coming off of a 3-1 at Carolina and the game gets under way at 7PM ET and will be broadcast on NESN and CBC.

NBA: Reports are circulating as of late Friday night that owners and the NBA players association have tentatively agreed to a new labor deal that would allow the regular NBA season to resume on Christmas Day.

Sports Chowdah Update- Rask 'em! Tukka Gets 1st Win Of Season; Giant Letdown in Foxborough; Boxing Great Fraser Passes Away; OSU/KSU Shakes Things Up

Elsa- Getty Images

NHL: Don't look now, but the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins have been on a tear lately, breaking up the Ottawa Senator's 6-game win streak last week and shutting out the Maple Leafs 7-0 thanks to Tyler Seguin's first career hat trick over the weekend before returning to Boston to host the New York Islanders on Monday night.

The Bruins opened up the scoring with a tally from Benoit Pouliot barely 90 seconds into the 1st period, although the Isles Matt Moulson would knot up the score about 4 minutes later with an even strength goal. The B's were then able to convert a power play opportunity on a Nathan Horton tally at the 13:38 mark, followed by a Tyler Segiun even strength goal about 30 seconds later to make it 3-1 Bruins.

By that point, the Islanders decided t pull goalie Evgeni Nabakov- who had allowed 3 goals on 9 shots- for Al Montoya. Then, with just over 90 seconds remaining in the 1st, the Isles Michael Grabner made it a 1-goal game with a shot that beat Tukka Rask at the 18:36 mark.

After a scoreless 2nd period, the Bruins broke it open in the 3rd with goals from Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton and Davic Krejci (the latter coming on an empty netter) to seal the 6-2 win for Boston's 3rd straight win.

Not even one week into November, the Bruins have won as many games as they have for the month of October. Tukka Rask turned aside 24 of the 26 shots he faced for his first win of the season and the B's converted on their only power play opportunity of the evening.

The B's will next take on the Edmonton Oilers at the Garden on Thursday night with a 7 PM Start time.


BOXING: Olympic gold medalist and former undisputed world heavweight boxing champion Joe Frazier passed away due to complications from liver cancer on Monday.

Born and raised on South Carolina, Frazier became interested in boxing when his parents purchased a black and white TV and relatives compared his build to Joe Louis. At age 15, he moved in with relatives in New York City and after winning some amateur titles, he tried out for the US Olympic team, being the only American to win the gold medal in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Frazier is perhaps best known for the 1971 'Fight of the Century' at Madison Square Garden where he took on Mohammed Ali. In a contest between two undefeateds, Frazier managed to best Ali in 15 rounds.

Frazier was diagnosed with liver cancer at the end of September this year and entered hospice care a week ago.

NFL: This had Deja-vu written all over it.

The rematch of Superbowl XLII got off to a pretty slow start. For the first time in nearly 5 years, the Patriots were held scoreless at the half (thanks in part to a missed Gostkowski FG attempt from the Giants 27 before the end of the 2nd quarter). However, the visiting Giants were also held scoreless in the first half, leading to very few highlights with an 0-0 score for the halftime report.

In the 3rd quarter, the Giants would get out to a 10-0 lead before the Pats would get on the board thanks to a Gostkowski FG from 32 yards to make it 10-3.

Most of the game's action would take place in the 4th quarter, where just 32 seconds in, Brady would connect with Aaron Hernandez for the Patriots forst TD of the day to tie things up at 10-10. The drive started when Giants QB Eli Manning threw an interception to New England CB Kyle Arrington in the end zone.

The Patriots would take their first lead of the day on the next possession, with Gostkowski connecting on a 45 yard FG attempt to make it a 13-10 game. However, the Giants put together a 4-minute drive to go up 17-13 late in the 4th. The Patriots and Tom Brady would respond with a drive taking all of a minute and 22 seconds off the clock, capping it off with Brady connecting to Gronkowski on 4th and 9 to make it a 20-17 game.

With 1:36 left in regulation and starting from their own 20 (and aided by some awfully goddamned stupid penalties from the Patriots D) the Giants responded by moving the ball down the field, taking up huge chunks of yardage and finding themselves on the New England 1 with all of 30 seconds remaining in regulation thanks to a pass interference penalty. With 15 seconds remaining, Manning would connect to TE Jake Ballard to put the Giants up 24-20.

And that would be the final, as New England couldn't do anything with the remaining time in regulation. The Patriots fall to 5-3, setting up an important contest next Sunday night between the Jets and Pats.

Although both the Jets and the Bills have an identical 5-3 record, New England is still in first place heading into the Sunday Night game against the Jets. Sunday's home loss was their first regular season loss at Gillette stadium in nearly 3 years.



NCAA FOOTBALL: You'd think for a "Game of the Century", somebody would've managed to have found the end zone!

Keep in mind we're only 11 years into this century, but this was the first time since the 1966 Notre Dame/Michigan State game that a #1 and #2 ranked team played each other in the regular season.

So with all eyes on Tuscaloosa, AL, the game of the 21st century kicked off Saturday night in what turned out to be a rather low-scoring affair, with both teams headed to the locker room with the game tied at 3-3. Unbelievably, regulation would end with each team tied at 6-6, forcing OT.

Alabama's 1st possession of the OT featured them losing 5 yards on offense, QB AJ McCarron getting sacked for another 5 yard loss and a missed FG attempt before turning it over on downs and giving the LSU tigers a chip-shot FG for the win (this was after a TD call was overturned by officials, saying that the reciever was out of bounds).

According to CBS, this was the highest viewed NCAA football game they began tracking viewership in the 1980s. I don't find that difficult to believe, since during the first half I was having dinner in a venue not know for it's affinity for sports, but alot of regulars were clustered around the one TV in the place watching the game....probably hoping SOMEBODY would score a TD (altho' to be fair, the 1966 'Game of the century' was even more anticlimatic).

Brett Deering/ Getty Images

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: I was actually getting bored with the LUS/Alabama game, so once in the car, I was randomly scrolling through games on XM and came across the Kansas State/Oklahoma State game. This one turned out to be a polar opposite of the LSU/'Bama game, with 32 points being scored in the 4th quarter. Down 45-52 with 2:16 to go in regulation and starting from their own 29, Kansas state managed to drive all the way down to the Cowboys 5 yard line, but was unable to manage to find the end zone on three consecutive plays and with less than 5 seconds on the clock.

#2 Oklahoma State hangs on to win by the 45-52 margin and will face the Texas Tech Red Raiders this upcoming Saturday.

PENN STATE: Penn State Athletic Director Mark Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz have been charged with perjury and failure to report after former Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was arraigned on charges of sexual assault. Sandusky set up a charity in 1977 called Second Mile to encourage troubled or neglected youth to achieve in sports and academic. Sandusky is accused of coercing or sexually assaulting a number of children from the Second Mile program over the years.

BOSTON COLLEGE: Well, that 38-7 spanking administered by the Florida State Seminoles at Chestnut Hill was broadcast on ESPN for all to see last Thursday.

Boston College hopes to put on a better performance against the 5-4 NC State Wolfpack on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 at Chestnut Hill.

UCONN: The UConn huskies headed into their Bye week with a 28-21 win over the Syracuse Orangemen on Saturday. After taking this weekend off, tehy'll host the Louisville Cardinals at E. Hartford on November 19th.

Not Another Gulf Coast Update!- A Whale A Bust?; Undersea Gusher Capped...Sort Of; Michelle Obama "Come Visit the Gulf While I Fly off to Maine"

*TMT's A Whale has suspended testing in the Gulf, claiming that BP used too many dispersants in the area for it pick up oil effectively. The tanker-turned-super-skimmer had undergone testing on rough seas through Independence day with inconclusive results before officially being declared a bust last week.

The owner of TMT, Nobu Su, emphasised that his company absorbed the US$160,000 cost of re-fitting and testing the vessel. Su said he plans on continuing to test and develop the A Whale so it could be used in future oil spills (remember- the A Whale wasn't refitted until a few weeks after the Deepwater Horizon sunk).

*Scene commander and Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said that the cap BP had placed on the undersea oil well late last week was holding up well and that traces of oil were actually coming from seepage at a pair of dormant oil wells about two miles away.

Over the past few days, since a 75-ton cap was placed over the mile-deep well to keep the oil bottled up inside, BP and government engineers have been watching closely to see whether the well would hold tight or show signs of rupturing under the pressure. A rupture could cause a bigger and harder-to-control disaster.

Allen has granted BP repeated 24-hour extensions to keep the cap in place, as long as the company monitors the well scrupulously.

*BP announced that it was selling oilfields and other major assets in the USA, Canada and Egypt to Houston-based Apache Corporation [NYSE: APA] for US$7 billion to put towards a $20 compensation fund the Obama Administration pressured them into creating.

*First Lady Michelle Obama paid a three hour visit to the Gulf Coast region at Pensacola, FL last week, urging people to visit some of the unaffected regions who's economy depends on tourism. She then got an ice cream cone and promptly took off for Acadia National Park in Maine where she and the First Family were spending the weekend.

A second visit, this time along Mississippi's gulf coast to christen a Coast Guard Cutter, is in the works.

* A Louisiana State University study indicates that President Obama's moratorium on drilling could cost the reigon an estimated 8,000 jobs, $500 million in wages and $2.1 billion in economic activity over 6 months if the moratorium is to stay in place. The US 5th Circut Court of Appeals overturned the Interior Department's moratorium on offshore drilling before a second one was issued earlier this month.

A Whale of A Gulf Coast Update- Massive Skimmer Moves from Virginia to Gulf; Alex Playing Havoc With Cleanup; What's in a Name?

[AP/Patrick Semansky]

The newest weapon being deployed against the Deepwater Horizon oil spill dropped anchor in Boothville, LA on Wednesday. A massive Taiwanese owned, Liberian-flagged vessel arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River earlier today that could remove as much as 500,000 barrels of oil per day from the Gulf of Mexico. TMT's A-Whale, which was built in South Korea as an oil tanker and refitted as a skimmer in Portugal earlier this month, was in Norfolk, VA last weekend where it underwent cursory examination by Coast Guard officials and the EPA.

Edward Overton, a professor emeritus from Louisiana State University, was among the visitors at the port where the A Whale was berthed. He called the current cleanup inadequate.

"It is absolutely gigantic. It's unbelievable. We need this ship,” he told TMT executives in Norfolk. “That oil is already contaminating our shoreline.”

The contaminated water is brought in through a dozen slits on the bow, where the oil and contaminants are separated and the cleaner water is discharged back out into the Gulf. However, the EPA has taken issue with the fact that the discharged water won't be 100% clean and needs to sign off on the quality of the treated water going back.

There is also the matter of the Jones Act, which has proven to be a major obstacle for foreign offers of assistance since the Deepwater Horizon sunk, is still in full effect. US Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen insisted that the Jones Act wasn't that big an obstacle, since it didn't hinder vessels operating three miles or more offshore. While this is true, this would hinder the foreign-flagged vessel's ability to resupply and return to shore during the cleanup unless there was an explicit waiver of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (the original name of the Jones Act).

[By the way, did you know that the A Whale, the Jones Act and the 80,000 or so feet of containment boom from a Maine company are "talking points" of the vast right-wing conspiracy? You see- the president of the Maine company sent Scott Brown a $500 donation back in January, so he's obviously in on it. Oh...and some commentor on a liberal blog says LaPointe's mom gave a few hundred dollars to ultra-right wing zealot Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe over the last decade, so they're in on it. And while Mother Jones concedes that President Bush quickly lifted the Jones act in the wake of Katrina, it was only to help his Big Oil buddies move product out of damaged refineries in Southern Louisiana. Because removing a bunch of volatile and unstable chemicals and materials from industrial facilites damaged by hurricanes benefits nobody but Republicans and oil companies, apparently -NANESB!]

Elsewhere, cleanup efforts were halted because of the approach of Hurricane Alex. While the center of the storm made landfall in Northern Mexico, the outer reaches of the storm were expected to whip through the Deepwater Horizon site along with some of the coastline where cleanup efforts were under way. There was also the chance that Alex could've changed direction and moved closer towards the affected areas of Louisiana, Alabama or Mississippi. Hurricane Alex briefly gained in strength to a Category 2 storm when making landfall in a relatively sparsely area of Tamaulipas state in Northern Mexico, some 130 miles south of Brownsville, TX.

The aftermath of the oil spill took a more partisan turn when House Democrats nixed Republican Congressman Steve Scalise's (LA-1) proposed trip to fly 10 lawmakers down to the Gulf Coast to see the damaged coastal areas firsthand. The Republican Congressmen invited by Scalise wanted to use their office's spending allowance, but Democrats claim that the ever-so-effective Department of Homeland Security would not approve official visits to disaster areas (which constitute much of the Gulf Coast) and ask that trips be organized through jurisdictional committees in order to avoid having to cater to 'a ton of individual lawmakers'. Interesting how the House Democrats have magically discovered fiscal responsibility now instead of when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was using the US Military to chauffeur around her family and running up a $101,000 bar tab. All of Louisiana's coastal Parishes are represented in Congress by Republicans.

Shortly after Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal ordered the National Guard to begin construction on some artificial barrier islands to prevent to oil from reaching further inland, the Governor's efforts at oil abatement were thwarted by the Coast Guard themselves when they ordered the shutdown of oil vacuuming barges while they were inspected for fire-extinguishers and life vests. A few days later, the dredging effort was ordered halted by the Interior Department saying that the rock, dirt and ballast for the artificial barriers were being dredged up in an environmentally sensitive area. A state official stressed that the dredging had been taking place within the original federal permit area at the north end of the Chandaleurs all month.

Another measure the Interior Department has taken in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is to change the name of the Mineral Management Services.

Yes. Really....

The agency formerly known as the Mineral Management Services will now be referred to as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOMRE). The name change was effective June 18, 2010.