Sports Chowdah Update: Feat of Clay- Buchholz Throw Complete Game; Dutch Treat- Holland Takes Gold in Women's Field Hockey; Misty-May Calls it a Career; Manchester United Goes Public

RED SOX- The Red Sox came into Firday night's game at Cleveland's Jacobs Field losing losing seven out of their last nine games- including Thursday night's series opener.

However, Clay Buchholz stopped the bleeding with an outstanding performance, going the distance on Friday night. After allowing an early solo home run to Asdrubal Cabrera in the bottom of the first, Clay settled down, allowing just one other hit and striking out six in Boston's 3-2 win over Cleveland. Clay got run support from a Dustin Pedroia RBI single in the top of the 4th and a 2-run Cody Ross homer in the top of the 6th. The Tribe would pull to within one in the bottom of the 6th thanks to a Ezequiel Carrera sac fly, but that would be it as far as runs scored off of Buchholz went.

Saturday's game will feature Franklin Morales [3-2; 3.14 ERA] starting for Boston while Zach McAllister [4-4; 3.60 ERA] gets on the bump for Cleveland. The game gets underway from Jacobs/Progressive Field at 6:05 ET. Naturally, the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- 3B Will Middlebrroks suffered what turned out to be a broken right wrist after getting hit by a 95 MPH fastball in the top of the 9th on Friday night's game.

Early reports indicate that Middlebrooks is likely to miss the remainder of the season. The Red Sox have recalled light hitting infielder Danny Valencia from AAA Pawtucket to take Middlebrooks' place on the roster.

OTHER MLB NEWS- Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Derek Lowe was formally released bt the team on Friday. Lowe had am 8-10 record with a 5.52 ERA this season. Boston and Baltimore had reportedly expressed interest in getting Lowe when the Indians placed him on waivers earlier this week, but neither team had followed through on their rumored interest.

Lowe is best known for being the Red Sox pitcher of record in the clinching games of the American League Division Series, the ALCS and the 4th and deciding game of the 2004 World series- thie first pitcher to do so. The Red Sox 2004 World Series championshi was also his last with Boston and he has since played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves before re-joining the AL with the Indians earlier this season.

OLYMPIC VOLLEYBALL- The women's beach volleyball gold medal game was an all-USA matchup pitting the duo of Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings versus Jen Kessey and April Ross.

Treanor and Walsh swept Ross and Kessey two sets to none in the Gold medal game in what Treanor adamantly insisted were her final Olympics. The duo of Walsh and Treanor have won gold in Athens, Beijing and now London- this is in addition to three FIVB beach volleyball titles. If Walsh wants to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, she will need to look for a new partner.

The postgame celebrations were marred somewhat by the partial collapse of the floorboards backstage at the Horse Guards Palace- Treanor, reportedly still wearing her gold medal, slid halfway into the hole but was uninjured along with some of the The venue had to be built from scatch after the Queen's diamond jubilee celebration earlier this summer, but completed in time for the opening ceremonies.

The Chinese duo of Zhang Xi and Xue Chen won the bronze medal match, besting Brazil's Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca. After a dissapointing start to the 2012 campaign, Xi and Chen rebounded to take their second consecutive Olympic bronze medal.

For the indoor women's volleyball, the USA Women's team once again bested South Korea to advance to the gold medal game, which sets up a rematch of the 2008 Olympic gold medal game between the USA and Brazil. South Korea will face Japan in the Bronze medal game.

OLYMPIC SOCCER- It was a rematch of last year's women's World Cup, only with different results.

Japan was attempting to become the first team to win consecutive World Cup and Olympic championships while Team USA was hoping to repeat their success in Beijing from four years ago.

Before a crowd of more than 80,000 at Wembley Stadium, Team USA got out to a relatively early lead thans to midfielder Carli Lloyd who hit paydirt about 8 minutes in. After the opening goal, Japan then dominated as far as time of posession went, but their quality scoring chances were either blocked by USA goalie Hope Solo or went off the post.

Lloyd would then give the USA some insurance with a second goal to make it 2-0 team USA early in the second half, but Yuki Ogimi cut the lead in half and put Japan on the board in the 63rd minute. Japan would get some quality scoring chances late and threaten to knot the contest up at 2-2, but Team USA managed to fend off the late rally and outlast Japan.

USA wins the gold medal game thanks in large part to Carli Lloyd. Goalie Hope Solo officially faced 7 shots on goal, stopping six of them. The women's national team has already planned a barnstorming victory tour, facing Costa Rica in forward Abby Wambach's hometown of Rochester, NY and Australia in Carson, CA in September.

Over on the men's side of the pitch, Mexico's national team stunned the heavily favored Brazilian team, going on to win by a 2-1 final for Mexico's first ever gold medal in soccer. Curiously, depsite winning five World Cup titles, Brazil has yet to win Olympic gold in the event. Mexico got on the board early with a goal from Oribe Peralta in the opening minute of the match- the quickest Olympic goal since FIFA started tracking such statistics 36 years ago.

WOMEN'S FIELD HOCKEY- Even before the first game got underway, the Dutch women's Field Hockey team has gained attention from observers worldwide by exclusively rostering of stunning women clad in bright orange dresses.

This is not just a case of having attractive women out there as a sort of publicity stunt. The Dutch women, as it turned out, were quite good at Field Hockey.

'How good?' you might be asking? Try undefeated throughout the 2012 Olympics.

In the preliminary round, the Dutch women blazed a day-glo orange swath through Japan, Great Britain, South Korea, China and Belgium- shutting out the latter two.

The Dutch would need a shootout at the end of regulation to get past New Zealand in the semifinals. In a match that no doubt brought unwarranted comparisons to the Falkland Islands war, Argentina and Great Britain faced off in the semifinals for their respective pool. However, unlike the Falklands campaign, Argentina would come away victorious and face the Dutch in the gold medal game.

On Friday's gold medal game, Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel would put the Dutch on the board with a tally in the second half while Maartje Paumen would give Holland a 2-0 lead. Goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek kept Argentina off the board altogether and the Netherlands Women's team would go on to win their second straight Olympic gold medal after beating China 1-0 in the gold medal game at the 2008 games in Beijing.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters photo

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE- Shares of one of the most widely recognized professional sports clubs went public on Friday afternoon.

Manchester United Football Club [NYSE: MANU] traded flat for much of Friday, closing out at $14 per share, down slightly from the openeing price of $14.05.

The venerable British football club was purchased by American businessman Malcom Glazer in 2005, who also owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The purchase reportedly saddled Man U with close to a billion dollars in debt and high interest payments.

The Glazers will maintain control of the club by way of a tiered structure. The Class A shares available to the General Public providing one vote per share held while Class B shares would translate to 10 voted per share held. The Glazers would own both Class A and Class B shares, but retain the majority of their holdings in the more influential Class B shares. This makes it more difficult for an outside entitity to launch a hostile takeover over Manchester United through the publicly traded shares.

The Initial Public Offering makes Man U the most valuable sports franchise in the world, putting its estimated worth at around £1.5 billion- or US$ 2.3 billion, more than the Los Angeles Dodgers were sold for earlier this season.

NFL PRESEASON- The New England Patriots got their first win of the preseason with a low-scoring affair against the New Orleans Saints at Foxboro on Thursday night. Tom Brady saw limited starting time, going 4 for 7 with all of 30 yeards while backup QB Brian Hoyer went 8 for 15 with the game's ony TD in the 7-6 win over New Orleans.

The Patriots will next take on the Philadelphia Eagles at Foxboro on Monday night in a nationally televised game that gets underway on ESPN at 8:00 ET.

NBA- The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired Dwigt Howard fromt he Orlando Magin in a 4-team 11 player megadeal. The deal sends Andrew Bynum from Los Angeles to Philadelphia while Andre Iguodala goes from Philly to Denver.

Howard had earlier demanded a trade from Orlando and refused to start in some games, demanding that the magic fire head coach Stan Van Gundy

Sports Chowdah Update- Yellow Peril, Red Sox 0-for-Oakland; Rambling Nash- Phoenix Trades Steve Nash to Lakers

AP Photo/Ben Margot

RED SOX- David Ortiz belted career homer #400 on Wednesday's game against the Oakland A's, but that was almost an afterthought as a couple of former Red Sox helped Oakland complete a sweep of Boston on Independence Day.

Former Red Sox outfielder [now playing 1B for the A's- NANESB!] Brandon Moss started the scoring for Oakland after hitting a solo homer off of Boston starter Aaron Cook in the bottom of the 2nd inning, although career blast #400 for DH David Ortiz came in the top of the 4th to tie the contest up at 1-1.

D. Ross Cameron/Contra Costa Times

The Red Sox briefly took the lead in the top of the 6th to make it 2-1 on a 2-out Adrian Gonzalez RBI single, but A's recent acquisition Brandon Inge tied things up at 2-2 with an RBI double with two away in the bottom of the 6th. Cook then gave up a leadoff triple to former Boston outfielder Coco Crisp before coming home on a Jemile Weeks RBI single to make it 3-2.

After taking the lead, the Oakland bullpen didn't allow a single Boston batter to reach base, preserving the 3-2 win and completing the sweep of the Red Sox on the 4th of July. Moss, who wasn't even called up from Oakland's AAA affiliate in Sacramento until June, went 6-8 with 5 RBIs and two homers against his former team.

The Red Sox return to Fenway on Friday night to face the New York Yankees. Josh Beckett [4-7; 4.06 ERA] will get the start against Hideki Kuroda [8-7; 3.17 ERA] with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 ET. Viewers in New England and New York will have their choice of NESN, the YES network or the MLB network broadcast.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- The Yankees claimed former Red Sox outfielder Darnell McDonald off of waivers after the Red Sox released him. McDonald was batting .214 in 99 plate appearence for Boston this season.

An unheralded pickup from Cincinnati, McDonald caught the attention of Red Sox nation in 2010 with a torrid .270 batting average, speed and some clutch RBIs his first year with Boston. Since then, his offensive production has tapered off although he still retained much of his speed.

The move was seen as being made to make room in the outfield in anticipation of Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford returning to the Red Sox lineup. Both Crawford and Ellsbury arepresently rehabbing with the AA Portland Sea Dogs- Crawford went 2-4 with an RBI while Ellsbury went 1-5 in Portland's 4th of July road game against the New Hampshire Fishercats- Toronto's AA affiliate.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Atlanta Braves 3B was added to the 2012 All Star Game roster ealier this week as a replacement for the Dodger's Matt Kemp. Earlier this season, Jones had announced that he would retire from baseball after the 2012 season. With most of the All-Star starters selected over the weekend, a final spot on the AL and NL rosters was still up for grabs with online fan voting.

Previously, the online voting in the NL was a contest between Jones, teammate Michael Bourn, Arizona's Aaron Hill, St Louis' David Freese and the Nationals Bryce Harper. Freese was eventually named the winner of the fan voting on Firday, with Rangers starter Yu Darvish taking the final AL slot and bringing the total number of Rangers in next week's All Star game in Kansas City to 8.

NBA- Just a few weeks into the NBA offseason and already there have been some pretty noteworth transactions.

Phoenix Suns Point Guard Steve Nash went to the Los Angeles Lakers in a sign-and-trade deal on the 4th of July, agreeing to a 3-year $27 million contract in exchange for the Suns getting four draft picks. There had been sign and trade talks with the NY Knicks and Nash reportedly declined a 3-year $36 million deal from the Toronto Raptors last week.

Meanwhile, the AP is reporting that the NY Knicks guard and restricted free agent Jeremy Lin had accepted a 4-year $28.8 million offer sheet from the Houston Rockets, although the Rockets haven't yet made any official announcement as of Friday afternoon.

Sports Chowdah Update- Sox on Sox Violence; Capital Punishment; Patriots Getting Defensive in Draft; C's Feeling Hawkish;

RED SOX- As it turns out, the AL Central is providing quite the platform for the Boston Red Sox to rebound.  After last Saturday's fiasco at Fenway in which Boston squandered a 9-1 lead against their archrivals, Sunday night's game against the Yankees was rained out before the Red Sox hit the road.

After sweeping the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, the Red Sox headed to the south side of Chicago for a four game tilt against the White Sox. Thursday's Game 1 saw Felix Doubront in his first start since Saturday's trainwreck against the Yankees going up against Phillip Humber in his first start since throwing a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners.

The Red Sox got on the board in the top of the first with an RBI double from Adrian Gonzalez and an RBI single from David Ortiz to take the early lead. Although Chicago would get a run back on a Paul Konerko RBI double, the Red Sox blew the game open the next inning with a grand slam from Kevin Youkilis immediately followed up by a Jarrod Saltalamacchia solo shot.

Doubront would go on to get his first win of the season and the Red Sox took Game 1 in the South Side by a 10-3 final.

Friday night's game in the south side saw Daniel Bard back on the mound as Boston's starter against ChiSox starter John Danks. The White Sox go out to the early 1-0 lead thanks to an AJ Pierzynski RBI double in the bottom of the 1st. Boston would go on top on a 2-run homer from Big Papi before the ChiSox would knot things up at 2-2 on a passed ball down in the bottom of the 3rd, then re-take the lead on a Konerko solo homer.

However the Red Sox would break the game wide open in the top of the 6th- after Cody Ross tied the game up with an RBI single and with the bases still loaded, Darnell McDonald cleared the bases with a 3-RBI double before coming home on an RBI single from Marlon Byrd to give the Red Sox a 7-3 lead and chased Danks from the mound. Boston would get 2 more RBIs in the top of the 7th- from Cody Ross and Kelly Shoppach and a solo homer from McDonald in the top of the 9th.

The RedSox would go on to replicate their 10-3 final from Thursday night, with Daniel Bard getting his second win since Monday when he came on out of the bullpen against Minnesota. Friday night's win in Chicago is Boston's 5th straight since coughing up that 9-1 lead in Fenway Park last weekend.

Saturday's matchup will take place at 7:10 PM with Jon Lester [0-2; 6.00 ERA] getting the start against Jake Peavy [3-0; 1.88 ERA]. The game from Comiskey Park will be televised on NESN.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young was arrested in New York on hate crime charges stemming from an altercation outside the Midtown Manhattan Hilton as the Tigers were in town to take on the Yankees.

Young reportedly began shouting anti-semitic slurs at a group of men from Chicago and a panhandler wearing a yarmukule outside the hotel and knocked at least one member of the group to the ground before police showed up at the hotel.

In 2006, Young recieved a 50-game suspension from the International League after throwing a bat at an umpire while with Tampa Bay's AAA affiliate in Durham, NC.

BOSTON BRUINS- Although the Bruins won the Stanley Cup last season after no less than three Game 7s in the postseason, there will be no Stanley Cup finals for the Bruins this year as they were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in the first round of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Caps got off to the 1-0 lead in the first with a goal from Matt Hendricks before the Bruins got the equalizer from Tyler Seguin in the 2nd. After a scoreless 3rd, the game headed to OT where Caps RW Joel Ward scored the game-winner less than 3 minutes in- and apparently unleashed a torrent of ethnic slurs directed at him on social media. Both Washington and Boston later issued statements condemning the remarks directed at Ward, who's parents emigrated from the Barbados to Canada. [While some of the remarks appeared to come from Red Wings or Sabres fans, most of the comments directing racial slurs at Ward seem to have come from Bruins 'fans' who need to learn how the fuck to Google 'Willie O'Ree'- NANESB!]. Then again, the slurs directed at Ward also give Canadian sportswriters a chance to talk about something besides how no Canadian team advanced past the first round.

Tim Thomas made 25 saves on 27 shots faced Wednesday night while the Caps' Braden Holtby turned aside 31 of 32 shots faced. Boston went 0-3 on the power play (inlcuding one late in the 3rd) while Washington went 0-1 on their only opportunity with the man advantage.

On Saturday, Washington will go on to face the NY Rangers- who won their series against Ottawa in 7 games- while the Flyers will resume play on Sunday against the New Jersey Devils after nearly a week off.

Out in the Western conference, the Phoenix-Nashville series got underway with the series opener heading to OT (much like all but one game in the Coyotes-Blackhawks series went to OT) where Phoenix won by a 4-3 final on a Ray Whitney OT goal.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- The New England Patriots are clearly thinking 'defense' with this year's draft, trading up to take Syracuse DE Chandler Jones at #21 and Alabama LB Dont'a Hightower at #25 in the first round.

In the second round, the Patriots drafted former fighting Ilini Tavon Wilson at strong safety, although he's also had some experience at corner and could offer some versatility. Wilson was the 16th pick in the 2nd round, 48th overall while in the 3rd round, the Pats selected Razorbacks DE Jake Bequette in the 27th slot- number 90 overall.

BOSTON CELTICS- The C's wrapped up the regular season and first place of the Atlantic division this week with a 74-87 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at the Garden on Thursday. For the first round of the NBA playoffs, they draw the #5 seed Atlanta Hawks. Game 1 gets underway from Atlanta at 7 PM ET on Sunday and will be televised on TNT.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NBA- The Laker's Ron Artest- who now goes by the name Meta World Peace- recived a 7-game suspension from the NBA for a vicious elbow against Oklamoha City's James Harden last week. Artest's elbow connected with the back of an unsuspecting Harden's head, sending the Thunder's top reserve to the hardwood with a concussion during Sunday's game in which the Thunder lost 106-114 to the Lakers.

The suspension was effective immediately and Artest missed the final game of the regular season against the Sacramento Kings. Artest will reportedly lose nearly $348,000 in salary if the entirety of his suspension is served this season- if the Lakers are quickly eliminated from the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets, Artest's suspenstion will carry over into the next season [one more reason to root against the Lakers, I guess- NANESB!].

Hot and Cold Sports Chowdah Update- Black and Bleu at the Garden; Lakers Drain Celtics; Stirring the Beanpot

Two Boston sports institutions going up against arch rivals in the regular season, but with buzz- both before and after- more reminiscent of the postseason.

Did I already mention how fortunate I consider myself to be a New England sports fan at this point in history?

The undercard

NHL: If there was only one B's game to be nationally broadcast this whole season, Wednesday night's home game against arch rival Montreal would've been the one.
Apparently last week's game against Dallas was just a warm-up. Nothing like some Original 6 brawling- and not just figuratively- to get the blood going, huh?

With Montreal starting to close the gap in the Northeast division, the folks over at VS network thought Wendesday night's game was important enough to be boradcast on their network coast-to-coast (even though they were just carrying the TSN feed).

And man oh man was I glad I was able to tune in.

A good chunk of the first period seemed to feature the Bruins spending a disproportionate amount of time in Montreal's end of the ice, but with Montreal getting the better shots on goal (however infrequent). My perceptions changed somewhat after the 13 minute mark in the 1st when Brad Marchand and Dennis Seidenberg each scored 22 seconds apart (Seidenberg's tally coming off of a high bounce that the Montreal defener tried to corrall by swatting at with a stick). So Boston heads into the 1st intermission with a 2-0 lead.

Now on most nights, you'd be in pretty good shape if you could manage to get two by Montreal's Carey Price- especially if your own backstop is shutting them out. Not so on Wednesday night. The following video clips say it much better than I could-


For those of you who want to jump straight into the fisticuffs, hockeyfights.com was thoughtful enough to archive the melee towards the very end of the 3rd.


Most teams have every reason to expect to come out on top in a contest where they get six past Tim Thomas, but not Wednesday night. Both teams combined for 14 goals and 182 penalty minutes- nearly twice what was assessed in last week's game vs Dallas. As you can see from the video evidence, it's no exaggeration when I say that Boston absolutely beat the Habs down by a final of 8-5. The brawl at the end was simply the exclamation point.

The save percentages of both Price and Thomas also took a beating, with the Montreal backstop stopping 26 of 34 shots faces and Thomas stopping 27 of 33 shots faced. Micheal Ryder had two goals (one of them on the power play) and Milan Lucic had two goals (one of them shorthanded) and an assist on the night while Marchand, Seidenberg, Nathan Horton and Adam McQuaid also had tallies for the B's.

The win gives Boston a little bit more breathing room against the Canadiens (still the next closest team in the Northeast standings), and the Bruins lead over Montreal in the Division standings after Thursday night was 3 points after Montreal lost in a shootout to the NY Islanders but still got the 1 point.

The original 6 mania will continue this weekend when the Bruins have a home-and-away series against the Detroit Red Wings, with the first half taking place in the TD Banknorth Garden on Friday night at 7PM ET and be broadcast on NESN and the NHL Network.

The second half of the weekend series will take place at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Sunday afternoon, 12:30 PM ET- this game will be nationally televised on Comcast's NBC network.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: Marc Savard is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a concussion. Savard had been sidelined with another concussion after being hit by former teammate Matt Hunwick in the Jan 22nd game against Colorado.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL: Eureka! I think the Nashville Predators have devised one of the most devious and effective methods of luring NHL talent to Music City- it's even more effective than the Underpants gnomes' business model!

Phase one would be to send out fetching starlets along the lines of Carrie Underwood to romance forwards like....oh...I dunno....Mike Fisher. Then, after the wedding, honeymoon, and a few atrocious seasons in the division's basement playing in the Canadian capital, you're hot, popular and musically talented spouse gets it in your head that perhaps you would be better off elsewhere- maybe somewhere closer to where she spends a good deal of the year. Like....oh...say Nashville, TN. And since your team is dead last in the conference, and Nashville happens to have a team that's doing pretty good this season (trailing the Red Wings by 5 points for #2 in the Central divison and 5th overall in the Western conference) it sounds like to good a deal to pass up.

Well played, Predators.....well played. [Now all that's left is to convince them that Nashville is in dire need of lazy, talentless bloggers and I'm sure a stampede of country music starlets will be stampeeding a path to my doorway- NANESB!]

The Predators acquired Mike Fisher in a trade that will send a 1st round draft pick and a conditional pick to Ottawa. Fischer was tied for the lead in scoring for the Sens with 14 goals and 10 assists in 55 games this season, and the Predators are hoping he'll be ready in time for Friday night's game against Colorado.


NBA: I have to confess, I was intentionally holding off on doing another sports update until after Thursday night's Lakers/Celtics game- a move that didn't pay off despite getting off to a promising start.

Most noteworthy was Ray Allen surpassing Reggie Miller to become the NBA's all time career leader in 3 pointers, with 2,561 on Thursday night (see above). After hat, it was kinda downhill for the C's.

Although Boston took a 53-45 lead into halftime, Kobe Bryant scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half as LA rallied to come from behind after trailing by as many as 15 points in 1st. Pau Gasol had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers while the only player in green on Thursday to score more than 15 points was Ray Allen- with 20.

The lack of offense in the 2nd paved the way for a 92-86 Lakers win at the Garden. This is Boston's 2nd loss in a row after losing 94-89 at Charlotte on Monday night. The Celtics will next host the Miami Heat on Sunday afternoon at the Garden, 1 PM ET on ABC. The C's and the Heat are tied for first place overall in the Eastern conference.

NCAA HOCKEY: The 2011 Beanpot got underway on Monday, with Northeastern making their presence felt in a 4-0 thumping of Harvard in the opening game.

This was immediately followed by the BC Eagles getting by the BU Terriers in OT thanks to Eagle's Junior Tommy Cross scoring the game winner 3:17 into the extra period.

The games Monday set up a BC/Northeastern final for the 2011 Beanpot on Valentine's Day.

AHL HOCKEY: Following the lead of the NHL and the Syracuse Crunch, the Connecticut Whale (formerly the Hartford Wolfpack- the NY Ranger's AHL affiliate) has set up an outdoor rink at UConn's Rentschler Field in E. Hartford, CT. The rink will be used for outdoor junior and high school games as well as a Whalers/Bruins alumni game leading up to the Feb 19th game where the Whale will host the Providence Bruins.

OTHER AHL NEWS: A Connecticut judge has ordered an East Hartford man to apologize and 10 days of community service after he tackled and punched Pucky, the Whale mascot.

MLB: Never mind that rodent in Pennsylvania! Truck Day was this week, which means that Spring was right around the corner. The 'official' Red Sox truck (which, unsurprisingly, has a corporate sponsor) carrying the team's equipment left Fenway for Ft, Meyers, FL on Tuesday.


NCAA FOOTBALL: This video of UConn reserve quarterback Johnny McEntee has been circulating around the web. Heavily edited showboating or an appeal to get more playing time- what's your call?

All Star Break's Over Sports Chowdah Update- B's Double Up Shooting Stars; C's Crown Kings

Well...now that the NHL All Star break is finished (Team Lidstrom Beat Team Staal by an 11-10 final with Tim Thomas stopping 11 of 15 shots faced for Team Lidstrom and Zdeno Chara getting a pair of assists for Team Staal), the Bruins are back in action.

After holding off the all-star host Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center on Tuesday night by a 3-2 final, the Bruins headed back north for their first home game of the 2nd half of the season, hosting the Pacific Division leading Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

Interestingly, Dallas came into Thursday night's game in a similar position as the Bruins- leading their divisions and 3rd overall in their respective conferences.

However, it didn't even take five seconds into the game for things to get physical, with Stars enforcer Steve Ott whaling away on Gregory Campbell literally the second the puck dropped. The Bruins retaliated by sending Shawn Thornton after Dallas forward Krys Barch and Adam McQuaid after Brian Sutherby less than 5 seconds later.


As much as I love my XM, I gotta tell you it isn't the same listening to this transpire on the radio as it would be on NESN hi-def. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Anywhoo, this would be one of those classic instances of the Rodney Dangerfield line about going to the fights and a hockey game broke out. This one largely went to Bruins way, however, getting out to a 4-0 lead in the first period, half of those coming from Patrice Bergeron's stick.

Dallas would get on the board in the 2nd with a Karlas Skrastins tally, but that would be secondary to Danny Paille's shot to the head of Dallas' Raymond Sawada. The hit resulted in a match penalty and immediate ejection from the game for Paille and the NHL will no doubt be revisiting this one.

Despite the deep hole, the momentum seemed to be shifting the Stars' way at the opening of the 2nd when they got a shorthanded tally from Brenden Morrow to cut the lead in half 45 seconds in and Brad Richards would make it a 1-goal game with an even strength goal less than 3 minutes later. However, Tyler Seguin would give the B's some insurance with a goal 2 minutes later and Brad Marchand would put it away for good with an empty-netter with just under 2 and a half minutes left in regulation in the 3rd.

No Tim Thomas tonight- he got the night off after his 24 save performance in Carolina Tuesday and Tukka Rask stepped in making 30 saves on 33 shots faced on Thursday night. As for Dallas, Andrew Raycroft was pulled after facing only 2 shots (with zero saves, no less) and Kari Lehtonen ended up stopping 29 of 32 shots faced.

According to Yahoo! Sports, there were 141 penalty minutes dished out by the officials the last time the Dallas Stars were in the Garden (11/1/2008). Tonight, there were a mere 91 minutes.

The Bruins next game is at home against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday afternoon- 1PM Eastern, 10 AM Pacific.

NBA- Don't get me wrong; I'm thrilled with the outcome of Sunday's 109-96 win against the Lakers at the Staples Center, but let's not start planning the parade routes just yet.

Still, all in all a pretty good West Coast swing for the C's. Despite falling into a 45-54 halftime deficit in Sacramento, the C's were able to come back in the second half and win by a final of 95-90 against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night. Ray Allen led scoring with 22 points, while Rajon Rondo had 17 points and 10 assists.

The Celtics next game in on Friday night at Dallas at 8PM Eastern time on ESPN.

NFL- If you missed the Pro Bowl, you didn't miss much; the NFC won by a 55-41 margin. Having said that, I'm glad the contest is back in Hawaii for some reason.

Blue State Graft Watch- 'It's Good To Be the Mayor' Edition: Sanctuary City Mayor Seeks Refuge at Dodgers, Lakers Games

Los Angeles mayor, former MEChA Chapter president and all around Ticket Master Antonio Villaraigosa is under investigation by a city ethics commission regarding his acceptance of tickets to entertainment industry events like the Oscars as well as Lakers and Dodgers home games and concerts.

The law requires that gifts of more than $50 need to be declared, but a lawyer for the mayor said that since Villaraigosa was performing 'official mayoral duties' such as handing out certificates of achievement to athletes, celebrities, etc. at these events, they don't need to be reported. Apparently the mayor was performing 'official duties' at all 81 events he received tickets to. Events such as:

11/3/05 Lakers v. PH Suns Staples Center -- up to $2,100
9/10/05 Aretha Franklin Concert -- cost unknown
11/3/05 Latin Grammys Shrine -- up to $500
4/3/06 Dodger's Opening Day Dodgers Stadium -- up to $400
11/28/06 Lakers vs. Bucks Staples -- up to $2,100
2/6/06 Musi-Cares Pre-Grammy Concert -- cost unknown
2/8/06 Grammy Awards -- cost unknown
2/26/06 Jose Jose Concert -- cost unknown
3/2/06 Carlos Santana Concert for D. Huerta -- cost unknown
3/5/06 78th Academy Awards Kodak Theatre -- $4,200 per seat
4/13/06 Luis Miguel Concert/Presentation -- cost unknown
6/27/06 BET Awards Show Shrine Auditorium -- cost unknown
7/8/06 Bebe, Reyli, Mexican Institiute Hollywood Bowl -- up to $80
7/22/06 Grammy Foundation Dinner/Concert -- cost unknown
7/29/06 Reventon Super Estrella Concert Coliseum -- up to $150
8/15/06 Shakira Concert Staples Center -- Tix started at $19.50
8/26/06 Smokey Robinson Concert Greek Theatre -- up to $80
8/27/06 58th Emmy Awards Shrine Auditorium -- (2) Tix at $1,300 each
9/30/06 Pepe Aguilar Concert -- unknown, but cost in 2010 at Gibson was $135
11/11/06 Vicente Fernandez Concert -- unknown, but cost in 2010 at Gibson was $300
12/22/06 George Lopez Concert -- cost unknown
4/15/07 LA Dodgers Game Dodgers Stadium -- up to $450
1/12/07 Lakers vs. Clippers Staples -- up to $2,200 (floor seats)
1/28/07 13th Annual SAG Awards -- cost unknown
2/3/07 Director's Guild Awards -- mayor presented Aldrich Award, seat cost $175
2/11/07 49th Annual Grammy Awards -- cost unknown
2/17/07 Mana Concert -- cost unknown
2/25/07 79th Annual Academy Awards $4,200 per seat -- entire Villaraigosa family attended
6/26/07 BET Awards Show -- cost unknown
9/16/07 59th Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards -- 2 tix up to $1,300 each
10/3/07 AFI's 40th Anniversary Celebration -- cost unknown
11/18/07 American Music Awards -- cost unknown
11/20/07 Mary J. Blige Concert Nokia Theatre -- up to $95
3/29/08 LA Dodgers Game Dodgers Stadium -- up to $500
3/31/08 Dodger's Opening Day Dodgers Stadium -- up to $500
10/13/08 LA Dodgers Game Dodgers Stadium -- playoff prices N/A
10/15/08 LA Dodgers Game Dodgers Stadium -- playoff prices N/A
3/28/08 Lakers vs. Grizzlies Staples Center -- up to $2,300 (floor seats)
4/11/08 Lakers vs. New Orleans Staples -- up to $2,000 (floor seats)
5/23/08 Lakers vs. Spurs Center -- up to $3,400 (for courtside)
1/27/08 14th Annual SAG Awards -- cost unknown
2/10/08 50th Annual Grammy Awards -- cost unknown
2/15/08 Gloria Trevi Concert Gibson Amphitheatre -- up to $94.75
2/24/08 80th Annual Academy Awards -- $4,200 per seat (may have taken multiple tix)
4/18/08 Placido Domingo's 40th Anniversary at LA Opera -- up to $1,750
5/10/08 Juanes Concert Nokia Theatre -- $125
6/24/08 BET Awards Show -- cost unknown
7/16/08 ESPY Awards -- cost unknown
9/6/08 Frankie Beverly and Maze Concert -- cost unknown
9/6/08 LA Opera-Opening Weekend -- up to $250
9/11/08 Alejandro Fernandez Concert -- cost unknown
9/21/08 60th Primetime Emmy Awards -- (2) tix at $1,300 each
9/28/08 Luis Miguel Concert -- cost unknown
10/16/08 Tina Turner Concert -- cost unknown
11/16/08 Vicente Fernandez Concert Gibson Amphitheatre -- up to $200.50
4/13/09 Dodger's Opening Day Dodgers Stadium -- up to $500
6/28/09 LA Dodgers Game Dodgers Stadium -- up to $500
7/21/09 LA Dodgers Game Dodgers Stadium -- up to $500
10/7/09 LA Dodgers Game Dodgers Stadium -- playoff prices N/A
10/16/09 LA Dodgers Game Dodgers Stadium -- playoff prices N/A
3/16/09 Lakers vs. Minnesota Staples Center -- up to $260 (possible suite)
3/17/09 Lakers vs. 76ers Staples Center -- up to $2,500 (floor seats)
6/4/09 Lakers v. Orlando Playoffs Staples Center -- up to $4,200 (courtside)
6/7/09 Lakers v. Orlando Playoffs Staples Center -- up to $4,200 (courtside )
10/27/09 Lakers v. Clipper(opening night) Staples Center -- more than $2,500 (floor)
1/11/09 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards -- cost unknown
2/8/09 51st Annual Grammy Awards -- cost unknown
2/22/09 81st Annual Academy Awards -- $4,200 per seat
5/20/09 American Idol Finale -- cost unknown
7/13/09 Beyonce Concert Staples Center -- up to $200
9/12/09 Alejandro Fernandez -- cost unknown
9/20/09 61st Primetime Emmy Awards -- (2) tix $1,300 each
10/8/09 LA Philharmonic-Opening night Walt Disney Hall -- cost unknown, scalper tix up to $15,000
10/25/09 U-2 Concert Rose Bowl ***Mayor paid for this one event
4/13/10 Dodger's Opening Day Dodgers Stadium -- up to $500
5/2/10 Lakers vs. Utah Staples Center -- up to $4,100 (courtside)
1/17/10 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards -- cost unknown
1/30/10 Director's Guild of America 62nd Dinner -- mayor scheduled, but didn't attend
1/31/10 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Staples Center -- cost unknown
3/7/10 82nd Academy Awards Kodak -- $4,200 per seat
5/26/10 American Idol Finale Nokia -- not avail to public, scalper tix $5,000

The LA Weekly's estimate on the pricetag for those tickets being between $50,000 and $100,000 might actually be short of the mark, since another blogger uncovered six more events that the mayor's office failed to disclose, including the first two games of this year's NBA finals. Counsel for the Mayor's office also declined to say who exactly Villraigosa received the tickets from.

Not surprisingly, MEChA member and absentee Mayor Villaraigosa hopped on board the 'Boycott Arizona' bandwagon shortly before all of this broke. Nothing like a big, juicy distraction.

Sports Chowdah Update- LA Lakers win NBA title- LA Hardest Hit; Can't Dodge Papi-Manny Reunion; FIFA Robbery in South Africa; Utah to Leave Mtn. West

Well...the Lakers beat the Celtics in a come-from-behind 83-79 win in a decisive Game 7 of the NBA finals Thursday night. But instead of relying on my description of it, let's go straight to the highlights....i.e the torching and rioting of downtown LA by celebrating Lakers 'fans'.

Well, besides this looted shoe store, the trash bins, newspaper stands and kiosks torched, the smashed storefront and restaurant windows, buses and light rail trains pelted with rocks, bottles and more trash bins there was also the taxi driver who was assaulted and had his cab torched by 'rowdy' Lakers fans. But don't worry! There's going to be a parade or something.

In the meantime, the cabbie (who actually works for a living- a foreign concept to the genius arsonists posing for the cameras) is going to be out at least $10,000 thanks to the numerous braindead thugs and shitstains chanting 'light it up!'. Anybody who can identify the persons seem setting the blaze is asked to call the LAFD Arson section at (213) 485-6095.

In the meantime, I'll just cry myself to sleep over the 17 or so banners hanging up in the gahden.

Not that I'm bitter or anything. Congratulations and stay classy, LA- good luck with that Arizona boycott!

Elsewhere in the NBA: Manute Bol- the 7ft 7 Sudanese shot blocker who spent a decade in the NBA before working on humanitarian causes in his native country- passed away at the University of Virginia hospital in Charlottesville, VA Saturday. Bol, 47, was being treated for liver and skin problems at the facility. A spokesman for the nonprofit Sudan Sunrise aid group said that Bol was working to complete construction of a school in his home village of Turalei in southern Sudan and the organization was aspiring to build 40 more schools throughout the strife-torn country.

MLB: OK....so one Boston-LA series didn't go our way, but there's always the MLB and inter-league play. Which as you know, means the long-awaited Papi-Manny reunion at Fenway. Papi held up his end of the deal, getting a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first along with JD Drew's solo shot in Friday's game. PawSox call-up Felix Doubront pitched five innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits (as well as two unearned runs on Doubront's 3rd inning error) good for his first Red Sox win while Manny went 1 for 5 with a run scored and two strikeouts while Papi went 1 for 2 with 2 RBI. Boston took Game 1 of the series 10-6 on Friday.

Saturday's game was a little closer and Manny managed to generate some offense for the Dodgers. Tim Wakefield got the start and went 5 innings giving up 3 earned runs, including a solo home run from Manny to cut the Boston lead to 4-2. LA would tie it up in the 7th with a Bill Hall fielding error on Blake DeWitt's double and a Matt Kemp sac-fly.

Garrett Anderson had a leadoff single off of Papelbon to start off the ninth, but Pap left the pinch-runner Reed Johnson on third after getting Blake DeWitt to ground out and Matt kemp to fly out. In the bottom of the ninth, Daniel Nava reached on a fielder's choice and scored from second on Dustin Pedroia's single off of Jonathan Broxton for the walk-off 5-4 win.

Tomorrow's series finale will feature Hiroki Kuroda taking the mound for the Dodgers against Clay Buccholz. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. The Red Sox have won 5 in a row heading into Sunday's game.

WORLD CUP: Damn- first I miss the USA's 1-1 tie with England (which apparently isn't the powerhouse everybody expected it to be) and then I miss Team USA getting robbed of a come from behind win over Slovenia thanks to rookie Mailian referee Kouman Koulibaly disallowing what would've been the go-ahead goal for team USA in the 86th minute of Friday's game against Slovenia. It's probably worth noting that the equalizer for USA came off of Micheal Bradley- the son of USA coach Bob Bradley- in the 82nd minute as well.

The USA had to settle for a 2-2 tie with the Slovenes and face a must win scenario against Algeria next week if they want to advance [the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that this was arranged by FIFA to see if the USA would have it's 1st ever full-fledged soccer riot, but that's just me- NANESB!].

NCAA FOOTBALL: More moving and shaking going on out West. With the addition of Boise State to the Mountain West Conference, the Utah Utes announced they'd be leaving for the Pac 10 conference effective 2011. The Utes football program last played in the increasingly less-sucky Poinsettia Bowl at San Diego in December 2009, getting a 37-27 win over the Cal Golden Bears.

Sports Chowdah Recap for June 12-14- Stubborn Celtic Pride; Rue Brittania; Sox Rookie Nava Has Grand Debut

(Canadian Press)

NBA FINALS: *WHEW!* Well, Kobe Bryant's 38 points made Game 5 a little closer than I would've liked, but I'm not going to complain about the final outcome from Sunday night. The C's, shored up by a 27-point effort from Paul Pierce got out to the early lead, but at times even the biggest lead wasn't safe. Kobe had 23 straight points for the Lakers from the 4:23 mark of the 2nd to the 2 minute mark of the 3rd.

With 90 seconds left in regulation, the C's were held scoreless and their lead eroding to 87-82. Boston got a break when a video review showed Ray Allen's 3 point attempt nicked the rim, giving the C's a fresh 24 seconds on the shot clock with 1:05 remaining. Rasheed Wallace missed a 3-pointer for the C's, but Derek Fisher and Kevin Garnett. Garnett won the jump ball and managed to tip the ball to Ron Artest for a breakaway. Pierce fouled Artest instead of letting him try for the easy layup, and Artest rewarded that by missing his two free throws for LA. Although Kobe got the rebound, it was immediately taken away by Pierce before Kobe could even attempt a shot. Pierce then dribbled off to the sidelines and called for a time-out. That set up a desperation pass to Rajon Rondo with 36 seconds left to make it 89-82 on his layup. That finally put LA in a hole too big to climb out of and the Celtics took Game 5 by a final of 92-86. Boston leads the NBA Finals 3 games to 2.

While Kobe's performance singlehandedly kept LA in the game the rest of the Lakers fizzled, however, with Pau Gasol leading all non-Kobe Lakers with a whopping 12 points. Derek Fisher, who burned the C's badly in the 4th quarter of Game 3, was held to 9 points.

Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 10 rebounds Sunday night while Rajon Rondo had 18 points and 8 assists. Game 6 will take place tomorrow night at LA's Staples Center at 9 PM Eastern time, 6 Pacific.

(Boston Herald)

Saturday's game was one to remember for Red Sox call-up Daniel Nava as he became the first rookie since Kevin Kouzmanoff to hit a grand-slam in his first career at-bat in the bottom of the second inning against the Phillies. The 27 year old undrafted outfielder had been batting .294 with 8 homers and 38 RBIs in AAA Pawtucket this season. Nava's contract was purchased from the Chico Outlaws of the Independent Golden League in 2007 by the Red Sox, where he was ranked Baseball America's #1 independent prospect.

The striking first impression left by Nava overshadowed some bad news regarding Daisuke Matsuzaka, who was a late scratch before the game and went on the 15-day DL with a forearm strain. The Sox stared with Scott Atchison, who would give up 2 runs in the top of the second. Despite a starter going on the DL and the early, 2-0 lead, that would be it for the Phils offense as Boston would win by a final of 10-2 and win two out of three against the Phils over the weekend at Fenway including Friday's 12-2 blowout.

The Red Sox will host the Diamondbacks for the next for a 3-game series against. Clay Buccholz (8-4) will get the start against the D'backs Ian Kennedy (3-3) on Tuesday night.


WORLD CUP: You know- I gotta confess something. It's actually been a dream of mine to travel to South Africa at some point. Safari, the colonial-era mining towns, cities like Cape Town and Durban- not to mention The Blue Train and Rovos Rail. However, 2010 is not the year to do it, since accommodations will be at a premium and South Africa's Rand is actually gaining in value against most major currencies.


But I guess it should be worth mentioning that Team USA tying heavily favored England 1-1 on Saturday [In your face former colonial masters!! -NANESB!]. However, even that earth-shattering development has taken a backseat to the ascendancy of the vuvuzelas, which apparently are cheap plastic horns that sound kind of like a swarm of bees when you have a whole stadium blowing into them simultaneously (click on the link at your own peril). Apparently if there's one thing the many different nations of the world participating in the World Cup can agree on, it's the desire to see these vuvuzela's banned from the stadiums hosting matches for the rest of tournament.

(AFP)

And speaking of stadiums, apparently the ushers and security guards in South Africa feel they aren't getting paid enough, since they walked off the job and called a strike in Cape Town and Durban yesterday. Trainee and auxiliary police were reportedly brought in to handle security at the stadiums where the guards walked off.

Sports Chowdah Update- Perfection Denied; NCAA Coaching Legend Passes Away, All Roads Lead To Strasburg, Fisher-Man Masters the C's

(Getty Images)

Man oh man.....as well as the Red Sox have been playing, I've been missing some pretty choice baseball elsewhere lately (much of it caught after the fact). The biggest story heading into tonight was the highly anticipated debut of last year's #1 MLB Draft pick, Stephen Strasburg, for the Washington Nationals.

I distinctly remember during last year's draft all sorts of sports columnists clucking their tongues at the folly of the Nats betting their future on a player who only takes to the field once every five or six days (there is something to that)- and that was if he panned out.

Almost a year to the day later, Strasburg was fast-tracked through the Nats minor-league system and made his Major League debut Tuesday night. To say he lived up to expectations would be something of an understatement. In front of a sellout crowd at Nationals Park, Strasburg struck out 14 in 7 innings of work in Washington's 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 14 K's is the second highest number of strikeouts in an MLB debut- topped only by J R Richard's 15 strikeouts in his 1971 debut with the Houston Astros.

Strasburg gave up 2 earned runs ans no walks in his debut, throwing 94 pitches and getting run support on solo home runs from Adam Dunn, Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham.

Today also marks the start of the 2010 MLB draft, with Washington getting the #1 overall draft pick again- this time outfielder Bryce Harper.


Then there's last week's saga of what could've been the third perfect game this season were it not for umpire James Joyce's blown call with two out in the 9th inning

Armando Galarraga had a 3-0 lead heading into the top of the 9th inning at Comerica on June 2nd with 2 away, the Tribe's Jason Donald softly hit the ball in the infield and first baseman Miguel Cabrera softly tossed the ball to Galarraga who was sprinting over to the mound to cover. First Base umpire Joyce ruled Donald 'safe' and Galarraga's bid for perfection ended one out shy of the requisite 27 up and 27 down. However, the replay clearly showed that Galarraga reached before the baserunner. Donald would then advance to 2nd on defensive indifference before Trevor Crowe grounded out to Tigers 3B Brandon Inge to finish the game (and what some would say was the 28th out).

Over the next several days, the story wasn't whether or not Joyce made the right call, but how Galarraga and Joyce handled the immediate aftermath of the call that Joyce himself admitted he got wrong. The 22-year veteran apparently approached the pitcher after the game and immediately admitted that he got the call wrong and apologized. The following night [after being awarded a brand-new Corvette from the Chairman of GM] Galarraga would ceremonially present Joyce with the lineup card before that night's game. There were also appeals to Bud Selig to award Galarraga the perfect game ex post facto, although Joyce's erronious call was allowed to stand by the MLB front office.

While it does suck that Joyce blew the call, I'm glad to see that both parties handled it with a tact and maturity that too often seems like it's missing from professional sports.

RED SOX: Kind of unusual for me to go on for this long without any mention of the Olde Towne Team. After taking two out of three from the A's and O's, the Red Sox started out this week on the road at Cleveland. Daisuke Matsuzaka threw eight scoreless innings on Monday night, with most of Boston's offense coming from 'productive outs' in the Sox 4-1 win over the Tribe at Jacobs Field.

After getting roughed up in his previous two outings, Tim Wakefield set all sorts of club milestones in Tuesday night's game against Cleveland. Wake got his 191st career win in Tuesday night's 3-2 win over the Tribe and passed Roger Clemens' club record with 2,777 innings pitched in a Red Sox uniform. Wake gave up 4 hits, one earned run and struck out six in seven and one third innings of work and after falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, got some run support from a Kevin Youkilis RBI-double, a Big Papi RBI single and Bill Hall RBI double in the top of the 4th.

Tomorrow's game will pit Clay Buccholz (8-3) against former Sox hurler Justin Masterson (1-5), who Boston traded last year in the deal to pick up Victor Martinez.

Other Red Sox News: Jacoby Ellsbury will have his ribs examined at the Kerlan Jobe clinic in Los Angeles. The team gave the outfielder permission to undergo another examination at an outside clinic and expects him the re-join the team this upcoming weekend in Boston.

Jonathan Papelbon was placed on the 3-day Bereavement List on June 7th. No details were provided, but Terry Francona told The Springfield Republican that "It's a personal, serious issue and he has our full support". RHP Boof Bonser was activated from the DL and is expected to join the Sox bullpen while Papelbon's gone.

NBA: After knotting up the series 1-1 at the Staples Center, the NBA Finals moved back to the Garden. While the Lakers were able to hold onto a double-digit lead for much of the first half, the Celtics were eventually able to pull within one before LA pulled away, thanks in part to Derek Fisher's 11 points in the 4th quarter, to win Game 3 by a final of 91-84. Kevin Garnett had 25 points and 6 rebounds for the C's while Kobe Bryant had 29 points and 7 rebounds for LA. Fischer had 16 total, with most of his production for LA coming late in the game.

The Lakers take a 2-1 series lead in the finals, with Game 4 tipping off on Thursday night.

JOHN WOODEN: 1910-2010

NCAA HOOPS: Ten time NCAA Men's Champion coach and Basketball Hall of Famer John Wooden passed away on June 4th. As both a player and a coach, Wooden had 11 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships to his name. Wooden was on the 1932 Purdue Boilermakers as a player when they were selected as the Men's national champions (tournament play didn't begin until 1939- prior to that, winners were determined via a panel) and served in the US Navy as a Lieutenant in World War II. As the UCLA Bruins head coach, Wooden earned the moniker 'The Wizard of Westwood' and coached the Bruins to 10 NCAA Men's titles between 1959 and 1975.

Wooden was also a devout Christian who would later on write in his autobiography:

"I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior."

Here's to a life well-lived. Rest well, coach.

NHL: It was all Chicago early on as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Sunday evening. The Flyers were able to get on the board but would ultimately lose 7-4 at the United Center. The Blackhawks lead 3 games to 2 and could clinch their first Stanley Cup in nearly 50 years with a road win at Philly tomorrow night.

Special Memorial Day Helping of Sports Chowdah- Halladay Perphect In Phlorida; Red Sox Cure Royal Pains; Dej L.A. Vu- Celtics/Lakers Rematch Set

MLB: Nearly three weeks after Oakland's Dallas Braden threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Philadelphia's Roy Halliday matched that feat in a masterful performance against the Florida Marlins at Miami's Sun Life Stadium on Saturday. Halliday's 27-up, 27-down performance came less than a week after getting roughed up by the Red Sox at Citizen's Bank Ballpark in interleague play and one week after Daisuke Matsuzaka took a no-hitter into the 8th inning against the hosting Phillies.

What makes Halliday's perfect game all the more impressive is that he had considerably less run support than Braden did- the only run of the game coming on a fielding error by Marlins outfielder Cameron Maybin in the top of the 3rd that allowed Philly SS Wilson Valdez to score. Josh Johnson was the Florida starter who went seven innings, giving up seven hits, the unearned run and striking out six in the 1-0 loss for Florida [I'm obviously not a Phillies fan, but I do wish Harry Kalas was around to call the game- NANESB!].

The last time two perfect games were thrown in one season? June 1880, and less than a week apart. Lee Richmond of the Worcester Ruby Legs threw a perfect game for a 1-0 win against the Cleveland Blues on June 12th, 1880. The game took place at the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds and is is widely believed to be the first-ever perfect game in major league baseball history.

On June 17th John Montgomery Ward of the Providence Grays pitched a perfect game against the Buffalo Bisons at the Messer Street Grounds in Providence Rhode Island, winning 5-0. [See- give me any opening and I'll never miss an opportunity to go on about how awesome all the teams from New England are....even the ones that ceased to exist 125 years ago- NANESB!]

Red Sox: Kinda figures that after being on the wrong end of a 12-5 beatdown, the Red Sox would bounce back in a pitcher's duel on Saturday. On Saturday night, Clay Buchholz outpitched 2009 Cy Young winner Zack Greinke in 7 innings of work. The only run in the 1-0 game came in the bottom of the second on a Mike Lowell groundout that plated Adrian Beltre. Lester gave up four hits and struck out four in his 7 innings of work while Bard came on for a scoreless 8th and Papelbon closed out the game with a 1-2-3 9th inning.

Getty Images

Sunday was a different story, with the Sox generating alot more offense in support of Jon Lester. In the top of the 2nd, Lester would give up an RBI groundout to Brayan Peña for Kansas City's only run of the day. In 7 innings of work, Lester would give up 4 hits, the one earned run, four walks and strike out five batters. Manny DelCarmen and Joe Nelson would close out the pitching for Boston.

The Red Sox bats were very much alive for this one, with Papi driving in a run on a sac-fly in the 3rd followed by a 2 run homer in the 5th. Mike Cameron is back, and on Sunday, he had a 2 RBI double before crossing the plate on a Marco Scutaro single (Scutaro also had an RBI groundout in the 5th). 'Tek rounded out the longball action with a solo homer of his own in the 8th in the Red Sox 8-1 win.

Next, the Red Sox will take on the Oakland A's on Tuesday at Fenway. John Lackey (5-3) is slated to start against Gio Gonzalez (5-3).

NBA: It's official- the Celtics will be going up against the Lakers in a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals. The LA Lakers brought down Los Suns by a score of 111-103 Saturday night in Phoenix to win the Western Conference Finals 4 games to 2. Game 1 is slated to take place Thursday night, giving the C's some time to recoup after a couple of physical games against Orlando.

NHL: For those of you wanting an all-original 6 Stanley Cup final, too damn bad. While the Blackhawks held up their end of the deal, Montreal was bounced from the Eastern Conference finals by the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night after a 4-2 loss, giving Philly the 4-1 series win. So instead, it's an Original 6 versus Class of '67 Stanley Cup final. After sweeping the San Jose Sharks, the Hawks took the 1-0 series lead in the Final in a defensively challenged Game 1 Saturday night by a score of 6-5.

Game 2 is set for Monday night at 8 PM eastern.

INDY CAR: I'm not really all that interested in motorsports, but Mike Conway's crash at the Indy 500 earlier has to be seen to be believed.


Oh....what the hell....here's a completely gratuitous Danica Patrick swimsuit photo while I'm at it:
But getting back to the crash, Conway survived the spectacular crash and was airlifted to the hospital with a broken leg. Dario Franchitti was the winner of the 94th Indianapolis 500 and Danica Patrick finished in 6th place (after finishing 23rd on Pole Day). The Indy 500 win is Franchitti's second of his Indycar career.