Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- The Butler Did It! Patriots Win 4th Super Bowl on Malcom Butler's Late Pick; Say Clay- Buchholz Hurls Gem in 2015 Season Opener

SUPER BOWL- I know I'm more than 2 months behind on this, but WOW.

All you need to know about Super Bowl XLIX took place in the second half. After the Patriots defense gave up an 11 yard TD pass from Russell Wilson to WR Chris Matthews in the closing seconds of the first half, Seattle and New England headed into the 3rd quarter tied at 14-14.

Glendale, AZ's University of Phoenix Stadium has been home to some cringe-worthy moment for Patriots fans in the past and in the 3rd quarter, it appeared to be happening again as the Seahawks took a 24-14 lead.

About 7 minutes into the 4th quarter, the Patriots cut Seattle's lead to 3 point thanks to a TD pass from Brady to Danny Amendola to make it 24-21. Just before the two minute warning, New England would take a 28-24 lead thanks to Brady connecting to Julian Edelman for a 4 yard TD pass.

However, Patriots fans had that sinking feeling when Seahawks QB Russel Wilson connecting with WR Jermaine Kearse for a 33 yard completion- it was bobbled and appeared to be incomplete as Kearse scooped it up, but a video review from the officials showed that the ball had never touched the ground, giving the Seahawks the ball on the Patriots 5 yard line with 1:06 to go in regulation. After a timeout, Wilson handed off the ball to RB Marshawn Lynch to put the ball on New England's 1-yard line and giving the Seahawks no fewer than three shots at the end zone as the clock ticked down.

For whatever reason, Pats head coach Bill Belichick declined to take a timeout as the clocked ticked down to less than 30 seconds. Instead of handing the ball off to Lynch, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll opted for a short pass with 20 seconds remaining in the game. It would not turn out well for Seattle.



Obscure and unheralded cornerback Malcom Butler singlehandedly sealed the win for New England thanks to his pick of Wilson's short pass attempt to give New England the ball back at a pivotal juncture in the game. The Patriots were flagged for excessive celebration and penalized half the distance to the end zone- basically putting the ball on the one foot line and giving the Seahawks a pretty good shot at a safety, but after a scrum between Bruce Irvin and Rob Gronkowski, the Seahawks were penalized fifteen yards, which gave New England some more wiggle room. After a kneeldown by Brady, the Patriots 28-24 win was official.

Tom Brady was named the Super Bowl MVP [the third time he garnered the award in the four Super Bowl titles New England has won in the Brady/Belicheck era- NANESB!]. After the game, Brady gifted Butler a brand new pickup truck from a Chevrolet dealership in Butler's Mississippi hometown.

Carroll- who was the Patriots head coach before his USC tenure- was questioned for his decision to go for a pass play after Marshawn Lynch had easily picked up four yards on the previous play. Some less-than-kind Patriots fans joked that at long last Carroll had followed through on winning a championship for New England some 15 years after he left.

While some sour grapes Seahawks fans wanted to use New England's championship to gripe about 'Deflategate', the Super Bowl XLIX shold be considered by many NFL fans to ba an 'instant classic'.

MLB OPENING DAY- The Red Sox got it done with the longball and a solid outing from Clay Buchholz in his first-ever opening day start as Boston opened up the 2015 MLB season on the road in Philadelphia.

The Red Sox got on the board early with a 362ft solo shot off the bat of Dustin Pedroia to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Outfielder Mookie Betts belted another solo homer to deep left field off of Phillies starter Cole Hammels in the top of the 3rd. Buchholz would go on to throw even complete shutout innings as the Red Sox added to their lead with solo homers from Pedroia and offseason acquisition Hanley Ramirez in the fifth inning.

Junichi Tazawa would come on and get all three of the Phillies batters he faced out in order in the 8th inning and Hanley Ramirez would belt a grand slam to give Boston an 8-0 lead and Tommy Layne closed things out in the bottom of the 9th.

Through his 7 innings of work, Buchholz allowed a total of three hits and struck out nine while walking one batter. Meanwhile, Hammels only lasted five innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits.

With Tuesday off, the Red Sox will put their undefeated record on the line against the Phillies on Wednesday. Offseason acquisition Rick Porcello will get the start for Boston against Philly's Aaron Harang. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN and ESPN2.

One Giant Cup of Sports Chowdah Update- The Constant Bumgarner, Giants Ace Comes Out of Bullpen to Cinch World Series; Brady's Bunches, Patriots QB throws 5 TDs Against Chicago; Hokies Smoked, Boston College Becomes Bowl-Eligible With Win in Blacksburg;

WORLD SERIES- Those of us who wanted a Game 7 in the 2014 World Series weren't disappointed.

Game 7 was made possible by the Royals lighting up Giants starter Jake Peavy early in Game Six on Wednesday, cruising to an easy 10-0 win and tying up the series at 3 games apiece.

For Game 7, the Giants got out to an early 2-0 lead off of Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie thanks to a pair of RBI sac flies- one off the bat of Michael Morse and Brandon Crawford. However, the Royals got those two runs back in the bottom of the second and managed to chase San Francisco starter Tim Hudson after 1⅔ innings when Alex Gordon hit an RBI double and then advanced to third before coming home on an Omar Enfante sac-fly.

In the top of the 4th, Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval led off with an infield single, followed by a Hunter Pence single and a Brandon Belt fly ball to left field that advanced Sandoval to third. By this point, Royals manager Ned Yost pulled Guthrie and brought Kelvin Herrera in from the bullpen. Morse singled, which brought Sandoval in from 3rd before Herrera struck out Brandon Crawford and got Juan Perez to ground out and end the inning.

Nursing a 1-run lead, Giants manager Bruce Bochy brought in starter Madison Bumgarner from out of the bullpen. Although dominant against the Royals earlier in the series, Bumgarner immediately gave up a single to Omar Enfante followed by an Alcides Escobar sac bunt to move Enfante into scoring position, but that was followed by fly ball off the bat of Nori Aoki to left that LF Juan Perez managed to run down for the second out. Bumgarner then managed to get Lorenzo Cain to strike out and end the bottom of the 5th.

Instead of going to the bullpen, Bochy went with Bumgarner into the 9th inning, with the Giants starter getting better as the innings progressed. In the bottom of the 9th, he got Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler to go down quietly for the first two outs. Alex Gordon stepped into the batter's box and hit a line drive into left center that was misplayed by Gregor Blanco which rolled all the way to the wall. Gordon beat the throw to third and brought the increasingly demoralized crowd at Kauffman Stadium back to life with the tying run 90 feet away. However, Bumgarner got Salavor Perez to pop up to 3rd to clinch San Fransico's third World Series title since 2010.

For his two commanding starts and the Game 7 relief appearance, Madison Bumgarner was named the MVP of the 2014 World Series. On Friday, the City of San Francisco held their third World Series parade in less than five years.

NFL- After struggling just to outlast the Jets on Thursday night last week, the Patriots made it look easy against the Chicago Bears last Sunday when Tom Brady threw for 5 TD passes at Gillette Stadium.

New England had a 31-7 lead in the final minute of the first half when Bears QB Jay Cutler fumbled deep in Bears territory and Rod Ninkovitch recovered and ran it back for a TD with 55 seconds left in the half.

Brady would then connect with Gronkowski for a 46 yard TD reception to make it 45-7 on the Patriot's opening possession of the second half. The Patriots would cruise to an easy 51-23 win over Chicago thanks to 3 TD passes from Brady to Gronk, along with TD passes to Tim Wright and Brandon LaFell. Brady went 30-35 with 354 yards on the day to go with the 5 TDs on the day. Gronk caught 9 passes for 149 yards and the 3 TDs while Gostkowski made all three of his FG attempts.

This Sunday's game is a marquee matchup between two first-ballot Hall of Fame QBs when the Patriots will host the Denver Broncos and QB Peyton Manning at Gillette this weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 ET and the game will be televised on ESPN.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- As good a day as Brady had last week, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger had an even better one, with 6 TDs and 522 yards, going 40-49 in the Steeler's 51-34 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The performance set a Steelers franchise record and was an exclamation point on Big Ben's 100th career win.

NCAA FOOTBALL- The Boston College Eagles are now bowl-eligible after a road win in Blacksburg, VA against Virginia Tech. Although the Hokies got out to an early lead in the first, the Eagles took a 14-10 lead into halftime.

After the half, the Eagles extended their lead to 23-10, but Virginia Tech made it a 23-17 game early in the 4th quarter and took a one point lead on a pass from QB Michael Brewer to TE Bucky Hodges to give the Hokies a 24-23 lead.

With just over five minutes to go in regulation, Alex Howell gave Boston College the lead once again thanks to a 44 yard FG attempt. After the Eagles defense held the Hokies to a 3 and out on the following possession, the Eagles started to pull away thanks to a 57 yard TD run from QB Tyler Murphy to make it 33-24 Boston College. The Hokies would close the gap to 31-33 thanks to another driver from Brewer that was capped with a 5 yard TD pass with 1:09 to go, but the following onsides kick was recovered by the Eagles, which allowed them to simply take a knee and run out the clock.

Murphy went 8 for 15 with 110 yards and two TDs passing and 122 yards rushing with another TD. Charlie Callinan and Marcus Outlow each had TD receptions on Saturday as well.

This would be Boston College's second win in a row after beating Wake Forest on the road last Saturday by a 23-17 final. Next Saturday, Boston College will host the Louisville Cardinals at Chestnut Hill. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:25 PM ET and the game will be televised on ESPN 2.

NHL- After blowing a 3rd period lead to the Minnesota Wild at home, the Boston Bruins hit the road for a quick trip against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, getting past Buffalo 3-2 in OT thanks to a Brad Marchand tally just 1:20 into OT.

On Saturday night, the B's returned home to host the Ottawa Senators for the first time this season. Marchand would open up the scoring on Saturday night, giving Boston a 1-0 lead a little over a minute into the contest. Mark Stone got the equalizer for Ottawa with about 30 seconds to go in the first period, giving the Bruins a 3-1 lead.

The second period was all about Matt Fraser as he had two tallies less than 90 seconds apart to give Boston a 3-1 lead. Heading into the 3rd, the Bruins would add tack on some more insurance when Seidenberg got an unassisted goal just over two minutes into the period. Ottawa would get on the board once again with a Mika Zibanejad goal with about five minutes left to go, but that would be it for the Sens.

Tukks Rask turned aside 27 of 29 shots faced on Saturday as the Bruins went on to win by a 4-2 final in their first meeting with Ottawa.

The Bruins homestand continues on Tuesday when the B's will host the 4-2-3 Florida Panthers at the Garden. Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN

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.

39 Years Ago Tonight

The way the Red Sox 2014 season has progressed, it seems like ages ago that the Olde Towne Team was in the World Series [despite being defending World Series Champions- NANESB!]. And if one season feels like an eternity, imagine the anguish Red Sox fans [before there was a Red Sox Nation- NANESB!] felt during that 86 year wait.

That's not to say the organization didn't have their moments in those 86 years. Despite the lopsided deal that sent Babe Ruth to New York, the Red Sox could boast the game's all time best hitter in Ted Williams. Outfielder Carl Yastrzemski would go on to be baseball's only Triple Crown batting winner for 45 seasons until Detroit's Miguel Cabrera won those honors in 2012.

However, it was During the 1975 World Series against Cincinnati's Big Red Machine, a native son of New England managed to provide even more dramatic flair to what some baseball historians consider the best-ever World Series.

I'm talking, of course, about Bellows Falls, VT native Carlton Fisk's walkoff extra-inning homer in Game 6 of the '75 World Series that was made even more memorable by the Red Sox catcher's copious body English caught on camera. Fisk took Cincinnati reliever Pat Darcy's second pitch into the netting of the Green Monster to end the game with a 7-6 win in the bottom of the 12th for Boston and tied the series up at 3-3.

Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Red Sox got to a World Series title for nine years. The Big Red Machine would later go on to win Game 7 after trailing early 3-0. Interestingly, both Fisk's iconic homer and the Reds win took place on the same day, as Game 6 started on October 21st but went beyond midnight due to extra innings.

Years later, Fisk would joke that he liked to tell people the Red Sox won the Series that year 3 games to four.

Buffalo Springfield Sports Chowdah Update- Pats Put Damper on Coming Out Party for Bills New Onwership; Detroit Block City- Rask, Bruins Outlast Red Wings; Royal Festivities- Kansas City Parties Like Its 1985

NFL- A week after handing the last undefeated team of the 2014 NFL season their first loss, the Patriots travelled to western New York for Bills first game under new owner Terry Pagula. Pagula- a multimillionaire that made his money on the natural gas boom in the Marcellus Shale also owns the Buffalo Sabres and is a major donor to the Penn State hockey program- was approved by the NFL as the teams' new owner in an October 8th owners meeting. Pagula successfully outbid tycoon Donald Trump, rocker John Bon Jovi and Canadian interests who openly supported relocating the franchise to Toronto. Pegula, who promised to keep the franchise in western New York, purchased the Bills from the estate of the late Ralph Wilson earlier this year.

However, the key name to remember from Sunday's game was Patriots WR Brandon LaFell, an unheralded signing in the offseason earlier this year.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Patriots got the ball back with a shorter field when LB Jamie Collins intercepted a pass attempt from Bills QB Kyle Orton at the New England 39 yard line. Thanks to a Bills penalty, the ball moved to the Buffalo 1 yard line where Brady connected with TE Tim Wright for the first score of the game. After a three and out for each team, the Bills got the ball back on their own 33 yard line with 8:43 to go in the half. Orton kept the drive going for the Bills with a 28 yard pass to Scott Chandler to give Buffalo the ball on the Patriots 19 yard line. The Bills would tie the game up at 7-7 when Orton connected with Robert Woods on 2nd and goal from the Pats 7 yard line and the PAT was good.

Although the Bills got the ball back after holding New England to a 3 and out following the kickoff, DE Chandler Jones managed to break through and sack Orton and strip the ball, giving the Patriots the ball back on Buffalo's own 24 yard line. Although the Bills defense were able to keep the Patriots out of the red zone, the ball was still close enough for a Gostkowski chip shot FG to put New England up 10-7.

The following kickoff was a touchback and Buffalo actually lost yards when DE Rob Ninkovitch sacked Orton, pushing the Bills back to their own 13. While the Patriots had good field position at their own 42, they'd once again go three and out after Brady was sacked. After the Patriots kickoff, the Bills got the ball back on their own 30 yard line with 14 seconds to go in the half. On first and 10 for Buffalo, CJ Spiller rushed for 12 yards before he fumbled, which was recovered by Patriots DE Zach Moore at the Bills 42 with all of 6 seconds left in the half. With the clock ticking, Brady completed a quick 7 yard pass to Julian Edelman to give Gostkowski a slightly shorter field to work with for this FG attempt. As time expired, the 53 yard FG attempt was good and the Patriots headed to the locker room with a 13-7 lead.

New England got the ball back to start off the second half, and after a 3 and a half minute drive that started out on their own 20, the Patriots barely crossed into Buffalo territory when Brady connected with WR Brian Tyms for a 43 yard TD pass to put New England up 20-7. However, Buffalo would counter with a nearly 7-minute drive from their own 20 that was capped with a 1 yard Fred Jackson TD run to cut New England's lead to 20-14.

The Patriots replied with a drive that went all the way to the Buffalo 22, where New England had to settle for another Gostkowski FG to make it a 24-14 game. However, the Patriots began to pull away with their first possession of the 4th quarter thanks to an 18 yard TD pass from Brady to WR Brandon LaFell to make it a 30-14 lead. After a touchback on the following kickoff, Buffalo started from their own 20 and after the drive appeared to sputter on the Bills 40, Orton managed to convert a 4th and 2 thanks to a 35 yard completion to WR Robert Woods. With just under 6 minutes to go, Orton connected with Chris Hogan for an 8 yard TD pass to once again make it a 1-score game, with New England now leading 30-22.

However, the Patriots would strike back quickly and take a 37-22 lead thanks to a 56 yard completion from Brady to LaFell for his second TD of the afternoon with 2:39 left in the game.

That would be all New England would need, putting a damper on the celebrations for the start of the Pegula era in Buffalo. With talk of Brady's career being all but over after the Monday Night fiasco in Kansas City, Brady is now 23-2 against Buffalo in his career.

Turns out this is a short week for New England- they head home to take on the Jets for a Thursday night game. Kickoff is 8:25 PM ET and the game will be televised on the NFL Network and CBS.

NHL- It was a rather forgetful weekend for the Bruins- after winning the season opener, Boston dropped three straight to the Red Wings, Washington and Colorado [Washignton shut out Boston 4-1 while the Avalanche won in the final second of regulation- NANESB!].

On Wednesday night, the Bruins travelled to the Motor City hoping to break their 3-game skid and got off to a pretty good start when David Krejci scored a little over five minutes into the first to give Boston a 1-0 lead. However, Tomas Tatar got the equalizer about three minutes later.

The Bruins re-took the lead in the second when Reilly Smith scored an even-strength goal to make it 2-1. The Bruins would take their 2-1 lead to the 3rd period until Gustav Nyquist scored a power play goal just 2:56 into the 3rd. The power play tally was enough to force OT, and after a scoreless OT, the game would head to a shootout. The Red Wings would miss on both of their shootout chances while Krejci and Reilly Smith would score for Boston to give them the shootout win and snap a 3-game losing streak.

The Original Six action continues on Thursday night when the Bruins travel to Montreal for the first meeting of the 2014 season. Puck drops at 7:30 ET and the game will be broadcast on the NHL network.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- Buffalo Sabres announcer Rick Jeanneret missed the team's home opener this month after being diagnosed with throat cancer in July. The Sabres radio and TV play-by-play man- who has been with Buffalo since their inaugural season in 1971- received the diagnosis in his native Canada after doctors discovered a malignant golf-ball sized growth in his throat. Jeanarette will undergo treatment in the USA and was given an 85% chance of recovery.

ALCS- For the first time in 29 years, the Kansas City Royals are going to the World Series....and they got there by making quick work of the teams with the two best records in the American League.

After getting out to a 3-0 series lead against Baltimore, the Royals got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first at Game 4 in Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday. All of the scoring for Kansas City came in the bottom of the first with a one out and runners on second and third when Eric Hosmer hit a ground ball between first and second for a fielder's choice. O's 2B Jonathan Schoop threw home to C Caleb Joseph as Alciedes Escobar slid on, but the throw went past the catcher and Nori Aoki immediately came home on the error to give Kansas City the quick 2-0 lead.

Although he would give up a solo homer to Baltimore's Ryan Flaherty to cut the Royals lead to 3-1 in the top of the 3rd inning, Kansas City starter Jason Vargas would throw 5⅓ innings and the bullpen would allow no additional runs by Baltimore. Despite allowing a leadoff walk to Adam Jones to start off the 9th, Greg Holland got Nelson Cruz to hit into a fielder's choice, erasing the potential tying run at second, before Delmon Young struck out swinging and JJ Hardy hit a groundout up the 3rd base line to finish off the series.

Kansas City has gone an impressive 8-0 this postseason, and have only trailed in a few innings between the Wild Card game, the Division Series and the ALCS. This performance has already drawn comparisons to the 2007 Rockies, who got off to a similar start as a Wild Card in the postseason [but because of inclement weather and a prolonged ALCS between the Indians and Red Sox never were quite the same once the World Series beagn- NANESB!].

The Royals await the winner of the NLCS between the St Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants- San Francisco is taking a 3-1 series lead into tonight's game five and the Cardinals will have to win three in a row if there's to be a rematch of 1985's "I-70" World Series.

NCAA FOOTBALL- A pretty good weekend, although not as turbulent and dramatic as week 6. As far as nationally ranked teams go, the big story would have to be Baylor's roaring-from-behind-in-the-4th-quarter win over Texas Christian to remain the only undefeated team in the Big Twelve conference. The #4 Baylor Bears came all the way back to beat the #12 TCU Horned Frogs by a 61-58 final on Saturday afternoon.

The Magnolia State continues to produce winning football as Ole Miss and Mississippi State are nearly done with the most difficult part of their respective schedules [Ole Miss hosts Auburn on Nov 1st while Mississippi State travels to Alabama on Nov 15th- assuming the two teams run the table, that sets up a matchup between undefeated Mississippi State and Ole Miss on Nov 29th for Rivalry Week- NANESB!].

As for Week 7, the #3 Mississippi State Bulldogs hosted Auburn and would go on to beat them by a 38-25 final while the #1 Runnin' Rebels ran out of College Station, TX with a 35-20 win over the Texas A&M Aggies.

MEANWHILE IN THE ACC- The Boston College Eagles came out of their off week looking pretty good, travelling to the Tarheel State and beating the NC State Wolfpack by a 30-14 final.

Tyler Murphy had 132 rushing yards and ran for two 2 TDs while passing for another 132 yards. John Hilliman and Sherman Alston also had rushing TDs on the day. The win is also Boston College's first against an ACC opponent this season.

This weekend, the Eagles once again return to host a ranked opponent at Chestnut Hill as they host #24 Clemson. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 ET and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- The game of the week- at least one involving an ACC team- will be a matchup between two undefeateds when #2 Florida State will host #5 Notre Dame at Tallahassee on Saturday. Both teams are sporting 6-0 records coming into Saturday's prime time matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 PM ET and the game will be televised on ESPN.

Magnolia State Madness Sports Grits Chowdah Update- Mississippi Blues for Aggies, Crimson Tide; Royal Flush- Kansas City Sweeps Angels to Advance to 1st ALCS Since 1985; Patriots Bounce Back Against Cincinnati.

NCAA FOOTBALL- Every once in awhile, I'll encounter a subset of football fans who are outright dismissive of college football, sneering that REAL football is played on Sundays- as though their favorite NFL player was cultivated in some magic football orchard hidden off from the rest of the world until their product was ready. On Saturday, I genuinely felt bad for those people.

Where to start? Obviously the biggest story of Saturday afternoon was the Ole Miss vs #1 Alabama game in Oxford, MS. For the first time since 2003, when Eli Manning was the Rebels QB, Ole Miss bested the Alabama Crimson Tide thanks to a 4th quarter rally. This also marks the first time since 1962 that the Rebels have gotten out to a 5-0 start.

Midway through the 4th quarter, Mississippi trailed 17-10 before pulling even on a 34 yard TD pass from Bo Wallace to WR Vance Sanders with 5 and a half minutes remaining in regulation. With the ensuing kickoff, Alabama's Christion Jones fumbled and Mississippi recovered on the Alabama 31 yard line. It didn't take long for the Rebels to capitalize, with Wallace connecting with RB Jaylen Walton for a TD catch and run to put Ole Miss up 23-17 with just under 3:00 remaining in the 4th. The Rebels attempted to go for two, but were unsuccessful, giving Alabama one last chance to pull ahead for good in the final minutes.

With just 37 seconds to go, the Tide had one last shot at the end zone, but Rebels outfielder-turned-DB Senquez Golson managed to get his hands on a Blake Sims pass attempt in the end zone and after a lengthy review was able to corral it for a galme-clinching INT.

Wallace ended up throwing for 251 total yards and 3 TDs, including two in the fourth quarter. The victory propels Ole Miss to 3 in college football polling as well.

This Saturday, the Running Rebels will travel to College Station, TX to take on #14 Texas A&M.

ELSEWHERE IN THE SEC- Saturday's stunner in Oxford was by no means the only upset in the SEC, let alone NCAA Football. The only-slightly-less-favored Aggies fell to Mississippi State in Starkville by a 48-31 final in what ended up being a track meet. Like in-state rival Ole Miss, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are out to a 5-0 start and will host #2 Auburn this weekend.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- The upsets actually began as early as Thursday night, with the Arizona Wildcats holding on against the #2 Oregon Ducks by a 31-24 final. On Firday night, the Utah State Aggies handed #18 BYU their first loss of the season, going on to win 35-20.

On Saturday, Texas Christian handed the Oklahoma Sooners their first loss in a wild one at Amon G Carter Stadium in Fort Worth that included Horned Frogs LB Paul Dawson picking off Sooners QB Trevor Knight's pass and running it back 41 yards for a TD early in the 4th quarter. On the point after attempt, it was successfully blocked before being run back for 2 points by Sooners DT Jordan Phillips to cut TCU's lead to 37-33. However, that would be the last of the scoring and #25 TCU remains undefeated and advances to #9 in the college football standings while #4 Oklahoma was handed their first loss and dropped down to #11 in the rankings.

But there was more......especially out on the West Coast. Utah ended up beating #8 UCLA by a final of 30-28 while Arizona State trailed #16 USC late in the fourth. The Sun Devils had the ball on the Trojans 46 and trailed 34-32 with just 7 seconds left in the game when this happened.



The Trojans would go on to lose by a 38-34 final, their second loss since playing Boston College at Chestnut Hill and their first loss of the season within the Pac 12 conference.

MEANWHILE IN THE ACC- The Boston College Eagles had the weekend off after their September 27th 24-21 loss to Colorado state, but will resume this weekend in Raleigh, NC as they take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3 streaming.

NFL- And then there were none.

The last of the undefeated teams in the NFL this season turned out to be the Cincinnati Bengals, and that only lasted until Sunday night against New England at Gillette Stadium.

Heading into Sunday night's game there were a number of storylines- could the Pats and Brady bounce back after last week's fiasco at Arrowhead, not to mention the final remaining undefeated team in the NFL [Arizona also got out to a 3-0 start, had a bye and then lost to the Broncos earlier in the day- NANESB!]. But what really had people talking during and after the game was the Patriot's tribute to the cancer-stricken daughter of defensive lineman Devon Still in the 3rd quarter.

During a timeout in the third quarter on Sunday night, the Patriots let Still know that they were with him and his daughter during their battle. Patriots cheerleaders donned Still’s Bengals jersey as the music video played on the big screens, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft donated $25,000 to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Leah’s name.

Still was shown on the big screen following the music video, and got a little emotional when he received an ovation from the Gillette Stadium crowd. You could see tears stream down his face,

Reaction across Social Media was quick, with accolades for the Patriots as well as pledges of support from other NFL players and owners for Devon and Leah Still. Still was sporting a nose strip that had the hashtag #LeahStrong on the Sunday night game.

Meanwhile, on the field Brady seemed to have quieted his critics with a TD pass in the first half as well as a 1 yard Stevan Ridley TD run and 3 Gostkowski field goals to make it a 20-3 game at the half.

Cincinnati scored on their second possession of the second half with a 37 yard TD pass from QB Andy Dalton to WR Mohamed Sanu to make it a 20-10 lead for New England, but on the following possession, Brady capped an 86 yard drive with a 16 yard TD Pass to TE Rob Gronkowski to put New England up 27-10. Things only got worse for the Bengals when they fumbled the ensuing kickoff and it was recovered by Kyle Arrington on special teams and run back for the second Patriots TD in just 6 seconds of playing time.

Unlike Kansas City, the Patriots would go on to cruise to a 43-17 win, with all the scoring in the 4th quarter coming off the leg of Gostkowski. Tom Brady would go 23-35 with 292 yards and 2 TDs while Cincinnati's Andy Dalton would go 15-24 with 204 yards and 2 TDs. Stevan Ridley would lead New England's ground attack after rushing for a total of 113 yards and a TD.

This sets up only the second intra-conference matchup for New England this weekend when the Patriots travel to Orchard Park, NY to take on the Buffalo Bills, who are sporting a similar 3-2 record [but do have at least one win against an AFC East opponent this year- NANESB!]. Kickoff is at 1:00 ET and the game will be televised on CBS.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- Week 6 gets underway with a Thursday night AFC South matchup between the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts. Kickoff is 8:25 PM and the game will be televised on the NFL Network.

MLB PLAYOFFS For the first time since 1985, the Kansas City Royals are advancing to the American League Championship Series. This comes after the team completed a sweep of the Anaheim Angels at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday night- a sweep of the team that could boast the best regular season in MLB, no less.

The only time the favored Angels led was in the first inning when outfielder Mike Trout belted a 412 foot solo homer to deep left center off of starter James Shields- I'm not talking just game 3, but the only time in the entire American League division series. In the bottom of the 3rd, a shaky CJ Wilson ended up loading the bases with singles to Nori Aoki and Lorenzo Cain and waling Billy Butler after striking out Eric Hosmer. That brought up the home-grown Alex Gordon, who belted a 2-2 offering off of the wall in left center field to clear the bases with a 3-RBI double and give the Royals the lead back as they led it 3-1.

Halos manager Mike Socia went to the bullpen early, but that wouldn't slow down the Royals as they got two more runs in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to a 2-run Eric Hosmer homer to make it a 5-1 game. The Angels would close the gap a little thanks to a 391 foot solo homer from Albert Pujols, but the Royals would start of pull away in the 4th thanks to a Mike Moustakas solo homer and Lorenzo Cain RBI sac fly to give KC a 7-2 lead.

The Royals would go on to cruise to an 8-3 win over the Angels, sweeping the team with the best record in the Majors. This sets up a meeting with the Baltimore Orioles, who put the finishing touches on a sweep of their own, bouncing the AL Central winning Detroit Tigers from the first round of the postseason.

NLDS- Meanwhile in the National League Division series, it will be a rematch of the 2012 NLCS after the St Louis Cardinals bested the LA Dodgers 3 games to 1 in the first round while the San Francisco Giants also got by the Washington Nationals by a similar margin, including an 18 inning marathon in the nation's capital last weekend.

That series gets underway on Saturday night and will be televised on FOX and FOX Sports One.

NHL- It's here! It's here!

The NHL regular season got underway on Wednesday night with the Bruins taking on the Flyers at the TD Garden.



Reilly Smith got the scoring started in the first with a power play tally midway through the first. Through 2 periods, Rask turned aside 13 shots from Philadelphia while Steve Mason turned aside 19 of 20 shots from the Bruins, keeping the Flyers very much in the game.

Just four minutes into the 3rd, the Flyer managed to tie the contest up at 1-1 thanks to a Sean Coutourier goal. However, Chris Kelly would notch the go-ahead goal for the B's with just a minute fifty to go. The Bruins hang on to win by a 2-1 final in their home opener and will immediately travel to Detroit to take on the Red Wings for Thursday night's game.

Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30 ET at Joe Louis Arena and the game will be televised on NESN.

Kansas City Smoked Sports Chowdah Update- Red Sox Season, Jeter's Career Wraps Up At Fenway; Rollin' Royals Eliminate Oakland, Take Game 1 of ALDS; Fail to the Chiefs- Patriots Thrashed at Arrowhead Stadium on Monday Night

RED SOX- The Major League Baseball regular season came to an end on Sunday and with it, the disappointing 2014 seasons for both the New York Yankees and defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox. Fans of the Red Sox were hoping for a more spirited defense of their 2013 title while Yankees fans wanted a postseason appearance for captain Derek Jeter's final season.

Although the Yankees had been mathematically eliminated by that point, Jeter's final home game at Yankee Stadium ended in memorable fashion as the Bronx Bomber's shortstop hit a walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the 9th, breaking a 5-5 tie against the AL East Champion Baltimore Orioles on September 25th.

The Yankee captain's final game on Sunday drew a national TV audience as the game was televised on TBS. The Yankees got out to an early lead in the 3rd inning, thanks to a one out, two RBI single from Ichiro Suzuki. Jeter made it a 3-0 game when he hit a high chopper up the 3rd base line that he beat out for an infield single as Suzuki made his way home. As it turned out, that would be it for Jeter. Manager Joe Girardi immediately decided to pull Jeter for pinch runner Brian McCann.

The Yankees would go on to win by a 9-5 final and would take two out of three from the Red Sox in the weekend series. The Red Sox, finishing a mere 25 games out of first place in the AL East, wrapped up the season with a 71-91 record and were increasingly unrecognizable from the 2013 squad that won the World Series. For instance, the only starting pitcher remaining from the 2013 team was Clay Buchholz after Peavy, Lackey, Lester and Doubront were traded earlier in the season.



WASHINGTON NATIONALS- The Nationals have done nothing less than quietly dominate the National League East this season. Although they were among the first to secure a playoff berth, they ended the regular season in dramatic fashion when Nats starter Jordan Zimmerman threw the Nats first no-hitter.

Heading into the top of the 9th inning, Washington had a 1-0 lead over the Miami Marlins with two away when outfielder Christian Yelich belted what looked like a sure double to not only break up the Zimmerman's no-hit bid, but put the tying run in scoring position for Miami. However, late inning defensive replacement and rookie outfielder Steven Souza, Jr made a spectacular diving catch to rob the Marlins of a base hit, ending the ballgame and sealing Zimmerman's no hitter.

The well-rested Nats will play the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS beginning Friday, October 1st. First pitch is scheduled for 3:07 ET at Nationals Park and the game will be televised on Fox Sports 1.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS- After narrowly missing out on the AL Central pennant, the Kansas City Royals managed to secure their first postseason berth in nearly 30 years, prompting a 1-game playoff with the Oakland A's at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday Night.

With Jon Lester on the mound for Oakland, KC took a 3-2 lead with an RBI double from Lorenzo Cain and an RBI single from Eric Hosmer in the bottom of the 3rd. However, the Royals bullpen would implode in the top of the 6th, allowing a 3-run homer off the bat of Brandon Moss before an out was even recorded. The A's would get two more runs to make it a 7-3 ballgame and quiet down the crowd at Kauffman Stadium. However, the Royals would immediately start to chip away with RBI singles from Cain and Billy Butler in the bottom of the 8th along with Hosmer coming home on a wild pitch to make it a one run game. In the bottom of the 9th, pinch hitter Josh Willingham led off the inning with a single before being pulled for pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson. Dyson moved into scoring position on a sac bunt by Alcides Escobar before stealing 3rd. Dyson would then come home on a Nori Aoki sac-fly to tie the game up at 7-7 and force extra innings.

The 7-7 deadlock wouldn't be broken until the top of the 12th when Alberto Callaspo hit an RBI single for the Athletics, giving them an 8-7 lead over KC. However, Hosmer would get a 1-out triple on ball that barely stayed in the park and Christian Colon would get an RBI infield single in the bottom of the 12th, bringing Hosmer home to tie the game up once more- this time at 8-8. Alex Gordon fouled out to third for the second out, bringing up Salvador Perez, who had gone 0-5 on the night. However, Perez managed to hit a ball fair past a diving Josh Donaldson and into left field to bring home the winning run.

The win set up an ALDS matchup with another AL West team- this time the Angels- on Thursday night. Despite having the best record in all of baseball this season, the Angels never led in what would be an extra innings affair much like Tuesday night's affair. Royals 3rd baseman Mike Moustakas would turn out to be key in this one, hitting a tie-breaking solo homer to lead off the top of the 11th to make it 3-2 Kansas City. Greg Holland would come out of the Royals bullpen and get a clean 1-2-3 inning to close out game one for the Royals.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE- The Baltimore Orioles took Game 1 of their series against the Detroit Tigers after the Tigers bullpen imploded and allowed 8 unanswered runs in the bottom of the 8th in what had previously been a close game. In fact, between the bottom of the 2nd and 7th innings, it was a pitcher's duel between Max Scherzer and O's starter Chris Tillman.

The Orioles go on to win game one of their series by a 12-3 final and the series will resume almost immediately on Friday at noon.

MEANWHILE, IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE- It's actually been pretty quiet in the National League this week, with only one game since the end of the regular season on Sunday- that was the single game Wild Card playoff between the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Thursday night.

San Francisco's Brandon Crawford would hit a grand slam off of Pirates starter Edinson Volquez in the top of the 4th inning to give the Giants an early 4-0 lead. That would be all the Giants needed to get past Pittsburgh as Madison Bumgarner threw a complete-game 4-hit shutout on Thursday as San Francisco cruised to an 8-0 win. The victory earns the Giants a matchup against the Nationals inside the beltway for game one of the NLDS on Friday night.

The other NLDS matchup on Friday features the Dodgers hosting the St Louis Cardinals at Chavez Ravine on Friday night.

PATRIOTS- New England's first Monday night game of the 2014 season didn't go particularly well. Coming off a win in which the Pats seemed to just barely hold off the woeful Raiders at Foxborough, the Patriots seemed unprepared and overwhelmed by their Monday night game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

The Kansas City Chiefs offense and QB Alex Smith seemed to move the ball at will, and while the Chiefs 17-0 lead at halftime didn't seem insurmountable, things got worse for the Patriots in the second half as Kansas City jumped out to a 27-0 lead before the Patriots finally got on the board. Believe it or not, things actually got worse for the Patriots in the 4th with the Chiefs scoring 14 quick points thanks to an Alex Smith TD and a Hussain Abdullah pick six of Tom Brady.

The only bright spot was when backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo got some playing time and managed to put New England in double-digits on a 3 minute, 81 yard drive that was capped by a 13 yard TD pass to Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots would go on to lose by a 14-41 final.

Long Overdue Sports Chowdah Update- Trojan Horseplay, Boston College Upends #9 USC at Chestnut Hill; Feeling Minnesota- Patriots Thump Vikings; Pirate Booty- Pittsburgh Sweeps Red Sox As Rusney Castillo Makes Boston Debut.

NCAA FOOTBALL- Without a doubt, the biggest upset of week 3 was what took place on Chestnut Hill Saturday night when the BC Eagles hosted the USC Trojans. Heading into last weekend, USC was coming off of a triumphant 13-10 win over the Stanford Cardinals while BC was coming off of a 30-20 loss to the Pitt Panthers at Chestnut Hill.

Last weekend's game was 'Red Bandana night', which honored former BC Lacrosse player Welles Crowther who was killed in the September 11th attacks while rescuing others at the South Tower of the World Trade Center.



The heavily favored Trojans got out to a quick 10-0 lead in the first before Boston College got on the board with a 4 yard catch and carry TD run from RB Tyler Rouse to open up the 2nd quarter- however, Launceford would miss the PAT and it was a 10-6 game. USC quickly responded with a TD catch and run from Cody Kessler to Javorious Allen to give the Trojans a 17-6 advantage.

On the next possession, though, BC would put together a 75 yard drive that took all of 3:48 before Jon Hillman hit paydirt on a 3 yard TD run. After a couple of three and outs for each side, BC got the ball back with 1:48 at their own 46 when Sherman Alston ran 54 yards to give Boston College their first lead of the day, putting them up 20-17 before halftime.

For the second half, BC's defense really clamped down on the USC offense [Kessler was sacked five times on the night- NANESB!] and Jon Hilliman would make it a 10 point BC lead, punching it in with 7:35 to go in the third to make it 27-17. With under nine minutes to go in the game, Joey Launceford kicked a chip shot FG to make it a 30-17 contest.

But USC wasn't done yet- with 4:57 left in the game, Cody Kessler connected with Nelson Agholor for a 10 yard TD pass to make it a one score game as the clock ticked down. However, a minute later the Eagles jumped out to a 37-24 lead thanks to a 66 yard TD run by Tyler Murphy. However, the Trojans weren't done yet and after getting the ball back, Kessler connected with Darrius Rogers for a 14 yard TD run to cut Boston College's lead to 37-31. After closing to within 6 and with less than two minutes to go, USC went for the onside kick which was immediately recovered by the Eagles.

QB Tyler Murphy had a better night rushing the ball than passing it, rushing for 191 yards and a TD on 13 carries while ging 5 of 13 through the air for 54 yards.

Boston College's homestand continues this weekend with the Eagles hosting the University of Maine Black Bears. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 ET and the game will be streamed on ESPN3.

NFL- After a lackluster season opener in Miami in which the New England Patriots were outmaneuvered in the second half and lost by a 33-20, New England took their show on the road to Minnesota to take on the Vikings at TCF Bank stadium on Sunday.

With former Patriots backup Matt Cassel under center, the Vikings got out to an early 7-0 lead before New England answered with 30 unanswered points. Stevan Ridley managed to tie the game up with a TD rush from the Vikings 1 yard line before Gostkowski put the Patriots up 10-7 with a 48 yard FG with 30 seconds to go in the first. In the second quarter, Brady found Julain Edelman for a 14 yard TD pass to make it a 17-7 game. With time running out in the first half, Cassel managed to get the Vikings close enough to try a 48 yard FG attempt with 9 seconds left, but that was blocked by DE Chandler Jones who immediately returned it 58 yards for a TD to put the Patriots up 24-7 at the half.

The only scoring in the second half would come from two Gotskowski FGs and the Patriots would go on to thump Minnesota by a 30-7 final for their first win of the 2014 regular season. Tom Brady would go 14-21 with 149 yards and a TD while Cassel went 19-36 with 202 yards, a TD, four interceptions and 6 sacks. Stevan Ridley led the Patriots ground attack with 25 rushes for 101 yards and a TD.

This Sunday will be the Patriot's home opener when they host the Oakland Raiders. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 and the game will be televised on CBS.

OTHER VIKINGS NEWS- The Patriots didn't have to face RB Adrian Peterson on Sunday. Peterson is facing felony child abuse charges in Texas after punishing one of his kids by hitting him with a tree branch. The boy's mother took him to a doctor where he described some of the marks as open wounds.

Although he was cleared to play in this weekend's game at New Orleans, the front office quickly did an about face and exepted him from team activities.

BATLIMORE RAVENS- In another high-profile domestic abuse incident, was cut by the Baltimore Ravens after video from his February 2014 arrest in Atlantic City on assault charges surfaced. Earlier surveillance video from an Atlantic City hotel and casino had shown Rice dragging his unconscious fiancée- Janay Palmer- out of the elevator by her hair, but TMZ was able to obtain video from inside the elevator that showed him knocking Palmer unconscious. Initially Rice was suspended for the first few games of the 2014 season before being indefinitely suspended and outright cut by the NFL.

BOSTON RED SOX- Perhaps the most noteworthy event [at least from Boston's presepctive- NANESB] from this week's sweep of the Red Sox by the Pittsburgh Pirates is the MLB debut of Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo on Wednesday night, who went 1-4 in Boston's 9-1 loss to Pittsburgh. After the 3-game sweep the Pirates are just 2 and a half games behind St Louis in the NL Central and three and a half games ahead of Milwaukee for the second and final NL Wild Card berth. The Buck-os will host a pretty important series this weekend as the Brewers come to town to try and close the gap as time is running out on the regular season.

OTHER MLB NEWS- With just under two weeks to go, three teams have already clinched their respective divisions. The Nationals clinched the NL East with a 3-0 shutout over Atlanta while Baltimore clinched the AL East pennant with an 8-2 win over Toronto- both of these wins coming on Tuesday night.

The following night, the Angels shut out the Seattle Mariners by a 5-0 final- that alone wasn't enough for them to win the pennant, but players and savvy fans stuck around to watch the rest of the Rangers vs A's game on the stadium's jumbotron. The A's were nursing a 1-0 lead heading into the top of the 9th, but the Rangers scored 6 unanswered runs to go on an win by a 6-1 final. The loss gives the Angels the win and right now the best Oakland can do is hope for one of the remaining Wild Card spots [the Royals are a game ahead in the Wild Card chase while the Mariners are only a game behind the Athletics- NANESB!].

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Cole Powered, Hammels and Phillies Pen Combine For No-Hitter; Kelly's Heroes- Joe Kelly Gets First Win in Boston Uniform

MLB- Cole Hammels started it and former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon sealed the deal.

Early in the game, it seemed more of a question of how long would Phillies starter Cole Hammels last, let alone when the Braves would get their first hit as Hammel's pitch count rose early.

The Phillies got on the board with a RBI sac fly from Ben Revere in the top of the 3rd while Jimmy Rollins had an RBI triple to give Hammels some run support. What made this an unlikely no-hit bid was that the Braves got five baserunners on via the walk and had driven up Cole's pitch count to 108 pitches as he left the game after 6 innings with Philly up 2-0, so at the time it wasn't even a sure thing Hammel's would get the win, let along the no-hitter remaining intact. However, Philly was able to break the game open against Atlanta starter Julio Teherán thanks to a 2-out bases loaded triple from Ben Revere to clear the bases and give the Phils a 5-0 lead.

Meanwhile, relievers Jake Diekman and Ken Giles came out of the Philadelphia pen in the bottom of the 7th and 8th innings respectively and sent the side down in order.

In the top of the 9th, it was once again Ben Revere who was providing the Phillies with the offense with a 1-out RBI single. With the bases loaded, Ryan Howard drew a walk to bring the second run of the inning to put the Phils up 7-0.

For the bottom of the 9th, closer Jonathan Papelbon got pinch hitter Jose Constanza to fly out to left, Chris Johnson to ground out to first and Phil Gosselin to line out to first to complete the no-hit bid.

This is the fourth no-hitter of the 2014 MLB season and the first that wasn't from an NL West club [the other three this year belong to Clayton Kershaw and Josh Beckett of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants- NANESB]

BOSTON RED SOX- With any realistic postseason aspirations for the defending World Series champions pretty much gone by the time the calendar flipped from July to August, the final month of the 2014 Red Sox is basically an open tryout for a shot at the 2015 roster. While the rosters expanded on September 1st, some of the names called up from Pawtucket [Christian Vasquez, Brock Holt, Rubby De LaRosa, Mookie Betts, Anthony Ranaudo, etc etc- NANESB!] are already names quite familiar to some of the Fenway faithful thanks to trades and injuries.

However depleted this iteration of the Red Sox are, Red Sox Nation naturally wants to see Boston do their part to extinguish the already dimming playoff hopes of the New York Yankees and had a chance to do exactly that when Red Sox starter Joe Kelly would go up against New York rookie Shane Green.

After Brock Holt lined out to open the game up, Mookie Betts singled and Green walked David Ortiz to put runners on first and second with only one away. Yoenis Cespedes then brought home Betts on an RBI double while Big Papi moved up to 3rd. Napoli then hit a sac fly deep enough for Ortiz to lumber home on to give Boston a 2-0 lead. Daniel Nava was then hit by a Green pitch before the inning ended with Will Middlebrooks caught looking at strike three.

The Yankees started off their half of the first with Ellsbury, Jeter and Brett Gardener going down in order. In the top of the second, Green appeared to have settled down some- after allowing a leadoff single to Xander Bogaerts, Green got David Ross to strike out, Brock Holt to line out to right and Betts to line out to center.

For the 3rd, Big Papi led off with a flyout to left, but Cespedes quickly followed that up with a single to left and Napoli was walked afterwards to put two runners on with Daniel Nava in the batters box with only one out. That set up this beauty



With only 1 away, Nava put the Red Sox up 5-0 with a homer that travelled 375 feet to right field. This was immediately followed by Middlebrooks striking out looking for out number two. But the scoring would continue as Bogaerts belted a solo homer into the Yankees bullpen to make it a 6-0 Red Sox lead.

The Red Sox would go on to cruise [relatively speaking- NANESB!] against the Yankees, winning by a 9-4 final. Joe Kelly would throw 6⅔ innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out six in what would be his first win since being traded to Boston by the Cardinals. Tommy Layne and Koji Uehara would come out of the bullpen and only alow one more run from the Yankees. Bogarts would go 4-5 with a homer and 2 RBI while Daniel Nava would go 2-3 with a homer and 3 RBI.

Wednesday night's game will have the Yankees Hiroki Kuroda [9-8; 3.88 ERA] going up against Anthony Ranaudo [3-0; 4.50 ERA]. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN [for some inexplicable reason- NANESB!] and first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET. The Yankees come into Wednesday night's game nine games out of first in the AL East and five games out of the final wild card spot.

RED SOX WEST OAKLAND ATHLETICS- The Oakland A's weren't done wheeling and dealing just yet, as it turns out. On Sunday, the Oakland A's announced they had acquired DH Adam Dunn from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Nolan Sanburn and cash considerations. Dunn had also announced that he would retire at the end of the 2014 season, making this pennant chase his last.

With the White Sox, Dunn was batting .220 with 20 homers and 54 RBI this season. Upon arriving in Oakland, Dunn made an immediate impression in his first at-bat, belting a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first in the Labor Day game against Seattle which the Athletics would go on to win by a 6-1 final. However, not all is well with the A's....who were the runaway favorites to cruise to the AL West pennant earlier this year. Oakland has only won two of their last nine games- all of them against AL West opponents- and were shut out for 29 consecutive innings in a pivotal 4-game series against the Angels.

Since 2000, Dunn has hit 461 homers in his career with the Reds, Diamondbacks, Nationals and White Sox- only David Ortiz and Albert Pujols have hit more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trade Deadline Sports Chowdah Update- So Long Jon, Lester, Lackey Dealt at Trade Deadline; The Price is Right

RED SOX- Never mind remaining members of the 2004 or 2007 World Series team on the Boston Roster- after the July 31st trade deadline, the 2014 iteration of the Boston Red Sox is now quite unrecognizable from last season's World Series champions.

After getting out to a 4-0 start immediately after the All Star break- including a sweep of the resurgent Kansas City Royals- the Red Sox fleetingly looked like contenders in the AL East. However, after a convincing 14-1 win against the Toronto Blue Jays last week, the Red Sox lost eight of their last nine games- all of them within the AL East. On Saturday, the Red Sox traded starter Jon Lester to San Francisco for minor league pitchers Heath Hembree and Edwin Escobar. Following that, Boston sent Felix Doubront to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later.

But the Peavy and Doubront transactions were mere appetizers to the main course for Thursday. The first big deal of the MLB non-waiver trade deadline had the Red Sox dealing ace pitcher Jon Lester and OF Jonny Gomes to the Oakland A's for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes [.256, 17 HR and 67 RBI] and Oakland's competitive balance pick in the 2015 MLB draft. The trade sends Boston's homegrown ace to Oakland as what is essentially a rental for the AL West leader's pennant run and raises questions to where Lester will end up at the end of the season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Currently, the A's [who have a number of former Red Sox players and prospects on their roster before this transaction even took place- NANESB!] lead the AL West over the Angels by two games and have the best record in the big leagues at 66-41. Earlier in the week, there were reports that the Mariners, Pirates, Orioles and Cardinals were in talks with Boston to acquire Lester, all of them given even more credence when Lester was scratched from Wednesday night's game against the Blue Jays and Brandon Workman made the start in his place.

However, the wheeling and dealing by Cherrington wasn't done yet. After the Lester deal was announced, starter John Lackey and minor league pitcher Corey Littrell were sent to the St Louis Cardinals- their opponent in the 2004 and 2013 World Series- for right-handed starter Joe Kelly [2-2; 4.37 ERA] and outfielder Allen Craig [.237, 7 HR and 44 RBI].

Following that up, the Red Sox sent relief pitcher Andrew Miller to Baltimore in return for minor league pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez and SS Stephen Drew was sent to the Yankees in return for infielder Kelly Johnson, who is currently on the DL but is expected to play at 3rd while Bogaerts may end up moving back to shortstop.

The Miller and Drew transactions surprised me not so much that they departed, but that Cherrington was willing to trade within the division- although Johnson represents a slight upgrade offensively from Drew. With Jeter playing the rest of the season (his final season, no less) at shortstop for the Yankees, Drew is expected to play second after the Yankees after the Bronx Bombers designated 2B Brian Roberts for assignment.

Interestingly, Drew won't even have to leave Boston right away- just use the visitor's clubhouse at Fenway for this weekend's upcoming series between the Yankees and Red Sox. Game 1 gets underway on Friday night and will have former Red Sox reliever Chris Capuano [1-1; 4.30 ERA] going up against PawSox callup Anthony Ranaudo, who is making his MLB debut for Boston. Ranaudo has spent the entire 2014 season in Pawtucket and has a 12-4 record and 2.41 ERA with the PawSox. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 ET and the game will be televised on NESN as well as the MLB network in some markets.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Not to be outdone by the A's acquisition of Jon Lester, the Detroit Tigers acquired Tampa Bay Rays starter David Price in a 3-way deal that was announced with less than 40 minutes to go before the trade deadline.

In return for getting David Price, the Tigers sent OF Austin Jackson to Seattle and left handed pitcher Drew Smyly and minor league infielder Willy Adames to Tampa Bay. Seattle sends 2B Nick Franklin to Tampa to complete the deal.

The acquisition of Price gives Detroit no fewer than three Cy Young winners in their starting rotation with Price, Verlander and Max Scherzer. Since Price isn't a free agent until after the 2015 season, this also gives Detroit some flexibility with Scherzer, who becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Sweep Into Second Half With Strong Homestand Against Kansas City; C-See-Ya Sabathia, Yankees Starter to Have Season Ending Surgery

RED SOX- I'm not going to come right out and say that AJ Pierzynski was part of the problem, but Boston's record since cutting the veteran catcher should speak for itself [although with the All-Star Break, it's a relatively small sample size- NANESB!].

The series against Kansas City got off to a promising start with a come-from-behind 5-4 win against the Royals at Fenway Park on Friday night. On Saturday, the Red Sox once again trailed early but were able to tie the game at 1-1 before Mike Napoli's solo homer in the bottom of the 6th put the Red Sox up for good, as it turned out.

Heading into Sunday's game against the Royals, the Red Sox had managed to go 6-1 with a team .292 batting average (.290 with runners in scoring position) and a combined ERA of 2.57 in their last 7 games [granted some of this was padded by the 11-0 romp in Houston immediately before the All Star break- NANESB!]. In just four games with the Red Sox, C Christian Vasquez- who is splitting time at backstop with David Ross- has a .385 batting average with 5 RBI.

On Sunday, the Red Sox got out to an early lead after back to back singles by Brock Holt and Daniel Nava off Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura opened up the bottom of the first. Holt, who moved to 3rd on Nava's single, came home after Pedroia grounded into a fielder's choice to give Boston a quick 1-0 lead.

Jon Lester, who had struggled a little bit in the first after hitting Eric Hosmer with a pitch in the top of the first, had settled down and was cruising along nicely through the Royals lineup.

In the bottom of the 3rd, David Ross led off the inning with a walk and Jackie Bradley Jr followed that up with a single. JBJ and Ross advanced to 2nd and 3rd respectively on Borck Holt's groundout, and with two runners in scoring position, Daniel Nava belted a ground-rule double to right field to make it a 3-0 Red Sox lead. Ventura then walked Pedroia, but got David Ortiz to ground out and Mike Carp to fly out to shallow center to get out of the inning.

Shane Victorino, who returned to the Red Sox lineup on Saturday, led off the bottom of the 4th with a double to left field. Although Ventura got Stephen Drew on a fly ball to center field for the first out of the inning, David Ross took a 1-1 offering from Ventura and put it into the Monster seats for a 2-run homer, making it a 5-0 game. This was followed up by back to back singles from JBJ and Brock Holt, with Bradley moving to 3rd on Holt's hit and then coming home on Daniel Nava's sac fly to deep center, making it a 6-0 game.

Meanwhile, Lester would throw 8 complete innings of shutout baseball giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out eight batters. Tazawa and Mujica would come out of the pen to close out the game. The Red Sox win by a 6-0 final and compete a sweep of the Kansas City Royals to start off the second half of the season.

Up next is a big 4-game series against the Blue Jays north of the border at the Rogers Centre. John Lackey [10-6; 3.79 ERA] is scheduled to start on Monday night against the Jays' Drew Hutchinson [6-8; 4.16 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07 ET and the game will be televised on NESN. Toronto just wrapped up a homestand where they took two out of three from the struggling Texas Rangers to start off their second half of the season.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL EAST- New York Yankees starter CC Sabathia is expected to undergo season-ending surgery on his right knee this week. So far this season, Sabathia has gone 3-4 with a 5.28 ERA for New York. Earlier this month, Sabathia had a setback while in the minors on a rehab assignement after going on the Yankee's DL.

Yankee's general manager Brian Cashman seemed optimistic that Sabathia could be back with the Yankees by Spring Training in 2015.


ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The Angels have acquired closer Houston Street from the San Diego Padres for a number of prospects on Friday. Street saved 24 games in 33 appearances for the 3rd place Padres this season with a 1.09 ERA. In exchange for Street, San Diego gets prospects in the form of 2B Taylor Lindsey, pitchers Elliot Morris and Roy Alvarez and SS Jose Rondon.