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.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Bruins Shut Out Hawks After Win Streak Snapped; Bills Owner Ralph Wilson Passes Away; NLRB Rules Northwestern Football Players Can Unionize

NHL- Well, the impressive win streak came to an end on Monday night when the Montreal Canadiens won by a 2-1 final in a shootout at the TD Garden- altho' the Bruins point streak remained intact for the time being. Monday night's loss marks the first loss for the Bruins since March 1st when the Capitals doubled them up by a 4-2 final at DC's Verizon Center.

Three captains: Toews, Chara and HOFer Johnny Bucyk post before the game. #CHIvsBOS pic.twitter.com/i0waap6S1d

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 28, 2014

On Thursday night, Boston would host the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks- the first time the Hawks had visited the Garden since their Series-clinching Game 6 at the end of the 2013 season.



Patrice Bergeron got the Bruins on the board with 8:10 to go to open up the scoring on a very crisp and free-flowing game. After a scoreless second period, the Bruins managed to score two goals less at 13 seconds apart from Carl Soderberg and Patrice Bergeron to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead early in the 3rd. That seemed to change the tempo of the game and the Bruins would go on to win by a 3-0 final. Tukka Rask turned aside all 28 shots he faced while Cory Crawford stopped 20 of 23 shots.

Part of the reason the game seemed so brisk and open was that there were only three penalties throughout Thursday night's game- the Blackhhawks went 0 for 2 while the Bruins went 0 for 1.

The Bruins hit the road once again this weekend for back to back games. On Saturday afternoon, they'll return to Washington DC's Verizon Center to take on the Capitals. Puck is scheduled to drop at 12:30 PM and the game will be televised on NESN. On Sunday, the Bruins will travel up to Philadelphia for a 12:30 game that will be nationally televised on NBC.

NFL- Ralph Wilson, the sole owner of the Buffalo Bills, has passed away at age 95 in his Grosse Pointe Shores, MI home. Wilson, who grew up in Detroit and attended the University of Michigan law school before enlisting in the US Navy in WWII. After the end of the war, Wilson took over his family's successful insurance and invested in manufacturing and mining throughout Michigan and was a minority stakeholder in the Detroit Lions.

In 1959, Wilson reportedly got wind of the oilman Lamar Hunt's plans to establish the American Football League to compete with the NFL and wanted in. The Buffalo Bills officially became an AFL team in October 1959 and have remained in Buffalo ever since. Wilson reportedly even lent money to the Patriots and Raiders in the early years of the AFL, ensuring that the none of the organizations in the AFL folded between its 1959 inception and the 1969 merger with the NFL.

Wilson was also something of a pioneer- as early as 1972, he begrudgingly allowed the naming rights to the Orchard Park, NY stadium the Bills called home to be leased to Buffalo-based Rich Foods. When the agreement lapsed in 1998, the stadium was simply referred to as Ralph Wilson Stadium

Although considered a 'small market' team, the Bills had their heyday in the 1990s when they won four straight AFC titles- only to lose four straight Super Bowls. The team's poor performance in recent years coupled with Wilson's ailing health and playing one 'home' game a season in Toronto's Rogers Centre starting in 2008 led to speculation that the team was preparing to move north of the border and become Canada's first NFL franchise. In 2009, Wilson was elected to the pro-football Hall of Fame as one of the founding members of the AFL, although he was notably absent from an October 2009 ceremony during halftime between the Bills and Browns where he was to receive his Hall of Fame ring.

However, even though Wilson left no clear heir apparent, Wilson made arrangements to extend the team's lease on Ralph Wilson stadium through at least 2019.


ELSEWHERE IN THE AFC EAST- The New York Jets and free-agent QB Michael Vick have agreed to a 1-year $5 million contract. Vick and last season's starter Geno Smith are expected to compete for the starting spot after the Jets cut former 1st round draft pick Mark Sanchez. Vick had finished the 2013 campaign for Philly on the bench with 7 TDs, 3 INTS and 1,215 yards in 7 games. Interestingly, shortly after the Jets announced the signing of Michael Vick, the Eagles announced that they had signed Mark Sanchez to a 1-year, $4 million contract.

One of the top draft picks of the NFL's 2001 draft, Vick spent the first five years of his NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons until his name came up in a narcotics and dogfighting investigation in Virginia. In 2007, Vick pleaded guilty to charges of operating an illegal dogfighting operation on his property and spent 23 months in a federal penitentiary. In 2009, the Philadelphia Eagles gambled and signed a recently-released Vick who would go on to lead the Eagles to the playoffs as well as leading the NFC in a number of offensive categories.


NCAA FOOTBALL- In a decision that will likely send shockwaves throughout NCAA Football, the Chicago office of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that football players for Northwestern University can unionize. District director Pete Sung Ohr ruled that because of the time commitment required and on-field performance being tied to some of the scholarships the university awarded.

The ruling contradicts a number of case laws in which courts have established that student-athletes are not considered employees in the eyes of the law. However, the scope of the NLRB's ruling is somewhat limited, applying to only 17 of the more than 100 universities they compete against. Not only does this week's NLRB ruling seem to establish a different set of rules for private colleges with a football program than public ones, many of the arguments made in favor of unionization directly contradict the rationale behind why scholarships aren't taxed, ESPN's Darren Rovell points out. Assuming the NLRB's decision does in fact survive an appeal, this means that the tax implications alone could make unionization unfeasible.

Gran Victorino Sports Chowdah Update- Flyin' Hawaiian Soars in Game 6 As Red Sox Clinch AL Pennant; Folk Implosion- Jets Win in OT Thanks to Supttering Pats Offense, Late Penalty, Obscure Rule; Ride The Lightning- Rask Gets Season's 1st Shutout in Tampa Bay

Its October. The leaves have turned, there's a chill in the air and for the first time in what feels like ages [spoiler alert!- NANESB!] the Red Sox are going to the World Series. All seems right with the world.

Matt Slocum- AP

RED SOX- After fending off a late Detroit surge in Game 5, the ALCS headed back to Boston with the Red Sox one win away from heading back to their first World Series in 6 years.

For Game 6, Clay Buchholz was once again facing off against this year's likely Cy Young winner Max Scherzer and each team managed to get a single but nothing else in the first inning. The game was mostly a pitcher's duel through the first four innings for each starter but after getting the first two batters out in the bottom of the fifth, Scherzer gave up a booking wall ball double to Xander Bogaerts. Jacoby Ellsbury then drove Bogaerts home with an RBI single, but the inning ended when the centerfielder was caught trying to steal second.

Boston's 1-0 lead didn't last long, though. Buchholz struggled immediately in the top of the 6th, allowing a leadoff walk to Torii Hunter and a single to Miguel Cabrera. Farrell had Franklin Morales come out of the pen, but Morales walked Prince Fielder to load the bases with nobody out. Former Indian and Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez then belted a 2-RBI single to put Detroit ahead 2-1. By this point, Workman came out of the pen and the Red Sox looked as though they were willing to concede the run to get a double play with nobody out and runners on first and third, but they didn't have to choose. Jhonny Peralta hit a ground ball up the middle- Pedroia cleanly fielded the ball and got the out at first before noticing that Fielder had hesitated on his way home for whatever reason- Fielder was caught in a rundown before getting tagged out by Saltalamacchia. While Peralta was able to advance to second, the runner at third had been erased and the Red Sox were one out away from getting out of a huge jam, which happened when Workman struck out Aviles.

By the bottom of the 6th, Scherzer was starting to show some signs of fatigue as Victorino led off the inning and was hit by a pitch. Then Pedroia drew a walk to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. However, Scherzer would get the next three batters out, ending the Red Sox threat in the bottom of the 6th, despite Victorino and Pedroia advancing into scoring position on a wild pitch.

In the 7th inning, Workman got Infante to fly out to start off the inning before allowing a single to Austin Jackson. However, Jackson then was picked off by Workman for the second out of the inning, which was a good thing since Iglesias then got an infield single followed by Torii Hunter laying down a bunch and reaching first on a fielding error by Workman. Junichi Tazawa would then come out of the bullpen and get Miguel Cabrera to ground out.

Scherzer came back on in the bottom of the 7th, allowing a leadoff double to Johnny Gomes. After getting Drew to strike out swinging, Scherzer then walked Bogaerts before Tigers manager Jim Leyland brought in Drew Smyly. Jacoby Ellsbury then reached first on a fielding error by Iglesias to load up the bases and Leyland went to Veras.

That brought up a struggling Shane Victorino, who had gone 2-23 through the duration of the ALCS and 0-2 on the night, including an attempted bunt that he popped out on in the bottom of the 3rd. A flyout past the infield would be enough to bring a run home and tie the game, but Victorino would do one better.



Heading back to the 9th inning of Game 4, Victorino had gone 0-8, but with one swing of the bat, he put Boston back on top and stunned the Tigers. Pedroia struck out swinging and David Ortiz would ground out to end the inning, but the damage had already been done with Boston up 5-2.

Breslow would come on in the top of the 8th to get Fielder, Martinez and Kelly out before Koji Uehara would come on in the 9th and get Avila to strike out and Infante to ground out before allowing a single off the bat of Austin Jackson. Koji would then strike out former teammate Jose Iglesias to end the ballgame and Detroit's season and clinch the American League Championship Series.

Barry Chin- Boston Globe

One year after their worst season in 50 years, Boston wins the American League Pennant. For the second time since 2004 and fourth time since the end of World War II, Boston will play the St Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

Game 1 is scheduled for Wednesday night at 8:07 ET and will be televised on FOX. Jon Lester was named Boston's Game 1 starter and takes to the mound against Adam Wainwright.

Kathy Willens- AP

NFL- After getting out to an early first half lead, the Patriots needed some last minute heroics just to force overtime at the Meadowlands on Sunday. Sunday also marked the not-quite-triumphant return of Rob Gronkowski.

With the game tied at 7-7 late in the first quarter, CB Logan Ryan put the Patriots up thanks to a pick 6 off of Jets QB Geno Smith. The Jets would make it a 14-10 game thanks to a Nick Folk FG with 11:11 remaining in the first half. With just under 8 minutes to go, the Jets ended up punting from their own 29 yard line- a 38 yard return by Edelman gave New England the ball on the Jets 28 yard line and the Patriots were able to punch it in on a 17 yard TD run from Stevan Ridley to take a 21-10 lead heading into halftime.

The second half was dramatically different for New York as Brady was sacked on the very first play from scrimmage in the second half. For the second play, Brady ended up throwing a pick-six to safety Antonio Allen and the Jets pulled to within four points. The Jets would pull ahead on an 8 yard Geno Smith TD run with 4:33 to go in the 3rd to make it a 24-21 game and Nick Folk added three more points to make it a 27-21 game.

The Patriots seemed to regain their composure in the 4th, getting the ball as far as the Jets 21 before settling for a Gostkowski FG to make it a 24-27 Jets lead. After seemingly an entire quarter that consisted primarily of dropped passes and inopportune penalties for both teams, the Patriots. Last week, Brady needed a 1:13 to move the ball downfield with no timeouts. This Sunday, the Patriots had a couple of timeouts and the 2 minute warning when they got the ball back on their own 8 yard line with 2:10 remaining in the game. Brady had a couple of big completions to Edelman and Gronkowski to move them as far as the Jets 26, but a couple of dropped passes brought up 4th and 10 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. With 16 seconds to go, the Patriots tied it up at 27-27 on a Gostkowski FG and managed to force OT- although Brady went for the home run ball more than once.

After Brady made a 16 yard completion to Gronkowski for the first play in OT, the Patriots first possession of the OT fizzled at their own 38 and they were forced to punt. Starting out from their own 20, the Jets managed to advance as far as the New England 36. Nick Folk attempted to put the game away for New York with a 56 yard FG attempt that ended up going wide left.

However, the referees threw a flag on Patriots Defensive tackle Chis Jones- a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for 'pushing a teammate into an opposing formation'. This was a newly instituted rule this season, and apparently 7 weeks into the season the officials decided that 5:07 remaining in OT was the first time a penalty was called on this new infraction. The fifteen yard penalty was enough to move Folk closer and his 42 yard attempt was good for the Jets 30-27 win.

While the Patriots had a number of missed opportunities late in the game that could have avoided OT altogether [including converting a whopping one out of 12 3rd down attempts on the day- NANESB!], the most talked about play was Jones' penalty, which appeared to be a fairly routine maneuver that had never been penalized before. So much for that axiom about NFL and NHL referees generally keeping their whistles in the pocket in overtime for all but the most flagrant of penalties. Shame on me for stereotyping, but part of me is wondering which of New Jersey's numerous 'legitimate businessmen belonging to secretive Italian fraternal organization' had big money riding on this [the only flaw in this theory is that it's actually TOO obvious- NANESB!].

New England splits the season series 1-1 with the Jets and next week's game will keep in the AFC East as the Pats host the Miami Dolphins. It's another Sunday afternoon game with a kickoff scheduled for 1:00 PM and the game will be televised on CBS.

OTHER NFL NEWS- And then there was one.

Seven weeks in and the NFL is down to one undefeated team. Despite a late rally from Peyton Manning, the Denver Broncos came up short in Manning's homecoming at Indianapolis as the Colts with successor Andrew Luck quarterbacking won by a 39-33 final from Indianapolis' Lucas Oil stadium on Sunday night.

One does not need to look outside the AFC West for the remaining undefeated NFL team- Sunday's Bronco loss leaves the surprising Kansas City Chiefs as the only undefeated team in the NFL. The Chiefs managed to outlast the struggling Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium by a 17-16 final on Sunday afternoon. The Chiefs will play host to the Cleveland Browns next weekend and travel to Orchard Park, NY to take on the Buffalo Bills the first weekend in November before their bye week.

Chris O'Meara- AP

NHL- The Boston Bruins continued their road trip through Florida over the weekend, taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second time since the October 3rd regular season opener.

The Bruins got out to a 1-0 lead with about 90 seconds left in the first thanks to a David Krejci goal. Despite going 0-4 on the power play, the Bruins would score four more thanks to McQuaid, Kelly, Bergeron and Thornton as Tukka Rask would turn aside all 23 shots he faced, notching his first shutout of the season in Boston's 5-0 win over Tampa Bay.

Unfortunately, very few people in Boston saw this gem live, as it coincided with Game 6 of the ALCS. Interestingly, the 5-2 Bruins will face a similar problem for their next game, when they take on the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night. The puck is scheduled to drop in Buffalo at 8:00 ET- almost the exact same time as the first pitch of the 2013 World Series- and the game will be televised on the NBC Sports network.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Jets Denied Clearence to Take Off As Pats Win Ugly in Home Opener; Red Sox Rub Salt in Yankee's Wounds;

Elise Amendola- AP

PATRIOTS- Wow....that was ugly, but a win is a win.

It was a pretty quick turnaround for week two in the NFL, which for the Patriots and Jets started on Thursday night at Foxbourough. Between the short rest and loss of WR Danny Amendola and RB Shane Vereen, things weren't looking so good for the Patriots.

Early on it looked as though the Pats would have little trouble scoring as Brady led a drive downfield on the first possession of the game, throwing to WR Aaron Dobson for his first NFL touchdown- a 39 yard reception from Brady- at exactly three minutes into the game to put New England on top 7-0.

New England looked as though they'd blow this one open when FS Devin McCourty recovered a Stephen Hill fumble at mid field and returned it all the way to the Jets 8. However, New York's offense came up with a big stop on 3rd and goal from their own three, forcing New England to settle for 3 points, making it 10-0 New England.

The Jets got on the board with their next possession, although they had to settle for a 37 yard Nick Folk FG after the drive sputtered deep in the Patriots red zone. With just over five minutes to go in the first half, Stephen Gostkowski made it a 10 point game thanks to a 30 yard FG, giving New England 13-3.

In the second half, both the weather and the play got sloppier. Jets starting QB Geno Smith led New York on a sustained drive down the field on their second possession of the 3rd quarter and hit paydirt when Bilial Powell punched in a 3 yard TD carry to pull the Jets within three.

Then- nothing happened. I don't mean literally nothing, but whenever the Patriots had the ball in the fourth quarter, New England would go 3 and out while it seemed as though whenever the Jets had the ball, QB Geno Smith would throw a pick [not a pick-6, unfortunately- NANESB!]. The game was sealed for New England when Pats CB Aqib Talib picked off a Smith pass on the Jets 43 with 38 seconds to go in the 4th quarter and went out of bounds. There was some extracurricular roughhousing that drew some penalties against the Jets, but when play resumed Brady was able to take a knee and mercifully run out the clock on this one.

As far as victories go, this one doesn't exactly inspire confidence. However, Thursday night's 13-10 win over the Jets gives New England a 2-0 record against divisional opponents. Brady would go 19 for 39 with 185 yards, a TD and a sack while rookie QB Geno Smith would go 15 for 35 with four sacks and three interceptions- all three picks coming in the 3rd quarter. Interestingly, all but six of Brady's completions would go to veteran WR Julian Edelman in Thursday night's contest.

After what feels kind of like a bye week, the Patriots will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 22nd. The Bucs lost their only game so far this season to the jets in the closing seconds on a 48 yard Folk FG as time expired in the 4th quarter.

Robert Sabo- NY Daily News

RED SOX- After taking two out of three from the Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox returned home for the start of what is their final home stand of the regular season in 2013.

The Yankees would be in town over the weekend and while Boston jumped all over Hideki Kuroda in the bottom of the first for four runs, the Yankees starter settled down while the bats would chip away at the Boston lead. Light-hitting Yankees shortstop Brendan Ryan put the New York on the board with a solo homer in the top of the 3rd off of John Lackey followed by an RBI sac fly off the bat of Lyle Overbay in the top of the 6th. The Yankees made it a 4-4 game thanks to a 2-out, 2-RBI off the bat of 2B Robinson Cano before Brandon Workman came out of the bullpen to strike out Alfonso Soriano to end the Yankees threat.

Shane Victorino led off the bottom of the 9th with a single off of Kuroda before Yankees manager Joe Girardi went to the bullpen. Cesar Cabral ended up hitting David Ortiz with a pitch and walking Jonny Gomes. Girardi then pulled Cabral for Preston Claiborne who struck out Daniel Nava. With one out, Claiborne was a double-play ball away from ending the Red Sox threat, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia had other ideas.



Saltalamacchia belted a grand slam into the right-center seats to put the Red Sox up 8-4 and this time the four run lead would hold as Tazawa and Uehara would come out of the Red Sox bullpen and shut the Yankees down, preserving Boston's 8-4 lead. Brandon Workman gets credit for the win while Kuroda is hung with the loss. The Yankees really needed this one tonight since both the Rays and Indians won to vault ahead of the Bronx bombers and the Orioles and Royals are no more than a game and a half behind New York in the wild card standings.

Tomorrow's game is a daytime affair and will feature CC Sabathia [13-12; 4.82 ERA] going up against Jon Lester [13-8; 3.86 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM ET and the game will be televised on FOX.

Tryptophan Post Thanksgiving Sports Chowdah Update- Failure to Launch, Patriots Demolish Jets in Turkey Day Laugher at Meadowlands; Irish Eyes Smiling- #1 Notre Dame Remains Unbeaten

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

NFL- The Thanksgiving Day NFL tripleheader wrapped up on Thursday night with the defending AFC East Champion Patriots travelling to the Meadowlands to wrap up their season series with the New York Jets. However, Jets fans had little to be thankful for that evening.

Although the first quarter went by with no score, the Patriots were driving and Brady connected with Welker for a short 3 yard pass to open up the 2nd quarter and put New England up 7-0.

A little later was a series of events that could almost be described as comical as the Patriots managed to score three TD's in less than 52 seconds- all of them either directly off of turnovers or made possible thanks to a short field from turnovers. With 9:43 to go in the first, Jets RB Shonn Green fumbled the ball on 4th and 1 from the Pats 31 yard line. The fumble was recovered by New England Safety Steve Gregory and on the very next play, Brady made an completion to RB Shane Vereen for 83 yards and a TD.

On the ensuing Jets possession, Zoltan Mesko booted the ball into the end zone for a touchback and after getting the ball out to their own 31 yard line, hilarity ensued as Jets QB Mark Sanchez attempted to rush for the first down marker, only to run into one of his own blockers, get knocked down and have Steve Gregory once again show up and recover the ball for New England, this time running it 32 yards to paydirt to give the Pats a 21-0 lead and undoubtedly creating one of the best animated GIFs that doesn't involve a bouncy Carrie Keagan.

Immediately following that opportunistic TD, Jets return man Joe McKnight fumbled the ball. It didn't even hit the ground, obligingly landing in Julian Edelman's arms as he returned it 22 yards for the 3rd Patriots touchdown in 52 seconds of playing time.

On New England's next posession, they were able to find their way to the end zone without any help from the Jets offense of special teams, capping off their drive with a 56 yard pass from Brady to Edelman to make it 35-0 in the 2nd quarter. The 35 point second quarter tied a franchise record for most number of points scored in a single quarter and New England headed into halftime up by a score of 35-3.



The second half wasn't much better, and even though the Jets were able to get some points on the board, the Patriots basically continued spanking them like they were some unruly brats. Although the Jets played the Pats tough in Foxbourough last month, forcing OT in a 29-26 New England win, the Thanksgiving turkey shoot at the Meadowlands was a different story as a 35 point 2nd quarter helps propel the Patriots to a 49-19 win over the Jets.

Tom Brady went 18-28 with 323 yards and 3 TDs- including one rushing touchdown. Julian Edelman had 67 yards and two TDs on the day while on the defensive side of the ball, Dont'a Hightower and Jerod Mayo each had a sack.

For this upcoming weekend, the Patriots will travel south to Miami to take on the 5-6 Dolphins. This would be the first time New England has played Miami this season, and a win could clinch the AFC East title for the 8-3 Patriots.

Keith Nordstrom- Attleboro Sun Chronicle

OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS- After 13 seasons with the New England Patriots, running back Kevin Faulk has announced his retirement last month. Drafted by New England in the 2nd round of the 1999 NFL Draft, Faulk became known among fans and teammates as the go-to guy for key 3rd downs during the Patriots championship seasons. Faulk retires as New England's all-time leader in all-purpose yards (12,349), return yards (5,041) and kick return yards (4,098).

Faulk saw increasingly limited playing time after an ACL tear in 2010 and announced his retirement in an October press conference.

EVEN MORE PATRIOTS NEWS- Third year defensive end Jermaine Cunningham recieved a 4-game suspension from the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Although the banned substance in question wasn't publicly disclosed, the league announced their decision on Monday. Cunningham- who's credited with two and a half sacks this season- will be eligible to return to the active roster in time for the regular season finale against Miami.

Cunningham is the second Patriot to recieve a suspension for taking prohibited substances this month. RB Brandon Bolden also recieved a 4-game suspension earlier this month.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

NCAA FOOTBALL- After travelling to Los Angeles for a showdown with the USC Trojans, the top ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish finished the regular season perfect for the first time since 1988.

All eyes were on the Collesium as the Irish jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. The Trojans seemed game after heading into the half trailing 10-13. However, in the second half, Notre Dame began to pull away and with 5 minutes to go in the second half, the Irish turned away the Trojans on their own 1 yard line.

Notre Dame goes on to win by a 22-13 final and will advance to the BCS championship game in Miami in January. Their opponent will be determined over the weekend- over in the SEC, Alabama remains in the #2 spot after shutting out Auburn 49-0, #4 Flordia got past the #13 FSU Seminoles while Georgia moved up in the standings to #3 after demolishing Georgia Tech 42-10 during Rivalry weekend. Formerly undefeated #7 Kansas State had the weekend off but has one game remaining against the #23 Texas Longhorns this weekend. Despite the one loss and doubling up in-state rival Oregon State by a 48-24 final, #6 Oregon will be sitting out the Pac 12 title game. Instead, the Pac 12 championship game will be between #8 Stanford and #17 UCLA.

BIG EAST- Out of all the FBS schools in New England, UConn is the only one that has a shot at a bowl game this season. After getting out to a 10-0 lead against Louisville thanks to a rushing TD from WR Nick Williams and a 39 FG from Chad Christen, Louisville tied the game in the 2nd half to force overtime. The Cardinals and Huskies traded FGs in the first OT while UConn had a brief 20-13 lead after a Johnny McEntree TD pass to WR Shakim Phillips before Louisville got 7 of their own to force a 3rd OT.

To start off the 3rd OT, Huskies Cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson picked off Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater and UConn kicked the game winning FG to win the game 23-20. The Huskies wrap up their regular season next week against the 8-3 Cincinnati Bearcats. Should UConn win, they'll finish the season with a 6-6 record, making them bowl-eligible....although that doesn't necessarily guarantee an invite.

MID AMERICA CONFERENCE- Once again taking a lead into the 3rd quarter, the UMASS Minutemen were up 21-14 on the Central Michigan before the Chippewas scored 28 unanswered points to go on to win by the final of 42-21.

Despite the 1-11 record, UMass actually hasn't finished dead least in the MAC- their sole win came against the Toledo Zips who also finished with a 1-11 record. Toledo didn't win any games against a MAC opponent, while the Minutemen went 1-7 with their sole win against the Zips.

The MAC title game will take place on Friday and pit #21 Northern Illinois and #17 Kent State.

ACC- The Boston College finished up their dissappointing 2012 season and cemented their last place finish in the Atlantic Coast conference with a 27-10 loss to the NC State Wolfpack. The BC Eagles finish up with a 2-10 record with their only wins coming against Maine and Maryland.

Meanwhile this year's ACC Title game will take pleace between #13 Florida State and 6-6 Georgia Tech on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium in Charoltte, NC at 8:00 PM.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- The ACC chancellors are expected to vote this week on wether or not to add the Louisville Cardinals to the conference. UConn and Cincinnati are also reportedly under consideration for further expansion of the ACC, but decision regarding Louisville moved to the forefront after Maryland's announcement that they would be leaving for the Big Ten conference starting in the 2014 academic season.

The ACC will also be adding Pitt and Syracuse in 2013.

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

AP Photo/Stephan Savoia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sports Chowdah Update- We're No Saints, NFL Hands Down Sanctions to New Orleans Over Bounties; C's Buck Milwaukee's Win Streak; B's Tank in San Jose

NFL- The league announced this week that Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down a 1-year suspension for New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton as a result of a 'bounty' program among the team's defensive players and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams between 2009 and 2011.

Williams has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL while Saints GM Mickey Loomis received an 8-game suspension and assistant coach Joe Vitt was suspended for 6 games.

Goodell also fined the Saints organization $500,000 and the team forfeits their 2-nd round draft picks for this year and 2013.

The bounty program dates back to their 2009 championship season where defensive players and Williams would award players cash prizes for hits on opposing players from a pool that was said to be as much as $50,000. Knocking an opposing player out of the game or injuring him to the point where they had to be carted off the field was reportedly worth $1000 to $1500. The first year New Orleans was thought to have the bounty program the Saints faced QBs Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning in the postseason as well as Tom Brady in the regular season.


OTHER NFL NEWS- Shortly after Peyton Manning was introduced as the Broncos newest quarterback in a press conference on Wednesday, Denver announced a trade that sent Broncos QB Tim Tebow to New York Jets in exchange for a 4th round draft pick. For a few hours on Thursday, reports were circulating that the deal between the Broncos and Jets had hit a contractual snag and Denver was instead negotiating with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the announcement was made official later on that day.

Tebow's arrival in New Jersey [seriously- the Jets and Giants should drop their 'New York' prefixes if they keep playing their home games in New Jersey. Right now, the Buffalo Bills are the ONLY NFL team that plays their home games in the state of New York- NANESB!] has fuelled speculation over the future of Jets QB Mark Sanchez. However, New York Jets head toe sucker coach Rex Ryan issued a statement on Friday reiterating that Sanchez would remain the Jets starter heading into the 2012 season.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- Free agent RB Ben Javus Green-Ellis signed a 3-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday. Green-Ellis appeared in all 19 games of the Patriot's season last year and had 11 TDs and 667 rushing yards for the 2011 season.

As the law offices of Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis leave, the Patriots have signed free agent WRs Brandon Lloyd and Donte Stallworth while agreeing to a 1-year contract extension with Deion Branch.

Stallworth arrives from the Washington Redskins with 309 yards and 15 TDs in 11 games for the 2011 season while Brandon Lloyd split time between the Denver Broncos and St Louis Rams last year. Between the two clubs, Lloyd appeared in 15 games with 70 catches and 966 yards.


OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS- Former New England Patriots and New York Giants head coach Ron Erhardt passed away at the ago of 80 at his home in Boca Raton, FL on Wednesday.

Born and raised in North Dakota, Erhardt was North Dakota State's head coach, winning a number of NCAA Division II titles before he started out in the NFL with New England as a backfield coach in 1973. Erhardt retained that position until 1978 when he was promoted to head coach by then-owner Bill Sullivan after then-head coach Chuck Fairbanks was suspended by management for breach of contract after he agreed to serve as head coach at the University of Colorado.

Ernardt led the Patriots to a 9-7 record in 1979 and a 10-6 record in 1n the 1980 season, but missed the playoffs both years. Erhardt was dismissed after a dismal 2-14 campaign in 1981. The following season, he was hired as the Giant's offensive coordinator. He remained in that position with the Giants during their championship Run in Super Bowl XXI and Superbowl XXV.

After Giants Head Coach Bill Parcells retired [the first retirement of many, as it turned out- NANESB!] from the Giants in 1990, Erhardt left New York for Pittsburgh to become the Steelers offensive coordinator through 1996. He then briefly returned to the Meadowlands in 1998 for a 1 year stint as head co-ordinator during the Jets disastrous 1996 campaign where they had a 1-15 season before announcing his retirement.

NBA- The Celtics have won their second straight game on Thursday night, beating the Milwaukee Bucks by a 100-91 final. Paul Pierce led the scoring for Boston on Thursday with 25 points along with 9 rebounds and 2 assists. Kevin Garnett had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists while Mickael Pietrus came off the bench for 13 points.

Boston's win snaps a 6-game win streak by the Milwaukee Bucks and puts the C's in good position for their Friday night matchup against the division-leading 76ers. Currently Boston is a half game behind Philadelphia for first place in the Atlantic conference.

Friday night's game gets underway in Philly at 8:00 PM ET and will be nationally televised on ESPN.

BOSTON BRUINS- The San Jose Sharks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first of last night's game against the Boston Bruins thanks to a Joel Pavelski tally less than 4 minutes into the first. San Jose's Daniel Winnik made it a 2-0 game early in the third before Zdeno Chara got the Bruins on the board with just under five minutes remaining in regulation. However, Boston wasn't able to get anything else past netminder Antti Niemi and the Sharks hang on to win by a 2-1 final.

Tim Thomas stopped 25 of 27 shots faced and Niemi turned aside all but one of the 17 shots he faced. Neither team capitalized on their lone power play opportunity in Thursday night's game.

The Bruins West Coast road trip continues through Southern California this weekend as they play back-to-back games in Los Angeles and Anaheim. On Saturday night, the Bruins will take on the Kings at LA's Staples Center at 9:00 PM ET, 6:00 Pacific in a game that will be televised on NESN and the NHL Network.

For Sunday, the Bruins will travel down the I-5 to Anaheim to take on the Ducks at 8:00 ET, 5:00 Pacific. That game will be televised on NESN as well.

Sports Chowdah Update for 11/18- B's Smoking Jackets in Shootout; Jets Can't Buck Downward Spriral Against Broncos; Got Woody? Oklahoma State Doesn't

NHL: After a frenzied 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils earlier this week, the Bruins were set to continue their torrid November by closing out their homestand with a home game against the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets.

This one turned out to be a pretty light-scoring affair, with a scoreless first period. Early in the 2nd period, Blue Jackets C Derek MacKenzie got Columbus on the board with a power-play goal while a little over 2 minuets later, Adam McQuaid got one past Curtis Sanford on an even strength goal to make it 1-1.

Of course, a scoreless 3rd period means overtime, and the scoreless overtime means a shootout! Tukka Rask stopped two out of three shots faced while Sanford allowed goals from David Krejci and Rich Peverly. Rask made the game clinching save on a shot from the Jackets' Antoine Vermette to end the shootout and send Boston to its 7th consecutive win, sweeping the 5 game homestand.

Rask had 30 saves on 31 shots faced while Columbus' Sanford stopped 26 of 27 faced. The Bruins had only one power play opportunity which they didn't capitalize on, while the Jackets went 1 for 2 with the man advantage. While the Bruins had won an earlier shootout on Oct. 15th at Chicago, this is the first shootout win for Tukka Rask on the season.

The defending Stanley Cup Champions (who are starting to play like it) will next travel to Long Island where they will take on the 5-8-3 New York Islanders on Saturday Night. The puck drops at 7PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: Quebec's director of criminal prosecutions announced that they had declined to pursue charges against Boston Bruins captain Zdneo Chara over a March 2011 on-ice hit against Montreal's Max Pacioretty that sent him into stanchion and left him with two fractured vertebrae.

Chara had received a game misconduct penalty, but no further sanction from the NHL in the last 8 months since the hit.

NFL: Last week's Thursday night all-AFC West game was of some interest simply because it was the first Thursday night game since the season opener between the Packers and the Saints at Lambeau Field[for some reason, I also dug the ad that showed a Jets fan making his way to his favorite watering hole after being crowded and jostled on a subway car while (presumably) thousands of miles away, a Broncos fan was finishing up at a ranch and making HIS way through the a remote, rutted high plains dirt road in an old Suburban before arriving at his respective tavern (which appeared to be the only structure around for miles) to watch the same game as the Jets fan- NANESB!].

As a New England fan, this week's Thursday night game was of some interest because it featured the Denver Broncos taking on the Patriot's next closest division rival, the New York Jets. The game from Sports Authority Field at Mile High got off to a slow start, with each team trading field goals and heading into the half tied at 3-3.

The Jets would then come out and score a TD on their first possession of the 2nd half to take a 10-3 lead. However, the Broncos would come right back to tie things up at 10-10 after Broncos CB Andre Goodman intercepted a Mark Sanchez pass and returned it 26 yards for the pick-6. The Jets would re-take the lead early in the 4th quarter after a 45 yard Nick Folk FG attempt was good to make things 13-10. With 5:54 remaining in regulation, the Broncos got the ball back on their own 4 yard line, starting QB Tim Tebow ended up calling his number plenty, with five carries for 37 yards (as well as a pass to Dante Rosario and a run by Lance Ball) to set up 3rd and 4 from the Jets 20 yard line with a minute and 6 seconds remaining in the game, setting up this:

With that, the Broncos took the late 17-13 lead over the Jets. Mark Sanchez would get the ball out as far as the Denver 44 yard line before the clock ran out.

The Broncos win this one by a final of 17-14, knocking the Jets down to 3rd place in the AFC East. The Patriots will close out week 11 with a Monday night game against the Kansas City Chiefs from Foxborough, MA.



NCAA HOOPS: Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski this week surpassed his mentor and former Army head coach Bob Knight to become the winningest Division I Men's Basketball coach of all time.

'Coach K' secured career coaching win #903 this week when Duke University beat Michigan State by a 74-69 final at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Krzyzewski has been Duke's head coach since 1980, leading them to four NCAA titles.

OKLAHOMA STATE: Oklahoma State women's basketball head coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash on a recruiting trip to Arkansas. The single-engine plane was owned and piloted by Bransetter- he and his wife were also killed in the plane crash.

Budke and Serna had been with Oklahoma State since 2005. The NTSB is investigating the cause of the crash.

SYRACUSE: Just weeks after the Penn State child molestation scandal shocked the college sports world, a former Syracuse Orangemen ballboy is accusing assistant coach Bernie Fine of molesting him and his stepbrother over a span of several years starting in 1984.

Bobby Davis and Mike Lange allege that they were molested by Fine at Syracuse practice facilities and on road trips. Fine denies the charges by the two men, who are now 39 and 45 respectively.

The Syracuse chancellor said that they were contacted in 2005 about allegations he had previously reported to police regarding Fine. The University claims that it conducted it's own internal investigation and that people the accuser said would support his claims denied any knowledge of wrongdoing on Fine's part. Syracuse police declined to pursue the case because the statute of limitations had expired.

NCAA FOOTBALL: A little like the NFL, although most of the action is typically supposed to take place over the weekend, we were treated to some pretty good televised games throughout the week.

BIG 12: Undoubtedly the biggest shock from this week's slate of weeknight games came on Friday Night with Iowa State upending the Oklahoma State Cowboys bid for a perfect season before the December 3rd Bedlam game against the Sooners.

The game took place in Ames, IA and had the Cyclones trailing 17-7 at the half, only to fall even further behind after the Cowboys scored on their first possession of the 2nd half to make it 24-7. From there, however, the Cyclones would go on to score 17 unanswered points, tying the contest up at 24-24 with 6 minutes left in the 4th on a 7 yard Jared Barnett pass to Albert Gary for the game-tying TD, forcing overtime.

For the first OT, the Cyclones and Cowboys traded TDs, while Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden was picked off to start off the 2nd OT. With the short field, Iowa State's backup RB Jeff Woody rushed for the game-winning TD to give the underdog Cyclones the 37-31 win against #2 (and previously undefeated) Oklahoma State.

Depending on what happens to the #5 Sooners, who travel to #25 Baylor this weekend, the December 3rd Bedlam game could very well determine the Big 12 title.

ACC: After falling behind early to the North Carolina Tarheels, #9 Virginia Tech managed to put up 24 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarter before having to hold off a late rally from the Tarheels in the 4th.

The Tarheels would score 2 TDs in the 4th, including a Bryn Renner pass to WR Erik Highsmith. After scoring a TD to make it a 24-21 game, the Tarheels attempted an onside kick that they did recover, but it didn't travel the required 10 yards, so Virginia Tech got the ball back and pretty much ran out the clock.

The win, coupled with a Virginia loss to #23 Florida State this weekend, would give the Hokies the ACC Coastal Division title.

MAC: Pretty good game on Tuesday night between Ball State and Northern Illinois. The NIU Huskies fell behind early by a 14-0 margin, but were able to come back and win by a 41-38 final. Meanwhile, the Ohio Bobcats got by the Bowling Green Red Falcons on a Field Goal as time expired to win by a 29-28 final. Both the Bobcats and Huskies are sporting identical 8-3 records, although NIU has the better in-conference record of 5-1.

PENN STATE: Another curious wrinkle in the Penn State child molestation scandal surfaced when former Nittany Lions head coach Joe Paterno transferred full ownership of his home to his wife for $1 months before the allegations of former coordinator Jerry Sandusky molesting young boys at Penn State facilites and elsewhere.

Some observers interpret this as Paterno attempting to shield himself from civil suits stemming from Sandusky's actions. However, since Paterno is also well into his 80s and this could've been seen as a fairly benign manuever as part of an estate tax shelter of some sort were it not for the timing.

Paterno's son Scott also announced on Friday that the 84 year old former Penn State coach was also diagnosed with treatable lung cancer.

Streaky Sports Chowdah Update- Brady, Pats Soar in Meadowlands, Stymie Sanchez & Jets; Miller, Sabres Rattled in Boston; Wilson Ramos Safe at Home

NFL: If it feels like forever since the Patriots last won a game, that's probably because the last time they actually won a game was on October 16th against Dallas. Since then, New England has had a bye week and Sunday afternoon losses to the Steelers and Giants, setting up a pivotal prime-time matchup between them and the Jets- each team sporting an identical 5-3 record heading into Sunday night.

New England was also coming into Sunday night's game at New Jersey's Meadowlands with an injury-depleted defense after releasing lineman Albert Hainesworth (who was eventually picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

Jim Davis- Boston Globe photo

The Jets opening drive got off to a promising start, beginning on their own 33 and moving down the field to inside the New England 10 yard line while taking barely two minutes, but after a 3 yard rush at the Patriots 10 and 2 straight incompletions from QB mark Sanchez at the 6, the Jets had to settle for a 24 yard FG attempt, which Jets kicker Nick Folk missed.

For their first two possessions, the Patriots would make their way into Jets territory, but be held to FG attempts each time (Gronkowski would make both attempts- one from the 50 and one from the 36 yard line- to make it a 6-0 Patriots lead).

The Jets would get on the board at the 4:44 mark of the 2nd period after Pats QB Tom Brady fumbled on their own 8 yard line, then get assessed a 5 yard penalty on their own 5 for a Jets safety to make it a 6-2 game with New England on top.

The Jets would then start their next drive from their own 35, taking all of 1:18 off the game clock to find the end zone to take a brief 9-7 lead over the Patriots when Sanchez ran the ball in from the Patriots 2 yard line.

However, even in some of their earlier losses, the Patriots offense has demonstrated a certain resiliency and ability to strike quickly and the final minute and 20 seconds of the 1st half on Sunday night's game was no exception. Starting on their own 20, New England managed to drive all the way down to the Jets 16 yard line when they found the end zone for the first time in the evening when Brady connected to Rob Gronkowski with 9 seconds left in the half to go up 13-9.

New England would get the ball to start off the 2nd half, although the Pats and Jets would trade 3 and outs on their first possessions. The Patriots managed to pad their lead on their second possession after Joe McKnight fumbled a Zoltan Mesko punt and New England recovered, coming away from the Jets 9 yard line with another Gostkowski FG to show for it to make it 16-9 New England.

The Jets followed that up by starting on their own 40 yard line and getting as far as the Patriots 37 before linebacker Rob Ninkovich intercepted a thrice-tipped Mark Sanchez pass and ran it back for 18 yards, giving New England the ball back on their own 43. With the shorter field, New England marched right down and Brady found Gronkowski for another TD pass to really start to break things open with a 23-9 lead with 4:44 to go in the 3rd. The Jets would come right back with a lengthy drive of their own to make it a 23-16 game early in the 4th. However, the Patriots offense would answer with another scoring drive of their own, hitting paydirt when Brady connected with Deion Branch for an 8 yard TD run to make it a 30-16 game.

The backbreaker would come on the following possession when the Jets were pinned deep in their own end and Ninkovich picked off Mark Sanchez again, returning the INT 12 yards for a pick 6 to put the game away at 37-16 with 7:45 to go in regulation.

This was a pretty big road win for New England, breaking a deadlock in the AFC East and regaining some momentum that had been missing for nearly a month. Just when it looked like the rest of the NFL seemed to have Brady figured out, he goes 26-39 with 329 yards and three TD passes and no interceptions.

Sunday night's win puts Brady and Belichick as the winningest coach & QB tandem since the AFL/NFL merger in 1966, breaking a tie with Miami's Dan Marino and Don Shula. New England also has not lost three consecutive games since 2002.

For next week's matchup, the Patriots find themselves in the prime time limelight when they host the Kansas City Chiefs and former Pats QB Matt Cassel at Foxbourough, MA on Monday night football.

NCAA FOOTBALL: For better or worse, all eyes were on Happy Valley Satuday afternoon for some actual football amid the Penn State sex abuse scandal when the Nittany Lions would take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the first time in 46 years without Joe Paterno.

Nebraska got out to an early 10-0 lead in the first half before adding to that lead in the 2nd half to make it 17-0. The Nittany Lions would get on the board late in the 3rd to make it 17-7 and close the gap to 17-14 with 6 minutes to go in the 3rd, but the Lions final drive sputtered and fell flat on a 4th and 1 on Penn State's own 46 as time expired.

AP Photo

ACC: Speaking of low-scoring NCAA Football games, both Boston College QBs played a role in the Eagles 3rd win (2nd against an ACC opponent) of the season on Saturday against the North Carolina State Wolfpack. Backup Josh Bordner got BC on the board in the first with a 3 yard TD run to make it 7-0. After the Wolfpack fot on the board with a 32 yard FG, Eagles starting QB Chase Rettig then returned to the game and connected with WR Colin Larmond for a 17 yard TD catch.

Surprisingly, that was all the would need. Although they allowed an NC State touchdown early in the 3rd quarter, the Eagles defense pitched a shutout and Boston College hangs on to win by a 14-10 final.

Next week, the BC Eagles will travel to South Bend, IN to take on #24 Notre Dame on Saturday. The Fighting Irish won the last contest between the two Catholic institutions last year at Chestnut Hill by a 31-13 final.

Babineau/Bruins.com photo

NHL: Wow- so much to love about Saturday night's affair at the Garden that the game itself seemed like a mere afterthought.

For the pregame ceremony before the Sabres and Bruins got underway at the Garden. the Bruins arranged for Daron and Lori Jacobs of Pembroke, MA do the ceremonial puck drop. Their son is a Lieutenant in the Massachusetts National Guard and had recently deployed to Afghanistan, but unbeknownst to them was in the building Saturday night to join them in time for the pregame ceremony. For those of you who missed it, NESN thoughtfully tweeted a link to this embeddable video over the weekend.


Both Buffalo and Boston were going into Saturday night's game riding a 4-game winning streak. The Sabres got the only goal of the first period on a Thomas Vanek tally 5 minutes and 38 seconds. However, the most talked about moment from the first period was Milan Lucic's hit on Ryan Miller when he ventured out of the crease to play the puck as it bounced off the boards. The hit sent Miller on his backside and his mask flying while earning Lucic a trip to the sin bin for charging.

At the 7:40 mark of the 2nd period, Rich Peverly got Boston on the board, beating Ryan Miller to tie the game at 1-1. Boston would then score two goals in sixteen seconds from Tyler Seguin and Nathan Horton to make it 3-1.

The Bruins would then blow it open in the 3rd, scoring three more goals (including Seguin's second of the night) while Buffalo would get a late power-play goal after the game was basically decided. The Bruins go on to win their 5th in a row and are above the .500 mark after downing the Sabres 6-2.

The postgame talk, however, centered around not only Lucic's hit on Miller, but Buffalo's response- or lack thereof. There was no retaliation from any of Buffalo's enforcers and on Monday, it was announced that there would be no further punishment from the NHL against Lucic for the hit.

The 8-7-0 Bruins homestand continues on Tuesday night against the 8-6-1 New Jersey Devils. Puck drops at 7 PM and the game will be televised on NESN.

MLB: Just 51 hours after his abduction, Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was freed from his captors after a prolonged shootout between his kidnappers and police at a remote hideout.

Washington Post Image

According to a statement from Venezuelan investigators, six suspects were taken into custody when Ramos was freed and five Colombian nationals- thought to be accomplices- were held for questioning on Monday.

The rescue operation took place in a remote area of western Venezuela's mountainous Carabobo state where police and soliders either had to hike in or be flown in by helicopter. Ramos was reuinted with his family in Valencia by 3 AM the following morning.

Also on Monday, it was announced that Ramos finished 4th overall in balloting for National League Rookie of the Year.

RED SOX: The Jonathan Papelbon era in Boston has officially come to an end with the free agent closer reaching a 4 year, $50 million deal that includes a vesting option for 2016. This would be the most lucrative contract for a closing pitcher on record.

CARDINALS: After interviewing Ryne Sandberg, Terry Francona and Jose Oquendo, the St Louis Cardinals have named former catcher Make Matheny as their new manager. Matheny was behind the plate for St Louis when they were swept by the Red Sox in the 2004 World Series. The catcher won 4 gold gloves- all of them with the Cardinals- before signing with the San Francisco Giants in 2006 as a free agent and ultimately retiring as a player due to post concussion syndrome.

MARLINS: Amid much fanfare, the Marlins unveiled their new 2012 uniforms and official name-change to the Miami Marlins to coincide with the scheduled opening of their new ballpark in Little Havana.

The Marlins have also reportedly been in talks with free agent 1B Albert Pujols, although there's no indication that those talks have gone anywhere yet.

ASTROS: There could be another realignment in the works as prospective Houston Astros owner Jim Crane has reportedly agreed to switch from the National League to the American League as early as 2013.

The move must get the approval of other MLB franchise owners, but it's thought the move could save Jim Crane a discount of almost $50 million on the Astros purchase price.

NBA: As negotiations between the team owners and Players association continue to wither on the vine, Yahoo Sports is reporting that a number of disgruntled players gathered for a clandestine conference to decertify the NBA Players association.

As it stands, even if the dispute were resolved tomorrow, there would be no NBA games until mid-December at the earliest. However, it looks like the season is pretty much dead as it is.

Reuters Photo

NCAA HOOPS: As indifferent as I am about College hoops, I still thought this was pretty cool.

Before a crowd of about 7000 including President Obama on board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, the NCAA Basketball season got underway when #1 North Carolina took on Michigan State on a basketball court set up on the carrier's deck while she was in San Diego.

Play was a little sloppy because there was intermittent wind and drizzle, making the court slick and 3 pointers problematic at times, but North Carolina bested the Spartans by a 67-55 final.

The game drew favorable comparisons to the NHL's now-annual New Year's Day Winter Classic outdoor game, and there is talk of not only a second 'Carrier Classic' next November, but also making it a doubleheader or adding some women's games.