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.
RED SOX- The end of March heralded the beginning of the major league baseball season, with the Red Sox opening up on the road in Camden Yards. With Lester matched up against the O's Christ Tillman, the O's got on the board first when new acquisition Delmon Young grounded into a double play with nobody out and ex-Ranger Nelson Cruz at third in the bottom of the second.
The Red Sox managed to tie the game back up when Grady Sizemore- in only his second regular season MLB at-bat since July 2011- belted a solo homer to right field in the top of the 4th [His first at-bat was a single in the top of the 2nd- NANESB!].
However, Nelson Cruz would then lead off the top of the 7th inning with a solo homer off of Lester to give Baltimore the 2-1 lead. Tommy Hunter came out of the bullpen for the O's on the top of the 9th and led off the inning by hitting Will Middlebrooks with a pitch. Daniel Nava popped out the third for the first out of the inning but Pedroia followed that up with a single before Big Papi flew out to left field for the second out. With two away, John Farrell decided to have Jackie Bradley Jr come into the game as a pinch-hitter for Mike Napoli, but Bradley struck out to end the ballgame.
So the Red Sox open up the season with a 1-run loss in Baltimore. Not surprisingly, the Opening Day loss was taken in stride and kept in the proper perspective by some members of Red Sox Nation.
However, the Red Sox took Tuesday off to head down to the customary visit to the White House by the World Series champions [their third trip in 10 years and first since Barack Obama was elected- NANESB]. Gone were most of the beards that made the 2013 Red Sox look like a Hub version of Duck Dynasty, although some of the outfits stood out more than others.
The Red Sox will resume play tonight with John Lackey getting his first start of the season while Ubaldo Jiminez, who the Orioles signed to a 4-year, $50 million contract back in February. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
BOSTON BRUINS- The only downside of March for the Boston Bruins is that it's come to an end. Heading into last weekend, they started a 4-game road trip that started with back-to-back games in Washington DC and Philadelphia. On Saturday afternoon, they managed to double up the Caps by a 4-2 final with Chad Johnson in net.
On Sunday afternoon, they headed up the I-95 to take on the Philadelphia Flyers. Just a little after five minutes into the game, Vinny Lecavalier got the Flyers on the board first before ex-Flyer Andrej Meszaros beat Steve Mason to make it a 1-1 game halfway through the first. However, Kimmo Timonen put the Flyers back on top with an even-strength goal in the last 45 seconds of the first period.
However, at 5:44 into the second period, Zdeno Chara would get a power play goal to even up the contest at 2-2 and Patrice Bergeron would get a go-ahead goal from a seemingly impossible angle to give Boston their first lead of the night at the 11:05 mark.
In the third, the Bruins had managed to hold off the Phillies throughout most of the period until inside the final 25 seconds when Vinny Lecalvalier once again broke through and tied the game at 3-3 in regulation with a few seconds left. Since nothing was decided in regulation and the 5 minutes of overtime, the contest then headed to a shootout with Bergeron scoring early for Boston and Claude Giroux for Philly. The Bruins' Reilly Smith finally broke through in the fifth round of the shootout, giving Boston the 4-3 win, although Philly does collect a much-needed point to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Tukka Rask turned aside 49 of the 52 shots he faced prior to the shootout while Steve Mason made 27 saves on 30 shots faced. The Bruins were 1 for 2 on their power play opportunities while Philly went 0-4 with the man advantage.
The Bruins road trip continues through Detroit on Wednesday night- this one will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network. Puck is scheduled to drop at 8:00 ET between the Bruins and Red Wings.
BOSTON COLLEGE HOCKEY- The BC Eagles survived a late challenge from a very game UMass-Lowell in Worcester on Sunday to advance to the frozen Four. Eagles defenseman Ian McCoshen broke a 3-3 deadlock in the 3rd and goalie Thatcher Demko made 29 saves in the Boston College win.
BC will advance to the Frozen Four to take on Union, who eliminated the Eagles last season by beating them 5-1 in the first round of the NCAA Eastern Tournament regional. This would be the Union Dutchmen's second trip to the Frozen Four since the 2011-2012 season, where they lost to Ferris State by a 3-1 final in the semifinal. The game is scheduled for 5:00 PM ET at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 10th.
Meanwhile, Minnesota bested St Cloud State in a 4-0 shutout to advance and face a resurgent North Dakota in Philly. The Fighting Sioux and Golden Gophers are scheduled to play at 7:30 PM ET and both the BC/Union Game and Minnesota/North Dakota games will be televised on ESPN.
Nobody could sum up my love of baseball better than the late Ernie Hariwell and the final portion of his 1981 Hall of Fame Induction speech.
The 2014 MLB Baseball season technically got underway last weekend in Sydney, Australia when the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground, sweeping the two-game series Down Under.
However, Sunday night marks the beginning of the 2014 season in the USA- the LA Dodgers will take on the San Diego Padres at PetCo park at 8:05 ET and the game will be televised on ESPN. The Dodgers come into Sunday's game already two games up on the Padres by virtue of the fact that the two games they played in Australia counted as regular season wins. LA's Hyun Jin-Ryu will get the start against San Diego's Andrew Cashner.
Closer to the Hub, the Boston Red Sox will embark on their defense of their 2013 World Series title at Baltimore's Camden Yards. Jon Lester will get the start against Chris Tillman in Baltimore's home opener, and the game will be televised on ESPN2 with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 ET. Once a perennial doormat in the AL East, Baltimore was the only opponent in the division to have a winning record against Boston in 2013 with an 11-8 record versus the BoSox.
The Red Sox home opener is set for Friday, April 4th and it will be interleague play right out of the gate when they host the Milwaukee Brewers. First pitch for the Fenway Park home opener is scheduled for 2:05 and the game will be televised on NESN.
RED SOX- After wrapping up a road trip to Toronto where John Lackey left Saturday's game with an undisclosed injury and Jays starter RA Dickey was rocked by the Red Sox bats, it was time for the home opener at Fenway Park on Monday afternoon. The 4-2 Red Sox opened up the 2013 season at Fenway with a daytime matchup against the Baltimore Orioles.
With pre-game ceremonies that included marking the 60th anniversary of the Red Sox affiliation with the Jimmy Fund, a massive flag draped across the Green Monster and a flyover from WWII-era P51 Mustangs, the Red Sox and Orioles got underway on a sunny April afternoon with Clay Buchholz on the mound looking for his second win and Boston looking to wipe the slate clean after their worst season in nearly 50 years. This was a very different Red Sox lineup from just a year ago with no Youkilis, Gonzalez or Beckett in the lineup while the Orioles were coming off of their first postseason appearence since 1997.
Buchholz allowed a leadoff single to start off the game but seemed to settle down from there. Meanwhile, the Red Sox batters seemed to be having a difficult time with Baltimore starter Wei Yin Chen- who allowed just two hits through the first six innings. However, in the bottom of the 7th, Chen allowed a leadoff single to Dustin pedroia followed by a double to Mike Napoli. Although Chen got Middlebrooks to strike out, Daniel Nava belted a 1-1 offering over the Monster seats to give Boston a 3-0 lead.
As it turned out, that would be all Boston needed. Although Joel Hanrahan gave up a leadoff solo homerun to O's outfielder Adam Jones and a 2-out double to JJ Hardy, Hanrahan managed to close out the game and preserve the Red Sox win by getting Ryan Flaherty to pop out in foul territory in front of the Baltimore dugout. Buchholz threw for 7 shutout innings while striking out eight and allowing four walks.
The win gives Boston a 5-2 record- all opponents being from the AL East so far this season- and the home crowd something to cheer about after watching them win 2 out of three in each of the road series in the Bronx and Canada. The win makes it nine straight home openers that the Red Sox have won. Tuesday is an off day, but on Wednesday, the series resumes with Ruan Dempster [0-1; 5.40 ERA] getting the start against Jake Arrieta [0-0; 9.00 ERA]. The game will be televised on NESN with a first pitch at 7:10 ET.
OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Red Sox fans got quite a scare on Saturday afternoon when starter John Lackey left the fifth inning of the game against Toronto [JA Happ and the Toronto bullpen would throw a shutout against Boston in their 5-0 win- NANESB!]. The start was Lackey's first in nearly 18 months and immediately led to a flurry speculation from sportswriters that Lackey was already out for the season with an undisclosed injury. Lackey had Tommy John surgery in the 2011 offseason and spent most of 2012 rehabbing.
Upon returning to Boston, Lackey underwent an MRI at Massachusetts General Hospital. The MRI reportedly showed inflammation around the right biceps. Although Lackey is expected to miss his next start, the injury is not considered season-ending. If Lackey is unable to start by Sunday, the Red Sox will reportedly slot Alfredo Aceves [0-0; 10.38 ERA] in Lackey's place in the rotation.
MEANWHILE, DOWN ON THE FARM- Shortstop Stephen Drew went 1 for 3 in what was slated to be his final game with the AA Portland Sea Dogs before returning to Boston on Wednesday. Drew went on the DL in Spring Training with a concussion and was assigned to AA Portland for rehabilitation. Overall, Drew went 2-13 with a double, a homer, two walks and 3 RBI.
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
BOSTON BRUINS- After a disappointing Saturday night in Montreal where the Bruins missed an opportunity to vault past the Canadiens in the Eastern conference standings, Boston had the opportunity to vent their frustration on the slumping Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Rich Peverly opened up the scoring early for the Bruins about 4 minutes into the first period followed by two Brad Marchand tallies before intermission. Building on their 3-0 lead, the Bruins added to their lead in the second with goals from Andrew Ference and Jordan Caron to make it a 5-0 Boston lead. Midway through the 3rd period, the Hurricanes would get on the board thanks to a Patrick Dwyer goal followed by a Drayson Bowman goal 45 seonds later to make it a 5-2 game. However, with less than four minutes to go in regulation, the Bruins managed to pad their lead after Nathan Horton tapped home a pass from Dougie Hamilton behing netminder Dan Ellis to make it 6-2, what would turn out being the final score.
Carolina's Justin Peters was pulled early after allowing two goals on four shots faced while Ellis turned aside 28 of the 32 shots he faced on Tuesday night. For Boston, Tukka Rask carried a shutout into the 3rd period and ended up turning aside 40 of 42 shots faced. Brad Marchand had two goals in the first period while new acquisition Jaromir Jagr had two assists on the night. The win put the Bruins within a game of idle Montreal on Monday night.
On Wednesday night, the Bruins will travel down to the Prudential Center to take on the slumping Devils for the second time in less than a week. The Devils are riding a 7 game slump heading into the contest. The game will be televised on the NBC Sports Network and gets underway at 7:30 ET.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- With a few weeks still remaining in the NHL season, there are already two teams that have clinched a playoff berth. The Chicago Blackhawks- who did not lose a regulation game until March 8th beat Nashville by a 5-3 final on Sunday to clinch the first playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, the Penguins also managed to clinch a postseason berth on Sunday night- however indirectly. Although the Pens won their Friday night contest against the NY Rangers by a 2-1 final, it wasn't until the Sabres beat the New Jersey Devils in OT on Sunday night that their entry into the playoffs were made official.
NCAA HOOPS- In a March Madnes that was eerily devoid of UConn's presence, the Men's title remained in the Bluegrass state after a final between Louisville and the Michigan Wolverines at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.
Although Michigan jumped out to the early lead, the Cardinals would close the gap late in the 1st thanks to a dramatic dunk by freshman Montrezl Harrell that looked kind of like this:
Prior to that play, Louisville was trailing Michigan by as much as 12 points in the first. The Cardinals would go on to outscore the Wolverines in the second half by a 45-38 margin to win their first NCAA Men's Basketball title since 1986, winning by a final of 82-76.
This is the second year in a row that a Kentucky school has won the NCAA Men's Basketball title. Cards Junior Luke Hancock was 5 for 5 from 3 point range and made 7 out of 10 free throws, totalling 22 points on the night and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
The week is alread off to a good start for Louisville head coach Rick Pitino. His son was hired by the Minnesota Golden Gophers to replace Tubby Smith, a horse he co-owns won the Santa Anita Derby and now qualifies for the Kentucky Derby and now the former Celtics and Boston University coach will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA- all of this news coming before Monday night's Championship game in the Georgia Dome.
Today's Train of Thought takes us to the Twin Cities, which has seen a number of dramatic changes on recent years as far as both the railroad and sports landscape is concerned.
Since the last time the Twins won the World Series, there was the formation of the Twin Cities & Western, Union Pacific's acquisition of the Chicago & North Western, the merger between the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, Canadian National's acquisition of the Wisconsin Central, the formation of Progressive Rail, Inc to operate former Milwaukee Road and Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern trackage in the Twin Cities- not to mention the startup of the Hiawatha light rail line and the Northstar Commuter Rail starting in 2008.
The sports landscape has changed as well. The Minnesota Northstars moved to Dallas in 1993, but eventually a new NHL franchise was awarded and the Minnesota Wild began playing in the Twin Cities starting in 2000. Although the Vikings still play in the belegaured Metrodome, the Golden Gophers football team left the dome for TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in 2009 and the Twins began playing their home games outdoors for the first time since 1981 with their 2010 move into Target field
Started in July 1991, the Glencoe, MN-based Twin Cities & Western is actually one of the older shortline operations in the Twin Cities, purchasing more than 100 miles of former Milwaukee Road track west of the Twin Cities. Traffic includes soybeans, ethanol, lumber, molasses, coal, frozen vegetables, aggregates and of course.....lots of grain. Motive power for the TC&W is typically a hodgepodge of Caterpillar re-engined first generation Geeps, although the line more recently acquired a pair of former Kennecott Copper GP39-2s and restored Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 Northern #261 sometimes shows up on TC&W rails for excursions and shakedown runs. The TC&W is also the parent company of the Minnesota Prairie, Red River Valley & Western and Sisseton-Millbank.
The eastern end of the TC&W connects the line with the Canadian Pacific, BNSF, Union Pacific and Canadian National- four of America's six Class I carriers. But these connections aren't without their own inherent problems. In the late 1990s, reconstruction of Minnesota Route 55 and plans for the Hiawatha light rail made the route less viable. Currently, the TC&W reaches Minneapolis by way of a temporary connection over a former Chicago Great Western line converted into a bike path with the BNSF Wayzata subdivision. To reach the Canadian Pacific interchange in St Paul, the TC&W also has to navigate its way past a number of Northstar commuter rail trains.
Here, railpictures.net contributor John Ryan caught TC&W GP39-2 #2300 leading an eastbound grain-laden freight in Minneapolis, MN on July 16, 2010. The train is making its way across the Mississippi River to the CPR yard in St Paul. In the background, a Northstar commuter train is parked beneath the overpass waiting to depart while even more prominently in the background is the Twins' new home, Target Field.
Incidentally, the Twins beat the White Sox by a 7-4 final that night in case anybody was wondering.
RED SOX- I'm not gonna lie to you- I freakin' LOVE this time of the year, especially since I was denied the overlap of MLB and NHL last October.
With Spring Training over and done with, it was time for the Boston Red Sox to start playing some games that actually counted on Monday. The Red Sox would start off their regular season in the Bronx against the archrival New York Yankees. With Curtis Granderson, Mark Texiera, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter all on the DL, this would be a dramatically different opening day lineup the Yankees were fielding from a season ago and the first time the Red Sox would face the Yankees without Jeter in the lineup since 2001.
Between the free agents that Boston signed in the offseason and in-house prospects that stood out in Spring Taining, there were plenty of new faces in the Red Sox lineup on opening day was well. But a familiar face was on the bump for the BoSox as Jon Lester took on New York starter CC Sabathia for the opening day pitching matchup.
The Sox got to Sabathia pretty early, starting with a 1-out walk to Jarros Saltalamacchia in the top of the 2nd. Johnny Gomes then reached on what was ruled a single that was deflected off the glove of 3B Jayson Nix before Spring Training standout OF Jackie Bradley Jr drew a walk from Sabathia to load the bases. SS Jose Iglesias, who drew all kinds of attention in Fort Myers during 2012 Spring training, drove in the first run of the season for Boston with a single to shortstop that plated Saltalamacchia to make it 1-0 Boston. Ellsbury grounded into a forceout, erasing Gomes at home and bringing up OF Shane Victorino with two away. On a 1-1 pitch, the Flyin' Hawaiian singled to left field, plating Bradley and Iglesias to give Boston a 3-0 lead. Then 2B Dustin Pedroia singled to right field, bringing home Ellsbury to make it 4-0 Boston.
The Yankees would cut into the Red Sox lead in the bottom of the 4th inning when Yankees C Francisco Cervelli belted a bases loaded 2-out 2-RBI single to left before Lester retired Brett Gardner to get out of the inning.
While David Phelps replaced Sabathia for the Bronx Bombers in the top of the 6th, Koji Uehara came on in relief of Lester in the bottom of the 6th and retired all three batters he faced. In the top of the 7th, Phelps walked 3B Will Middlebrooks and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to start off the inning. With one away and Middlebrooks advancing to third, Yankees manager Joe Girardi pulled Phelps for Boone Logan. Bradley would then hit a ball that ricocheted off of Logan to Yankees 2B Robinson Cano for an RBI groundout that plated Middlebrooks to make it 5-2 Boston.
Things got a little tense in the bottom of the 7th when Andrew Miller came in for Uehara and immediately gave up walks to the first two batters he faced, but he came back to get Andrew Nunez to strike out looking and Robinson Cano to strike out swinging before Andrew Bailey came on to relieve Miller. Miller would then get former Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis- the only batter he'd face- to strike out swinging.
After the Sox were retired in order in the top of the 8th, Junichi Tazawa would come on in relief of Miller and although he would allow a 1-out single off the bat of Travis Hafner, the inning would end when OF Ichiro Suzuki would ground into a double-play.
Boston would blow the game wide open in the top of the 9th inning when Joba Chamberlain came on. After Middlebrooks struck out to start the inning, he allowed a walk to Saltalamacchia, a single off the bat of Gomes and another walk to Bradley to load up the bases for the Sox. Ellsbury would then hit a ground ball to first that was bobbled by Cano (who had shifted towards first base) bringing home Saltalamacchia and- thanks to some agressive baseruinning- Gomes. Victorino woul single and bring home Bradley to make it 8-2 Boston before Perdroia grounded out to end the inning.
Joel Hanrahan would come on in the bottom of the 9th and have a 1-2-3 inning, giving the Red Sox the 8-2 win on opening day, their first opening day win since 2010. Although Lester only went 5 innings, he allowed five hits and two earned runs while striking out seven batters and walking two. Shane Victorino went 2 for 6 with 3 RBI while Jacoby Ellsbury went 3 for 6 with two RBI and Jackie Bradley Jr went to Applebee's in Times Square with his family after reaching base on three walks as well as adding to the Red Sox lead with an RBI groundout
Tuesday is an off day, but the series will resume on Wednesday with Clay Buchholz getting the start against New York's Hideki Kuroda. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB- After the Houston Astros made their AL West debut to open up the 2013 season on Easter Sunday with an 8-2 win against the Texas Rangers at home, Rangers starter Yu Darvish came within one out of pitching a perfect game against the Astros on Tuesday night.
With two away in the bottom of the 9th, Darvish allowed had a single off the bat of Astros SS Marwin Gonzalez through his legs to center field. After allowing the single, Rangers manager Ron Washington pulled Darvish for reliever Michael Kirkman who allowed a single to 2B Jose Altuve before pinch hitter JD Martinez struck out to end the ballgame.
Darvish had a career high 14 strikeouts in 111 pitches at Minute Maid park Tuesday- the most by a Rangers starter since Nolan Ryan in July 1991.
NHL- After missing out on the Iginla sweepstakes (despite persistent rumors to the contrary) the Boston Bruins acquired Jaromir Jagr from the Dallas stars in a trade the day before the NHL's trade deadline. The Bruins will be Jagr's third team in two seasons, including Philadelphia last year.
The 41 year old winger has led Dallas in scoring during the lockout-shortened season with 14 goals and 12 assists in and is expected to join the team in time for Thursday night's tilt against the New Jersey Devils. The Czechoslovavian-born player first came into the NHL during the 1990-91 season with Pittsburgh.
AP Photo/Elise Amendola
OTHER BRUINS NEWS- After last week's collapse against the Canadiens, the Bruins split a weekend 2 game road trip where they lost to the Flyers on Saturday but on Sunday night, Anton Khudobin turned aside all 26 shots he faced in Boston's 2-0 shutout of the Buffalo Sabres.
On Tuesday night, Khudobin was between the pipes once again when the Bruins returned to TD Garden for another Northeastern conference matchup, this time against the Ottawa Senators.
The Sens got on the board early in the first with a tally from Colin Greening before David Krejci got the equalizer less than a minute later and Tyler Seguin put Boston up 2-1. The second period, while scoreless, wasn't uneventful as Patrice Bergeron left the game after a collision with Greening. The Bruins had no comment on Bergeron's condition- the center suffered two concussions earlier in his career with the Bruins.
Early in the 3rd period, the Sens got a game-tying goal thanks to Andre Benoit to even things up at 2-2 before Boston re-took the lead midway through the third thanks to a Nathan Horton tally. With 34 seconds left in regulation, the Bruins no doubt had a feeling of deja vu from last week's letdown against the Habs when Johnny Boychuck was called for interference after the Sens pulled Lehner, giving them a 6 on 4 advantage for the remainder of regulation. However, Khudobin and the B's were able to withstand the late flurry of offense and the Bruins held on to win by a 3-2 final. The win puts Boston within a point of Montreal for 1st place in the Northeast division.
Khudobin faced a career high 47 shots on goal, stopping 45 while Lehner turned aside 47 of 50 shots faced on Tuesday night. Both teams went 0-3 on the power play as well.
The Bruins will next take on the New Jersey Devils at the Garden on Thursday night. Puck drops at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on the NHL Network.
One might be surprised to learn that despite New York City's status as the largest city in the United States, the five boroughs are served by exactly one class one freight carrier. Norfolk Southern stops at the western shore of the Hudson River in New Jersey, regional Providence & Worcester reaches New York City from Connecticut via trackage rights over the Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, Anacostia Pacific's New York & Atlantic handles freight over the Long Island Railroad and New York New Jersey Rail operates a carfloat between Jersey City, NJ and Brooklyn.
That leaves just the CSX and in turn, the CSX has to deal with something called the Selkirk Hurdle. Since freight trains aren't allowed through the Northeast Corridor tunnel linking Manhattan and northern New Jersey, the nearest crossing of the Hudson River that freight trains can use is nearly 150 miles to the north at Selkirk, NY. That's been the case since 1974, when the former New Haven Railroad bridge over the Hudson River was taken out of service on May 8th, 1974 after a fire damaged the bridge's decking and girders on the eastern approach [the bridge was turned into a state park in 2009].
One example of this problem can be demonstrated when the City of New York reached a 30-year agreement with Waste Management[NYSE- WM] in 2009. The trash is hauled out of Brooklyn by train with a final destination in Virginia- some 300 miles away- has to move north over the Metro North commuter line between New York City and Poughkeepsie, continuing north through Hudson and linking up with the Selkirk-Boston, MA former Boston & Albany mainline before heading south along the west side of the Hudson into northern New Jersey before continuing south- a distance of more than 250 miles to cover 15 miles as the crow flies before continuing to Virgina. Moreover, because of the busy commuter operations on Metro North, most of the freight operations are limited to nighttime.
With that in mind, CSX operations in the Big Apple remain a fairly elusive and seldom photographed affair. But Railfan & Railroad contributor Michael Foley knows his subjects well and has been able to document CSX operations in their Big Apple hub- the Bronx's Oak Point yard.
On Opening Day, Today's Train of Thought offers us a glimpse of the ballpark where the Red Sox and Yankees will renew their rivalry and kick off their respective 2013 seasons. Here, Foley has photographed a mixed bag of second generation EMDs in charge of CSX freight B949-07, heading south past Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on February 7th, 2009. The train was sidelined with mechanical difficulties in the overnight hours, resulting in a fairly rare daylight run to Oak Point. Part of the original Yankee Stadium, which had seen its final ballgame some five months earlier, can be seen off to the righthand side.
Sure gas is nearly $4.00 a gallon in most parts of the country, North Korea is threatening to nuke the West Coast and the number of Americans on some form of welfare estimated is at an estimated 100 million, but on a day like today all feels right with the world.
That's right- it's opening day for the 2013 baseball season [technically the season began on March 31st with a Sunday night mathcup between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros- NANESB]. Some teams have made no bones about the fact that they're in the midst of a lengthy and rebuilding process while others will take fans by surprise and exceed expectations and some just want to wipe the slate clean from a disastrous 2012 season.
No matter where your loyalties lie, I think fans of any age can appreciate the late Ernie Harwell's speech from his 1981 induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and this is how I tend to celebrate the start of the MLB season.
The Patriots' Stevan Ridley rushed for 125 yards and 1 TD in the Patriot's regular-season opener against the Tenessee Titans at Nashville, TN on Sunday. ESPN Boston photo
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- After a 1-3 preaseason, the 2012 regular season started up for the New England Patriots in Nashville in fine form on Sunday. The Titans led early in this one, getting out to an 3-0 lead before the Patriots came storming back to take a 21-3 halftime lead, capping off their first half with a Brady to Gronkowski TD pass right at the 2 minute warning.
Showing hardly any signs of slowing down, Tom Brady passed for more than 200 yards although he was sacked in the 2nd quarter by Titans DE Kamerion Wimbley, who may or may not have broken Brady's nose [the quarterback was seen with a bandage on his nose in the 2nd half and postgame but it was reportedly gone by Monday afternoon- NANESB!]. Brady completed TD passes to Rob Gronkowsi and Aaron Hernandez in the first half while LB Dont'a Hightower managed to recover a fumble after DE Chandler Jones sacked Titans QB Jake Locker deep in Tennesse's own end and run it back for paydirt.
While the Titans would score thanks to a 29 yard TD pass from Locker to Washington on their first possession of the second half to make it 21-10, that would be as close as they would get as the Patriots began to pull away in the second half after starting on the Titans side of the field and capping off the drive with a Ridley TD to make it 28-10. The Titans and Pats would trade field goals in the 4th and New England goes on to win their season opener by a 34-13 final.
Tom Brady went 23-31 with 236 yards and two TD passes while Ridley rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. This weekend, the Patriots will kick off the 2012 season at Gillette stadium against the Arizona Cardinals. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM ET.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- The season is a little over a week old, with kickoff taking place on September 5th with the New York Giants losing to the Dallas Cowboys by a 24-17 final at E. Rutherford, NJ on September 5th.
Perhaps the most noteworthy was Robert Griffin III's regular-season NFL debut on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Griffin went 19-26 and more than 320 yards at the Superdome in the Big Easy, holding off the Saints by a 40-32 final.
Sunday night also marked Peyton Manning's debut as a Denver Bronco. The high mountain air in Denver apparently did little to slow down the elder Manning brother as he pretty much dismantled the Steelers D going 19-26 with 253 yards as the Broncos cruised to a 31-19 win over Pittsburgh.
Former Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell passed away on September 6th at the age of 87. Modell had gained infamy in the late 1990s for moving the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore after a protracted battle with the city of Cleveland over the stadium. The Browns returned to Cleveland in 1999 as an expansion team and ended up in the same division as the Ravens. In 2004, Modell sold most of his share in the Ravens to Maryland businessman Steve Biscotti.
NCAA FOOTBALL- After losing in a 41-32 track meet to the University of Miami Hurricanes at Chestnut Hill over Labor Day weekend, the Eagles played host to the Maine Black Bears.
Despite looking not particularly sharp with some fumbles in the early going and the Black Bears getting out to an early lead, the Eagles cruised to a 34-3 rout of Maine on Saturday. Eagles QB Chase Rettig went 16-32 with 219 yards, 3 TDs and no interceptions. The win beings BC's record to 1-1.
On Saturday, Boston College will travel to Chicago to take on the Northwest Wildcats who are currently undefeated. Kickoff is set for 3:30 ET.
ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- The UMASS Minutemen made their 'home' debut at Gilette stadium in Foxbourough, MA [on the opposite end of the state from their main Ahmerst, MA campus- NANESB!] against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday.
Indiana quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the 1st with a rushing TD from QB Tre Robertson. Although UMass responded with a sustained drive and rushing TD from quarterback Mike Wegzyn, the point after attempt was no good making it a 7-6 game. That would be as close as the Minutemen got as the Hoosiers rolled to an easy 45-6 over the MAC's newest team- this comes despite Tre Robinson having to be carted off the field early in the second quarter with a broken leg.
The Minutemen have an even steeper challenge before them this Saturday as they travel to the Big House in Ann Arbor to take on Michicgan [If this were a hockey game, I'd give Massachusetts even odds against Michigan- NANESB]- this is the second straight week UMass will face a Big Ten opponent
UCONN HUSKIES- The Huskies now sport a 1-1 record after coming up short in a low-scoring game at East Hartford against the North Carolina State Wolfpack. RB Lyle McCombs scored the Huskies lone touchdown fairly late in the game in the Wolfpack's 10-7 road win. On Saturday the Huskies will head to College Park, MD for their first road game of the season- taking on the Maryland Terrapins at 12:30 PM ET.
Believe it or not, there's a ballpark in there somewhere.
MLB- The defending World Series Champion St Louis Cardinals spoiled the opening game in the Miami Marlins new ballpark on Wednesday night.
Before a sellout crowd of 36,601, Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse had an early lead to work with a 2-RBI single from 3B David Freese in the 1st and another RBI single from SS Rafael Furcal in the 2nd inning to put the Cards up 3-0.
Lohse carried a no-hitter through 6 innings before Miami SS Jose Reyes led off the bottom of the 7th inning with a single to right field. The Marlins got on the board thanks to a John Buck RBI double, but that would be all Miami would get as the Cardinals would go on to win 4-1 in Miami's new park, their first regular season win without slugger Albert Pujols since losing him to free agency in the offseason.
RED SOX- The opening game stateside for the American League got underway on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park in a pitcher's duel between Boston's Jon Lester and Detroit's Justin Verlander.
Although Lester allowed four leadoff singles, he threw 6 shutout innings against the Tigers before Tigers catcher Alex Avila drove in Jhonny Peralta with an RBI double in the bottom of the 7th. Detroit would then take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 8th on a Prince Fielder sac fly.
Tigers closer Jose Valverde came on to close out the game but immediately gave up a leadoff single to Dustin Pedroia and moving to third on an Adrian Gonzalez single. Gonzalez was pulled for pinch-runner Darnell McDonald. The Red Sox then got on the board when David Ortiz drove home Pedroia on a sac fly to center field. After Youkilis struck out for the second out in the 9th, McDonald stole second base before Ryan Sweeney belted a triple deep to the right-field corner, driving in the tying run before Cody Ross grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.
With offseason acquisiton Andrew Bailey going on the DL for thumb surgery right at the end of Spring Training, the Red Sox bullpen was left in a state of flux. Mark Melancon came on in the bottom of the 9th for the Sox, and after getting the first out, gave up singles to Peralta and Avila before being pulled for Alfredo Aceves. Aceves hit the first batter he faced, sending Ramon Santiago to first an loading the bases. Austin Jackson then drove an Aceves offering past a diving Nick Punto for a walkoff single and 3-2 Tigers win at the season opener in Comerica Park.
In the wake of the turbulent offseason, Red Sox Nation took the news of the opening day loss in stride.
With the Rays, Yankees and Orioles not getting started until Friday and the Blue Jays winning on Thursday, the loss leaves the Red Sox in the AL East basement to start off the regular season. Jon Lester went 7 innings allowing 6 hits and 1 earned run while last year's Cy Young winner Justin Verlander went 8 shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out 7. Depsite the blown save, Valverde is credited with the win and Melancon gets the loss.
The two teams have Friday off, but will go back at it on Saturday, with Josh Beckett getting the start against Doug Fister. The game will get underway at 4:05 ET and will air on FOX.
ELSEWHERE IN THE AL EAST- It took 16 innings, but thanks to a blown save in the top of the 9th by Chris Perez and a 3-run homer by Jays catcher JP Arencibia in the top of the 16th, the Blue Jays won the longest opening day game in MLB history by a 7-4 final. The win, coupled with the Red Sox loss and Baltimore, Tampa Bay and the Yankees being idle puts the Jays into first place in the AL East.
NCAA HOOPS- Kentucky's 67-59 win over the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA title game for their 8th NCAA title was almost an afterthough as University of Kentucky Students rioted. At least one person was shot and there were a number of arson fires [including couches for some reason- NANESB!] in the Lexington, KY area immediately after the Monday night title game.
With the Jayhawks focused on Anthony Davis, Sophmore Doron Lamb had 22 points for the Wildcats in the Championship game. The win is the first NCAA title for former UMASS coach John Calipari.
ELSEWHERE IN NCAA HOOPS- In the NIT tournament, the UMASS Minutemen lost out to eventual champions Stanford in the semifinals by a 64-74 margin. The Stanford Cardinals would then go on to topple the Minnesota Golden Gophers by a 75-51 final in the NIT title game.
NHL- After a New York road trip that saw wins against the Rangers and Islanders followed by a home loss against the Penguins, the Bruins embarked on their final road game of the regular season up in Ottawa. Goalie Anton Khudobin was called up from Providence to make his Boston debut [but not his NHL debut- he had a couple of apprearences with Minnesota in 2009 and 2010- NANESB!]- a thumb injury last month prevented him from arriving in Boston, leaving the B's to pull Marty Turco- presently 2-2- from Austria after Tukka Rask was injured.
Khudobin got some offensive support early thanks to a Benoit Pouliot goal in the first and a rare Greg Zanon goal for Boston (his 3rd of the season) to build up a 2-0 advantage. Jason Spezza cut the Senators defecit in half late in the second. Boston would make it a 2 goal game once again with a Milan Lucic tally to make it a 3-1 Boston lead late in the 3rd, and that would be the final.
Khudobin stopped 44 of 45 shots faced while Ottawa's Ben Bishop would allow 3 goals on 27 shots faced. Both teams were 0-3 on the power play on Thursday Night.
For the regular season finale, the Bruins will host the Buffalo Sabres at the Garden on Saturday at 4:00 PM. After a late-season resurgence, the Sabres were eliminated from the playoffs with their Thursday night loss to Philadelphia. The game will be televised on NESN.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- The Washington Capitals secured the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers. Both Winnipeg and Buffalo were eliminated with the Washington win and Buffalo loss to Philly and a Winnipeg loss to the Islanders.
Out west, the playoff situation is a little tighter as the Los Angels Kings and San Jose Sharks jockey for position in the Pacific Division with a home and away series between the two teams to wrap up the regular season. The two teams are tied at 94 points on the season after the Sharks beat the kings 6-5 in a shootout in LA on Thursday night. The tie-breaker will take place in San Jose on Saturday night at 10:30 ET. With the Avalanche, Stars and Flames eliminated, the Phoenix Coyotes have wrapped up the 8th and final Western conference playoff spot.
NBA- Despite losing two games in a row, the Boston Celtics remain atop the Atlantic divison. On Wednesday, the Spurs managed to hold off the Celtics for an 87-86 win on Wednesday while the C's lost to the Bulls in the Windy City by an 86-93 final.
The Celtics will head on to Indianapolis to take on the Pacers Saturday night before returning to the Garden to take on the 76ers on Sunday.
NCAA HOCKEY- The Boston College Eagles punched their ticket to the NCAA Men's Hockey finals in a convincing fashion with a 6-1 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday night. After taking a 1-0 lead for the first, the Eagles exploded for 3 more goals from Kevin Hayes, Chris Kreider and Paul Carey in the 3rd to build up a 4-0 lead. Minnesota's lone goal came early in the 3rd, but Boston College responded with two more unanswered tallies for the 6-1 final.
The Eagles will face the Ferris State Bulldogs in the Finals on Saturday at 7:00 PM ET. The small Western Minnesota school got past Schenechtady, NY's Union College by a 3-1 final on Thursday. This is the first trip to the Frozen Four for both Ferris State and Union.
Petrino's reported mistress Jessica Dorrell in her Razorback volleyball days
NCAA FOOTBALL- University of Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino has been placed on administative leave by the University after an accident report from the Arkansas State Police contradicted his earlier public statements after he crashed his motorcycle over the weekend.
In public statements, the married 50 year old Petrino stated that he was alone when the crash took place in Madison county. However, the Arkansas State Police accident reports names 25 year old Jessica Dorrell as a passenger on Petrino's motorcycle. After the police report was made public, Petrino admitted to having a 'previous inappropriate relationship' with Dorrell.
A 2008 Arkansas graduate, Dorrell was a four time letter winner in the Razorbacks volleyball program and handled fundraising duties for the Razorback Foundation. Just last week, she was named student development coordinator for the football program, co-ordinating on campus recruitment and eligibility issues for incoming players. Dorell also has a fiancee who's the director of swimming operations for the Razorbacks [altho the Arkansas Razorbacks swimming & diving team page currently lists Megan Haskins as the director- NANESB].
Petrino arrived in Arkansas from the NFL after quitting in the final month of the Atlanta Falcons 2007 NFL season. The Razorback football program has had winning seasons for three of the last four years and have been invited to the Liberty, Sugar and Cotton Bowls under Petrino.
Although the regular season actually began with the Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners splitting a 2-game Series in Japan's Tokyo Dome last week, the regular season in the USA (and Canada) gets underway tonight when the new-look Marlins host the defending World Series Champion St Louis Cardinals in their brand new downtown Miami Ballpark.
Unlike the Mariners/A's series in Tokyo, the Marlins home opener will be broadcast at a reasonable hour (7:05 PM ET; 4:05 PM PT) on a network that most people get (ESPN). Miami's Josh Johnson is slated to get the start while the Cards' Kyle Lohse takes the mound for the defending World Series Champions.
Oddly enough, this will be a 1-game series, as the Marlins will depart for Cincinnati for the Reds home opener on Thursday afternoon while the Cardinals travel to Milwaukee for the Brewers home opener on Friday.
Even though there will be more games played on Thursday, it's still not quite a full slate. There will be exactly two American league games on Thursday afternoon- one of them will be the Detroit Tigers hosting the Red Sox. The Bobby Valentine era officially begins in the motor city as Jon Lester is scheduled to get the start going up against 2011 Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander.
Both teams were the subject of considerable attention in the offseason- Boston for firing manager Terry Francona and losing closer Jonathan Papelbon to free agency and the Tigers for signing one of the biggest-name free agents out there this offseason; former Milwaukee Brewers slugger Prince Fielder.
The other American League game on Thursday features the Cleveland Indian hosting the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field. Helmed by former Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell, Toronto had amassed an impressive 23-7 record in Spring Training, although Thursday's contest will show if any of that translates into success in the regular season.
This is the time for brash preditions and unbirdled optimism- where even the long-suffering fans of teams like Kansas City or Pittsburgh can start off with a clean slate.
After what seems like an eternity, that glorious day (where even the Pittsburgh Pirates or Kansas City Royals sport a perfect record) has arrived. With the bunting draped, the aroma of peanuts and popcorn wafting through the stands, kids of all ages playing hooky, and distant voices relaying the goings on at the ballpark on a crackling AM signal to listeners hundreds of miles away, America's pasttime gets underway with joy and anticipation- tempered by a cautious optimism- in the hearts of fans everywhere.
Now it seems as though there's nothing left to do but sit back and enjoy this most wonderful time of year.
Well now- not to seem like I'm dogpiling or anything, but I couldn't let this pass without comment (plus it gives me a chance to see if the video embedding works). If the man wasn't pursuing a job-killing legislative agenda and telegraphing weakness to America's enemies while kicking our allies in the teeth, I'd almost feel sorry for President Obama after this ceremonial 1st pitch:
How appropraite- Soaring wildly to the left with rapid speed before coming crashing back down to earth well off-target- even though the media assured us that we would likely see a blazing fastball right down the middle.
I should expect nothing less from a graduate of the William Ayers and Jerimiah Wright Baseball Academy, where they sing 'God Damn America' during the 7th inning stretch.
The last time I saw a pitch that bad, Kevin Youkilis came sprinting in from 3rd base on Sunday night.
After much buzz and anticipation, the Red Sox and Yankees opened up the 2010 MLB season with a night game at Fenway on Easter. Pero Martinez was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to the home crowd's delight, and for awhile it appeared as though the Sox could use him back in uniform.
Opening night's pitching matchup put Red Sox ace Josh Beckett against the Yankee's CC Sabathia. Neither pitcher allowed a baserunner in the respective 1st inning of work. However, the Yankees would take a 2-0 lead on solo home runs by Jorge Posada and offseason acquisition Curtis Granderson in the 2nd inning. The Sox managed to cut that lead in half when Kevin Youkilis doubled, Big Papi grounded out to 1st (moving Youk to 3rd) and Adrian Beltre got his first RBI as a member of the Red Sox on a sac-fly to deep center field.
However, New York managed to pad that lead when Beckett gave up a pair of RBI singles in the 4th to Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter. Then, Brett Gardner sprinted home from 3rd on a double steal as Victor Martinez didn't bother checking the runner at third while trying to throw Jeter out while running from 1st to 2nd. That made it 5-1 Yankees and the home crowd restless. It was looking like one of those deals where one would try and reassure anybody who's willing to listen by with the boilerplate 'It's OK- it's only one game......can't win 'em all' to try and take some of the sting out of getting spanked by one's detested arch-rivals live on National TV. Beckett only lasted 4 & 2/3rds innings before he was pulled, giving way to Scott Schoenweis who was signed barely a week ago. However, things weren't going to be much easier for Sabathia. The Red Sox were able to chip away at the Yankee's lead in the bottom of the 5th when Marco Scuatro's single drove in JD Drew with two away.
Sabathia continued showing signs of wearing down and in the bottom of the 6th, he walked Dustin Peroia had Victor Martinez to double off of him before Youkilis tripled, driving in the two baserunners before being relieved by David Robertson.
The Yankees would re-take the lead when Ramon Ramierez would give up two hits and a walk, only logging one out in his appearence. HidekiOkajima would come on and the two inherited runners would score- Mark Teixera on a Robinson Canogroundout to first and A-Rod on a Posada single- to put New York back up 7-5.
But bound and determined to make anybody who shut off the game when the score was still 5-1 Yankees kick themselves the following day, Chan Ho Park came on in relief of Robertson to start off the bottom frame of the 7th. Marco Scutaro got things started with a single, and after Ellsbry struck out, Dustin Pedroia planted one in the bottom rows of the Monster seats to tie the game at 7-7. Youkilis would double to center field off of Park before Park was yanked for Damasomarte. Youk would advance to 3rd on a wild pitch and then score on a passed ball to put the Red Sox up 8-7.
Daniel Bard had a relatively smooth outing in relief for the Sox, getting the first two batters he faced out in the top of the 8th before walking Nick Johnson. Randy Winn came on to pinch run for Johnson, but was out at second when Teixera grounded into a fielder's choice to end the top half of the 8th.
The Red Sox would go on to add an insurance run off of pinstriped headhunter ChokeJoba Chamberlain when Mike Cameron had a 1-out single and went home on Pedroia's single to make it 9-7 in the bottom of the 8th.
Fresh from ESPN reminding us how Jonathan Papelbon closed out the 2009 playoffs, Papelbon came on in the top of the 9th to close out the first game of 2010 for Boston. The Red Sox closer got A-Rod to ground out to 3rd pretty quickly, then had Robinson Cano fly out to center before giving up a single to Posada. Before anybody could say 'Ruhroh!' he got Curtis Granderson to ground out to 3rd.
It wasn't pretty for much of the time, but it was good for a 9-7 win and first place in the AL East. Okajima is credited with the win, Park gets hung with the loss and Paps is a perfect 1:1 in save opportunities. Interesting stat I caught after the game- offseason free-agent pickups Mike Cameron, Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro were a combined 5 for 9 with 3 RBIs Sunday night. These are 3 guys Epstein said the Sox were signing for their defense, so I guess anything else is a nice little bonus then.
Even if we went with the NHL's 'Three stars' deal, it would be hard to narrow down tonight's stars to just three. Dustin Pedroia was 2-4 with 3 RBI, two runs, a home run, a walk and a strikeout. Kevin Youkilis was 3-4 with three runs, three hits and two RBI. I was pleasantly surprised by Schoenweiss' outing as well, although Adrian Beltre would probably get the (hypothetical) 3rd star for his 2-RBI evening.
Pretty good debut for Beltre, Scutaro and Cameron tonight. Both teams won't play again until Tuesday night with AJ Burnett starting for the pinstripes and Jon Lester taking to the bump for the BoSox.
Other Red Sox News: The Red Sox placed pitcher BoofBonser on the 15-day DL with a right groin strain retroactive to March 26th. Bonser may be optioned to AAA Pawtucket once he comes off the DL.
DaisukeMatsuzaka was also placed on the DL with a neck strain in order to make room for Scott Schoenweis on the opening day roster. RHPJunichiTazawa is expected to have season-ending ligament surgery on his elbow next week as well.
NBA: Wow....could somebody please explain this to me? The C's basically couldn't buy a win against the Rockets or Oklahoma City all last week, yet somehow blow a 22-point lead against the best team in the NBA and still manage to hang on for the win? I'm still trying to figure that one out.
Sounds like quite the roller-coaster I missed while I was out doing family-type stuff for Easter. LeBron was pretty busy at the Garden this Easter, scoring 42 points and with 7 rebounds on the day. None of the Cavs other starters even broke past the 20-point mark today, and James was 0-9 from 3 point range. Cleveland scored 23 of the first 28 points in the 4th quarter, which resulted in them taking their first lead of the game at 104-103 with just under 3 minutes remaining in regulation. However, James missed some pivotal free-throws in the final minute of regulation and decided to try for the three point attempt instead of passing to an open Antwan Jamison to tie the game at 2 with time expiring. The Celtics wound up escaping with the 117-113 win at the Garden.
Ray Allen had a good day for Boston- his best as a Celtic, as a matter of fact- with 33 points, 3 rebounds and hitting 6 out of 9 attempted 3 pointers and going 7 for 7 from the free throw line. Kevin Garnett, when he wasn't exchanging words with LeBron, had 19 points on the day, 8 rebounds and was 9 of 10 from the free throw line. Kendrick Perkins had 10 points and as many rebounds for the afternoon.
The Celtics will take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.
NFL:Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins ESPN announced Sunday night. The Redskins are reportedly giving up a 2nd round pick in this years draft and a third or fourth round pick in the 2011 draft for McNabb's services.
Seemingly in the blink of an eye, the focal point for Fenway Park has gone from the Winter Classic on New Year's Day to baseball's opening night. The fact that I cannot physically be there does not diminish my enthusiasm for tonight's home opener for the Red Sox.
And whichever team you root for, I hope you're feeling the same sense of anticipation tempered with cautious optimism that I am right now. Opening Day is finally here- one can almost taste it.
