Don't Cry For Me Argentina Sports Chowdah Update- Germany Bests Gauchos For 4th World Cup Title; Jeter Take A Bow, Yankees Shortstop Goes 2-2 In Final All-Star Appearence.

WORLD CUP- Seems as though this year's FIFA tournament flew right by....not that I'm a huge fan of 'the beautiful game', but that's not to say attractive, scantily clad women with little more than paint representing the colors on the flag of their homeland on their bodies are without merit.

After humiliating host nation Brazil in the semifinals, Germany advanced to face Argentina in the final game of the 2014 World Cup final. Unlike the contest against Brazil, this was a low-scoring affair that went to a scoreless tie after 90 minutes and sending the game into extra time.

However, the only goal of the game would come in the 113th minute as Mario Goetze got one past Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero to give Germany a 1-0 lead- a lead Germany wouldn't relinquish in the remaining time.

The win gives the Germans their first World Cup title in nearly 24 years and their fourth since 1954. To put it in some historic perspective, the last time Germany won the FIFA World Cup, they were listed as 'West Germany'. This is also the 3rd straight World Cup title for a European team with Spain winning it in 2010 and Italy winning the 2006 World Cup.

Interestingly, there was an odd dynamic in play prior to the final where the Brazilian hosts were rooting for the Germans, despite the hugely lopsided 7-1 win over Brazil in the semifinals. While the Germans were most inhospitable on the pitch, the fans and players were reportedly courteous and gracious guests while in Brazil- German midfielder Mesut Ozil used his World Cup earnings to pay for 23 Brazilian children to undergo surgery. On the other hand, Argentina and Brazil are archrivals and Argentine fans reportedly did not miss an opportunity to taunt their Brazilian hosts with chants of "Brazil- how does it feel now that daddy's home?" and boasting that they would take the World Cup back home with them. That turned out not to be the case, although it ended up being a much closer game than the semifinals.

As for the host nation, they managed to get shut out by the Dutch by a 3-0 final during the consolation game. Over the final two games of the tournament, Brazil was outscored by a combined 10-1 and the loss against Germany in the semifinal was the worst since 1920 when they were shut out by Uruguay by a 6-0 final.

MLB ALL STAR GAME- In a mid-summer classic that was light on Red Sox, Derek Jeter and Mike Trout were the ones in the limelight in the Twin Cities as the American League managed to best the National League by a 5-3 final on Tuesday.

Adam Wainwright started out for the National League and promptly gave up a leadoff double to Derek Jeter before Mike Trout belted a triple to bring the Yankees SS home and put the AL up 1-0. After Wainwright got Cano to strike out, he surrendered a homer to Miguel Cabrera to put the AL up 3-0 before getting Nelson Cruz and Jose Bautista out.

However, Jon Lester would come on in the top of the 2nd and after getting Giancarlo Stanton to pop out, he allowed a single to Aramis Ramirez before Chase Utley and Jonathan Lucroy belted back-to-back RBI doubles to make it a 3-2 game. However, Lester was able to escape any further damage by getting Carlos Gomez to pop up in foul territory and getting Andrew McCutchen to fly out to center field.

In the top of the 4th, Chris Sale would come on in relief of Yu Darvish and after getting the first two outs would end up hitting Chase Utley with a pitch before giving up a deep RBI double to LuCroy to tie the contest up at 3-3.

The score remained that way until the 5th when Trout hit a 1-out RBI double with runners on first and second before Jose Altuve hit a sac fly to make it a 5-1 game.

The AL bullpen, which included Koji Uehara, made sure that lead held up as Twins closer Glen Perkins came in and got the last three batters he faced out in the 9th inning.

The American League goes on to win by a 5-3 final, ensuring that whoever wins the AL pennant later on this year will start out with home field advantage in the World Series. In his final All-Star appearance, Derek Jeter went 2-2 and scored a run while Mike Trout went 2-3 with 2 RBI and was named the All Star Game's MVP while Max Scherzer was named the winning pitcher. For the National League, Jonathan LuCroy went 2-2 with 2 RBI.

BOSTON RED SOX- After splitting a 4-game series with the White Sox at Fenway last week, the Red Sox travelled to Houston where they managed to take two out of three from the Astros- including an 11-0 shutout of Houston on the final game before the All Star Break.

Clay Buchholz [4-5; 4.52 ERA] got the start on Sunday's romp in Houston and boasted 12 Ks in a complete game effort that saw him allow only 3 hits. He will get the start again when the Red Sox return to Fenway on Friday night to take on the Kansas City Royals to kick off the second half of the season, who are currently sitting at second place in the AL Central. James Shields [9-5; 3.65 ERA] is expected to start for Kansas City and the game will be televised on NESN with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 ET.

Turkish Protests Enter Fifth Day Despite Police Attempts at Crackdown

Protests resumed at an Istanbul park after the country's deputy prime minister issued a conditional official apology over the heavy-handed police attempts to disperse the crowd last week. The demonstrations, which appeared to have caught the ruling government of Recip Tayyan Edrogan off guard, represent the first serious challenge to Erdogan's authority since his taking office nearly a decade ago.

In a decade at the helm, Erdogan has become the most powerful Turkish leader in generations, overseeing a remarkable economic transformation of his nation and making Turkey a much more assertive player in international affairs and a key U.S. ally.

But Erdogan has lost a bit of swagger at home since he visited Washington last month and failed in his very public efforts to persuade President Obama to send more military aid to Syrian opposition forces. Widespread condemnation of violence by government security forces in Taksim Square stands to chasten Erdogan further, analysts said.

On Tuesday, Turkey's largest trade-union confederation announced a two-day general strike as more protests spread throughout the country. The strike is expected to affect schools and universities along with select government offices throughout Turkey as Erdogan went ahead with a previously scheduled state visit to Morocco.

The protest and clashes began last week when peaceful demonstrators gathered in Istanbul's Gezei Park. The park itself was slated to be razed so that a new shopping center could be built, part of a massive construction boom in Istanbul that has seen a number of historic buildings demolished to make way for newer residential and retail spaces as well as construction firms closely allied with Erdogan's government being awarded lucrative contracts. The plans also reportedly call for the demolition of the nearby Ataturk Cultural Center and historic Ottoman-era military barracks. Fans of Istanbul's three soccer teams- considered despised rivals under the best of circumstances- donned their respective team colors and joined protestors in the park while taunting police in riot gear.

"Go on spray, go on spray, spray your pepper gas. Take off your helmets, put down your truncheons and let's see who's the tough guy," sang the fans, taunting police with a Besiktas chant which has become popular with the demonstrators.

There are tales of Galatasaray fans coming to the aid of Fenerbahce supporters trapped by the police, or of fans rushing down the hill from Taksim to the aid of rival supporters in the nearby Besiktas district on the shores of the Bosphorus.

"We are normally enemies, but this has really brought us together. It's never happened before," said university student Mert Gurses, 18, wearing a black-and-white Besiktas scarf and chatting with friends near the fish market in Besiktas.

It is a remarkable transformation in mood among fans more usually soured with animosity which sometimes spills into violence, tainting the image of Turkish football.

Just three weeks ago, a Fenerbahce fan was stabbed to death at an Istanbul bus stop by someone wearing a red-and-yellow Galatasaray shirt after an end-of-season derby match.

Some municipalities have also reportedly have refused to provide water to police vehicles- specifically the riot controlled vehicles called TOMAs. Images and video of uniformed police in riot gear striking unarmed demonstrators- some of whom were already subdued and handcuffed- with truncheons and fists circulating online have only served to galvanize the opposition.

While there has been opposition to Erdogan in the past, it has been mostly fragmented. Despite Erdogan and his allies being caught off guard by the protests and public backlash against the government's handling of the demonstrators in the park, the Turkish PM has enjoyed support from about 50% of the population until fairly recently. A number of Turks say that recent legislation restricting alcohol sales and lowering the age at which school children could enroll in Islamic madrasas show that Erdgoan's government is moving towards a gradual Islamicization of Turkey, despite safeguards in the nation's constitution preventing exactly that happening.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brendan McDermid/Reuters photo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Summertime Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Snap Skid Vs Minnesota, Corral Rangers; USA's Phelps Set for Golden Retirement;

RED SOX- This past week has pretty much personified the 2012 Red Sox- with the struggling club taking two out of three from the Yankees or the Detroit Tigers, but dropping the first three of a four game series to the Minnesota Twins- who aren't quite in the basement of the AL Central, but certainly sitting on the basement steps.

After getting shut out 5-0 in the series opener on Thursday and blowing a 5-1 lead on Friday's 6-5 loss, the Red Sox made it three in a row with Saturday's 6-4 loss. On Sunday, the Red Sox got out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a Carl Crawford RBI groundout and an Adrian Gonzalez RBI single in the bottom of the 3rd.

The Twins would get a run back in the top of the 3th on a Ben Revere RBI sac fly to cut Boston's lead in half, but the Red Sox would add to their lead thanks to a 2-run Adrian Gonzalez homer in the bottom half of the inning to make it 4-1 Boston.

The Red Sox would add to their lead with a Cody Ross single in the bottom of the 7th and a Jacoby Ellsbury RBI sac-fly in the bottom of the 8th.

As it turned out, Boston would need those insurance runs as Vincente Padilla led off the top of the 9th by allowing a solo homer to Josh Willingham, followed by a walk to Justin Morneau before giving up a homer to Ryan Doumit to cut the Twins defecit to 6-4. Alfredo Aceves came out to relieve Padilla and got the next three batters out to end the ballgame and halt the Red Sox losing streak at four games.

Franklin Morales went six complete innings for the Red Sox, allowing just three hits, one earned run and striking out four batters. Gonzalez went 2 for 3 with a homer and 3 RBI and Aceves came out for his 23rd save of the season.

On Monday night, the Red Sox hosted the Texas Rangers. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, the Red Sox began to get to Texas starter Yu Darvish, taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to RBI doubles from Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. The Red Sox would then add to their lead in the bottom of the 4th on an RBI double from Jacoby Ellsbury, a Carl Crawford sac fly and RBI double from Dustin Pedroia, making it a 5-1 lead.

Steven Senne/AP

After David Murphy got to Aaron Cook for an RBI single in the top of the second, Cook threw five shutout innings before handing things over to Junichi Tazawa in the 8th while the Red Sox continued roughing up both Darvish and the Rangers bullpen, getting one run in the bottom of the 7th and three more in the bottom of the 8th.

Although Tazawa allowed a leadoff solo homer to former Red Sox 3B Adrian Beltre, followed by a Nelson Cruz single, Tazawa would get the next three batters in order and the Red Sox would go on to win convincingly by a 9-2 final.

Adrian Gonzalez would go 3-5 with 3 RBI while Carl Crawford would go 2-4 with 3 RBI and Dustin Pedroia would go 3-4 with an RBI. Aaron Cook went 7 complete innings allowing six hits, three walks and one earned run.

For Tuesday night, Jon Lester [5-9; 5.36 ERA] gets the start against Ryan Dempster[5-5; 2.82 ERA]. In his Rangers debut, Dempster only lasted four and two thirds innings against the Angels, allowng eight earned runs on nine hits. The game gets underway at 7:10 PM Eastern time and will be broadcast on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- With the trade dealing having come and gone, the Red Sox mostly stood pat on July 31st. The did send outfielder Scott Podsednik and RHP Matt Albers to Arizona for reliever Craig Breslow and sent 1B Lars Anderson to Cleveland for RHP Steven Wright.

Josh Beckett left after pitching less than 3 innings in Tuesday night's game against the Detroit Tigers. Although he wasn't placed on the DL, he missed his next scheduled start on Sunday and is expected to go back onto the mound on Wednesday afternoon's game against the Rangers.

DH David Ortiz, out of action since July 16, is still reportedly sore from an achilles strain. Manager Bobby Valentine is uncertain when Ortiz will be returning to the starting lineup.

MLB TRADE DEADLINE- Although the Phillies broke the bank to keep starting pitcher Cole Hammels in the city of brotherly love earlier in July, two-thirds of their outfield were gone by the trade deadline last week.

The Phillies had sent outfielder Shane Victorino to the LA Dodgers in exchange for relief pitcher Josh Lindblom and minor league pitcher Ethan Martin while Hunter Pence went to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for outfielder Nate Schierholtz, minor league pitcher Seth Rosin and catching prospect Tommy Joseph.

Meanwhile, in the American league, the Texas Rangers won the Ryan Dempster sweepstakes, sending minor league infielder Christian Villanueva and pitcher Kyle Hendricks to the Cubs. Dempster had reportedly vetoed a proposed trade with the Atlanta Braves while the Dodgers and Yankees had reportedly sought the services of the 35 year old right handed starter.

NFL- The 29 year old son of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid has been found dead in a dormitory room at the team's preseason facilities at Lehigh University.

Police said the death was not suspicious, and the cause was under investigation. The coach's oldest son had a long history of drug problems, once admitting "I liked being a drug dealer" and went to prison for a heroin-fueled car crash.

Owner Jeffery Lurie met with the team Sunday and told reporters afterward he expected Reid back this week. The Eagles host Pittsburgh in their preseason opener on Thursday night.

The police chief at Lehigh, Edward Shupp, said a 911 call was made at 7:20 a.m. about Reid, and that the 29-year-old was dead when a policeman arrived at the campus dormitory. The police and Northampton County coroner were investigating.

Reid had been staying at the camp where he assisted the Eagles' strength coaches at camp in an unofficial capacity, a not-uncommon sort of role for NFL coaches' sons. He was frequently seen on the sideline at practices and in the locker room after games. Many of the coaches and staff stay in the Lehigh dorms.

Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo and Offensive coordiantor Marty Mornhinweg will take over coaching duties from Reid until he's expected to return to the team on Thursday.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- After beating the Arizona Cardinals 17-10 in the Hall of Fame Game on Sunday, the New Orleans Saints will next take on the Patriots on Thursday night in NFL Preseason action.

-38 year old free agent WR Terrel Owens has reportedly reached an agreement with the Seattle Seahawks after a tryout at the team's Renton, WA training camp.

Owens last played for the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2010 season, catching 72 passes for 983 yards and nine TDs.

SUMMER OLYMPICS- American swimmer Michael Phelps has capped off his career by becoming the winningest Olympic athelete in the history of the modern games. Phelps had already come into the games tying American swimmer Mark Spitz for total Olympic medals won after Phelps had won during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Despite the slow start earlier in the London Games, Phelps won silver as part of the 4 X 100m freestyle relay and the individual 200m butterfly. Interstingly, the previous record holder for winning the total number of Olympic medals- a 77 year old Ukranian named Larisa Latynina who was a gymnast for the Soviet Union between 1956 and 1964- was present for Phelp's race when he broke her record; Latynina had reportedly offered to present Phelps with the silver medal herself, but that was reportedly against Olympic regulations to do so.

Less than 48 hours later, Phelps won the 16th and 17th gold medal of his Olympic career after edging out rival and team USA teammate Ryan Lochte in the 200m individual medley event and then the 100m butterfuly- his last individual event.

Heading into the London Summer Games, Phelps had stated that he would call it a career after the Olympics. With that in mind, the final event Phelps would be participating in would be the 4 X 100M medley relay in which Phelps and Team USA took gold.

Between the 2004 Athens games, the 2008 Beijing Olympiad and this year's London Olympics, Phelps retires with 18 gold medals, two bronze and two silvers. Phelps also holds a world record in the 100m and 200m butterfly event and 400m individual medley.

ELSEWHERE IN OLYMPIC SWIMMING- It isn't just Phelps who's having a good Olympics at the pool. Dana Vollmer, Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni and Allison Schmidt brought home the gold for Team USA in record breaking fashion for Team USA in the women's 4 X 100m individual medley relay, clocking in at a new world record of 3:52.05. Overall, The USA women's swimming team has won 8 gold medals, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals in the individual and relay events in London.

OLYMPIC BASKETBALL- After surviving a late scare from Lithuania in which Team USA went on to hold on for a 99-94 win over the dimunitive former Soviet republic, the all-star American team would go on to face Agrentina- gold medalists in the 2004 Olympics.

After a back-and forth first half in which the USA went to the locker room with a 60-59 lead, the USA came out dominant in the second half- outscoring Argentina 42-17 in the 3rd quarter alone. Team USA would go on to win by a final of 126-97; Kevin Durant lead the scoring with 28 points. Things got testy in the 2nd half when Carmello Anthony took a knee to to the groin from Argentina when it was becoming apparent that Team USA was running away with it.

The Americans will face the Australian team next, with the match scheduled for Wednesday.

OLYMPIC SHOOTING- The USA has swept the skeet shooting events by taking gold in the men's skeet event.

After USA Shooting teammate Kimberly Rhode made history by becoming the first Olympian to win medals in five consecutive Olympics, United States Army Sgt Vincent Hancock took the gold in the men's skeet shooting event. The 23-year old was by far the yongest in the qualifying round and had hit a record-setting 123 out of 125 targets in the qualifying round.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL- The USA Women's volleyball team remains undefeated through the 2012 Olympics. On Tuesday, they swept the Dominican Republic team 3 sets to none to advance to the semifinals. Destinee Hooker again figured prominently in the win with 19 points for Team USA in the 25-14, 25-21 and 25-22 sweep of the Dominican Republic.

In the preliminary round, the USA women's team have bested South Korea, China, Brazil, Turkey and Serbia. The women will now await the winner of the Italy/South Korea match later on Tuesday to see who they will play next.

WOMEN'S SOCCER- The USA Women's Soccer team advances to the gold medal round to face the Japanese women's team in a rematch of last year's World Cup.

They had to rally against the upstart Canadian women's team on Monday- not only did Christine Sinclair get Canada on the board first, she accounted for all three of Canada's goals. The USA was able to tie the contest up on two goals from Megan Rapinoe and another from Abby Wambach to force extra time with Alex Morgan getting the Game winner for USA at the 120th minute for the 4-3 win.

Catch Of the Day- Soccer Ball and Volleyball Washed Ashore on Alaskan Beach May Be First Salvageable Debris From 2011 Tsunami

Japanese Beach Volleyball star Miwa Asao- probably NOT the rightful owner of the volleyball that washed ashore in Alaska this month, but worth a look nonetheless.

Remember that derelict Japanese fishing vessel that was washed out to sea during the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that the US Coast Guard sank off the Alaskan coast earlier this month? Many experts predicted it would be the first of many items to show up off the western coast of the USA and Canada after a substantial debris field made up of boats, buoys, vehicles and battered structures began forming in the Pacific Ocean after the catastrophic disaster that struck north-eastern Japan.

Turns out they were right, although not all of the items showing up in the waters off of Alaska and British Columbia are the size of the Ryou Un Maru.

An Alaska man beachcoming on Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska southeast of the Kenai Peninsula found a soccer ball with Japanese script on it back in March.

Dave and Yumi Baxter displaying their Catch of the Day

David Baxter, a radar technician, told the AP by e-mail that when he first saw the ball, he immediately thought it might've come from the tsunami zone.

Baxter's wife, who is Japanese, was able to translate some of the messages written on the ball and with the help of a Japanese reporter was able to identify the soccer ball's owner as 16 year old Misaki Murakami.

Murakami, from the town of Rikuzentakata, is surprised and thankful the soccer ball has been found more than 3,000 miles away.

“It was a big surprise. I’ve never imagined that my ball has reached Alaska,” Murakami told public broadcaster NHK. “I’ve lost everything in the tsunami. So I’m delighted,” he said. “I really want to say thank you for finding the ball.”
He was particularly glad because all furniture and sentimental items in his home had been washed away in the March 11, 2011, tsunami.

The ball, which also had messages of encouragement written on it, was given to him in 2005, when Murakami was in third grade, as a goodbye gift when he transferred to another school.

Two weeks later, Baxter said had discovered a volleyball washed ashore on the same island. NHK reproted that the owner been tenatively identified as a 19 year old girl from Iwate perfecture.

The Baxters say they plan on travelling to Japan in May to return the balls to their rightful owners, although they said they were reluctant to visit Murakami directly, claiming they didn't want to raise too much of a commotion.

Although both the Ryou Un Maru and a number of basketball-sized buoys thought to be from Japanese oyster farms have turned up on shore or off the Alaskan coast, the NOAA belives this is the first instance of debris from the Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami showing up in American waters and being returned to the rightful owners in Japan.

Quickie Weekday Sports Chowdah Update: Welcome to Seidenberg; Cleveland Nearly Rocks C's Again; Tigers Crown A Prince; 74 Dead in Egyptian Soccer Riot

BRUINS: The second half of the Bruins 2011-2012 campaign got underway at the Garden Tuesday night when they played host to the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night.

Despite a 3-game losing streak heading into the All-Star break, the Senators had closed to within a few points of the Bruins in the Northeastern conference standings, raising the stakes for the B's home game against a divisional opponent.

This was also Tim Thomas' first start in net since opting out of a team visit to the White House before the All-Star break- Tukka Rask was between the pipes for their 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals in the last game before the All-Star break.

Former Senator Zdeno Chara looked every bit the Fastest Shot winner from the All Star skills competition when he drilled the puck past goalie Craig Anderson and into the back of the net all the way from the blue line to give Boston the 1-0 lead on a power play goal at the 8:02 mark in the first.

The Senators' Colin Greening would get the equalizer with 1:20 remaining in the first to send both teams into their locker rooms with the game tied 1-1 at the 1st intermission.

The Bruins would have some chances early in the second, but fail to capitalize. As the period went on, the Senators were successfully able to pressure the Bruins and keep the puck on the B's end of the ice. This resulted in the Sens taking a 3-1 lead on goals from Erik Karlsson and Kyle Turris before the Bruins were able to make it a 1-goal game thanks to a Milan Lucic goal in the final minute of the 2nd period.

A little over 2 minutes into the 3rd, Brad Marchand would get the game-tying goal to make it 3-3 on another Boston power play. Then, not to be outdone by Chara's early goal from the blueline, 7 minutes into the 3rd Dennis Seidenberg shot the puck towards the Ottawa net from center ice. While it lacked Chara's velocity, it seemed to have the movement of a Tim Wakefield knuckleball and got by Craig Anderson to make it 4-3 Boston.

Lucic had a glorious opportunity to pad the Boston lead at a little over 10 minutes into the 3rd period, but Anderson was able to get a glove on Lucic's breakaway shot from near point-blank range [perhaps if Lucic had attempted the shot from center ice or the blue line....just sayin' -NANESB!].

Boston hangs on to win their first game afer the All-Star break by a 4-3 final, putting some distance between themselves and 2nd place Ottawa in the process. Tim Thomas had 30 saves on 33 shots faced while Craig Anderson allowed 4 goals out of the 30 shots he faced. There were no power-play opportunities for the Senators, meaning all of their goal Tuesday night were even-strength. The Bruins, however, scored twice on their 4 power play opportunities Tuesday night.

The B's will next play host to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. The game gets underway at 7:00 PM ET and will be televised on the NHL Network/

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: The Montreal Gazette has retracted a column in which writer Jack Todd accused the Bruins goalie of being motivated by racism in his decision to opt out of the White House luncheon for the team.

“What’s worse, you know Thomas would not have done this with the liberal Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House,” Todd wrote. “Truth is, he felt free to dis Barack Obama, because Obama is black.”

[Wow! That's highly original and groundbreaking! Accusing somebody who doesn't like President Obama's policies of raaaaacism- I don't think I've heard of somebody doing that since....whaat time is it? I guess...noon-ish NANESB!]

Perhaps I wasn't paying attention, but last I heard not even Thomas' harshest critics in the USA decided to venture down that particular path of cheap-shottery. Memo to petulant, Vietnam-era draft-dodger Jack Todd- giving President Barack Hussein Obama a pass on his numerous and collossal fuck-ups simply because of his skin color is about as racist as planting a burning cross in somebody's yard [only not as overtly racist- NANESB!].

The Montreal Gazette eventually pulled that one sentence from Todd's column after determining Todd offered zero evidence to back up such an incendiary claim [of course, that never stopped a progressive journalist before. Or perhaps I'm being paranoid; I mean it's not like there's a history of liberal journalists getting together to coordinate how to present progressive politicians and policies in the best possible light while colluding on how best to assail conservatives or anything- NANESB!].

CELTICS: The Boston Celtics are now a .500 team after Tuesday night's road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Although unlike their collapse at the Garden on Sunday where they allowed 12 unanswered points towards the end of the 4th quarter, the C's managed to survive another late rally from the Cavs. In the 4th quarter on Tuesday night, Cleveland managed to trim a 22 point deficit to just 2 points- although Boston would hang on to win by a final of 93-90.

Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass had 13 points each [with Bass coming off the bench with and getting 6 rebounds as well- NANESB!] while Paul Pierce had 20 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists on the night.

After Tuesday night's game, the C's will travel home to take on the 7-15 Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. Game gets underway at 7:30 PM ET and will be televised on Comcast Sports New England.

RED SOX: The Red Sox have signed free-agent pitchers Vincente Padilla and John Maine to minor league contracts.

Padilla most recently pitched in the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen and had a 4.15 ERA with 5 holds in 2011. Maine's most recent MLB experience was with the 2010 Mets where he went 9-9 with a 4.35 ERA. In 2011 he signed a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies and went 1-3 with a 7.43 ERA in 11 starts while playing for the Rockie's AAA affiiate in Colorado Springs.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: The Detroit Tigers have signed one of the marquee free agents of the offseason. Former Milwaukee Brewers 1B Prince Fielder has finalized a 9-year $214 million contract with the Tigers and was introduced in a press conference this week.

During the Brewers 2011 campaign, Fielder batted .299 with 38 home runs and 120 RBI. A number of teams, including the Marlins, Rangers and Nationals, considered themselves in the running to sign the power-hitting son of 1B/DH Cecil Fielder, who's big league career spanned the mid-1980s to late 1990s and included six seasons in Detroit.

SOCCER: More than 70 people were reported dead in a riot that broke out after a soccer game in Port Said, Egypt.

Fans of the home Al-Masry club swarmed the field after their upset 3-1 win over the top-ranked Egytian team, Al-Ahly. A melee broke out where Al-Masry fans began throwing rocks and sticks at the players and fans of the Al-Alhy club, Many of the dead were said to have been caught up in the ensuing stampeded as Al-Alhy fans made their way towards the exit.

London Burns In Third Straight Night of Rioting

Rioters in London clashed with police, looted shops and torched parked cars on Monday night, three days after officers from London's Metropolitan Police shot and killed an armed black gang leader in the Tottenham area.

At least 225 rioters were arrested over the weekend and on Monday. Scenes of lawlessness played out across the city, starting in the Tottenahm and Wood Green areas. Balaclava-clad looters, many of them believed to be black or East Asian gang members as well as white anarchists, began torching police cars and buses a few hours after a vigil for 29 year old Mark Duggan, the suspected gang leader fatally shot by police.

With police and firefighters busy attempting to disperse the rioters and put out the fires they set, looters used Blackberries to coordinate their next move and help themselves to cellphones, cigarettes, flat screen TV's, alcohol and jewelry from stores that were shuttered for the evening.

Sony's UK Distribution Center in Enfield was also hit by looters and arsonists. Eyewitnesses reported seeing about hooded men leaving the warehouse before the fire took hold. The building partially collapsed in the blaze and a nearby hotel was evacuated. Police in London also ordered two League Cup matches set to take place on Tuesday to be postponed, while a friendly match between the English team and Holland is in doubt for Wednesday.

By late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, the unrest had spread to elsewhere in England with reports of arson and looting in Birmingham and Liverpool.

Fomer London Mayor 'Red Ken' Livingston reportedly had this to say when interviewed by the BBC.

“A lot of these young people, they are criminals, yes, but there’s a disengagement – they feel no-one at the top of society, in government or City Hall, cares about them or speaks for them.”

Apprently Red Ken is running for office again and has decided to curry favor with those who set the fires or looted their neighborhood shops as opposed to the people left homeless or without a job thanks to the actions of the very same people Livingston urged viewers to feel more sympathetic towards.

[Just a reminder- we're less than a year away from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. If I were the International Olympic Committee, I'd be less concerned about the Rio games in 2016 and more worried over the London Summer Olympics next year- NANESB!]

Up All Night Sports Chowdah Update: Sweet 16- Sox Score Late, But Not Often; Ain't that a Kick in the Head? Japan Rallies Late

RED SOX: It took awhile, but the Red Sox managed to push a run across home plate in Tampa Bay on Sunday night's Monday mornings game at Tampa Bay to win their first series coming out of the all-star break.

The last time Josh Beckett started at Tropicana field, all eyes in Boston were elsewhere watching the Bruins in Vancouver for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. They missed a gem, too, with Beckett allowing one hit in a complete game shutout of the Rays.

Of course, Beckett had some run support last time around. On Sunday night, he allowed one hit over eight shutout innings and striking out six. Tampa's Jeff Neimann had similar sucess against Boston batters, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out 10 batters, so it was no surprise that the game would head to extra innings.

Frustratingly, the Red Sox left the bases loaded in the top of the 9th and 11th innings while Tampa was able to get a couple of speedy leadoff runners on in extra innings, only to leave them stranded as well.

Heading into the top of the 16th inning, it looked as though it would amount to nothing more than another blow opportunity as Josh Reddick led off the inning with a walk and got as far as third after Varitek got him over to second on a sac bunt and then to 3rd after Marco Scutaro reached on what was ruled a single. However, Ellsbury flew out to shallow left- to shallow to bring home Reddick.

With 2 away, Dustin Pedroia finally managed to beak the scoreless deadlock with an RBI single to right field before Adrian Gonzalez gave the ball a ride to deep right for the 3rd and final out. Papelbon came on for a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth sixteenth to nail down the 1-0 win. Alfredo Aceves went 3 innings and struck out two (although he hit back to back batters in the bottom of the 15th) for the win.

Monday night's game is set to get underway at Camden Yards and will have Tim Wakefield (5-3; 4.74 ERA) starting against Baltimore's Brad Bergesen (1-6; 5.65 ERA) at 7:05 PM ET.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS:David Ortiz will begin a 3-game suspension on Monday night after last week's whiff-tastic brawl with Baltimore pitcher Kevin Gregg at Fenway Park. Both Ortiz and Gregg were initially suspended for four games, but each of them had one game shaved off after their appeals and will begin their respective suspensions on Monday in time for the 3-game series between Baltimore and Boston.

Carl Crawford is expected to return from the DL for Monday night's game against the O's as well.


WORLD CUP: Japan rallied late twice against Team USA- including a goal in the 117th minute by Homare Sawa in Sunday's World Cup final on Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany to force the match to be settled by penalty kicks.

Japan goaltender Ayumi Kaihori made in impressive quasi-bicycle kick-save on the first penalty shot she faced and a two handed save on the next, Team USA missed on Cali Lloyd's attempt- altho Abby Wambach was able to bury her attempt. However, Saki Kumagi was able to beat hope-solo for the tournament-deciding shot and the win to the Japanese.

Tournaments like these aren't always about what country 'deserves' the championship, but in light of recent events in Japan, I'd say Japan certainly could use a transcendent, unifying moment like this to boost their morale after the 1-2 punch dealt by mother nature and Marie Curie in March

Saturday Night Cuppa Sports Chowdah- WIld Card Weekend Pretty Tame So Far, Rangers Corral B's, Hockey On Yawkey Revisited

The NFL postseason got underway this afternoon with the Cincinnati Bengals hosting the NY Jets. In a performance that was only moderately better than last week's, the Bengals got off to the early 7-0 lead, but ultimately lost to New York 24-14. This puts Cincinnati's postseason winless streak at 19 years.

Another January NFL winless streak was snapped in the late game. The Dallas Cowboys have won their first postseason game since 1996, thrashing the Philadelphia Eagles 34-14 Saturday night. I would like to take this opportunity to offer my congratulations to the Cowboys fans- just remember that the New England Patriots have won three Superbowls and the Pittsburgh Steelers have won two since Dallas last notched a postseason win.

Already without Patrice Bergeron (fractured thumb) and Marc Savard (partially torn right knee ligament), the Bruins fell to the Rangers 3-1 at the Garden Saturday afternoon. Dennis Wideman was the only Bruin to score and this was the last B's home game before embarking on their west coast road trip where they will take on the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night. While I'm not thrilled about the loss to NY, I'm just glad they got through the game without having another starter go on the DL. The team announced that they expect Savard to miss at least 3-4 weeks.
(Barry Chin/Boston Globe)


Just because the 2010 Winter Classic is over doesn't mean they're done playing hockey at Fenway. The Boston College Eagles and Boston University Terriers faced off in the shadow of the Green Monster Friday night on the same ice that the Bruins and Flyers played on a week prior. The Terriers got out to a quick 1-0 lead and held off the Eagles to win 3-2. The men's game was a nightcap to an earlier Women's game where Northeastern fell to the UNH Wildcats 5-3.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman rejected a proposal from Massachusetts State Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo on making Boston the permanent home of the League's New Years Day outdoor Winter Classic Games. In a reply to DeLeo (D-Winthrop), the commissioner wrote:

“. . . The dictates of fairness require the league to share the Winter Classic experience with other cities. One truly special attribute of the Winter Classic is its uniqueness, and we intend to preserve that precious resource on behalf of our clubs, our business partners and our fans.”

[snip]

"Based on its outstanding performance as our host city in 2010, Boston is - and will be - considered in an extremely favorable light when Winter Classic sites and participants are being considered in the years to come...”

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the Winter Classic held in Fenway every year...but I don't think you'd have to look too far to see traces of bias on my part. I thought it was pretty presumptuous of DeLeo to suggest the NHL commit to Boston and nowhere else for one of its marquee events, but I'll chalk up the request as 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained'. Having said that, I think the next best thing would be to make an outdoor NCAA Hockey tournament at Fenway a regular feature. Perhaps set up the rink around this time of year and invite teams from the CCHA or WCHA (i.e. North Dakota, Michigan, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Minnesota) and have them play a rotation of 'host' teams from Hockey East or have the first round of the Beanpot played with Fenway as the venue. Just a though, as I'm not sure how willing the Red Sox are to have a rink in the park every year.

Reports are circulating that USC head coach Pete Carrol may be the next Seattle Seahawks head coach. If true, this would be troublesome for USC on a few different levels. Frequently in the BCS conversation every year, the Trojans finished with a 9-4 record- all four of those losses coming against Pac 10 opponents.- and had to settle for an appearance at the Emerald Bowl [which they beat Boston College....I know- NANESB!]. There's also the matter of USC losing receiver Damian Williams and tailback Joe McKnight to the NFL draft. McKnight also sat out the Emerald Bowl due to an ongoing NCAA investigation regarding his use of a Land Rover owned by a Santa Monica businessman.


Elsewhere: Reuters is reporting that two members of Togo's Soccer delegation were killed and a third was seriously wounded and airlifted to Johannesburg after the national team's bus was sprayed with gunfire in an ambush by insurgents in Angola. Togolese officials identified the slain men as media-relations officer Stanislas Ocloo and assistant coach Amele Abalo. Backup goaltender Kodjovi Obilale was evacuated to South Africa. The team was leaving their practice facility in a convoy when attacked.