Malaysian Airliner Shot Down Over Eastern Ukraine

At least 298 people are dead after a surface to air missile brought down a Kuala Lumpur-bound Malaysian Airlines flight over Eastern Ukraine on Thursday. The flight- Malaysia Airlines Flight 17- had originated in Amsterdam and was flying more than 32,000 feet over the strife-torn Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

In recent weeks, that part of the Ukraine has seen fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatist militias that are essentially Kremlin proxies along Ukraine's border with Russia. Earlier in the week, separatists boasted that they had shot down a Ukrainian military An-26 transport plane over the eastern city of Lugansk.

After the Ukrainian 'Maidan' uprising ousted Kremlin allied president Viktor Yanukovych earlier this year, Russia responded by annexing the strategically important Crimea peninsula- part of the Ukraine, but home to a number of strategic Russian naval facilities. After a hastily put together 'referendum' in which Moscow claimed the populace of the Crimea wanted to become part of Russia, masked fighters claiming to be pro-Russian separatists began seizing public buildings in key cities in the eastern Ukraine. However, it's widely believed these 'separatists' are acting on direct orders from the Kremlin. In May, shortly after candy tycoon Petro Poroshenko won a special election called after Yanukovych fled the country, the Ukrainian military launched a series of counterattacks culminating in a raid on Donetsk's international airport in late May that killed dozens of pro-Russian separatists who were using the buildings as headquarters.

The 'rebels' retaliated by shooting down Ukrainian military aircraft over eastern Ukraine- the deadliest of which was when a Ukrainian Defense Ministry Il-76 transport was shot down while on approach over the eastern city of Lugansk on June 14th, killing all 49 on board. Just days prior to the downing of Flight MH17, two Ukrainian military aircraft were shot down over the restive eastern part of the country.

An hour before news broke of Flight MH17 going down, pro Russian separatist leader Igor Strelkov boasted of shooting down an aircraft on Russian social media site Vkontakte [similar to Facebook- NANESB!] complete with the ominous line 'We warned them not to fly in our skies'. Although it was quickly deleted after news of MH17 being shot down broke internationally, several online observers were able to obtain screencaps of the damning message. In addition to the Russian government caught editing the Wikipedia entry on Flight MH17 on Friday, Ukraine's SBU intelligence agency released what they claim is a telephone conversation between separatist commanders and Russian officers, with the separatists notifying them they had just shot down a civilian airliner.

It appears to capture the chaotic moments after the plane was shot down — and the realization that it was a passenger plane rather than a Ukrainian transport plane, which had been targeted in recent days by the Russia-backed separatists.

"We have just shot down a plane," says a man the SBU identified as Igor Bezler, a Russian military intelligence officer and leading commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

That call came just 20 minutes after the crash and was placed to a person identified by Ukraine’s SBU as a colonel in the main intelligence department of the general headquarters of the armed forces of the Russian Federation Vasili Geranin, according to Ukraine security officials.

But in a second tape released by the agency, two men identified as "The Greek" and "Major" discuss the debris field and the fact the the plane was a civilian aircraft.


“It’s 100 percent a passenger [civilian] aircraft,” Major is recorded as saying, as he admitted to seeing no weapons on site. “Absolutely nothing. Civilian items, medicinal stuff, towels, toilet paper.”

The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by what U.S. intelligence sources confirm was a surface-to-air missile near the village of Chornukhine, Luhansk Oblast, some 30 miles inside the the border with Russia.

The second conversation, if verified as authentic, could dispel Russian separatist claims that it was the Ukrainian military that shot the plane down. According to the transpcript:

Major: "These are Chernukhin folks who shot down the plane. From the Chernukhin check point. Those cossacks who are based in Chernukhino."

Grek: "Yes, Major."

Major: "The plane fell apart in the air. In the area of Petropavlovskaya mine. The first '200' [code word for dead person]. We have found the first '200.' A Civilian."

Greek: "Well, what do you have there?"

Major: "In short, it was 100 percent a passenger [civilian] aircraft."

Greek: "Are many people there?"

Major: "Holy [expletive]! The debris fell right into the yards [of homes]."

In a third intercepted conversation released by the SBU — which the agency says took place about 40 minutes after insurgents seemed to realize they had shot down a civilian plane — Cossack commander Nikolay Kozitsin tells an unidentified separatist that the fact the Malaysia Airlines plane was flying over the combat zone likely meant it was carrying spies.

"That means they were carrying spies," Kozitsin allegedly says. "They shouldn’t be [expletive] flying. There is a war going on."

At this point, the most likely scenario is that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by pro-Russian separatists who misidentified the aircraft as a Ukrainian ministry of Defense transport plane and opened fire with a surface to air missile system known as the 'Buk' SA-11 or an updated variant. The 'Buk' is a complex, crew serviced weapons platform that is mounted on a tracked or wheeled vehicle. Both Russia and the Ukraine militaries have the SA-11 Buk in their inventory, but pro-Russian separatists from the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic boasted of seizing heavy weapons- including an SA-11 launcher- from a Ukrainian air defense facility in late June. On Friday, the Ukrainian government released a brief video of a Buk missile system with at least one missile missing on a flatbed trailer purportedly heading towards Russian territory. For its part, Russia has lobbed accusations that Kiev downed the airliner [a civilian aircraft that was within moments of leaving it's airspace at an altitude of 32,000 feet, no less- NANESB], prompting one English-language RT correspondent to abruptly resign.

Further complicating matters is the fact that the flight data recorder for MH17 is almost certainly in territory controlled by the pro-Russian Donetsk militia. Should it be recovered and sent to Moscow, international aviation experts claim it will most likely be doctored and anything that incriminates Russia or their proxies in Donetsk will be removed. There is also the likelihood that MH17's descent was so abrupt and catastrophic that they black box flight recorders may yield little in the way of data. Even so, heavily armed militiamen had prevented international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe from examining the crash scene on Friday. 193 of Flight MH17's passengers were Dutch- including an American who held dual citizenship with Holland and 22 schoolchildren from the town of Roosendaal, and amid reports of militiamen compromising the crash site, pickpocketing the scattered bodies and dumping dozens of bodies from the crash site by the side of a road, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said Putin has one 'last chance' to show he's serious about helping recover the bodies and personal effects

Despite the ongoing conflict on the ground, the skies above the eastern Ukraine weren't off-limits to commercial airliners. According to online aviation tracking website FlightAware.com, other commercial carriers such as Lufthansa and Air India were routinely flying through eastern Ukraine airspace prior to the downing of Flight MH17.

Borderline Psychosis Update- Dutch Cops Nab Top Sinaloa Enforcer; Cartels, Law Enforcement Take Wait and See Approach to Colorado's Legalized Pot Sales;

THE NETHERLANDS- A Sinaloa Cartel enforcer by the name of El Chino Antrax was arrested by Dutch authorities on drug trafficking charges on Jan 3rd. Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa is believed to be the leader of a group of Sinaloa cartel hitmen known as 'Anthrax' and is wanted on charges of trafficking methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana by US Officials.

The suspect, Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa, was captured Monday in Amsterdam's Airport Schiphol. He is accused of trafficking methamphetamines, cocaine and marijuana.

Arechiga is presumably a top enforcer for Ismael Zambada, who co-heads the Sinaloa drug organization along with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Dutch police arrested the Mexican man at the request of U.S. authorities after he landed under a different name on a flight from Mexico City. The U.S. government had asked Interpol for help with his arrest.

The man is being held in a Dutch jail, while the U.S. Attorney is seeking his extradition to face charges in a federal court in San Diego.

The Mexican Embassy in the Netherlands said it was aware of the detention of a Mexican citizen and that it was willing to offer consular assistance if he requested help. It did not specifically say it was referring to Arechiga's arrest.

According to local media, Arechiga is also known as "El Chino Antrax," one of the two leaders of a group of hit men who call themselves the Anthrax, like the deadly disease.

Authorities have blamed the cell for a series of murders, including the killings of three men who were hung off a bridge in 2011, which were seen as revenge attacks after one of their leaders was murdered. The Anthrax helped the Sinaloa organization as it engaged in a bloody war with the Beltran Leyva cartel, when the latter decided to splinter in 2008.

El Chino Antrax has been reportedly celebrated and mentioned by name in narcocorridos- popular folk corrido ballads whose lyrics romanticize outlaws and drug traffickers.



CALIFORNIA- A Mexican national is in custody in central California's Madera County after allegedly shooting two men while posing as a police officer. The victims were reportedly carrying a sizable quantity of crystal meth.

The case is "highly unusual" for Madera County because of the amount of "crank" and police regalia found in connection with the crime, Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said Tuesday.

One suspect was arrested for attempted murder -- Elias Lopez-Martinez, 25, of Mexico. A second suspect has not yet been found.

During a news conference, Anderson summed up the Dec. 30 incident by pointing to two vehicles on display for reporters.

"Semi-bad guys," Anderson said, pointing to a car driven by alleged drug-runners. Then, pointing to the suspects' truck: "Really bad guys."

"These guys are dopers -- these guys are shooters," he said, continuing the comparison, "... coming out to the dope exchange, they didn't bring money, they brought guns. That simple."

Those allegedly transporting the meth initially told authorities they were on back roads near Chowchilla because they were going to "buy a horse," Anderson said, but later admitted "we were kind of out there to do a drug deal."

Anderson gave the following account :

The victims said they pulled over near Avenue 18 1/2 and Road 10 because they thought the truck behind them was police, seeing its blue lights. Once pulled over, two men reportedly ordered the three young men inside to lay on the ground, and then shots were fired.

A 17-year-old from Madera was shot in the liver and remained in critical condition at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno as of Tuesday. A 22-year-old from Chowchilla was shot in the face, breaking his jaw and most of his teeth. A third passenger, also 17 and from Madera, was unharmed. Names of the victims were not released.

The 22-year-old drove away from the scene and was found about eight miles away after he called 9-1-1.

Detectives followed a blood trail from the scene, to a bloodied dog food bag containing nine pounds of crystal meth worth $45,000. It was hidden beneath a bridge.

"The way this (meth) is wrapped we know it came from Mexico," Anderson said, "which involved Mexican drug cartels."

Anderson said the driver told detectives he picked up the illegal drug in Los Angeles and "my job was to get it up here and get it sold."

The day after the shooting, detectives found the suspects' truck at a gas station on Highway 145 and Avenue 13 in Madera and arrested Lopez-Martinez.

Based on evidence gathered by investigators, a multiagency SWAT team later searched an apartment near Madera South High School, believed to be used by the suspects as a storing place. One pound of crystal meth was found with weapons, ammunition, more than two pounds of marijuana, $2,500, and law enforcement equipment, including tactical gear and body armor, along with fake badges and clothing donning words like "police" and "U.S. Marshals."

Posing as police officers is a common tactic for 'rip crews'- armed robbers who actively seek out and rob drug couriers and storehouses- along the Mexican border in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, but as Sheriff Anderson stated, is quite unusual for California's Central Valley.


COLORADO- Although Mexican drug cartels had a presence in Colorado before this year's legalization of marijuana, officials believe it's only a matter of time before organized crime adapts and take advantage of the situation.

Taking over a trade once ruled by drug cartels and turning it into an all-cash business could make pot shops prime targets for extortion, black-market competition and robbery. One veteran border narcotics agent told FoxNews.com Colorado's legal pot industry will find it hard to keep the criminals from horning in on a lucrative business they once controlled.

"Mexico is already in Colorado without the risks," the agent, who requested anonymity, said of the state's heavy pre-existing cartel presence. "Legal businesses will likely see a rise in extortion attempts while law enforcement will see a lot of backdoor deals being made."

Violent cartels could force their way in as black market wholesalers or simply rob pot dispensaries, which take only cash and have not been able to establish accounts with banks because of lenders' fears of violating federal laws. But the general consensus is that the Mexican cartels will not quietly relinquish the Denver market.

A 2012 report from the Mexican Competitive Institute estimated that Mexican drug trafficking organizations could lose as much as $1.4 billion dollars with legalized pot in the Denver market. Law enforcement believes that the cartels could extort owners of the newly legal pot dispensaries or set up legal shops of their own using straw buyers with clean backgrounds.

TAMAULIPAS- A former governor for the border state of Tamaulipas has been indicted by the US on charges of corruption and drug trafficking. According to the unsealed indictment last month, Tomas Yarrington served as governor of the Mexican state across the Rio Grande from the southern tip of Texas between 1999 and 2004 and took bribes from the Gulf Cartel and laundered drug money into campaign coffers in exchange for turning a blind eye to cartel activity.

In the indictment unsealed Monday, Yarrington is portrayed as an old-style PRI politician, for whom being cozy with drug traffickers was the way to do business.

Starting in 1998, “Yarrington received large bribes from major drug traffickers” in Tamaulipas, including the then-dominant Gulf Cartel, the U.S. attorney’s office of southern Texas said in a statement. The bribes began as he campaigned for governor, continued through his six-year term and afterward, the statement says.

In return, prosecutors allege, Yarrington “allowed them to operate their large-scale, multi-ton enterprises freely, which included the smuggling of large quantities of drugs to the United States for distribution.”

The indictment also alleges that Yarrington, 56, took bribes from local businesses and skimmed public money as well to pad his private accounts.

With suspected accomplice Fernando Cano, a builder, Yarrington then acquired numerous “valuable assets,” mostly across Texas, including homes, airplanes, bank accounts, vehicles and other real estate, worth around $7 million, the indictment states.

The 11-count indictment was returned in May, but for reasons not explained, was not opened until this week. It says Yarrington eventually became involved in the smuggling of drugs.

Like many politicians in Tamaulipas, Yarrington “abetted, enabled and profited from a symbiotic relationship with the Gulf Cartel,” said George Grayson, a Mexico expert at Virginia’s College of William & Mary.

Yarrington’s whereabouts are unknown, although his attorneys insisted this week that he is not a fugitive. The U.S. government has not yet formally sought his extradition. Mexican Atty. Gen. Jesus Murillo Karam said: “Whoever they ask us to look for, we will. They have had and will continue to have our cooperation.”

Yarrington’s Houston-based attorney, Joel Androphy, said in a news conference this week in Mexico City that the allegations against Yarrington were bogus and based on “false witnesses and testimony” by people attempting to make deals with the prosecution.

He refused to disclose Yarrington’s current location, except to repeat that he was in the United States a year ago when asked to leave because his visa had expired.

Accusations that Yarrington was receiving drug money first surfaced early last year, in connection with a U.S. case involving an associate, and then in a Mexican investigation. The PRI, in the middle of an election campaign, suspended him. Then-Atty. Gen. Marisela Morales ordered him arrested. But he managed to secure an injunction that left him free, and he threatened to take on the attorney general.

Yarrington was elected as a member of the PRI- the same political party that recently elected Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto. During the 2012 election, the PRI party sought to distance itself from Yarrington and other corrupt politicians in Tamaulipas. Since 2006, the situation has become much more dire in Tamaulipas, with mass graves and the remnants of the Gulf Cartel fighting with their former allies, Los Zetas.

Spring Is In The Air Sports Chowdah Update- B's Snap Losing Streak; Sox Prospect Westmoreland Calls It a Career

Fred Chartrand- Canadian Press

BOSTON BRUINS- After a two game losing streak [which DOES add up in a shortened season- NANESB!] which included losses to Pittsburgh and Winnipeg, the Bruins continued their swing through Canada with another stopover in the Canadian capital for a tilt against the Ottawa Senators.

The last time the Bruins were in Ottawa, they fell into an early 2-0 hole. On Thursday, the Senators once again got on the board first when Kaspars Daugavins beat Anton Khudobin about five minutes into the second period (but not doing that wird toe-of-the-stick-thing he tends to do). Danny Paille got the Bruins on the board with less than two minutes to go in the second.

The game remained deadlocked into the third period when with Dennis Seidenberg got the go-ahead goal for Boston with 1:04 in regulation, deflating the crowd at the Scotiabank Center and snapping Boston's two game losing streak.

Anton Khudobin got the start in net and turned aside 27 of 28 shots on goal on Thursday night. The win keeps Boston within two points of the Canadiens in the Northeast Division. Boston's road trip continues on Saturday night in Toronto- the puck drops at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on the NHL Network.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- The NHL Board of Governors approved a realignment that will move the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets to the Eastern Conference and will send the Winnipeg Jets to the Western conference. The Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals will join the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in one division while four of the Original 6 teams- including the Bruins- will be in a single division that will also include Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Florida and Ottawa.

The Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche will remain in the Western Conference but will end up playing in the same conference as St Louis, Nashville, Chicago and Winnipeg to accomodate primarily Central Time zone starts.

RED SOX- Red Sox outfield prospect Ryan Westmoreland has announced his retirement from Baseball earlier this month. The 22 year old Rhode Island native underwent brain surgery in 2010 to correct an abnormal growth of blood vessels near his brain stem, and had a similar surgery done last summer.

In 2009, Westmoreland had a .296 batting average and 7 home runs in 60 games with the Lowell Spinners- the Red Sox Single A affiliate in the New York Penn League. Westmoreland passed up a scholarship to Vanderbilt after bein selected by the Red Sox in the 5th round of the 2008 draft.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- The Red Sox were shut out by the Blue Jays in Grapefruit League action on Friday in Dunedin, FL. Adam Loewen came home on a Drew Sutton fielding error and that would be all the Jays needed as Toronto won by a final of 1-0. Alfredo Aceves started for Boston and walked two batters and striking out five over five innings in the loss and the Jays Esmil Rogers came on in the 9th for a 1-2-3 save.

On Saturday, the Sox return to Fort Myers to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates at 1:35 PM ET. The game will be televised on NESN.

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC- Alas, a final in the WBC was not in the cards for Team USA as they ran into the Dominican Republic buzzsaw in the second round. After a promising 7-1 win over Puerto Rico, the USA was nursing a 1-0 lead over the Dominicans thanks to a bases loaded walk in the 1st. In the 2nd inning, Hanley Ramirez tied the game up for the Dominicans with a solo homer off of R.A. Dickey. The game would remain deadlocked at 1-1 until the 9th when Atlanta's Craig Kimbrel came off the bench and was facing pinch hitter Erick Aybar with Nelson Cruz on 3rd base with one out when Aybar singled to break the tie and put the Dominicans on top. Jose Reyes then plated Aybar with an RBI single to give the Dominicans some insurance with a 3-1 lead and Fernando Rodney had a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th to close out the win for the Dominican Republic.

The loss set the stage for a USA/Puerto Rico rematch in what would be an elimination game. Puerto Rico would jump out to and early 1-0 lead over the USA in the top of the first thanks to an RBI single from former Red Sox infielder Mike Aviles while Puerto Rico starter Nelson Figuero threw six shutout innings. Meanwhile, Andy Gonzalez appeared to blow the game open for Puerto Rico with 2-RBI double with two away in the 6th inning. However, by the bottom of the 8th it looked as though Puerto Rico was going to let the lead slip away with a 4-2 lead when Ben Zobrist drew a 2 out bases loaded walk to make it a 1-run game. However, JC Romero came on in relief for Puerto Rico and got the next batter to ground out to first to end the threat and then having a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th inning to close out the win and send the USA packing from the tournament.

However, it would be the Dominican Republic who advanced to the finals defeated the Netherlands in the opening games of the semifinals at san Francisco's AT&T Park. The Dominicans beat the Dutch by a 4-1 final in the semifinals while the final game was a rematch against Puerto Rico- Dominican Starter Samuel Deduno pitched five shutout innings and would get some early run support thanks to a 2-RBI double from Edwin Encarnacion in the first inning. It would be all the Dominicans needed as the Dominican Republic goes undefeated throughout the tournament to win their first World Baseball Classic Championship. Interestingly, this is also the first-ever WBC final that didn't feature Japan- the Japanese team had won the first two WBC titles, besting Cuba in 2006 and South Korea in 2009.

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

Pre-Thanksgiving Sports Chowdah Update: Eight is NOT Enough- B's Drop Canadiens for 9th Straight Win; FAIL to the Chiefs; Upset-a-palooza

Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images

NHL: Fresh from a convincing 6-0 win against the New York Islanders this weekend, the Bruins headed north to Montreal to try their 9th consecutive win Monday evening.

The Bruins got off the the early 1-0 lead in the 1st after Andre Ference managed to get the puck past Habs netminder Carey Price. And that would be it as far as the scoring from either side was concerned- Tim Thomas would turn aside all 33 shots he faced while Carey Price turned aside 17 of 18 shots faced. The Bruins even managed to kill a double-minor that was assessed to them late in the 2nd period.

The last person to score against the Bruins was the Blue Jacket's Derek MacKenzie in the 2nd period of the November 17 game against Columbus. Tim Thomas now has a career regular season total of 29 shutouts (after heading into this past weekend with 27). Monday night's win also puts the Bruins in 1st place in the Northeastern Conference (tied with the Sabres for points, but Boston gets the tiebreaker after winning the only head-to-head matchup so far).

Speaking of Buffalo, the Bruins will travel next to western New York to take on the Sabres who are coming off a 4-2 loss to Phoenix over the weekend. The puck drops at 7 PM Eastern time and the game will be televised on NESN and the MSG network.

I have to say, I figured it would only be a matter of time before the Bruins broke out of their slump and got their proverbial shit together- but this was taking place much sooner than I anticipated. Nothing puts that crappy October in the rearview like a 9-0 November.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins Center Sidney Crosby returned to the ice for the first time since January on Monday night, tallying 2 goals and 2 assists in the Penguins 5-0 win over the Islanders at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center.

Crosby was sidelined with concussion-like symptoms after receiving multiple hits to the head on two different nights in January of 2011.

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

NFL: As it tuns out, week 11 was bookended by a couple of games that were pivotal to the AFC East playoff picture.

Heading into Monday night's game, the Patriots were well aware that they could increase their lead on the Jets after their Thursday night loss at Denver. New England had an AFC West opponent of their own on Monday Night's nationally televised game as they took on the 4-5 Kansas City Chiefs.

When they scheduled this game, they probably figured it would be some sort of reunion between former Kansas City QB Matt Cassell and some of his former teammates in New England. However, Cassel ended his season after breaking his hand last week, with the Chiefs starting Tyler Palko instead.

The Kansas City defence, beset by similar injury woes as the Patriots, were able to pressure Tom Brady, occasionally giving extra coverage to receivers like Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. After a penalty inside the Patriots 10 pushed them back, the Chiefs would get on the board first with a 25 yard FG from Ryan Succop to give KC the early 3-0 lead.

Feeling pretty aggressive, the Chiefs attempted an onside kick, only to hand the ball to New England after one of the Chiefs players touched it before it had travelled the minimum of 10 yards. The Patriots would get as far as the Chiefs 30 before Brady was sacked and KC recovered the fumble, although nothing came from their ensuing possession.

The Patriots finally got on the board with 4:18 to go in the 2nd quarter after Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski at mid-field before he ran along the sidelines to put New England up 7-3. New England would then get good field position after CB Kyle Arrington intercepted a tipped pass from Tyler Palko and returned it for 28 yards. The Chiefs, however, managed to lock things down after the Patriots got as far as the KC 3 yard line, meaning that New England had to settle for a short FG with 10 seconds remaining in the 1st half to make it a 10-3 Patriots lead.

You know that tired and worn-out phrase "A tale of two halves"? It actually applies here. Kansas City simply went away and New England scored 24 unanswered points in the 2nd half to make it a 34-3 final. Brady went 15 for 27 with 237 yards and 2 TDs while Rob Gronkowski had 4 catches for 96 yards and 2 TDs in the (second-half) blowout against Kansas City.

The win further opens up a gap in the AFC east with Buffalo and the Jets. New England will next take on the Philadelphia Eagles from Lincoln Financial Field in Philly on Sunday with a 4:15 ET/ 1:15 PT kickoff.


MLB: The saga of the 2011 Red Sox continues to unfold like a country western song where the crooner loses everything nearly two months after their late season implosion. If the loss of Epstein in the front office, Francona in the dugout and Papelbon in the bullpen wasn't enough, it's looking as though NESN sideline reporter Heidi Watney will be departing Boston to work the sidelines and pregame shows for Time-Warner Cable in Southern California [which could very well include the Lakers if they ever have a season- NANESB!].

A California native and graduate of the University of San Diego, Watney arrived in 2008 from an ESPN radio affiliate in Fresno, CA replacing Hazel Mae who was leaving for the then-nascent MLB network.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS: Former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine formally interviewed with the Boston Red Sox this week. Valentine was an unexpected candidate for the position that Dale Sveum, Sandy Alomar Jr, Gene Lamont and others had interviewed for in the past couple of weeks.

Leon Halip/Getty Images

OTHER MLB NEWS: One week after being announced as the American League Cy Young winner, Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander was named the AL MVP for 2011. This makes him the first pitcher to get the AL MVP since Oakland's Dennis Eckersley got the nod in 1992.

During the 2011 regular season, Verlander went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman was found stabbed to death by Dutch police in his Rotterdam residence. Police and paramedics were reportedly called to Halman's home and found him bleeding from stab wounds, but were unable to revive him.

A police spokeswoman said that Halman's brother is being held as a suspect, although they aren't allowed to disclose his name under Dutch law.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Well, the tough defensive slog giveth, the tough defensive slog taketh away.

The #22 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish managed to hold off a late rally from Boston College at South Bend on Saturday, recovering an onside kick with 2 minutes to go after the Eagles had closed to within 2 points late in the 4th. Trailing 16-7 with about 3 and a half minutes to go, Boston College started out on their own 22 yard line and managed to take all of 1:41 off the clock before punching it in from the Notre Dame 7 yard line to make it a 16-14 game before attempting the onside kick. However, the Irish recovered at the Eagles 48 yard line, and although they went 3 and out, the ensuing punt pinned Boston College deep in their own end. Not even a series of laterals as the clock ran out could help the Eagles as they went on to lose by a final of 16-14.

For the season finale, Boston College travels to Miami to take on the University of Miami Hurricanes on Friday, November 25th at 3:30 PM ET.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: After Oklahoma State's loss to Iowa State on Friday night, it turns out there were some more top 10 upsets in the works.

Fresh off their loss to Boston College, the NC State Wolfpack simply steamrolled over #7 Clemson by a 37-13 final.

The fourth-ranked Oregon Ducks are no longer a one-loss team after missing a last-second field goal attempt in the final seconds of regulation against the USC Trojans, losing by a 38-35 final.

Sarah Glenn/Getty Images

For the first time in 20 meetings, the Baylor Bears figured out a way past the #5 Oklahoma Sooners in a thrilling contest Saturday night, with the Baylor Bears snapping a 38-38 deadlock with a quick drive capped off by a pass from QB Robert Griffin to WR Terrance Williams to give Baylor the 45-38 win (which now further complicated the Big 12 playoff picture).

Iron Horse Roundup For August 2010

CHINA: Passengers stranded on a train that was stuck on a partially collapsed bridge Guanghan, Sechuan were successfully evacuated shortly before at least two of the cars plunged into the river below this week. Amateur video shot inside one of the cars shows passengers making frantic calls to loved ones as the bridge starts to buckle, and later on shows another train passing in the background on a separate bridge immediately in the background as the passenger cars are plunging into the river. Rescuers and railway officials were able to get the passengers out of the cars minutes before the first passenger car toppled into the floodwater-swollen river and came to rest at the abutments of nearby bridge that was still under construction.

Severe flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have battered southern China leaving hundreds dead and hundreds missing this month alone.

HOLLAND: An out of control maintenance-of-way train crashed through a barrier and tore its way through 300 feet of parking lot and slicing a watersports shop in two before coming to a stop in the town square in Stavoren, Holland on July 26.

Dutch Daily De Telegraaf reported that the official in charge of safety on the maintenance of way train was a temporary worker that spoke no Dutch. Investigators said that the firm- Spoorflex Safety First- had a history of safety infractions over the last two years and suspended the contract.

IOWA: The volunteer fire departments in Atlantic and Anita, Iowa held a fundraiser that featured Iowa Interstate's Chinese made QJ 2-10-2 #7081 powering an excursion between the two southwestern Iowa towns. The excursion ran on the western portion of Iowa Interstate's former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific between Blue Island, IL (Chicagoland) and Omaha, NE (across the river from Omaha, NE) line.

Two trips were initially planned, but a third was added due to increased demand.

ALASKA: The Alaska Railroad announced that Kiewit Pacific Co. has been awarded the contract to provide general contracting and construction management services for the first phase of their planned 80-mile extension from the current end of the line between Fairbanks, AK and Delta Jct.

Kiewit is the same company that Alaska Native Coropration Suulutaq Inc subcontracted their $54 Million no-bid Napa Valley Wine Train Project to for less than $30 million earlier this year.

ELSEWHERE: The trailer for Unstoppable is now available online. The movie was flimed along portions of the Wheeling & Lake Erie in Pennsylvania and Western New York & Pennsylvania in western New York State using locomotives from Canadian Pacific and Wheeling & Lake Erie (modified to portray the fictitious Allegheny & West Virginia)



OK....not to get all Jay Sherman here, but it looks like Tony Scott took some of the Cop Show/movie tropes and applied them to a fictional railroad and its workers....["turn in your gun and badge fluorescent safety vest and walkie talkie!!"- NANESB!] Ah well....as I mentioned earlier, the movie is very loosely based on a real life runaway train incident in Ohio back in May 2001.

Sports Chowdah Weekend Re-Cap; Orange Crushed in World Cup; Sox Overcome Shadowy Charachters, Pick Up W Before All-Star Break

It's over.

At long last, the FIFA 2010 World Cup is mercifully over. Marred by questionable officiating and incessant vuvuzelas throughout, the 2010 tournament was put out of it's misery with a final showdown between the Netherlands and Spain on Sunday.

Now granted this was between a team that hadn't advanced to the finals in over 30 years versus a team that had never finished better than 4th place making an appearance in it's first-ever World Cup final, but neither one of them really seemed like plucky underdogs that had overcome long odds to get where they were. Then again, that's probably why they got as far as they did in the first place.

Andres Inesta scored the game's only goal with 4 minutes left in injury time, breaking a scoreless tie and negating the need for a penalty shootout at Johannesburg's Soccer City. Spain beats the Netherlands by a final of 1-0 to win its first ever World Cup title.


As for the Dutch....umm....well....at least those sea walls are holding up well and the North Sea hasn't reclaimed 2/3rds of your country.

Other World Cup News: Oracle Paul has been getting death threats from irate fans. Some of those death threats have taken the form of calamari recipies. Paul is an octopus residing at the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen Germany who went 8-0 in his World Cup picks. Paul would 'predict' the winner of an upcoming match by having his food lowered in two seperate boxes throughout the tournament- each marked with the competing nation's flag. Whichever box Paul went into first was deemed his pick, and much to the chagrin of German, Dutch and Argentine football fans, his 'predictions' have come true. Aware that Paul's safety could be in jeopardy due to his accurate but unpopular picks, some Spanish officials have offered Paul sanctuary in the Iberian peninsula while some Spanish businessmen have made a €30,000 offer for 'Pulpo Paul'.


MLB: The Red Sox came into Sunday's game losing 5 out of their last 6 contests, so Sunday was as good a day as any to try and stop the bleeding heading into the All-Star break.

Getting no-hit for the first five innings probably wasn't the best way to go about it. To make things even more interesting, there were mechanical problems with the retractable roof at the Rogers Centre, leaving much of the infield in shadows for the first 4 innings, making it that much more difficult for batters to see the ball leave the pitcher's hand [this didn't provide the Jays with that much of an advantage, either- NANESB!]

However, the Red Sox were able to break up Jesse Litsch's no-hit bid in the top of the 6th with a Marco Scutaro double. Darnell McDonald would bring Scutaro and himself home with a homer to deep left to break the scoreless tie with 2 outs before being followed up by a solo-shot from Big Papi to put Boston up 3-0. Toronto's Aaron Hill made it a 1-run game in the bottom of the 6th with a 2-run homer off of Daisuke Matsuzaka. Matsuzaka was good for 6 innings of work, allowing six hits, two runs and five strikeouts while Daniel Bard held the Jays hitless over the next two innings and Papelbon closed it out for his 20th save.

Of course, today's win came with a price. 3B Adrian Beltre- who was named to the All-Star team- left Sunday's game in the 6th inning with what is belived to be a strained left hamstring. Beltre says he is day-to-day and will travel to Anaheim for the Mid-Summer Classic and determine whether or not he should play from there.

The Red Sox will host the Texas Rangers immediately after the All-Star break. Tim Wakefield is tentatively scheduled to be the starter

OTHER RED SOX NEWS: Josh Beckett gave up two hits and one run- a solo homer- in four innings of work during Sunday's PawSox home game against the Syracuse Sky Chiefs at McCoy Stadium. No firm timetable has been set for Beckett's return.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Longtime Yankees Stadium PA announcer Bob Sheppard, sometimes dubbed 'the voice of God' by New Yorkers, passed away at age 99 in his Long Island home on Sunday. Sheppard started out with the Yankees in 1951 and during the final year of the original Yankee Stadium Sheppard's voice was recorded and then used to announce lineups over the PA system due to his deteriorating health.

The Texas Rangers- despite bankruptcy and an uncertain ownership outlook- managed to pull off the biggest trade of the season so far with their acquisition of pitcher Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners for 1B Justin Smoak and three minor leaguers. Earlier in the week, the Yankees were considered the runaway favorite in the Cliff lee sweepstakes.

NBA: Shortly after LeBron James' announcement of joining the Miami Heat, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert accused the NBA star of quitting in the middle of the playoff series against Boston and claimed Cleveland would win an NBA title before Miami would. Attention whores Mark Cuban and Jesse Jackson have also chimed in on the whole LeBron deal, but I tend to tune them out.....

C Jermaine O'Neal signed a two year deal with the Celtics on July 8th.

Sports Chowdah Recap- Orange You Glad It's an All Euro World Cup Final? Death Rays Strike Again

UPDATE- 7/8: The most highly-anticipated free-agent NBA signing of the offseason took place earlier today with LeBron James announcing that he intends to sign with the Miami Heat, turning down a 6-year $128 million contract with the Cavs to head to Florida. Reportedly, the most that Miami could offer James was $99 Million over 5 years- so James took a pay cut to play in Florida.

The announcement came two days after Miami announced they had agreed to contracts with Toronto's Chris Bosh and the Heat's own Dwayne Wade.

WORLD CUP: And just like that, the World Cup is down to the last two teams.



{Spoiler Alert! Both of them are European}


The last non-EU team, Uruguay, was eliminated by the Dutch on Tuesday night, despite getting an injury-time goal to make it a one goal game. The Netherlands advances to their first World Cup final since 1978 after sending Uruguay packing with a 3-2 win in Cape Town.

Meanwhile, after depriving Paraguayans the spectacle of a streaking lingerie model in their capital, Spain went on to shut out Germany 1-0 on Wednesday night. Carles Puyol scored the lone goal of the game in the 72nd minute off his noggin. After the game, German head coach Joachim Loew said he was certain Spain would go on to win the World Cup at a press conference in Durban.

So there you have it. This will be Spain's first ever appearance in the World Cup final, which is set to take place July 11 at Johannesburg's Soccer City. Uruguay and Germany will play the third-place game in Port Elizabeth the day prior.

And on a personal note, might I add that while the female contingent of Spanish and Dutch fans hardly traipse around in bhurkas, Brazil's female fan base tended to be more abundant, exhibitionist and photogenic....which was all the more reason I was a little sad to see them go.

MLB: Well....I was going to insert some pithy commentary about how the Red Sox seem to manage to find somebody like a Daniel Nava or Darnell McDonald to oh-so-capably step up and fill the void when one of the starters winds up on the DL.....but then Boston went and dropped 4 straight games.

*Ouch.*

Within the division

*Double-ouch*

Which is relevant because not only does it mean Tampa Bay vaults past Boston for 2nd place in the AL East, but because if there's any sort of tie between either the Red Sox and Yankees or Red Sox and Rays for the AL East pennant or Wild Card, one of the tie breakers is going to be that team's record within the division.

Just to add insult to injury, did I mention that Boston lost the final game of their home stand to the lowly Orioles? I did catch some of Tuesday night's game with Felix Doubront on the mound. There was also the intruige of Doubront going up against his former manager in Boston's South Atlantic League affiliate Greenville Drive, Gabe Kapler. Kapler went 0 for 2 with two walks on the night and Doubront was pulled in the 6th in the 3-2 loss to Tampa. Kevin Youkilis

Tim Wakefield was charged with six runs in Wednesday night's 6-4 loss to Tampa Bay while the Rays David Price became the first AL pitcher to win 12 games this season.

Boston will travel to Toronto to kick off a 3-game series against the Blue Jays on Friday night. The probable starters will be Jon Lester (10-3; 2.76 ERA) versus Ricky Romero (6-5; 3.39 ERA).

MLB All-Star Game: Jon Lester, Adrian Beltre, Clay Buchholz, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Victor Martinez have been named to the 2010 MLB All-Star roster. However, at least half of the 6 players named to the All Star game in Anaheim will have to sit this one out, since Buchholz, Pedroia and Martinez have been on the DL.

Kevin Youkilis is in the running for a online campaign to be named to the last AL All Star spot, along with Minnesota's Delmon Young, Texas' Michael Young, the Yankees Nick Swisher and the ChiSox's Paul Konerko.

Tomorrow is the last day for voting *hintity hint hint*

DL Edition Sports Chowdah Recap for June 30 to July 3rd- Depleted Sox Add to O's Woes; Dutch Treat as Brazilians Whacked

Take your pick- the DL could stand for 'Disabled list' or 'Distraught Latinas'.

MLB: For the second year in a row, the Red Sox head into Independence Day with a 49-32 record. Friday night's 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles was probably to accommodate all the speed-daters present, since that took all of 2 hours and 7 minutes. Tim Wakefield scattered 7 hits through 8 innings of work while JD Drew had two solo homers and went 2 for 3 on the night with Daniel Nava coming on to pinch hit for Eric Patterson in the bottom of the 8th to break the 2-2 deadlock with a bloop RBI single- not as dramatic as a grand-slam in his 1st ever at bat, but just as effective.

Papelbon came on in the 9th for another 1-2-3 save opportunity, his 19th of the year.

Tonight's game wasn't as brisk, but who am I to complain about the results? Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie lasted only four innings while giving up nine hits, six runs- including a one out 2 RBI double in the bottom of the 1st to JD Drew- and walking three while Jon Lester improved his record to 10-3 with 7 innings pitched, an earned run, three walks and seven strikeouts. JD Drew has gone 5 for 6 with 4 RBIs in the series so far. Boston wins by a 9-3 final. Game three of the series will have Brian Matusz (2-9; 4.90 ERA) start for Baltimore against Lackey (9-3; 4.46 ERA)at 1:35 PM Eastern time tomorrow.

All this comes with more additions to the DL. If losing Buchholz, Ellsbury, Lowell, Beckett and Pedroia to injury wasn't enough, Sox Captain Jason Varitek was placed on the DL with a broken left foot on July 1st. The same day 'Tek went on the DL, Boston reacquired a familiar name, C Kevin Cash from the Houston Astros in exchange for infielder Angel Sanchez. No State Police escort from the airport this time around, but Cash did a good job of backstopping Wake Friday.

MLB All-Star Game: The rosters for the 2010 American League and National League All-Stars will be announced at noon eastern time tomorrow on TBS prior to their broadcast of the Blue Jays/Yankees game.


WORLD CUP: Well...stick a fork in Brazil- they're done like a churrasco after the Dutch put a wooden clog to their collective backsides...actually the game was alot closer than that, but scantily clad dames of varying nationalities and ethnicities in the stands and snarky hyperbole are typically the only things that can maintain any interest in the World Cup on my part.

Brazil got out to a quick 1-0 lead, but the equalizer came on an own-goal off the noggin of Felipe Melo and the Dutch went up for good on Wesley Sneijder's header for the 2-1 win. My offer to the sultry and no doubt dejected Brazil fanbabes fanbase via backrubs and assisting in the application of sunblock still stands, however.

In other World Cup news....wow....what a bunch of worthless douchebags Spain turned out to be. Screw you, Spain!

[*ring ring* You keep watching the game, Larissa- I'll get it!]

Paraguayan Lingerie model Larissa Riquelme promised to strip naked and run through the capitol city of Asuncion's main plaza should Paraguay win the World Cup (although some variations of the rumor reported she'd be wearing bodypaint in the team's colors). However, in order for that to happen, they had to get past Spain.

OK....Spain...how hard would it have been to take a dive? But nooooooo....what's his name Villa scored in the 82nd minute for the only goal of the match in Spain's 1-0 win. You better have somebody of equal or greater hotness in red & yellow paint willing to do the Lady Godiva thing (sans horse) in Plaza de de España.

[Must...practice...headball....drills]

Of course, on the flip side of the coin it's not often I get to say this, but "Thank you, Germany". Apparently a similar exhibitionist wager was made by bloated, coked-up Argentina coach Diego Maradona. So it seems Maradona promised to run naked around the obelisk in the middle of Buenos Aires' Av. 9 de Julio should Argentina win the 2010 World Cup. The Germans convincing 4-0 on Saturday's rout of the Argentines meant that Maradona would not be able to make good on his threat.

Danke shein, baby!

Also- Uruguay ousted Ghana in a scoreless contest that was decided by penalty kicks. Apparently this was the match that was being watched in that village in the Eastern part of Congo when a fuel tanker crashed and exploded.

So the semifinals will look something like this:
Germany vs. Spain on 7/7 from Durban
Uruguay vs The Netherlands on 7/6 from Cape Town

NCAA Baseball: Shoot....missed that whole College World Series thing. Besides being the home of the AAA affiliate of Kansas City (the Omaha Royals) Omaha's Rosenblatt stadium also hosted the College World Series every year since 1950. The 2010 World Series would be the last one played at Rosenblatt, with South Carolina winning the series 2-0 on a walk-off Whit Merrifield RBI single in the bottom of the 11th to beat UCLA by a 2-1 final. This is south Carolina's first ever College World Series title.

A new ballpark- TD Ameritrade Park- is slated to open in Omaha next to the Qwest Center in the North Downtown area of Omaha.

Quickie Cuppa Sports Chowdah June 27-29: Lackey's Outing Give Battered Sox Ray of Hope; World Cups Runneth Over

(Matthew West/Boston Herald)

Well, what a short but no less strange journey it's been for the Red Sox this week. After losing Pedroia and Buccholz to injury in the first two games, Victor Martinez made it a hat trick on Sunday with a broken left thumb after taking one too many foul tips off the mitt. Granted Martinez may not have lasted until the 4th inning, but neither did San Francisco's back-to-back NL Cy Young Winner Tim Lincecum. 'The Freak' gave up a solo homer to Big Papi in the first that landed in McCovey Cove before giving up a sac-fly to his counterpart Jon Lester in the 2nd followed shortly by Marco Scutaro's 2-RBI single to give Boston the lead for good. Adrian Beltre would put an exclamation point on the game with a solo homer of his own off of Sergio Romo.

Lester went all 9 innings giving up 5 hits, one earned run and struck out 9 for his ninth win of the season, giving the bullpen a much needed rest after going through eight pitchers on Saturday.

After a travel day, the Sox returned to Fenway Tuesday night to take on the 3rd place Tampa Bay Rays. The two newest Bruins- Tyler Seguin and Nathaniel Horton- threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the game.

The game remained in a scoreless deadlock between John Lackey and James Shields when Shields had Cameron on 3rd, Scutaro on 3rd, Papi in the batters box and Youk on deck- all with two out in the bottom of the 5th. Shields decided to pitch to Ortiz and was rewarded with his offering winding up in the seats behind the visitors bullpen. Varitek- filling in for Martinez- had an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th, followed shortly by Nava hitting an RBI single of his own to make it 5-0 Boston. Rays 3B Evan Longoria put the visitors on the board with an RBI single in the top of the 7th.

Lackey would go on to pitch 7 innings, giving up eight hits, two walks, an earned run and striking out six on the night nd picked up the win in Boston's 8-5 victory over Tampa. Jason Varitek didn't show any signs of rust, going 1-3 with 2RBI and a walk while filling in for a DL-ed Victor Martinez. David Ortiz also went 1 for 3, with 3 RBI and two walks. 3B Adrian Beltre was 4-4 with two runs scored as well.

Tomorrow night will see Daisuke Matsuzaka (5-2; 4.50 ERA) go up against the Ray's Matt Garza (8-5; 4.10 ERA). Tuesday night's win put the Red Sox a game out of 1st place in the AL East.

[Paraguay's flag never looked so good]

WORLD CUP: well, since my one and only rooting interest in the World Cup was eliminated by Ghana over the weekend, I have very little incentive to pay attention now.

Having said that, here is a quickie roundup of the World Cup results over the last 2 days:

NETHERLANDS 2- Slovakia 1

BRAZIL 3- Chile 0

PARAGUAY 0(5)- Japan 0(3)

SPAIN 1- Portugal 0

[Yay Brazil! Wait- what? They play soccer there, too?]

So the Netherlands will take on Brazil on July 2nd while Ghana and Uruguay go head-to-head on the same day; Argentina- having defeated Mexico will take on Germany on July 3rd after the krauts sent England packing at roughly the same time Ghana bounced out Team USA and Paraguay will take on Spain later that day.

[Don't stop jumping up and down on my account- especially you on the right]

This concludes your NANESB! World Cup update.

[La Nacion]

And distraught Chileana fans such as this one (who needs to rehydrate after shedding so much tears after the 3-0 loss to the nation that will be hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics) in need of consoling can reach me through this blog.