Instant Sports Chowdah Update- Failure to Launch, Patriots Survive Jets on Last Second Blocked FG; Wakey Wakey, Boston College Outlasts Deacons; Near Miss, LSU Hands Ole Miss First Loss of Season

NFL- With the longer-than-usual wait after last Thursday night's game, at times it almost felt as though the Patriots had a bye week.

The Patriots got out to an early lead in their only Thursday night game of the season, but a very game New York Jets team was never far behind. New England took a 17-12 lead against New York into halftime, thanks to a 39 yard Gostkowski FG as time expired in the 2nd quarter.

With 9 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, the Jets took their first lead of the night with a drive that was capped by a short Nick Ivory TD run to give them a 19-17 lead. On the following drive, the Patriots got as far as the Jets red zone, and even though they had to settle for another Gostkowski field goal, the Patriots re-took the lead with 4:10 to go in the first.

It looked as though the Patriots were beginning to pull away midway though the 4th quarter when Brady connected with WR Danny Amendola for a 19 yard TD reception to make it a 27-19 lead, but with just over two and a half minutes to go, the Jets capped an 81 yard drive that took just under 5 minutes with a 10 yard TD pass from Geno Smith to TE Jeff Cumberland to bring the Jets to within two- however, the two point conversion attempt failed and New England still clung to a 27-25 lead.

After the Jets defense held New England to a 3 and out, the Patriots were forced to punt and managed to succeed in pinning the Jets back at their own 12 yard line with just over a minute to go in regulation. With the clock ticking, the Jets were able to get the ball as far as the Patriots 40 yard line with just 5 seconds left on the clock, setting up a potential game-winning FG attempt of nearly 60 yards [difficult, but not impossible- NANESB!]. However, in a bit of payback from last year's Jets win on a FG, DT Chris Jones managed to Block Folk's 58 yard attempt as time expired, giving New England the 27-25 victory- their second straight win against an AFC East opponent.

The Patriots homestand will continue with an early afternoon game against the Chicago Bears with a 1:00 kickoff at Foxbourough on Sunday afternoon. The game will be broadcast on FOX and XM subscribers can listen on channel 85.

WORLD SERIES- Those of you who had their hearts set on an all-Missouri World Series have Giants infielder Travis Ishikawa to blame for that not taking place this year.

Ishikawa belted a walkoff home run in extra innings of Game 5 of the NLCS which ended the Cardinals season and punched the Giants ticket to their 3rd World Series since 2010.

The Giants faced a game Kansas City, who made pretty quick work of the Orioles in the ALCS. Despite San Francisco dominating Game 1 behind a commanding performance by starter Madison Bumgarner, going on to win by a 7-1 final, the Kansas City Royals came storming back in Game Two. This send to series to San Francisco tied at 1 game each.

After winnign Game 3 by one run, Kansas City headed into Saturday night's Game 4 with a 2 games to one lead and things were looking promising when the ROyals batters were able to chase Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong off the mound after just two and two-thirds innings and take a 4-1 lead over San Francisco. However, the Giants batters would go on to score a total of 10 unanswered runs, tying the game with a Hunter Pence RBI single and Juan Perez RBI sac-fly in the bottom of the 5th followed by a 2-RBI single by Pablo Sandoval and a Brandon Belt RBI single in the bottom of the 6th to San Francisco the 7-4 lead. However, the Giants weren't done and got plenty of insurance runs tacked on in the bottom of the 7th and would go on to win Game four by an 11-4 final and tie the series up at 2-2, ensuring that the series would head back to Kansas City regardless of outcome.

DENVER BRONCOS- On Sunday afternoon, Broncos QB Peyton Manning surpassed Brett Favre to become the NFL leader in career TD passes during the October 19th win against the San Francisco at Mile High. Manning recorded a total of 4 TD passes in that game and three TD passes in Thursday night's 35-21 win over the San Diego Chargers at Denver for a career total of 513.

Manning, who has been in the league since 1998, is only one of seven all-time NFL quarterbacks to surpass the 300 career TD mark- although the other two include both Tom Brady and Drew Brees.

NCAA FOOTBALL- After a close loss to Clemson on Chestnut Hill last week, the Boston College Eagles travelled to the Tarheel State to take on Wake Forest on Saturday. The Eagles took a 17-0 halftime lead into the locker room and were able to add onto it in the 3rd and 4th quarters, jumping out as far as 23-3 in the second half before the Deacons could get any kind of offensive rhythm going.

But with BC seemingly cruising in the 4th quarter, the Deacons managed to string together a drive that netted their first TD of the day with just over 8 minutes too go in the ballgame. Still trailing 23-10, Wake got the ball back deep in BC territory when BC sophomore Myles Willis funbled the kickoff deep in Eagles territory. Starting on BC's 15 yard line, the Wake offense was able to punch it in and make it a 1-possession game, with the Eagles still clinging to a 23-17 lead.

However, BC junior Justin Simmons was able to pick off Deacons QB John Wolford on the next Wake Forest possession, sealing the game for Boston College late in the 4th quarter. Eagles QB Tyler Murphy had 165 yards passing and a TD along with 77 yards rushing on the day. RB Jon Hilliman rushed for 101 yards and 2 TDs on the afternoon.

Next Saturday, Boston College will travel down to Blacksburg, VA to take on Virginia Tech. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 ET and the game will be streaming on ESPN3.

ELSEWHERE IN THE ACC- Last week's highly-touted battle of the unbeatens lived up to the billing as #2 Florida State was able to get by #5 Notre Dame last Saturday by a 31-27 final. This leaves Florida State as one of the few remaining undefeated teams in the NCAA top 25 polling.

The Seminoles actually have this week off, but will return to action on Thursday night against 6-2 Louisville. That game gets underway at 7:30 ET and the game will be televised on ESPN.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- And then there was only one undefeated in the Magnolia State.

On Saturday night, the #24 LSU Tigers handed #3 Ole Miss their first loss of the 2014 season in Baton Rouge in what turned out to be a surprisingly low-scoring affair. The Rebels led 7-3 for most of the game until 5:45 to go in the 4th quarter when the bayou Bengals took their first lead of the night on a 4 yard TD pass from QB Anthony Jennings to TE Logan Stokes to put LSU up 10-7.

Although Ole Miss had a couple of late chances to tie the game or go ahead, they were undone by a penalty that put them out of FG range with 14 seconds left in the game. Instead of trying for the game-tying FG, Ole Miss opted for a Hail Mary since the penalty that had pushed them out of FG range. The game would end on LSU intercepting Ole Miss' 30 yard pass attempt with less than 10 seconds left, giving the Ole Miss Rebels their first loss of the season.

NHL- Hockey Night in Canada got underway on Saturday night north of the border with an Original Six matchup that pitted the Boston Bruins against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This was the first home game for the Maple Leafs since Wednesday's attack on Canada's Parliament, and the pregame ceremony honored Cpl. Cirillo, the Canadian soldier at the War Memorial who was shot dead by the gunman before he made his way to the parliament building.

For the Bruins, this was the first game after their 3-2 loss to the Islanders at home on Thursday night.

Carl Soderberg got the Bruins on the board early just three and a half minutes into the first. Tukka Rask made it hold up, carrying a shutout to the final five minutes of the 3rd period and David Krejci make it a 2-0 Bruins lead late in the 2nd before Greg Campbell and Dougie Hamilton scored less than two and a half minutes apart to give Boston a 4-0 lead.

Toronto broke through with a goal from Richard Panik with just over 5 and a half minutes to go in the 3rd, but the Bruins would go on to win by a final of 4-1.

After Saturday, the Bruins will head back to Boston where they'll face the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. The game will be televised on NESN and NBC Sports with the puck scheduled to drop at 7:00 ET.

Auld Ang Syne Sports Chowdah Update- Winter Classic Big Time Hit in Ann Arbor; Fenway Freezes Over for New Incarnation of 'Holy War'; A Star for the Ages, Marine Veteran and Padres Broadcaster Jerry Coleman Passes Away at 89

My understanding is that there's been some football games of significance taking place lately- I'll get caught up on that as best I can, but for now here's some of what's happening with the non-pigskin sports.

Brian Babineau- Getty Images

NHL- As much as I'm not a fan of either team involved, I gotta say that the 2014 Winter Classic went off without a hitch.

Before a crowd of 105,491 at the University of Michigan's Big House in Ann Arbor, the 'home' Red Wings faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs, kicking off 2014 with an Original 6 matchup.

After a scoreless first period, former Senator Daniel Alfredsson put Detroit on the board first with a goal about midway through the second period before Toronto's James van Reimsdyk got the equalizer for the Leafs in the dying seconds of the 2nd.

Less than 5 minutes into the 3rd, the Leafs took their first lead of the day on a Tyler Bozak goal to put Toronto up 2-1. With less than five minutes to go, the 'home' team got the equalizer in the form of a goal from Justin Abdelkader to knot things up at 2-2. With nothing resolved late in regulation or in OT, the Winter classic headed for a shootout for the second time in its history.

Pavel Datsuk got the first shootout goal of the game for Detroit, but Joffery Lupul and Tyler Bozak would get back to back goals for the Toronto shootout win. Toronto's Jonathan Bernier stopped 41 of 43 shots faced in regulation and OT while the Wing's Jimmy Howard faced 26 shots on goal and successfully turned aside 24 of them.

This game was actually slated to take place on New Year's Day 2013, but was cancelled due to the lockout and abbreviated season. Interestingly, this will be the first of many outdoor games scheduled for the 2013-2014 season.

In a move that was likely designed to offset the loss of the 2013 Winter Classic, there are at least five more games in four more venues scheduled this season in what's been dubbed the NHL Stadium Series. On January 25th, the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks will face off in Dodger Stadium. The following day, on the other side of the country the New York Rangers will host the New Jersey Devils at Yankee Stadium. Three days later, hockey returns to Yankee Stadium when the Rangers and Islanders go head-to-head. On March 1st, the Stadium Series resumes at Chicago's Soldier Field when the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. The NHL's stadium series is slated to wrap up the following day north of the border in Vancouver when the Canucks will host the Ottawa Senators at the BC Palace in the 2014 Tim Horton's Heritage Classic.

As for the New Year's Day Winter Classic, the Washington Capitals are slated to host the game next year, although a venue or opponent haven't been formally announced. There has also been speculation since the inaugural 2008 Winter Classic that Beaver Stadium on the Penn State campus in State College, PA would host an outdoor matchup between Pennsylvania's two NHL franchises- the stadium boasts an even larger seating capacity than Michigan's Big House and is roughly halfway between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins are getting off on the right foot for 2014. After a 3-2 win against Nashville at home the day after the Winter Classic, the Bruins hosted the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

Although the Jets got on the board first thanks to a Dustin Byfuglien goal midway through the first, Danny Paille tied it up at 1-1 with a tally for the B's less than 3 minutes later.

The second period was all Torey Krug as he scored two goals a little over four minutes apart for what would turn out to be the game-winner, putting Boston up 3-1. In the 3rd, Reilly Smith would add to Boston's total midway through the period making it a 4-1 game....which would also be the final. Tukka Rask turned aside 35 of 36 shots faced and the Bruins are now in sole possession of first place in the Atlantic division.

The Bruins will hit the road and next play on the west coast on Tuesday night when they take on the Anaheim Ducks- a team that has yet to lose at home in regulation this season- from the Honda Center in Orange County, CA. This one is a pretty late start at 10:00 PM ET and it will be televised on NESN.

Frozen Fenway- the Holy War on Skates. Matthew J Lee photo via @BostonGlobe #NDvsBC #NotreDame #BostonCollege pic.twitter.com/JOvQg6yCxA
— Fenway Nation (@Fenway_Nation) January 6, 2014

NCAA HOCKEY- Ann Arbor's Big House wasn't the only outdoor hockey venue this week. With an outdoor rink set up at Fenway, America's Favorite Ballpark hosted an NCAA Hockey doubleheader over the weekend.

After a 1-1 tie between Providence College and Merrimack, #6 Boston College and #14 Notre Dame took to the ice for the Holy War (on skates!). The Eagles jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Brendan Silk and Johnny Guardeau before Mario Luca scored late for the Irish to cut the lead to 2-1.

The Irish tied it up early in the second with a power play goal from TJ Tynan- the only scoring that would take place in the second period. In the 3rd, the re-took the lead on a shorthanded goal from Bill Arnold, but less than 3 minutes later, the Irish's Bryan Rust tied it back up at 3-3.

Less than a minute later, Johnny Guardeau got his second goal of the night and Eagles netminder Brian Billett would hold off a furious late surge by the Irish for the 4-3 win.

Saturday's game is actually the first of two NCAA Doubleheaders at Fenway- UMass Lowell is slated to take on Northeastern on the afternoon of Jan 11th while Maine will take on the BU Terriers that evening.

Andy Hayt- Getty Images

MLB- Former Yankees 2nd baseman, WWII Marine fighter pilot and Hall of Fame Broadcaster Jerry Coleman passed away at a California hospital on Sunday at the age of 89. A California native, Coleman reported to the Yankees minor league affiliate in Wellsville, NY after graduating high school at the age of 17. At age 18, he joined the Marine Corps and was flying Dauntless SBD dive bombers on missions in the pacific theater in WWII.

After World War II, Coleman made his major league debut with the Yankees in 1949 and was named the AP's Rookie of the Year that season. Starting in 1951, Coleman missed the bulk of two seasons serving in the Korean war where he served alongside Ted Williams. Coleman, the only big-leaguer to fly combat missions in WWII and Korea [Williams served as a flight instructor during WWII- NANESB!] recounted a harrowing close call Ted Williams had, crash landing after returning from a mission over North Korea.

After returning to the Yankees, Coleman was beset by vision problems and broke his collarbone in 1955. His last season with the Yankees was in 1957, when the Bronx Bombers lost to the Milwaukee Braves in seven games in the World Series. After retiring as a player, Coleman worked in the front office for awhile before making his way to the broadcast booth.

In 1970, Coleman returned to California and broadcast games for the then-California Angels for two seasons. By 1972, Jerry made his way down Interstate 5 to San Diego and would work in their broadcast booth for the San Diego Padres every year except for 1980- which marked an uneventful stint as the Padres manager. The following season, he returned to the broadcast booth and remained there through the 2013 season, earning the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C Frick award in 2005.

The veteran broadcaster was known for peppering his play by play with phrases such as "Oh doctor!" and "You can hang a star on that one!" after a particularly impressive play as well as frequent malapropisms. In recent years, Coleman was working a reduced schedule, covering select daytime home games and doing pregame interviews with Padres manager Bud Black.

Coleman was admitted to a San Diego-area hospital around Christmastime with cerebral hemorrhaging and his condition had worsened over the next several days.



Prior to his being hospitalized, Coleman appeared in a video message filmed in front of the USS Midway  museum for Veteran's Day that was released by the San Diego Padres. Coleman is also one of only two people the Padres organization erected statues at PetCo Park to honor- the other being Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn.

Hangover Quicke Sports Chowdah Update- Home Ice is Nice, But B's Ruin Leafs Homecoming; Slumping Sox Snap Skid

Nathan Denette/Canadian Press

BOSTON BRUINS- After a very game Toronto evened up the series at 1-1 at the TD Garden over the weekend, the Bruins/Maple Leafs series headed to Toronto on Monday night. This would be the first playoff game for Toronto in more than nine years and in addition to a packed house of nearly 20,000 inside the Air Canada Centre, thousands more fans clad in blue and white jersets, jackets and facepaint gathered around outside the arena to watch the game on strategically placed big screen TVs.

The Bruins cut into the home crowd's celebratory mood by getting on the board first thanks to an Adam McQuaid goal about midway through the first to make it 1-0. The B's would add to that lead with a Rich Peverly tally just under 6 minutes into the second period before a Jake Gardnier power play goal would help the Leafs get on the board, cutting the Boston lead in half.

However, Boston answered back less than a minute later when Nathan Horton's shot not only beat Reimer but managed to embed itself where the goalie-cam was mounted. Two minutes later and with Toronto on the power play, Daniel Paille would snag the puck near center ice and beat Reimer on a breakaway to make it a 4-1 Boston lead.

The Leafs were still game and with the man advantage, they pressed their attack to start off the third, once again cutting into the Bruins lead- this time on a Phil Kessel [*BOOOO!*- NANESB!] power play goal to make it 4-2 less than a minute into the 3rd period. Despite the Bruins being outshot 18-6 in the third, that would be the only goal Tukka Rask would allow in the 3rd, and with less than two minutes to go in the first, the Bruins would get an empty-netter from David Krejci to make it 5-2. That would be the dagger as the Bruins take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Tukka Rask would allow two power play goals on the 47 shots he faced at the Air Canada Centre on Monday night while James Reimer stopped 33 out of 27 shots faced. In addition to the empty-netter, Krejci had two assists on the night while the veteran Jaromir Jagr also had an assist.

The Bruins deflated the home crowd in Toronto on Monday night and look to repeat the accomplishment on Wednesday night when the series resumes. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN, CBC and the NHL Network.

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

BOSTON RED SOX- It was starting to look as though May wasn't going to be quite as good to the Red Sox as April had been. After tying the club record for number of wins in April, the Red Sox took two out of three from the Blue Jays to end the month of April and start May. However, the rest of the road trip was somewhat forgettable as the Texas Rangers swept the Sox in Arlington, including a come-from-behind win to break a 3-3 deadlock on Sunday.

The Sox looked like they weren't going to fare any better in Monday night's game against the struggling Twins when Minnesota got two runs off of Clay Buchholz out of the gate to start off Monday night's game at Fenway. The Twins would take a 3-0 lead on an RBI double from outfielder Aaron Hicks in the top of the 4th before the Red Sox would get on the board in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a Shane Victorino solo homer.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer would miss hitting a homer by a few feet to lead off the inning, getting a ground-rule double to the deepest part of right center instead. 1B Justin Morneau would bring Mauer home to make it 4-1 Twins before the top half of the inning was through.

The bottom of the 5th would be pretty eventful for Boston as Daniel Nava led off with a double. Saltalamacchia and Middlebrooks struck out, but SS Steven Drew singled to bring home Nava and cut the Twin's lead in half. Jacoby Ellsbury would then double, but Drew was cut down at home to end the inning. Although Victorino and Pedroia would lead off the bottom of the 6th with back to back singles, Big Papi hit into the shift, resulting in a double-play as Victorino advanced to third. With two away, Napoli drove in Victorino to make it a one run game before Saltalamacchia struck out to end the inning.

By now, the Red Sox bats looked like they were getting to the Twins bullpen as starter Vance Worley left the game with the lead. Sure enough, the Twins bullpen coughed up the tying run in the form of a Steven Drew solo homer in the bottom of the 7th and Dustin Pedroia gave the Red Sox the 5-4 lead with a solo homer of his own to lead off the bottom of the 8th.

However, it wasn't just the Twins relievers that were having trouble on Monday night. After coming on in the top of the 9th and getting Ryan Doumit to fly out to center field, Sox closer Joel Hanrhan gave up a solo homer to Brian Dozier to tie the game up at 5-5. After striking out Joe Mauer and walking Josh Willingham, Hanrahan was pulled for Clay Mortensen, who ended the inning by getting Justin Morneau to ground out.

With nothing resolved, the game headed into extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th, Twins reliever Jared Burton got the first two batters he faced out but would allow back to back singles off of Middlebrooks and Saltalamacchia. That brought up Steven Drew, who already had three hits on the night. The younger brother of former Red Sox outfielder JD Drew then ended the game with an RBI single that clanged off the green monster to give the Red Sox the 5-4 win in the longest game for Boston in this young season.

Clay Mortensen pitched two and a thirds innings of relief to get the win while Steven Drew went 4-5 with 3 RBI and a home run for the Sox. Big Papi went 1-4 to extend his hitting streak to 25 games (going back to last season).

Ryan Dempster [2-2; 3.00 ERA] who was seen warming up in extras on Monday night is scheduled to start for Boston on Tuesday, going up against Twins starter Scott Diamond [2-2; 3.97 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

May Day Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Win Big With Bats and Feat of Clay; After Trailing Early Bruins Finish Game 1 Boston Strong; Back- But Not in Black, Celtics Showing Life in the Knick of Time

BOSTON BRUINS- After finishing the regular season seemingly with a whimper, the Bruins were set for their first round opponent- Northeast Division rival and fellow Original 6 member Toronto, who's fans had been waiting since 2004 for a playoff appearance. As the CBC points out, nobody had ever posted live updates about a Maple Leafs playoff game or live-tweeted one, since those social media platforms were still a few years away from being introduced.

Game one of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals got underway Wednesday night at the TD Garden. James van Riemsdyk got the blue and white on the board early with a power play goal less than two minutes into the first, but Boston would tie it up with a Wade Redden tally with less than five minutes to go and then take the lead on this Nathan Horton power play goal with 11.7 seconds left in the first period:



Horton's tally would turn out the be the game-winner, but the Bruins added two more in the second with even strength goals by David Krejci and Johnny Boychuk in the second period as Toronto scrambled.

The Bruins would go on to win Game 1 by a 4-1 final and Tukka Rask stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced. Leafs goalie Jamie Reimer faced twice as many shots and allowed four goals in game one while David Krecji had a goal and a pair of assists Wednesday night.

Despite the lackluster finish to the regular season where they had lost seven out of their last nine, the Bruins are off to a good start in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Game two is set to take place on Saturday with the puck dropping at 7:00 ET. The contest will reportedly be televised on NESN, CBC and CNBC.

Nathan Denette- Canadian Press

RED SOX- Wednesday night's opening matchup of the Stanley Cup playoffs wasn't the only Boston vs Toronto matchup going on.

After Jon Lester was hung with his first L of the season in a high-scoring 9-7 loss to the Blue Jays, Clay Buchholz took to the mound on Wednesday night in Toronto.

Clay would get some run support early thanks to a two run home by Stephen Drew in the top of the second to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. As Buchholz was confounding the Toronto bats, allowing just two hits and three walks over seven innings worth of work, the Boston batters seemed to have Jays starter Mark Buehrle figured out as he gave up solo homers to Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava in the top of the 4th to make it a 4-0 Red Sox lead. With two away in the top of the 7th, Buehrle was pulled for Esmil Rogers who allowed Jonny Gomes to come home on a wild pitch to make it 5-0. With Dustin Pedroia on first base, the Jays decided to walk DH David Ortiz to get to Mike Napoli. That would prove to be a huge mistake as Napoli blasted a Rogers offering into the Sightlines Restaurant for a 3-run homer, breaking the game wide open with an 8-0 lead. Alex Wilson would come in in relief of Buchholz in the bottom of the 8th and give up a 1-out RBI triple to Brett Lawrie, but Boston would get out of the inning without any further damage and tack on two additional runs in the top of the 9th- including a Mike Carp solo homer to make it a 10-1 game.

The Red Sox would cruise to a 10-1 win thanks to the explosive bats and a strong seven innings by Buchholz, who is now 6-0 with a 1.01 ERA. Napoli would go 3-4 with two homers and 4 RBI while SS Stephen Drew would go 3-5 with a homer and two RBI.

Thursday night's game will have Ryan Dempster [1-2; 3.30 ERA] going up against the Jay's JA Happ [2-1; 3.86 ERA]. Despite the 1-2 record [along with some no decisions thrown in along the way- NANESB!], Dempster has 43 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched so far this season. First pitch is at 7:07 ET and the game will be broadcast on NESN and Rogers Sports Net.

Jesse D. Garrabrant- Getty Images

BOSTON CELTICS- After Sunday's win in the Garden to keep the series against the NY Knicks alive and stave off the sweep, the Celtics received some bulletin board materiel from the Knicks Kenyon Martin before Wednesday's Game 5. Martin had told his teammates to 'wear black- funeral colors' in anticipation of burying the Celtics at Madison Square Garden.

For Game 5, the Knicks got off to a torrid start, scoring 11 unanswered points to start off the game, but the Celtics would cut into their lead before halftime, getting their first lead of the night with 5:45 remaining in the 2nd quarter, leading 45-39 at halftime. In the second half, they started to pull away thanks in large part to Paul Piece's 10 points in the 3rd quarter.

From there, the C's would cruise to a 92-86 win, stunning the home crowd at Madison Square Garden. This would be Boston's second playoff win in the post Big Three era. Apparently some harsh words were exchanged after the game after C's reserve player Jordan Crawford [who didn't see a second of action in Game 5- NANESB!] got into a shoving match with Carmello Anthony and Ray Felton- although it was pretty mild in comparison to January's much publicized ballyhoo between Anthony and Garnett.

The somewhat unheralded Jeff Green led Celtics scoring on Wednesday night with 18 points, including going 2-2 from 3 point range. The remaining duo from the Big Three- Pierce and Garnett- had 16 points each while Jason Terry was once again productive coming off the bench with 17 points.

With the win, the series heads back to Boston for a Game 6 on Friday night, which will get underway at 7:00 ET and will be broadcast on ESPN. Boston is trying to become the first NBA team to come back from an 0-4 series deficit in a playoff series.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- After trading off their first round pick to the Minnesota Vikings, the New England Patriots had two second round picks and selected Southern Mississippi LB Jamie Collins and Marshall WR Aaron Dobson (52nd and 59th overall). Rutgers figures prominently in the Patriot's 3rd round selection when they chose former Scarlet Knights CB Logan Ryan and SS Duron Harmon (83rd and 91st overall). New England only had one pick on the 4th round- TCU WR Josh Boyce- and didn't have another selection until the 7th round where they selected Illinois DE Michael Buchanan and Rutgers LB Steve Beauharnais.

OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS- Former Sooners and Patriots head coach Chuck Fairbanks passed away in his suburban Phoenix, AZ home last month. The 79 year old, who coached Heisman winner Steve Owens with the Oklahoma Sooners and was coach when the Patriots earned their first playoff berth since the AFL-NFL merger, had been battling brain cancer at the time.

Fairbanks came to New England from Oklahoma in 1973 and within three years the Patriots were in their first playoff game since the 1963 AFL Championship. While he drafted popular quarterback Steve Grogan out of Kansas State, Fairbanks was sued by the Patriots for breach of contract when he told then-owner Billy Sullivan he wanted out of the remainder of his contract in order to become head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes. Fairbanks had reportedly been recruiting for Colorado whole still New England's head coach in 1978. The dispute was resolved when a group of Colorado boosters bought out the remainder of Fairbanks' contract in October 1979.

After his coaching career- including a short lived stint in the USFL- Fairbanks dabbled in real estate and golf course development and consulted for NFL teams in training camp, including the Cowboys when former Pats and Giants head coach Bill Parcells was at the helm.

OTHER NFL NEWS- Former broadcaster and New York Giants kicker Pat Sumerall passed away at the age of 82 in Texas on April 16th.

Born and raised in Lake City, FL, Sumerall attended the University of Arkansas where he would play both tight end and placekicker for the Razorbacks between 1949 and 1951. Although drafted in the fourth round by the Detroit Lions, Summerall played for the New York Giants and put the first points on the board for the G-Men during the 1958 NFL Championship Game- dubbed 'The Greatest Game Ever' by some and considered by many to be the starting point of the NFL's ascendency [the Giants would go on to lose by a 23-17 final- NANESB!].

However, Sumerall is best known for calling NFL games in his smooth, calm voice. Initially that voice found a home on local stations in New York and then CBS Sports. However, by the early 1990s, upstart FOX sports surprised the broadcast industry by outbidding CBS for the rights to the NFC broadcast package [to this day, CBS maintains the rights to the AFC broadcasts- NANESB!]. At FOX, he was reunited with the loud and boisterous John Madden as his broadcast partner. The duo called three Super Bowls together, including their final game- the Patriot's surprise win over the heavily favored St Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans.

Sumerall's also did voiceover work for the NFL and lent his voice to appearences on The Simpsons and Family Guy as well as radio ads for True Value hardware and Dux Beds.

Quickie Sports Chowdah Update- Bruins Snap Losing Streak; World Baseball Classic Underway

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A two game losing streak and an inability to maintain a 3rd period lead was some cause for concern among the B's faithful, but the Bruins looked like they got some of their mojo back on Thursday night at home against Toronto.

After a 4-3 regulation loss to Montreal on Sunday and on Tuesday, Boston let a 3-0 lead over Washington evaporate in the first meeting between the two teams since the first round of last season's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Caps scored three unanswered goals to force OT and RW Eric Fehr scored 37 seconds into OT to give Washington the win.

On Thursday night, the Bruins faced off against the Maple Leafs, and although recent history was on the Bruins' side, one had to wonder if the Leafs sensed any blood in the water. Tied at 1-1 early in the second, the Bruins padded their lead late in the period with tallies form Tyler Seguin and David Krejci to give Boston a 3-1 lead.

But with less than five minutes to go, the Leafs made it a 1-goal game thanks to a goal from Jay McClement and late in the 3rd, Toronto pulled goalie Ben Scrivens for an extra attacker. However, the crowd at TD Garden heaved a collective sigh of relief when Tyler Seguin scored an empty-netter to make it a 4-2 Boston lead with 15 seconds left.

With the win, Boston snaps a two game losing streak and remains just a point behind Montreal in the Northeast standings. Rask had Thursday night off and it was Khudobin who had the win for the B's, stopping 25 of 27 shots faced. Both teams went 0-2 on the power play on Thursday as well.

The Bruins' next game will be on Saturday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers- the first meeting between the two teams this season. Puck drops at 1:00 ET and the game will be televised on the NHL Network.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS- LW Chris Bourque has been reassigned to the providence Bruins after clearing waivers this week. Bourque was waived by the B's after posting a minus 6 rating in 18 games played. The Bruins also recalled RW Jordan Caron from Providence on Friday. In 44 games with the 'Pruins' this season, Caron has had 10 goals and 5 assists.

RED SOX- The Red Sox now have a 7-7 record in Spring Training after splitting a "home and away" series with the Minnesota Twins Thursday and Friday night [really- it's more like a 7 mile drive across Ft Myers, FL- NANESB!]. After a 12-5 win over the Twins at 'Fenway South' on Thursday, the Twins blanked Boston thanks to three shutout innings from Mike Pelfrey.

Ryan Dempster went 3⅔ innings and allowed 2 runs on five hits in the losing effort.

The Red Sox will host the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway South on Saturday night. Baltimore's Dylan Bundy will make his spring training debut while Felix Doubront will start for the Red Sox. First pitch is at 7:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Well, the good news is that Red Sox pitching prospect Drake Britton managed to hit 111 MPH on the radar gun in Florida. The bad news was that it was during a police chase outside of Ft Myers.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox lefthander Drake Britton was clocked going 111 mph early on Saturday morning, according to police, and was arrested on multiple charges that included suspicion of drunk driving.

The team released a statement saying: “This is a matter that the Red Sox take very seriously, and it is being addressed. The club will not make further comment on this matter."

Britton, 23, was optioned to Double A Portland on Monday. A Fort Myers television station, WFTX, reported his arrest that night. Britton had been scheduled to pitch against the Yankees on Sunday but did not.

Britton was driving a black Silverado pickup truck at more than twice the posted 45 mph speed limit, according to a report by the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

Police said that Britton eluded police in pursuit by swerving between vehicles before leaving the road and driving down an incline and eventually knocking over a barbed-wire fence. Police said Britton then tried to drive through a wooded area.

Britton was charged with DUI, DUI property damage and reckless driving. Police noted that he had slurred speech, bloodshot watery eyes and a strong odor of alcohol at the time he was finally stopped.

Britton represents the second DUI arrest in Red Sox spring training since 2012 when reliever Bobby Jenks was arrested for DUI, destruction of property and leaving the scene of an accident.

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC- With the USA off to a disappointing start, the early favorite in the WBC's Pool D might actually turn out the be Italy. Yes- the Italians got off on the right foot in Arizona as they topped Mexico 6-5 on Thursday night and simply steamrolled Team Canada on Friday by a 14-4 final. Since the total number of points helps determine who advances in the WBC, those 14 runs have Team Italy sitting pretty at the moment.

Meanwhile, Team USA got off to a lackluster start after a 5-2 loss to Mexico on Friday. With Mexico already leading 2-0, former Red Sox 1B Adrian Gonzalez belted a 2-run homer off of knuckleballer RA Dickie in the third inning, giving Mexico a 4 run lead that Team USA could barely chip into.

Team Mexico starter Yovanni Gallardo pitched 3⅓ shutout innings for the win andSergio Romo closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Team USA will take on undefeated Italy on Saturday from Chase Field at 9:00 PM ET in what is a must-win game if the hope to advance. The contest will be televised on the MLB network.

Super Bowl of Sports Chowdah Update- Ravens Survive Lights Out Superbowl XLVII; Son of 77 Comes Up Huge in Toronto

SUPER BOWL XLVII- Wow- who that plunging the stadium into darkness mid-game would turn out to be a winning formula? That's exactly what happened on Super Bowl Sunday when the Louisiana Superdome experinced a 34 minute power outage in the 3rd quarter of the championship contest between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers.

It was probably a blessing in disguise, though, since up until the Superdome was plunged into darkness, the Ravens were firmly in charge with a commanding 28-6 lead.

By the close of the 3rd quarter, the 49ers had managed to whittle the Ravens lead down to 5 points thanks to a 31 yard reception and TD run from Kaepernick to Crabtree, a Frank Gore rushing TD and a 34 yard David Akers FG. What once had all the appearences of a Ravens blowout was now a 28-23 game heading into the fourth quarter.

Baltimore would get some of their mojo back early in the 4th, starting off the quarter in the 49ers red zone and getting as far as the 1, but the Ravens would have to settle for a short FG after getting stopped on 3rd and goal. While they managed to extend their lead and burn precious time off the clock, San Francisco appeared to have the momentum going their way.

On their next posession, the 49ers got big plays from Frank Gore and Randy Moss to move the ball deep into Baltimore territory before Kaepernick took off for a 15 yard TD run with just under 10 minutes to go in the 4th. However, San Francisco's 2 point attempt failed and Baltimore still led by a score of 31-29.

Upon getting the ball back, the Ravens started off on their own 21 and thanks to some penalties by the 49ers that kept the drive going, took more than five and a half minutes to move the ball down the field. Baltimore was stopped on 3rd and 2 at the 49ers 20 yard line, but that suited them just fine as they got three points off the boot of Justin Tucker to put them up 34-29.

The 49ers had one more drive in them and thanks to some big plays by Gore and Crabtree, they made it inside the Baltimore 7 yard line with less than 2:40 remaining in the game. However, San Francisco ended up turning the ball over on downs after Kaepernick's 4th down pass fell incomplete. This was not without controversey as Crabtree and Ravens CB Jimmy Smith pushed off of each other as the 49ers WR was going for Karpernick's pass. The pass landed out of bounds and there was no call from the officials.

By this point, Baltimore's main concern was running out the clock and they were willing to cede a few points to San Francisco- so long as it wasn't a TD. After going three and out deep in their own territory and with the game clock winding down, Ravens punter Sam Koch actually held onto the ball for a few seconds, scrambling around in the end zone before almost casually sauntering out of the end zone for a safety with 4 seconds remaining in the game. San Francisco now trailed by a 34-31 margin and needed  less than 4 seconds to come up with some sort of score on the kickoff- but that wasn't going to happen as the ball was lateraled to the Ravens bench on the ensuing kickoff.

The Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII by a final of 34-31, their second Super Bowl since moving to Maryland from Cleveland in the 1990s. Their first was a 34-7 rout of the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.

Baltimore QB Joe Flacco went 22-33 for 287 yards and 3 TDs and was also named Super Bowl MVP. San Francisco's Colin Kaepaernick went 16-28 with 302 yards, an interception, a TD pass, a rushing TD as well as 62 yards rushing. And in case you missed it earlier in the postseason, this was Ravens LB Ray Lewis' final NFL game- he had announced this would be his final NFL season heading into the playoffs in late December.

Beyonce- reportedly NOT the cause of Sunday's blackout. Christopher Polk/Getty Images

OTHER SUPER BOWL NEWS- The 3rd quarter blackout left both the city of New Orleans and Louisiana-based utility Entergy [NYSE- ETR] red-faced and officials are still trying to determine what caused the power failure.

In a series of memos dating back to October 15th, both the Superdome Engineering Staff and Entergy officials expressed concerns that feeders connecting the stadium with incoming power lines were showing signs of significant decay and a chance of failure.

The memo said Entergy and the Superdome's engineering staff "had concerns regarding the reliability of the Dome service from Entergy's connection point to the Dome."

The memo was prepared for the Louisiana Stadium & Exposition District, the state body responsible for the Superdome.

Authorities subsequently authorized spending nearly $1 million on Superdome improvements, including more than $600,000 for upgrading the dome's electrical feeder cable system, work that was done in December.

"As discussed in previous board meetings, this enhancement is necessary to maintain both the Superdome and the New Orleans Arena as top tier facilities, and to ensure that we do not experience any electrical issues during the Super Bowl," said an LSED document dated Dec. 19.

Superdome commission records show a $513,250 contract to replace feeder cables was awarded to Louisiana-based Allstar Electric. Arthur Westbrook, Allstar's project manager for the job, referred all questions to the management company.

A lawyer for the LSED, Larry Roedel, said a preliminary investigation found the replacement work in December did not appear to have caused Sunday's outage.

And meters showed the 76,000-seat stadium was drawing no more electricity than it does during a typical New Orleans Saints game, according to Doug Thornton, vice president for the Superdome's management company, SMG

Apparently Beyonce's halftime show was NOT to blame, accoring to the NFL. The singer reportedly used a seperate generator that was not connected to the Superdome's grid for her performance.

Canadian Press, Frank Gunn

NHL- The Bruins got off to a less than stellar start against the Northeast Division after squandering a 3-1 lead against the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night. After heading into the 3rd period tied at 3-3, the Bruins briefly pulled ahead on a David Krejci goal before the Sabres tallied three unanswered goals to make it a 7-4 Buffalo victory [this included a Thomas Vanek hat trick- NANESB!]. The loss was the Bruins' first regulation loss all season.

Saturday night went a little better for Boston as the travelled north of the border for the first time this season, taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs. A number of fairly notworthy firsts took place during Saturday's game as well. LW Chris Bourque, son of legendary Bruins defenseman and Hall of Famer Ray Bourque, notched his first Bruins goal at 8:54 in the first [contrary to what some on social media was saying, it was not his first NHL goal. That came during the 2008-2009 season when he was coming up through the Washington Capitals system- NANESB!]. That would be the only tally that Leafs netminder James Reimer would allow on Saturday, stopping 33 of 24 shots, but that would be enough for Boston as G Tukka Rask had his first successful shutout bid of the season, turning aside all 21 shots faced in the 1-0 win.

So Bourque made his first goal with Boston count, and the Bruins get their first win against a Northeast Division opponent on the season [despite the loss, Reimer was actually named the #1 star of Saturday's game- NANESB!]. Currently, the Bruins are in sole posession of first place in the Northeast Division at 6-1-1 and will take on the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Center on Wednesday Night. Puck drops at 7:30 ET and the game will be televised on NBC Sports and TSN. Coming into Wednesday night's contest, Montreal has a 6-2-0 record and is in 3rd place in the Northeast Division behind Boston and Ottawa.

Sports Chowdah Update- Manning Lands in Mile High City; 8 is Enough, Leafs on Losing End of Beantown Beatdown; Valentine Announces Opening Day Starter

NFL- After less than 2 weeks as a free agent and being courted by a number of teams, former Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning has decided on the Denver Broncos.

Reports of Manning's decision circulated throughout sports media on Monday, and on Tuesday, the Broncos announced that they have reached a five year deal with the former Colts QB that guarantees $18 million for next season and could be worth $96 million.

The deal ends the idle guesswork on where Manning was likely to wind up, but immediately triggers all sorts of speculation on the future of Broncos starting QB Tim Tebow. Many observeers are fully anticipating Tebow to be traded after being named starter in Week 7 and leading the Broncos to an AFC West title and getting them past the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the Patriots in the Divisional round.

Early talk lists the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins or Jacksonville Jaguars as potential destinations for Tebow. However, there is the remote possibility that he not even leaves Denver.


NHL- The Bruins wrapped up their short two-game homestand as well as the season series against Toronto on Monday night.

It was all Bruins all the time from the very beginning, as Chris Kelly beat James Reimer to get out to the early 1-0 lead. Reimer allowed four goals altogether [the other three from Campbell, Pouliot and Marchand- NANESB!] on nine shots in the first period before being pulled for Jonas Gustavsson.

After Gustavsson was put in net, the Leafs allowed four more goals- comeing from Pouliot, Chara, Rolston and Seguin to give Boston the 8-0 win and sweep of the season series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Between the two of them, Reimer and Gutavsson allowed eight goals on 24 shots faced. Thomas hardly broke a sweat, facing all of 13 shots on Monday night and getting his fifth shutout of the season.

Unfortunately, unlike the last couple of years, there is not a top-tier draft pick riding on Boston beating the ever-loving shit out of the Maple Leafs and making sure they finish at the bottom of the conference. Still, the Bruins have outscored the Maple Leafs 36-10 in their 6 meetings this season.

Boston begins a 3-game West Coast road trip this week that starts off in San Jose on Thursday night. The game gets under way at 10:30 PM ET, 7:30 Pacific.

NBA- The Celtics managed to hold off a late rally from the Atlanta Hawks in the first meeting between the two teams this season as Boston's road trip continued on Monday night.

Although the Celtics trailed early, they took the lead in the second half and were up by as much as 15 in the 4th before the Hawks began to close the gap. Still, the C's managed to hold on for the 79-76 win. Ray Allen had 19 points and 3 rebounds while Kevin Garnett had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. The Celtics going 15-17 from the free throw line also helped them out on Monday's low-scoring game. The win leaves the still a game and a half behind Philly for 1st place in the division.

The C's will next travel to Milwaukee on Thrusday night to take on the Bucks- who are currently riding a 6-game winning streak. The game gets underway at 8PM ET and will be televised on Comcast Sports New England and NBA TV.

MLB- Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine announced the opening day starters this week, with Jon Lester slated to take the mound for opening day in Detroit on April 5th and Josh Beckett starting against Tampa Bay in the April 13th home opener against Tampa Bay.

Ides of March Sports Chowdah- Manning Bolts Colts; Thomas Holds off Leafs Late; Turco-ish Delight Coming to Boston? 76ers Halt C's 2nd Half Win Streak

BOSTON BRUINS- It was no doubt a weekend to forget for the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins. Not only did the B's drop Saturday's home game against the Islanders and Sunday's nationally televised game against the NY Rangers, Boston is expected to be without the services of goalie Tukka Rask after he was injured in Saturday's game. The B's announced on Monday that they expected Rask to miss anywhere from 4-6 weeks with a lower-abdomen/groin strain.

So with the goaltending depth chart for Boston beginning and ending with Tim Thomas, the Bruins headed to Tornto on Turesday night hoping to break their 2-game skid. For the Leafs, this would be the first home game under new head coach Randy Carlile.

Although the Leafs would get out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to a Carl Gunnarson goal, the Bruins were able to tie it up at 1-1 with a tally from Jordan Caron.

Toronto would briefly re-take the lead on a power play goal from John-Michael Liles early in the 2nd before Tyler Seguin and Chris Kelly would score about 40 sconds apart to give Boston their first lead of the evening. However, about midway through the 2nd the Leafs tied the contest up at 3-3 thanks to another power play tally- this time from former Bruin Phil Kessel.

But in the closing minutes of the 2nd, the Bruins would break the deadlock with another goal from Caron followed by Tyler Seguin's second goal of the evening to make it 5-3.

The Leafs would shave the Boston lead to just one goal late in the 3rd thanks to a Mikhail Grabovski goal, but the Bruins would hold off the Leafs for the 5-4 win and a 5-0 lead of the season series.

Tim Thomas stopped 25 of 29 shots faced while Jonas Gustavsson allowed in 5 of the 33 shots he faced on Tuesday night. Toronto had four power play opportunities and converted on two of them while Boston went 0 for 2 with the man advantage.

The Bruins next game will be on Thursday night against a suddenly very relevant Buffalo Sabres, who are tied with the Washington Capitals for the 9th spot in the Eastern conference and just two points behind Winnipeg for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern conference [still trying to wrap my noggin around the fact that Winnipeg is back, but in the EASTERN conference- NANESB!].

Thursday night's game at the TD Banknorth Gargen gets underway at 7:00 ET and will be televised on NESN and MSG networks.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS- Veteran goalie Marty Turco has cleared NHL waivers and will join the Boston Bruins to releive Tim Thomas in the final month of the regular season.

The option of calling up Anton Kudhobin from Providence wasn't a viable one since he's still nursing a wrist injury. With the trade deadline having passed last week, the Bruins were left having to resort to scouring the waiver wire.

Turco's most recent NHL experience came during the 2010-2011 season with the Chicago Blackhawks where he appeared in net for 29 games with a 3.02 GAA. After a stint as an in studio analyst for the NHL Network, Turco signed a short term contract with Red Bull Salzburg of the Erste Bank Hockey League in Austria in December 2011.

Because Turco was signed by Boston after the trade deadline, he will not be eligible to join the Bruins postseason roster.



NFL- After 14 seasons, including two Super Bowl appearences, QB Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts have parted ways. At a press conference alongside Colts owner Jim Irsay, an emotional Manning bid the organization farewell as speculations already ramped up about a possible destination for the veteran free agent QB.

Manning was due a $28 million bonus this week if he was to remain with the Colts. While Indianapolis was reluctant to stake their franchise on the well-being of Manning's neck, Washington, Tennessee, Miami, Seattle, the Jets and Arizona are all reportedly interested in Peyton's services and are well aware of the risk a big money contract with him entails.

Manning was drafted out of the University of Tennessee as the first overall draft pick by the Colts in the 1998 NFL draft. This season, the Colts have a 2-14 record, once again giving them the first overall draft pick in the upcoming 2012 NFL draft.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS- The Pittsburgh Steelers released veteran WR Hines Ward after 14 seasons, it was announced last week. In a statement, Ward said he was disappointed that he could not remain with Pittsburgh but repeated that he was determined to play in the NFL in the upcoming 2012 season.

Ward was a 3rd round draft pick out of Georgia in 1998 and the Steelers all-time leader in receptions and recieving yards. Both Ward and Jerry Rice are the only NFL wide recievers with at least 1000 career receptions and 2 Super Bowl victories.

RED SOX- Non-roster invitee Justin Germano pitched a pair of shutout innings in Boston's 3-3 tie with Toronto. The game was halted after 9 innings because the split-squad Blue Jays had run out of players by then.

The Red Sox will next travel to Jupiter, FL to take on the defending World Series Champion St Louis Cardinals. Josh Beckett is scheduled to get the start against the Card's Jamie Garcia.

CELTICS- While the second hald of this abbreviated NBA season seemed to be getting off to a much better start for the Celtics than the first half, Boston had a chance to take sole posession of 1st place in the Atlantic Division with Wednesday night's head-to-head matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers at Philly.

76ers guard Evan Turner had a career night, with 26 points for Philly in a 103-71 rout of the Celtics. This is the C's first loss since the All Star weekend, but it still cost them a shot a first place. They'll return to the Garden on Friday night to take on the Portland Trailblazers on Friday night- tipoff is at 7:30 and the game will be televised on Comcast Sports New England.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NBA- As bad as Wednesday night's thumping from Philly was, one could always feel better knowing that the vaunted LA Lakers pissed away a 21 point lead to the lowly Washington Wizards to lose by a final of 101-106 on Wednesday night.

Not Quite The Weekend Sports Chowdah for Dec 1st- Bruins November Reign Continues; Valentine's Day Arrives at Fenway; Perils of Paulina

Mike Cassese/ Reuters photo

NHL: The defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins wrapped up their already strong November with a road game
against one of their Original 6 archrivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Interestingly, despite Boston's 10 game winning streak (and subsequently going 1-0-1 since then) the Toronto Maple Leafs held a narrow lead for 1st place in the Northeastern Division heading into Wednesday night's game.

The Leafs got out to the early 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Mikhail Grabovski on Toronto's first man advantage of the evening. The Bruins got on the board thanks to a Milan Lucic power play goal with 4:52 remaining in the 1st. Both teams would head into their locker rooms with the contest tied at 1-1 thanks to Tim Thomas denying Phil Kessel on a one-on-one breakaway with 4 minutes to go in the first period

The Bruins would take a 2-1 lead on a David Krejci tally before Toronto's Joffrey Lupul got one past Tim Thomas to tie the contest at 2-2 three and a half minutes later.Boston would once again go up by a goal after Zdeno Chara beat Leafs netminder Jonas Gustavsson with 4:30 remaining in the secon period to make it 3-2 Boston.

Although the Leafs had just killed a penalty early in the 3rd period, Benoit Pouliot scored on Gustavsson to make it a 4-2 Boston lead. About three minutes later on the other end of the ice, Matt Frattin got on by Tim Thomas to make it a one-goal game once again. But with less than 5 minutes to go, the Bruins would start to pull away, getting a tally from Lucic followed by an empty-netter from Brad Marchand to wrap the game up by a 6-3 final.

Tim Thomas turned aside 34 of 37 shots faced while Toronto's Gustavsson stopped 34 of 39 faced. The bruins went 1 for 3 on the man advantage while Toronto went 1 for two. The win caps a 12-0-1 November, the first time since 1969 that the Bruins have played an entire month without a regulation loss. The win also gives Boston sole possession of 1st place in the Northeastern Division, with Toronto just a point behind.

The Bruins and Leafs go right back at it from the Garden on Saturday at 7PM ET geaturing a game that will be broadcast on both the NHL network and CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: Boston has signed Center David Krejci to a 3-year contract extension. The 25 year old Krejci was a 2nd round pick by the Bruins in the 2004 NHL Draft.


OTHER NHL NEWS: I did not know about this until the other day, but apparently hockey legend Wayne Gretzky's daughter Paulina has (or HAD) a Twitter account.

The 22-year old is the oldest child of Wayne Gretzky and actress Janet Jones and has been pursuing a career in modelling and singing. Although an enthusiastic user of the microblogging site Twitter, her most recent Tweet has led to some rumors on possible ownership changes regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Throughout most of November, speculation was ramping up that the current majority owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs were interested in selling their stake. Among the reportedly interested parties included a group led by Wayne Gretzky as well as Providence Equity Partners- the firm behind the YES Network and Canadian cable and media company Rogers Communications Inc [NYSE: RCI/ TSX: RCI.A & RCI.B], who also happen to own the Toronto Blue Jays.

The current ownership group- the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced last week that it was no longer interested in divesting their 79.5% stake in Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, but various rumors out are that Gretzky had a talk with Paulina about keeping a low profile on Twitter and other social network sites while Gretzky's group is making one final push to purchase a share of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, pre-empting any gaffes, wardrobe malfunctions or meltdowns on Paulina's part via the 140 character or less microblogging site.

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

RED SOX: Former Mets manager and ESPN analyst Bobby Valentine was announced as the Red Sox new manager this week. After multiple interviews, the 61 year old Valentine agreed to a 2 year contract as manager with club options for 2014 and 2015.

Initially, many observers had initially thought that the Red Sox would go with a 'newer' face and that Valentine wasn't a serious candidate for the position. Valentine's previous experience as manager includes the Texas Rangers, New York Mets and two stints with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese League. In 2005, Valentine became the first foreign-born manager of a Japanese team to win the Japan Series- the Japanese League equivalent to the World Series.

NFL: If New England didn't deliver the death blow to the Eagle's playoff chances, Seattle certainly did Thursday night, roughing up Philly in a 31-14 win. The Eagles started the 4th quarter down 24-7, but managed to punch it in on a long drive into Seahawks territory. However, Seattle LB David Hawthorne picked off a Vince Young pass attempt and returned it 77 yards for a TD with just over 4 minutes remaining.

OTHER NFL NEWS: The Minnesota Vikings have released QB Donovan McNabb on Thursday. So far this season, McNabb has been 1-5 and threw for a total of 4 TD passes before being benched. McNabb was benched for rookie Christian Ponder back in mid-October.

The struggling QB's services could still be demand elsewhere, however. The Houston Texans lost QB Matt Schaub for the season to a foot injury, and replacement Matt Leinart lasted all of a quarter before suffering a fractured collarbone to end his season.

The Chicago Bears also lost the services of QB Jay Cutler for the season, and McNabb is a Chicagoland native as well, so that may be a more realistic place for him to wind up.

NCAA FOOTBALL: One game in the books on Thursday night as the West Virginia Mountaineers rallied past the South Florida Bulls to win by a 30-27 final in Tampa. The win guarantees West Virginia at least a share of the Big East title and may secure them an automatic BCS bid depending on the outcome of Saturday's other games in the Big East.

Quicke Sports Chowdah Update For October 21st- Elvis Hasn't Left the Building Yet- Series Heads Back to Texas Tied 1-1; B's Offense Blows Leafs Away

Dilip Vishwanat- Getty Images

WORLD SERIES- And just like that, the Texas Rangers are back in this thing.

Two games into the 2010 World Series, I'm pleased to report there have been no blowouts so far. In Game one, the Cardinals broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single from pinch hitter Allen Craig in the bottom of the 6th- and that would be the final on Wednesday night.

Thursday was a slightly different story as the Cards Jaime Garcia went 7 shutout innings, striking out 7 while giving up all of three hits. Colby Lewis went 6 and ⅔ innings for the Rangers, but once again, Allen Craig got the Cards on the board in a pinch-hit situation- this time in the bottom of the 7th- to give the Cards the 1-0 lead. The way Garcia and the Cards bullpen was keeping the Rangers bats quiet, it looked like that lone tally would be enough.

However, Ian Kinsler would lead off the Rangers half of the inning with a single off Jason Motte. Then, in a move that was almost as predictable as Dave Roberts stealing 2nd off of Mariano Rivera in the top of the 9th of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, Ian Kinsler took off for second and slid in barely ahead of a throw from catcher Yadier Molina and tag by Rafael Furcal.

Elvis Andrus the followed that up with a single, that put Kinsler on 3rd and Andrus reached on 2nd thanks to a Pujols botching a cutoff throw from right field.

The Texas bats had been quiet for most of the World Series so far, but with runners on second and third with nobody out, outfielder Josh Hamilton stepped into the batter's box. Hamilton gave it a ride to right field for a long flyout, but deep enough to plate Kinsler to tie the game and advance Andrus to 3rd base. Next up in the batter's box was 1B Michael Young, who would also fly out to deep right, but still deep enough for Andrus to make it home and put Texas up by 2-1. Adrian Beltre would go onto ground out to end the inning.

Nefatli Feliz would take the mound in the bottom of the 9th and allow a leadoff walk to Yadier Molina before getting the next three batters out for the 2-1 win. So Texas rallies to bring the World Series back to Arlington tied 1-1 not because of the big bats of Hamilton or Cruz, but thanks to aggressive baserunning and small ball.

Game 3 will be played Saturday night in Arlington, TX with first pitch scheduled for 8:05 PM ET. Kyle Lohse (14-8; 3.39 ERA in the regular season) gets the start for the Cards while Matt Harrison (sporting eerily similar regular season stats of 14-9 with a 3.39 ERA) takes to the bump for the Rangers. The game will be televised on FOX.

RED SOX: Not too surprisingly, both players and front office personnel from the Red Sox deny the rumors of players drinking beer, playing video games and eating fried chicken in the clubhouse between innings during games. DH David Ortiz made some noise about joining the Yankees as a free agent, but seemed to walk back those comments in the last few days and expressed a preference for staying with Boston.

On Friday, the Oakalnd A's announced that former Red Sox pitching coach Curt Young was leaving Boston to join manager Bob Melvin.

Meanwhile, a deal that would see Epstein head off to the Cubs is still considered likely, but the proceedings have slowed down noticeably this week.

Elsa/Getty Images

BOSTON BRUINS: At long last, the Bruins offense was showing some signs of life, handing the Toronto Maple Leafs their first regulation loss of the season.

The Leafs had gotten off to a scalding 4-0-1 start on the regular season heading into Thursday night's game at the Garden. Meanwhile, this would be the Bruins first divisional matchup of the season after hosting the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-1 loss on Tuesday.

Toronto would draw first blood with a Dave Steckel tally at the 7:29 mark in the first period, but that would be just about it for the Leafs. The Bruins would get two separate power play goals starting with Nathan Horton's game tying goal three minutes later (with assists from Chara and Ference) before Zdeno Chara's power play goal at the 16:05 mark (with assists from Andrew Ference and Tyler Seguin).

With just under 3 minutes to go in the 1st, Chris Kelly would put Boston up by a 3-1 score on what would turn out to be the game winner. After a scoreless 2nd period, the Bruins got plenty of insurance thanks to goals from Lucic, Bergeron and Seguin (all even-strength) before Toronto notched their second goal of the evening.

Boston moves to a game under .500 with this dramatic 6-2 win over the previously surging Leafs, making them undefeated (1-0) in matchups against teams in the Northeastern Division.

The 3-4-0 Bruins will next host a homecoming of sorts for Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks (1-3-0) at the Garden on Saturday at 7PM ET. The game will be televised on NESN.

Yet Another All Star Sports Chowdah Update: Wheeler and Dealing- Busy B's Snap Skid; BC Helps Themselves to Another Beanpot; Little Rhody's Home Plate

NHL: The Boston Bruins acquired defenseman Tomas Kaberle from Toronto on Thursday in exchange for prospect Joe Colborne and a pair of draft picks (1st round in 2011 and 2nd round in 2012). This comes around the same time Boston sent RW Blake Wheeler and defenseman Marc Stuart to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for C Rich Peverly and defenseman Boris Valabik.

On the ice, there was bound to be something of a letdown after that Montreal game last week- and that was evident when the Bruins went on a 3 game skid, getting swept in the home & away series against the Red Wings and losing to before beating the Islanders 6-3 at Nassau County Colosseum on Thursday night. Not a bad way to start off your 6-game, 2-nation road trip, right?


On Firday night, the B's travelled to the Canadian capital to take on the Mr Carrie Underwood-less Ottawa Senators, with somewhat predictable results. No Tim Thomas in net for the games against the Islanders and Senators- giving Tukka Rask back to back wins.

Bobby Butler got the Sens out to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd, but Boston came right back with four goals- 2 from Brad Marchand, one from Dennis Seidenberg and one from Nathan Horton to put them up for good and give them the 4-2 win over the struggling Sens on Friday.
The Bruins next game will be on Tuesday night, 9 PM ET against at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary against the Flames.

NCAA HOCKEY: Just like round one of the Beanpot, Boston College would ultimately prevail, but it would require OT to do so.

This was a wild one at the Garden on Monday night, with Northeastern tallying the game-tying goal with 1:46 to go in the 3rd to make it a 6-6 game. 6 minutes into the OT, BC's Jimmy Hayes scored to give the Eagles the 7-6 OT win, good for Boston College's 16th Beanpot title.

NBA: To hardly anybody's surprise, the C's easily handled the NJ Nets in their last game before the All Star break on Wednesday. Paul Pierce had an impressive 31 points in the 94-80 win over the Nets, leaving the Celtics and Miami Heat in a virtual tie headed into the All Star break.

Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen spent the weekend in Los Angeles for the 60th NBA All Star game (which the West downed the East by a final of 148-143). The rest of the team will make their way out for the West Coast in time for Tuesday night's game against the Golden State Warriors.

MLB: OK....so most of you I'm sure are no doubt looking around and can't help but feel that the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

But fear not! Pitchers and catchers have reported to their respctive MLB training camps in Florida and Arizona, and with the rest of the team to follow, that can only mean Spring Training is around the corner!

There? See...that should put all those riots in the Middle East into perspective.

RED SOX: A Rhode Island state representative has submitted legislation that would authorize the Rhode Island DMV to issue Boston Red Sox liscence plates.

Representative Brian Kennedy (D- Hopkinton) has once again submitted legislation that would allow the liscense plates to bear the trademark Red Sox logo. Similar legislation was stalled in the RI State general assembly over concerns that the funds raised ($40 on top of the normal registration fees) were being directed out-of-state. However, in 2009 the General Assembly approved of special New England Patriots plates with the teams logo, with the proceeds going to Rhode Island chapters of charitable organizations like Meals on Wheels.

[hat tip: Providence Journal]

Sports Chowdah w/Sugar On Top- Sooners Pound Puppies; Cry TimberWolf!; Soggy Classic; B's Skid Stopped by Leafs; Pats Go (1st Round) Bye Bye

NCAA HOOPS: I blame myself- almost as soon as I pointed out UConn's record breaking performance in women's hoops, they lose on the road to the #8 ranked Stanford Cardinals by a 71-59 final last week. I blame myself for jinxing them and take full responsibility- my apologies.

Still, it will be interesting to see if any men's or women's team can come close to threatening the UConn Women's record and Stanford might end up usurping Tennessee as the lady Huskies main rival.


NCAA FOOTBALL: Let's face it- it simply hasn't been that good a week for UConn on the hardwood or gridiron. The men's hoops (currently ranked #8) lost to Notre Dame on Tuesday night.

But out in the desert on the first night of 2011, the UConn football team demonstrated that mammals were capable of oviparity when the Huskies went out and laid an egg against the Oklahoma Sooners in the second half of the Fiesta Bowl.

Three years after getting blown out by another Big East team (West Virginia) and four years after Boise State's shocking upset over the Sooners in the very same Fiesta Bowl, Oklahoma started strong and finished strong against the UConn Huskies, taking a 20-10 lead into halftime.

Oklahoma got out the the early 14-0 lead when UConn CB Dwayne Gratz intercepted Sooners QB Landry Jones and returned it 46 yards for paydirt. Dave Teggart would follow that up with a 37 yard FG towards the end of the first half.

As tenacious as UConn was in the first half, they were pretty much completely absent (aside from a 95 yard kickoff return from Robbie Frey) in the second as the Sooners got two pick-6s from Huskies QB Zach Frasier for the 48-20 Sooners win.

Keep in mind that UConn still hasn't scored an offensive touchdown since the 4th quarter of their Nov 27th game against the Cincinnati Bearcats. So that didn't really bode well for a UConn team that made it to a BCS game on the basis of tie-breakers and Big East rivals screwing the proverbial pooch. While they no doubt had their moments, by and large UConn had this 'not-quite-ready-for-prime-time' feel to their lackluster performance in the Fiesta Bowl.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: As lacking as UConn's performance in the Fiesta Bowl might've been, imagine a whole conference faring worse than the Huskies did as a team on New Year's Day. You don't have to, since there was the Big Ten's woeful results from the various Bowl games on New Year's Day:

Ticket City Bowl:
Northwestern 38- Texas Tech 45

Outback Bowl:
Florida 37- Penn State 24

Capital One Bowl:
#15 Alabama 49- #7 Michigan State 7

Gator Bowl
#21 Mississippi State 52- Michigan 14

Rose Bowl
#4 Wisconsin 19- #3 Texas Christian 21

Actually, the Outback Bowl was a little closer than the score would indicate if not for a late Penn State drive that ended in an interception being run back for a TD with just over a minute remaining in the 4th. As you might suspect, the Rose Bowl actually made for some fine viewing even for those who didn't have a stake in the outcome. Still, that's 0-4 in one day for the Big 10.


ORANGE BOWL: The Orange Bowl on Monday night featured a matchup between #5 Stanford and #12 Virginia Tech amid speculation this could be head coach Jim Harbaugh's last game as a number of NFL teams expressed an interest in his services.

In the first half, things didn't quite seem to be going the Cardinals way, with a missed PAT by kicker Nate Whittaker (one of two missed on the night), a fluky play that would've resulted in a safety no matter what and Hokies QB Tyrod Taylor making an 11 yard TD pass when it looked for all the world like he was being chased backwards and out of bounds. Still, the Cardinals would head into the locker room at the half with a 13-12 lead after Virginia Tech got a FG with 7 seconds remaining in the half.

But that would be the last time the Hokies would find the end zone or uprights. Stanford would score 27 unanswered points to take down Virginia Tech by a final of 40-12.

SUGAR BOWL: Ladies and gentlemen, there's been a Big 10 sighting! The 2011 Sugar Bowl pitted #6 Ohio State against #8 Arkansas on Tuesday night, and the Buckeyes fared much better than the rest of the Big 10 on New Year's Day. Granted that's not saying much....

Although the Buckeyes got out to a pretty commanding 28-10 lead at halftime, the Razorbacks held them to just 3 points in the 2nd half as Arkansas clawed back to make it a 26-31 game in the 4th. After attempting to bleed the clock late in the 4th, the Buckeyes decided to punt on 4th and 3 from their own 38 yard line. However, the punt was blocked, giving the Razorbacks the ball with good field position and very little time.

The first pass attempt from Arkansas' Ryan Mallet was incomplete- the second was picked off and the Buckeyes absolutely dodged a bullet there. Ohio State hangs on to win by the final of 31-26.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: Here are some finals from what some would refer to as the 'lesser' Bowl games [not me, tho'- NANESB!] prior to New Year's Day:

December 30:
Music City Bowl:
North Carolina 30- Tennessee 27 (2 OT)

Holiday Bowl
#17 Nebraska 7- Washington 19

December 31:
Meineke Bowl
South Florida 31- Clemson 26

Sun Bowl
Notre Dame 33- Miami (FL) 17

Liberty Bowl
Central Florida 10- Georgia 6

Chick-Fil-A Bowl
#19 South Carolina 17- #23 Florida State 26

NFL: Not that much to report as far as the Pats are concerned. Some of the starters got some rest on Sunday's 38-7 rout of the Miami Dolphins in South Florida, sweeping the season series. This is the 8th straight win for New England and also the 8th straight game where they scored more than 30 points, finishing with a 14-2 regular season record.

Now all that's left is to wait and see who New England gets after Wild Card weekend.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: Speaking of- here's the Wild Card weekend schedule:

Saturday- 1/8
New Orleans Saints @ Seattle Seahawks- 4:30 PM ET
NY Jets @ Indianapolis Colts- 8:00 PM ET

Sunday- 1/9
Baltimore Ravens @ Kansas City Chiefs- 1:00 PM ET
Green Bay Packers @ Philadelphia Eagles- 4:30 PM ET

NBA: Well....while I was watching all this football, it seemed to escape my attention that Rajon Rondo is back. He had a fairly low-key return in Sunday night's 93-79 win over the Toronto Raptors with 8 assists, a rebound and 4 points (8? Maybe not that low-key, then).

Getty images

On Monday night's game at the Garden, they got some unexpectedly stiff competiton from the Minnesota Timberwolves as Kevin Love had 24 points for the visiting T'Wolves. After trailing at halftime 47-43, Paul Pierce scored 15 of his 23 points in the 3rd quarter to help close what was once a double-digit gap before the C's went ahead and held on to win by the final on 96-93.

Interestingly, the Celtics have never lost to the Timberwolves since the acquisition of Kevin Garnett in 2007 (KG is still on the disabled list however, and did not play against his former team).

The C's have a tough one coming up Wednesday night at the garden as they'll play host to the San Antionio Spurs as they come to Beantown with the NBA's best record.



NHL: After back-to-back shootout losses against Atlanta and Buffalo (where they at least got a point for their trouble) the Bruins went north of the border to take on the Maple Leafs.

Tim Thomas had the night off and the elusive Tukka Rask got the start between the pipes for the B's instead. Although Toronto got on the board first with a Mikhail Grabovski goal, Rask turned aside 36 shots on goal- many of them coming from former Bruins teammate Phil Kessel.

Nathaniel Horton and Marc Savard would score in the second to put the Bruins up for good by a final of 2-1, snapping their 2-game slide.

The B's will next take on the Minnesota Wild at the Garden on Thursday night, 7 PM ET.

Justin K. Aller/ Getty

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL: The 2011 Winter Classic belatedly got underway Saturday night between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals amid intermittent rain showers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA.

The original start time of 1 PM Eastern was pushed back to 8 PM ET [might this be a sign of things to come for future Winter Classics? -NANESB!] in the hopes that the rain would clear by then. But it was a very wet Winter Classic indeed as the Penguins got out to a 1-0 lead on a Evgeni Malkin goal in the 2nd. However, the Caps would come right back with a power play goal from Mike Knuble and follow that one up with a tally from Caps RW Eric Fehr to take the 2-1 lead in the second. Fehr would provide Washington with some insurance in the 3rd with another tally to make it 3-1 Washington- the final score.

Washington's Semyon Varlamov turned aside 32 of the 33 shots he faced while Pens netminder Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 of 32 shots faced.

IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS: Jeez- I had no idea that these were underway until Monday night when the Maple Leafs announcers were updating the score of the USA/Canada game.....which alas, the USA lost 4-1. This means that the host USA will play Sweden in the Bronze medal game on Wednesday afternoon while Canada will take on Russia in the Gold medal game at Buffalo's HSBC Arena on Wednesday night.

MLB: Free agent and former Red Sox and Mariners 3B Adrian Beltre and the Texas Rangers have reached a preliminary agreement on a six-year, $96 million contract pending a physical late on Tuesday.