Long Overdue Championship Weekend Sports Chowdah Update- Nevermore! Patriots Rally Past Ravens, Advance to AFC Title Games; Kung Fu Gripping, Red Sox Sign Pablo Sandoval; Pedro, Big Unit Biggio and Smoltz Heading to Cooperstown; B's Blank Blueshirts; Rondo Heads to Dallas

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- Heading into the playoffs, the Patriots weren't looking particularly sharp. After thrashing the Miami Dolphins in weeks 15- avenging their season-opening loss and New England won the division in convincing fashion. However, the Patriots barely bested the Jets in the Meadowlands in Week 16 thanks to a 17-16 win over New York and fell to Buffalo by a 17-6 final after starting most of their second-stringers.

After a first round bye, the Patriots were set to host Baltimore after the Ravens upended the AFC North champion Steelers in the first round. This would be the fourth time since the 2009 season that the Ravens and Patriots met in the playoffs, with Baltimore winning two out of the first three matchups.



Early on, it looked as though it appeared the Ravens would add to their all-time playoff lead against the Patriots. Ravens QB Joe Flacco took their first two possessions and marched down the field for two quick TDs to take a 14-0 lead while the Ravens defense held New England to a couple of three-and-outs in the first quarter.

However, late in the first the Patriots put together a good-looking drive that included a 40 yard completion from Brady to Gronkowski and was capped by a 4 yard TD run by Brady on 3rd and goal. New England got on the board with 48 seconds left in the first and it was now a 14-7 game.

Despite increased pressure on the pocket from the Ravens defense, a fired-up Tom Brady managed to find the end zone late in the 2nd quarter on a 15 yard completion to Danny Amendola- with the WR fighting for key extra yardage to get into the end zone to tie the game at 14-14 after Stephen Gostkowski's point-after. However, almost as soon as the momentum was swinging the Patriots way, the Ravens came up with a key pick at mid-field with just over a minute to go in the half. Joe Flacco and company made the most of that thanks to a pass-interference call against Patriots CB Darelle Revis. With only 10 seconds to go, the Ravens quieted the crowd at Foxborough with an 11 yard TD pass from Flacco to TE Owen Daniels to put Baltimore back on top, 21-14.

In the second half, the Ravens managed to get a pass-interference call on 4th and 6 to set them up inside the New England red zone- altho they were pushed further back to the 16. However, Flacco connected with RB Justin Fosett for a 16 yard TD reception and give Baltimore a 28-14 lead and giving New England a bigger hole to climb out of. However, that's exactly what Brady and company did, with the Patriots QB connecting with Gronkowski on a five yard TD pass to make it a 21-28 game with 6:48 to go in the 3rd. After holding the Ravens to a 3 and out, Baltimore was forced to punt and the Patriots were able to start from their own 30.

What happened next could undoubtedly be considered the highlight of the game. After moving the ball to midfield on two quick plays, Brady quickly lateralled the ball to WR Julian Edelman. Edelman then threw the ball to a wide open follow WR Danny Amendola for a 51 yard TD pass to tie the game at 28-28.

On Baltimore's next possession, DB Devin McCourty picked off Flacco at the Ravens 37, giving New England a short field that they were unable to capitalize on. On the Ravens' next possession, they managed to march down the field pretty efficiently, including converting on a 4th and 1 along the way- but were shut out of the end zone, forced to settle for a FG with 10:17 left in the 4th quarter. With the Ravens back on top by a 31-28 score, New England couldn't afford any more three and outs.

Starting on their own 26 yard line with 10:10 remaining in regulation, the Patriots offense managed to get big chunks of yards while burning off some of the clock. With 5:13 left in the game, the Patriots took their first lead of the day on a perfectly thrown 23 yard TD pass from Brady to WR Brandon LaFell, putting the Patriots on top 35-31. Flacco once again put together a solid drive, getting to midfield in time for the 2 minute warning. However, with 1:38 left, Flacco went long from the Patriots 36 yard line only to be picked off in the end zone by Patriots SS Duron Harmon. The Ravens still had a timeout left, which prevented New England from simply kneeling down three times in the victory formation and running out the clock, so Ryan Allen had to punt. The Ravens got the ball back on midfield with just 4 seconds left, giving Baltimore just enough time for a hail-mary pass that the Patriots managed to bat out of the end zone.

The Patriots would only lead for just over five minutes, but it was all they'd need as they go on to win by a 35-31 final in what many are already calling an instant classic.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL PLAYOFFS- The New England Patriots will be facing the Indianapolis Colts and starting QB Andrew Luck in the AFC championship game this weekend at Foxborough. As rusty as the Patriots looked in the first quarter, the Broncos looked almost as bad for their entire game after their first round bye. Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos fell to his former team, losing by a 24-13 final at Denver. So demoralizing was the loss that the Broncos fired head coach John Fox within days and many are openly speculating that this may be the end of QB Peyton Manning's career, if not his tenure with the Broncos.

Meanwhile, in what was dubbed 'Ice Bowl II', the Cowboys made their first postseason visit to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI since the 1967 NFL Championship Game. While the temperatures were much more mild than in 1967, like the original title game the Packers ultimately prevailed- although what looked like a 32 yard completion from Cowboys QB Tony Romo to receiver Dez Bryant on 4th and 2 that would've put the ball on the Green Bay 1 yard line was overturned after challenged by Green Bay. The Packers would go on to win by a 26-21 final and will face the Seattle Seahawks in the Pacific Northwest for the NFC title next week. Seattle beat NFC South champions Carolina by a 35-17 final.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- With the end of the regular season, a number of new coaching vacancies and hirings have been announced. On Friday, the Chicago Bears announced that recently-dismissed Denver head coach John Fox would be their new head coach. Meanwhile, former Jets head coach Rex Ryan will be staying within the AFC East as the Buffalo Bills named him their new head coach after Doug Marrone opted out of his contract.

The biggest news came earlier this month when- after weeks of speculation- San Francisco 49ers and head coach Jim Harbuagh parted ways at the end of the regular season. By December 30th, the University of Michigan announced Harbaugh as their head coach, replacing Brady Hoke after a disappointing 2014 campaign.

RED SOX- The Red Sox have been letting no grass grow under their feet in the offseason. After signing Koji Uehara to a two year contract extension, Boston signed free agent 3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval to a five year, $100 million contract. During his 2014 championship run with the San Francisco Giants, Sandoval batted .279 with 16 homers and 73 RBI. The same week as the massive Sandoval deal was announced, Boston announced that one-time prospect Hanley Ramirez was signed to a 4 year deal worth an estimated $80 million.

Another former Red Sox farmhand returning home is Justin Masterson, who Boston signed to a one year contract worth just over $9 million in December. The Red Sox also ended up trading OF Yoenis Cespedes, RHP Alex Wilson and a prospect to the Tigers for starting pitcher Rick Porcello who was 15-13 with a 3.43 ERA with Detroit last year. Within a day of the Porcello deal, the Red Sox also sent starters Rubby De LaRosa and Allen Webster to Arizona in exchange for pitcher Wade Miley.

De LaRosa and Webster weren't the only Red Sox to make their way to the NL West- shortly before Christmas, the Red Sox announced that they had sent 3B Will Middlebrooks to the San Diego Padres in exchange for C Ryan Hanigan.

BASEBALL HALL OF FAME- The 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees have been announced and Red Sox fans can expect a familiar face among the honorees.

Pitchers Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and John Smoltz were first-ballot hall of famers while former Houston Astros 2B Craig Biggio made it to Cooperstown after his 3rd year of eligibility. Martinez, who has an ERA of 2.93 over his 17 year MLB career, has played for the Dodgers, Expos, Red Sox, Mets and Phillies. However, Martinez's career highlights (and lowlights) were in Boston. During the 1999 ALDS, Martinez came into the game in the 4th inning against the Indians and threw five no-hit innings of relief. The 2004 World Series was one of only two World Series appearances for Pedro- he threw a shutout in Game 3 at Busch Stadium against the Cardinals and even drew a walk in one of his at-bats.

Martinez was an 8 time All Star and has three Cy Young trophies to his name and led the AL in strikeout in 1999, 2000 and 2002.

The lanky Randy Johnson- dubbed "Big Unit"- had a slightly longer career, breaking into the bigs with the Expos in 1988 before playing nearly a decade with the Seattle Mariners. After a single season with the Astros, Johnson then signed with the newly-formed Arizona Diamondbacks in their second season and is best known for his performance in the 2001 World Series where he was credited with three wins in the dramatic 7-game series against the Yankees. In the deciding game 7, then-manager Bob Brenly pulled Curt Schilling in the 8th with one away before bringing in Miguel Batista to get out one batter [who happened to be Derek Jeter- NANESB!] and having Johnson- who started Game 6- come in to pitch relief. Johnson got all four batters he faced out and was credited with the win after Mariano Rivera loaded the bases and Luis Gonzales hit a single past a drawn-in Derek Jeter in the bottom of the 9th.

BOSTON BRUINS- Let's face it- it's been a pretty rough couple of weeks for the Bruins, but not too long after the calendar flipped over to 2015, something seems to be clicking for the B's.



On Thursday night, Tukka Rask turned aside all 30 shots he faced while Boston got goals from Bergeron in the first, Krejci in the second and Eriksson in the 3rd to get by the Rangers 3-0 in a nationally televised contest. The win puts the Bruins back in the playoff picture with about a week to go until the NHL's All Star break.

The win over the Rangers is the Bruin's 5th straight (this includes two shutouts) and Boston hopes to keep the momentum going on Saturday when they travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets. Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

2014 NHL WINTER CLASSIC- The 2015 NHL Winter Classic has come and gone- taking place at Nationals Park in Washington DC on New Years day with the Capitals hosting the Blackhawks.



The Capitals got out to a pretty quick 2-0 lead with tallies by Eric Fehr and Alex Ovechkin, but thanks to goals by Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad, the Blackhawks were able to tie the contest up at 2-2 in the second. It looked as though the contest would be headed to overtime, but a late penalty on the Blackhawks led to a Caps power play and with 12 seconds left in regulation, Troy Brouwer was able to give Washington a 3-2 lead with a late goal on the man advantage. The Capitals would hang on to win in the remaining 11 seconds of regulation by a final of 3-2.

According to ESPN.com and TSN's Bob McKenzie, Boston is reportedly the front-runner to host the 2016 Winter Classic. Fenway Park was the host for the 2010 Winter Classic where the Bruins hosted the Flyers. However, there has been no official word from the NHL and other venues such as Denver or the Twin Cities are also reportedly under consideration. An announcement from the league is expected by February.

NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL- Regrettably, I missed most of the Volleyball season- although I was able to catch some of the finals back in December.

The Brigham Young Cougars women's volleyball team holds the distinction of becoming the first NCAA women's volleyball program to advance to the finals after upending #14 Nebraska and #2 Texas. However the Lady Cougars were swept by defending champions Penn State. This would be the Nittany Lions 2nd consecutive women's volleyball title, giving Penn State an NCAA record total of seven volleyball titles and their sixth in the last eight years.

BYU fell in three sets (21-25, 24-26 and 14-25) to the Nittany Lions at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Center. Nittany Lion juniors Megan Courtney and Aiyana Whitney led the offense with 11 kills each while senior Nia Grant had nine kills to her credit.

NCAA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP- With the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl serving as a playoff for the first ever NCAA FBS Championship playoff, the Oregon Ducks made quick work of the Florida State Seminoles on New Year's Day [with Ducks fans and players mocking QB Jameis Winston by chanting "Noooo means Noooo!" to the tune of the Seminoles fight song after the game- NANESB!] after beating FSU by a 59-20 final. The loss was Florida State's first in 29 games- including last year's NCAA Championship game, which was the last under the old system.

Later on that day, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans would determine who the Ducks faced in the NCAA title game. This one turned out to be much closer, with the Ohio State Buckeyes prevailing over Alabama by a 42-35 final. This set up a Jan 12th meeting between the Ducks and Buckeyes at AT&T stadium in Arlington, TX for all the marbles [for the first time ever, no less- NANESB!]. Early in the matchup that featured Heisman-winning QB Marcus Mariotta against the Buckeye's 3rd string quarterback was going Oregon's way early on, with the Ducks getting out to an early 7-0 lead before Ohio State seemed to find their footing and go on to win by a 42-20 thanks in large part to Ezekiel Elliot's 4TD and 246 yard performance.

NCAA FCS CHAMPIONSHIP- After holding off a late rally by Illinois State, the North Dakota State Bison have won their fourth straight FCS title last weekend. The NDSU Bison were trailing the Redbirds 27-23 late before re-taking the lead on a 5 yard rushing TD from Carson Wentz to give North Dakota State a 29-27 lead. Just to make the final minute of regulation more interesting, the point after attempt was successfully blocked by the Redbirds.

With less than a minute to go, Illinois State was able to put together a drive that got them to midfield, but with just 8 seconds left, Redbirds QB Tre Robertson threw an interception to seal the win for the Bisons.

NBA- It's the end of the era for the Boston Celtics as the last of the Big Three from the 2008 Championship team was traded away to the Dallas Mavericks. In return for Rondo, Dallas will send Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder and Jameer Nelson to the C's and Boston will also receive a conditional first round pick in the 2015 draft and a second round pick in the 2016 draft.

Rondo, who had spent his entire NBA career in a Celtics uniform prior to the December 18th trade, returned to the Garden on January 2nd and had a season best 29 points as the Mavericks cruised to a 119-101 win over the Celtics.

Sports Chowdah Update- Junior Seau, 1969-2012; Dream Weaver in OC; Caps, Rangers Triple Down; Pierce Soars Against Hawks;

NFL- Former San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots linebacker Junior Seau was found dead in his Oceanside, CA home on Wednesday. Seau was killed by what police believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. According to a statement from Oceanside police chief, Seau's girlfriend called for help after finding him unresponsive shortly after 9:30 AM Pacific time.

Born and raised in Oceanside, Seau attended college at the University of Southern California. After sitting out his freshman year, Seau garnered the attention of pro scouts with his defensive play and he became a first round draft pick of the San Diego Chargers in the 1990 NFL Draft. The locally born and raised Seau became the face of the Chargers franchise throughout the 1990s and made 12 consecutive Pro Bowl appearances and was on the team for San Diego's only Super Bowl appearance- a 26-49 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Superbowl XXIX.

In 2003, Seau was traded from San Diego to the Miami Dolphins and after two season in Miami, Seau announced his retirement before the 2006 NFL season. However, within days, he was coaxed out of retirement by the New England Patriots, appearing in 10 of 11 games with the Pats before breaking his arm in a contest against the Chicago Bears in November of that year. Seau returned to the Patriots the following year, where they went 16-0 in the regular season only to lose at the last minute to the New York Giants by a 14-17 final in Super Bowl XLII. Seau returned to New England for two more seasons before announcing his second retirement  in January 2010.

In a November 2011 ceremony during a Chargers home game against the Broncos, Seau was introduced by Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Fouts to a sold-out crowd at Qualcomm stadium as the linebacker was named to the Charger's Hall of Fame.

Even before being traded to Miami, Junior Seau opened up a restaurant bearing his name in San Diego's Mission Valley. In 2009, he hosted a TV show on the Versus network called Sports Jobs With Junior Seau which documented such behind-the-scenes jobs in sports such as Indycar pit crew member or pro-golf caddy. In fact, one episode brought Seau to the TD Garden in Boston so camera crews could document the rink from a Bruins game being converted to a hardwood floor for an upcoming Celtics game on the same day.

In 2010, Seau was at the wheel when his SUV plunged off an embankment in Carlsbad, CA. He was later treated and released from a La Jolla, CA hospital. The accident came less than a day after Seau was arrested and released by Oceanside police for domestic battery charges.

MLB- As woeful a start as the Red Sox got off to in April, they seemed absolutely scorching compared to the Angels, who made perhaps the biggest off season free agent signing in Albert Pujols when he left St Louis for Orange County.

But the Angels made headlines on Wednesday night for reasons other than their shitty start after starting pitcher Jared Weaver threw a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins at Angels Stadium. Weaver threw 121 pitches, struck out nine and walked just one in the Angel's 9-0 win. Aside from the one walk, the only runner to reach base for Minnesota was 1B Chris Parmalee, who broke for first after a passed ball on strike three by Angels catcher Chris Ianetta.

In the top of the 8th inning, Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe came tantalizingly close to going yard before the ball hooked foul past the left field pole by a few feet.

This is the 10th no-hitter in the history of the Angels franchise and the second for the club in less than a year. On June 27 2011, Ervin Santana threw a no-no against the Cleveland Indians at Jabobs Field.

RED SOX- After an impressive 6-1 road trip through the Midwest- including an impressive 1-0 pitchers duel between Jon Lester and Jake Peavy on Chicago's South Side on Saturday- the Red Sox returned to Fenway on Monday to rout the Oakland A's by a 11-6 final.

However, after falling behind on Tuesday night, a late Boston rally fell short and the Red Sox were hung with the 5-3 loss while on Wednesday night, Oakland's Brandon McCarthy gave up only one run in 6⅔ innings in Boston's 4-2 home loss.

With Thursday off, the Red Sox will face the Baltimore Orioles who have won four out of their last five games. This will be the first regular season meeting between Baltimore and Boston since the O's ended the Red Sox season on September 28, 2011 with a walk-off Robert Andino RBI single against Jonathan Papelbon at Camden Yards. Wei Yin Chen [2-0; 2.22 ERA] goes to the mound for the O's against Jon Lester [1-2; 4.65 ERA] on Friday night at Fenway.First pitch is at 7:10 PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- 3B Kevin Youkilis has been placed on the 15 day DL with what's been described as a sore lower back. The Red Sox have called up 3B Will Middlebrook and Clay Mortenson from AAA Pawtucket. Middlebrook is batting .358 with 9 homers and 27 RBI in 81 plate appearances in the International League this season.

Mortenson, who was part of the January trade that dealt Marco Scutaro to Colorado, has a 0.90 ERA batting average while with Pawtucket.

Meanwhile in AA Portland, Daisuke Matsuzaka went 4 and ⅔ innings in a rehab start for the Portland Sea Dogs, allowing 3 hits and one earned run. Matsuzaka's next scheduled start is set to take place on Monday night at McCoy stadium in Pawtucket when the PawSox host the Rochester Red Wings.

EVEN MORE RED SOX NEWS- Items from Ted Williams' baseball and military career went up for auction at Fenway Park over the weekend. Some of the items included a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth for Ted Williams ($195,000), Williams' bat from the 1960 All Star Game ($81,000), Williams' Hall of Fame Ring ($109,000) and his 1949 American League MVP plaque ($299,000).

New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees participated in the auction via telephone, purchasing Williams' flight logbooks from when he served as an aviator in WWII and the Korean War for $35,600. Brees said he intends to loan the items to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

NBA- A strong defensive 4th quarter proved to be the difference maker for the Celtics on Tuesday night as they held that Hawks to 14 points in the 4th quarter at downtown Atlanta's Phillips Arena.

With Rajon Rodno suspended for one game after bumping an NBA official, Paul Pierce basically torched the arena with 36 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists in Boston's 87-80 win over Atlanta. This includes going 11 for 13 from the free throw line.

Kevin Garnett had 15 points and 12 rebounds while Avery Bradley had 14 points in Game 2. The series head to the Garden and Rondo returns to the hardwood for Game 3, which is set to take place on Friday night and will be televised on ESPN. The series, which is tied at 1-1, will resume at 7:30 PM Friday Night.

NHL- Marian Gaborik broke a 1-1 deadlock between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers in the 3rd OT of Game 3 in the Eastern Conference semifinals to take a 2-1 series lead. The Rangers converted on one of only four power play opportunities while Washington went 0-3. New York netminder Henrik Lunqvist turned aside 45 of 46 shots faced while Braden Holtby made 47 saves on 49 shots faced. The series between those two teams resumes on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 ET. The Rangers currently hold a 2-1 series lead.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Wednesday, Nashville shut out the Phoenix Coyotes by a 2-0 final for their first win in the Western Conference Semis.

On Thursday night, Philadelphia and New Jersey will resume their series which is knotted at 1-1 will get underway from the Prudential Center in Newark while Los Angeles and St Louis heads to the Staples Center with the Kings holding a 2-0 lead over the Blues.

Sports Chowdah Update- Sox on Sox Violence; Capital Punishment; Patriots Getting Defensive in Draft; C's Feeling Hawkish;

RED SOX- As it turns out, the AL Central is providing quite the platform for the Boston Red Sox to rebound.  After last Saturday's fiasco at Fenway in which Boston squandered a 9-1 lead against their archrivals, Sunday night's game against the Yankees was rained out before the Red Sox hit the road.

After sweeping the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, the Red Sox headed to the south side of Chicago for a four game tilt against the White Sox. Thursday's Game 1 saw Felix Doubront in his first start since Saturday's trainwreck against the Yankees going up against Phillip Humber in his first start since throwing a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners.

The Red Sox got on the board in the top of the first with an RBI double from Adrian Gonzalez and an RBI single from David Ortiz to take the early lead. Although Chicago would get a run back on a Paul Konerko RBI double, the Red Sox blew the game open the next inning with a grand slam from Kevin Youkilis immediately followed up by a Jarrod Saltalamacchia solo shot.

Doubront would go on to get his first win of the season and the Red Sox took Game 1 in the South Side by a 10-3 final.

Friday night's game in the south side saw Daniel Bard back on the mound as Boston's starter against ChiSox starter John Danks. The White Sox go out to the early 1-0 lead thanks to an AJ Pierzynski RBI double in the bottom of the 1st. Boston would go on top on a 2-run homer from Big Papi before the ChiSox would knot things up at 2-2 on a passed ball down in the bottom of the 3rd, then re-take the lead on a Konerko solo homer.

However the Red Sox would break the game wide open in the top of the 6th- after Cody Ross tied the game up with an RBI single and with the bases still loaded, Darnell McDonald cleared the bases with a 3-RBI double before coming home on an RBI single from Marlon Byrd to give the Red Sox a 7-3 lead and chased Danks from the mound. Boston would get 2 more RBIs in the top of the 7th- from Cody Ross and Kelly Shoppach and a solo homer from McDonald in the top of the 9th.

The RedSox would go on to replicate their 10-3 final from Thursday night, with Daniel Bard getting his second win since Monday when he came on out of the bullpen against Minnesota. Friday night's win in Chicago is Boston's 5th straight since coughing up that 9-1 lead in Fenway Park last weekend.

Saturday's matchup will take place at 7:10 PM with Jon Lester [0-2; 6.00 ERA] getting the start against Jake Peavy [3-0; 1.88 ERA]. The game from Comiskey Park will be televised on NESN.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young was arrested in New York on hate crime charges stemming from an altercation outside the Midtown Manhattan Hilton as the Tigers were in town to take on the Yankees.

Young reportedly began shouting anti-semitic slurs at a group of men from Chicago and a panhandler wearing a yarmukule outside the hotel and knocked at least one member of the group to the ground before police showed up at the hotel.

In 2006, Young recieved a 50-game suspension from the International League after throwing a bat at an umpire while with Tampa Bay's AAA affiliate in Durham, NC.

BOSTON BRUINS- Although the Bruins won the Stanley Cup last season after no less than three Game 7s in the postseason, there will be no Stanley Cup finals for the Bruins this year as they were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in the first round of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Caps got off to the 1-0 lead in the first with a goal from Matt Hendricks before the Bruins got the equalizer from Tyler Seguin in the 2nd. After a scoreless 3rd, the game headed to OT where Caps RW Joel Ward scored the game-winner less than 3 minutes in- and apparently unleashed a torrent of ethnic slurs directed at him on social media. Both Washington and Boston later issued statements condemning the remarks directed at Ward, who's parents emigrated from the Barbados to Canada. [While some of the remarks appeared to come from Red Wings or Sabres fans, most of the comments directing racial slurs at Ward seem to have come from Bruins 'fans' who need to learn how the fuck to Google 'Willie O'Ree'- NANESB!]. Then again, the slurs directed at Ward also give Canadian sportswriters a chance to talk about something besides how no Canadian team advanced past the first round.

Tim Thomas made 25 saves on 27 shots faced Wednesday night while the Caps' Braden Holtby turned aside 31 of 32 shots faced. Boston went 0-3 on the power play (inlcuding one late in the 3rd) while Washington went 0-1 on their only opportunity with the man advantage.

On Saturday, Washington will go on to face the NY Rangers- who won their series against Ottawa in 7 games- while the Flyers will resume play on Sunday against the New Jersey Devils after nearly a week off.

Out in the Western conference, the Phoenix-Nashville series got underway with the series opener heading to OT (much like all but one game in the Coyotes-Blackhawks series went to OT) where Phoenix won by a 4-3 final on a Ray Whitney OT goal.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- The New England Patriots are clearly thinking 'defense' with this year's draft, trading up to take Syracuse DE Chandler Jones at #21 and Alabama LB Dont'a Hightower at #25 in the first round.

In the second round, the Patriots drafted former fighting Ilini Tavon Wilson at strong safety, although he's also had some experience at corner and could offer some versatility. Wilson was the 16th pick in the 2nd round, 48th overall while in the 3rd round, the Pats selected Razorbacks DE Jake Bequette in the 27th slot- number 90 overall.

BOSTON CELTICS- The C's wrapped up the regular season and first place of the Atlantic division this week with a 74-87 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at the Garden on Thursday. For the first round of the NBA playoffs, they draw the #5 seed Atlanta Hawks. Game 1 gets underway from Atlanta at 7 PM ET on Sunday and will be televised on TNT.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NBA- The Laker's Ron Artest- who now goes by the name Meta World Peace- recived a 7-game suspension from the NBA for a vicious elbow against Oklamoha City's James Harden last week. Artest's elbow connected with the back of an unsuspecting Harden's head, sending the Thunder's top reserve to the hardwood with a concussion during Sunday's game in which the Thunder lost 106-114 to the Lakers.

The suspension was effective immediately and Artest missed the final game of the regular season against the Sacramento Kings. Artest will reportedly lose nearly $348,000 in salary if the entirety of his suspension is served this season- if the Lakers are quickly eliminated from the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets, Artest's suspenstion will carry over into the next season [one more reason to root against the Lakers, I guess- NANESB!].

Sports Chowdah Update- Flawless in Seattle; Sox on Target After Rough Week; Byrd Lands in Beantown; Capital Idea- B's Force Game 7 in the Garden; Torres Gets 25 Game Suspension

MLB- On Saturday afternoon at Seattle's SafeCo Field, White Sox starting pitcher Phillip Humber threw a perfect game against the Mariners in Chicago's 4-0 win over Seattle.

With just 96 pitches, Humber retired every Mariners batter he faced and became the third White Sox pitcher to throw a perfect game in the club's history. Mariners pinch-hitter Brendan Ryan has strike three called on a checked swing with 2 away in the bottom of the 9th, but the ball got away from White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski and Ryan had to be thrown out on his way to 1st base.

Prior to Humber's outing on Saturday, the most recent perfect game for the White Sox was thrown by Mark Buehrle in July 2010 at US Cellular Field against the Tampa Bay Rays. The White Sox first recorded perfect game came almost 90 years ago to the day from Humber's start in Seattle- the Detroit Tigers went 27 up and 27 down against the ChiSox's Charlie Robinson at Tigers Stadium on April 30, 1922.

Humber's perfect game is also the 21st of baseball's modern era and the third to take place since I started up this blog. Oakland's Dallas Braden tossed a no-hitter on Mother's Day 2010 and the Phillie's Roy Halliday thew one on the road against the Florida Marlins less than 3 weeks later [so my humble little blog has been around for 1/7th of all the perfect games in MLB history- neat! NANESB!]

The first pick of the New York Mets in the 2004 MLB draft, Humber went to the Minnesota Twins as part of the Johan Santana trade in 2008 that sent the Texas native to the Twin Cities and 2-time Cy Young winner to Queens. Ironically, the New York Mets remain one of two MLB franchises whose pitching staff have not thrown a no-hitter. Humber would remain in the AL Central, spending 2010 with the Kansas City Royals before signing with the White Sox in 2011. Humber's previous start saw him go 5 and ⅓ innings against the Baltimore Orioles at home, giving up 6 hits, 3 walks and an earned run in a 10-4 loss against the O's on April 16.

RED SOX- Perhaps the best thing about Humber's perfect game was that it diverted attention away from the Red Sox's catastrophic outing at Fenway after the bullpen somehow managed to blow a 9-0 lead against the Yankees. Although Felix Doubront went 6 complete innings and allowed one earned run on four hits, things almost immediately took a turn for the worse when Vincente Padilla came out of the bullpen and gave up 5 earned runs in ⅓ of an inning....and it only got worse from there, with the Yankees scoring 14 unanswered runs to go on and win by a 15-9 final.

The Red Sox had already lost the series opener on Friday in a 6-2 game in which the only highlight seemed to be the unexpectedly hostile reaction to a videotaped message from President Obama playing on the jumbotron between innings. Mother nature apparently intervene on behalf of the Red Sox on Earth Day when the only thing preventing another beatdown from the Yankees was a Noreaster moving through the region, causing Sunday night's nationally televised game to be postponed.

Bard was scheduled to start on Sunday night against New York's CC Sabathia, but was temporarily moved to the bullpen and Jon Lester was named the starter for Monday night's road game against the Minnesota Twins.

Boston drew first blood with an RBI Sac-fly from 1B Adrian Gonzalez in the 1st followed by a 2-run homer from C Jarrod Saltalamacchia off of Twins starter Jason Marquis in the top of the 2nd inning. However, the Twins would come roaring back in the bottom of the 4th with a 2-out 2-RBI double by OF Ryan Doumit followed by a 2 run homer by 3B Danny Valencia to make it 4-3 Twins. Minnesota would seemingly get an insurance run as SS Jamie Carrol grounded into a double play with a runner on 3rd to make it 5-3.

However, not only did Boston's Cody Ross come up with the equalizer in the form of a 2-run homer in the top of the 7th, Ross also produced the game's go-ahead run with a solo homer in the top of the 9th off of Twins closer Matt Capps. In the bottom of the 9th, Alfredo Aceves allowed a 1-out single to outfielder Chris Parmalee, but got the next two batters out to preserve the 6-5 win and break the Red Sox 5-game losing streak in which they were outscored by a combined 46-17 against the Rays, Rangers and Yankees.

The series against the Twins resumes on Tuesday night when Josh Beckett [1-2; 5.03 ERA] takes the mound against Minnesota's Nick Blackburn [0-1; 5.56 ERA] at Target Field. The game gets udnerway at 8:10 ET and will be televised on NESN.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- The Red Sox have acquired outfielder Marlon Byrd from the Chicago Cubs on Saturday in exchange for cash, RHP Micheal Bowden and a player to be named later. Despite a paltry .070 batting average with the Cubs, Byrd went 1 for 4 in his Red Sox debut on Monday night, getting a single off of Marquis in the top of the 7th.
The move comes as CF Jacoby Ellsbury is expected to miss nearly 6 weeks after suffering a partially dislocated shoulder while trying to break up a double play against Tampa Bay last week. CF Jason Repko also landed on the DL with a partially seperated shoulder after making a diving catch in center field during Friday's game against the Yankees. The Red Sox also called up 1B Lars Anderson from Pawtucket on Monday.

MORE RED SOX NEWS- Former Red Sox starting pitcher Derek Lowe had his 2004 World Series ring as well as a gold World Series trophy stolen along with women's jewelry and shoes from his Florida home this week, the Ft Meyers News-Press reported. The total value of the stolen items is estimated to be around $90K
Lowe, who is now starting for the Cleveland Indians, was on the mound for the deciding Game 4 of the 2004 World Series against the St Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium, which the Red Sox won by a 3-0 final. Lowe also has the unique disctinction of being recorded as the winning pitcher in the deciding games of the ALDS, ALCS and World Series.

Although he departed for the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent the following season, Derek Lowe returned to applause at Fenway during the 2005 home opener to recieve his championship ring. After three seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Lowe was traded to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for minor leaguer Chris Jones at the end of the 2011 season.

BUT WAIT- THERE'S MORE RED SOX NEWS!- Daisuke Matsuzaka went 4 innings for the Red Sox High-A League Salem Red Sox on Monday night, allowing 3 earned runs on 6 hits (including two homers) while striking out 3 batters. This is Matsuzaka's first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2011. Matsuzaka could see as many as 5 starts in Boston's farm system during his monthlong rehab assignement.

Although he made a bullpen appearence in Monday night's game against Minnesota, the Red Sox insist Bard will be their 5th starter for the forseeable future. However, Aaron Cook is doing well as a starter in AAA Pawtucket and the Red Sox may call him up to the parent club sometime this season. Depending on how well the rest of Dice-K's starts go, the Red Sox may have some felxibility with Cook or Matsuzaka.

YES, EVEN MORE RED SOX NEWS- Former Red Sox second baseman and current NESN color commentator Jerry Remy missed Monday night's game in Minnesota due to an unspecified ailment. According to NESN and Remy's own twitter feed, Rem-dawg hopes to be back in the booth in time for Tuesday night's game at Target Field.

BOSTON BRUINS- Let's face is- Saturday just wasn't a good day at all for anything related to Boston sports. While the Red Sox were managing to blow a seemingly insurmountable 9-0 lead at the Fens, across town the Washington Capitals managed to break a 3-3 deadlock late in the 3rd at the Garden. Troy Brower was able to get the puck past Tim Thomas on a Caps power play with less than 90 seconds to go in the 3rd to put Washington up 4-3 and give Washington the 3-2 series lead.

So the Bruins headed into DC's Verizon Center facing elimination in a must-win game on Sunday afternoon that was televised on NBC as the part two of an early game doubleheader. Game 1 on Sunday featured the Phildelphia Flyers eliminating the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 5-1 final.

The Bruins got on the board early after Rich Peverly tipped in an Andrew Ference slapshot past Braden Holtby to give Boston the 1-0 lead just under 6 minutes into the first. Just under 4 minutes later, the Caps would get the equalizer from Mike Green before the B's retook the lead on a David Krejci power play goal with just over 3 and a half minutes in the 1st to make it 2-1 and Boston's 2nd PP tally in as many games.

With less than a minute remaining in the second period, the Caps managed to knot the contest back up on a Jason Chimera goal- the only scoring in the 2nd period. With about 8 minutes remaining in regulation, Tyler Seguin forced a turnover in the B's end of the ice and was able to get a shot off towards Braden Holtby. Although Holtby stopped the shot on goal, he didn't corrall the puck and after lazily drifting by the sticks of Milan Lucic and David Krecji, Andrew Ference was able to bang the puck through traffic and past Holtby for the 3-2 Boston lead.

However, with under 5 minutes remaining, Alexander Ovechkin was able to get one past Tim Thomas right off a faceoff in the Bruins own end to tie the game up and force OT [seems as though there's alot of that going around the NHL this postseason- NANESB!].

Three and a half minutes into the OT, Milan Lucic managed to snag the puck at the blue line and fed it to an open Tyler Seguin, who fired the puck past Holtby for the game-winner. This was Seguin's first goal of the series, and he was also credited with the assist on Ference's 3rd period goal.

Tim Thomas stopped 36 of 39 shots faced while on the other end of the rink, Braden Holtby turned aside 27 of 31 shots faced. The B's were 1-4 in power play opportunities while the Caps went 0-4 with the man advantage on Sunday Afternoon. The deciding Game 7 will take place Wednesday night at the Gardeen with a 7:30 ET faceoff and will be televised on the NBC Sports network and CBC.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- The NHL has suspended Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Raffi Torres 25 games after his hit on Marian Hossa in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks. Torres left his skates to deliver a hit on Hossa that left him sprawled on the ice; Hossa would be carted off on a stretcher after the hit.

Hossa visited teammates on Monday at Chicago's United Center, although a timetable on his return is uncertain. Meanwhile in a statement released through the NHL Players association this week, Torres weighed a possible appeal of NHL head disciplinarian Brendan Shannahan's decision. Shanahan reportedly factored in Torres' prior history of hits on opponents away from the puck into his punishment, and Torres is basically finished for the year no matter how far into the playoffs the Coyotes advance. If Phoenix is eliminated in the second round, then the remainder of Torres' supension reportedly carries over into the 2012-13 season.

The Coyotes shut out the Blackhawks 4-0 on Monday night to win the series 4 games to 2. Interestingly, that was the only game in the Phoenix-Chicago series that didn't head to OT. Although the exact schedule has yet to be determined, the Coyotes will draw the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference Semifinals.

WESTERN CONFERENCE- With the Phoenix-Chicago series wrapping up on Monday, the Western conference matchups are set. #8 seeded Los Angeles finished off the President's Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night, winning on the road and selaing the series win with a Jarrett Stoll goal in OT to win the game 2-1 and the series 4-1. The Kings will advance to play the #2 seeded St Louis Blues, who took care of the San Jose Sharks- also by a 4 games to 1 margin.

The earliest playoff series to wrap up was the Nashville-Detroit series, which the Predators bounced Detroit out by a 4-1 margin.

EASTERN CONFERENCE- The only series in the Eastern conference that has finished up is the Philly-Pittsburgh series, which the Flyers wrapped up earlier on Sunday by a 4-2 margin after roaring out to a 3-0 series lead. The NY Rangers won at Scotiabank Center in Ottawa by a 3-2 final to force a deciding Game 7 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Florida holds a 3-2 lead over the New Jersey Devils and can wrap things up on Tuesday night with road win at Newark's Prudential Center, although the series will return to Sunrise, FL for a Game 7 if needed.

Quicke Post-Tax Day Sports Chowdah Update- Bruins Belt Way To Win Over Caps; Rangers Shell Beantown;

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

BOSTON BRUINS- Monday night's Game 3 of the Stanley Cup quarterfinals series between the Washington Capitols and Boston Bruins was unlike the first two in a number of respects.

Besides being a much more physical contest [at times reminiscent of the fisticuffs seen in the Penguins-Flyers series- NANESB!], Game 3 from Washington DC's Verizon Center also featured more goals than in Games 1 and 2 combined- although given the goaltender performances of both Tim Thomas and Washington's Braden Holtby in those games, that's not saying a whole lot.

The Caps opened up the scoring late in the first with a power play goal by Alexander Semin, only for the Bruins to get the equalizer off the stick of Rich Peverly early in the second. Washington would re-take the lead with an even strength Alexander Ovechkin tally not even 15 seconds later. About midway through the 2nd, Daniel Paille would knot the contest back up for Boston, tying the game at 2-2.

Boston would then get their first lead of the night with a Brian Rolston goal just over a minute into the first. At the time, I was in no way confident that the Bruins could maintain a 1-goal lead for pretty much an entire period, and sure enough- with six minutes remaining in regulation, Brooks Liach buried the puck behind Tim Thomas on a breakaway opportunity.

After both Milan Lucic and Matt Hendricks were sent to the penalty box late in the 3rd, there was some 4 on 4 hockey that the Bruins took advantage of captain took advantage of for Chara to get a shot past Holtby with 1:53 remaining in regulation for the 4-3 lead.

Despite pulling Holtby for an extra attacker, the Bruins held off Washington in the remaining 110 seconds to hold on for the 4-3 win and taking a 2-1 series lead. Tim Thomas had 29 saves on 32 shots faced while the Bruins seemed to have Braden Holtby figured out better than they did the first two games. Holtby turned aside 25 of 29 shots faced on Monday night after turning aside a combined 72 of 74 shots faced in Game 1 and 2. The Caps went 1 for 4 on the power play while Boston went 0-5 on the night.

A curious sidenote before the game was that a number of Washington fans thought they could rattle Tim Thomas by wearing Obama masks or holding up cutouts of President Obama- a reference to his declining an invite to the White House with the team earlier this year. Yes- apparently they thought they could get inside the head of the Vezina, Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup winning goaltender by invoking the image of the biggest dud to occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in decades.

So on top of the defending Stanley Cup champions finally figuring out a way past the difficult Braden Holtby and taking a 2-1 series lead, I was also treated to the sight of a bunch of sad, mopey clowns dejectedly hanging on to their Obama cutouts on the way out of the arena. I have to tell you that scene alone filled me with the kind of warmth and joy usually reserved for buxom, flirtatious and uninhibited MILFs who want to buy me a drink.

Game 4 is set to take place on Thursday night from DC's Verizon Center at 7:30 on Thursday night. The Caps will have to play Game 4 without Center Nicklas Backstrom, who received a 1-game suspension for cross-checking Rich Peverly towards the end of Mondya night's Game 3. Backstrom netted the game-winning goal in double overtime against Boston in Game 2 and had an assist in Monday night's game. The game will be televised on NBC sports network and the CBC.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- Both the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins- who were sent reeling after quickly finding themselves down 0-3 in theor respective series- live to fight another day after staving off elimination.

The final score of the Penguins-Flyers game was more reminiscent of a Steelers-Eagles contest with Pittsburgh absolutely manhandling Philly by a 10-3 final on Wednesday night. Out on the West coast, the Vancouver Canucks beat the LA Kings by a 3-1 final at the Staples Center.

NCAA WOMEN'S HOOPS- The all-time winningest coach in NCAA Basketball- men's or women's- has announced her retirement due to early-onset dementia.



Tennessee Lady Vol's head coach Pat Summitt announced her retirement as head basketball coach on Wednesday. The University of Tennessee said that Summit will remain with the program as an assistant and development coordinator.

Summitt had a career 1,098-208 record in her 38 years with Tennessee, leading them to 13 title games and eight national titles- including a perfect 39-0 run in the late 1990s. In 2000, Summitt was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA and has garnered NCAA Coach of the year honors seven times.

In recent years, the Tennesee Lady Vols had a longstanding rivalry with the UConn Huskies, meeting four times in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship game between 1995 and 2004.

The University of Tennessee announced long-time assistant coach Holly Warlick will be promoted to head coach.

Brian Babineau/Getty Images

BOSTON CELTICS- Paul Pierce had a busy night against the Orlando Magic with 29 points, 14 assists and 5 rebounds during the Celtic's 102-98 win Wednesday night.

Avery Bradley had 23 points and Brandon Bass scored 21 while Rajon Rondo sat out Wednesday night's game with a sore lower back and Ray Allen missed the contest with a sore right ankle.

The Celtics win was more of an afterthought for the Magic after persistent rumors regarding All Star Center Dwight Howard refusing to play until head coach Stan Van Gundy was fired. Although both Howard and the club denied the rumors, Howard missing time due to a reported lower back injury has only fuelled speculation along those lines.

The Celtics next game will be on the road at Atlanta on Friday night at 7:00 PM and will be televised on ESPN.

RED SOX- After a promising weekend at Fenway, the Boston Red Sox had dropped three straight games at home. The four game series against Tampa Bay wrapped up early on Monday for the Patriot's day game in which Daniel Bard was outdueled by Rays starter James Shields in a 1-0 loss.

Tuesday night's game was pretty much a demolition derby when the defending AL Champion Texas Rangers shelled the Red Sox pitching staff by an 18-3 final. On Wednesday night, the Red Sox lost their 3rd straight game when the Rangers beat them by a 6-3 final.

With Thursday off, the Red Sox will host the New York Highlanders Yankees at Fenway on Friday, April 20th- the 100th anniversary of the first Red Sox game at the Fens [the game was actually supposed to take place on April 18th 1912, but two days of rain pushed back the opening day to the 20th- NANESB!]. This will acutally be an afternoon game, with a scheduled start of 3:15 PM and will be televised on NESN, YES sports and the MLB Network.

OTHER MLB NEWS- Florida Miami Marlins won their first game after manager's Ozzy Guillen 5-game suspension stemming from controversial remarks about Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The Marlins had 14 hits in their 9-1 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. Starter Mark Buehrle went 8 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits.

COLORADO ROCKIES- 49 year old Colorado Rockies starter Jamie Moyer became the oldest MLB pitcher to win a game after Tuesday night's 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. Moyer went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits before the bullpen took over to close out the contest. The previous record was held by Jack Quinn of the Brooklyn Dodgers who beat the St Louis Cardinals by a 6-5 final on September 13, 1932.

Quinn was 49 years and 70 days when he became the oldest pitcher to notch a win in the majors while Moyer was 49 years and 150 days.

A Not-So-Titanic Sports Chowdah Update- Fireworks at the Fens Continues; Capital Deadlock- Bruins, Caps Series Tied at 1-1

AP Photo

RED SOX- After a pair of big 8th innings on Friday and Saturday's wins, the Red Sox got off to a fairly quick start on Sunday at Fenway Park when Kevin Youkilis led off the top of the 2nd with a single followed by a double from DH David Ortiz to put two on with nobody out and OF Cody Ross in the Batter's Box. Long story short, Ross got all of Matt Moore's pitch and simply belted it over the Monster Seats to make it a 3-0 ballgame as the ball bounced around somewhere on the Mass Turnpike [not much of an exaggeration, by the way- NANESB!].

A day after his logging his first-ever stolen [and a trainwreck of a slide at that- NANESB!] C Kelly Shoppach belted an RBI double to make it a 4-0 game. However, the Rays would get to starter Felix Doubront in the top of the 5th to make it a 1-run game before a 6th inning Luke Scott solo homer tied the contest up at 4-4.

However, in the bottom half of the 6th, the Red Sox would re-take the lead on an RBI double by Big Papi. Sox SS Mike Aviles led off the bottom of the 7th with a solo homer to make it a 6-4 game.

Valentine would have to go to his bullpen early, but the pen managed to preserve the 6-4 lead thanks to a 1-2-3 top od the 9th from Alfrdo Aceves. Red Sox take the first three games of this weekend's 4-game series.

Tomorrow's Patiots Day game gets underway at 11:05 AM with Daniel Bard getting the start against James Shields. The game will be televised on NESN.



BOSTON BRUINS- The 1st round of the playoffs for the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins are heading to Washington DC's Verizon Center with the series tied at 1 game each thanks to a tie-breaking tally from Niklas Backstrom less than 3 minutes into a second overtime on Saturday afternoon.

The Caps got on the board first with a goal from RW Troy Brouwer late in the second before the Bruins were able to figure out a way past Washington's Braden Holtby midway through the 3rd, with Benoit Pouliot knotting up the contest at 1-1. The first OT passed without any scoring before Backstrom netted the game-winning goal easly in 2 OT.

Niether team scored on the power play on Saturday- Boston had 2, the Caps had 3. Tim Thomas turned aside 37 of 39 shots faced while Braden Holtby stopped all but one of the 44 shots he faced.

Game three will take place Monday night at 7:30 PM ET and will be televised on the NBC Sports network.

ELSEWHERE IN THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS- A pair of teams with a strong regular-season showing now find themselves on the brink of elimination Sunday night.

The Phildelphia Flyers roughed up the Pittsburg Penguins, winning by an 8-4 final in a game that saw 72 total penalty minutes assesed. To add insult to injury, Penguins wingers Aaron Asham and Craig Adams face automatic suspensions from the league for cross-checking and instigating fights with Flyers Scott Hartnell and Braden Schenn.

Over on the West Coast- back-to-back President's Trophy winners Vancouver were shut out by the Los Angeles Kings at LA's Staples Center after the Kings won two games in Vancouver- including two shorthanded goals from Dustin Brown in Friday Night's Game 2.

Brown also accounted for the only goal in Game 3, beating Marblehead, MA native Cory Schnieder who was between the pipes for Roberto Luongo late in the 3rd on Sunday night.

NBA- The Celtics went 2-1 on a 3-game 3-night road trip to Toronto, New Jersey and Charlotte over the weekend.

After a 94-82 win against the Nets Saturday night, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were given Sunday night off and didn't even make the trip to Charlotte. Even without the C's Big 3, they were still able to handle the Bobcats fairly easily with Rajon Rondo having 20 points and 16 assists on the night. Curiously, the C's beat the Bobcats by the exact same score they beat the Nets on Sunday night- 94-82.

Guard Mickael Pietrus returned to the C's lineup on Friday night after suffering a concussion when he fell and hit his head on the floor in Philadelphia back in late March. Pietrus had 11 points and 6 rebounds in Sunday night's game against the Bobcats.

Centennial Sports Chowdah- Beckett Rebounds in Red Sox Home Opener; B's Open Up Playoffs By Working OT; Razorback's Edge- Arkansas Fires Petrino

Getty Images

BOSTON RED SOX- After a forgettable 1-5 start in Detroit and Toronto, the Red Sox returned to Boston on Friday for not just any ordinary opening day, but to christen the 100th season of Red Sox baseball in Fenway Park.

Fenway is the oldest active ballpark in the major leagues and was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places last month.



With pregame ceremonies that included the national anthem as sung by the Boston Pops, a flyover of F16s from the Vermont Air National Guard as well as cermonial first pitches being tossed out by recently-retired Red Sox Tim Wakefield and Jason Varitek, the game against the Tampa Bay Rays got underway from Boston on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

Last Month, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine announced that Josh Beckett would be the starter for the Red Sox for their Friday the 13th home opener. Six days prior, Beckett had allowed 5 home runs in a 10-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on the second game of the season.

Although Beckett would allow an RBI double off of Rays 2B Jeff Keppinger in the top of the second for the game's first run, he would get plenty of support in the bottom of the third when the Red Sox got on board thanks to an Adrian Gonzalez RBI single after Rays starter David Price struck Sox catcher Kelly Shoppach with a pitch to lead off the inning. 3B Kevin Youkilis would bring in another run on a sac-fly and David Ortiz would get an RBI single off of Price to make it a 3-1 Red Sox lead. In the bottom of the 4th, Kelly Shoppach would add on another run with a 1-out double to make it 4-1.



After giving up the run to Keppinger, Beckett would pitch 6 shutout innings and the Red Sox would explode for 8 runs off the Rays bullpen in the bottom of the 8th to make it 12-1. While Mark Melancon would allow a solo homer off the bat of Ben Zobrist, he would close out the game and seal Boston's 12-2 win.

In eight innings of work, Beckett would allow five hits, one walk, one earned run and strike out one batter. Kelly Schoppach would go 3-4 with 2 RBI on the day while 3B Kevin Youkilis would go 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Center Fielder Jacoby Ellsbury had to leave the game in the bottom of the 4th after sliding into second base attempting to break up a double play. Ellsbury was examined at Mass General, although the team still hasn't announced the full extent of Ellsbury's injuries or whether or not he's expected to return anytime soon. Ryan Sweeney came in for the injured Ellsbury and went 1 for 3 with 2 RBI.

Saturday's game will get underway at 4:05 ET and will feature Clay Buccholz. Tampa Bay is expected to send Jeremy Hellicson onto the mound. The game will be televised on NESN tomorrow afternoon.

AP Photo

BOSTON BRUINS- The Bruins defense of their Stanley Cup title got underway on Thursday night in the Garden when they hosted the #7 seed Washington Capitols. Heading into the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Caps held a 3-1 advantage over Boston in the regular season.

The scoring summary on this one was mercifully brief. After a scoreless regulation, Chris Kelly scored the game-winner for Boston 1:18 into OT.



Prior to Kelly's shot on goal, Washington goaltender Braden Holtby had turned aside 29 shots while Tim Thomas turned aside all 17 shots that he faced. During the regular season, Holtby was 4-2 in the 6 games he started in. The Caps didn't capitalize on their two power plays while the Bruins went 0-3 with the man advantage.

A rather bizarre incident took place shortly after Kelly's game-winner. As the Bruins were still celebrating the win on the ice, some fans pushing against the plexiglass panel in front of their rinkside seats had managed to dislodge it.



The large pane of glass then hit C David Krejci on the head as it fell, sending him to the ice. Fortunately, Krejci was still wearing his helmet an although he still had a sore neck on Friday, he was expected to appear in game 2 on Saturday.

Game two will be televised on NBC on Saturday from Boston with a 3:00 PM faceoff.



NCAA FOOTBALL- Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bobby Petrino has been fired by the school's administration after lying about a motorcycle accident he and his mistress- 25 year old Jessica Dorrell- were involved in earlier this month.

In public statements, Petrino said that he was alone at the time of the accident but an Arkansas State Police accident report released a few days later contradicted his version of events and the married 50 year old coach admitted to having an affair with Dorrell.

"Just a few more questions about the accident, coach..."
"Go away! Leave me alone!"

Cellphone records indicate that Petrino and Dorrell exchanged 4300 texts and more than 300 phone calls over a 7-month span.

Petrino also reportedly gave Dorrell a $20,000 'gift' which she used to purchase a new Acura. On Petrino's reccomendation, Dorrell was offered a position as student development coordinator with the football program last month, but after being hired she has since been suspended by the University. The 2008 graduate and four time letter winner with the Razorbacks volleyball program was also engaged to marry the director of swimming operations for Arkansas.

I have to say that the only entity I really feel bad for in all of this is the Razorbacks volleyball program- seems as though the only reason people are even tangentially interested in the topic is because of somebody who hasn't played with them for nearly 4 years.

NBA- After back-to-back wins in which they bested the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks earlier this week, the Celtics pretty much laid an egg against the Toronto Raptors, losing by a 79-84 final on Friday Night. However, they still remain 3 games up on both the 76ers and Knicks for first place in the Atlantic Division.

On Saturday night, the Celtics will travel to New Jersey to take on the 22-38 Nets. Tip off starts at 7:30 and the game will be televised on CSNE.

Super Bowl of Sports Chowdah- Patriots No Giant Slayers in Wild 4th Quarter; Mr Thomas Goes To Washington; C's Create Grizzly Scene at Garden;

SUPERBOWL XLVI: Well, this was a tough one to take even though it more or less came down to the final play.

After the weeks of hype and speculation over seemingly everything but the actual game, it was at long last time to play the damn game on Sunday and Superbowl XLVI kicked off on time.

The Giants got the ball to open up the big game, but were unable to score on the opening possession- their opening possession, at least. After getting as far as the Patriots 42, the Giants punted and managed to pin New England deep in their own end. The Patriots offense would have to start off on their own 6 yard line and on the first play, a pressured Brady would be flagged for intentional grounding in his own end zone, resulting in a safety and a 2-0 Giants lead.

The Giants managed to take a 9-0 lead after starting off on their own 22 and capping off the drive inside the Patriots 2 with a pass from Giants QB Eli Manning to WR Victor Cruz.

On their next possession, New England managed to get on the board after getting as far as the Giants 11 yard line early in the 2nd quarter and having to settle for a Gostkowski FG to make it 9-3 Giants.

As the clock was winding down in the 1st half, the Patriots were once again pinned deep in their own territory, starting out from their own 2 yard line with 4:03 left. They managed to move the ball all the way down to the Giants 3 yard line in just under 4 minutes before RB Danny Woodhead caught a short pass from Brady to put the Pats on top with 8 seconds left in the half.

The second half got off to a promising start as well, with the Patriots taking their opening possession of the 2nd half and moving the ball to the Giants 12 yard line before Brady connected with TE Aaron Hernandez to put the Patriots up 17-9.

Although not as quick as the Patriots, the Giants methodically began chipping away at the Patriots lead, coming away with FG's from Lawrence Tynes on their next two possessions to make it a one-point game.

Things didn't start to get really strange until late in the 4th quarter when the Giants started out from their own 12 yard line with 3:46 and on the first play, Manning heaved the ball to midfield only to have it connect with WR Mario Manningham by the narrowest of margins for a pickup of 38 yards. The play was under review for several minutes before the drive resumed at the 50.

After getting the ball inside the New England 10 yard line with about a minute to go in regulation and the Patriots losing a timeout on that challenge, the Giants were content to run one more play on 2nd and goal before bleeding out the clock and bringing out Lawrence Tynes to put the Giants up by one with virtually no time remaining in the game.

Instead, on 2nd and goal, Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw inadvertently stumbled into the end zone after trying to throw himself down on the 1 yard line and let the clock run out. Although it did net the Giants 6 points, giving them the 21-17 lead, head coach Tom Coughlin was well aware that it would give New England the ball back with just under a minute left in regulation.

With the clock ticking down, two passes from Brady were dropped and he was sacked by DE Justin Tuck with 48 seconds left to bring up 4th and 16. Normally, most people would be thinking 'it's ovah', but Brady found WR Deion Branch for 19 yards and Branch in turn found the sidelines to stop the clock with 39 seconds left. Brady then found Hernandez for another 11 yards with 32 seconds remaining before snapping the ball while the Giants were still getting personnel off the field, killing the clock and moving the ball up five yards.

With five seconds left in SuperBowl XLVI, there was enough time for a Hail Mary that Brady heaved from the 50 yard line into the end zone. Alas, there was no 'Hand of Myra' to be seen that would somehow miraculously save the Patriots at the penultimate second. Instead, the ball jumped harmlessly off the fingertips of some Giants defenders in the end zone and fell to the turf just out of the reach of Rob Gronkowski.

The Giants win their 2nd Super Bowl in 4 years, once again getting past the Patriots in a game that was decided in the final minute. Giants QB Eli Manning was named the Super Bowl MVP and, to the surprise of many, now has more titles than older brother Peyton.



NHL: Virtually undetected on Superbowl Sunday was a series of afternoon games in the NHL [so as not to coincide with the kickoff of the the Superbowl- NANESB!]. The Boston Bruins were on the road at Washington D.C.'s Verizon Center for the first time since Tim Thomas' snub of President Obama.

Unlike the Bruins last trip to D.C., Thomas was actually between the pipes on Sunday and the Bruins actually came away victorious in Sunday's contest. The Bruins got out to a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to goals by Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand. After a scoreless 2nd, Tyler Seguin put the Bruins up 3-0 in the 3rd before the Caps got on the board late with a tally from Marcus Johansson to make it 3-1. Rich Peverly would get the empty netter in the final minute of regulation to make it a 4-1 Boston final.

The Bruins next travel to upstate New York to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday evening. The game will be televised on the NBC Sports network (formerly Versus) and gets underway at 7:30 PM ET.

NCAA HOCKEY: Well- one good thing about the Patriots losing the Superbowl is that we don't have to worry about traffic to and from the Beanpot getting snarled by the inevitable victory parade.

Hard to believe, but the Beanpot college hockey tournament turns 60 this year. The doubleheader got underway on Monday with the BU Terriers dropping Harvard by a 3-1 final while Boston College took care of Northeastern by a 7-1 final.

This sets up the 21st meeting between BC and BU for the Beanpot with the Terriers holding a 12-8 advantage in the history of the tournament.

NBA: Don't look now [Lord knows I haven't- NANESB!] but the Celtics have been able to string together a modest win streak to put them now at 13-10. After squeaking past the Knicks on Friday, the C's handled the Memphis Grizzlies pretty easliy by a 98-80 final at home on Superbowl Sunday. The Celtics have two games remaining in their lengthy homestand including a game against the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday and Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday before hitting the road.

Cuppa Sports Chowdah Runneth Over- Pats Get Past Ravens W/Help of Sturdy Branch; B's Off to Capital Start; BC's Woes Continue

NFL: Well, that was pretty awesome. I managed to tune in just in time for the 4th quarter of Sunday's Baltimore/New England game with the Ravens leading 20-10. That was answered by a drive that started on the Pat's own 40 and was capped by a Brady TD pass to Deion Branch (who hardly looked as though he missed a practice) to make it a 3 point game. The Ravens would get as far as mid-field on their next possession, but punted it away on 4th and 1.

The game-tying drive for New England started on their own 14 yard line and threatened to sputter when the Pats were penalized 15 yards after advancing the ball to the Ravens 35 yard line, but a 24 yard completion from Brady to TE Rob Gronkowski brought up 2nd and 1, where the Pats would drive the ball inside the Baltimore 10, but have to settle for the game-tying field goal to cap off a methodical drive that burned nearly 7 minutes off of the clock.

After going three and out from their own 20, Baltimore punted and Wes Welker had a 22 yard return to put the ball at mid-field with 45 seconds left in regulation. However, Brady would get sacked by Haloti Ngata before Brady's hail-mary pass was intercepted in the end zone for a touchback as regulation expired with the game tied at 20-20.

Overtime started off with each team going three and out, although Baltimore was able to string together some first downs, they still ended up punting. However, they were able to keep the Patriots pinned deep on their own end of the field- at least until rookie Romanian punter Zoltan Mesko booted the ball 65 yards from their own 14 to put the Ravens inside their own 20. The Ravens subsequently went three and out, giving the Pats good field position for another sustained drive, distributing the ball between Welker, Branch and Algie Crumpler before Stephen Gostkowski kicked a relatively easy field goal (with just under 2 minutes left in OT) to give New England the 23-20 win.

Tom Brady went 27-44 with 292 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and got sacked three times. In his first game for New England since Superbowl XXXIX, Deion Branch had 9 receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown. For Baltimore, Joe Flacco went 27-35 with 285 yards and 2 TDs and getting sacked three times. Ray Rice was the Ravens leading receiver with 88 yards and Derrick Mason had 100 yards on 8 carries to lead Baltimore's rushing game.

Not a bad way to come off of the bye week. The Patriots have won 3 in a row and are now 4-1. This weekend, they'll travel to southern California to take on the San Diego Chargers at 4PM ET, 1 PM Pacific.

OTHER PATS NEWS: Brandon Merriweather issued an apology to Ravens TE Todd Heap after a helmet-to-helmet hit. Merriweather and two others were fined earlier this week for what the NFL called dangerous and flagrant hits. Merriweather was fined $50,000 for the his but faces no suspension

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: Speaking of Southern California, former Pats, Chargers and Dolphins linebacker Junior Seau was released from a La Jolla, CA hospital with minor injuries after the SUV he was driving plunged off of a seaside cliff in Carlsbad, CA on Monday night. The accident came within 12 hours of his arrest and release by police in Oceanside, CA on domestic violence charges after an argument with his 25 year old girlfriend. Seau told investigators he fell asleep at the wheel- Carlsbad police say that the lack of skidmarks on the seaside highway are consistent with Seau's account. Moreover, they say that no drugs or alcohol were present.

Greg Fiume/Getty

NHL: The Bruins are back in the continental United States and off to a pretty good start. I caught most of their 4-1 win over New Jersey on Saturday, and on Tuesday night, they travelled to Washington DC to take on the Caps in which the game was quasi-nationally televised on Versus. David Krejci and Milan Lucic got the scoring started for Boston with a goal each and just over two minutes apart in the 1st. Washington's Marcus Johansson managed to cut the Bruins lead in half in the 2nd period, but Matt Hunwick put the game away with some insurance in the 3rd to make it 3-1. Caps netminder Michal Neuvirth was pulled after allowing the two Boston goals in the first and has since been listed as day-to-day with flu-like symptoms while Tim Thomas stopped 35 of 36 shots faced.

The Bruins head back for their home opener Thursday night against the Caps with a 3-1-0 record. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7PM ET/4 Pacific.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Damn- they played better than the last three weeks, but Boston College couldn't get off the schnide against Florida State. Turnovers by the Seminoles nearly cost them the game, but with a little over 11 minutes to go, a 42 yard TD run by 'Noles WR Bert Reed put them up for good by a score of 24-19. At least 10 of those points for BC came off of turnovers from Florida State QB Charlie Ponder, but it obviously wasn't enough for the W. Montel Harris had 26 carries for 191 yards, but no TD's.

The Eagles head back to Chestnut Hill and will host 4-2 Maryland on Saturday.

OTHER BOSTON COLLEGE NEWS:

Credit where credit's due, CNN ran this story on BC linebacker Mark Herzlich's overcoming bone cancer to return to the lineup this season. Kinda puts a disappointing 0-4 slide into perspective.

OTHER NCAA FOOTBALL NEWS: Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LaGrande suffered a spinal cord injury during last weekend's game against the Army Black Knights and is said to have no movement below his neck. The junior was rushed to Hackensack University Medical center where he underwent emergency surgery and remained in the intensive care unit. Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano says that LeGrande is in good spirits and is aware "...of the new set of challenges ahead of him". As of Wednesday night, there was no further updates on his condiditon.

UConn QB Cody Endres has been suspended for the remainder of the season for an unspecified violation of school rules. Redshirt freshman Michael Box is listed as Endres' backup. Endres replaced the erratic Zach Frazier halfway through the September 25 game against Buffalo and could also be a possible replacement.

MLB: Holy crap! These games are just flying by, aren't they? The Giants are one game away from their pursuit of their first World Series title since moving out to San Francisco, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead in the NLCS.

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers have a 3-2 series lead on the Yankees after splitting the first two games at Arlington, TX and winning the first two games at Yankee stadium. The Yankees won Wednesday's game by a margin of 7-2, setting up a Game 6 back in Arlington with Colby Lewis tenatively scheduled to start against the Yankee's Phil Huges on Saturday.