Sports Chowdah Update: Buccholz & Lester Highlight Twin Killings At Fenway Before Dice-K and Wakfield's Master-Phil Performances; Magic Out Of Tricks?

Well, almost immediately after Monday's soul-sucking Yankees walk-off win, things began to fall into place for the Red Sox despite an arduous schedule for the rest of the week and Josh Beckett leaving the final game of an abridged 2-game series in the toilet Bronx with back spasms Tuesday night.

On Tuesday night, the Red Sox went into the 8th inning trailing 5-1 before rallying to tie it 5-5. With Mariano Rivera in the game, Jeremy Hermida would go on to hit a 2 RBI double to give the Red Sox the 7-5 lead and while Papelbon gave up an RBI double to Robinson Cano in the bottom of the 9th, the Sox would hold on for the win and split the 2-game series at Yankee Stadium.

The brief two-game series against Minnesota at Fenway wouldn't be much easier. Clay Buccholz left with the lead after 8 innings, Big Papi had an RBI triple and Daniel Bard held off a late rally from the Twins for the 3-2 win on Wednesday.

On Thursday- a game I actually caught in real-time on XM- Lester went the distance against Minnesota, striking out 9 and giving up two rund on 6 hits while getting run support from Kevin Youkilis who went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI for a 6-2 win over the Twins.

One would think that some of that momentum would carry over to Friday for the start of Interleague play when the Sox travelled to Philidelphia to take on the reigning NL Champions. Now....while Friday night's suckfest left the Red Sox on the short end of a 5-1 game, the next two games more than made up for it.

Daisuke Matsuzaka isn't exactly known for his endurance, but he got some run support from a David Ortiz RBI double, an Adrian Beltre RBI double and a JD Drew RBI single and managed to take a no-hit bid into the bottom of the 8th before giving up a little flare single to Juan Castro to break up the no-hitter. Daniel Bard would come on to close out the bottom of the 9th for a 5-0 Red Sox win. That really is too bad- I was rooting for Dice-K and it would've been nice if 'Tek was the only major-league catcher behind the plate for five no-hitters (he came tantalizingly close when Schilling took a no-hitter into the 9th at Oakland 3 years ago). But given some of the hitters in that Philly lineup (Ryan Howard, Jason Werth, etc.), eight shutout innings would've been impressive, let alone eight no-hit innings. [Ganbatte, Daisuke!- NANESB!]

Not to be outdone, however, Tim Wakefield got the start for Boston against a familiar opponent (in a new uniform) in Roy Halliday on Sunday. The knuckleballer got some run support courtesey of Marco Scutaro, Kevin Youkilis and a fresh-from-rehab-assignment-in-Portland Jacoby Ellsbury, who had a 2 RBI infield single thanks to some aggressive baserunning by Scutaro in the top of the 6th inning. Halliday lasted 5 and two-thirds innings while giving up 7 runs on eight hits, while Wakefield threw 8 shutout innings, with Ramon Ramierez giving up 3 runs to close out the bottom of the 9th in Boston's 8-3 win over the Phillies.

Other Red Sox News: Saturday night's game also marked CF Jacoby Ellsbury's first start since April 12, when he left the game at Kansas City after colliding with 3B Adrian Beltre. Mike Cameron has been on the DL for almost as long as Ellsbury with kidney stones, but began rehabbing with AAA Pawtucket about two weeks ago. Cameron could be back as early tonight at Tampa.

Other MLB News: Former MLB pitcher Jose Lima died from an apparent heart attack in the Dominican Republic on Sunday. The righty had a 13 season major league career playing for Houston, Detroit, the Mets, Kansas City and the LA Dodgers and was selected to the 1999 NL All-Star team. In 2004, he threw a five-hit shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals for the LA Dodgers in the National League Division Series, giving them their first playoff win since 1988. His outings were sometimes referred to as 'Lima Time' and some fans are remembering him for signing autographs and talking with fans during batting practice before games. Lima is shown here, singing the national anthem at Dodgers stadium with his son and gravity-defying ex-wife Melissa.

NBA: Holy crap. I was so captivated by Dice-K's no-hit bid on Saturday night that by the time I checked in on the Celtics on XM, they already had a 28 point lead over the Magic with about 10 minutes to go in the 4th. Seriously, Sunday night's 94-71 win over Orlando wasn't even that close. Paul Pierce helped open up a 16 point lead on Orlando in the 1st quarter, and apparently it was all downhill from there with Boston up 51-34 at the half. The thing is, nobody really dominated in terms of scoring for the C's- Ray Allen had 14 points, Rajon Rondo had 11 points, Paul Pierce with 15 and Glen 'Big Baby' Davis came off the bench for 17, along with going 7 for 9 in free throws.

The win gives Boston a 3-0 series lead (stop me if you heard that one recently) and the C's could advance to the NBA finals for the second time in 3 seasons with a win over Orlando in the Eastern finals tonight.

Arizona to California: Who Run Bartertown?

In the wake of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signing a strict anti-illegal immigration bill into law, the Grand Canyon state has faced criticism and a wave of shrill, sanctimonious and largely symbolic boycotts from cities like San Francisco, Austin TX, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Diego. Hell, some geniuses even got together and decided to boycott Arizona iced tea, despite being headquartered in Long Island.

Like I said, the boycotts are largely petulant foot-stomping from various city councils such as Seattle's. The Emerald City's resolution provided a loophole that permitted Seattle to continue doing business with a Scottsdale, AZ-based company that maintains the city's 29 red light cameras.

And in some cases, Arizona has significant leverage with some of these cities that seek to harm their state economically. San Diego hoteliers began to backpedal from their city council's resolution earlier this week when Arizonans began contacting hotels to cancel reservations.

But even more vulnerable is Los Angeles, which gets an estimated 25% of its electricity from Arizona power plants. An official with Arizona's largest public utility drafted a letter in which he openly pondered cutting off electricity to the City of Angels.

Dear Mayor Villaraigosa,

I was dismayed to learn that the Los Angeles City Council voted to boycott Arizona and Arizona-based companies — a vote you strongly supported — to show opposition to SB 1070 (Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act).

You explained your support of the boycott as follows: “While we recognize that as neighbors, we share resources and ties with the State of Arizona that may be difficult to sever, our goal is not to hurt the local economy of Los Angeles, but to impact the economy of Arizona. Our intent is to use our dollars — or the withholding of our dollars — to send a message.” (emphasis added)

I received your message; please receive mine. As a state-wide elected member of the Arizona Corporation Commission overseeing Arizona’s electric and water utilities, I too am keenly aware of the “resources and ties” we share with the City of Los Angeles. In fact, approximately twenty-five percent of the electricity consumed in Los Angeles is generated by power plants in Arizona.

If an economic boycott is truly what you desire, I will be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation. I am confident that Arizona’s utilities would be happy to take those electrons off your hands. If, however, you find that the City Council lacks the strength of its convictions to turn off the lights in Los Angeles and boycott Arizona power, please reconsider the wisdom of attempting to harm Arizona’s economy.

People of goodwill can disagree over the merits of SB 1070. A state-wide economic boycott of Arizona is not a message sent in goodwill.

Sincerely,

Commissioner Gary Pierce

Huh....if I didn't know any better, I'd say the man was angry at various activists and know-nothing entertainers comparing his state to nazi Germany, inferring that anybody who called for enforcement of existing immigration laws was racist and a concerted effort to economically damage their state (moreso than the illegal immigration that's made Phoenix a hub of kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking and human trafficking).

Imagine that.

Personally, I think everybody in Arizona should chip in and buy some ad time on all of LA's TV stations at 8:30 PM. At 8:28, they kill the power for about 90 seconds, and then when the juice comes back on, this would be the first thing that the viewers would see.



I'd also like to add that if Mayor Villaraigosa stood by the courage of his convictions, he should also turn away all those Arizona firefighters that show up as part of mutual aid for the next massive, out of control wildfire in Southern California.

[Hat tip Lonely Conservative: Wyatt Earp]

NY-29 Update: Patterson Sets Date For Special Election

After a delay of more than two months, the unelected David Patterson has set a date for the special election in New York's 29th Congressional District. The special election for that district will coincide with the New York state general election on November 2nd.

Paterson explained that he decided to wait until November because he doesn’t think new electronic voting machines will be ready in some counties and because of the financial burden another election could have on cash-strapped local governments. He also justified his decision on the ground that voters in the military overseas might not get to vote in a special

I've probably said this before, but an unelected tax and spend northeastern democrat citing a possible financial burden in delaying the special election in a district where the Republican is favored to win would be laughable if it wasn't so insulting. There are also some legal questions in Patterson calling for a special election after July 1st.

For the record, the unelected David Patterson waited all of a month to call for a special election in Upstate New York's 20th Congressional District in January 2009 and barely a week to announce the date of a special election in New York's 23rd District in September 2009.

Thanks to Patterson's machinations, NY-29 will be without representation in Washington DC for more than 10 months- it took him more than two months to even make the announcement. Think of what's going to come down the pike in Congress in the next 10 months (I know....scary, isn't it?). I know that I'm venturing into the realm of the hypothetical, but what would happen if it was an unelected Republican who held off on calling a special election for months at a time in a district thought to go the Democrats way.

If that were the case, alot more people would've heard of NY-29 than they do now.

Connecticut Attorney General Lied About Serving in Vietnam

Gotta give credit where credit is due- a May 17th New York Times article says that CT Attorney General Dick Blumenthal received no less than five deferments between 1965-1970 and had never served in Vietnam. Instead, Blumenthal served for six years in the Marine Reserves but at times has told audiences that he did in fact serve in Vietnam.

“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”

A combative Blumenthal shot back in a press conference held in the W. Hartford, CT VFW Hall earlier today.

"On a few occasions, I have misspoken about my service, and I regret that... [but] I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to my country. I served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, and I am proud of it.''

[Y'know, Dick, I don't like it when somebody tries to impugn my record of service in the US Army, but I usually try and avoid that by NOT fudging my service record- NANESB!].

Blumenthal is running to fill the senate seat that will be vacated by Chris Dodd upon his retirement this year.

GOP Senate Candidate and (apparently real) Vietnam Vet Rob Simmons was unimpressed with Blumenthal's apology and issued a statement earlier today.

"I am unsatisfied with Attorney General Blumenthal's comments. While I'm not surprised that he 'regrets' that his misstatements have been called to the public's attention, what he owes is an apology to the veterans, who served and sacrificed in Vietnam."

Truth be told, I wasn't going to make that big a deal out of it until I caught some of Blumethal's petulant, defiant, almost non-apology 'apology' on the news earlier today. It seemed to come off more as 'Yeah, I lied....whaddaya gonna do about it?'

The sad part is that this will hardly cost Blumenthal at the polls in New York's de-facto sixth borough a blue state like Connecticut.

National Unemployment Rate At 10%- Holder, Napolitano Still Inexplicably Employed

Apparently Attorney General Eric Holder suffers from some sort of speech impediment that won't allow his the use the words 'radical' or 'Islam' in the same sentence.



Perhaps he should see the same speech therapists who helped the MSNBC 'personalities' get over their reluctance to use 'Christian' and 'Milita' in the same sentence in time for the FBI's arrest of the Hutaree militia leaders in Michigan at the end of March. A case that seems to be falling apart, as three members were released on bail this week.

But apparently there's also a slight learning disability that prevents Holder from reading Arizona's new anti-illegal immigration law, even though its much lighter reading than the recently passed healthcare bill.



But Holder shouldn't feel too bad. Apparently Homeland Security Head Janet Napolitano suffers from the same learning disorder when it comes to the same law. What makes it all the more damning is that Napolitano used to be the governor of Arizona herself; a state who's capital earned the dubious honor of being the 'kidnap capital of the USA' under her watch.



Impressed? Me neither.

But please, mainstream media and Democrat talking heads, keep reminding us of how badly we had it under Bush in the rather vain hopes that we won't notice the demagoguery and utter incompetence of those currently holding the reigns of power.

Bitter Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Comeback Goes Down The Toilet; You Can't Spell Bruins Without 'Ruin'; C's Oust King, Solve Magic Puzzle Early

NHL: Wow....no real way to sugar-coat the Bruins exit. While not quite as embarrassing as being either the President's Trophy winner or Defending Stanley Cup Champion and getting bounced out by the #8 seed, coughing up a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals is still pretty damn embarrassing. Especially when getting off to a 3-0 lead in Game 7, only to have that evaporate in the 2nd period.

Some of you might remember Leighton from the Winter Classic on New Year's Day. After falling behind 3-0 in Game 7, the Flyers Micheal Leighton wouldn't allow another goal while Danny Briere would get the equalizer in the 2nd and Simone Gagne would notch a power-play goal in the 4th on a too many men on the ice penalty that was served by Shawn Thronton. The go-ahead goal put Philly up for good, making them the first NHL team that overcame an 0-3 playoff deficit since the 1975 Islanders mounted a similar comeback against Pittsburgh.

Well.....while it sure did suck for the Bruins choke the way they did, I think comparing it to the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS is really valid, since when all was said and done, this was the #6 team being ousted by the #7 team (for the right to go on and play the #8 team). With that said, Bruins fans are gonna be in for a long summer of speculating over where Tim Thomas will wind up and who the #2 draft pick will be.

Oh....and just a reminder for those who don't normally follow hockey and think this is a fluke, Philly has gone on the thump the Montreal Canadiens 6-0 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday. Congratulations to the Flyers for an epic comeback and apparently not losing any momentum whatsoever.


MLB: After dropping two out of three to the Detroit Tigers over the weekend, the Red Sox travelled to the Bronx to take on the Yankees with Matsuzaka on the mound against Phil Hughes. Despite falling into an early 5-0 hole, the Red Sox were able to chip away at the Yankees lead thanks in part to a Papi solo homer in the 4th and a JD Drew 3 Run homer in the 5th. Victor Martinez would go on to homer twice while Kevin Youkilis would homer to briefly put the Sox up 9-7. Daniel Bard had a pretty good bottom of the 8th, striking out Marcus Thames, getting Randy Winn to fly out before walking Juan Miranda and getting Jeter to swing and miss on a 3-2 count.

Papelbon's bottom of the 9th didn't go over nearly as well as Bard's 8th, giving up a 2-run homer to A-rod to tie the game before hitting Francisco Cervelli with a pitch and giving up the walk-off homer to Marcus Thames for the Yankees 11-9 win. Tomorrow night's game will be an opening night rematch with Beckett going against Sabathia.




NBA: As depressing as it's been to watch the Sox and Bruins the last few days, there IS some good news. For starters, all the 'Where's LeGone LeBron gonna end up?' speculation can start a little earlier now that the C's took care of Cleveland with a 94-85 win over the Cavs Thursday night. No need for a Game 7 flameout like the Bruins, since the C's took care of it in 6.

The Eastern Conference final got off to a pretty good start for Boston, holding on to take game 1 92-88 on Sunday. Ray Allen had 25 points and 7 rebounds while Paul Pierce had 22 points and 9 rebounds and Rasheed Wallace came off the bench for 13 points late in the game. The Magic was held to shooting 41%- and only 22% from 3-point range.


Game Two starts tomorrow night at 8:30 PM Eastern, 5:30 PM Pacific on ESPN.

Happy Armed Forces Day From Not Another New England Sports Blog!

(Image: US DOD)

Today, May 15th, marks the 61st Armed Forces Day. Prior to 1949, each branch had their own day but shortly after World War II, the Department of Defense decided to consolidate the observance for all 5 branches on one day at President Truman's insistence. However, it should be noted that the US Marine Corps 'Birthday' (November 10) nearly overlaps with Veteran's day and is still widely observed within the USMC. The US Army's 'Birthday' also nearly overlaps with another holiday- Flag Day.

Billy DeVorss

Of course, 1949 was also the heyday of pin-ups, which presents me with another opportunity (however gratuitous) to showcase some pin-up artwork of the era. This 1942 piece by the late Billy DeVorss featuring an almost angelic nurse draped in Old Glory is titled Patriot Girl appropriately enough. Not much is known about Mr. DeVorss' early life, only that he worked as a bank teller in St. Joseph, MO until the early 1930s and was reportedly self-taught as an artist. His works caught the eye of Bigelow & Brown- the Minneapolis-based agency that retained talent like Gil Elvgren- and DeVorss would would wind up working out of their Kansas City offices. Besides the patriotic artwork that was used in recruitment and War Bonds drives, DeVorss also would be commissioned to do artwork for movie posters, Broadway plays and magazine covers.

(Image- Army.mil)

Oh....and while everybody was looking elsewhere last week, the US Army moved in and occupied Red Square without firing a shot.

[Hat tip: Eat it or Wear it]

Today's Train of Thought- Tanks For Everything, May 15 2010

In observance of Armed Forces Day, Today's Train of Though features a solitary engine hauling a pair of tank-laden flatcars on the former Baltimore & Ohio Sand Patch line through Western Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania. Railpictures.net contributor Tom Mugnano snapped CSX Transportation SD50 #8632 making good time through Garrett, PA before dusk on October 19, 2007.

Ever since the Civil War, it's not unusual for military equipment to move by rail. Even in peacetime, the US Army will deploy domestically to places like Ft. Irwin (just outside of Barstow, CA) or Ft. Polk (in western Louisiana) for training, with tanks, armored fighting vehicles, trucks, hummers, trailers and generators being shipped by rail for the deployment [take it from somebody who's chained down many a Bradley or Abrams to a flatcar- NANESB!]. This smaller train, however, is a little unusual and I could only guess the equipment is en route to a smaller National Guard facility.

BUMPED: A District Without A Congressman & A Candidate Without An Election- The Curious Case of New York's 29th District

This story about NY Governor Patterson leaving an upstate Congressonal district without representation is starting to get some notice in other corners of the media, so I thought it would be worth revisiting.

Since Representative Eric Tickle-Me-Massa's abrupt resignation in early March, New York's 29th Congressional District has apparently been languishing without a representative, with no special election to fill the vacant seat on the horizon.

This story doesn't seem to be getting much play outside of Albany or the district itself. In some states, a suddenly vacant US House or Senate seat can be appointed by a governor, such as when Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick appointed Paul Kirk when Ted Kennedy passed away last summer. In other states, the governor is required to schedule a date for a special election to fill the vacated seat. We're presently seeing an example of this in Pennsylvania, where Gov. Rendell called for an election set to take place in May to fill the seat in Pennsylvania's 12th district left vacant by the death of John Murtha.

New York is one of those states that requires a special election to fill a vacant seat, with the election date determined by the governor such as last year's race in New York's 23rd Congressional district. However, it appears that the unelected Governor- David Patterson- is dragging his feet on setting up an election date for the 29th district.

“We have some serious concerns about the financial impact that a special election could have on the county level, especially because those counties are facing the same fiscal crisis that the state is facing,” said Maggie McKeon, a spokeswoman for the governor. “Furthermore, the Governor has no interest in disenfranchising military voters who are overseas, and who may not be given adequate time to vote given the short time frame of a special election calendar. This is some of what is being considered, but no final decision has been made yet.”

Ah yes.....those pesky concerns over the financial impact; Because nothing says 'deficit hawk' like a Northeastern Democrat.

While it's true that New York state certainly has its share of financial woes, one has to wonder if something else is behind the prolonged delay in setting up an election for NY-29.

Republican and former mayor of Corning, NY Tom Reed is currently a candidate without an election. Reed and others see a possible political motivation in Gov. Patterson's delay, possibly buying time for the Democrats to field a viable candidate from the district or have the election held when reports of Massa's actions aren't as prominently in the news cycle [although I don't think memories are that short in NY-29- NANESB!].

"I would assume it’s for political purposes. I don’t understand it. The governor has already said he would call it as soon as possible,” Reed said of the delay. “Whatever the election results are, we’ve just got to get it done.”

Going back to last year, it took Gov. Patterson all of eight calendar days to call for a special election in NY-23 when the Representative John McHugh vacated his post after being nominated Secretary of the Army. It's been nearly a month since Gov. Patterson's office even made a public statement regarding NY-29.

In theory, NY 29 could go without representation in Washington DC between now and November. Think of all the issues that could come down the pike between now and November....hell, nobody was there to represent NY-29 when the House put 0bamacare to a vote last month. And we're supposed to believe the reason why is because the Democratic 'leadership' in the state has abruptly discovered fiscal responsibility?

I think the folks along the Southern Tier deserve better than Patterson's excuses.

Times Square Bomber Update- 3 Arrested in Massachusetts and Maine in Connection to Shahzahd Investigation

Shahzahd apparently has been talking.

WATERTOWN – Three Pakistani men suspected of providing money to Times Square car bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad were arrested by the FBI in a series of Thursday morning raids across the Northeast, law enforcement officials said.

The searches in Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey were the product of evidence gathered in the investigation into the Times Square bomb attempt two weeks ago, but there was “no known immediate threat to the public or any active plot against the United States,” FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said.

The three men – two in the Boston area and one in Maine – were arrested on suspected immigration violations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Brian Hale said. They were not immediately charged with any crime, including any terrorism-related offenses.

Wow- that sure is racist of the folks at ICE. Wonder if Representative Raul Grijalva (D- Sonoran Cartel) will call for a boycott against Massachusetts, Maine or New York.

It also has been reported in the Indian media that Faisal Shahzad was acquainted with the mastermind of the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India.