Hump Day Sports Chowdah Update- Sox Engineer Twin Killing at Fenway; Feat of Clayton, Dodgers Starter Kershaw Throws No-Hitter; Team USA Gets By Ghana in 1st Round of World Cup While Reigning Spain Mainly Plain; Bruins, Thronton Part Ways; Suprred to Action, San Antionio Wins 5th NBA Title

RED SOX- The streak-ey Red Sox followed up Rubby De LaRosa's gem on Monday night with a couple of pitcher's duels at Fenway on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon.

On Tuesday, Jon Lester got run support in the form of a Pedroia RBI single in the 1st and a Bogaerts sac fly in the 3rd [Brock Holt was the runner that crossed the plate both times- NANESB!] and was able to outlast former Yankees starter Phil Hughes in Boston's 2-1 win on Tuesday night.

Wednesday was an afternoon game as the Red Sox were getting ready to leave on a west coast road trip. Twins starter Kyle Gibson confounded the Red Sox bats, ultimately striking out 8 and not allowing a hit until the bottom of the 5th. Lackey pitched nine complete shutout innings, but got no decision in the afternoon contest.

The first RBI of the game came when Twins outfielder Chris Parmalee belted a solo homer in the top of the 10th off of Koji Uehara in the top of the 10th to give the Twins the first lead of this week's series at Fenway.

However, after Minnesota reliever Casey Fein got Dustin Pedroia to fly out for the first out of the bottom of the 10th, David Ortiz managed to tie the contest up 1-1 with a solo homer that wrapped around the Pesky pole.



But the Red Sox weren't done with the extra-inning heroics....not by a longshot. Speaking of long shots, that's exactly what Mike Napoli did with an 0-2 pitch from Casey Stein that didn't come down until it reached the bleacher seats in the triangle behind deep center field. Boston wins by a 2-1 final, sweeping a surprisingly low-scoring series against Minnesota after splitting a 4-game series against Terry Francona's Indians. Despite scoring a combined total five runs over 3 days, the Red Sox are 3-0 this week. Despite allowing an uncharacteristic homer, Koji Uehara was credited with the win on Wednesday and now has a 2-1 record.

Hopefully some of this momentum will carry over to the west coast as the Red Sox will resume play on Thursday night in Oakland. Jake Peavy [1-4; 4.53 ERA] will get the start against Oakland's Scott Kazmir [8-2; 2.05 ERA] with first pitch scheduled for 10:05 ET, 7:05 PT- the game will be televised on NESN.


OTHER RED SOX NEWS- Red Sox starter Brandon Workman has lost an appeal with MLB and will begin serving a 6-game suspension for throwing at Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria last month. Despite Rays pitchers- including starter David Price- hitting three Red Sox batters, no Tampa Bays pitchers have faced any MLB sanction from the May 30 contest.

Also on Wednesday, the Red Sox released outfielder Grady Sizemore outright. In 52 games with Boston this season, Sizemore has struggled- batting .216 with 2 HR and 15 RBI. June has been particularly hard on him as he's lost playing time with the emergence of Brock Holt and has been batting .133 with only 1 RBI in 30 at-bats.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS- There have been only two no hitters in Major League baseball so far this season and both of them belong to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On Wednesday night, Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw struck out 15 in an 8-0 rout of the Colorado Rockies. The only baserunner to reach was outfielder Corey Dickerson who reached on a throwing error by infielder Hanley Ramirez in the 6th inning, costing Kershaw the chance at a perfect game. Still, Kershaw set down the rest of the batters he faced in order.

Earlier in the season, Josh Beckett threw a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 25th. Interesting, Kershaw's no-hitter was the 19th called by Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully throughout his career calling games in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles- this includes no-hitters thrown against LA, the most recent of which was a combined 6-pitcher no-hitter for the Mariners against LA at Safeco field in Seattle in June 2012.


NCAA BASEBALL- The final four teams for the NCAA College world series are almost set as the Texas Longhorns got by the UC Irvine Anteaters by a 1-0 final in Omaha on Wednesday night.

A baserunning error by the Longhorn's Ben Johnson in the 6th inning cost Texas a run. Johnson hit the ball into the left field corner and advanced to 3rd base, but was called out after it was determined he didn't touch first base. Mark Payton then hit a single that would've easily scored Johnson to give them a 1-0 lead, however, the Anteaters ended the Longhorn threat with no runs allowed.

Instead, CJ Hinojosa got Texas on the board with a solo homer in the 7th inning to give Texas the 1-0 lead that held up thanks to the Longhorns relievers. With just the second 1-0 game in the college World Series since 1985 and only the 23rd homer in the CWS since the venue was moved to TD Ameritrade Park from Rosenblatt stadium in 2011, Texas will now advance to face Vanderbilt on Friday.

Meanwhile, Virginia awaits the winner of Thursday nights contest between the TCU Horned Frogs and Ole Miss Running Rebels. First pitch from Omaha is scheduled for 5:00 ET and the game will be televised on ESPN.

FIFA WORLD CUP- We're already a few days into the FIFA World Cup from Brazil and Team USA is off to a good start.

Rookie John Brooks was the difference-maker in Monday's match against Ghana when the substitute scored in the 86th minute to break a 1-1 deadlock. Team USA would go on to win by a 2-1 final, avenging an earlier loss to Ghana's 'Black Stars' from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. After Monday's win, the USA will have nearly a week's rest to go up against Portugal on Sunday from Arena Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil.

For the World Cup, the USA plays in what some have called 'The Pool of Death' which includes Portugal, Ghana and Germany.

Meanwhile, it's all over for defending World Cup champion Spain. They were blown in by the Netherlands in a devastating 5-1 loss to open up the tournament with a rematch of the 2010 title game before being shut out 2-0 by Chile. For a bit of perspective, Spain allowed all of two goals during their 2010 run in South Africa.

NBA FINALS- In a rematch of the 2013 NBA title that saw Miami win it in 7 games against San Antionio, the 2014 edition was nearly all San Antonio. The Spurs closed out the series with a exclamation point, crushing Miami by a 104-87 final in Game 5, and it wasn't even that close.

Forward Kawhi Leonard was named the tournament MVP and the title was head coach Greg Popovich's fifth since starting his tenure in San Antonio in 1996.

NFL- In a ruling from the US Trademark and Patent office this week, the Washington Redskins may lose copyright protection for their name and logo after the Agency's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that the name was disparaging of Native Americans.

The Redskins organization announced that they would appeal the ruling and the team's copyrighted name and logo will still be protected during that time. While a number of Native American groups [including some of the Navajo Code Talkers from WWII- NANESB!] have said they have no issue with the Redskins name, a number of local and federal politicians- including US Senate Majority leader Harry Reid [D- NV] have called upon the organization to change names and threatening legal or legislative action to do so [because all the other problems in America- ESPECIALLY on Indian reservations- have been solved- NANESB!].

Redskins owner Dan Snyder has so far resisted pressure to change the Redskins name and mascot. The team was originally formed in 1932 as the Boston Braves and played at Fenway Park before moving to Washington DC in 1937.


BOSTON BRUINS- The Boston Bruins have decided not to re-sign defenseman Shawn Thornton. The 36 year old became a free agent at the end of the season.

Thornton, who has been with Boston since 2007 has been in two Stanley Cup finals, winning it against Vancouver in 7 games in 2011. However, at the end of the season Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli indicated that the game was moving away from the fisticuffs that Thornton specialized him and that they would make a decision about his future in Boston over the next few weeks. More recently, Thornton received a 15 suspension last season for his beatdown of Pittsburgh Penguins enforcer Brooks Orpik after Thornton blindsided him and dragged him down to the ice.

The announcement allows Thornton to pursue other offers as a free agent and a number of teams would be interested in having a veteran player with his playoff experience on the ice.

Luck O'The Irish Sports Chowdah Update- C's Not So Lucky @ West Coast Tilt; B's Blow Late Lead, Get Past Philly; March Madness Brackets Busted Already

NHL- After a forgettable road trip and briefly being overtaken in the standings by the Ottawa Senators on Friday night, the Boston Bruins were hoping to snap a 4-game losing streak at home on St Patrick's Day.

For whatever reason, the day games have not been kind to the Bruins this season- last weekend's back to back losses to Washington and Pittsburgh were both matinees. And despite the promising start, Saturday's game seemed to be headed the same direction. Although the Bruins got out to the 2-0 lead in the first thanks to tallies by Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin, the visiting Flyers were able to chip away at that lead, getting on the board thanks to a Matt Read power play goal in the 2nd and knotting the contest up at 2-2 after a Jakub Voracek goal late in the 3rd.

Nothing was resolved in OT, so the game headed for a shootout. It was starting to appear as though the shootout wouldn't resolve anything either, with both Thomas and Bryzgalov allowing goals from the first two shooters each of them faced. Listening to the shootout on the radio, I had the feeling that whoever stopped a shot first would win, and while Patrice Bergeron was able to get the puck past Bryzgalov for the 3rd goal of the shootout, Thomas was able to stop Danny Briere's attempt to seal the Bruins win.

Through regulation and OT, Thomas stopped 27 of 29 shots faced while Bryzgalov turned aside 31 of 33 shots faced. The Bruins went 0-2 on the power play while the Flyers were 1 for 4 with the man advantage on Saturday.

The win- coupled with an Ottawa loss to Toronto on Saturday night- puts the Bruins back into first place in the Northeastern division. As of Sunday night, the Senators and Bruins are separated by a point.

The Bruins will next host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. So far, the B's have a clean sweep of the season series. The game will be televised on NESN and gets underway at 7:00 PM ET Monday.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS- The Bruins have signed LW Shawn Thornton to a two year extention. Thornton was slated to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. THe extension is reportedly worth $1.1 million per season.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- The St Louis Blues are the first NHL team in either conference to clinch a playoff berth this season. The Blues 3-1 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday sealed the deal. Currently the Blues have 100 points, which is 8 more than the next closest team in the Central Division- the Nashville Predators.

NCAA HOCKEY- Boston College won the Hockey East tournament with a 4-1 win over the Maine Black Bears on Saturday night. Eagles netminder Parker Milner made 41 saves against Maine and Eagles freshman Johnny Guardeau had two goals and an assist to garner the tournament MVP honors.

Saturday's win would be Boston College's 3rd consecutive Hockey East Championship. The Eagles draw The US Air Force Academy in the first round of the NCAA Men's Hockey tournament next week. The matchup will take place this upcoming Saturday afternoon at Worcester at 4:00 PM ET.

NCAA HOOPS- If you filled out your brackets last week, chances are you probably wanted to rip them up, throw them out and start over again after a couple of first-round upsets knocked out some heavily favored schools in March Madness.

Most noteworthy was the #15 seeded Norfolk State Spartans took down #2 seed Missouri by an 86-84 final. This was Norfolk State's first trip to the NCAA tournament, but their run came to an end when they were blown out by Florida by an 84-50 final.

Not to be outdone, another #15 seed took down a heavily favored program when Lehigh beat Duke 75-70 on Friday afternoon, although Xavier would end Lehigh's run with a 58-70 loss on Sunday night.

UConn, Harvard and Vermont would all qualify for the NCAA tourney [with the Catamounts getting by Lamar 59-71 to get into the tournament- NANESB!] but all three New England schools wouldn't advance past the first round. UConn lost to Iowa State, Vermont lost to North Carolina and Harvard would lose to Venderbilt.

While the UMass Minutemen had to settle for an invite to the NIT tournament, they have managed to advance to the quarterfinals after beating Mississippi State in OT in the first round and Seton Hall in the 2nd round. They will next face Drexel at 7:00 PM Tuesday night in a game that will be televised on ESPN.

NFL- NFL's free-agency began last week with the Buffalo Bills having signed free-agent defensive end Mario Williams. Williams was the Texans #1 draft pick in the 2006 NFL draft. The contract is reportedly for 6 years and could be worth upwards of $100 million.

OTHER NFL NEWS- The Washington Redskins have spurred talk that they have their sights on former Baylor QB and last year's Heisman winner Robert Griffin III after trading with the St Louis Rams to get the #2 overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

The Redskins get the second overall pick in exchange for giving St Louis three 1st round picks and a second round pick.

NBA- Although the second half of the season has been much kinder to the Celtics than it has been the Bruins, the C's are still running into some trouble on their West Coast road trip.

While they did manage back-to-back wins against the LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors, their western tilt started off with a 97-94 loss to the Lakers at the Staples Center and back-to-back losses against Sacramento and Denver.

The C's are still in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, only a game and a half behind the 76ers. Their road trip continues on Monday- although it will be alot less western- when they travel to Atlanta to take on the 26-19 Hawks for the first time this season.

Monday night's game gets underway at 7:30 ET and will be televised on Comcast Sports New England.

Leap Year & Then Some Sports Chowdah Update: O Captain My Captain- 'Tek Bids Farewell; The Devils- Owned; Saints Dogged w/Bounty Charges

RED SOX- After weeks of speculation and reports from the media, Red Sox captain Jason Varitek announced his retirement at a new conference in Ft. Meyers, FL on Thursday. The announcement comes less than two weeks after knuckleballer Tim Wakefield announced his retirement after 17 years with the Red Sox organization.



A graduate of Georgia Tech [where he and teammate Nomar Garciaparra won the 1994 College World Series- NANESB!], Varitek was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 1994. After spending time in the Cape Cod League and the independent Northern League during the lockout, Varitek agreed to terms with the Mariners and entered their minor league system in 1995. Within two years, both 'Tek and teammate and starting pitcher Derek Lowe were traded by Seattle to Boston for releiver Heath Sloclumb. 'Tek made his big league debut in September 1997, collecting a single in his one and only at-bat that year and would go on to earn the starting spot at catcher from Scott Hatteberg in 1998.



For the Boston faithful, the most memorable Varitek moment was undoubtedly the July 24th 2004 fight between him and Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez. With the Yankees leading in the 3rd inning and an errant Bronson Arroyo pitch sailing up and hitting Rodriguez on the elbow, the Yankees infielder had some choice words for Arroyo while heading off to first base. Deciding he should stop talking and take his base, 'Tek reportedly told A-rod "We don't thrown at .260 hitters" before the two came to blows, with Rodriguez shoving the Red Sox catcher while getting 'Teks mit in his face. This cleared the benches, with DH David Ortiz nearly coming to blows with Yankees reliever Tanyon Sturtze as he was trying to pull teammate Gabe Kapler out of Sturtze's headlock.

After warnings were issued, a back-and-forth game resumed with the Red Sox coming behind to win 11-10 in the bottom of the 9th thanks to a walk off homer from 3B Bill Mueller. The game was viewed a turning point in the season that saw the Red Sox win their first World Series title since 1918, and the fight in turn was seen as a pivotal turning point in that game.



I'm usually loathe to quote the Boston Globe's Dan Shaugnnessey [AKA the Curly Haired Boyfriend- NANESB!] but I think he nails it with this quote.

We have the iconic photo of Jason Varitek smashing his catcher’s mitt into the face of Alex Rodriguez. Try to find a saloon in Greater Boston that does not have this photo somewhere behind the bar.

It is the image of defiance.

It’s a memory of stepping up for yourself and for your team. It’s a Red Sox captain saying “no more’’ to the bully of eight-plus decades.

It makes Jason Varitek immortal.

Also making Varitek immortal is the fact that he is the only catcher in the history of Major League Baseball to have caught four no-hitters.


This includes the following-
Hideo Nomo on April 4th, 2001 at Baltimore
Derek Lowe on April 27, 2002 vs Tampa Bay
Clay Buchholz on September 1, 2007 vs Baltimore
Jon Lester on May 19, 2008 vs Kansas City

After being the first catcher behind the plate for four no-hitters, Varitek's cather's gear was sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on May 20th, 2008.

Interestingly, 'Tek is also one of two players to have ever played in a championship game for the Little League World Series, the College World Series and the MLB World Series [former Marlin's pitcher and Arizona alum Ed Vosberg was the other- NANESB!].

Varitek retires with a career batting average of .256 with 193 home runs and 757 RBI. In addition to the two World Series titles with Boston, he also won a gold glove and silver slugger in 2005 and was named to the MLB all-star game three times. His 11 postseason home runs are the most for any catcher in MLB.

Even as 'Tek's abilities as a catcher were in decline, he still was valuable in his experience behind the plate and coaxing consistent starts from Boston's younger and inexperienced starters when they were struggling. Like Wakefield's departure, the end of the Varitek era in Boston leaves a huge hole for Saltalamacchia to fill.

OTHER RED SOX NEWS- The Red Sox will open up their Grapefruit League tilt with a doubleheader against the Northeastern Huskies at 2:35 PM ET and a nightcap against the Boston College Eagles at 7:05 PM ET. The latter game will be televised on NESN.

OTHER MLB NEWS- The league announced that they were expanding the playoff format to allow two additional teams from both the AL and NL to vie for a postseason berth via a single elimination game. This means that 10 of the 30 MLB teams could get into the playoffs- still fewer than any other professional league. The new system will take effect starting this season and is the first significant change to the playoff format since 1995.


BOSTON BRUINS- After remaining fairly quiet at the trade deadline [the Bruins did pick up veteran Brian Rolston- once part of the Ray Bourque trade- from the Islanders and BC alum Mike Mattau from the Devils system on Feb 27th- NANESB!], the Bruins returned home earlier this week only to be shut out by Ottawa's sophmore goaltender Robin Lehner in a 1-0 game Tuesday night.

On Thursday night, the Bruins hosted the Devils at the Garden, wrapping up the regular season series with New Jersey. The B's got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first with goals from David Krejci and Tyler Seguin. The Bruins would have an excellent opportunity to make it 3-0 when Krejci had a shorthanded breakaway eight and a half minutes into the first, but the Devil's Brodeur.

The Devils would not only get on the board, but take the lead in the second with goals from Zach Parise, Patrik Elias and David Clarkson to go up 3-2.

Early in the 3rd, however, David Krejci would get the equalizer from a tough angle to knot things up at 3-3 and eventually send the contest into OT. With two minutes to go in OT, Krejci gave Boston the go-ahead goal good for his second career hat trick and the 4-3 Boston win [altho' New Jersey gets a point for heading into overtime- NANESB!].

Brodeur made 21 saves on 25 shots faced while Tim Thomas stopped 28 of 31 shots faced. Both teams were 0-3 on power play opportunities.

The Bruins will be busy this weekend taking on the Islanders Saturday afternoon before travelling to Madison Square Garden on Sunday to take on the NY Rangers. Saturday afternoon's game gets underway at 1:00 ET and will be televised on NESN while Sunday's game will start at 12:30 and will be broadcast on NBC.

OTHER NHL NEWS- The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Ron Wilson on Friday, tapping Randy Carlyle as his replacement. Carlyle takes over with 18 games remaining for Toronto in the 2011-2012 camapaign.

The Maple Leafs were 4-9-1 in the month of February, losing six straight before Wilson was fired.

NCAA HOCKEY- #1 Boston College secured at least a share of the regular season title with a 5-1 win over the Vermont Catamounts Friday night.

Senior Barry Alalmedia scored twice and junior netminder Parker Milner made 29 saves for the Eagles in the next-to-last game of the regular season. The Eagles face off against the Catamounts on Saturday night at 7 PM for the regular seaosn finale two points ahead of archrival BU.

NFL- After reportedly being warned the the NFL against such action, defensive players and coaches from the New Orleans Saints maintained a 'bounty' program where players awarded themselves cash prizes for knocking out and injuring opposing players. Former Vikings QB Brett Favre and Cardinals QB Kurt Warner were reportedly among the targets with payouts doubling or tripling in the playoffs according to a report from NFL security.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the Saints and the players involved are likely to face fines or suspension and the organization may end up forefeiting a draft pick, according to an AP report.

The Washington Post is also reporting that the Redskins maintained a bounty system with defensive players while Williams was assistant coach in Washington in the mid 2000s.

NBA- The second half of the abbreviated NBA season is off to a much better star for the Celtics on Friday night as they won their third straight game since coming out of the All Star break.

Firday night's 107-94 win over the New Jersey Nets puts them above .500 once again. They have Saturday off, but will take on the New York Knicks at the TD Banknorth Garden on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET- the game will be televised on ABC.

Sports Chowdah Fit For A King- Mr. Gronkowski Goes To Washington; Royal Flush- Kings Quickly Find Themselves Blanked; O Romeo, O Romeo; MVP on PEDs?

For awhile, the cheerleaders for the 4-8 Redskins had something to cheer about in Sunday's close contest with the New England Patriots. Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

NFL: The New England patriots managed to win their 5th game in a row on Sunday, holding off the Washington Redskins late in the 4th quarter at FedEx field in Landover, MD.

New England would take a 34-27 lead late in the 3rd on a Brady to Welker TD catch and run. After Redskins CB Josh Wilson picked off Brady in the end zone late in the 4th, the Redskins started out on their own 20 for their final possession, managing to march down inside Patriots 10 yard line on 10 plays in the span of 4 and a half minutes. However, just when the Redskins looked like they were going to punch it in the tie the contest up at 34-34, Washington QB Rex Grossman was picked off by LB Jerod Mayo with 22 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter, bringing Brady and the offense out to take a knee and preserve the 34-27 win.

Brady went 22-37 with 357 yards, 3 TDs and the late pick while the Redskins' Grossman was 19-32 with 2 TDs and an interception.


Rob Gronkowski had 6 catches for 160 yards and 2 TDs while Wes Welker caught 7 for 86 yards and 1 TD. Perhaps somewhat alarmingly, the Patriots allowed 463 total yards to the NFC East cellar-dwelling Redskins on Sunday, an clear indication they need to start getting their proverbial shit together ahead of Sunday's game at Mile High in Denver.


In a development that has no doubt shifted attention from why exactly the Bruins benched Tyler Seguin in Winnipeg last week, Tom Brady and offensive coordinator got into a shouting match over the late pick, although both parties insist that's behind them and they're focused on the Denver game coming up this weekend during separate press conference earlier this week.

We're at the flex-schedule portion of the NFL season, where they can slot a Sunday afternoon game into the Sunday Night Football slot on NBC if they feel the matchup would've been a bigger draw. With that in mind, I'm a little surprised that the Patriots and Broncos weren't bumped up to the prime-time Sunday night matchup [NBC had opted to stick with the originally scheduled Chargers vs Ravens game, which while decent, isn't as compelling as Brady and Tebow going head-to-head for the 1st time- even if you aren't a Broncos or Pats fan- NANESB!].

The game will kick off at 4:15 PM ET, 1:15 PM Pacific on CBS.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: With the Broncos come-from-behind performance against the Chicago Bears, I'm honestly a little surprised there isn't more buzz nationwide for this upcoming New England/Denver game.

After taking a 10-0 lead early in the 4th quarter thanks to a 57 yard Robbie Gould FG, the Bears would then go on to give up a TD and a 59-yard Matt Prater FG in the last two minutes and eight seconds of regulation to knot the contest up at 10-10 and force OT. Although the Bears would get the ball first in the OT, RB Marion Barber would fumble on the Broncos 38 yard line.

QB Tim Tebow would move the ball as far as the bears 34 yard line before kicker Matt Prater would split the uprights with a 51 yard FG to give Denver the 13-10 win in OT, good for their 6th straight and the AFC West lead.

KANSAS CITY: Former Patriots defensive coordinator and Cleveland Brown head coach Romeo Crennell has been named interim head coach of the Kansas City after the Chiefs fired head coach Todd Haley. Crennell had been the Chiefs defensive coordinator this season.
AP Photo
NCAA FOOTBALL: With nothing on the line other than bragging rights or pride, the NCAA regular season wrapped up on Saturday with the 112th Army-Navy game. Typically the teams meet in Philadelphia, but this season the game was played at FedEx Field in Landover, MD.

This year's game had a much more brisk pace to it and both offenses seemed to click, unlike in recent years where it was either a lopsided blowout or a defensive slog that could decided by a pivotal turnover or goal-line stand. Although Navy got out to a 14-0 lead before Army got on the board thanks to a 34 yard TD run by Black Knights QB Trent Steelman with 4 and a half minutes to go before the half before tying the contest up at 14-14 with 55 seconds to go in the half.

However, after tying the contest up in the 3rd at 21-21, Navy began to pull away with a pair of FG's in the 4th that were the difference makers. Although much closer than the previous couple of Army-Navy games, the end result is still the same. Navy goes on to win the Army-Navy game for the 10th year in a row by a final of 27-21. A side note of interest is that this is the last game before Navy QB Alexander Teich goes on to Navy SEAL training.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAAF: Coming off an impressive 5-game win streak, including upending the #5 Oklahoma Sooners, Baylor Bears QB Robert Griffin III was awarded the Heisman trophy this weekend. Griffin beat out early favorite Andrew Luck from Stanford for the honor. The 6ft 2 Junior had 3,998 yards and 36 TDs for the Bears this season, good enough for a 9-3 record and an invite to the Alamo Bowl where they will face the Washington Huskies on 12/29.

FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION: Maine's Warren Smith threw for 2 TDs and 229 yards on Saturday against Georgia Southern in Statesboro, GA, but was picked off in the Black Bears 35-23 loss to Georgia Southern in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

This sets up a semifinal where Georgia Southern faces North Dakota State while Sam Houston State will face Montana to see who advances to the FCS title game in Frisco, TX on January 7th.

NHL: After snapping a 2-game losing streak in Columbus in a contest that saw Zdeno Chara leave with a lower body injury and Claude Julien pull Thomas for Rask after falling behind 2-0, the Bruins managed to go on and win (thanks in no small part to Joe Corvo) by a 5-3 final before returning to the garden to face the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday night.

The Kings, with issues of their own, had fired head coach Terry Murray and were coming into Boston riding a 4 game losing streak.

Tuesday night's game was mostly Tukka Rask and Brad Marchand. Rich Peverly got the B's on the board in the 1st, beating Kings goali Jonathan Quick with 6:32 to go in the opening period before Marchand would thoughtfully add two more of his own- one in the 2nd and one in the 3rd- while Tukka Rask would stop all 41 shots he faced. Neither team converted on the power play and Quick would allow in 3 goals on 22 shots faced on the night.

So after losing two in a row, the Bruins have a modest 2-game win streak that they'll hoping they can add on to when they hit the road in Ottawa on Wednesday night.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: Zdeno Chara is listed as day-to-day and may be out until Christmas with some sort of left knee injury. He's reportedly not travelling with the team to Ottawa, but is listed as day-to-day.

Center Zach Hammill was called up from the Providence Bruins on an emergency basis and was put into the 4th line, netting an assist in Tuesday night's shutout of LA.

OTHER NHL NEWS: Rival Canadian Telecom providers Bell [TSX: BCE/NYSE: BCE] and Rogers Communications [TSX: RCI-A' RCI-B/NYSE: RCI] have paired up to purchase a 75% stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund have sold their majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to Rogers Sportsnet and Bell Canada for a whopping $1.3 billion. The partnership is an awkward one as Bell and Rogers are competitors in communications. Bell also owns a small part of the Montreal Canadiens on top of it all.

The recent lack of activity from Wayne Gretzky's loquacious (and hot) daughter's twitter account led to speculation that the Great One was forming a group to purchase the OTPPF's stake of Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment and was trying to pre-empt any social-media meltdowns that would end up reflecting poorly on #99.

PITTSBURGH: Penguins star Center Sidney Crosby will reportedly miss additional time due to what's described as 'concussion-like symptoms'. Crosby hasn't seen ice-time since last weeks 3-1 home loss to the Bruins and reports are circulating that he may be out indefinitely.

NCAA HOOPS: With 9.4 seconds left to go in Saturday's #8Xavier/Cincinnati game, a melee followed when Xavier senior guard Tu Halloway taunted the Cincinnati bench. That led to a bench clearing brawl in which players from both teams punched, kicked, elbowed and stomped each other, some of them coming away with open gashes on their faces.

Each team has suspended 4 players and some are questioning the future of the crosstown rivalry.

SYRACUSE: A New York state prosecutor who interviewed two of assistant coach Bernie Fine's accusers says he found the men to be credible, but no action could be taken because the statute of limitations had passed. Two former ballboys for the Orangemen have accused Fine of molelsting them over an ongoing period and have recently filed suit against the University

MLB: National League MVP Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and could face a fine and 50-game suspension if the initial findings are upheld, ESPN reports.

Braun is disputing the findings through arbitration and a spokesman said that 'Highly unusual cirumstances' surrounding his case will eventually prove his innocence.

Marshmellow Peep Chowdah Recap for April 4, 2010: Sox Rally Past Yanks in Home Opener; C's Hang On to Top Cavs

After much buzz and anticipation, the Red Sox and Yankees opened up the 2010 MLB season with a night game at Fenway on Easter. Pero Martinez was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to the home crowd's delight, and for awhile it appeared as though the Sox could use him back in uniform.

Opening night's pitching matchup put Red Sox ace Josh Beckett against the Yankee's CC Sabathia. Neither pitcher allowed a baserunner in the respective 1st inning of work. However, the Yankees would take a 2-0 lead on solo home runs by Jorge Posada and offseason acquisition Curtis Granderson in the 2nd inning. The Sox managed to cut that lead in half when Kevin Youkilis doubled, Big Papi grounded out to 1st (moving Youk to 3rd) and Adrian Beltre got his first RBI as a member of the Red Sox on a sac-fly to deep center field.

However, New York managed to pad that lead when Beckett gave up a pair of RBI singles in the 4th to Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter. Then, Brett Gardner sprinted home from 3rd on a double steal as Victor Martinez didn't bother checking the runner at third while trying to throw Jeter out while running from 1st to 2nd. That made it 5-1 Yankees and the home crowd restless. It was looking like one of those deals where one would try and reassure anybody who's willing to listen by with the boilerplate 'It's OK- it's only one game......can't win 'em all' to try and take some of the sting out of getting spanked by one's detested arch-rivals live on National TV.
Beckett only lasted 4 & 2/3rds innings before he was pulled, giving way to Scott Schoenweis who was signed barely a week ago. However, things weren't going to be much easier for Sabathia. The Red Sox were able to chip away at the Yankee's lead in the bottom of the 5th when Marco Scuatro's single drove in JD Drew with two away.

Sabathia continued showing signs of wearing down and in the bottom of the 6th, he walked Dustin Peroia had Victor Martinez to double off of him before Youkilis tripled, driving in the two baserunners before being relieved by David Robertson.

The Yankees would re-take the lead when Ramon Ramierez would give up two hits and a walk, only logging one out in his appearence. Hideki Okajima would come on and the two inherited runners would score- Mark Teixera on a Robinson Cano groundout to first and A-Rod on a Posada single- to put New York back up 7-5.

But bound and determined to make anybody who shut off the game when the score was still 5-1 Yankees kick themselves the following day, Chan Ho Park came on in relief of Robertson to start off the bottom frame of the 7th. Marco Scutaro got things started with a single, and after Ellsbry struck out, Dustin Pedroia planted one in the bottom rows of the Monster seats to tie the game at 7-7. Youkilis would double to center field off of Park before Park was yanked for Damaso marte. Youk would advance to 3rd on a wild pitch and then score on a passed ball to put the Red Sox up 8-7.

Daniel Bard had a relatively smooth outing in relief for the Sox, getting the first two batters he faced out in the top of the 8th before walking Nick Johnson. Randy Winn came on to pinch run for Johnson, but was out at second when Teixera grounded into a fielder's choice to end the top half of the 8th.

The Red Sox would go on to add an insurance run off of pinstriped headhunter ChokeJoba Chamberlain when Mike Cameron had a 1-out single and went home on Pedroia's single to make it 9-7 in the bottom of the 8th.

Fresh from ESPN reminding us how Jonathan Papelbon closed out the 2009 playoffs, Papelbon came on in the top of the 9th to close out the first game of 2010 for Boston. The Red Sox closer got A-Rod to ground out to 3rd pretty quickly, then had Robinson Cano fly out to center before giving up a single to Posada. Before anybody could say 'Ruh roh!' he got Curtis Granderson to ground out to 3rd.

It wasn't pretty for much of the time, but it was good for a 9-7 win and first place in the AL East. Okajima is credited with the win, Park gets hung with the loss and Paps is a perfect 1:1 in save opportunities. Interesting stat I caught after the game- offseason free-agent pickups Mike Cameron, Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro were a combined 5 for 9 with 3 RBIs Sunday night. These are 3 guys Epstein said the Sox were signing for their defense, so I guess anything else is a nice little bonus then.

Even if we went with the NHL's 'Three stars' deal, it would be hard to narrow down tonight's stars to just three. Dustin Pedroia was 2-4 with 3 RBI, two runs, a home run, a walk and a strikeout. Kevin Youkilis was 3-4 with three runs, three hits and two RBI. I was pleasantly surprised by Schoenweiss' outing as well, although Adrian Beltre would probably get the (hypothetical) 3rd star for his 2-RBI evening.

Pretty good debut for Beltre, Scutaro and Cameron tonight. Both teams won't play again until Tuesday night with AJ Burnett starting for the pinstripes and Jon Lester taking to the bump for the BoSox.

Other Red Sox News: The Red Sox placed pitcher Boof Bonser on the 15-day DL with a right groin strain retroactive to March 26th. Bonser may be optioned to AAA Pawtucket once he comes off the DL.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was also placed on the DL with a neck strain in order to make room for Scott Schoenweis on the opening day roster. RHP Junichi Tazawa is expected to have season-ending ligament surgery on his elbow next week as well.

NBA: Wow....could somebody please explain this to me? The C's basically couldn't buy a win against the Rockets or Oklahoma City all last week, yet somehow blow a 22-point lead against the best team in the NBA and still manage to hang on for the win? I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Sounds like quite the roller-coaster I missed while I was out doing family-type stuff for Easter. LeBron was pretty busy at the Garden this Easter, scoring 42 points and with 7 rebounds on the day. None of the Cavs other starters even broke past the 20-point mark today, and James was 0-9 from 3 point range. Cleveland scored 23 of the first 28 points in the 4th quarter, which resulted in them taking their first lead of the game at 104-103 with just under 3 minutes remaining in regulation. However, James missed some pivotal free-throws in the final minute of regulation and decided to try for the three point attempt instead of passing to an open Antwan Jamison to tie the game at 2 with time expiring. The Celtics wound up escaping with the 117-113 win at the Garden.

Ray Allen had a good day for Boston- his best as a Celtic, as a matter of fact- with 33 points, 3 rebounds and hitting 6 out of 9 attempted 3 pointers and going 7 for 7 from the free throw line. Kevin Garnett, when he wasn't exchanging words with LeBron, had 19 points on the day, 8 rebounds and was 9 of 10 from the free throw line. Kendrick Perkins had 10 points and as many rebounds for the afternoon.

The Celtics will take on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.

NFL:Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins ESPN announced Sunday night. The Redskins are reportedly giving up a 2nd round pick in this years draft and a third or fourth round pick in the 2011 draft for McNabb's services.