Omnibus Sports Chowdah Update- Pats Suffer From Gang Green Infection; Something Magic in the Air; B's Weather Category 0 Hurricanes

POLL CLOSED: Thanks to those of you that voted. To hardly anybody's surprise, the Red Sox coming back to win the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees was the runaway winner for 'Most Memorable New England Sports Moment: 2000-2010.'

NFL: My highly placed sources indicate that there were some sort of football games that were played over the weekend, which was capped off the the New York Jets 28-21 win over New England at Foxboro on Sunday afternoon....wait.....*looks at paper*...that can't be right, can it?

*Re-examining newspaper*

What? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Damn it to hell! I hope Rex Ryan chokes on a hooker's big toe...

Actually, I got to see the whole thing unfold in not-so-glorious hi def from start to finish. I had entertained thoughts of jumping off a bridge, but the nearest one is actually one of those little Japanese bridges that isn't too high, which kind of defeats the purpose. It's not like the Tobin bridge is right around the corner.

Tom Brady was sacked five times and had two turnovers on the day, going 29 for 45 with 299 yards and 2 TD passes. The weird thing is that more often than not, he'd have all the time in the world to throw, but most of the receivers downfield would be covered. This was somewhat offset by reasonably productive days from Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead, but promising looking drives would sputter midfield as the Jets defense tightened up. After trailing 14-3 at the half, the Patriots were kept out of the Jets end zone until the very end of the 3rd quarter on a short pass from Brady to Alge Crumpler.

New England successfully converted the 2 point attempt to make it 14-11 heading into the 4th, but the Jets came right back with a quick strike on the next possession and went up by a 21-11 margin. Shortly after Shayne Graham kicked a short FG to make it a 14-21 game, the Jets recovered the onside kick and ran the next play into the end zone to seemingly put the game out of reach at 28-14 (when they could've just gotten a first down and bleed out the clock from there, no less). The Pats would get the ball back on their own 41, and Brady would take all of a minute and 11 seconds to find Deion Branch in the end zone to make it a 'hold the phones' 28-21 game as Gillette stadium was rapidly emptying out [way to represent, Pats faithful- NANESB!], but once again, the Jets would recover the onside kick and take a knee wit 23 seconds to seal the win.

So this marks the second straight year that New England has lost at home in the playoffs....one and done. And perhaps with the hasty departure of the defending SuperBowl champions to a team that finished the regular season 7-9 and the team with the NFC's best record also making an early exit, the Jets win shouldn't come as a huge shock.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: The Steelers looked a little rusty in their Saturday game against Baltimore, but came back from a 21-7 halftime deficit to go ahead 24-21 before the Ravens would manage to tie it back up at 24 on their 1st possession of the 4th quarter. However, Baltimore would turn it over on downs late in the 4th and Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger managed to convert for a 58 yard completion to rookie WR Antonio Brown on 3rd and 19. The Steelers would take the 31-24 lead with just ver a minute and a half remaining in the 4th- that would be the final from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. This sets up an AFC Championship game in the Steel City between the Jets and Pittsburgh on Sunday the 23rd at 6:30PM ET.

I gotta say, the NFC matchups weren't nearly as close as I anticipated. Granted, I didn't think the Seahawks had another rabbit to pull out of their hat either. They lose by a 35-24 final at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday, and believe me, that was more a byproduct of the Bears defense taking the final 5 minutes off than it being an actual close game.

On Saturday, the Green Bay Packers simply ran away with it at the Georgia Dome as the Falcons laid an egg and lost by a 48-21 final coming off of their bye week. This sets up a good old fashioned black & blue Packers and Bears matchup for the NFC Championship game at Chicago- Sunday the 23rd at 3:00 ET. Interestingly, this will be the first time the Bears and the Packers have met in he postseason since Dec. 14th, 1941- exactly a week after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

NBA: He's baaaaaaaaack! And man oh man, did he come in handy on Monday night.

The C's had Saturday and Sunday off after a surprisingly close 99-94 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday. Monday night's home game against the Orlando Magic marked the return of Kevin Garnett for the first time in nearly 3 weeks after being sidelined with a right calf injury, and his presence was felt with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and that pivotal steal with 17 seconds remaining and the Magic down by 3.

Boston would go on to win by the 106-109 final- Ray Allen led the scoring with 26 points on the night, followed by KG's 19 and 'Big Baby' coming off the bench with 15. This would make it 3 wins in a row for the C's, and they will next face the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night at the Garden during this lengthy homestand.

NHL: Seems like the Bruins and the Celtics are doing their utmost to make me realize that even after Sunday's debacle in Foxboro, it's still a mighty damn good time to be a New England sports fan.

The Bruins came into Monday night's home game against the Carolina Hurricanes winning three of their last four games (including a Patrice Bergeron hat trick in a 6-0 dismantling of the Senators last Tuesday)- although their most recent game was a 3-2 loss to the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

So not quite a week after Bergeron's first career hat trick, what could one possibly do for an encore?
How about Zdeno Chara's first career hat trick? The big Slovakian defender's first tally came almost literally right when he stepped out of the penalty box in the 1st period to make it a 2-0 game with 8 and a half minutes gone by in the 1st period. This was followed by a power play goal (5 on 3) four and a half minutes later and another power play goal with just over 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd period.

Truth be told, the Bruin's could've won with just Chara's offensive contribution alone- Tim Thomas made 31 saves in the B's 7-0 shutout of the Hurricanes. Patrice Bergeron, Gregory Campbell, Mark Stuart and Michael Ryder also had goals in last night's game.

The B's will travel down to Raleigh for a rematch on Tuesday night in the away portion of the home-and-away series against Carolina.

Army Chow-dah Recap- Hall Of Fame Broadcaster Niehaus Passes Away; After Pen-ing Come From Behind Win, B's Are Hab Nots; C's Stifle the Heat

MLB: Seattle Mariners hall-of-fame Broadcaster Dave Niehaus passed away in his Bellvue, WA home after suffering a fatal heart attack. The 75 year old play by play announcer had intended to return to the booth for Seattle's 2011 season.

After graduating Indiana University and entering the military in 1957, Niehaus spent time as a broadcaster for Armed Forces Radio. In the late 1960s, he was a broadcast partner with Dick Enberg while calling games for the California Angels. After also doing some radio work with the UCLA Bruins and Los Angeles Rams, Niehaus was in the broadcast booth for the Mariners for their inaugural season in 1977 and has called games for Seattle ever since, making him one of the few broadcasters in any sport who has been calling games since their team's inception.

In 2008, Niehaus entered the Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster by being named the winner of the Ford C Frick Award.


In the Pacific Northwest, he's probably best known for calling Edgar Martinez's walk-off hit in the deciding Game 5 of the 1995 ALDS.

NHL: Wow...the intra-conference matchups giveth, but they sure as hell taketh away, too. Figures I'd miss the game where Boston scores 5 unanswered goals (in one period, no less) but be able to tune in to the one where they get stonewalled in a 3-1 loss.

After the Penguins took a pretty formidable 4-2 lead into the 3rd period on Wednesday at the brand-spanking new Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, the Bruins came right back with goals from Nathan Horton and Zdeno Chara less than 30 seconds apart to tie the contest up 4-4 early in the 3rd. This was followed by what would be Shawn Thronton's game-winner and insurance from Blake Wheeler and an empty netter from Milan Lucic. Tim Thomas would stop 42 of 46 shots faced that night.

Thursday night's game at TD Banknorth Garden was a different story, with Montreal netminder Carey Price turning away all but one of the 35 shots he faced from the Bruins in Montreal's 3-1 win. Although Montreal got on the board quick in the first before Zdeno Chara tied it up at 1-1 with 4 minutes to go in the opening period. Montreal appeared poised to take a 2-1 lead in the second, but a review of the goal indicated that Canadiens C Jeff Halpern redirected the puck with his skate, so the goal was disallowed.

Tukka Rask was in net for Boston, giving Thomas the night off - Rask is still looking for his first win of the 2010-2011 season as Boston comes up short in their first game against the Habs (who were the only team in the Northeast division with a record better than Boston's). Instead, the Habs would make it a 2-1 game on a power play goal by Brian Gionta not even a minute into the 3rd and then get some insurance from a Scott Gomez tally.

The loss puts the Bruins in a virtual tie for 2nd place with their next opponent, the Ottawa Senators (also with 17 points, but with a worse intra-divisional record). The two teams will drop the puck Saturday night at the Garden at 7 PM Eastern, 4 Pacific.

NBA: Hmmm....so much for handing the Miami Heat the Eastern Conference title before the ink on LeBron James' new contract had dried.

Ray Allen, on the other hand, had 35 points including going to 7 for 9 in three point attempts in Boston's 112-107 win in Miami on Thursday night- and even then it wasn't quite as close as the scoreboard indicated. Throughout the game, every time the Heat threatened to close the gap, the C's would start to pour it on and increase their lead.

Despite the late surge by Miami, it was all Boston pretty much all night, with the Celtics never trailing in the contest. Although LeBron James matched Ray Allen's production with 35 points of his own, the C's held Dwayne Wade to just 8 points (more than half of them coming from the free throw line).

The C's will next travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies on Saturday night at 8PM Eastern, 7 Central.



NCAA FOOTBALL: The Pitt Panthers appeared to be in control of Thursday night's game with a 21-13 lead against the UConn Huskies well into the 3rd quarter.

However, the Huskies responded right away with a kickoff returned 95 yards for a UConn touchdown thanks to Nick Williams to make it a 1 point game before another UConn drive was capped off with a 25 yard Dave Teggart FG to make it 23-20 UConn lead.

Pitt gave UConn another opening when the ensuing kickoff was fumbled at the Pitt 25 yard line and the Huskies were again able to find the end zone, extending their lead to 21-30. The Panthers were able to put together a quick drive and make it a 28-30 game on a 20 yard pass to Pitt WR Jon Baldwin, but once UConn got the ball back, they were able to bleed out the clock thanks to some key 4th down conversions by RB Jordan Toddman (who already had 200+ yards on the night.

The Huskies run out the clock and come away with the 30-28 win over Pitt- their 1st lost to a conference opponent this season.

UConn's next game will be on November 20th against the Syracuse Orangemen at the Carrier Dome.


NFL Are you ready for some Football? Some Thursday night football?

Thursday night was the debut of NFL's Thursday night games for the 2010 season. OK- a couple of things to start off with; I remember the Thursday Night games

A) Starting a few weeks later in the season- like after Thanksgiving

B) Usually being a lopsided contest between two cellar dwellers (like Buffalo versus Carolina)

In years past, Thursday night's contest between the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens might've matched that description, but not last night.

In the interest of full disclosure, last night I mostly spent the night after work doing some errands and taking Applebee's up on their Veteran's Day promo, so I was almost constantly flipping between the Bruins/Habs, Celtics/Heat and UConn/Pitt game on the satellite radio. I did however, tune into the the final couple of minutes of regulation in the Falcons/Ravens game. Turns out that was a very pivotal final few minutes....I snuck in on the game earlier and figured with the score being 20-7 Atlanta, it was more or less over for Baltimore.

Flash forward to the 4th quarter where after starting on their own 25, Ravens QB Joe Flacco engineered a five and a half minute, 75-yard drive to the Falcons end zone to make it 14-20 and a 1-score game.

After the ensuing Atlanta drive sputtered mid-field Baltimore got the ball back on their own 28 yard line with just under three minutes in regulation. This time Flacco and the Ravens offense put together a much quicker drive, including a 22 yard gain from WR Derrick Mason and 25 yards from RB Ray Rice to put them on top 21-20.

But with just a minute left in regulation, Boston College alumni Matt Ryan would put together a drive (aided by some Baltimore penalties) from the Atlanta 20 to put the Falcons up for good. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, but Atlanta hangs on to win by a final of 26-21.

Hope all the Thursday night games will be this interesting.