Lackluster Sports Chowdah Update For 9/2- Sox Start off With Whimper Vs Rangers; They Might Be Giants in Preseason Finale; UMass Ready to Move on Up?

RED SOX: Well, the last couple of days had been pretty anti-climatic, with the Sox dropping two out of three to the Yankees at Fenway before the Rangers came into town. For Friday night's game, if there was a mercy rule, it would've been invoked by the 6th inning. After pitching 6 innings of shutout ball in Texas, the Rangers chased Andrew Miller from the game early after the Boston starter gave up 6 earned runs in 1 ⅓ innings.



With plenty of run support, Rangers starter Derek Holland allowed all of two hits- both singles- while on the hill for Texas. Texas outfielder David Murphy went 4-5 with a home run on the night while Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez tallies the only hits for Boston in a 10-0 spanking at the hands of the Rangers.



For Saturday afternoon's game, Colby Lewis (11-9; 4.19 ERA) gets the start against Erik Bedard (4-9; 3.45 ERA). First pitch will be at 4:10 PM ET and the game will be televised on FOX.





NFL: What time is it? Why, it's almost time for me to start giving a damn about the NFL once again. The regular season gets underway on Thursday night with the Packers and Saints at Lambeau Field.



Still, there was some preseason ball to be played.



While Tom Brady saw about a quarter's worth of action (going 5-9 and 116 yards), NY Giants head coach Tom Coughlin decided to rest his starters and go with his reserves in the preseason finale at the Meadowlands on Thursday.



While New England went in at halftime up 17-3, the Giants would come back in the second half and score 15 unanswered points to win by a 17-18 final. BC Alum Mark Herzlich, now #58 for the New York Giants, sacked QB Ryan Mallet for a 9 yard loss late in the 4th quarter.



The games actually count from here on out and New England's regular season gets underway in Miami at 7 PM ET as part of ESPN's season opening Monday night doubleheader on September 12th.



NHL: Nashville Predators Winger Wade Belak was found dead in a Toronto condo earlier this week. A police spokesman said that foul play was not suspected, but investigators have not released a cause of death yet.



Belak had retired in March of 2011 and had taken a job with FOX Sports Tennessee doing interviews and postgame shows for the Predators.



This would be the second NHL player to be found dead in Canada this month. Former Canucks Center Rick Rypien was found dead by a fmaily member in his Alberta home on Aug 15th. Rypien had signed a 1 year contract with the Winnipeg Jets in July and according to family members, has suffered from depression on previous occasions.



NBA: Former Lakers Guard Javaris Crittendon was arrested by the FBI in California on August 26th in connection with a homicide in Atlanta.



Police in Atlanta had obtained an arrest warrant for Crittendon after 22 year old Julian Jones was shot to death in a drive-by shooting. The young mother was gunned down outside her Atlanta home and died in surgery after the shooting. According to his lawyer, Crittendon had offered to turn himself in before being arrested at Orange County's John Wayne International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Atlanta.



Crittendon was involved in a locker-room incident with Washington Wizards teammate Gilbert Arenas in 2010 where the two players threatened each other with pistols over a card game from an earlier team flight. Both players were suspended and Crittendon wound up on the Dakota Wizards of the NBA D-League.

AP Photo- Jessica Hill

NCAA FOOTBALL: College football is already underway in New England, with the UMass Minutemen taking care of the Holy Cross Crusaders 24-16 on their Thursday night season opener at Fitton Field in Worcester, MA.



This officially marks the beginning of the Minutemen's tenure with the Colonial Athletic Association. Starting in 2012, UMass will be joining the Mid-America conference, becoming eligible to play in the MAC championship game as well as a bowl game. The impending move to FBS (formerly Division I-A) means that UMass will be ineligible to participate in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) championship regardless of their record.



However, it's worth noting that the Minutemen will reportedly play their 2012 and 2013 'home' games at Gilette stadium in Foxboro- a two hour drive from the Amherst, MA campus.



The Minutemen have next week off and will begin play within the CAA with a September 17 home game against Rhode Island.



To the south, UConn gets underway with a home opener against Fordham at noon ET on Saturday while in Chestnut Hill, the BC Eagles will play host to the Northwestern Wildcats.

WTF NY GIANTS???

We here at Enough Already are die hard NY GIANTS fans (with the exception of my son who likes the Eagles.......and I don't know why. At least my daughter partakes in here daddy's fav teams). We were truly saddened to watch a defense allow 21 unanswered points in less than 9 minutes. Then when it came to the punt at the end of the game why did he not kick it out of bounds? Especially with Desean Jackson Receiving! What was funny though was watching Giants coach Tom Coughlin chew out Matt Dodge on the field immediately after the kick. Hopefully he gave that same speech to the WHOLE DEFENSE who decided to go out for some tailgate food in the fourth quarter!

I also think if I hear another person mention that Michael Vick should be the league MVP I will show up at that person's house and puke on them. Michael Vick should not have even been left back into the league after what he's done. I may have a little respect for his skills as a football player but I have no respect for him otherwise. Anyone that's willing to shoot, electrocute, and do further harm to dogs should not be allowed the luxury of owning dogs ever again and should not be allowed back into sports. Yes I know he's paid his debt to society by serving jailtime. Michael Vick spent almost 2 years in jail after he confessed to charges in his involvement with dog fighting. Michael Vick's dogs that did not perform up to his expectations were killed by electrocution, hanging, drowning and other violent and horrific means by him. He’s another perfect example of the two tiered society that America is defined as.... The rich and famous and well connected have a different set of rules apparently in our society than the rest of us where the rules we are forced to live by don't really even give us second chances at times.

We banned Pete Rose from the HOF and baseball for gambling. Yet we let Mike Vick play. Am I missing something there?

Thanks Giants.... Another LOSS

The way the GIANTS are playing I expect them to finish out the year at 8-8.

Brandon Jacobs needs to learn to block.

Danny Ware started for an injured Ahmed Bradshaw. Probably will be the last time too thanks to the coughed up fumble.

Eli Manning looked like a "deer in the headlights" when it came to the pressure from the Broncos defense. Piss poor judgment throws. Receivers can't catch the ball when it's always at their feet. Perhaps Manning should be benched and let Carr make a few starts to see if that helps any.

Lack of communication on the defense led to a WIDE OPEN Brandon Stokley Touchdown.

Dallas, Philadelphia at home next. Then it's at Washington, Carolina at home, and then close out at Minnesota.

Perhaps we might see a 7-9 record but who knows. Right now this is not a playoff caliber team and they need to get reorganized and bounce back quickly.

NY GIANTS.... ENOUGH ALREADY!

Ratings for this weeks GIANTS vs Eagles game 11/1/09

QB- D
C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT RATING
E. Manning 20/39 222 5.7 1 2 55.7

Giants quarterback Eli Manning was intercepted twice in this game AGAIN. Both of these turnovers led to Eagles' touchdowns. Eli Manning was intercepted twice in the first five games and now he's been intercepted six times in the last three games. ENOUGH ALREADY!


RB- C-
The duo of Bradshaw and Jacobs had a combo of 29 carries for 107 yds. Jacobs had 20 carries for 86 yds. Bradshaw had 9 carries for 21 yds and a TD. Brandon Jacobs was held under 100 yards for the 12th consecutive game.

WR- C+
Hakeem Nicks had four receptions for 53 yards and another "Awesome Grabs" game. Manningham was out for this game as a precaution with a shoulder injury. Steve Smith had eight catches for 68 yards. Moss should just be let go as he has contributed squat. Hixon coughed up a fumble on a kick off return.

TE- B+
Kevin Boss had 3 receptions for 70 yds and a TD.


OL- C
Only allowed 2 sacks but was not opening the gaps for the running backs. Manning was pressured and Blitzed heavily forcing arrhythmia with the offensive timing.


DL- C-
Who the heck lets a fullback scamper 41 yds for a TD? Osi Umenyiora had a sack after not having any in the last three games. Fred Robbins had a good play and was playing it smart to lateral it to Osi however it was overturned. Allowed 24 carries for 180 yds by the Eagles offense.


LB- C


CB/DB/Secondary- F
The secondary for the Giants was exposed in more ways than Candice Michelle in Playboy. WAY TOO MUCH separation.

Not converting third downs.

Eli Manning.... ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

Manning 2009 1st 5 gms
Comp pct 64.4
Yards/gm 242.4
TD-Int 10-2
Passer rtg 111.7

Manning 2009 Last 2 gms
Comp pct 48.5
Yards/gm 210.5
TD-Int 2-4
Passer rtg 53.6

ELI.... INT's will not help us any.

Jeff Feagles did not do his best punting in this game at all.

The Cardinals used a hybrid 3-4 defense that kept disrupting the Offense and forcing Manning to throw quicker than he had to and not getting a good setup. The Cardinals defense just kept alternating blitzes of 5 man rushes and sending multiple extra defenders into the coverage areas. The Cardinals are team you cannot take lightly anymore.

Hakeem Nicks and Steve Smith...Amazing grabs but do a little better getting the separation from the cornerbacks.

Brandon Jacobs found the endzone today. Glad to see he remembered what it looked like. Now if he could just find it a little bit more often that would be a big plus.

Bradshaw did not have a good game at all and fumbled.

The Giants are not playing with urgency.

The Eagles are next week.