Just Win, Baby! Sports Chowdah Update- Raiders Owner Al Davis Deat at 81; No Frequent Flier Miles For Jets @ Foxboro; Avs Varlamov Stifles B's

NFL- Oakland Raiders owner and former AFL commissioner Al Davis passed away at the age of 82 on Saturday. Born in Brockton, MA and growing up in Brooklyn, Davis would graduate Syracuse and start his coaching career with Adelphi college and the US Army. In 1962, he was hired as the head coach for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League, leading them to their first ever winning season in 1963 with a record of 10-4.

Davis was also briefly the AFL commissioner in 1966 and was against the proposed merger of the AFL and NFL. After stepping down as commissioner a few months later, Davis would return to the Raiders and purchase a 10% stake in the organization, gradually increasing his holdings over the next few seasons until he head near-total control of the organization.

In 1982, he moved the Raiders from Oakland to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before moving the team back to Oakland in 1995 after a dispute with Los Angeles over expansion at the Coliseum. The city of Oakland spent nearly $200 million in refurbishing the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to accommodate the move.

The Raiders have seen only limited success since moving back to the Bay area, with their last playoff (and Super Bowl) appearance taking place in 2002 and a seemingly non-stop coaching carousel taking place each season.

While the team is expected to stay in Davis' family, there are rumors circulating that his heirs would be more receptive to a possible return to L.A.


PATRIOTS: Under Rex Ryan, there seems to be this pattern of the Jets talking all sorts of shit in the week leading up to a game against the Pats and then falling flat on their face. The New York tabloids and ESPN seem to love it, but the Patriots and their fans find it about as intimidating and endearing as a shrill, yippy little chihuahua circling and barking.



More often than not, I DO enjoy what comes afterwards. Of course, before the most recent Jets-Patriots game, its worth noting that the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins paid a visit to Gilette Stadium with the coveted trophy for a pregame ceremony (as well as the team posing with owner Robert Kraft and the three Vince Lombardi trophies as well as Lord Stanley's Cup).

Once it got underway, Sunday afternoon's game saw the New York Jets put up only 255 yards against the New England defense and Tom Brady going 24 for 33 with 321 yards and a TD as well as a pick. Antonio Cromartie ran back the Brady INT for about 40 yards to finish up the first half of the game. New England headed in with a 10-7 lead (they were poised for more until Cromartie's pick) and after getting a TD on their opening drive of the 2nd half, the Pats made it a 17-7 game, but the Jets came right back and made it a 17-14 game after Mark Sanchez completed to WR Jeremy Kerley.

However, that would be as close as the Jets would get as a 4 minute Patriots drive taht started on their own 23 was capped by a short Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis TD run late in the 3rd. The law offices of Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis had 27 rushes for 136 yards and 2 TDs while the team donned the old-school red jerseys and Patriot Pat helmets.

No Vince Wilfork INTs run back this week, but we're not even halfway through the season and considering he already has two more than his career total so far, it's probably best if the big guy paces himself.

Next week will see the 2-2 Dallas Cowboys in Foxboro with a 4:15 ET kickoff. The Cowboys are coming off their bye week and this weekend's game will be televised on FOX.

OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS: Make way for another Gronkowski! The Patriots signed TE Rob Gronkowski's older brother Dan to play tight end. Dan saw action in 12 games last season with the Denver Broncos.

MLB: The two NLDS game Fives were decided by a pretty close margin heading into last weekend. In Milwaukee, Brewers OF Nyjer Morgan's 10th inning walkoff RBI single sent the Diamondbacks packing while in Philadelphia, Chris Carpenter sent the National League team with the best record home thanks to a complete game 3-hit shutout of Philadelphia, setting up an all-midwest NLCS.

The Brewers came from behind to win Game 1 on Sunday, winning by a 9-6 final after a huge 6-run 5th inning. However, Monday night's game was all St. Louis with the Cards winning by a lopsided 12-3 final.

Game 3 is set to take place on Wednesday in St. Louis with a first pitch at 8:05 ET on TBS. The Cards' Chris Carpenter is set to go up against the Brew Crew's Yovani Gallardo.

Over in the ALCS, the Texas Rangers seemed to have little trouble handling the Detroit Tigers in Arlington. Game 1 was pretty close, with Detroit clawing their way back prior to a rain delay with the bases loaded, but the Rangers were able to get out of the jam and hang on to win by a 3-2 final.

The series headed to Detroit with the Tigers down 0-2, losing in dramatic fashion thanks to a Nelson Cruz walkoff grand slam in the bottom of the 11th- the first ever walkoff grand slam in postseason history.

However, the home cookin' at Comerica park seemed to be working for the Tigers on Tuesday night. In his first start since sending the Yankees packing in Game 5 of the ALDS in the Bronx, Tigers starter Doug Fister would go 7 ⅓ innings, giving up 7 hits and two earned runs. Victor Martinez would get the scoring started for Detroit with a solo homer to tie the game at 1-1 before Miguel Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta and Austin Jackson would go on to give Fister additional run support in the Tigers 5-2 win on Tuesday night.

Texas still leads the ALCS two games to one, with game 4 set to get underway at 4:19 PM ET. Rick Porcello is slated to start against the Ranger's Matt Harrison with the game to be televised on FOX TV.

RED SOX: Less than two weeks after the departure of manager Terry Francona, the Associated Press is reporting that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein will be leaving Boston to become President of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs in the next 48 hours.


NHL: After winning their first game of the season against Tampa Bay over the weekend, the Bruins gave Tim Thomas the day off as the defending Stanley Cup champions hosted the Colorado Avalanche.

Tukka Rask showed little signs of rust from the offseason in Monday afternoon's game, but Milan Hejduk buried one past Rask in the 3rd to give Colorado a 1-0 lead while Avs netminder Seymon Varlamov stopped all 30 shots he faced to preserve the lead and the Avalanche win.

The Bruins will hit the road on Wednesday to take on the Carolina Hurricanes. The game will be televised on Versus and gets underway at 7:30 PM ET. The Bruins will reportedly be playing without C David Krejci, who injured his leg in practise on Tuesday afternoon.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS: The team announced on Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with C Rich Peverly on a 3 year extension of his contract. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.



ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL: After a 15 year hiatus, NHL hockey has returned to Winnipeg, Manitoba. The new-look Jets started off their 2011-2012 season at Winnipeg's MTS Centre on Sunday with a 'sloppy' 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. The former Atlanta Thrashers are idle until Thursday when they travel to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks.

NBA: In the midst of a protracted labor dispute between players and owners, League Commissioner David Stern has cancelled all preseason games and the first two weeks of the regular season.

The impasse is prompting a number or players to entertain offers from overseas clubs, the most notable of which is reportedly the owner of Italian club Virtus Bologna aggressivley looking to sign NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Manu Ginobli.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Looks like my dire-but-realistic predictions regarding Boston College and UConn's respective games against to 25 opponents came true over the weekend. The BC Eagles managed to avoid a shutout, but were downed by the Clemson Tigers by a 36-14 final while in Morgantown, WV, the Mountaineers downed UConn by a 43-16 final on Saturday.

The 2-4 Huskies will next host the University of South Florida on Saturday afternoon at East Hartford while Boston College (mercifully) has a bye this weekend, but will resume in Blackburg against #19 Virginia Tech (currently 5-1) on October 22nd. Between now and then, the Hokies have a game against the 4-1 Wake Forest Demon Deacons, who are undefeated (3-0) against ACC opponents this season.

NCAA HOCKEY: Unlike the struggling football team, the Boston College men's hockey team is off to a promising start after the previous weekend's Break the Ice tournament in Grand Forks, ND. The BC Eagles notched a 5-2 win over the Michigan State Spartans and capped the tournament with a 6-2 win over #3 North Dakota.

On Friday, the BC Eagles will host Denver before travelling to the Granite State to take on the UNH Wildcats on Saturday.

Championship Chowdah Update- Train Rex Averted in Steel City; Green Bay Sends Bears Packing; Wizards Solve C's; B's Clear Avalanche

NFL: Screw the conference championship games, Tom Brady had surgery on his right foot this week! The surgery, performed on Thursday by team physician George Theodore, involved inserting a screw into Brady's problematic right foot. If all goes well, Brady's recovery timetable should be around three months or so, in time training camp in late July or early August.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: Oh yea- it also happened to be Championship Sunday this weekend, so without any further ado:

AFC: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the final few minutes of the AFC Championship game, even if it was alot closer then it should've been.

The Pittsburgh Steelers took a 24-3 lead into halftime for the AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening. It didn't look like it for awhile in the 4th quarter, but that was all the Steelers would need to get by the Jets- despite New York scoring 16 unanswered points in the second half (their first 3 came with only 9 seconds to go before halftime).

The Jets made it a 5 point game with just over 3 minutes to go in regulation, capping off a 4 and a half minute drive with a short pass from QB Mark Sanchez to WR Jerricho Cotchery to make it a 24-19 game. The Steelers would get the ball back with just under 3 minutes remaining- meaning that if the Jets could force a 3 and out, they would have enough time for a 2 minute drill. Roethlisberger managed to get the Steelers as far as the Jets 40 yard line at the two minute warning, bringing up and important 3rd and 6 in which Big Ben made a 14 yard completion to Antonio Brown, sending all sorts of headgear flying off of Rex Ryan before crashing to earth as the Steelers simply took a knee and iced the game from there.

NFC: Well....these guys probably had a heart attack. I mean.....well....a bigger one than usual:

I came in a little late on this one- by the time I tuned in, Cutler was already on the bench [let the speculation abound- NANESB!] and the Packers were up 14-0.

Things would get interesting when Bears backup QB Todd Collins was benched in favor of Caleb Hanie late in the 3rd, which paid dividends right away when the Bears started a TD drive from their own 33 to cut the Packers lead in half. However, pinned deep in their own territory, Haine would be picked off by Packers nose tackle BJ Raji, who rumbled into the end zone to put the Packers up 21-7. The Bears would strike again on a quick drive where Hanie connected with WR Earl Bennett for a 35 yard TD reception to once again make it a 1-score game with just under 5 minutes in regulation left.

Chicago's defense forced a fairly quick 3 and out from the Packers, giving the Bears the ball back with just under 3 minutes in regulation on their own 29. However, Green Bay would put the game away when Hanie was picked off by Packers CB Sam Shields deep in Green Bay territory ith 37 seconds remaining.

Green Bay wins the first postseason meeting of the Bears and Packers since the outbreak of WWII by a final of 21-14. Although Caled Hanie acquitted himself reasonably well (13-20, 153 yards, 1 TD but two costly interceptions), Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback that will be going to north Texas for the Superbowl. The Packers QB was 17-30 with 244 yards on the day and two INTs.

This means Superbowl XLV will feature a matchup between two vintage NFL clubs (Packers go as far back as 1919 while the Steelers date to '33). Superbowl XLI is scheduled to kick off from Cowboys Stadium at 6:30PM ET on Saturday, Feb 6th on FOX.

NBA: The Celtics had their 5 game winning streak come to a halt on Saturday night in Washington DC. Wizards rookie John Wall banked in a pivotal 3 pointer in the games final minute to help beat Boston by an 85-83 final.

The Celtics had finished up a homestand where they managed to beat the Kings, Bobcats, Magic, Pistons and wrapped up a 110-86 win over the Utah Jazz the night before travelling to Washington. They will next take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at home on Tuesday night.

NHL: After completing the home/road sweep against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Boston Bruins had one more home game (where they lost to the Sabres on Thursday night) before their road trip out West got underway.

The change of scenery apparently did them some good as they came away 6-2 winners in Saturday night's game at Denver's Pepsi Center against the Colorado Avalanche. Although Colorado's Paul Stasny scored first, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand had two goals each (Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron would have goals as well). Tim Thomas stopped 32 of 34 shots faced on the night while the Avs pulled goalie Craig Anderson before the start of the 3rd.

The Bruins will next travel to the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday night to take on the LA Kings. Puck drops at 10:30 ET, 7:30 PT.

MLB: There's a 2004 Red Sox reunion of sorts taking place in the AL East, although not at Fenway Park. Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez have each agreed to separate one year deals with the Tampa Bay Rays this past week. SI.com reported that Damon's contract was worth $5.25 million with incentives while Manny's was in the neighborhood of $2 million. Both deals are pending a physical.

The Rays had lost Carl Crawford and Matt Garza to free agency earlier in the offseason.

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.

Most Fowl Sports Chowdah Update- Ducks Covered; Seahawks Win in Seismic Upset; Eagles Lay an Egg; Penguins Sink Late

AP Photo

NCAA FOOTBALL: The BCS Championship game got underway at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ on Monday night with two undefeateds- #1 Auburn and #2 Oregon- going head to head. The Oregon Ducks had a 12-0 record for the regular season while the Tigers went 13-0 (they played South Carolina in the SEC Championship game last month whereas the Pac 10 has no Championship game)

After opening the game with offensive drives for each side ending in a turnover or simply sputtering out mid-filed, the first quarter went by with neither team scoring- although Oregon was inside the red zone and would have to settle for a FG to start off the 2nd period.

Auburn would take the lead on their next drive, when Heisman winner Cam Newton connected with WR Kodi Burns for a 35 yard TD play to make it a 7-3 game.

Oregon came right back when Ducks QB Darron Thomas connected with WR Jeff Maehl for an 81 yard yard gain to set Oregon up at the Auburn 12. Thomas then connected with RB LaMicheal James for an 8 yard TD run on 3rd and 6 and successfully completed a 2 point conversion to take an 11-7 lead.

Later on in the 2nd, Auburn would manage to pin the Ducks deep in their own territory after a kickoff, which led to LaMicheal James being tackled in his own end zone for a safety, cutting the Auburn deficit to 11-9. With less than two minutes to go until halftime, the Tigers would then go on to take the lead on a 30 yard completion to WR Emory Blake to make it a 16-11 Auburn lead.

Surprisingly, the only scoring in the 3rd quarter was a 28 yard Wes Byrum FG to extend Auburn's lead to 19-11. While Auburn seemingly dominated time of possession in the 2nd half, Oregon was able to put together a quick drive of just over 2 minutes (after getting good field position recovering an Auburn fumble) and score a TD on 2 yard play LaMichael James while Maehl managed to bring in the pass on the 2 point attempt to tie the game up at 19-19.

The game looked like it was heading for OT when Auburn got the ball back, but freshman Micheal Dyer turned what looked like a short pickup into a 37 yard gain after being tackled by an Oregon defender- but without his knees or elbows hitting the ground. The play happened right in front of the Tiger's bench and his teammates exhorted him to keep running. The play wasn't blown dead until after Dyer's scramble and a video review showed that he was not down by contact after the first hit. From the Oregon 17, Dyer got the ball again and rumbled down to the Oregon 1 yard line (the play was initially ruled a TD before a review showed him down at the 1) with 16 seconds left.

After an attempted rush by Cam Newton, the Tigers decided to play it safe and brought in Wes Byrum for a FG attempt from the 19 yard line with only 2 seconds left in regulation. Byrum's kick was good and the Auburn Tigers win the BCS championship on the final play of the game for a 22-19 final. This was a surprisingly low-scoring game given how potent both offenses were in the regular season.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: 'Now Fenway' I'm sure you're saying 'Enough about this silly BCS Championship game- what about the REAL important Bowl games? Like the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl?'

Actually, the Sunday Night Bowl game at San Francisco's AT&T Park would mark the first time the BC Eagles played a ranked opponent since week 6 when they went up against #16 Florida State......and lost by a 24-19 final.

Things got off to a pretty good start for the Eagles after they managed to stop the Wolfpack drive mid-field. Although they went 3 and out for their first offensive possession, they managed to force a fumble from Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick, which Eagle's RB Andre Williams ran back 30 yards for a TD to give the Eagles the early 7-0 lead.

However, Nevada would get the equalizer on the next posession and take a 14-7 lead on a 72 yard punt return with three minutes to go in the first. The only scoring in the 2nd quarter was a 32 yard Andy Martinez FG to put Nevada up 17-7 heading into halftime.

The second half would turn out to be nothing but duelling FG's, with BC's defense successfully keeping the Wolfpack out of the end zone, but their own offense really unable to get it going. This included another Wolfpack interception- this time BC Linebacker Luke Kuechly returned 31 yards to the Nevada 6 yard line. However, Boston College was unable to find the end zone from there and had to settle for a FG to make it 17-10.

Nevada would get another FG from Martinez to extended their lead to 20-10. With 5 minutes left in regulation, BC would get the ball back on their own 34 yard line and march down the Nevada 18 before attempting another FG to make it a 13-20. After forcing the Wolfpack to go 3 and out on the next possession, Eagles QB Chase Rettig would be picked off at mid-field to put the game away for Nevada.

The Wolfpack win by the final of 20-13, and Boston College's defense did well just to keep it a one-score game for most of the second half. In all honesty, the only time I was optimistic about BC getting points on the board was when Nevada had the ball.

The loss marks Boston College's 3rd straight bowl loss (and 2nd straight in San Francisco).

OTHER NCAA FINALS:
Jan 6th- GoDaddy.com Bowl:
Middle Tennessee 21- Miami (Ohio) 35

Jan 7th- Cotton Bowl:
LSU 41- Texas A&M 24

Jan 8th- BBVA Compass Bowl:
Pittsburgh 27- Kentucky 10

NFL: Boy- that Micheal Vick really screwed the pooch, huh? I bet that last pass will dog him all offseason!

Wild card weekend was marked by a slate of games that actually turned out to be pretty good, the last of which featured the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Green Bay Packers.

Remember how well the Packers played New England without Aaron Rodgers? It should probably come as no surprise that they got out to the early lead at Lincoln Financial Field and held on to that for most of the game- taking a 21-20 lead into the 4th quarter. However, Micheal Vick was able to rally the Eagles offense and made it a 16-21 game with just over 4 minutes to go in the game. Aaron Rodgers was sacked on 3rd down during the next Green Bay possession, forcing the Pack to punt.

Eagles QB Micheal Vick then marched the Eagles down as far as the Packers 27 yard line before he threw the game and season-ending interception to seal the game by a final of 21-16.



ELSEWHERE ON WILD CARD WEEKEND: As surprising as the Philly's early exit from the postseason may be, the biggest stunner of the weekend came early.

In a literally seismic upset, the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks defeated the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints on Saturday afternoon at the Emerald City's notoriously loud Qwest Field. The Seahawks headed into the 4th quarter with a 14 point lead, but the Saints almost immediately started eating into it with a Juluis Jones TD pass to make it a 27-34 game. New Orleans' Garrett Hartley would then boot a FG on the Saints next possession to narrow the deficit to 34-30 with the Seahawks still clinging to the lead.

With 4 minutes 20 seconds to go in regulation and both offenses seemingly running out of momentum, the Seahawks would've been satisfied just to keep the drive going long enough to bleed out the clock. Of course, Buffalo Bills cast-aside Marshawn Lynch finding a hole and rushing 67 yards for a Seahawks TD doesn't hurt, either. That made it a 41-30 game, giving the Seahawks insurance for when the Saints came right back and scored a TD 36-41 (the 2 point attempt failed). However, the Seahawks would recover the onside kick and the Hawks took a knee, ending the defending Super Bowl champions bid to repeat one game in.

Many observers also noted that Saturday's game at Qwest field was likely Matt Hasselbeck's last home game as the Seahawks QB. Hasselbeck went 22-35, with 272 yards, 4 TDs and a lone interception on Saturday.

AFC: Well now....looks like it's going to be a pair of divisional rematches on the AFC side.

On Saturday night, the defending AFC champions were bounced out of the playoffs early at their home field by the New York Jets. Trailing the Colts 10-7 heading into the 4th, the Jets took the lead on a short LaDanian Thomlinson TD run to go on top 14-10. Indy would take a one point lead thanks to two Adam Vinatieri FG's (one from the 32 and 50 yard line), making it a 16-14 game.

However, the Jets had a kicking game left that compensated for what it lacked in distance with timing. Impeccable timing at that. Jets kicker Nick Folk nailed a 32 point FG as time expired for a 17-14 Jets win, meaning the Jets will travel to Foxboro to take on a well-rested Patriots next weekend.

The Baltimore/Kansas City game was kind of a one-sided beatdown, with the Ravens coming away from that one with a 30-7 win over the Chiefs.

So this upcoming slate of NFL games will look something like this:

Saturday- 1/15:
Baltimore @ Pittsburgh, 4:30 PM ET/1:30PT
Green Bay @ Atlanta, 8PM ET/5PT

Sunday- 1/16:
Seattle @ Chicago, 1PM ET/ 10 AM PT
Ny Jets @ New England, 4:30 PM ET/ 1:30 PT

NHL: Ever get that feeling of Deja Vu? Like when the Pittsburgh Penguins take a seemingly insurmountable lead against Boston into the 3rd period and manage to choke that away? I've been known to get that feeling once in awhile myself.

Last night was no different when the B's fell into the 2-0 hole in the 2nd after Tukka Rask gave up goals from Micheal Rupp and Kris Letang.

But while others were watching the BCS game on Monday night (namely me) the Bruins mounted a furious comeback in which they scored 4 unanswered goals in the 3rd period- a power play goal from Zdeno Chara, followe 12 seconds later by the game-tying goal from Brad Marchand. The tie-breaker came with just over a minute left in regulation- a power play goal off the stick of Mark Recchi and Greg Campbell added some insurance with an empty netter as the final 10 seconds of regulation were ticking away.

Monday night's win snaps a 2-game losing streak in which the B's lost to Minnesota on Thrusday and at Montreal in OT over the weekend.

The Bruins will next take on the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night at the Garden and will face the Flyers on Thursday evening.

NBA: No come from behind win for the C's on Monday night as they lost to the Houston Rockets by a 108-102 final on Monday Night. This is their 2nd loss in a row after a weekend 79-90 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The C's next game will be on Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings and will head into the weekend with a home game against the Charlotte Bobcats.

MLB: The Red Sox and Hideki Okajima have agreed to a one year $1.75 contract, returning to Boston for a fifth straight season. Although he struggled for much of the 2010 season, Oki had a 1.30 ERA in 13 innings of work in his final 15 appearences.

Norfolk Southern Conductor Turns Down Offer From NY Jets

I'm sure somewhere at some point, somebody asked you this hypothetical question: Would you rather have a high paying job that you didn't like as much or wasn't as secure or take a lower paying job that you loved?

A 24 year old conductor-trainee with the Norfolk Southern Railroad declined an offer to sign with the New York Jets for the remainder of the season.

After a brief stint earlier with the Jets and Ravens at safety, former Mississippi State standout Keith Fitzhugh said that he'd prefer to remain at his present job than risk further uncertainty at the end of the season with the possibility of an NFL lockout looming over next season.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, while Fitzhugh is thinking long-term with his job at Norfolk Southern, he's also pursuing another childhood dream.

"Just hearing the horns getting blown, how fast they were rolling, it always looked cool," Fitzhugh said of trains that rumbled along Tara Boulevard. "I was like, ‘Man, I want to get up there. I want to ride.'"

"You can't play [football] when you're 40 or 50 or 60 years old," Fitzhugh said. "But you can get on a train and you can ride."

Good for Keith- it probably was a difficult decision for him. You don't always see this sort of long-term thinking from some of the veterans in the NFL, let alone a guy who's not even 25 yet.

[Thanks to Just A Grunt over at Jammie Wearing Fool for posting this]

Quickie NFL Chowdah with a Distinguished Bruschi- Jets Crash and Burn at Foxboro; Broncos Buck McDaniels; Turn Out the Liiights......

NFL: Wow...what a night. I only wish Teddy Bruschi was there to see the outstanding job the New England D did in completely shutting down all aspects of the Jet's offense.

Oh wait! He was! That worked out pretty well then.

What was supposed to be the game of the week turned into an unmitigated disaster for the Jets on Monday Night as they travelled up to Foxboro.

New England would start off the game scoring on their first 4 possessions (3 TDs and a FG) while the Jets offense could only muster a solitary FG- not just in the first quarter, but all night.

17-3 was as close as the score would get on Monday night. With a 24-3 halftime lead, the late 'Dandy' Don Meredith could've started serenading viewers with Turn Out The Lights.



And this isn't an attempt at being ironic or sarcastic and trying to and build up suspense. This was an old fashioned ass-kicking with the Pats pretty much moving the ball down the field at will. The guys dressed as minutemen who fire off muskets at the stadium probably ran out of powder on Monday night as New England absolutely throttled the Jets by a final of 45-3. This was the worse loss for the Jets since 1986.

On a completely unrelated note, Teddy Bruschi was honored at a ceremony at halftime where his number 54 was retired by Pats owner Robert Kraft.

Perhaps the only infuriating thing from the perspective of Pats fan about the Monday Night game was the fact that pretty much all of the starters for New England were still in when the game was well in hand.Tom Brady went 21-29 with 326 yards and 4 TDs on the night, connecting with Brandon Tate, Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Aaron Hernandez. This is Brady's 26th straight regular-season win at Gillette Stadium.

Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis had 18 carries for 72 yards and 2 TDs while Shayne Graham was 1 for 1 in field goal attempts.

The next Joe Namath Jets QB, Mark Sanchez, went 17-33 with 3 interceptions and 164 total yards on the night. He actually did get the Jets down inside the Pats 10 on their opening drive of the 2nd half, but his pass was intercepted by Brandon Spikes at the 2 yard line, which in turn culminated in Brady connecting with Welker for an 18 yard TD run. James Sanders- hero of the game against the Colts a few weeks ago- and Devin McCourty also had interceptions on the night; McCourty's INT was his 6th of the season.

No 10-day wait for the next Pats game, though. The Pats will next travel to Soldier Field to take on the 9-3 Chicago Bears at 4:15 PM ET. There is one more night game left for New England, actually- and this comes against another NFC opponent when they host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday December 19.

BRONCOS: The Denver Broncos fired head coach Josh McDaniels on Monday, a few weeks after allegations of team personnel videotaping the San Francisco Giant's practise before their regular season game in England earlier this year- a game that the Broncos lost anyway. Under McDaniels, the Broncos traded Denver's top draft pick Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears.

Denver RB Coach Eric Studesville will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season.

COWBOYS: Broadcaster and former SMU and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith passed away from a brain hemorrhage at his Santa Fe, NM home at the age of 72 on Sunday night. With the Cowboys from the very beginning, 'Dandy Don' Meredith played in back-to-back NFL Championships against the Green Bay Packers and Bart Starr, including the 1967 'Ice Bowl'. The Cowboys would lose both of those games.

After his playing career, Meredith made a name for himself in the early 1970s from the broadcast booth of ABC's brand-new Monday Night Football. Trading barbs with fellow sportscaster Howard Cosell, Meredith would often close out a broadcast by singing an off key version of Willie Nelson's Turn Out the Lights.

Week Off Sports Chowdah Update- Bruins Split Czech; Braves Chopped Out of Playoff Picture; Pats Family Tree Gets Familiar Branch

NHL: The puck dropped on the 2010-2011 Bruins regular season in Prague this weekend with a two game series against the Phoenix Coyotes. After losing the opener by a 5-2 margin, Tim Thomas made an impressive regular season debut and 2010 first round draft pick Tyler Seguin scored his first NHL goal on Sunday's game in the Czech capital. Thomas stopped all 29 shots he faced while Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton got the Bruins out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period before Seguin's goal sealed the 3-0 win over Phoenix.

Boston's next game isn't until Saturday where the NJ Devils will host them at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

MLB: And then there was one......well one division series remaining. After the Yankees finished off a sweep of the Twins on Saturday while the Reds were eliminated by the Phillies Sunday night. The Braves managed to stay alive in the NLDS matchup with the Giants and the series headed to Atlanta with the series tied 1-1 after Rick Ankiel splashed a solo homer into McCovey cove in the 11th inning to cap off the Braves Friday night win.

However, the Giants were able to take advantage of Atlanta miscues as the series went back to Turner Field tied 1-1. Perhaps most the most agonizing for moments for Braves faithful came after an Erick Hinske pinch-hit 2-run homer briefly put the Beaves up 2-1. In the top of the 9th, Aubrey Huff drove on, bringing home Travis Ishikawa to tie the contest up at 2-2. Giants Catcher Buster Posey scalded what looked like sharply hit groundout to 2nd base to end the inning, but in a moment eerily reminiscent of Bill Buckner, it went right under Brooks Conrad's glove and into center field to put the Giants up for good 3-2.

Monday night's game at Turner Field turned out to be Bobby Cox's last as Braves manager, as the Giants held on to a 1-run lead even when Giant's closer Brian Wilson allowed back-to-back walks to Rick Ankiel and Erick Hinske with one away. The Londonderry, NH born pitcher then managed to get Melky Cabrera to ground out into a double-play. San Francisco wins the Division series 3 games to 1 and Game 4 by a final score of 3-2.

ELSEWHERE: Game 5 of the ALCS Between the Rangers and Rays is set to take place tonight in Tampa/St. Pete at 8PM ET. The series is tied at 2 games each and Cliff Lee is expected to get the start against David Price. Curiously, the home team has yet to win in this series.

NFL: For those of us wondering 'Who's Brady gonna throw to now that Moss is gone?', wonder no more as the Patriots announced that they reacquired WR Deion Branch from the Seattle Seahawks last night (See!? Pats news even during the bye week!). The Seahwaks will get a future draft pick from New England in exchange for Branch and acquired a WR from another AFC East team, Marshawn Lynch, last week. Superbowl XXXVIII MVP Branch reportedly practised with New England on Tuesday. New England takes on the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday.

Oh yes....there was some sort of Monday night contest involving Randy Moss and the NY Jets on the air, too. Man....I tuned in for that right after the Braves/Giants game....what a snooze-fest until the late 3rd quarter. Rain rain rain, Vikings 3 and out, rain rain rain Jet's field goal....lather, rinse, repeat....you get the idea. So fast forward to the third quarter where Brett Favre manages to get the Vikings on the board with a 3rd and 17 completion to Randy Moss for career TD #500 and became the first QB to eclipse the 70,000 yards mark....and parhaps more importantly make it an interesting game at 12-7. Brett Farve came up short [or insert your own Farve-centric joke- NANESB!] after a late interception sealed the win for the Jets, their 4th in a row, by a final of 29-20.

NCAA FOOTBALL: Boston College had their bye a few weeks ago, but they've been playing like they still have had every weekend off since then. This past weekend, it was a 44-17 loss to North Carolina state, which makes them 0-2 against ACC opponents. After averaging 10 points in their last three games, I'm not very optimistic about their chances against #16 Florida State at Talahassee on Saturday afternoon

To the South (or is it north, since both were away games?), UConn squandered a 24-17 halftime lead and were shut out by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for the entire 2nd half to lose by a final of 27-24 on a Friday night game. The Huskies have a bye this weekend and will travel to Louisville on Oct. 23rd for another Big East matchup.

Scrappy Division 1AA UMass had the weekend off, but will be playing another FCS/Colonial Conference team that not only acquited itself against a FBS/Division 1A team (Virginia), but actually won- the Richmond Spiders. Since their close game against the Wolverines, the Minutemen have gone 2-0 and has an overall record of 4-1 (second only to 6-0 Delaware in the CAA).