With the current Red Sox in a state of disarray, I thought that the 36th anniversary of Game 6 in the 1975 World Series might be worth revisiting.
Back in 1975, it was a little unusual to be playing baseball this late in October. However, the series had been postponed by rain for three straight days in Boston and Game 6 didn't get underway until October 21st.
Although the Red Sox got out to a quick 3-0 lead that night, the Big Red Machine managed to tie things up and then take a 6-3 lead thanks to a home run by George Foster in the 7th and a solo shot from Ceasar Geronimo in the 8th.
In the bottom of the 8th, Bernie Carbo belted a 2-out, 3-run homer to tie the game up at 6-6 [Years later, Carbo would later claim he showed up to the ballpark high for Game 6- NANESB!] but the Red Sox would manage to squander a bases-loaded nobody out situation in the 9th, sending Game 6 to extra innings.
In the top of the 11th, Boston outfielder Dwight Evans would make an outstanding diving catch of Joe Morgan's line drive seemingly headed for the right field seats to begin a double play.
I wouldn't be surprised if many of the regular visitors to this blog knew what happened next, when Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk led off the bottom of the 12th inning. 'Pudge' took the first pitch for ball one off of Cincinnati's Pat Darcy. Then he took the next pitch deep where it soared into the misty night sky before ricocheting off the left-field foul pole for a walk-off home run to seal the Red Sox win for Game 6.
What stood out about Fisk's homer wasn't so much the distance or his timing. Rather, it was his body language- caught thanks to NBC cameraman Lou Gerard, who was filming from inside the Green Monster- the Vermont native wearing #27 earnestly waving the ball fair as he jumped sideways down the baseline at 12:33 AM on October 22nd, 1975.
Years later, NBC sports director Harry Coyle explained that Gerard's filming of the exhuberant Fisk making his way down the baseline was purely by accident. If the ball was hit anywhere near him, Gerard was supposed to track the ball with his camera. Well- the ball hit the right field foul pole on the Green Monster. So what happened?
Lou says to me, "Hey, Harry, there's a rat right here next to me and it's moving closer.'
"Well, it was a misty night and, with Lou looking a rat in the eye, it was tough to pick up the ball. So when Fisk swung, Lou stayed with him at the plate and got the whole bit -- Fisk frantically trying to wave the ball fair and then the home-run trot," Coyle said. "Give that rat credit, not me, for what may have been the greatest shot in televised sports."
Think the rat story is mere exaggeration or hyperbole?
ST LOUIS CARDINALS: Who would've thought it? As a reminder that Boston's September collapse wasn't the only late 2011 implosion, the St. Louis Cardinals found themselves trailing the Atlanta Braves by 10 ½ games on August 25. One month later, they narrowed the deficit down to one game on September 25- with only three games against the Houston Astros remaining in the regular season. The Cards took two out of the three against Houston while the Braves would ultimately get swept by Philadelphia.
After dispatching the NL-best Phillies in the NLDS, a matchup with division rival (and 1982 World Series opponent) Milwaukee Brewers was in the works. After splitting the first two games at Milwaukee, the NLCS moved back to St Louis where the Cards took 2 out of three. The series headed back to Milwaukee's Miller Park on Sunday evening in a do-or-die game for the Brewers. Almost immediately, things broke the Cards way when Shaun Marcum gave up a 1-out RBI to OF Lance Berkman before walking 1B Albert Pujols before giving up a 2-run blast to 3B David Freese to put St Louis up on to 4-0 right away.
In the bottom of the 1st, Corey Hart would deliver a leadoff homer to get the Brewers on the board, but Milwuakee would be playing catch-up all night as the Cardinals continued adding to their lead. Marcum would only pitch the one inning for Milwaukee as the Brewers went to the bullpen early and often.
St Louis wins this one pretty convincingly- by a 12-6 final and with National League Championship Series MVP David Freese going 3-4 with the early home run to bury the Brewers and a total of 3 RBI in Game 6. This would be the Cardinals 18th National League Penant and sets up an October 19th meeting at Busch Field with the American League Champion....
TEXAS RANGERS: And this one was over pretty early in Arlington, with Texas exploding for nine runs in the bottom of the 3rd after the Tigers took an early 2-0 lead. That kind of offense makes it hard to summarize or highlight just one batter, but infielder Micheal Young went 3-6 with a home run, 5 RBI and 2 runs scored on Saturday night while eventual ALCS MVP would go 2-4 with a home run and 2 RBI. Cruz had earlier left his mark on the series by winning Game two in extra innings with the postseason's first ever walk-off grand slam.
The Rangers win Game 6 by a 15-5 final and advance to their 2nd consecutive World Series.
RED SOX: Stop me if you've heard this one before-
Q: What's the difference between the 2011 Red Sox and the movie Unstoppable?
A: One was a giant train wreck that took out everything in its path and the other had Denzel Washington on a locomotive.
Henry denied that the front office circulated the rumors about Francona that were seemingly singlehandedly designed to limit his managerial career prospects after leaving Boston. Henry said he also expressed reservations over the signing of Outfielder Carl Crawford to a big contract, but deferred to then GM Theo Epstein.
“The time has come in my life to let go of some of my father’s awards and personal memorabilia,” Claudia Williams said in a prepared statement.
“The reality is these items have remained locked away in a storage unit where his deserving fans and esteemed collectors are denied the right to enjoy them and share in a piece of American history.”
In the middle of the Hoover High gymnasium, beneath the words HOOVER LEGENDS, is a picture of Williams, Class of ’37, following through on his sweet left-handed swing.
Nicknamed “The Splendid Splinter” because of his tall, lean physique, Williams was the last player in the major leagues to hit .400, batting .406 in 1941. He was 21, only four years removed from Hoover.
He won six batting titles, including the last in 1958 when he was 40, making Williams the oldest player to win a batting title. Of the 24 players to hit 500 or more home runs, Williams owns the highest lifetime batting average, .344.
Also nicknamed “The Kid” and “Teddy Ballgame,” Williams died in 2002. He was 83.
Hunt Auctions, based in Exton, Pa., will handle the selling of Williams’ memorabilia. Company President John Hunt said Williams’ collection will earn “a significant amount of money, well into multiple six figures.”
“These items are worth what anybody will pay for them,” Hunt said. “There’s an enormous amount of emotion involved when you have a player as significant as Ted Williams. He’s a 20th century American icon. Sometimes you can throw the price tag out the window.”
Figler estimates Williams’ 1949 MVP plaque will draw bids in excess of $100,000.
“There will be a bidding war for something like that,” Figler said. “When the dust settles, probably that plaque could easily go for $100,000. You have a lot of Ted Williams fans out there.”
Included in the baseball collection to be auctioned are Williams’ Hall of Fame ring and a baseball signed by Ruth and given to Williams.
[San Deigo County Resident and memorabilia collector Jeff] Figler estimates the ring could attract a $100,000 bid and the Ruth autographed baseball $75,000.
Williams finished his career with 521 home runs, despite missing three full seasons and the majority of two more seasons in the prime of his career while serving as a Navy flight instructor during World War II and later flying more than 30 missions during the Korean conflict.
Williams’ military record adds to his lore. Among the items to be displayed at the Hall of Champions will be one of his aviator manuals, complete with Williams’ handwritten logs.
A famed outdoorsman, particularly noted for his fishing prowess, Williams was inducted into the Fishing Hall of Fame. Some of his rods and fly reels will be auctioned.
“We are honored to be involved with Ted Williams and his family,” Hunt said. “Claudia wanted his collection to be seen by fans who can’t attend the auction. And she wanted them to be seen first in San Diego, his hometown.”
The collection will start out in William's hometown of San Diego, CA then be displayed in another city (yet to be named) before the items go up for auction.
NFL: Talk about your last-minute men!
I gave up on knocking Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, not because I have a newfound respect for him or the Cowboys organization but because I couldn't think of anything derogatory that thymes with 'Romo'.
Why is it that when the Patriots manage to build up a late lead, I get nervous if they don't keep adding to it or have to punt at some point? Yet when they're trailing by less than a touchdown late (OK, VERY late), I hardly bat an eyelash.
The Cowboys came into Gillette stadium on Sunday for the late afternoon game against New England, and this one turned out to be a surprisingly low-scoring affair with plenty of turnovers and both teams having a difficult time finding the end zone- particularly in the 2nd half.
Still, trailing 16-13 with 2:31 to go in regulation, the Patriots got the ball back on their own 20 and- perhaps to nobody's surprise- Brady began methodically moving the ball downfield with short quick passes to Wes Welker (as well as Gronkowski and Woodhead) in the face of pressure from Dallas before almost casually connecting with Aaron Hernandez from the Dallas 8 yard line for the go-ahead TD to pur New England on top by a score of 16-20 with all of 22 seconds remaining in the game.
Dallas would get the ball back on their own 20 with almost as many seconds remaining, and Romo would succeed in moving the ball down to mid-field with enough time for a hail-mary pass that was ruled incomplete (plus out of bounds and possibly intercepted if not incomplete) for New England to hand on and win by the 16-20 final.
Brady went 27-41 with 289 yards, 2 TDs and 2 interceptions while Romo threw for the same amount of completions/attempts, with a TD and interception on 317 yards. Pats finish this one strong heading into their bye week before travelling to Pittsburgh to take on the defending AFC Champion Steelers (currently 4-2) the day before Halloween. With a Buffalo loss and the winless Miami Dolphins and 2-3 Jets taking each other on for Monday night, the Patriots currently sit alone atop the AFC East.
The 33 year old British driver had previously won the Indy 500 in 2005 and was named IRL's top rookie driver in 2003.
I don't normally follow motorsports, but I remember Dale Earhhardt's death in 2001. The crash seemed pretty tame by NASCAR standards, where its not uncommon to have massive, firey collisions with cars bouncing off the track walls like ping pong balls only to have the respective drivers climb out unscathed and walk away. This was nothing like the crash that killed Dale Sr. Many veteran Indycar drivers (including those involved in the crash) said it was the worst they had ever seen or been involved in.
Wheldon was 33 years old. He leaves behind his wife Susie and sons Sebastian (age 2) and Oliver (7 months).
NHL: After scuffling a bit (or mightily, depending on your willingness to panic), The Boston Bruins travelled to the Windy City for an early season contest that would pit the last two winners of Lord Stanley's Cup against each other. After the Blackhawks got out to the early 1-0 lead, Chris Kelly would knot things up at 1-1 early in the 2nd period thanks to a shorthanded tally that found its way past Chicago netminder Corey Crawford. However, Chicago would get the lead right back after a Patrick Kane tally not even two minutes later. Nathan Horton would tie things up to force OT and after 5 scoreless minutes in the OT, force a shootout.
As much as we all love Tim Thomas, remember how seeminlgy awful he was in the shootout last year? Spectuacular in regulation and the OT, but almost like the tin man in The Wizard of Oz before Dorothy found the oil can once the shootout got underway.
That wasn't the case Saturday night. Thomas turned aside all three shots faced in the shootout while Tyler Seguin would be the only one to get one past Crawford, which gave Boston the 3-2 win on the road.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins (nope...not getting tired of saying that) next game will take place at home against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
NCAA FOOTBALL: Although they came into East Hartford sporting the better record, Big East opponent South Florida was still looking for their first conference win. And after Saturday's game, they can keep on looking. Even though UConn didn't score an offensive TD. Rather, the Huskies got on the board with three Dave Teggart FG's but were still trailing 10-9 in the 3rd with South Florida deep in their own end. USF Running Back Darrell Scott fumbled the ball on the Bulls own 10 yard line and the Huskies Byron Jones was able to run it back for the Huskies only TD of the game, enough to give them the 16-10 win after stopping the Bulls on a key 4th down late in the game.
The Huskies (3-4) will have a bye (of sorts) next weekend befor taking on the Pitt Panthers (3-4) at Heinz Field on the evening of Wednesday, October 26th. Kickoff is scheduled for 8PM ET.
ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL: OK- it's officially getting ridiculous now.
Boise State jumped from the Western Athletic Conference to the Mountain West this year while the Nevada Wolfpack and Fresno State Bulldogs are expected to follow suit in 2012. However, the Mountain West lost two football programs beginning this season when Utah made the move to the former Pac-10 (now Pac 12) and Brigham Young struck out on its own as an independent program. The merger talks have some observers wondering whether schools like Boise State or Air Force Academy will end up leaving the Mountain West if they do end up merging with Conference USA.
A name for the conference hasn't been finalized yet.
COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOSCIATION: The UMass Minutemen, themselves destined for a bump up to the FBS, have won two in a row by jumping out early in front of Delaware and hanging on to win by a final of 21-10 on Saturday.
This sets up a meeting with the UNH Wildcats at Amherst on Saturday with a 3:30 PM kickoff. New Hampshire is sporing a similar 4-2 record as UMass, but won last year's clash with the Minutemen by a 39-13 final.
RED SOX: I recieved the bad news via Red Sox radio network affiliate WTSJ-AM followed up by the nail in the coffin down in Tampa Bay on XM Radio as I moved further into the northern New England wilderness.
With a postseason berth on the line in the Red Sox regular season finale, Boston found themselves tied with Tampa Bay and playing a do-or-die game against the stubborn Baltimore Orioles last week.
Things got off to a promising start with a Dustin Pedroia RBI single in the top of the 3rd, but Jon Lester would give up a 2 run homer to O's SS JJ Hardy in the bottom frame of inning number 3 to give Baltimore a 2-1 lead.
The Red Sox would then manage to knot the game up in the top of the 4th in a most curious manner. Marco Scutaro would get on board with a 1-out double, and Carl Crawford would move Scutaro to 3rd. Scutaro would then be awarded home plate to tie the game up when O's starter Alfredo Simon balked.
Simon would then go on to give up a solo homer to Dustin Pedroia to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead, but after handing things off to Papelbon in the bottom of the 9th, the O's would manage to tie the game up on a 2-out RBI goround rule double to OF Nolan Reimond and then win on a Ronald Andino walk-off RBI single for the 4-3 final.
While all this was transpiring in Baltimore, down in Tampa Bay, the Rays had managed to come all the way back from a 7-0 defecit to the New York Yankees for a 6-run bottom of the 8th and a 2-out, 2-strike solo homer in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 7-7 to force extra innings where they'd ultimately win on a Evan Longoria walkoff solo home run, effectively shutting the door on the last remaining playoff opportunity for the Red Sox.
The loss and elimination caps a historically awful 7-20 September for Boston where they had a 9 game lead in the AL Wild Card heading into Labor Day weekend, only to see that lead diminish in the final weeks.
The collapse in the final month led to the dismissal of manager Terry Francona less than 48 hours later and began fuelling reports that the Chicago Cubs are interested in GM Theo Epstein's services.
Since Francona was manager of the Red Sox when they won the only two World Series titles in my life- and most other New Englanders lives, I am of the possibly biased opinion that Francona's dismissal (espcially with no apparent replacement waiting in the wings) was a hasty and poorly thought out move by the front office. Not just for sentimental reasons either, but consider how much more challenging it will be to lure and retain free agents thanks to this front office turmoil.
But then again, with recent New England sports history as a guide, I'd like to think that adversity not only builds charachter but also championsips. Think back to the painful end of the 2003 ALCS against the Yankees and how the 2004 season ended. The 2006 Red Sox never even got a whiff of the playoffs, falling out of serious contention in August that year- and they followed it up with their 2nd World Series title in 3 years. More recently (albeit another sport), consider the agonizing end of the 2009-2010 Boston Bruins playoff run, where after taking a 3-0 lead against Philadelphia in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals only to have Philly come charging back and score the winning goal on a power play after a too many men on the ice penalty against Boston. The following season, the Flyers barely slowed the Bruins down on their championship run; Boston's 4-game sweep being noteworthy in that it was the only round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Bruins that DIDN'T go to 7 games.
But we'll have the whole offseason for finger-pointing, arbitrary comparisons, speculation and recriminations. In the meantime, there's still some baseball to be played.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB: As bad as the Red Sox September implosion was, the Atlanta Braves suffered a comprable agonizing late season fate [it MUST be a Boston thing, even tho' one of them hasn't called Boston home for 58 years- NANESB!] losing out on the NL Wild Card to St Louis after a 13 inning loss to the Philadelphia Phillies while the Cardinals pounded the Astros 8-0 on the September 28 regular season finale. So the last game of the regular season was indeed of great interest, but had just about the worst possible outcome as far as the AL was concerned.
Also worth noting that the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants failed to make the playoffs, with the Arizona Diamondbacks getting the NL West pennant.
ALDS: But just like that, there are no representatives of the AL East remaining in the postseason thanks to the bats of a couple of former Red Sox. Adrian Beltre belted 3 solo homers in the Texas Rangers 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuedsay to eliminate Tampa after winning the series 3 games to 1.
The Detroit Tigers made things a bit interesting after the Yankees forced a deciding Game 5 in the Bronx. Former Red Sox and Indians catcher Victor Martinez would drive in the winning run off of CC Sabathia in the top of the 5th with a 2-out RBI single. Interesingly, Sabathia was the Yankees 4th starter of the game when he came on in the 5th inning.
Midseason trade acquisition Doug Fister got the win for Detroit, going 5 innings and allowing 5 hits and an earned run in his start. Both Fister and the Detroit bullpen were able to wriggle out of some bases loaded situations in Detroit's 3-2 victory in Game 5.
The conclusion of the ALDS now sets up a Detroit/Texas ALCS that will get underway in Arlington, TX on Saturday at 8:05 ET with Justin Verlander getting the start for Los Tigres and CJ Wilson on the mound for Texas.
NLDS: Lest we forget, there's also a pair of deciding Game 5's today on TBS. At 5:05 ET, the Milwaukee Brewers will host the Arizona Diamondbacks for game 5 of their ALDS series while over in Philly, the NL East winning Philadelphia Phillies will host the squirrely St Louis Cardinals for their Game 5. No firm schedule for the NLCS has been set, pending the outcome of both Game 5s today.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX: The White Sox have announced that former 3rd baseman and Nolan Ryan punching bag Robin Ventura has been named as the club's new manager, replacing Ozzie Guillen who departed for Florida at the end of the season.
NHL: The Boston Bruins 2011-2012 season got underway with an emotionally-charged pregame ceremony in which the Stanley Cup was hoisted one last time and Bruins from the 2010-2011 and 1971-1972 championship teams together raised the latest Championship banner.
Although Boston got out to the early 1-0 lead, the game itself was a touch anticlimatic. The B's would score on their first power play thanks to Brad Marchand (with assists from Tyler Seguin and Joe Corvo). However, the Flyers would come right back and tie the game up with a power play tally of their own off the stick of Claude Giroux (with assists from Chirs Pronger and Jaromir Jagr) before taking a 2-1 lead at Jacob Varicek goal with 3 seconds left in the first.
That would actually be the final, as Nathan Horton caught Flyers G Ilya Bryzgalov out of position in the 3rd period only to have the blade of Philly defender Kimmo Timonen's stick get between Horton and the wide open net (above).
The Flyers would go on to win by the 2-1 final, with Boston travelling to Tampa Bay on Saturday to face off against the Lightning. The puck drops at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on the NHL network.
OTHER NHL NEWS: The venue for the 2012 Winter Classic has been announced, with Philadelphia's Citizen's Bank Ballpark hosting a game between the 'home' team Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers. This will be the Rangers first appearence in the NHL's annual New Year's Day game played outdoors, while it will be the second go-round for the Flyers.
NFL: After Week 3's setback against the Buffalo Bills, the Patriots capped off their quickie 1-game road trip to the West Coast with a flawless 31-19 win over the Oakland Raiders.
Perhaps the higlight was Tackle Vince Wilfork's 2nd Interception in 3 weeks (also, 2nd career interception) in the the quarter with New England up by a 31-13 margin.
The 3-1 Patriots will next play against the 2-2 New York Jets at Foxboro on Sunday with a 4:15 kickoff. The Jets are coming off a 34-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens from lat Sunday night.
OTHER PATRIOTS NEWS: The Patriots released RB Eric Kettani from their practice squad after being activiated by the US Navy. Kettani reported for duty aboard the US Navy frigate USS Klakring on Friday. Head coach Bill Belichick said that the Patriots decided to cut him rather than retain him as the most feasable option of bringing him back once Kettani's completed his obligations with the Navy.
OTHER NFL NEWS: Are you ready for some football? Well, too bad, because ESPN isn't.
Country singer Hank Williams Jr and ESPN have parted ways when the network dropped Williams Monday Night Football intro after the musician made comments on FOX and Friends comparing President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner playing golf to Adolf Hitler and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu getting together on the links. ESPN announced that the intro for next week's Monday Night Football game between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears would feature a video montage narrated by former Lions Hall of Fame RB Barry Sanders.
NCAA FOOTBALL: A couple of bad weeks strung together ads up to a bad season, and as far as the two FBS teams in New England are concerned, that's exactly what the 2011 season is shaping up to be. It's not looking too much better as UConn and Boston College both find themselves going up against ranked conference opponents on Saturday.
The Boston College Eagles are now 1-4 (0-2 in the ACC) after dropping Saturday's home game to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons by a 27-19 final. I'm a little less optimistic about their chances on the road against #8 Clemson this Saturday at 3 PM ET.
UConn isn't doing too much better in the Big East, although they have more than one win to their name so far this season. Last week, they lost to the Western Michigan Broncos of the MAC by a 38-31 final. This Saturday finds them going up against the #16 West Virginia Mountianeers in Morgantown, WV at noon Saturday.
RED SOX: After dropping two out of three at Yankee stadium (their sole win in that series being decided by a Jacoby Ellsbury 3-run homer in the 14th inning late Sunday night) the Red Sox headed headed down to Baltimore for the final series of the regular season. Only the way the Red Sox had been playing in September, it could very well end up being their season finale altogether. Monday night was pretty gruesome, with the Tampa Bay Rays closing the gap, the O's roughing up Beckett and Saltalamacchia leaving the game after taking a foul ball off the throat.
Tuesday night saw ex-O Eric Bedard get the start against his former team, only lasting 3 and ⅓ innings against a persistent Baltimore offense. However, the Red Sox were even rougher on O's starter Zach Britton. In the top of the 3rd, Jacoby Ellsbury let his bat do the arguing for him in the AL MVP discussion, belting a 2-run homer to take a 2-1 lead. However, in the top of the 5th, with Big Pappi and Adrian Gonzalez on base, Red Sox rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway would increase the lead with a 3-run shot to make it 5-1 Boston- his first big league home run. As sizeable a lead as theat turned out to be, the Red Sox would need even more as Baltimore would counter with a 2 run homer off the bat of catcher Matt Wieters to make it a 2-run game.
In the top of the 6th, Carl Crawford's 1-out triple was followed by a homer off the bat of Marco Scutaro to increase the lead to 7-3 in favor of Boston. Baltimore would respond with a solo homer off the bat of Adam Jones in the bottom of the 6th to make it 7-4.
Leading off the 8th, Lavarnway would double his career homerun total with a solo shot to make it 8-4. After 3 and ⅔ innings, Alfredo Aceves was replaced by Daniel Bard on the mound to face Baltimore. The O's managed to get two runs with two away in the bottom of the 8th to once again make it a two-run game with Boston now leading 8-6.
Things would get even more tense in the bottom of the 9th when Papelbon came on to close out the game and gave up a single to JJ Hardy. Hardy would make his way to 2nd on a Markakis groundout and then to 3rd on a Vlad Guerrero single, reaching home on a Matt Weiters bunt that Lavarnway threw to 1st for the out. Papelbon would then get JJ Hardy to ground out to end the ballgame by the final of 8-7.
It was a win they would need, too, as the Tampa Bay Rays managed to hold off a late rally by the Yankees to preserve the tie for the AL Wild Card (the Angels were eliminated from contention on Monday night).
Wednesday's game- the final of the regular season- will have Jon Lester (15-9; 3.49 ERA) going up against Alfredo Simon (4-9; 4.85 ERA). The Red Sox need a win to at least force a 1-game playoff with the Rays on Thursday- Tampa is going up against a Yankees team that's already clinched the AL East and aside from determining who makes the playoff roster doesn't have alot to play for.
OTHER RED SOX NEWS: According to gossip site TMZ.com, Red Sox starter John Lackey and his wife are filing for divorce. Court papers were reportedly filed in Texas last month citing 'conflict of personalities'.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Over in the National League, the Wild Card there hasn't been determined either. The St Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves are deadlocked for the NL Wild Card with one game remaining for each team (Atlanta has the Phillies while St Louis has the Astros). If the deadlock in the standings remains unbroken by tomorrow night, then there will be a 1-game playoff in St. Louis on Thursday night.
Reportedly, if a one game playoff is required for the AL or NL Wild card, the game will be televised on TBS. First pitch would be 4:07 PM ET in Tampa for the Red Sox and Rays and 8:07 PM ET in St. Louis for Braves/Cardinals.
WHITE SOX: White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen was released from his duties by the White Sox this week. There had been speculation that Guillen wasnt long for the organization as well as rumors that he was interested in becoming the manager of the Florida Marlins. This seemed to be confirmed by Guillen himself via twitter as he informed followers about his arrival in Miami.
NFL: For the first time since 2003, the Buffalo Bills have managed to defeat the New England Patriots. Although the Patriots managed to get out to a 21-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter, the Bills managed to whittle that down to 21-10 by halftime. Buffalo would come back to tie the game at 24-24 early in the 4th before taking the lead when CB Drayton Florence ran back a Brady INT for a quick 6 on New Engalnd's following possession.
The Patriots would then take nearly 7 minutes to march down the field, tying the game up on a 6 yard pass from Brady to Welker on 4th and goal with 3:25 left in the 4th. However, that would be enough time for Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to engineer an 80-yard drive that sputtered at the one, but all that was needed was a chip shot FG from Bills kicker Rian Lindell as time expired to give Buffalo the 34-31 win.
So heading into week 4, Buffalo stands alone atop the AFC East (Sunday's meeting was the Bills 1st matchup of the season against an division opponent). As a measure of consolation, the Jets would go on to lose against the Oakland Raiders that afternoon as well.
Speaking of Oakland, the Patriots will travel to the East Bay to take on the Raiders this Sunday. The game will be televised on CBS and kicks off at 4:15 PM ET, 1:15 PM PT.
NBA: With players not reporting to training camp at the usual time due to the lockout, the NBA has postponed training camp indefinitely and cancelled 43 preseason games. Meetings between the league and player's association ended without a collective bargaining agreement last week, putting the preseason games and possibly the start of the regular season in doubt.
NFL: Well now- the home opener was almost as gratifying as the season opener in Miami. The San Diego Chargers managed to keep Tom Brady to under 500 yards on Sunday, but not by much.
After a pre-game ceremony honoring the late Myra Kraft, New England was able to march the ball down the field for a TD on their opening posession. San Diego quarterback Phillip Rivers was able to answer in kind on the Chargers second posession.
With things knotted up at 7-7 early in the 2nd, New England was once again able to drive deep into Chargers territory, although the San Diego defense would hold them to a Gostkowski FG to make it 10-7 New England. On the following posession, the Chargers started out on their own 39 yard line and managed to move all the way down to the goal line, but were unable to punch it in, turning the ball over on 4th and 1. That set up a situation eerily reminiscent of Monday night's game in Miami where Brady connected with Welker, although this time around it was a pickup of a mere 12 yards. That would be the beginning of a 10 play, 5 minute and 99 ½ yard drive culminating in a 10 yard pass from Brady to TE Rob Gronkowski to put the Patriots up 17-7.
What happened on San Diego's next posession when they had moved the ball down to the New England 29 yard line was undoubtedly the highlight of the game for many.
330 lb Defensive Tackle Vince Wilfork got a paw on a Rivers pass and managed to bring it in, rumbling back for nearly 30 yards before being brought down (altho' 10 yards would be brought back on a penatly after the INT). And as a Patriots fan, do you know what the best part was? There was more to Wilfork's INT and runback than the novelty of seeing one of the big linemen running like the chuckwagon was on the other end of the field and he just happened to have the ball. Nope- thanks to two very quick strikes from Brady with 9 seconds left in the half, New England was able to move to within FG range. And as time expired in the 1st half, Gostkowski nailed a 47 yards FG attempt to put San Diego up 20-7. So as novel as Wilfork's INT and return was, the pivotal thing was that the Patriots got points off of his efforts.
After a scoreless 3rd quarter, the Chargers pulled to within a touchdown after Rivers connected with TE Vincent Jackson to make it a 20-14 game. After moving the ball to midfield on the ensuing posession, the Pats failed to convert on 4th and 4, handing the ball back to San Diego mid-field. Three plays into the San Diego drive, the Chargers coughed up the ball on a Mike Tolbert fumble at the Pats 39 yard line.
Brady would then connect with Deion Branch and Wes Welker to move the ball to the San Diego 17 before connecting with Gronkowski again for a 17 yard TD reception. Danny Woodhead would then go on to make good on a 2 point conversion to put New England up 28-14.
The Chargers would then start off from their own 20 and march downfield to find paydirt on a 3 minute drive where Rivers connected with Vincent Jackson on a 26 yard pass to make it 21-28 New England and to bring San Digo to within a TD.
Not merely content to let the clock run out on a long, sustained drive, the Patriots started off from their own 20 and handed off to the Law Offices of Ben Jarvus Green Ellis more than once as well as a 29 yard connection between Brady and Gronkowski to put the ball on the Chargers 24. After a short run from Green-Ellis and a Chargers penatly, the running back of many names (all of them his) would go on to find the end zone from the Chargers 16 to make it a 35-21 game.
And that is the final the Patriots in their 2011 home opener by. Tom Brady went 31-40 with 423 yards and 3 TDs and was sacked twice while on the other end of the ball, Phillip Rivers went 29-40 with 378 yards, 2 TDs, 2 sacks and 2 INTs. Deion Branch had the most yardage for a New England reciever (10 catches for 172 yards), while Rob Gronkowski hauled in 4 catches for 86 yards and two TDs.
Next week, the 2-0 Patriots will travel to Orchard Park, NY to take on the 2-0 Buffalo Bills who are coming off a dramatic 4th quarter win against the Oakland Raiders at their home opener in Orachard Park last weekend.
Currently, three out of the four teams in the AFC East are off to a 2-0 start this season, as the NY Jets manhandled the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
MLB: The way the Red Sox have been playing in September, I almost want to go on forever about the Patriots first two games.
After Beckett's strong start on Friday night, the Red Sox dropped two straight to the Tampa Bay Rays to close out the season series, with Tampa closing the gap in the Wild Card chase. The gap narrowed even further when the Red Sox split a doubleheader on Monday between the Baltimore Orioles (Boston won game 2 by a 18-9 margin) before the offense squandered a number of offensive opportunities and the bullpen imploded, including Papelbon coming on early only to give up a bases-loaded double in the top of the 8th in Tuesday night's 7-5 loss to the O's.
Wednesday night's game will close out the regular season at Fenway with Beckett (13-5; 2.50 ERA) going up against Baltimore's Tommy Hunter (4-4; 4.81 ERA) with first pitch at 7:10 ET.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB: The Yankees pursuit of the AL East pennant was almost an afterthought on Monday when Mariano Rivera closed out a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins for career save #602. That save put him past former San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman for all-time saves. In 2010, Hoffman became the first MLB closer to reach the 600 saves mark, closing out a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on September 8, 2010. Rivera's save against the Twins on Monday in the Bronx is the 43rd of the season.
NCAA FOOTBALL: Where have you gone, Steve Aponavicius? As bad as September has been for the Red Sox, at least they've won a few games. However, I cannot say the same about the Boston College Eagles, who were trailing late against Duke University at Chestnut Hill 20-19 on Saturday afternoon. With 2:32 left in regulation, the Eagles managed to drive down the field all the way to the Duke 5 yard line where they failed to convert on a 3rd and 1. With 47 seconds left, the field goal unit came on for a chip shot FG attempt- bascically a point after attempt- which subsequently bounced off the upright, giving the Blue Devils the ball back to run out the clock for their first win of the season.
This sets up an intra-state meeting with the 2-0 UMass Minutement in Chestnut Hill on Saturday. The Minutemen are coming off a 36-21 road win against Rhode Island on Saturday.
NHL: The puck drops on the Boston Bruins preseason Wednesday night north of the border. The Ottawa Senators host the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Center at 7:30 PM ET.
OTHER NHL NEWS: After 21 years in the NHL, former Dallas Stars C Mike Modano has called it a career. With 561 career goals and 1374 points, the Michigan native was the highest scoring American born player in the NHL. Modano was the last active member of the Minnesota North Stars to play in the NHL- the team moved to Dallas in 1993 and won the Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999.
Modano married singer/songwriter Willa Ford in 2006 and opened up a resturaunt in Dallas with former teammate Brett Hull in 2008. In 2010, Modano played briefly for the Detroit Red Wings- for the first time, departing the Stars/North Stars organization.
RED SOX: After Wakefield's 200th career win earlier this week, the Red Sox continued to struggle- splitting their 2-game series against Toronto and dropping this weekend's series opener against the Rays on Thursday night.
With Red Sox nation teetering on the brink of all-out panic (OK- slight exaggeration) Friday night's game marked Beckett's first start since leaving early in the September 5th game against the Toronto Blue Jays with a sprained right ankle.
Friday night's game also left them without Youkilis in the lineup, after Terry Francona announced that the hobbled third baseman would be sitting out Friday night's game- and possible Saturday's as well. Youkilis had been sidelined with a sore hip and sports hernia earlier this month.
While not a must-win game just yet, the Red Sox had only won a grand total of three games in the month of September and the Rays had gained considerable ground on them in the Wild Card standings last week. All this bad news seemed to be compounded when with a runner on in the top of the 1st, Rays 3B Evan Longoria launched a 2 run shot to immediately put Tampa Bay up 2-0. However, Boston would come right back in the bottom of the first with the equalizers in the form of a pair of RBI singles (one from Pedroia and one from Big Papi) off of Rays starter James Shields to tie things up at 2-2.
In the top of the 3rd, the Rays would once again pull ahead thanks to Longoria, this time in the form of a less dramatic RBI single. However, in the Red Sox half of the frame, Big Papi would once again knot the contest up thanks to an RBI double, leaving things at 3-3.
Acquired at the trade deadline from Kansas City and filling in for Youkilis at the hot corner, Mike Aviles couldn't have picked a better time for his first home run as a member of the Red Sox in the bottom of the 4th inning. Aviles' solo homer hit the first 'O' in the middle of the Sports Authority sign to give the Red Sox the 4-3 lead.
And that was all the offense either team could muster. Beckett would go 6 innings, striking out 6 and walking one while Aceves and Bard would hold the lead for Papelbon to come on in the top of the 9th. Although the first two outs came pretty easily, Papelbon gave up a 2-out single to OF BJ Upton, bringing up Evan Longoria as the possible go-ahead run. After the Rays 3B fouled off a couple of offerings, Papelbon managed to strike him out to preserve the 4-3 win
The Red Sox needed this one on a couple of different levels- obvious implications about the AL East and Wild Card aside, Boston's bullpen needed to demonstrate that they could hold a lead in a close ballgame against a capable offense in a meaningful game.
Meanwhile, the Yankees lost in Toronto, making it a 3 ½ game division lead for the Bronx Bombers in the AL East while the Angels lost to Baltimore, so Anaheim fails to gain any ground on Tampa Bay in the Wild Card standings.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB: The Detroit Tigers have won their first division title since 1987 on Friday night with a 3-1 road win against the Oakland A's. The Tigers advanced to the World Series in 2006 after clinching the Wild Card only to lose to the St Louis Cardinals. The Tigers become the first team in either the AL or NL to clinch a division title int he 2011 season.
NCAA FOOTBALL: The UConn Huskies lost their second game in a row, this time to the undefeated Iowa State Cyclones. The Cyclones went ahead by a score of 24-20 at around the 9 minute mark of the 4th quarter and managed to run the clock out to go 3-0. UConn is now 1-2 and will travel to Buffalo next week to take on the Bulls (currently 1-1) at 6PM ET.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NCAA: #4 Boise State dispatched the Toledo Rockets of the Mid America conference pretty easily by a 40-15 final on Friday night while #3 LSU took down #25 Mississippi State on Thursday.
BIG EAST: According to reports in the New York Times, two schools from the Big East are in talks with the Atlantic Coast Conference about a possible move there. Syracuse, a founding member of the Big East, and Pittsburgh were reportedly in discussions with ACC officials earlier this month.
RUSSIA: Officials probing the plane crash site along the banks of the Volga river in Yaroslavl Russia have recovered the flight data recorder from the downed Yak-42 aircraft that was carrying members of the team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team of Russia's KHL.
The team was enroute to the Belorussian capital of Minsk for their season opener against Minsk Dinamo when the plane went down on Wednesday. Russian investigators from the Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee have recovered the black box, but caution that the device had gotten wet after being submerged after the crash. Even with the damaged black box, officals said they had been able to recover some data.
So far it is known that the plane's engines were running at the time of impact and that the crash took place on a clear day. The runway at Yaroslavl's Tunoshna airport was about three times longer than necessary for a Yak-42 to reach takeoff speeds, but investigators are looking at insufficient takeoff speed as one of the factors. Early reports claimed that the doomed flight was overloaded and struggling to reach altitude shortly after takeoff before clipping a nearby communications antennae.
Officials allowed Tunoshna airport to reopen on Thursday, but planes were prohibited from purchasing local fuel as investigators haven't ruled out the possibility that low-grade fuel led to the crash.
In Minsk, a requiem mass was held on Thursday at the arena where the KHL season opener was slated to take place.
The deceased include the following:
Lokomotiv Players and Personnel: Vitaly Anikeyenko Yury Bakhvalov Aleksandr Belyayev Mikhail Balandin Aleksandr Vasyunov Josef Vasicek Aleksandr Vyukhin Robert Dietrich Pavol Demitra Andrei Zimin Marat Kalimulin Aleksandr Karpovtsev Aleksandr Kalyanin Andrei Kiryukhin Nikita Klyukin Igor Korolyov Nikolai Krivonosov Yevgeny Kunnov Vyacheslav Kuznetsov Stefan Liv Jan Marek Brad McCrimmon Sergey Ostapchuk Vladimir Piskunov Karel Rachunek Evgeny Sidorov Karlis Skrastins Ruslan Saley Pavel Snurnitsyn Daniil Sobchenko Ivan Tkachenko Pavel Trakhanov Igor Urychev Gennady Churilov Maksim Shuvalov Artyom Yarchuk
Flight Crew Andrey Solontsev Igor Zhevelov Sergei Zhuravlev Vladimir Matyushkin Yelena Sarmatova Nadezhda Maksumova Yelena Shavina
There are two survivors of the plane crash include player Alexander Galimov and flight engineer Alexander Sizov. Both of them were airlifted to Moscow for further treatment, with Galimov sustaining burns on more than 80% of his body.
The KHL plans on resuming play on Tuesday, September 13. Officials from the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl organization say they intend to rebuild after Wednesday's tragedy and claimed to have already received calls from former players offering to come back and skate for the club once again. The KHL will fund the roster for Lokomotiv under the league's current option.
RED SOX: The Red Sox continued to limp through September, dropping the final two games of their 4-game series in Toronto.
Tim Wakefield's quixotic quest for elusive win #200 continues as the bullpen squandered an 8-5 lead on Wednesday night, with Toronto coming back in the 8th inning to score 5 runs before going on to win by a 11-10 final.
On Thursday, Andrew Miller allowed 5 earned runs and 8 hits and two walks in 5 innings of work against the Blue Jays. Toronto's Ricky Romero went 6 and ⅔ innings giving up 5 hits, 3 earned runs and three walks, striking out 7 for the win.
So far, the Red Sox have only won two games in the month of September and now 3B Kevin Youkilis was not posted in the lineup for this weekend's series at Tampa Bay. There was no immediate word on why Youkilis wasn't in the Friday night lineup.
Friday night's game at Tropicana Field will feature Wade Davis (9-8; 4.5 ERA) going up against John Lackey (12-11; 6.11 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10 PM and the game will be televised on NESN.
NFL: Are you ready for some football? So was I, as it turns out.
After a prolonged, contentious and highly public feud between the NFL players association and owners, the 2011 NFL season got underway Thursday night in a contest that pitted the previous two Superbowl champions against each other.
In a little noticed move immediately after President Obama's groundbreaking jobs speech, the NFL had scheduled their season opener for Thursday night in Lambeau Field, pitting the New Orleans Saints against the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. Packers QB Aaron Rogers went 27 of 35 attempts with 312 yards and 3 TDs in Green Bay's 42-34 win at Lambeau.
New Orleans QB Drew Brees actually had the better night statistically (32-49, 419 yards and 3 TDs) but the Packer's D was able to limit a number of New Orleans drives deep into their territory to field goal attempts.
OTHER NFL NEWS- INDIANAPOLIS: Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning underwent neck surgery, his third such procedure in 19 months and will miss the season opener at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Doctors and team officials from the Colts have been very ambiguous about a timetable for Manning's return. Some of the less optimistic (but still unconfirmed) reports claim he could miss the entire season.
Manning hasn't missed a start in 14 seasons, starting in 227 consecutive games for Indianapolis.
Veteran QB Kerry Collins, who most recently saw action with Indy's AFC South foe Tenessee Titans, will be starting for the Colts while Manning is out.
OTHER NFL NEWS- CHICAGO- The NFL has no plans to sanction or fine Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs for wearing cleats and gloves adorned with the colors of the US flag. Although technically a uniform violation, the league said that players could wear customized shoes and gloves for Week 1.
NCAA Football: Possible future conference-mates Oklahoma State and Arizona met at Stillwater, OK Thursday night. The 9th ranked Cowboys (2-0) handeled the Wildcats (1-1) fairly easily, winning by a 37-14 final.
Games on tap for Friday night include Arizona state vs #21 Missouri and Louisville hosting Florida International Univ.
ELSEWHERE IN THE BIG 12: After SEC presidents and chancellors welcomed a possible move to the SEC conference by Texas A&M, the move faces a roadblock in the form of Baylor university.
Bayolr is threatening to sue if the Aggies depart the Big 12 and the SEC must reportedly obtain waivers from each school before any such move, according to an e-mail from Big 12 commisioner Dan Beebe. One SEC chancellor said that Texas A&M must resolve any pending legal disputes within the Big 12 before becoming the 13th team in the SEC.
A spokesman from the Russian Emergency ministry said that the Yak-42 crashed shortly after takeoff from the city of Yaroslavl some 150 miles north of Moscow. Authorities haven't determined a cause of the crash yet.
Lokomotiv had won three previous championships, the most recent being in 2003. Their 2011-2012 roster includes former NHL-ers Ruslan Salei, Pavol Demetria and Josef Vasicek as well as Canadian head coach Brad McCrimmon.
RED SOX: Determined to prove that the outcome of the late August series against Boston in Arlington, TX was a fluke, the Texas Rangers came into Boston and took two out of three from the Sox before the Olde Towne Team was slated to head north to Toronto for a 4-game series that began on Labor Day in the Rogers Centre.
Monday's game seemingly ripped the heart out of the Sox, with Josh Beckett leaving the scoreless game in the 4th inning due to an ankle sprain. While the bullpen stepped up tremendously- including 3 ⅔ innings from Alfredo Aceves- the Jays were throwing shutout baseball behind starter Henderson Alvarez. The game would remain scoreless until the bottom of the 11th inning when Dan Wheeler gave up a 2-out walkoff solo homer to Jays 3B Brett Lawrie for the 1-0 Toronto win.
Tuesday was a slightly different story with Jon Lester getting plenty of run support early and often while striking out 11 Jays batters and allowing just 3 hits and one walk in 7 complete innings of work. The Sox jumped all over Toronto starter Luis Perez for 4 runs in the top of the first and seemingly never let up afterwards. After just 2 and ⅔ innings, the Red Sox jumped out to an 8-0 lead and chased Perez from the mound. SS Marco Scutaro went 4-5 with 4 RBI and Big Papi went 4-6 with 2 RBI on the night. The Red Sox win this one going away by a final of 14-0.
Prior to Tuesday night, the Red Sox had only won one out of their last 5 games, putting them two and a half games behind the Yankees for 1st in the AL East. After a lengthy rain delay on Tuesday night, the Yankees beat Baltimore by a 5-3 final in Yankee Stadium to keep the gap at two and a half games
Wednesday night's game will have Tim Wakefield (6-6; 4.95 ERA) going up against Brandon Morrow (9-10; 4.78 ERA). Wakefield, as you may recall, is stuck on career win #199 and has been on a Groundhog Day-esque quest for #200 for the last month or so.
OTHER RED SOX NEWS: While He's expected to miss a start for the Sox, an MRI on Josh Beckett's ankle found no serious damage. Beckett returned to Boston on Tuesday to have his ankle examined by team doctors.
Right-handed rookie Kyle Weiland (8-10; 3.58 ERA with AAA Pawtucket this season) is expected to get the start on Saturday against the Rays in Beckett's place.
PAW SOX: The Pawtucket Red Sox clinched their first playoff berth in three seasons and their first IL-North division title since 2003 with a 12-7 win over the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees on Saturday night. They then closed out the regular season at McCoy Stadium with a 7-3 victory over the Rochester Red Wings.
The Paw Sox will travel to Allentown, PA to take on the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs for Game 1 of the first round of the IL playoffs.
EVEN MORE RED SOX NEWS: Perhaps looking to close their budget shortfall, Hall of Famer and Red Sox slugger Ted Williams will be featured on a postage stamp to be issued by the US Postal Service next year.
The set of stamps will also feature Larry Doby, Willie Stargell and Joe DiMaggio and be denominated in the 'Forver' rate (i.e. it would cost 44 ¢ at the time of issue, but could still be used if there were any rate increases). Ted Williams was the last hitter to have a single-season batting average above .400- hitting .406 in 1941- and although he missed several seasons while serving as a Marine Corps pilot in WWII and the Korean War, Williams was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1966.
As a rule, the US Postal Service doesn't issue stamps depicting an individual until a decade after their death. An exception to the rule is made for former US Presidents.
OTHER MLB NEWS: Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg made his first MLB start in over a year on Tuesday night, going 5 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits in a 7-3 loss to the LA Dodgers in the Nation's Capitol. The Nats rookie left mid-season in 2010 with shoulder problems and had Tommy John surgery in the offseason.
Strasburg began his rehab assignments with the Class A affiliate Hagerstown Suns in the South Atlantic League in August and allowed just one hit in six shutout innings with the AA affiliate Harrisburg Senators of the Eastern League.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: In a surprise move, the New England Patriots cut safety Brandon Merriweather. The two-time pro bowler will likely be replaced by Josh Barrett or Sergio Brown. RB Sammy Morris, WR Brandon Tate, DT Ty Warren and TE Alge Crumpler were among the 15 players released by the Pats at the end of preseason.
Warren was picked up by the Denver Broncos while Merriweather was signed by the Chicago Bears.
The NFL regular season starts Thursday night with the Defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers hosting the New Orleans Saints. New England's season doesn't begin in earnest until Monday night, where they travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins in Game one of a Monday Night Football doubleheader.
OTHER NFL NEWS: NFL Hall of fame Defensive End Lee Roy Selmon passed away from a stroke on Sunday, September 4th at the age of 56. Selmon was born and raised in Eastern Oklahoma and played for the Oklahoma University Sooners with his two brothers in College.
In 1976, Selmon was the first-ever draft pick for the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and remained with the team until his 1984 retirement, notching 742 tackles and 78.5 career sacks.
After his playing days, Selmon remained in Florida and participated in a number of charities and started up a chain of sports bars in the Tampa area.
BOSTON COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Well- that could've gone better. Although both teams headed into the lockers at the half toed 10-10, The Northwestern Wildcats would come back out and get two TDs to put them up 24-10.
Boston College would pull to within a touchdown after Andre Williams capped an 80 yard BC drive with a 1-yard TD run, but that would be it for the offense. Andre Williams would have 22 carries for 106 yards and 2 TDs while Eagles QB went 24-44 with 351 yards and an interception.
The Wildcats' QU Kain Colter would go 17-24 with 197 yards and one TD, but no turnovers either. The Wildcats would also get TDs from RB Mike Trumpy and Adonis Smith in Northwestern's 24-17 win.
The Eagles will next travel to Orlando, FL to take on the University of Central Florida Knighs at 8 PM ET.
UCONN FOOTBALL: To nobody's surprise, the UConn Huskies rather handily defeated the Fordham Rams in their E. Hartford home opener by a 35-3 final. This sets up a meeting in Nashville with Vanerbilt on Saturday wit a 7:30 ET kickoff.
OTHER NCAA NEWS: The Texas A&M Aggies are expected to officially announce that they will be moving to the SEC beginning in 2012. The move would make the Aggies the third school in 15 months to depart the Big 12, with Colorado going to the Pac 12 (formerly Pac 10) and Nebraska going to the Big 10.
Oilman and Oklahoma State booster T Boone Pickens the demise of the Big 12 conference within a few years, claiming that Oklahoma State and Oklahoma might be departing for what's now the Pac-12 conference. Oklahoma university officials in Norman, OK are expected to make a decision on whether or not to remain in the Big 12 conference in the next couple of weeks.
Former Jayhawks coach Don Fambrough with teammate Marvin Small at Reunion in 2008. Photo- Nick Krug
ELSEWHERE IN THE BIG 12: Former University of Kansas Jayhawk player and coach Don Fambrough died after sustaining injuries from a fall while working on his Lawrence, KS home.
Frambrough played for the Texas Longhorns for two seasons before joining the US Army Air Corps in WWII. After serving in the military, one of his Army buddies coaxed him to go to Kansas after the war. There he was on the first Jayhawk team to be invited to a Bowl game- the 1947 Sugar Bowl where they lost to Georgia Tech 24-10.
Fambrough also coached the Jayhawks from 1971 to 1982 where he amassed a record of 37-48-5 record and remained active with the program after his coaching days, often delivering firey anti-Missouri pep talks before the annual 'Border War' games against Mizzou.
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.
RED SOX: After dealing with 104° heat in Arlington, TX for their four-game series against the Rangers (which the Red Sox won the final three in convincing fashion), the Red Sox headed back to Boston just in time for the approach of Hurricane Irene.
Upon returning to Fenway, not only did they have to deal with forces of nature, but an Oakland A's team that was still smarting from allowing an unprecedented three grand slams in one game to the New York Yankees in last Thursday's 22-9 spanking of Oakland (although the A's took the first two to win the series).
Tim Wakefield continued his futile, almost Groundhog Day-esque quest for 200 wins on Friday night- it did not end well, with A's starter Gio Gonzalez getting plenty of run support in Oakland's 15-5 win.
As bad as that was, Hurricane Irene's approach was of more concern. Although the worst of the storm was expected to move out of the region by Monday and the Red Sox had the day off, Oakland was supposed to play Cleveland that day. With the storm expected to arrive on Sunday, it was decided to play Sunday's game as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.
Jon Lester had to wait out two rain delays in Game 1 to get the 9-3 win, including a 2 hour and 15 min dealy in the 7th. Apparently Game 1 couldn't have been made official after 7 innings because that would've effectively cancelled game 2 according to MLB rules.
For Game 2 of the doubleheader, Erik Bedard gave up his second single of the day before nature once again intervened in the top of the 5th. After another rain delay (the 3rd on the day) play resumed with Alfredo Aceves on the mound going three hitless innings to get credit for the win.
After riding out the remnants of Irene and an off day on Monday, the Red Sox will host the Yankees beginning Tuesday night. The Yankees took two out of three games played against Baltimore in a series that also required some shuffling and rescheduling thanks to Hurricane Irene. Game 1 will feature CC Sabathia (17-7; 2.99 ERA) going up against John Lackey (12-9; 5.98 ERA). First pitch will be at 7:10 ET and the game will be televised on NESN and the MLB Network.
OTHER RED SOX NEWS: The Red Sox sent Ryan Lavarnaway down to Pawtucket this week. The catcher filled in for Big Papi while he missed a week with bursitis, batting .303 and with 3 RBIs over 7 games with Boston. Boston then very briefly called up RHP Scott Atcheson before sending him down to Pawtucket for RHP Micheal Bowden over the weekend. Bowden is 3-3 with a 2.73 ERA for the Paw Sox this season.
Brownwood, TX firefighter Shannon Stone w/son Cooper at fire station- Heather Klein Photo
The statue will depict Mr. Stone and his six-year-old son Cooper attending a Rangers game. The full-size bronze statue is likely to be located outside the home plate gate of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
“We feel that this statue will be a most fitting tribute,” commented Rangers CEO and President Nolan Ryan. “It will not only serve to honor Mr. Stone’s memory but also to recognize Rangers fans and baseball fans everywhere.
“I have discussed the project with Jenny Stone, and she and the Stone family will be involved in the design and creation of the statue.”
Jenny Stone issued the following statement:
“We continue to be appreciative of Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers as we deal with the loss of Shannon. Shannon and Cooper had a special relationship, and we are touched and grateful that it will be memorialized at one of their favorite places. Our hope is that this statue will not be a symbol of our family tragedy but rather a reminder of the importance of a family's love - love of each other, love of spending time together, and love of the game.”
The Rangers, who will fund the project, are in the early stages of considering sculptors to design and create the statue.
The statue is tentatively titled 'Rangers Fans' and is expected to be completed in time for the 2012 season.
CLEVELAND: Jim Thome arrived back in Cleveland after being placed on waivers by the Minnesota Twins last week. With Tribe DH Travis Hafner out for the season and possibly needing foot surgery, Thome was acquired by the Indians after the Twins went 20 games under .500 and were 16 games out of 1st place before Thome was dealt.
Thome was initially drafted in the 13th round of the 1989 MLB draft and made his debut as a third baseman towards the end of the 1991 season. Thome left for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003 and has since logged time with the White Sox and Dodgers before the Twins signed him to a 1-year deal in 2010.
Earlier this summer, Thome hit career home run #600 with the Twins- that number is now 602. The veteran DH has a .277 batting average in his 20 year MLB career.
BALTIMORE: UMass alum and Cy Young winner Mike Flannigan was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head on his Maryland property last week. The Maryland state medical examiner ruled his death a suicide and friends and family said he had seemed despondent over financial issues.
Flannigan started out with Baltimore in the 1975 season winning a Cy Young in 1979 and the World Series in 1983. In 1987, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays where before returning to the O's for the 1991 and 1992 season. The left-hander had a career record of 167-143 and a 3.90 ERA. After retiring, Flannigan worked in the front office in Baltimore before becoming a color commentator on the team's TV network.
NFL: The Patriots might've missed Hurricane Irene with their preseason trip to the Motor City, but they came up empty against the Lions. In a game that was actually less exciting than any of the three rain delays at Fenway, Lions QB Matthew Stafford wetn 12-14 with 200 yards and 2 TDs in Detroit's 34-10 preseason win over New England.
A final preseason game is scheduled for Thursday night this week in which the Pats will take on the NY Giants at Foxboro.
Tourists and truck drivers evacuating North Carolina's Outer Banks by ferry. Photo: Chuck Beckley- New Bern Sun Journal
A mandatory evacuation order for the outer banks of North Carolina is expected to go into effect Friday as Hurricane Irene gained strength while approaching from the south.
Workers from the North Carolina DOT were inspecting the aging Bonner Bridge after Tuesday's magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Virginia- the bridge links North Carolina Route 12 from Cape Hatteras to the mainland and is a key evacuation route. Further inland, residents jammed the aisles of local stores and markets in order to stock up on food, fuel, water, generators and other supplies.
At least 180 flights to and from major east coast airports have been cancelled with Irene's expected arrival. Amtrak trains south of Washington D.C., already hobbled by slow orders from host railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX after Tuesday's earthquake in Virginia, were cancelled while travellers were awaiting word on any possible service disruptions on the busy Northeast Corridor.
To the north, the governors of Virginia, Maryland, New York and New Jersey have declared states of emergency in advance of Irene's landfall. The US Navy sortied more than two dozen vessels from the huge Norfolk Naval station, including the aircraft carrier Dwight D Eisenhower, while further north, four attack submarines were dispatched from their Groton, CT base to ride out the storm in deep water. Naval aircraft was being flown further inland to ride out the storm.
The city is making preparations to open 65 evacuation centers, seven special medical needs shelters and 75 general population shelters. These facilities can hold roughly 71,000 people; there are about 272,000 people living in the area most likely to be affected.
Officials recommended residents put together a supply kit, including drinking water, a flashlight, a battery-operated radio and a whistle
All these precautions and preparations are underway despite the uncertainty of where exactly Irene is supposed to make landfall. Numerous projections show her coming ashore anywhere from North Carolina's Outer Banks to Cape Cod while possibly increasing to Category 3 in the process.
Even if the eye of the storm misses the most densely populated areas, there could still be extensive damage to metropolitan areas thanks to heavy rains and winds in the storm's outer bands. If Irene does strike New England, she will likely be the first significant hurricane to strike since Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Like Gloria, it's also entirely possible that Irene could make landfall multiple times.
