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5492. wonkers2 - 4/25/2007 3:58:03 PM Walter Thomas,xxxxxxL sleeper in NFL draft 5493. alistairconnor - 4/25/2007 4:43:10 PM Is the Cap'n following the Americas Cup challenger series?
I paid up 30 euros for the virtual racing which is pretty feeble of me, but I love it. You can follow the races live, flying a helicopter around them to get the vantage point you want.
Today's races are fairly predictable, true to book form. Overall, it's clear who three of the semifinalists will be : Team NZ, Oracle, Luna Rossa (though they are showing signs of relative weakness) - but the fourth spot is up for grabs, and there are several credible contenders. The Spanish, proxy hosts for the Swiss cup holders; the second Italian team, the Latin Rascals; the much improved South Africans; and the constant Swedes.
It's clear that the three remaining teams, the French, Chinese and Sicilians, aren't going anywhere. But they are putting on a show. 5494. wonkers2 - 4/25/2007 7:40:37 PM Actually, the Cap'n has been out-of-town and busy since he returned and hasn't gotten into it yet. I'm pulling for Oracle, of course. I'm glad to see they're among the favorites. I'll have to check to see what's available on our cable TV hookup. 5495. jexster - 4/26/2007 6:08:20 PM 741 and Counting
High fives after a 3 run blast 5496. jexster - 4/27/2007 10:33:43 AM Bochy Ball
Giants Sweep Dodgers in LA
And move ahead of Dodgers N2 first place NL West 5497. wabbit - 4/27/2007 2:47:05 PM  The San Jose Sharks silenced the fans at Joe Louis Arena while stunning the Detroit Red Wings with goals 24 seconds apart. Matt Carle and Mike Grier scored midway through the first period and Evgeni Nabokov made 34 saves to lead San Jose to a 2-0 victory Thursday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. "We got the crowd right out of the game," said Joe Thornton, who had an assist on the first goal. "That was huge." Nabokov's shutout was his first this postseason and the fifth of his career in the playoffs. He was tied for second in the NHL with seven during the regular season.
The Ottawa Senators got to Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils early and often, and then avoided what could have been an embarrassing letdown. Jason Spezza scored 90 seconds into the game, and the Senators jumped to a 4-0 first-period lead before holding on for a 5-4 victory Thursday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal. "We made it harder than it should have been," Senators goaltender Ray Emery said after making 26 saves to help Ottawa win its fourth straight playoff game. "You know that team will rebound and they will not go down without a fight." The Devils certainly put a scare into Ottawa, drawing within 4-3 early in the second period. A shot off the goal post by Scott Gomez nearly tied the game later in the second.
NHL scores
5498. wabbit - 4/27/2007 2:47:21 PM  After the humiliation that was Game 2 of their playoff series against the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers fell behind by 17 points early in Game 3. At that stage, with the home crowd booing, Lakers star Kobe Bryant figured there were two directions his team could take. "You can put your tail between your legs or come back fighting," he said. The Lakers went with option No. 2. Bryant scored 15 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter, Kwame Brown added a career playoff-high 19 points, and the Lakers beat the Suns 95-89 to cut Phoenix's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Utah Jazz shot poorly again and rushed on offense a few times, yet coach Jerry Sloan was about as tickled as he gets. Utah's defense was good enough to overcome any offensive struggles, and the Jazz beat Houston 81-67 Thursday night to cut the Rockets' lead to 2-1 in their playoff series. The Jazz held the Rockets without a field goal for 10 minutes in the second half and didn't allow Houston's reserves to score a single point. Yao Ming scored 26 and Tracy McGrady had 24 points for Houston, but only two other Rockets scored.
The Detroit Pistons showed they know how to close out quarters. Now they want to close out another series. Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points, Chauncey Billups added 21 and the Pistons beat Orlando 93-77 Thursday night to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round playoff series. The victory ended a postseason trend for the Pistons -- they had lost their last six Game 3s when leading 2-0 -- and left them one victory from advancing to the second round. Game 4 is Saturday in Orlando.
NBA scores
5499. wabbit - 4/27/2007 2:47:53 PM  Wily Mo Pena was standing in the on-deck circle when an intentional walk loaded the bases. Pena had struggled all season against right-handed pitching, which did not bode well for his matchup against Baltimore closer Chris Ray. The pitch was a fastball, and Pena launched it an estimated 430 feet. The eighth-inning grand slam capped a rally that provided the Boston Red Sox with a 5-2 victory Thursday night. Josh Beckett became the majors' first five-game winner, allowing two runs and eight hits in eight innings to help the Red Sox complete a two-game sweep. Beckett gave up five doubles, but became the 11th Red Sox pitcher to win his first five starts in a season. He joins a list that includes Babe Ruth, Roger Clemens, Lefty Grove and Pedro Martinez. Only Ruth and Martinez did it in April.
No paint, no ink, no ketchup. Nothing but Curt Schilling's blood was seeping through his socks in the 2004 postseason, current and former Red Sox said Thursday after a rumor resurfaced that the pitcher milked his injury for drama while helping Boston end its 86-year title drought. On Wednesday, Baltimore announcer Gary Thorne said during his broadcast of the Red Sox-Orioles game that Boston backup catcher Doug Mirabelli admitted it was a hoax. Thorne backed off Thursday after talking to Mirabelli before the Red Sox played the Orioles. Thorne said Mirabelli had been joking.
Phil Hughes showed promise. A.J. Burnett showed him how it's done. Burnett dominated the struggling Yankees and outclassed their prized prospect on the mound, sending last-place New York to its sixth straight loss by pitching the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-0 victory Thursday night. Making his much-anticipated major league debut, Hughes received a rough welcome from the hard-hitting Blue Jays and a valuable lesson in power pitching from Burnett.
Sammy Sosa is "Slammin' Sammy" once again. Sosa hit two homers to reach 594 for his career, but Paul Byrd and the Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers 9-4 Thursday for their fifth straight win. Sosa's 439-foot drive leading off the sixth inning against Byrd (2-1) made Jacobs Field the 44th major league ballpark in which he has homered. That broke a tie with Ken Griffey Jr. and Fred McGriff for the most in a big league career.
MLB scores
5500. wonkers2 - 4/27/2007 10:07:51 PM Check the first picture in this link. 5501. jexster - 4/28/2007 12:42:10 AM Wonk is such a WIMP...
I have never seen such digusting displays of lust for strong, amazon type women - no not even Our President!
5502. alistairConnor - 4/28/2007 2:28:09 PM Wow, the Desafio Espanol are sticking it to Oracle today!
They have 170 metres on them in the third of the four legs, and aren't putting a foot wrong... this would be Oracle's first defeat, and the emergence of the Spaniards as real contenders.
Team NZ are cleaning the clocks of the Swedes.
In an all-Italian match, the Latin Rascals had Luna Rossa on the ropes, but they have bounced back.
Sorry no photo links... the damn official site publishes them in Flash. 5503. alistairConnor - 4/28/2007 4:16:17 PM The last three races of the first round-robin are now underway. Three fascinating match races, which pit #1 against #2,#3 against #4, and #5 against #6.
5, Latin Rascals against Swedish Victory, 6. The Latins need to win this to keep their chances of making the semi-finals.
Join 3rd, Luna Rossa and Desafio Espaņol. The winner will overtake the loser of...
1, Oracle, vs 2, Team NZ. The Kiwis want to win this to get back our rightful #1 spot...
Actually , Oracle is NZ's number 2 boat. Dominated by Kiwi crew. I guess Larry Ellison came up with some green cards.
5504. alistairConnor - 4/28/2007 4:21:58 PM God what a start !
Chris Dickson vs. Dean Barker. Oracle's helmsman, Dickson, thought he was being smart by forcing Team NZ over the start line early... but messed it up, Barker dipped back behind the line and got away 50 metres clear of Oracle...
Three very tight races! 5505. alistairConnor - 4/28/2007 10:19:22 PM Cricket World Cup final in progress.
It seems to be ending in farce.
Rain delayed play, so Australia only got to bat for 38 overs instead of 50. They piled on a terrifying total of 282, yet Sri Lanka made a decent start at chasing it down. They were at 145 after 24 overs, and it's started pouring. Light is also fading. Visibly the umpires don't have the guts to stop the game -- if play stops now, there will probably be no time to finish the game, and Australia will be awarded the World Cup based on abstruse calculations of run rate.
As I type, they have stopped play, it was getting ridiculous - the pitch had turned to mud, the batsmen were losing grip on their bats. 5506. jexster - 4/29/2007 3:59:13 AM Got My E-maiL?
Brady Quinn couldn't be happy to be playing for Cleveland
 5507. wabbit - 4/30/2007 3:11:12 PM  Sri Lanka had a stronger team than when it won the 1996 World Cup and played a brand of cricket as exciting as any at this year's tournament. It was just too bad one-day cricket's best ever side was there to ruin its party. Sri Lanka made it through to Saturday's World Cup final against Australia with a string of performances that showed just how well it had allied graft and pragmatism to the vibrant skills and big-hitting that took it to its only title 11 years ago. Pace bowler Lasith Malinga terrorized batsmen throughout in an attack no longer reliant on spin, which was still more than ably represented by the wiles of Muttiah Muralitharan. And in the batting department, Mahela Jayawardene flourished in the captaincy and 37-year-old Sanath Jayasuriya showed that age was not always a barrier to brilliance. It all amounted to a supporting role to Australia's unprecedented dominance.
Australia took a third straight title and ran its unbeaten streak at the competition to 29 games. It beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the Super 8s stage and, to prove it was no fluke, won a rain-affected final at Kensington Oval by 53 runs. Sri Lanka had no answer to Adam Gilchrist's 104-ball 149. Jayasuriya top scored for his side with 63.
5508. wabbit - 4/30/2007 3:12:11 PM Dammit, Jexster, I'm going to start deleting your posts if you don't learn to close your tags. 5509. wabbit - 4/30/2007 3:12:25 PM  The Oakland Raiders cut ties with Randy Moss after two unproductive seasons, sending the former Pro Bowl receiver to the New England Patriots on Sunday for a fourth-round draft pick. Moss was disgruntled for most of his two seasons in Oakland, and said frequently last season he thought he'd be better off with another team. The 30-year-old wanted to be dealt either to New England or Green Bay and got his wish. Moss said he was thrilled to be with the Patriots, who won three of the last six Super Bowls, and re-negotiated a contract that had two years left.
It wasn't pretty this weekend for Troy Smith, but the Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State could have done a lot worse than getting the chance to learn a little from Steve McNair in Baltimore. The Ravens ended Smith's humbling draft experience by taking him with the final pick of the fifth round (174th overall). You can't really call it a dramatic plummet, since Smith had been projected as a second-day pick for months.
JaMarcus Russell barely had to wait before taking the stage as an Oakland Raider at Saturday's NFL draft. Brady Quinn turned out to be the forgotten quarterback, lingering long after Russell was picked, until Cleveland took him 22nd. Russell was the top choice, by the offense-deficient Raiders. The 6-foot-6 junior QB who can throw the ball 80 yards fits the mold for Al Davis, who loves the deep ball.
Notre Dame's Quinn sat and watched 21 players get called before he went to the Browns, the team he grew up rooting for in Dublin, Ohio. Once considered the best prospect in this year's crop, he was still available when the Browns traded with Dallas to get back into the first round. When selected, Quinn let out a big sigh of relief before shaking commissioner Roger Goodell's hand, and fans who booed him before the draft cheered him this time.
NFL Draft Tracker
5510. wabbit - 4/30/2007 3:12:39 PM  Penalty killing kept the Anaheim Ducks in the game on Sunday night. The power play won it for them. Corey Perry scored the go-ahead goal on a power play 7:51 into the third period as the Ducks recovered from a double-overtime loss at home in Game 2 with a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Perry's goal, on a screened slap shot from the top of the faceoff circle, came 70 seconds after the Ducks killed off his holding penalty, and less than five minutes after the Canucks failed to score on their second lengthy 5-on-3 of the game.
Michal Rozsival's aching left knee made the New York Rangers' best defenseman a question mark for the biggest games of the season. He left the series opener early in Buffalo and gritted his way through Game 2 when another hit to the leg slowed him again. But Rozsival was back on the blue line for the Rangers on Sunday, and his hard drive found its way into the net in double overtime to give New York a 2-1 victory, shooting life back into the Rangers' season. Rozsival got the puck through traffic and off the post behind screened goalie Ryan Miller 16:43 into the second overtime. That gave New York its first win over the Sabres in seven tries this season and ended the Rangers' longest game in exactly 36 years. Buffalo still leads the Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-1, but the Rangers can get even with a Game 4 victory Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden.
NHL scores
5511. wabbit - 4/30/2007 3:12:54 PM  Baron Davis banked in a 3-pointer from midcourt at the halftime buzzer Sunday night. While his Golden State fans nearly deafened their team, absolutely nobody in either uniform seemed terribly surprised. Davis has something in him these days that even the mighty Dallas Mavericks can't match -- and now his crazy, carefree Warriors are one win away from a historic playoff upset. Davis had five of his 33 points and two key assists in the final 31/2 minutes, and Golden State roared from behind for a 103-99 victory to take a 3-1 lead over the NBA's best regular-season team in their first-round playoff series. Jason Richardson scored 22 points and Stephen Jackson added 19 for the Warriors, who could become just the third team in league history to knock off a No. 1 seed in the opening round. After the frenzied Oakland crowd's second celebration in three days, the Warriors seem primed to pull off perhaps the biggest heist in playoff history.
Michael Jordan's old Chicago jersey hangs over the Miami Heat's home floor, a tribute to the six-time NBA champion. Now, a new bunch of Bulls want a title of their own after ending the Heat's reign atop the league with a four-game sweep. Ben Gordon scored 24 points and Luol Deng had 22 to lead Chicago past Miami 92-79 Sunday in Game 4 to clinch the first-round Eastern Conference series. The Bulls advanced in the postseason for the first time since Jordan's last title in 1998. Chicago, which meets Detroit next, became the first team to oust a defending champion in the first round since Phoenix did it to San Antonio in 2000.
Steve Nash did what he usually does -- only better than he's ever done it. With that, the Phoenix Suns have a commanding 3-1 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers in their first-round playoff series. Nash had a career-high 23 assists -- one shy of the NBA playoff record -- to go with 17 points, and the Suns raced to a 113-100 victory over the Lakers on Sunday to move within one win of advancing to the second round. Amare Stoudemire had 27 points and a career playoff-high 21 rebounds for the run-and-gun Suns, who vowed to speed things up after a lethargic performance in Game 3.
NBA scores
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