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5793. wabbit - 10/9/2007 3:59:05 PM  The fourth and final divisional series is over. The Cleveland Indians are headed to the ALCS and a date with the Red Sox after ousting the Yanks 6-4 Monday. And Joe Torre is almost certainly headed out of the Bronx.
Grady Sizemore homered to put Cleveland ahead for good on the third pitch of the game, then Paul Byrd and the bullpen closed out New York in Game 4 to complete the third straight first-round debacle for the Yankees. Cleveland moves on to its first ALCS since 1998, opening Friday night at Boston. The Indians were only 2-5 against the Red Sox this season, but will have aces C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona fully rested for Fenway Park. The Indians, winless in six tries against the Yankees during the regular season, are seeking their first World Series title since 1948.
The NL championship series starts Thursday night with Colorado at Arizona. Arizona beat the Chicago Cubs 5-1 Saturday night to complete a three-game sweep of their first-round series. Colorado beat Philadelphia 2-1 Saturday night to complete a three-game sweep.
5794. wabbit - 10/9/2007 4:07:12 PM  NFL quarterbacks who turn over the ball six times usually disappear quickly. Tony Romo 's isn't going anywhere. The unflappable Romo overcame five interceptions and a lost fumble to lead two last-minute drives, and rookie Nick Folk kicked a 53-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Dallas Cowboys an improbable 25-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. Two of Romo's picks were returned for touchdowns in the first half, while his bobble and his fifth interception came during the fourth quarter. Yet Dallas (5-0) won, setting up a megamatchup with the unbeaten New England Patriots on Sunday at Texas Stadium.
The Patriots have had plenty to celebrate this season. Junior Seau finally gave in to the temptation. Now he's ready to pay the price. In a move more suited to an 18-year-old college player than an 18-year veteran like Seau, he raised the ball high while returning an interception in Sunday's 34-17 win over the Cleveland Browns, New England's fifth one-sided win in five games this season. He had two of New England's three interceptions and Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns, tying an NFL record with at least three in each of his first five games. The Patriots became the fourth team to start a season with five wins by at least 17 points, although Sunday's margin was their smallest.
No Marvin Harrison and no Joseph Addai proved no problem for the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Playing without five injured starters, including two key players in their high-scoring offense, the Colts dominated the clock and their improving defense never gave Tampa Bay a chance in a 33-14 blowout. Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning made it look easy by throwing two touchdowns, while first-time starter Kenton Keith rushed for 121 yards and two more scores.
NFL scores
5795. alistairconnor - 10/9/2007 6:07:19 PM The prospect of a Rugby World Cup semi-final between England and France, this Saturday in Paris, is stirring passions and inspiring epic poetry pastiches on the Guardian's blogs.
To Autumn
Season of green-and-yellow mirthlessness!
Close bosom-buddy of the Kiwi fruit
Writes a new leaf on how to make a mess
Of climbing the tree by the direct route.
The Southern hemisphere is half the world,
And all its nations have performed with zeal;
Casting off doubt to play with heart and soul.
Yet hate -a blossom nurtured by O'Neil-
Caused a late-blooming flower to unfurl,
The Rose -shaken to watch its petals swirl-
Did fall to earth intact; unbroken; whole.
While Autumn colours avenues and parks,
The English engine steams into Paris
With customary smoke and fire and sparks,
To meet their match: the ancient enemy!
A Nation wrapped up in their vict'ry dance,
For having whipped the All Blacks, dressed in grey,
It sees a light-blue Puma as its foe,
And doesn't give the Men in White a chance.
Politicising sport turns thoughts astray;
Laporte, so keen to leave without delay,
Forgets the English storming the chateau!
Where are the songs they sing? Ay, where are they?
Is one: "They've all gone quiet over there!"?--
The only chant they know: "On a gagné!"
Cannot be sung this day, save in despair;
When faced with fifteen yeomen, strong and true,
The Gallic spirit sags instead of soars,
And reedy voices their alarm intone;
A siren that sweet chariots can subdue:
Le Coq is silenced by the bulldog's roars!
Now England's bouncers have flung wide the doors,
And France has left the building; they are gone!
To which a Francophile replies :
La Bete Sans Merci
O what can ail thee, Number Eight,
Supine and barely breathing?
The scrum has crumbled like a cake,
And O, the merde you're in!
O what can ail thee, outside half,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The Chabal's facial-hair is full,
And your half-back's done.
I see a foot upon thy throat
With muddied boot and stocking blue,
And on thy chest a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
"I met a Frenchman built like Meads,
Full bearded and of power tidal,
His hair was long, his tackle high,
And his eyes were homicidal.
"He won the scrum against the head,
And breakdown too, and lineout thrown;
He ran through us as he did please;
He weighed eighteen stone.
"We set on him our Raging Bull,
And Corry, Kay, but all game long
With sideburns fine he did his thing,
This French King Kong.
"He trampled us beneath his feet,
He tore our backrow arseholes new,
And sure in language strange he said--
"Anglais, adieu."
"They took us to la laverie;
Not Sheridan nor Simon Shaw
Could stop their wild wild tries
(Elissade four).
"And there they left us all bereft,
Where once we'd dream'd--Ah! cruel chance!
The sweetest dream we ever dream'd
Of the Stade de France.
"I saw pale Paddies, and Kiwis too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They shouted --"La Bete sans Merci
Hath stole thy ball!"
"I saw their fat lips in the gloam,
Their shiners black, their cries distraught,
And I awoke from being KO'd:
We'd lost thirty-six to nought.
"And this is why I sojourn here,
All foetally curled up,
Though the fans have left the Stade de France.
We've lost the damn World Cup."
5796. robertjayb - 10/10/2007 11:18:10 PM One more appeal for Landis...
LOS ANGELES: Floyd Landis will appeal his doping case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, his last chance to retain his 2006 Tour de France title.
An arbitration panel ruled against Landis last month, upholding the results of a test that showed the American cyclist used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback Tour victory.
That decision meant Landis must forfeit his title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to Jan. 30.
5797. robertjayb - 10/10/2007 11:18:51 PM check... 5798. jexster - 10/11/2007 12:22:34 AM Tiger bait
Tiger bait
Tiger bait
 5799. jexster - 10/11/2007 12:26:52 AM 
5800. jexster - 10/12/2007 3:27:25 AM We Be Havin Pig for Thanksgiving!
Sat, Oct 13 at (17) Kentucky 3:30 pm --
Sat, Oct 20 (22) Auburn 9:00 pm --
Sat, Nov 3 at Alabama 5:00 pm --
Sat, Nov 10 Louisiana Tech 8:00 pm --
Sat, Nov 17 at Mississippi TBA --
Fri, Nov 23 Arkansas 3:30 pm -- 5801. wabbit - 10/16/2007 4:19:44 PM  Eli Manning passed for 303 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Giants to their fourth straight win, 31-10 over the hapless Atlanta Falcons on Monday night. The Giants (4-2) took control after a wild first quarter in which the teams combined for 24 points. New York scored the final 24 points to send the Michael Vick -less Falcons tumbling to their fifth loss in six games. The Giants have bounced back after starting the season with losses to Dallas and Green Bay, but they must be mindful of the collapse that knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago. A five-game winning streak had the Giants at 6-2 midway through the 2006 season, but they managed just two more wins the rest of the way.
In a rare battle of 5-0 teams, the New England Patriots stomped the Dallas Cowboys as badly as everyone else they've faced this season, winning 48-27 Sunday behind a career-best five touchdown passes from Tom Brady. Although the Patriots put up their most points in 23 years, the game wasn't as lopsided as the score indicates - which is what makes this victory so impressive. They won by three touchdowns despite giving up their most points of the season and trailing in the second half for the first time all year. Brady was 31-of-46 for 388 yards. His five TDs tied a franchise record and gave him an NFL record with at least three in each of the first six games of the season. However, he was sacked as many times (3) as he'd been all season; on one, he lost a fumble that Dallas returned for a touchdown. What made his performance special was the way he responded to that third-quarter deficit: touchdown, field goal, touchdown, field goal, touchdown. The last score came with 19 seconds left, a 1-yard run by first-year running back Kyle Eckel that Brady celebrated with two huge fist pumps.
Cornerback Charles Woodson scooped up the ball - and lifted the spirits of the Green Bay Packers' suddenly sagging offense. Woodson's 57-yard fumble return in the third quarter gave the Packers the go-ahead touchdown in a 17-14 victory over the Washington Redskins at soggy Lambeau Field on Sunday. With Green Bay's previously top-ranked passing offense sputtering and the Packers trailing 14-10 late in the third quarter, defensive lineman Corey Williams stripped Redskins receiver Santana Moss on an end-around. Woodson picked up the ball and ran to the end zone. The Packers (5-1) won despite an off day from Brett Favre , who became the NFL's career interception king with an errant pass picked off by Redskins safety Sean Taylor in the third quarter.
NFL scores
5802. wabbit - 10/16/2007 4:20:08 PM  Colorado's Rockies rolled into the first World Series in their 15-year history with a 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks, sweeping the National League Championship Series and adding another notch to an historic string of wins that has become both unbelievable and undeniable. The Rockies have won 10 straight now, seven of them in the postseason. They are the only team in the wild-card era to win their first seven postseason games, and only the second team in Major League history to do so. (The Reds won all seven games they played back in 1976, when only two postseason rounds existed.) The Rox have won 21 of their last 22, too, something that's never been done at this time of year. The out-of-nowhere streak has pushed the city into a virtual Rockies frenzy -- more than 50,000 people packed Coors Field on Monday -- sent baseball historians scurrying into the stacks and stunned everyone around baseball.
The Diamondbacks, who won more games than any other team in the NL and came into this series on a roll of their own after sweeping the Cubs in the NL Division Series, just happen to be the latest group of one-time non-believers to slink away from Denver shaking their heads.
Jake Westbrook, often overlooked in Cleveland's top-heavy starting rotation, kept Boston grounded for nearly seven innings Monday night, leading the Indians to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox and a 2-1 lead in the AL championship series. With two more games at Jacobs Field, the Indians, who haven't won it all since 1948, are in control of a best-of-seven series that seemed to belong to Boston after the opener. But as they did against the New York Yankees in the opening round, the Indians are showing they can swing with baseball's big boys. And we in the Nation are getting that old feeling...
MLB World Series
5803. wabbit - 10/19/2007 3:39:06 PM  Behind some great pitching by Josh Beckett, the Red Sox downed the Indians, 7-1, Thursday night in Game 5 of the ALCS. Beckett added another superb start to an already Hall of Fame-caliber postseason portfolio by shutting down the Indians for the second time in this series. With Beckett's gem, the Sox staved off postseason elimination and sent the ALCS back to Boston for Game 6 on Saturday. If these guys keep this up, a deciding Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday. A World Series berth awaits the winner. This ALCS is now the first of the 2007 postseason series to go more than one game past the minimum. Four of the series, in fact, have been sweeps, including the National League Championship Series between the Rockies, now the NL champs, and Diamondbacks. After a 7-3 Cleveland victory on Tuesday put the Indians up three games to one, things looked awfully bleak for this series, too. But Beckett, rumored to be struggling with a stiff back after an abbreviated six-inning, 80-pitch win in Game 1 of the ALCS, was instead his dominating self, throwing eight innings of five-hit ball, punching pitches up to the plate at 97 mph and baffling the Indians' hitters with knee-breaking curves and a devastating splitter. Beckett, a 20-game winner during the regular season and one of the leading contenders for the AL's Cy Young Award, struck out 11 batters. In his three October starts this year, he is now 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA. In eight career postseason starts, Beckett is 5-2 with a 1.75 ERA. Oh, and about Cleveland getting country singer Danielle Peck, an old flame of Beckett's, to sing at Jacobs Field...if they were trying to get in Beckett's head, they failed. His take was, "I don't get paid to make those [expletive] decisions. She's a friend of mine. That doesn't bother me at all. Thanks for flying one of my friends to the game so she could watch it for free."
Kevin Youkilis popped a home run off of Cleveland's suddenly vulnerable ace, C.C. Sabathia, in the first inning and a strange, windblown -- and probably poorly played -- triple off Sabathia later in the game. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia, in an awful series slump, had a pair of hits and a walk. Ortiz drove in a couple of runs.
Seems I'm not the only person in Boston who is fed up with Manny being Manny. Nothing a cattle prod couldn't sort out, though. After failing to slide on a play at the plate that resulted in the final out of Boston's first inning, Ramirez knocked in a run with a near homer in the third on a controversial umpiring call. Ramirez's hit appeared to bounce off the yellow line on top of the right field wall, which is why the umpires didn't call it a home run; the ground rules state the ball has to clear the yellow line. But Manny stood at home plate admiring his hit, instead of actually running the bases. He earns how much a year, and he can't bother to make any effort to run if he thinks there is any chance he's either hit a home run or a certain out. And that attitude has backfired on him several times. Luckily it didn't cost the Red Sox the game this time, but for crying out loud, it's the ALCS, pull your head out and make some effort for a change. I stand by what I said about this lump a couple years ago, he should have been traded, but nobody else wanted him, not with his attitude and that salary. At least I'm certain there is no way he'll be resigned when his contract is up in a couple more years. I don't care how many home runs he hits, he's a drag. How about this...Manny gets NO pay for the entire series, and ticket prices can be lowered at Fenway.
5804. jexster - 10/19/2007 6:05:12 PM I think Boston's gonna take it. But ya gotta be for the Second Tier team... 5805. wabbit - 10/19/2007 8:38:59 PM We in the Nation appreciate your optimism, Jexster. We wish we could all share it with a clear conscious, but when all is said and done, it is the Red Sox...
At this point, I'm just hoping we get to a seventh game. 5806. jexster - 10/21/2007 4:56:46 PM You got it..But LSU sure don't - defense that is - overrated
But they sure make games exciting to watch...3 OT's last weekend, that Florida game
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Demetrius Byrd waved up at the press box, hoping LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton had seen what he saw.
With time expiring on LSU's national title hopes, Byrd wanted a chance to beat the lone defender on his side of the field.
"Then I got in the huddle and that was the play call, and I knew I just had to go out there and make a play on it," Byrd said
With a second to spare, Byrd hauled in Matt Flynn's 22-yard fade to the back of the end zone, lifting fifth-ranked LSU to a 30-24 victory over No. 18 Auburn on Saturday night.
5807. wabbit - 10/21/2007 5:55:09 PM  I'm not a big fan of blow-out scores, even when my teams wins. What I did like about last night's ACLS game was that hitters who had been struggling got hits and RBI's, and the pitchers held up. Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew drove in five runs, backing yet another postseason gem from Curt Schilling on Saturday night as Boston battered the Cleveland Indians 12-2 to tie the AL championship series at three games apiece. Schilling improved his career postseason record to 10-2, allowing two runs and six hits in seven innings. Even Eric Gagne, the former star closer booed off the mound in previous postseason appearances, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
It's a big sports weekend here. Although they aren't in MA, the Patriots are playing in Florida and should be able to beat the winless Miami Dolphins, even without tight end Benjamin Watson and running back Sammy Morris. The Bruins beat the NY Rangers 1-0 Saturday in a game that was moved up to 4pm. Goalie Manny Fernandez, making his home debut as a Bruin, stopped every puck that came his way in the Bruins' 1-0 shootout victory - 25 shots in regulation, one in overtime, and two in the shootout against Shanahan and Jagr (Drury shot wide). It was the first shutout for Fernandez - and the Bruins - this season and the puckstopper's 14th of his career. The Bruins (5-2-0) earned their first win over the Rangers since March 4, 2004. Phil Kessel scored the lone goal for Boston. more NHL scores
The 43rd Head of the Charles Regatta is also going on now. It is the world's largest two-day rowing event, first held on October 16, 1965.
5808. jexster - 10/21/2007 6:00:20 PM Now comes the FUN part! Aces as relievers! Can't wait to see when Beckett comes in 5809. wabbit - 10/21/2007 6:20:16 PM Exactly right, and you know Beckett is just itching to get in a few innings tonight. If our hitting holds up, I like our chances. 5810. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 10/21/2007 7:00:34 PM Man-childs, all!
Don't count chickens though--heartache is the ever present Sawx flipside. 5811. wabbit - 10/21/2007 7:44:41 PM True, true.
The Patriots are another story. Fifteen seconds into the 2nd quarter and they are up 21-7. 5812. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 10/22/2007 6:16:51 AM Cleveland crumbles--Go SAWKS!!!!
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