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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!!!! 5813. wabbit - 10/22/2007 3:57:44 PM  South Africa won its second Rugby World Cup by beating defending champion England 15-6 Saturday in a final where all the points came on penalty kicks. Percy Montgomery was 4-for-4 on kicks for South Africa, Francois Steyn added another, and Jonny Wilkinson had two for Britain. Wilkinson kicked England to victory in the 2003 final in Sydney, but didn't receive enough chances at Stade de France. The Springboks also kicked for all their points in their previous championship, on home soil in 1995. South Africa, which went unbeaten and averaged almost 44 points in six wins to reach the final, had demolished England 36-0 in pool play 36 days beforehand. Though the English looked much better Saturday, they never appeared close to becoming the first champion to retain the William Webb Ellis Cup.
Roger Federer should have seen it coming. One by one, David Nalbandian was picking off the best that tennis has to offer. Nalbandian beat Federer 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 Sunday to win the Madrid Masters. On his way to the final against the world's top-ranked player, Nalbandian also defeated No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Novak Djokovic. The Argentine broke Federer three times and became the second player this year to beat the top three players en route to winning a title. Djokovic did it in Montreal in August, culminating his run with a victory over Federer. Boris Becker had done it 13 years earlier. Federer fell to 6-4 in finals this season. He was playing in his first tournament since winning his fourth straight U.S. Open six weeks ago. This was Federer's first loss on indoor hard courts since Nalbandian rallied to win at the Masters Cup in China nearly two years ago. The 25th-ranked Nalbandian, a former Wimbledon finalist once ranked No. 3, won his first title since the Estoril Open in May 2006.
Canadian Mike Weir won for the first time since early in the 2004 season, shooting a 2-under 68 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Australia's Mark Hensby in the Fry's Electronics Open. Weir secured the win with a 6-foot par putt after hitting his approach on the par-4 18th into a greenside bunker. The 2003 Masters champion took the lead with a birdie on the par-4 15th, rolling a chip shot to a foot, then held off Hensby over the final three holes on a warm, blustery day at Grayhawk Golf Club. Weir finished at 14-under 266 for his eighth PGA Tour victory, and first since the 2004 Nissan Open, a span of 87 starts.
Suzann Pettersen was prepared for another challenging round in the cold and wind. The Norwegian star ended up holding yet another trophy Sunday without even hitting a shot. Pettersen won the Hana Bank KOLON Championship for her fourth LPGA Tour victory of the year when high wind and unplayable conditions on the putting surfaces forced tournament officials to call off the final round at Mauna Ocean resort. Japan's Miho Koga shot a 6-under 66 on Sunday for a four-stroke victory over American star Paula Creamer in the Masters GC Ladies. Koga finished with a 9-under 207 total on the Masters Golf Club course. Creamer, the 2005 winner in the Japan LPGA event, closed with a 70. Second-round leader Momoko Ueda had a 76 to finish nine strokes back.
5814. wabbit - 10/22/2007 3:58:09 PM  Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are awfully good. Flawless at the start and off the bench, Brady threw a team-record six touchdown passes to help the unbeaten Patriots rout the winless Miami Dolphins 49-28. With his team comfortably ahead, Brady came out early in the fourth quarter, then re-entered and threw for New England's final score. His TD total exceeded his career high of five, set last week against Dallas. The Patriots, who led 42-7 at halftime, improved to 7-0 for the first time in their 48-year history. Brady completed his first 11 passes for 220 yards and four scores, including throws of 35 and 50 yards to Randy Moss. His other touchdown passes covered 14 and 16 yards to Wes Welker, 30 to Donte Stallworth and 2 to Kyle Brady. Brady has 27 touchdown passes after seven games and is on pace for 61. The NFL record is 49 set by Peyton Manning in 2004. The drubbing was the biggest downer yet for the Dolphins, who fell to 0-7 for the first time in their 42 seasons. They next play the New York Giants in London.
The Denver Broncos took the city's minds off the Colorado Rockies for a few hours Sunday night. Rookie Tim Crowder had a 50-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, Jay Cutler threw three TD passes and the Broncos (3-3), coming off their worst home loss in 41 years, looked nothing like the troubled team that had lost playmakers on both sides of the ball and whose season was threatening to unravel before the leaves had finished falling. Suddenly able to get to the passer despite Champ Bailey (thigh) missing a game for just the third time in his career and fellow Pro Bowl cornerback Dre' Bly injuring his right shoulder on a first-half interception, the Broncos forced three turnovers and sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times. Bly stayed in the game and broke up several of Big Ben's passes. The Steelers (4-2), who had allowed just five touchdowns all season, surrendered four, including Cutler's throws of 15 yards to Brandon Stokley and 1 yard each to Tony Scheffler and Cecil Sapp. Elam, who has the game-winner in all three of the Broncos' wins so far, nailed his kick to cap a seven-play, 49-yard drive that covered the final 1:10 after Pittsburgh had rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to tie it.
With Vince Young on the sidelines, the Tennessee Titans couldn't finish drives. With the day Rob Bironas had, it didn't matter. Bironas kicked an NFL-record eight field goals, including the game-winner as time expired, to lead the Titans to a 38-36 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday. Backup Kerry Collins led the offense while Young missed playing in his hometown because of a strained quadriceps. Collins didn't make many mistakes, but the offense couldn't capitalize in the red zone, ushering Bironas into the record book. The record-setting kick foiled a spirited comeback by the Texans (3-4), who scored 29 points in the fourth quarter, capped by a 53-yard touchdown pass from Sage Rosenfels to Andre' Davis to take a 36-35 lead with 57 seconds to play. The Titans (4-2) faced a third-and-10 at their 37 when Collins found Roydell Williams on a 46-yard pass that set up the winning kick.
NFL scores
5815. wabbit - 10/22/2007 3:58:58 PM  For the second time in four years, the formerly folding Red Sox are headed to the Series, courtesy of an 11-2 win over the Indians in Game 7 of the ALCS. The score is deceptive, it was a game and a series that, as late as the seventh inning Sunday, really could have gone in either direction. And then Dustin Pedroia took control with a game-defining two-run home run, putting an exclamation point to a personal postseason comeback and sealing another postseason bounceback for the Sox. Surely he's the AL Rookie of the Year.
The Indians, who won 96 games this season, had a 3-1 lead in the ALCS after Game 4 in Cleveland last Tuesday and looked, with their two big-name pitchers ready to go, poised to pounce. But after a seven-run fifth inning in Game 4, the Indians' offense collapsed in a shuddering heap, scoring just five runs in its final 30 innings. A 3-1 lead shrunk to 3-2 on a Game 5 gem by Boston's Josh Beckett, the ALCS Most Valuable Player, and Saturday night the Sox tied the series with a 12-2 blowout. Sunday, with controversy swirling around the Indians off the field (news reports revealed that Game 4 hero Paul Byrd had used human growth hormone), the Sox held a slim 3-2 lead when the game turned in the seventh. Pedroia wiggled his way into making a difference in both halves of the inning.
Dice-K pitched three great innings, then two less so, but held on for five. Okey-Dokey pitched his usual two great innings, then started off badly in the eighth, when the heater came to the mound. Papelbon simply blew pitches past batters, then got to do the Riverdance after CoCo Crisp made the final two outs of the game.
Colorado outscored Boston 20-5 in winning two of three during an interleague series at Fenway in June. The Red Sox did even better in winning the last three games against Indians, outscoring them 30-5 in that span. The Sox have only a couple of days to blow out this win before they settle down to business again, hosting the surprising Rockies in Game 1 of the World Series here on Wednesday night. They started their pre-Series soiree in grand fashion late Sunday, partying on the field at Fenway well past midnight, carrying around the AL trophy and generally enjoying another series win that, just four days ago, seemed almost impossible.
5816. wabbit - 10/25/2007 3:26:38 PM So much for the shadow of the Bambino.
I sure hope the Red Sox get this kind of hitting behind the pitchers who really need it, like Schilling and Dice-K. Josh Beckett can hold his own quite nicely, thank you.
 If the long layoff didn't hurt their hitting, it seems the pitching for the Rockies got rusty. I would have thought the pitchers would gain by having some extra time off, but it doesn't appear to have worked that way for Colorado. Or maybe the Sox just had an extraordinary day. The Red Sox crushed the Rockies in the opening game of the World Series, 13-1. This win matches the Red Sox Series winning streak of five games for the first time since 1915-16.
All kinds of records were set: most runs scored by a team and the largest margin of victory in the opening game of the World Series (the 1932 NY Yankees and 1996 Braves scored 12 runs each in their openers); the most extra-base hits by a team in a WS (8 doubles and a home run - the 1906 Chicago White Sox and 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates also had eight doubles); the 12 combined doubles were a Series record; first pitcher to strike out the first three batters (and actually, he got the fourth as well); first lead-off hitter to hit a home run, a rookie no less, and on the second pitch! Franklin Morales was called for the first Series balk since David Weathers of the Yankees in 1996.
Morales got just two outs and was charged with seven runs for a 94.50 Series ERA. With 64 post-season RBIs, Manny Ramirez moved ahead of David Justice for second all-time behind Bernie Williams (80). The only Red Sox player to not get an RBI was Mike Lowell, but he hit and got a couple walks, so he was on base and able to score. 11 of 13 runs were scored with two outs. I don't know if that's a record, but damn!
The Rockies had a horrible day. Credit Beckett for keeping their hitters out of the game, but the Rockies' pitching was something else. Starting pitcher Jeff Francis gave up the most baserunners (13) by a Game 1 starter since 1982 (Bob Forsch). Morales gave up more runs (seven) without getting three outs than any relief pitcher in postseason history. Ryan Speier became the first pitcher to walk in a run three times in the same World Series game. The biggest stat for them was the fifth inning, when with two outs, Rockies pitchers faced 23 batters with a chance to end an inning and succeeded in retiring the batter only four of those times. That's a two-out OBP of .826.
And how classy were the Red Sox after the game? "I executed just enough pitches today to survive," Beckett said. "That's a good lineup over there. You can tell how hungry they are."
"This is a tough series and a tough team," Youkilis said. "There's a reason why they're here."
The Rockies are a class organization as well."It's a big loss, Game 1 of the World Series," Todd Helton said. "But knowing the heart of this team, we'll come back tomorrow."
'Nuff said. GO SOX!!5817. wabbit - 10/25/2007 4:25:34 PM Ok, not quite enough said.
Fox Sports sucks. Yaz threw out the first pitch, but did we get to see that? Did we get to see any of the 1967 team? NO. We got to see the Fox talking heads yapping away and a two second shot of Yaz. Boring. I'd much prefer to have our local guys doing the play-by-play. But for crying out loud, at least give us Yaz! 5818. jexster - 10/25/2007 4:35:40 PM I hate the Talking Heads. If I had a radio, I'd tune into Joe Morgan and Jon Miller and turn down the sound.
I've hated Buck and McCarver for years 5819. jexster - 10/25/2007 4:53:05 PM Every time players haul out the canned "class act" I wanna hurl
Translated - "We beat the piss out of them and if we don't let that go to our heads, they're out in four"
"They pounded us like a drum and are likely to do so again. I hope they don't take it on our field" 5820. wabbit - 10/25/2007 5:12:38 PM That's a no-win situation, jexster, as you've just proved. If they came out and said "We beat the piss out of them", they'd hear about how arrogant they are. As it is, both these teams are low on the egomaniac quotient, and nobody on the Sox team expects to see this kind of game again during this series. It was an anomaly and everyone knows that. You don't beat your chest over that.
I wish I could say the same for some fans. I'm sick of hearing people crow and rave about the pounding the other team got, and about how great such-and-such a team is, how much their opponents suck, etc., especially between Boston and New York. It's a game, people, get a grip. Rooting for the home team is one thing...claiming to hate the other team is ridiculous. 5821. jexster - 10/25/2007 7:17:49 PM So you aren't a typical Sox fan?
GREAT..my faith in Boston restored ;) 5822. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 10/25/2007 8:10:34 PM It's the built-in serendipity of bassaball! 5823. wabbit - 10/25/2007 10:19:59 PM I guess not. But I'm surrounded by more typical "fans" for both Boston and NY. I need to live in a cave. 5824. wabbit - 10/26/2007 11:19:46 PM  October ace Curt Schilling and a stingy bullpen shut down Colorado in Game 2. Relying more on guile than pure gas, Schilling pitched Boston to a 2-1 victory Thursday night and a 2-0 lead in the World Series over the suddenly stagnant Rockies.
Mike Lowell hit a tiebreaking double in the fifth and the Red Sox got 3 2-3 innings of shutout relief from Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon to win their sixth straight Series game, including a sweep of St. Louis in 2004. That victory ended an 86-year title drought and set off a wild winter of celebrations all over New England. Two more wins this year and the party's on again.
"This was the Pap-ajima show tonight," Schilling said. "That was just phenomenal to watch."
A generous sentiment, but Schilling should take his share of the credit for this win. For a pitcher of his age who has re-learned how to throw the ball since last season, he was, as is his wont in October, wonderful. One night after Josh Beckett blazed through the Rockies with 97 mph fastballs in a 13-1 rout, Schilling shut them down with savvy and splitters. Nearly automatic in October, he improved to 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 19 postseason starts and tipped his cap to the pulsing crowd as he walked off the mound -- perhaps for the final time in a Red Sox uniform. His fastball hovering around 87 mph, Schilling held punchless Colorado in check for 5 1-3 innings and became the second 40-year-old starter to win a World Series game. Detroit's Kenny Rogers did it last year against the Cardinals. Schilling was twenty days shy of his 41st birthday (Nov. 14).
Okajima became the first Japanese-born pitcher to play in a World Series game. He struck out four, including former Japanese star Kaz Matsui. Okajima entered with two on in the sixth and Boston leading 2-1. He retired Atkins on a grounder and struck out Brad Hawpe to squash the threat. There was more to come. The rookie left-hander from Japan fanned three straight before he was pulled for Papelbon with two outs in the eighth.
Matt Holliday spun Papelbon off his feet with a shot up the middle for his fourth hit. But the closer got even when he left the NLCS MVP sprawled in the dirt at first base with his first career pickoff. Papelbon finished up in the ninth, securing Schilling's third win in four starts this postseason and his second save. He and Okajima have combined for 17 1/3 scoreless innings in October.
The Series shifts to spacious Coors Field for Game 3 on Saturday night, when $103 million rookie Daisuke Matsuzaka pitches for Boston against Josh Fogg. With no designated hitter allowed, the Red Sox must decide whether to play hobbling slugger David Ortiz at first base or leave his mighty bat on the bench. According to Jeff Horrigan of the Boston Herald, Papi will start all three games.
5827. wabbit - 10/28/2007 1:21:57 AM The Breeder's Cup is a big day in horseracing, and today some very good horses showed their best. Conditions weren't the best, but the racing was.
 This year racing took place over two days at NJ's Monmouth Park. Three races were held on Friday: the Filly & Mare Sprint, the Juvenile Turf, and the Dirt Mile. These three races are not graded stakes races, but might be in the future. For now, they get horses and owners into the Breeder's Cup that might not otherwise be there, and in true horseracing fashion, all three races were upsets. Far back in the field turning for home, Maryfield found an outside path to the finish line and won the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint. Corinthian raced to a commanding upset in the $1 million Dirt Mile, and Nownownow edged wagering favorite Achill Island by a half-length in the $1 million Juvenile Turf.
5828. wabbit - 10/28/2007 1:23:11 AM The big races were run on Saturday. The first two races of the day, the Juvenile Fillies and the Juvenile Colts, were both won wire-to-wire. Indian Blessing put trainer Bob Baffert back in the international racing spotlight by staying unbeaten when running 12 other 2-year-old fillies off their feet in a wire-to-wire victory Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Unbeaten colt War Pass rolled to his fourth straight victory in the Juvenile Colts, this time by 4-3/4 lengths, and is certain to clinch the Eclipse Award as the nation's best 2-year-old male of 2007. If he stays healthy, he'll be the early favorite for next year's Triple Crown races.
Lahudood rolled to a three-quarter-length victory in the $2 million Filly and Mare Turf over the extremely soft turf course. Honey Ryder, third in this race last year, rallied to get second by a neck over Passage of Time, the 5-2 favorite. Midnight Lute left little doubt that he's the best sprinter in the country, overcoming a slow start to roar past Idiot Proof and win the six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint by a widening 4 3/4 lengths. Midnight Lute's performance gave the son of Real Quiet his second straight Grade 1 win. His win was probably the most commanding and, because it happened in the sprint, surprising performance of the day.
Two supplemental entries repaid their owners' faith with wins. In the Mile on soft turf, Cornelio Velasquez eased Kip Deville off a moderate pace, saved ground while just behind pacesetting Cosmonaut, came out past the quarter pole, and zap - Kip Deville was gone. It was a top performance by any standard - even more so from an Oklahoma-bred son of Kipling who began his career in November 2005 in a maiden race at Remington Park. Favored Excellent Art ran well, but for the third time this year was a bridesmaid in a major Grade 1 race. Trainer Bobby Frankel convinced owner Frank Stronach to take a $180,000 gamble, and it paid off in a big way Saturday as Ginger Punch outfought Hystericalady in a thrilling stretch drive at Monmouth Park to win the $2 million Distaff by a neck.
The Big Horse was in the BC Turf, a 1-1/2 mile race that generally favors the Europeans. Today was supposed to be the day the horse widely regarded as the best racehorse alive, and certainly thought to be the best turf horse, would dominate the field. However, favorite Dylan Thomas didn't even finish in the money. Drawing away to a seven length lead in the stretch, English Channel captured the $3 million Breeders' Cup Turf with apparent ease after stalking pacesetter Fri Guy through the first mile race. Shamdinan edged out Red Rocks by 3/4 length for second. Better Talk Now, another 3/4 length behind Red Rocks, was fourth in the field of eight.
 Last but far from least, Curlin, a horse I've followed and supported all year, muscled his way to a dominating victory over one of the best fields in years in the BC Classic. Ridden by Robby Albarado, Curlin was the 4-1 fourth choice in the 1-1/4-mile race. He made a huge move in the turn, overtaking Hard Spun, the front-runner who wound up second in the field of nine 3-year-olds and upward. Awesome Gem, a 28-1 shot, closed late for third, while Street Sense, the 5-2 favorite, finished fourth after making his move at the same time as Curlin but failing to sustain it. It was a somewhat sad end to Street Sense's career, as he will be retired to stud now, but the real tragedy, and the only bad news of the day, came when European star George Washington broke down and had to be euthanized on the track. He was a very good horse who had been brought out of retirement this year. His shattered ankle destroyed the blood supply to his foot, making any surgical intervention unfeasible.
Other than the loss of George Washington, it was a fine meet. We'll see who gets the Eclipse Awards (I'm rooting for Curlin, in spite of his connections).
5829. jexster - 10/28/2007 5:43:07 PM BORING
Glad I V for Vendetta was on. Pretty cool move..slick 5830. wabbit - 10/28/2007 11:13:30 PM  It's do or die for the Rockies now. On a night when rookies ruled, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia sparked the Red Sox from the top of the order, Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and Boston beat Colorado 10-5 on Saturday for a 3-0 Series lead.
Ellsbury became the first rookie in 61 years with four hits in a Series game, getting three of Boston's seven doubles. Pedroia had three hits, including a bunt single that helped spark a six-run third against Josh Fogg, who allowed 12 of 19 batters to reach. Even Dice-K got a hit that scored two runs. Honestly, who saw that coming?
Colorado put up a fight. Down 6-0 in the third and seemingly out, they came back with two runs in the sixth. The Rockies then closed to 6-5 when Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer in the seventh on Hideki Okajima's first pitch.
But the Rockies' chance to get back into the World Series vanished into Coors Field's thin air. Ellsbury lofted an RBI double down the right-field line off Brian Fuentes in the eighth that just eluded Brad Hawpe's attempt at a sliding, backhand catch, and Pedroia followed with a two-run double to right that made it 9-5. Jason Varitek added a sacrifice fly in the ninth of a game that took 4 hours, 19 minutes -- the longest nine-inning game in Series history.
Sunday night, Jon Lester starts for the Red Sox against Aaron Cook in a matchup of pitchers who made it back to the majors after major medical problems. Lester overcame lymphoma, while Cook came back from a blood clot.
5831. jexster - 10/29/2007 12:03:44 AM Let's hope this is the end of it 5832. psychprof - 10/29/2007 1:21:29 AM Great posts Wabbit...
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