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5121. wabbit - 9/4/2006 1:50:29 PM  Ryan Howard is hitting all the homers he can to keep Philadelphia in the playoff picture, trying to overcome bullpen breakdowns and late-inning mistakes. Howard homered in his first three at-bats, raising his major league-leading total to 52, and the Phillies rallied after wasting a five-run lead to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-7 Sunday in the opener of their second straight doubleheader split. Atlanta kept Howard from going deep in the second game, winning 3-1 in 11 innings after scoring the go-ahead run on catcher Carlos Ruiz's throwing error. The Phillies, who won Saturday's nightcap, dropped to 11/2 games back of San Diego, the NL wild-card leader while the Braves fell five games behind the Padres.
It's too late, but the Boston Red Sox activated catcher Jason Varitek, outfielder Trot Nixon and shortstop Alex Gonzalez from the disabled list Sunday, bringing back three regulars who were sidelined while the team's playoff chances plummeted. Varitek, the team captain, had been on the 15-day disabled list since Aug. 1 with torn cartilage in his left knee. Nixon was out since July 31 with a strained right biceps, while Gonzalez was gone since Aug. 22 with a strained side muscle. The Red Sox went 9-21 during August, the worst winning percentage in the majors, and fell from a one-game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees to an eight-game deficit by the end of the month.
The Chicago White Sox are probably happy they don't have to face the Kansas City Royals again this season. The Royals have the worst record in the majors at 51-87, but have been giving the White Sox fits lately, winning five of the last eight meetings. That came after the White Sox won eight of the first 11 games between the teams this season. Ryan Shealy and Angel Berroa each homered and drove in three runs, and Mark Redman pitched seven strong innings as the Royals defeated the White Sox 7-3 on Sunday.
MLB scores
5122. wabbit - 9/4/2006 1:50:56 PM  Vijay Singh shot the best round of his PGA Tour career on Sunday and put himself in position to end another streak by Tiger Woods at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Singh played his first five holes in 5 under par, then finished with three straight birdies for a 10-under 61 to set the course record at the TPC of Boston and build a three-shot lead over Woods, who shot 67. Two years ago, Singh went toe-to-toe with Woods in the final round on Labor Day and beat him by three shots to rise to No. 1, ending Woods' record 264 consecutive weeks atop the world ranking. Woods now has won four straight times on the PGA Tour, and Singh is poised to end that streak.
Annika Sorenstam waved to the raucous gallery, picked up the ball and tossed it toward a sky box after ending a nearly flawless day with a 20-foot birdie putt. It was the perfect finish to a round that carried her to an LPGA record and a victory at the State Farm Classic. Down five strokes at the start of play Sunday, Sorenstam tied the LPGA mark for the lowest final-round score by a tournament winner with a 62. She shot 10 under for the day to finish 19 under, two strokes ahead of Cristie Kerr (67).
Henrik Stenson eagled the first playoff hole Sunday to win the BMW International. Stenson, who will make his Ryder Cup debut later this month, shot a 4-under 68 to force a three-way tie with two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen (67) and Padraig Harrington (69) at 15-under 273. The Swede hit a 5-iron to within five feet on the first playoff hole, the 568-yard 18th. Goosen missed an eagle putt from 25 feet, while Harrington drove into the rough and then found a greenside bunker with his second shot.
5123. wabbit - 9/4/2006 1:51:35 PM  It was nearly an hour before Andre Agassi stopped crying and it could be a decade before the sport stops wiping away its tears. The 36-year-old legend bowed out of the US Open and tennis on Sunday in a 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 loss to Germany’s Benjamin Becker, but there was no real defeat on the day, as all 23,712 fans in attendance stood and cheered in unison, saluting the most popular tennis player of all time.
While other players have come close to Agassi in international recognition, none have been as widely loved, and as Agassi wept courtside, in the locker room and in the players lounge, the world took a bow – just like he did eight times in front of the highly emotional crowd. With tears running down his cheeks, Agassi still had the courage to take the microphone and thank fans for inspiring him to succeed, even during his lowest moments. Early in his career, Agassi had fought against the world. Later in life, he learned to how to lean on his supporters’ shoulders.
Andy Roddick should be able to beat Becker without any real difficulty in their match today, and most of the remaining top players are through to the next round. Marat Safin provided a big upset by defeating the no. 4 seed David Nalbandian, 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 7-6 (6), after nearly four hours. The 6-foot-5 Safin next meets Olivier Rochus of Belgium, who at 5-foot-4 has won their last two matches.
US Open Tennis
5124. wonkers2 - 9/5/2006 12:58:32 PM In polite sailing parlance DFL=dead fucking last. 5125. wabbit - 9/5/2006 1:15:16 PM Ah, thanks! 5126. wabbit - 9/5/2006 1:16:10 PM  Tiger Woods made two eagles in his first seven holes to turn a rally into a rout, matching the best final round of his career with an 8-under 63 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday and stretch his PGA Tour winning streak to five tournaments. It was the first time Woods has won five straight times in one season, and his two-shot victory over Vijay Singh gave him seven titles in only 14 tournaments this year, a staggering victory rate of 50 percent.
About the only thing capable of stopping him right now is the schedule. Woods is taking next week off. His next PGA Tour event will be the American Express Championship outside London the last week of September.
Byron Nelson won 11 straight tournaments in 1945, a streak regarded as one of the most untouchable in sports. Woods won four straight at the end of 1999 and his first two in 2000 for six in a row, tied with Ben Hogan in 1948 for the second-longest winning streak.
5127. alistairConnor - 9/7/2006 9:56:44 AM When Les Bleus play the Squadra Azzura, one of the teams has to play in white.
Italy got to be in blue for the World Cup final, two months ago (a controversial and undeserved victory for them, you may recall)
Last night's match was for the Euro Cup qualifiers, and France was in blue. And played at home in Paris, before an exceedingly partisan crowd... baying for revenge.
And they humiliated the world champions, 3-1. (the same score as Sweden-Liechtenstein...)
This is a better team than the one that came second in the world cup... astonishingly, newcomer Franck Ribéry is starting to fill Zidane's shoes as playmaker. And Sidney Govou (right), who hardly got to play in the World Cup, scored two excellent goals.
Did I mention that he's a good friend of my girlfriend's sister?
Yes I thought so. 5128. wabbit - 9/7/2006 2:53:25 PM  Marion Jones' latest comeback came in a laboratory, where her backup sample turned up clean -- a stunning twist that clears her to compete and could validate a long list of triumphs sullied by years of doping allegations. The "B" sample taken from one of the world's best-known and most decorated sprinters did not detect the banned endurance enhancer EPO, her attorneys said Wednesday night. The finding means her initial positive result is thrown out, clearing her of the most recent -- and most damaging -- allegations against Jones and paving the way for her return to the track.
Questions have long been raised about the reliability of EPO testing, and this negative 'B' test will spark further debate. "I believe there are issues with that test," said Howard Jacobs, another Jones attorney who has defended several athletes on doping charges. "It's a difficult test. From what I saw on the `A' sample, it was questionable as to whether it should've been called a positive. I can't say I was shocked that the 'B' came back negative based on what the 'A' looked like." As he has in the doping case involving Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, Jacobs derided the leaking of positive tests. Doping cases aren't supposed to be made public until they are resolved, but most are reported once a positive 'A' test is confirmed.
 Cat Osterman has pitched plenty of back-to-back games in her career. On Tuesday, she delivered her best 1-2 punch. First, she led the U.S. softball team to a 5-1 victory against longtime rival Australia. Two hours later, Osterman avenged Monday's loss to Japan, striking out 14 in a 3-0 win that gave the USA its sixth consecutive world title. The win gives the U.S. team the top seed at the Beijing Olympics, where softball and baseball will make their final appearances. Both sports are to be dropped from the Olympics beginning in 2012 at London. The Americans have won all three gold medals since softball became an Olympic sport in 1996 and are 106-10 in world championships competition since 1965. Japan beat the U.S. team 3-1 on Monday, ending the Americans' 20-game unbeaten streak at the world championships. Their last loss came in the second round of the 1998 world championships against Australia.
5129. wabbit - 9/7/2006 2:54:00 PM 
Anibal Sanchez was standing behind the mound when the scoreboard caught his eye, confirming what he already knew: He was one out from a no-hitter. He froze. For a couple of seconds, the Florida Marlins' rookie didn't move. Then he collected himself and, in this year of sensational rookies, finished up the greatest performance yet. The 22-year-old Venezuelan brought the longest period without a no-hitter in major league history to a close Wednesday night, benefiting from three defensive gems by teammates to lead the Marlins over the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0. One of four rookies in the Florida rotation, Sanchez (7-2) walked four and pitched around an error. He struck out six and threw 103 pitches in his 13th career start. It was the first no-hitter in the majors since Arizona's Randy Johnson threw a perfect game to beat Atlanta 2-0 on May 18, 2004.
Stick a fork in the Red Sox, they are done. Jose Contreras turned a tweaked Chicago lineup and a little clubhouse chat into the perfect remedy for the White Sox. Contreras pitched eight strong innings and Jim Thome went 4-for-4 with his 39th homer in a revamped White Sox lineup to carry Chicago to an 8-1 win over the Boston Red Sox Wednesday night. The win was the second in seven games for the defending World Series champion White Sox, who moved to a half game behind the Twins in the AL wild-card chase. The Red Sox remained six back with Minnesota's 4-2 loss to Tampa Bay. Contreras (12-7), who was 0-3 in his previous four starts, held the Red Sox to one run and four hits with nine strikeouts and one walk. He fanned five consecutive batters in the first and second innings.
MLB scores
5130. wabbit - 9/7/2006 2:55:22 PM Andy Roddick whipped a winner on the run past Lleyton Hewitt, raised his arms and yelled to celebrate, then basked in the standing ovation. Exactly the sort of stuff Jimmy Connors used to do to fire up U.S. Open crowds, right? Roddick, now coached by Connors, capped a busy day at Flushing Meadows by beating fellow former champion Hewitt 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 Wednesday night to reach the semifinals for the first time since he won the tournament in 2003.
And there was more good news for Roddick: He won't have to play Rafael Nadal next. The second-seeded Spaniard was upset by 54th-ranked Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-1, meaning Nadal and No. 1 Roger Federer will not become the first pair of men to meet in three consecutive Grand Slam finals during a season.  A day after rain allowed only one match to finish, Federer and No. 5 James Blake set up a quarterfinal showdown with straight-set wins, and that half's other quarterfinal will be No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko against No. 14 Tommy Haas.
There still could be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 final for the women, because top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne advanced with relative ease. Henin-Hardenne's 6-4, 6-4 win over Lindsay Davenport means this is the first year in the Open era -- which began in 1968 -- that no American woman reached any Grand Slam semifinal.
Mauresmo beat No. 12 Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3 to move a step closer to her third Grand Slam title of 2006. Her next opponent is No. 3 Maria Sharapova, whose shrieking during her 7-6 (4), 7-6 (0) quarterfinal victory got to No. 27 Tatiana Golovin.
5131. jexster - 9/8/2006 3:05:27 AM [via my fireballing 12 yo nephew]
This is like deja vu all over again.
--Yogi Berra
Half the game is 90% mental.
--Yogi Berra
If I didn't wake up, I'd still be sleeping.
--Yogi Berra
Slump ? I ain't in no slump. I just ain't hittin.
--Yogi Berra
Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical
--Yogi Berra
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
--Yogi Berra
"He must have made that before he died."
-- Referring to a Steve McQueen movie.
--Yogi Berra
"I want to thank you for making this day necessary."
-- On Yogi Berra Appreciation Day in St. Louis in 1947.
--Yogi Berra
"I'd find the fellow who lost it, and, if he was poor, I'd return it."
-- When asked what he would do if he found a million dollars.
--Yogi Berra
"Think! How the hell are you gonna think and hit at the same time?"
--Yogi Berra
"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where
you're going, because you might not get there."
--Yogi Berra
"I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early."
--Yogi Berra
"If you don't know where you are going, you will
wind up somewhere else."
--Yogi Berra
"If you can't imitate him, don't copy him."
--Yogi Berra
"You better cut the pizza in four pieces because
I'm not hungry enough to eat six."
--Yogi Berra
"It was impossible to get a conversation going;
everybody was talking too much."
--Yogi Berra
"A nickel isn't worth a dime today."
--Yogi Berra
"Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."
--Yogi Berra
"It gets late early out there."
-- Referring to the bad sun conditions in left field at the stadium.
--Yogi Berra
"Glen Cove." -- Referring to Glenn Close on a movie review television show.
--Yogi Berra
Once, Yogi's wife Carmen asked, "Yogi, you are from St. Louis,
we live in New Jersey, and you played ball in New York.
If you go before I do, where would you like me to have you buried?"
Yogi replied, "Surprise me."
--Yogi Berra
"Do you mean now?" -- When asked for the time.
--Yogi Berra
"I take a two hour nap, from one o'clock to four."
--Yogi Berra
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it."
--Yogi Berra
"You give 100 percent in the first half of the game,
and if that isn't enough in the second half you give what's left."
--Yogi Berra
"90% of the putts that are short don't go in."
--Yogi Berra
"I made a wrong mistake."
--Yogi Berra
"Texas has a lot of electrical votes."
-- During an election campaign, after George Bush
stated that Texas was important to the election.
--Yogi Berra
"Thanks, you don't look so hot yourself."
-- After being told he looked cool.
--Yogi Berra
"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."
--Yogi Berra
"Yeah, but we're making great time!"
-- In reply to "Hey Yogi, I think we're lost."
--Yogi Berra
"If the fans don't come out to the ball park, you can't stop them."
--Yogi Berra
"It ain't the heat; it's the humility."
--Yogi Berra
"The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase."
--Yogi Berra
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise,
they won't come to yours."
--Yogi Berra
"I didn't really say everything I said."
--Yogi Berra
"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."
--Yogi Berra
"It's never happened in the World Series competition, and it still hasn't."
--Yogi Berra
"How long have you known me, Jack? And you still don't know
how to spell my name." -- Upon receiving a check from
Jack Buck made out to "bearer."
--Yogi Berra
"I'd say he's done more than that." -- When asked if first baseman
Don Mattingly had exceeded expectations for the current season.
--Yogi Berra
"The other teams could make trouble for us if they win."
--Yogi Berra
"He can run anytime he wants. I'm giving him the red light."
-- On the acquisition of fleet-footed Ricky Henderson.
--Yogi Berra
"I never blame myself when I'm not hitting. I just blame the bat, and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn't my fault that I'm not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?"
--Yogi Berra
5132. OhioSTOPAS - 9/9/2006 10:13:33 PM Enough about baseball - we're less than three hours from THE GAME!!! 5133. robertjayb - 9/9/2006 10:33:17 PM Hook 'em, Horns! 5134. OhioSTOPAS - 9/9/2006 10:38:43 PM Yeah, we're afraid of a quarterback named Colt (snicker) McCoy. 5135. jexster - 9/10/2006 1:13:15 AM The Eyes of Tejas Fanfare
The Bevo Marching Band
 5136. jexster - 9/10/2006 2:20:02 AM 'show iyuz purty
 5137. OhioSTOPAS - 9/10/2006 12:54:14 PM Every dumpster in Columbus is in flames. Life is good. 5138. jexster - 9/10/2006 3:23:36 PM BBQ Bevo? 5139. wabbit - 9/10/2006 3:55:35 PM  In the first regular-season matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in a decade, quarterback Troy Smith riddled Texas for 269 yards passing and two touchdowns, leading the Buckeyes to a 24-7 win Saturday night. The victory keeps the Buckeyes (2-0) in perfect position for a run to a national title. Keep winning and they should stay right where they are.
Brady Quinn and the Notre Dame offense were as good as advertised in Week 2. After an unimpressive opening game, Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and Co. returned to their fantastic form of last season in a 41-17 victory over No. 19 Penn State on Saturday. Quinn, the Heisman hyped quarterback, was 12-of-16 passing for 150 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter alone as fourth-ranked Notre Dame opened a 20-0 lead. The defense and special teams chipped in, too, breaking the game open in the third quarter by scoring one touchdown and setting up another as the Fighting Irish cruised. The game was essentially over at halftime.
Clemson's kicks kept winding up in the wrong hands. Jeff Smith returned one kickoff for a 96-yard touchdown and had three other long runbacks to help Boston College force overtime on Saturday, then Jolonn Dunbar blocked an extra point in the second OT to lead BC to a 34-33 victory over No. 18 Clemson.
NCAA football
5140. wabbit - 9/10/2006 3:58:26 PM Maria Sharapova has long insisted she's more about substance than style and now, at age 19, she owns a second Grand Slam title to prove it. Better on the biggest points all night, the third-seeded Sharapova beat No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open  final Saturday to add a follow-up championship to her breakthrough title at Wimbledon in 2004.
After the singles final ended, Martina Navratilova, who's 49, collected her 59th Grand Slam title by teaming with Bob Bryan to win the mixed doubles final 6-2, 6-3 over Kueta Peschke and Martin Damm.
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