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5849. wabbit - 11/7/2007 5:24:13 PM And the baseball news keeps getting better for Boston - Curt Schilling is signed and Kevin Youkilis got a well deserved Gold Glove! For those not in the know, Youkilis began his career as a third baseman and shifted over to first base full-time in 2006, thanks to the BoSox having Gold Glove Mike Lowell on third. Youk did not commit an error at first this year (he made three errors in 13 games at third base). He has played an AL-record 190 straight games at first base without an error, a streak that is only three short of the major league mark set by Steve Garvey from 1983-85 and we know that record is heading South! He'd be two games closer had he played those two WS games, but he'll get there.
Papi had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee yesterday, but he'll be right as rain by Spring training.
Allowing myself a bit of schadenfreude, I'm enjoying seeing absolutely nobody leap to the A-Rod negotiation table. Scott Boras is looking for a ten year, $350 million offer before A-Rod even sits down at that table. I'm hoping that this will be it, the price tag that's just too damn high. A-Rod is in his prime right now, and he's looking for that kind of money for ten years? Are these people insane? Mike Lowell is less than 1-1/2 years older than A-Rod, and some people talk like Lowell has one foot in the grave. Get some perspective, huh?
Re-sign Mike Lowell!! 5850. wonkers2 - 11/8/2007 11:01:50 PM Lectronic Latitude 5851. wabbit - 11/9/2007 4:43:19 PM This from Sports Illustrated: The baseball players' union is worried commissioner Bud Selig is trying to hold down the price of Alex Rodriguez's next contract and that teams might be sharing information about their free-agent plans.
General managers, in an innovation, each spoke at their annual meeting Tuesday about their offseason goals, and many mentioned what players they were making available. The idea was suggested by this year's co-chairs, Boston's Theo Epstein and Florida's Larry Beinfest, and many GMs said they found it to be useful.
"Over the past few days, press reports coming out of the general managers' meetings relating to the sharing of information between clubs as to their plans regarding players potentially raise serious questions concerning the fairness and integrity of the free-agent market," the union said in a statement Thursday night after the four-day session ended. "Such questions are amplified by reports stating that the commissioner is attempting to influence the market for at least one player."
A person familiar with the union's statement said the player in question was Rodriguez. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the statement didn't refer to A-Rod by name... Yeah, right, it couldn't possibly have anything to do with wanting a ridiculous and exorbitant amount of money for the next ten years, when A-Rod will be, what, 42 years old? Has anyone ever played third base, nevermind shortstop, into their forties? He sure isn't manager or coach material, since he's never shown any interest in being a team member or of any value in the clubhouse. Would the GMs even have to have a meeting for the common sense light to dawn on all of them, that this is asking way too much? Does the union think the GMs are stupider than Scott Boras? Maybe the union execs, who are management in their own way despite trying to look like they represent the little guys (which A-Rod isn't close to being anyway), are trying to protect their own jobs. Boras and A-Rod have been all over the news thanks to their exquisite sense of timing and overdeveloped sense of A-Rod's value to any team. It wouldn't be a stretch for the owners and GMs to all be thinking at the exact same time, no way he's worth that much. I can see some team paying him $200 million for five years, and that is $75 million more than what he would have made in the last five years of the 10-year $250 million contract with the Yankees that he declined to serve out. But that isn't enough, he wants another 10-year deal and a $100 million raise? I think not. I sure as hell hope not. 5852. jexster - 11/11/2007 3:37:05 AM 
5853. wabbit - 11/11/2007 5:15:52 PM  Top-ranked Ohio State's national title hopes teetered on a timeout, the ball inches from a first down for Illinois. Illini coach Ron Zook changed his mind, decided to go for it on fourth down and that was the beginning of the end for the Buckeyes' hopes of redeeming themselves in this season's national championship game. Juice Williams provided the big plays on the ground and through the air, spurring the Illini to a stunning 28-21 victory on Saturday night and throwing open the national title race for a bunch of teams that needed the Buckeyes to lose. It was the first time Illinois (8-3, 5-2 Big Ten) had beaten a No. 1 since 1956, and the first time it had done it away from home. The defeat also ended a conference and school streak of 20 Big Ten wins in a row by Ohio State (10-1, 6-1).
Marcus Henry was an under-appreciated underdog who turned into something special, the epitome of No. 5 Kansas' remarkable run from nowhere to a legitimate national title contender. Henry had a career-high 199 yards receiving and three touchdowns, Brandon McAnderson ran for 142 yards and two scores, and the Jayhawks stayed unbeaten with a 43-28 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday night. A skinny receiver who no one else wanted, Henry turned in the game of his career in his return to his home state as Kansas (6-0 Big 12) moved to 10-0 for the first time since 1899. The senior from Lawton had the fourth-highest receiving total in school history and caught more than one touchdown pass in a game for the first time in his career. The Jayhawks are now the only unbeaten team left in the six conferences with an automatic bid to the BCS after top-ranked Ohio State was upset by Illinois earlier in the day.
Chauncey Washington 's first step was a doozy. The USC tailback slipped, tripped and tumbled to the waterlogged turf without being touched the first time he got the ball at California. Between an insistent rain and the Golden Bears ' sturdy defense, Washington could have been in for a long day. It turned into the greatest night of his college career, and the long-struggling senior kept his Trojans in the Rose Bowl hunt. Washington ran for a career-high 220 yards and a touchdown, and No. 12 USC beat No. 24 Cal 24-17 on Saturday night in a matchup that was much more tantalizing before both schools blew their national title hopes last month. John David Booty passed for 129 yards and a score for the Trojans (8-2, 5-2 Pac-10), who stayed in the conference and BCS races by faring slightly better in the steady precipitation that drenched Strawberry Canyon all night, causing both teams to flounder with footing, execution and tackling.
NCAA Football
5854. wabbit - 11/11/2007 5:16:08 PM  The Boston Celtics won one for Doc Rivers and sent the New Jersey Nets a message in the process. Hours after attending the funeral of his father in Illinois, Rivers saw the new-look Celtics remain the NBA's only undefeated team and personally show the Nets they are the team to beat in the Atlantic Division with an impressive 112-101 win on Saturday night. Boston's new big three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen put on another impressive performance against the Nets (4-2). The victory was the fifth straight for Boston, which is off to its best start since winning six in a row to start the 1987-88 season. That was the last time the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish got to the Eastern Conference finals.
Brandon Roy scored a career-high 32 points and added seven assists and the Portland Trail Blazers ended a 13-game losing streak to the Dallas Mavericks with a 91-82 victory Saturday night. LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers (3-3), who extended their modest winning streak to three games after dropping the first three of the season. Josh Howard had 20 points for Dallas (4-2), which had won its last three. Dallas had won the previous 13 games against the Trail Blazers , a streak dating to the 2003-4 season, including a six-game winning streak at the Rose Garden.
Denver Nuggets coach George Karl wouldn't reveal the contents of his motivational halftime speech on Saturday night. Whatever he said appeared to have the desired effect, though. The Nuggets, who trailed by 25 points in the first half, used Carmelo Anthony 's 32 points and 10 rebounds to pull out a 113-106 victory over the stunned Indiana Pacers. Denver shot 41 percent from the field and committed 13 turnovers before the break, leading to Karl's unpleasant lecture. The Nuggets (4-3) outscored Indiana 57-32 in the second half to win their second straight game following three losses.
NBA scores
5855. jexster - 11/11/2007 5:41:51 PM Four dead in Ohio
OSU/Michigan...toilet bowl 5856. wabbit - 11/12/2007 8:44:48 PM  The resurgent Chicago Blackhawks have the NHL's top two rookie scorers - and the Detroit Red Wings' number. NHL rookie scoring leader Patrick Kane had a power-play goal and an assist to help Chicago beat Detroit 3-2 on Sunday night, ending the Red Wings' franchise record-tying winning streak at nine games. Jonathan Toews, second in rookie scoring, also had a power-play goal, Yanic Perreault connected at even strength, and Jason Williams and Robert Lang each had two assists for Chicago in its third straight victory and third of the season over Detroit. Jiri Hudler and Nicklas Lidstrom scored for the Red Wings, 13-3-1 overall. Anaheim is the only other team to have beaten Detroit so far. The Blackhawks, who have missed the playoffs in eight of the previous nine seasons, improved to 10-7-0 and show signs of having turned the corner.
Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski were in perfect step in the Colorado Avalanche's 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night. Stastny scored twice and assisted on Wolski's empty-net goal with a second left. Stastny's two goals in the second period, along with his assist, gave him 100 points in 99 career games. He's just the sixth player in franchise history to reach 100 points in 100 or fewer contests. Stastny's father, Peter, needed 73 games to reach 100 points. His uncles, Marian and Anton Stastny, took 82 and 95 games, respectively, to reach the mark.
Tim Thomas made 45 saves and Chuck Kobasew scored the tiebreaking goal by batting a puck out of the air to lead the Bruins to a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night in a matchup of struggling offensive teams. The Bruins, held to two goals or fewer in eight of their last 10 games, snapped a four-game losing streak. Marco Sturm scored Boston's other goal. Each of the Bruins' last seven games have been decided by one goal. Daniel Paille scored a short-handed goal for Buffalo and Ryan Miller made 20 saves. The Sabres were shut out in two of their previous three games.
NHL scores
5857. wabbit - 11/12/2007 8:45:01 PM  The Cleveland Browns appear to be closing the gap between themselves and the rival Steelers. They're not there yet, though, not with Ben Roethlisberger able to beat teams two different ways in the same week. Roethlisberger scrambled 30 yards for a key touchdown during Pittsburgh's second-half comeback, then set up his own go-ahead 2-yard TD pass to Heath Miller with an important third-down run as the Steelers rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat Cleveland 31-28 Sunday. Roethlisberger's big second half, with two TD passes and some important scrambles, overcame Cleveland quarterback Derek Anderson 's huge first half and two long Joshua Cribbs kickoff returns. Pittsburgh (7-2) beat Cleveland (5-4) for the ninth consecutive time. Barely. Phil Dawson could have tied it, but was short on a 52-yard field goal attempt with 6 seconds remaining.
His teammates thought he might be faking it to draw a penalty. His coach was more concerned and started calling for backup. Brett Favre was feeling woozy after taking an elbow to the head in the third quarter. That didn't stop him from driving the Packers to yet another touchdown in a 34-0 rout of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Favre passed another milestone Sunday, joining Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for more than 60,000 career yards. But unlike the last two weeks, the Packers (8-1) didn't need a thrilling home-run heave from Favre at the end of the game to win.
Peyton Manning was poised to atone for those franchise-record six interceptions. He'd moved the Indianapolis Colts well within Adam Vinatieri's range with 1:31 left on a crazy, rainy night. Snap, hold and ... miss! After nearly blowing all of a 23-7 fourth-quarter lead, the Chargers could exhale. Vinatieri, who'd won two Super Bowls for New England with last-second field goals, pushed a 29-yard attempt wide right and the San Diego Chargers escaped with a wild 23-21 win over the defending Super Bowl champions on Sunday night.
NFL scores
5858. jexster - 11/13/2007 6:23:49 PM Quack Attack!
Bowl Champ. Series
1. LSU
2. Oregon
5859. wabbit - 11/14/2007 1:19:44 AM  Josh Beckett was robbed.
Ok, ok, it was close if you didn't take the postseason into account, and the voting takes place before the postseason. If they had, Beckett was a lock for this year's Cy Young award. As it is, the AL Cy Young goes to C.C. Sabathia. The Indians ace received 19 of 28 first-place votes and finished with 119 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Boston's Beckett was second with eight first-place votes and 86 points, while John Lackey of the Los Angeles Angels got the other first-place vote and came in third. Cleveland's Fausto Carmona was fourth.
It's hard to feel too badly about Sabathia's award. He went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA and 209 strikeouts, pitching a major league-high 241 innings. Beckett (20-7) became the only big league pitcher to win 20 games since 2005, compiling a 3.27 ERA in 200 2-3 innings. Lackey led the AL in ERA at 3.01, going 19-9 and tossing 224 innings. Carmona was 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA. After being sidelined by injuries the previous two seasons, the 6-foot-7, 290-pound left-hander stayed healthy all year and made 34 starts to Beckett's 30. That helped account for their wide gap in innings pitched. The 27-year-old Sabathia also walked only 37 batters, giving him a remarkable strikeout-to-walk ratio that took pressure off his defense all season. Beckett had 194 strikeouts and 40 walks.
Things changed in the postseason. Beckett beat Sabathia twice in the AL championship series and went 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in four postseason starts, striking out 35 and walking two. Sabathia was 1-2 with an 8.80 ERA and 13 walks in three playoff outings.
AL and NL Manager of the Year will be announced Wednesday and then the NL Cy Young Award on Thursday, with San Diego ace Jake Peavy considered the favorite.
5860. jexster - 11/16/2007 3:12:51 AM FREE BARRY BONDS
FREE THE JENA 6 5861. jexster - 11/18/2007 3:04:27 AM Intra Family War!!!
Tulane 45
Rice 31
5862. jexster - 11/18/2007 3:56:39 AM They better pray for a Tennessee win over Kentucky...Don't think they can take Georgia in Atlanta
GO TIGERS!
 5863. jexster - 11/18/2007 6:06:39 PM Damn Wabbit doesn't anyone want to win the NCAAF Championship?
Every weekend, watch the games and listen to the announcers speculate. Yesterday it was OU "best team in the country" one guy said (that runt idiot former coach on ESPN game day)...Unranked Texas Tech took em apart.
LSU had better hope Tuhnuhsee wins cause UGA will whip em. 5864. jexster - 11/18/2007 9:13:12 PM Motivated for more:
Tigers win West, ready for Hogs
5865. wabbit - 11/19/2007 4:13:52 PM All that stands between a Kansas-LSU matchup in the BCS national championship game are some tough opponents. LSU was first and unbeaten Kansas was second in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday and the chances of another team catching either without the Tigers and Jayhawks losing seems remote. The Tigers are No. 1 in the polls and the computers ratings and have BCS average of .990. The Jayhawks are No. 2 across the board with a BCS average of .949. Kansas moved up two spots this week, taking advantage of losses by Oregon and Oklahoma. Hoping for Kansas or LSU to slip up are third-place West Virginia (.888), Missouri (.871), Ohio State (.860) and Arizona State (.802). LSU faces Arkansas at home on Friday before playing in the Southeastern Conference championship game against either Georgia or Tennessee on Dec. 1 in Atlanta. Kansas and Missouri meet Saturday in Kansas City for the 116th time, and never has it been more important. The winner goes to the Big 12 title game with national championship hopes in tact. If Kansas gets by Missouri, either Oklahoma or Texas awaits in the Big 12 title game. Ohio State (11-1) finished its regular season with a 14-3 victory over Michigan and is locked into at least a Rose Bowl bid as the Big Ten champion. Mississippi put 20 players on probation Sunday after they twice stole items from hotels. A news release said the players have paid for the items, which included radios and pillows. Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron said in the release that the players will be on probation indefinitely. Officials said the items stolen cost between $15 and $40. "Any actions similar to this will result in more severe penalties which may include dismissal from the team," Orgeron said in the release. The action comes a day after the Rebels lost 41-24 to No. 1 LSU in Oxford. It appears the players will be allowed to play Friday at Mississippi State in the final game of the season. A spokesman said a list of disciplined players was not available. Neither Orgeron nor athletic director Pete Boone immediately returned messages Sunday. Boone is scheduled to attend Orgeron's weekly news conference Monday to answer questions about the disciplinary action.
NCAA Football
5866. wabbit - 11/19/2007 4:14:44 PM 
So much for the Celtics' 82-0 season. The NBA's best-shooting team, the Celtics found themselves uncharacteristically down 20 points and still trailing after three quarters. They came back and made it close, but Paul Pierce missed an off-balance jumper with time running out and Orlando dealt Boston (8-1) its first loss, 104-102. Garnett, Ray Allen and Pierce were each averaging 20 points. Only Pierce topped the mark Sunday, scoring 28 points and keying several quick runs that brought Boston back. Allen finished with 19, but had just eight points on 4-of-12 shooting before the fourth quarter. It was a chance for Orlando (9-2) to show it deserved the conference's second-best record. The Magic forced 20 Boston turnovers, shot 50.8 percent and won despite the Celtics' 41-28 rebounding edge. Perhaps more importantly, they didn't collapse when Boston made a late run. It was the first time a team shot better than 50 percent against the Celtics and the first time Boston trailed at the half and entering the fourth quarter. The Denver Nuggets thought they were pretty good. Then two weeks ago along came the Boston Celtics, who humiliated the Nuggets in a blowout win and put Denver in its place. The Nuggets haven't lost since. Carmelo Anthony had 24 points, Allen Iverson added 23 and Denver won its fifth straight game with a 115-83 win over the New York Knicks on Saturday night. The winning streak traces back to the humbling 119-93 loss to the Celtics on Nov. 7. The Nuggets trailed by 39 points at halftime in that game. But they found their identity in that drubbing. The Knicks might want to take note. New York dropped its sixth straight game. The Knicks went 0-4 on their five-day road trip through the West. Unwanted in San Antonio, Beno Udrih appears to have found a home with the Sacramento Kings. Udrih had 23 points and six assists to help the Kings beat the Detroit Pistons 105-95 on Sunday night. Udrih, a late preseason cut by San Antonio who came to the Kings as a backup when Mike Bibby was injured just prior to the season, has quickly become a starter. He showed why against the Pistons, hitting 9 of 13 shots from the field and all five of his free throw attempts and fueling a strong second half by the Kings.
NBA scores
5867. wabbit - 11/19/2007 4:15:06 PM 
The Vancouver Canucks are losing top defensemen, yet keep winning games. Markus Naslund and Henrik Sedin each had a goal and an assist, and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves as the Canucks overcame a suspension to top defender Mattias Ohlund to beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 on Sunday night. Willie Mitchell and Brad Isbister both scored their first goals of the season, and Daniel Sedin added two assists as the Canucks improved to 5-0-1 since losing top-four defensemen Kevin Bieksa and Sami Salo to serious injuries on Nov. 1. Vancouver had lost four of five and was three games below .500 before the injuries, which forced the Canucks to tighten up in their own zone. Matt Foy and Aaron Voros filled in well for Minnesota's missing offensive threats. Foy scored for the first time in more than two years, Voros and Brent Burns added goals for the second time in two games, and the Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 Sunday. Stephane Veilleux also scored for Minnesota, which won for the fourth time in 12 games and moved past the Avalanche atop the Northwest Division. The Wild did it without injured forwards Pavol Demitra and Mikko Koivu. James Sheppard , who centered a line with Foy and Voros in the Wild's makeshift lineup, had two assists for his first career multipoint game. The fourth-line trio logged the three lowest ice-time totals for the Wild, combining for just 23 minutes, 26 seconds of action. Johan Franzen scored the winning shootout goal in the fifth round of the tiebreaker and the Detroit snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. Chris Osgood stopped Sergei Fedorov to keep the Red Wings in the game and then he gloved David Vyborny's shot to end it. Nicklas Lidstrom had a goal and two assists for the Red Wings , who rallied late to tie it. Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk each had a goal and an assist, and Brett Lebda also scored. Brian Rafalski added two assists for the Red Wings, who improved to 7-3-1 on the road.
NHL scores
5868. wabbit - 11/19/2007 4:15:48 PM 
Make it two in a row for the Houston Dynamo, the first MLS team to repeat in a decade. The men in orange rallied with two goals in the second half Sunday to beat the New England Revolution 2-1 in the MLS Cup, securing the win with Dwayne De Rosario's powerful 12-yard header in the 74th minute. The Dynamo have won the championship both years since the team disbanded as the San Jose Earthquakes and was reborn in Texas last year, beating the Revolution both times. The Earthquakes also won the title in 2001 and 2003, which makes for a dominant run of four championship rings in six years for several Houston players. The Dynamo became MLS' first repeat champions since D.C. United won the league's first two titles in 1996 and 1997. The Revolution, meanwhile, fell at the final hurdle for the fourth time. New England lost the 2002 and 2005 MLS Cups in overtime and was beaten in a penalty kick shootout following overtime last year. The Revolution were hoping to capture some of the sports fervor that has overrun Massachusetts this year. The Red Sox won the World Series, and the Patriots and Celtics began the day undefeated. But the MLS trophy will go to Houston again. MLS
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