Here are some pictures from the celebration that ensued after the game. I will have full coverage in the morning and throughout the day.

Continue reading →

Bobby Kielty’s pinch-hit home run in the 8th was the difference as Jonathan Papelbon came in and closed the door on the Rockies magical season as the Sox defeated the Rox 4-3 to win their second World Series in 4 seasons. Jon Lester was outstanding for the Red Sox tonight as he gave them 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

Jacoby Ellsbury got things started in the 1st of Rockies starter Aaron Cook as he doubled leading off. With Garrett Atkins in at third,Dustin Pedroia grounded out to him allowing Ellsbury to get to third. David Ortiz brought in Ellsbury with a RBI single to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. Cook got out of the inning as he got Manny Ramirez to ground into a 5-4-3 double play.

Jon Lester was on the hill tonight making his first start of the postseason. He had worked in relief in the Cleveland series. He had a very easy 1-2-3 inning. He got Kaz Matsui to pop up to him, Troy Tulowitzki to strikeout and Matt Holliday grounded out to Pedroia.

Cook had no troubles with the Sox in the top of the 2nd as he got Mike Lowell to ground out for the first out. J.D. Drew was the second out as he popped out. Cook finished it off by getting Jason Varitek to ground out.

Todd Helton got the first hit of the night for the Rockies as he doubled to start the 2nd. Atkins was unable to move Helton over as he grounded out to third. Lester then got Spilborghs to fly out but it was deep enough to move Helton to third. Brad Hawpe worked a 2-out walk to give the Rox runners on first and third. Lester was able to escape the jam as Torrealba grounded out to shortstop.

Cook found his groove in the 3rd inning. He made quick work of the Sox as he got three groundball outs off the bats of Julio Lugo, Lester and Ellsbury.

Lester got Cook to fly out for the first out in the bottom of the 3rd. Matsui stroked a double to deep left giving the Rockies a runner in scoring position again. They were unable to bring him in though as Lester got Tulowitzki to strikeout for the second time tonight and then he struck out Holliday to avoid any damage.

Continue reading →

Scott Boras has informed the New York Yankees that ARod has decided to opt out of his contract. You can read about it here from Jon Heyman of SI as I want to watch the end of this game  and not really talk about ARod right now.

The Result

The New England Patriots took one of the NFL’s top rated defense’s and made them look like a Pop Warner team as they routed the Washington Redskins 52-7 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Sunday afternoon.

The all-American boy Tom Brady threw for 3 TD’s passes and ran for a pair of scores in the win. One of Brady’s TD tosses went to Mike Vrabel, a linebacker playing tight end, in the second quarter. It was Vrabel’s 10^th career catch, all 10 have been for touchdowns.

The defense chipped in as well, yielding only a late TD to Washington after forcing 4 turnovers by rookie quarterback Jason Campbell (3 fumbles and 1 INT).

This was the Patriots first win over Washington since 1972.

Scoring Plays

Washington	0	0	0	7	7
New England	7	17	14	14	52

1^st Quarter

• NE – Brady 3 yard run – kick good – 7-0 Patriots

2^nd Quarter

• NE – Brady 2 yard pass to Vrabel – kick good – 14-0 Patriots
• NE – Gostkowski 36 yard FG – 17-0 Patriots
• NE – Brady 6 yard pass to Moss – kick good – 24-0 Patriots

3^rd Quarter

• NE – Brady 2 yard run – kick good – 31-0 Patriots
• NE – Colvin 11 yard fumble return – kick good – 38-0 Patriots

4^th Quarter

• NE – Brady 2 yard pass to Welker – kick good – 45-0 Patriots
• NE – Cassel 16 yard run – kick good – 52-0 Patriots
• WAS – Campbell 15 yard pass to Cooley – kick good – 52-7 Patriots

Offensive Player of the Game

Laurence Maroney had 14 carries for 75 yards on the ground and caught 2 passes for another 37 yards.

Defensive Player of the Game

Mike Vrabel had 13 tackles, 3 sacks and 3 forced fumbles plus for good measure he even caught a touchdown pass.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

Patriots once again score on their opening drive putting the Redskins in an early 7-0 hole.

Patriots force Redskins QB Jason Campbell to fumble in the second quarter and end up with a FG to increase the lead to 17-0.

Offensive Leaders/Notes

In addition to Maroney, Wes Welker had 9 catches for 89 yards and a TD and Tom Brady was 29 of 38 for 306 yards and 3 TD passes plus he ran 4 times for 14 yards and 2 TD’s.

RB Laurence Maroney went 11 yards on the Pats first play. Then went 14 yards on the second play. He ran well all game and even caught passes for large gain out of the backfield.

Patriots moved the ball very effectively on the first drive with a nice mix of pass and run going 90 yards for a score.

Tom Brady ran out of the pocket on third and goal from the 5 and got into the end zone. As he broke free Randy Moss became open on the end line but it was too late to thrown. It was his first rushing TD of the season and once again the Pats scored on their opening drive of the game.

The Patriots just continue to operate at will on the Redskins D in the second quarter.

Patriots LB Mike Vrabel was once again left wide open in the end zone resulting in his 10^th career TD catch.

Moss couldn’t pull down a 3^rd and six pass forcing the pats to kick a FG.

Brady fumbled on the first play after the Samuel INT

Patriots get their 3^rd TD of the game after they recovered the second Campbell fumble Brady threw 9 yards to Moss. It set a new career high for Brady with 29 TD passes.

Patriots had 19 first downs in the first half.

Maroney went 9 yards after reversing direction as he was nearly wrapped up at the line of scrimmage.

TE Marcellus Rivers dropped a pass in the end zone on 1^st and goal from the 2.

Brady went with a keeper from the 2 on 3^rd and goal for his second run of the game.

Brady went 35 yards to Randy Moss down the sideline in the 4^th quarter.

Once again the offensive line did a great job of protecting Brady and opening holes for the running backs.

In the red zone in the fourth quarter the Pats had two motion penalties one by Moss which is inexcusable for a WR.

Brady goes two yards to Wes Welker for his 30^th TD pass of the year and third of the game. He now has at least 3 TD passes in all 8 games.

Matt Cassel replaced Brady with 9 minutes left in the game.

Cassel hit Jabar Gaffney for a 21-yard gain on 4^th and 2 from the 37.

Cassel runs 16 yards for a TD. It was his first rushing TD in the NFL.

Matt Gutierrez replaced Cassel at QB with 3 minutes left in the game.

The offense had a season high 486 yards.

Continue reading →

Here are your lineups for tonight’s World Series Game 4 at Coors Field. The only change in the lineups tonight besides the pitchers is that Ryan Spilborghs is playing center field in place of Cory Sullivan who played there last night. Spilborghs will bat 6^th.

Red Sox

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, 1B
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Julio Lugo, SS
9. Jon Lester, P

Rockies

1. Kazuo Matsui, 2B
2. Troy Tulowitzki, SS
3. Matt Holliday, LF
4. Todd Helton, 1B
5. Garrett Atkins, 3B
6. Ryan Spilborghs, CF
7. Brad Hawpe, RF
8. Yorvit Torrealba, C
9. Aaron Cook, RHP

Here is how the players on each team have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers in their careers. No one on the Rockies has ever faced Lester.

Will the Red Sox clinch tonight or will Josh Beckett be the one to propel the Sox to another ring tomorrow night? Tune into FOX at 8:00 PM EDT tonight to find out. It should be a great game.

Lineups courtesy of Amalie Benjamin from the Boston Globe.

Batter/Pitcher numbers courtesy of the Red Sox game notes.

Saturday night’s 10-5 win for the most part was about the Red Sox rookies, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Ellsbury and Pedroia led the way with 7 hits and 4 RBIs between while Dice-K gave the Red Sox 5 1/3 solid innings of work. He even chipped in with a 2-out 2 RBI single of his own in the 3rd inning to help his own cause.

The Rockies did end up battling back and making the game close at 6-5. But those pesky rookies, Ellsbury and Pedroia, got the Red Sox back up for good as Jonathan Papelbon finished the game off for the Red Sox.

Today’s starter features a battle of two survivors as Jon Lester was a cancer survivor and Aaron Cook overcame blood clots in his lungs. No matter who comes out on top between the two, both of them are winners in the game of life. The Red Sox can either set off the biggest celebration in Boston’s history with a Game 4 win or the new Mr. October can do it for them on Monday.

Either way, it will be great but I’d rather see the Red Sox finish this off tonight. So while we await the start of tonight’s World Series Game 4, let’s take a look at the headlines from the Boston area and Denver media as well as Kevin Youkilis on this Soxtober morning in Red Sox Nation.

Not getting ahead of ourselves [Yooooouuuuukkkkk]

First things first: Ortiz answered the call [Boston Globe]

Rox have choked in Series [Denver Post]

Tito’s moves pay off [Boston Herald]

Fogg fails to live up to his nickname [Rocky Mountain News]

Ellsbury Hits The Ignition Switch [Hartford Courant]

Sox took the Rockies’ best punch and stood tall [Pro Jo]

Fisk ready to start Game 6, if necessary [Boston Globe]

Holliday’s HR lights a brief spark [Denver Post]

Remarkable Ellsbury like nothing this club has seen [Boston Herald]

Rockies’ Game 3 was too little, too late [Rocky Mountain News]

Lester Not One To Pitch His Medical Story [Hartford Courant]

I can tell you, it really ain’t over ’til it’s over [Pro Jo]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News websites.

I don’t think you will ever see anything like this again. Trinty (TX) was trailing Millsap 24-22 at the end of their Division III football game on Saturday afternoon. They needed 61 yards to score a touchdown to win the game. The only way to do this was with a long hailmary pass and a prayer or to run a hook and ladder or just keep lateraling the ball. They chose the latter and the rest is history.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbzQoXuxdU]

I lost count after 10 but watched it again to count them all. The final total of laterals was 15 and Trinty (TX) won the game 28-24.

Jacoby Ellsbury had four hits with 2 RBIs, Dustin Pedroia had three hits with 2 RBI’s and Daisuke Matsuzaka gave the Red Sox 5â…“ strong innings as they defeated the Rockies 10-5 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the World Series. Dice-K also helped himself with a 2-RBI single in the 3rd inning. Mike Lowell chipped in with two hits and 2 RBIs as well for the Sox.

Although Matsuzaka only lasted a â…“ of an inning more than he had all postseason, they were solid effective innings. Without his strong effort the Red Sox might not have been in the position they were tonight.

Ellsbury led off the 1st with a what amounted to a swinging bunt off of Josh Fogg. Dustin Pedroia had an infield single to get Ellsbury to second. If you were a Rockies fan, you were thinking “ut oh, not again”. No worries though as Fogg rebounded to strikeout David Ortiz. He then got Manny Ramirez and Lowell to fly out.

Kaz Matsui smoked a single off of his countryman, Dice-K, to get things going in the 1st for the Rox. He ended up second base as J.D. Drew failed to pick the ball up for an error. Dice-K made Troy Tulowitzki his first strikeout victim of the night. Matt Holliday then grounded a ball back to the mound. Dice-K went to Lowell at third and they got Matsui in a rundown. Lowell ended up tagging Matsui out as Holliday would stay at first. Todd Helton grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning as the Rockies continued their futility with runners on base.

In the top of the 2nd, Fogg worked around a 2-out double by Julio Lugo. He had gotten Drew and Jason Varitek on ground outs. He finished it off with a strikeout of Matsuzaka.

Dice-K hit Garrett Atkins with a pitch in the shoulder to start the bottom of the 2nd inning. He was able to get around it though when Brad Hawpe struck out for the seventh time in the World Series, Torrealba flew out and Cory Sullivan grounded into a fielder’s choice.

Continue reading →

The Result

The biggest win in UConn football history came today as they beat South Florida 22-15 at a soggy Rentschler Field. This was their first ever win over a ranked opponent and puts them at 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big East. The win should lock up a bowl bid for the Huskies and should also vault them into the Top 25.

UConn was able to slow USF’s star Matt Groethe in the first half and held on for dear life in the second half. They got some big defensive plays, including a Robert McClain interception in the end zone to prevent a touchdown. Andre Dixon was able to pound the ball and tire out the Bulls’ defense.

Scoring Plays

Final	1	2	3	4	Score
(11) So Florida	0	0	9	6	15
Connecticut	3	13	3	3	22

1^st Quarter

• CON – Ciaravino 22-yard field goal – 3-0 UConn

2^nd Quarter

• CON – Lorenzen 3-yard pass to Brouse – kick failed – 9-0 UConn
• CON – Lutrus 23-yard interception return – kick good – 16-0 UConn

3^rd Quarter

• USF – Blocked punt in end zone recovered by UConn for safety – 16-2 UConn
• USF – Groethe 10-yard run – kick good – 16-9 UConn
• CON – Ciaravino 27-yard field goal – 19-9 UConn

4^th Quarter

• USF – Alvarado 47-yard field goal – 19-12 UConn
• USF – Alvarado 27-yard field goal – 19-15 UConn
• CON – Ciaravino 20-yard field goal – 22-15 UConn

Offensive Player of the Game

The offensive player of the game was Andre Dixon. Dixon ran for 167 yards and had 3 receptions for 42 yards.

Defensive Player of the Game

The defensive player of the game was Scott Lutrus. He had 8 tackles and returned an interception 23-yards for a touchdown.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The Lutrus interception return for a touchdown to put the Huskies up 16-0.

The blocked punt by USF put the Bulls on the board. They then scored a touchdown after the free kick.

Tyvon Branch’s 27-yard kick off return gave UConn the ball with good field position. They drove down and kicked a field goal.

Continue reading →

Here is a look at the lineups for tonight’s World Series Game 3 between the Red Sox and the Rockies. Kevin Youkilis is out of the lineup for the Red Sox tonight as there is no DH in the National League parks.

Red Sox

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Julio Lugo, SS
9. Daisuke Matsuzaka, P

Rockies

1. Kaz Matsui 2B
2. Troy Tulowitzki SS
3. Matt Holliday LF
4. Todd Helton 1B
5. Garrett Atkins 3B
6. Brad Hawpe RF
7. Yorvit Torrealba C
8. Cory Sullivan CF
9. Josh Fogg P

Here is a look at how both teams have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers in their careers:

No one on the Rockies has faced Matsuzaka.

Lineups courtesy of Amalie Benjamin from the Boston Globe.

Batter/Pitcher numbers courtesy of the Red Sox game notes.