RIP Heath Ledger, 1979-2008

RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008

Heath Ledger, best known for his role in Brokeback Mountain, was found dead in his apartment today in New York City. He was 28 years old. His body was found by his housekeeper who was going to let him knew his masseuse had arrived. According to media reports, he was found face down on his bed naked with sleeping pills scattered around.

At this time, there is no cause of death but police did say it doesn’t look like foul play.

Ledger started his career in Hollywood back in 1992 when he had a role in Clowning Around. After that he had roles in Paws, Blackrock, 10 Things I Hate About You, Two Hands, The Patriot, Monster’s Ball, A Knight’s Tale, The Four Feathers, The Order, Ned Kelly and Casanova.

His big break came with his role opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. During filiming, he became involved with his co-star Michelle Williams. The pair ended up having a daughter, Matilda, back on October 28, 2005. The pair separated last summer.

Ledger finished filming The Dark Knight, the lastest entry in the Batman franchise late last year. He plays the Joker. Being a fan of Batman, I look forward to seeing his portrayal of the Joker in the film.

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Our condolences go out to his young daughter, family and friends.

To stay up to date on the saga, head over to TMZ.com for all the latest details.

Red Sox News & Notes – 1/22

Red Sox News & Notes @ SOX & Dawgs

Enough of the movies talk here, let’s get back into the Red Sox talk here @ SOX & Dawgs.

Ricoh MLB Opening Series JapanLarry Lucchino was in Tokyo this morning for a press conference about the 2008 Ricoh MLB Opening Series in Japan. With the Red Sox having two players from Japan in Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima so this series will be huge for Red Sox Nation.

“We want to expand Red Sox Nation and further establish it in one of the greatest baseball nations in the world – Japan.”

Matsuzaka, who will probably start the second game, may miss the game because his wife is expecting their second child and she is due while the Sox are in Japan.

“As the CEO of the team, I try to stay on top of details but the due date is beyond my job description. I know he wants to play here and we want him to play here.”

Even with the 6:07 AM start time here on the right coast, I am looking forward to the games. It will be very interesting to see the reception the Red Sox receive in the Far East.

Red Sox shortstop prospect Jed Lowrie was on hand for the PawSox Hot Stove party recently and talked about the road to Fenway Park and how he knows he’s in the Red Sox future plans barring a trade.

“I’m not concerned about who’s ahead of me, who’s behind me,” said the Pawtucket Red Sox shortstop of the present, perhaps the starting shortstop in the future – for Boston or some other MLB franchise.

“I remember last year, the first week that I came to Pawtucket, you want to make a good impression, but it’s tough to find a comfort level,” he said. “You want to understand how the clubhouse is run.”

With Lugo having three more years on his contract, it may be hard for Lowrie to make it to the big leagues in Boston. But things can change quickly in the game of baseball, so you can never say never.

Red Sox, A’s looking forward to Japan trip [GMANews.TV]

Lowrie knows he’s just one step away from majors [The Sun Chronicle]

80th Academy Awards Nominations

What every actor dreams of receiving.The nominations are in for the 80th Academy Awards presentation that will be held on February 24th at 8 PM ET on ABC. According the Academy, the Oscars will go on as scheduled but as of right now how the show will be presented is up in the air due to the writer’s strike.

So you will win the Oscars this year.

Performance by an actor in a leading role

  • George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
  • Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
  • Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
  • Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” (Warner Independent)
  • Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

  • Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.)
  • Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal)
  • Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
  • Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

  • Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal)
  • Julie Christie in “Away from Her” (Lionsgate)
  • Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)
  • Laura Linney in “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight)
  • Ellen Page in “Juno” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

  • Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company)
  • Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal)
  • Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features)
  • Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax)
  • Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

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Paw Prints – Women’s Roundball Edition

Paw Prints - Women's Roundball Edition @ SOX & Dawgs

I know this isn’t something I normally do where I look at what the player’s and coaches have to say about a game but I figured why the heck not. I was able to watch the press conference via CSTV XXL, which you can check out in the left sidebar.

But before I do that I want to look at an article in the Hartford Courant about Mel Thomas.

Mel Thomas is presented with her ceremonial ball - AP PhotoAs we all know by now, Thomas is out for the season with a torn ACL. She had the surgery last Friday and was back behind the bench for Saturday’s game against Cincinnati. Last night, she was honored before the game for reaching the 1,000 point milestone in her Huskies career. She was presented a basketball commemorating the milestone by Geno Auriemma. Thomas finished her career with 1,098 points and finishes 4th all-time with 244 career 3-pointers made.

“It’s been very frustrating for me, particularly because since I came here to play we’ve been struggling to be on top and we were finally there. We were unbeaten and No. l and now not to be able to play is very frustrating.”

“I wasn’t expecting that at all,” said Thomas of Saturday’s rousing standing ovation, likely to be repeated in February’s Senior Night ceremony at Gampel. “But I guess it just shows how much the fans love this team. It’s amazing how many e-mails and phone calls I’ve received.”

Thomas said she still wants to play basketball and plans to do so overseas in the fall or winter once she heals after a six- to eight-month rehabilitation. But until then, she plans on refocusing her energy on recovering and encouraging her teammates to finish the job.

“After it happened I was joking around with my teammates on the bus,” Thomas said. “But once I got home, and laid down in bed, I kind of lost it. It hurt [when she injured it] but it hurt more to know that I would never play for UConn again. That hurt a lot more than anything has ever hurt.

“I wanted this to end with a national title. It still could happen. I just won’t be out on the floor with them.”

Continue reading after the jump to see the reaction from the players and coaches and how Mel had an impact on Charde Houston in last night’s win over North Carolina.

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In The Red Zone – Super Bowl XLII Edition Vol. 1

ITRZ Logo

We start where we do each and every week, why change now right?  It’s Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and his weekly visit on WEEI in Boston with “The Big Show”.   Bill talks about the AFC Championship game and the upcoming Super Bowl against the Giants.  By the way one the interviewers, Steve DeOssie, has a son, Zak DeOssie, who is a rookie linebacker/long snapper with New York. 

So with the New England Patriots playing the New York Giants for the second time in just a few weeks and this time in the Super Bowl the war of the words will no doubt start at some point. But here’s a left over courtesy of the Boston Herald’s “The Point After” blog.

So apparently Rodney Harrison’s comments to the Herald following the season finale a couple of weeks back about the Giants being a dirty team finally somehow found their way to New York. Harrison felt the Giants were going for his knees during the game.

“I’m going to tell you, we saw it on film,” Harrison said at the time. “It wasn’t no secret. They push, they hit late, they come at you and try to take you out. That’s the way they play.”

Harrison was steamed at the end of the game after getting cut. He singled out star Plaxico Burress.

“Plaxico was going for my knees,” Harrison said. “They’re a big, physical group, but sometimes I feel they go overboard. Plaxico was trying to cut my knees, take my knees out. There’s no room for that. But with that type of intensity, that type of atmosphere, you’re going to have that.”

An intrepid reporter in Green Bay prior to the Giants-Packers game read the quotes to Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who laughed heartily.

“That’s funny,” he said. “We’ve got to be the dirtiest team of all time if Rodney Harrison thinks we’re dirty.”

Speaking of being called out for dirty play, San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick called out Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour after Sunday’s game and had some choice words about the lineman that should stoke this rivalry for a while.

“Richard Seymour is the biggest (expletive) I’ve ever come across in football,” Hardwick said. “They’ve got 10 good football players on that team. Richard Seymour is a dirty, cheap little pompous (expletive).”

“He’s cheap and dirty, and the head man just let him get away with it the whole time,” Hardwick said. “They’ve got 10 great players, and when Jarvis Green is on the field they have 11 great players that compete how you’re supposed to compete. But that Richard Seymour is the biggest (expletive) I’ve ever played.

“Head-slapping, foot-stomping in the pile, running by and throwing punches in your back late. He’s a (expletive).”

But as with most stories there’s always another side and this comes from the Tennessean earlier this year after the Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans.

“Their mindset was to try to intimidate us and see if we’ll back down,” Hardwick said. “Everyone seems to think we’re soft – that we’re Southern Cal boys and we’re not going to play hard and we’re soft and we’re quitters. We’re just as dirty, if not dirtier than anyone else in the league, so we like that. That’s the way Kansas City was. That’s the way Tennessee was. They think they’re going to swell up on us and be bigger than us, tougher.”

So Nick it looks like you need to pull your panties up.

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Tom Brady Injured

Brady in a castNew England Patriots All-Pro quarterback and NFL MVP Tom Brady injured his foot in Sunday’s AFC Championship game against the San Diego Chargers. Brady was photographed by paparazzi outside his girlfriend Gisele Bundchen’s New York City apartment.

Brady was photographed while with Bundchen as they returned to her apartment with her dog and some flowers.

There’s been no word on how he suffered the injury and what the official prognosis is. The Patriots do not need to list an injury report until the Wednesday prior to the game.

Brady acknowledged he’s a bit nicked up but will be ready to play against the New York Giants come Super Bowl Sunday in Glendale Arizona on February 3rd.

“There are always kind of bumps and bruises,” Brady told WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan Show. “I’ll be ready for the Super Bowl. I’m not missing this one. I’d have to be on a stretcher to miss this one. There will just be some treatment this week and like I said, games like this you get a little nicked up but it’s nothing serious.”

Montgomery, Houston Rally UConn Past North Carolina

Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery and Maya Moore celebrate - Courant Photo

Renee Montgomery leads the charge again - AP PhotoAfter trailing by 11 points at the half, the #1 UConn Huskies used a 24-7 run to pull ahead of the #3 North Carolina Tar Heels and held on to win 82-71 in front of a sold-out Gampel Pavilion and national television audience on Monday night. The win by the Huskies ended a 3-game losing streak to the Tar Heels.

Whatever head coach Geno Auriemma said to the Huskies worked as the big 24-7 run was anchored by the play of Renee Montgomery, Charde Houston and Maya Moore. With the Huskies up by six at 65-59, the Tar Heels went on a 10-0 run to retake the lead but UConn went on a 9-0 run of their own to go back up by five at 74-69. North Carolina got it down 3 points at 74-71 as the Tar Heels last basket came at the 3:27 mark when Latoya Pringle scored.

Maya Moore splits the North Carolina D - Courant PhotoMontgomery led the way for the Huskies (18-0) with 26 points. Moore continued her streak of scoring in double figures as she had 19 points to go with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Houston added 15 points and 7 boards. Tina Charles was a monster on the glass as she tied her career-high 19 rebounds while chipping in with 15 points.

North Carolina (17-2) was paced by Pringle who scored 20 points. Jessica Breland and Heather Claytor both added 12 points. Rashanda McCants chipped in with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Erlana Larkins scored 7 points, 11 rebounds and a team-high 5 assists for the Tar Heels.

It was an ugly first half for the Huskies as the Tar Heels started out the game hot scoring the 8 points before UConn got on the board. UConn got back into the game but North Carolina used a 16-9 scoring binge to take an 11-point lead into the locker room. It was only the second time the Huskies trailed at the half this season. It was also the first time they trailed by over 9 points all season.

For Houston it was her best game of the season and arguably of her UConn career. For UConn’s success to continue, Houston will have to play like she did tonight. Since moving to the 2 spot for Mel Thomas, Montgomery has scored 53 points in the past two games. Sure the Huskies will miss Thomas down the stretch this season but Montgomery gives them a different threat at the 2 spot as she has a little more speed than Mel. Moore did look like a freshman at times but she stepped her game up as well.

The Huskies will be on national tv again next Sunday when they travel to South Bend, IN to take on Notre Dame in a Big East matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 PM and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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My Apologies

My apologies for the site being temporarily down. My hosting company, Hostmonster, was running an apache upgrade. Things should be back to normal any time now.

Pierce Ejected As Celtics Spank Knicks

Paul Pierce leaves the court after being ejected - AP Photo

Despite the ejection of Paul Pierce in the third quarter, the Boston Celtics easily dispatched of the New York Knicks 109-93 in a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day matinée special at Madison Square Garden on Monday afternoon. This was the third straight win for the C’s after losing two in-a-row.

Pierce, who scored 10 points, was ejected late in the third quarter when he and Quentin Richardson began jawing each with each other. Both were assessed double-technicals and ejected from the game. At that point, the Celtics were up 17 points. They eventually went up by 19 points but the Pierce ejection left them distracted as the Knicks cut the lead to 7 in the fourth quarter.

Kevin Garnett made sure the Knicks would get no closer as he led the charge for the Celtics as they extended their lead in the fourth quarter.

The last two times these teams faced off, the Celtics embarrassed the Knicks 104-59 on TNT in front of national television audience.

Ray Allen drives to the net - NBAE/Getty ImagesKendrick Perkins led the Green with a career-high 24 points, 22 of those came in the first half. KG had a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds and had 7 assists as well. Ray Allen chipped in with 17 points and Rajon Rando returned to the starting lineup with 14 points. Rando had missed the previous two games with a lower back injury.

Zach Randolph paced the Knicks with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Jamal Crawford added 22 points while Eddy Curry had 19 points, including 13 from the charity stripe. Nate Robinson came off the bench and gave the Knicks 15 points as well in a losing effort.

Four members of the NFC Champion New York Giants, Plaxico Burress, Steve Smith, R.W. McQuarters and Aaron Ross were on hand to watch the Boston-NY rivalry. They will face off in another Boston-NY rivalry on February 3rd when they will face the AFC Champion New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

The win for the Celtics was their 33rd of the season and their 33-6 record is tops in the NBA. The Celtics return home on Wednesday night to the friendly confines of the T.D. BankNorth Garden to take on the Toronto Raptors. KG’s former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, comes to Beantown on Friday night.