It was supposed to be a knockdown, no holds barred fight between Chris Leben and Wanderlei Silva in the next-to-last fight at UFC 132 on Saturday night. And that’s exactly what it was as the fight lasted just 27 seconds.
Leben picked up the knockout win when he finished off Silva with some nasty punches at 27 seconds of the first round.
Here’s the action along with the postfight interview with Leben:
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It’s been a long time Tito Ortiz has been a winner in The Octagon. 2006 to be exact and that came when he beat Ken Shamrock at Ortiz vs Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter.
Well it didn’t take him long to be a winner again in the second fight of the night at UFC 132 when he beat Ryan Bader by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:56 of the first round. Ortiz also took home the Submission of the Night bonus.
Here’s the action along with the postfight interview from Ortiz:
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In the first fight of the main event at UFC 132, Carlos Condit beat Dong Hyun Kim by TKO (flying knees and punches) at 2:58 of the first round.
Condit won the Knockout of the Night bonus for his knockout of Kim.
Here’s the action along with the postfight interview with Condit.
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Here’s a pretty cool montage from NESN with Boston Red Sox starter Josh Beckett who is from Spring, TX.
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Earlier this week the Hockey Hall of Fame came calling for four new members of the Class of the 2011. They were Doug Gilmour, Ed Belfour, Joe Nieuwendyk and Mark Howe.
For Howe this is very special, as his father Gordie Howe is also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. This isn’t the first time the younger Howe has followed in his famous father’s footsteps.
First in 1973 as an 18-year old Mark along with his father and older brother, Marty signed a contract to play together in the WHA with the Houston Aeros. The deal brought the elder Howe out of retirement with the lure of playing with his sons.
Then in the summer of 1977, the Howe family signed as free agents with the New England Whalers. Howe played with the Whalers through the end of the WHA, which included the historic collapse of the Hartford Civic Center roof in January 1978, and came with the team as they moved to the NHL for the 1979-80 season. Howe would stay in Hartford until he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on August 19, 1982 for Greg Adams, Ken Linseman, and 1st (David Jensen) and 3rd (Leif Karlsson) round picks in the 1983 NHL Draft.
While with the Whalers Howe scored 123 goals in 5 seasons adding 273 assists for 396 points in his time in Hartford. He also played in 23 playoff games scoring 13 goals and assisting on 11 others for 24 points. As a Whaler Howe averaged over a point per game.
To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
While in Hartford though Howe’s career nearly ended when on December 27, 1980 in a game against the New York Islanders in Hartford he slid into the net and hit the pointed metal center and suffered a five inch gash on his thigh. He was impaled by the metal and many thought he may never play again. He narrowly missed the base of his spine and he also could have bled to death. The injury prompted the NHL to change the design of their nets so that the injury could never occur again.
After 10 seasons in Philadelphia where he really came into his own and cemented his hockey legacy, Howe followed his dad once again, this time joining Gordie’s original team the Detroit Red Wings for the final three years of his Hall of Fame career.
Much like his famous father, Mark showed the Howe family trait of longevity by playing for four teams in a 22-year career.
His final career numbers between the WHA and NHL are 1355 games played, 405 goals and 841 assists for 1246 career points. He also played in 176 playoff games, scoring 51 goals and 102 assists for 153 points.
Among his awards in his career, Howe was the WHA Rookie of the Year in 1974, winner of the NHL Plus/Minus Award in 1986 and the Bobby Clarke Trophy in the same year. He also played in four NHL All-Star games (one as a Whaler and three as a Flyer).
He won two WHA Championships while in Houston, a silver medal playing for the United States in the 1972 Olympic games in Soporo Japan and four Stanley Cups as a front office member of the Detroit Red Wings, where he is currently the director of pro scouting.
The Howe’s are the 3rd father and son player duo in the Hall joining Bobby and Brett Hull and Lester and Lynn Patrick.
This, like the induction of Ron Francis, is a great time in Whalers history. Howe is one of ours to be revered and it’s wonderful that he achieved this great honor.
Photo credit: WhalerNation.tv
After an epic comeback last night, the Boston Red Sox look to make things a little easier in game two of a three-game set with the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
Tonight’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and you can watch the game on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Astros television market, you can catch the game on Fox Sports Houston. If you don’t live in either market, you may be in luck as the game is scheduled to be shown on the MLB Network in certain parts of the country. And if you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2011 Red Sox Radio Network.
After a strong outing his last time on the bump, Andrew Miller looks to solidify his status in the Red Sox rotation in his third start of 2011. In his previous two starts, Miller is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA, which also marks his record in interleague play this year. He made one start against the Astros in 2010 as a member of the Florida Marlins and received a no decision after allowing one run in five innings of work. He’s made two career starts against the Astros and is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA (6 ER/10 IP). His lone career start at Minute Maid Park came back in 2008 as a member of the Marlins where he took the loss after allowing five runs in five innings of work. He’s made 12 career interleague starts and is 5-5 with a 3.62 ERA.
J. A. Happ looks to stop a personal five-game losing skid tonight in his 17th start of 2011. In his previous 16 starts, Happ is 3-9 with a 5.54 ERA. He’s faced the Red Sox once in his career, coming back in 2009 as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. In that start, he picked up a no decision after allowing five runs in 5.2 innings. He’s made six career interleague starts and is 1-1 with a 4.98 ERA. Happ has made two interleague starts in 2011 and is 0-1 with an 11.74 ERA (10 ER/7.2 IP).
Click on the read more button below to see tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day if you’re on the home page.
Here are tonight’s lineups:
 47-34 |
 29-54 |
||
| 1. Jacoby Ellsbury |
CF | 1. Michael Bourn | CF |
| 2. Dustin Pedroia | 2B | 2. Angel Sanchez | 2B |
| 3. Adrian Gonzalez | RF | 3. Hunter Pence | RF |
| 4. Kevin Youkilis | 3B | 4. Carlos Lee | 1B |
| 5. David Ortiz | 1B | 5. Jason Michaels | LF |
| 6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia | C | 6. Chris Johnson | 3B |
| 7. Darnell McDonald | LF | 7. J. R. Towles | C |
| 8. Marco Scutaro | SS | 8. Clint Barmes | SS |
| 9. Andrew Miller | P | 9. J. A. Happ | P |
And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers:
Notes: The Red Sox game against the Yankees on August 7th will be televised on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball and begin at 8:05 p.m.
Check back and/or refresh often as more links will be added if/when they become available before game time.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
Nation STATion: 81 down, 81 to go [CSNNE.com]
Notes: Ellsbury, Ortiz back in lineup, Gonzalez to RF [CSNNE.com]
Pregame notes: Gonzalez in right [ESPN Boston]
Grading the 1st half of the Red Sox season [Extra Bases]
What Carlos Lee tells us about J.D. Drew’s deal [Full Count]
Red Sox Bullpen Dominates, Astros’ Does Not in Series Opener in Houston [NESN.com]
Jon Lester’s Two-Hit, Seven-Inning Victory over Phillies Earns Amica Pitcher of the Week Honors [NESN.com]
Mike Lowell Presented With Baseball Legacy Award at The Tradition at TD Garden [NESN.com]
David Ortiz, Red Sox Look to Take Advantage of J.A. Happ’s Struggles Against Lefties [NESN.com]
Video: Jacoby Ellsbury Still Battling Flu, But Healthy Enough to Return to Red Sox Lineup [NESN.com]
Hottovy anxious to return to big leagues [Projo Sox Blog]
Josh Reddick being more selective at the plate [Projo Sox Blog]
Yamaico Navarro has more experience in the outfield than you’d think [Projo Sox Blog]
With Crawford out, Francona juggling McDonald and Reddick [Projo Sox Blog]
Beckett, Crawford return home to Houston [Projo Sox Blog]
Franklin Morales finding groove out of Red Sox bullpen [Projo Sox Blog]
Miller looks to improve to 2-0 on the season [RedSox.com]
Photo credits: Getty Images, AP Photo
When Marco Scutaro started Friday night’s game against the Houston Astros with a solo home run, it looked as though the Boston Red Sox were going to have an easy night. But that was far from the case until the 7th inning when they put up six runs for a 7-5 comeback win.
Up until that point, the Red Sox found themselves trailing 5-1 as the Astros were able to take advantage of an ineffective Tim Wakefield. It’s not that Wakefield was completely bad but he gave up a lot of two strike hits. And those ultimately would hurt his bottom line.
Wake would allow a run in the 1st, two more in the 2nd and then single runs in the 5th and 6th. He’d finish the game after 5 1/3 innings where he allowed 11 hits. Wake didn’t walk anyone and also didn’t record a strikeout.
The bullpen was solid behind though as they threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings. They only allowed two hits (Matt Albers and Jonathan Papelbon) while striking out four, including two by Daniel Bard.
After giving up that leadoff home run to Scutaro, Astros starter Bud Norris was pretty much unhittable. During that time, he did walk four (2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th innings) but they didn’t hurt him. He also struck out 10 including the side in the fourth inning. The next hit he would allow wouldn’t come until the 7th when the Red Sox strung three straight hits together and chased him from the game.
J. D. Drew got it going with a single and he would go to second on a Jarrod Saltalamacchia single. Josh Reddick‘s double scored Drew and cut the Astros lead to 5-2. Sergio Escalona took over for Norris and gave up an infield single to Drew Sutton, in for a sick Jacoby Ellsbury, that scored Salty.
Darnell McDonald pinch-hit for one time Astro Dan Wheeler and was hit by a pitch in the foot to load the sacks full of Sox. Wilton Lopez came in and struck out Scutaro for the first out of the inning. Then on a 2-1 count to Dustin Pedroia, Lopez was the benefactor of a strike call that Pedroia didn’t think was a strike. He would go back to the same area but because of the previous call, Pedroia put the ball down the first base line that brought in Reddick and Sutton to tie the game up at 5.
The best part of that at-bat though had to be Pedroia yelling at home plate umpire Lance Diaz as he was running down the base line. Let’s just say he had some choice words for what he thought of Diaz.
Adrian Gonzalez had been slumping as he had been one for his last 14 at the plate. But with the game on the line, Gonzo came through with a double off the wall in left to clear the bases and give the Red Sox the 7-5 lead. It’s actually hard to say Gonzo was slumping when he was hitting .348 at the time but it’s something we’re not used to seeing (him struggling at the dish).
We’ve seen this time and time again from the Red Sox. When they’re down, they don’t give up. And that bodes well for the future.
At the half way mark of the season, the Red Sox are 47-34 and are 2.5 games behind the Yankees for the lead in the AL East. Since it’s July, we can now start talking about the wild card and the local nine has the lead there by 2.5 games over the AL East brethren the Tampa Bay Rays.
If you throw out the awful start to the season, there’s no telling where the Red Sox could be. But it is what is. Interleague is almost over and the Red Sox can hopefully get back to mashing the pitching in the American League as they had been doing in the past.
Hopefully last night’s comeback win was the start of something special, like the June run that really kicked started things in their rise through the standings.
We’ll be back later today with tonight’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and any links from the day. But for now, enjoy the overnight links by clicking on the read more button below.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
In the presence of greatness: Andrew Miller’s night with baseball royalty [Alex Speier – WEEI.com]
Red Sox nip it in the bud [Boston Globe]
Rooting from other dugout [Boston Globe]
All in all, not half bad [Boston Globe]
Times Co. sells part of holdings in Red Sox [Boston Globe]
Texas-sized rally [Boston Herald]
Crawford in holding pattern at home [Boston Herald]
Cameron knew time was running out [Boston Herald]
Sox prove not half bad [Boston Herald]
Sluggers come to Papi [Boston Herald]
Adrian Gonzalez likely bound for right field tonight [Clubhouse Insider]
Sox rally for 7-5 win over Astros [CSNNE.com]
Sox prove their worth when Astros stumble [CSNNE.com]
SoxProspects.com: Bests, worsts from June [ESPN Boston]
Reunions for Francona, Johnson [ESPN Boston]
Rapid Reaction: Red Sox 7, Astros 5 [ESPN Boston]
Ill Ellsbury might miss Saturday’s game, too [ESPN Boston]
Closing time: Red Sox explode for six-run seventh, complete comeback against Astros [Full Count]
Video: Adrian Gonzalez’ Consistency Starting to Warrant Him MVP Consideration [NESN.com]
Video: Dustin Pedroia: ‘I’m Out of My Mind Half the Time’ [NESN.com]
Jacoby Ellsbury, Latest Red Sox Player to Fall Ill, Questionable Saturday in Houston [NESN.com]
Offense roars back from behind [Providence Journal]
Epstein concedes Cameron signing was mistake [Providence Journal]
June full of highlights with some clunkers tossed in [Providence Journal]
Weiland showing dominance, new pitch [Providence Journal]
Red Sox Journal: Ortiz giving deep thought to Home Run Derby selections [Providence Journal]
Crawford gets to catch up with family, friends [RedSox.com]
For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSNNE, ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.
And if you must check out the enemy news, you can head over to the Houston Chronicle website. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, Breathing Orange Fire.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below.
Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
UConn Men’s Basketball links
Kemba Walker To Be Honored At Middlesex Chamber, July 12 [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]
UConn Women’s Basketball links
A new and improved Sue Bird? [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]
Bird, Cash and Jones going strong in 10th WNBA seasons [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]
Maya Moore To Begin Baseball Career Saturday [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]
UConn stars still shine [New Haven Register]
WNBA’s parity a challenge for some college stars [Norwich Bulletin]
UConn Football links
Big East position rankings: Quarterback [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]
Big East Friday mailblog [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]
Destination Red Sox Nation is our look at how the minor league teams of the Boston Red Sox fare each night. Game story and box score links as well as links to team rosters, team stats and league standings can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
If you would like to listen to any of the Red Sox minor league affiliates’ games, MiLB.com offers them for free.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
SoxProspects.com: Bests, worsts from June [ESPN Boston]
Pawtucket Red Sox
The PawSox saw their four-game winning streak come to an end in an 8-4 loss to the Rochester Red Wings.
Early Fireworks Propel Red Wings, 8-4 [PawSox.com]
Doubront hammered [Providence Journal]
Weiland showing dominance, new pitch [Providence Journal]
Rochester Red Wings @ Pawtucket Red Sox 7.1.11 box score [MiLB.com]
International League standings
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats roughed up the Sea Dogs in a 6-2 win.
Dogs just can’t solve Cats’ red-hot pitcher [Portland Press Herald]
Sea Dogs Three Game Win Streak Snapped [OurSports Central]
New Hampshire Fisher Cats @ Portland Sea Dogs 7.1.11 box score [MiLB.com]
Salem Red Sox:
Salem left 13 men on base in a 3-0 loss to the Wilmington Blue Rocks.
Salem can’t close out Wilmington sweep [Roanoke Times]
Salem Red Sox report: Peley’s icy passion [Roanoke Times]
Salem Matches Season-High with 13 Runners Left On Base [OurSports Central]
Salem Red Sox @ Wilmington Blue Rocks 7.1.11 box score [MiLB.com]
The Drive got three runs in the 6th and held on for a 3-2 win over the Hickory Crawdads.
Drive Pull off Thrilling 3-2 Win Over Crawdads [OurSports Central]
Hickory Crawdads @ Greenville Drive 7.1.11 box score [MiLB.com]
South Atlantic League standings
Lowell Spinners:
The Spinners got two runs in the 6th and that’s all they needed in a 2-0 win over the Tri-City ValleyCats.
Spinners Complete Sweep in Shutout Win, 2-0 [LowellSpinners.com]
Pitchers string together 25-inning scoreless streak [Lowell Sun]
First Ever Human Home Run, Fireworks Part of Spinners July 4 & 5 Celebration [OurSports Central]
Tri-City ValleyCats @ Lowell Spinners 7.1.11 box score [MiLB.com]
Gulf Coast League Red Sox
The GCL Red Sox got two runs in the 5th and held on for a 3-2 win over the GCL Twins.
GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox 7.1.11 box score [MiLB.com]
Never mind the fact that Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia got the game-tying two-run single in the eventual win over the Houston Astros on Friday night. He just had to let home plate umpire Laz Diaz what he thought while running said single out.
I’ll set the situation for you:
Pedroia took exception with a strike called by Diaz on a 2-1 count. Pedroia let Diaz know what he thought about the call before the next pitch. Now, I’ll let the video do the rest of the talking for me.
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