TODAY IN SPOIRTS (8-27-09)

Not on the score board

If you didn’t get to see Plaxico’s interview on ESPN E:60, then you really missed something. This guy does not deserve two years in jail for having an unregistered gun. The man has never harmed anyone, he had no intent to harm anyone, just give the guy a break. Yes it is a crime, but isn’t jail for bad guys, for people who kill and steal. Plax only had the gun because he went to pick up a teammate who lived in the same area as teammate Steve Smith, who was robbed earlier that week. He could have kept the gun in the car, and that would have been the best thing to do, but the guy is human, he was looking out for his safety. His wife is due in November, with a baby girl, and he would be there to witness it because his gun wasn’t register. Some of the laws we have today are stupid, laws are meant to be broken, and when they are broken without harming anyone of having intent on harming anyone, then we should not punish them to the max. I hope he gets out and continues his great career. I know the Philadelphia Eagle would be glad to pick him up in a couple years.

On that note, Michael Vick is finally getting too return to the gridiron tomorrow as the Eagles take on the Jaguars. I remember seeing this guy the last time he was on the field, the N.F.C. Championship against the Eagles. He was amazing, and I hope to see those same amazing qualities in Vick, as he tries to get not only his football career back on track, but also his life. It has been 970 days since he last played a football game.

The Memphis Grizzles have made an offer that would bring former all star Allen Iverson to Memphis. Last year, Iverson averaged a career low 17.5 points per game. Already loaded at the guard position with O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley in the backcourt, Iverson could be a great addition to the Grizzles bench. Along with Mayo and Conley, the Grizzles will start Rudy Gay, Mark Gasol and possibly rookie center Hasheem Thabeet to give them a good young team who can grow together and form something special. I believe Iverson will give the Grizzles the experience and knowledge needed to make a push in the N.B.A.

Sources have reported that things aren’t peachy in the Vikings locker room and Im not the least bit surprised. The guy missed all of training camp, didn’t workout at all with the team during their two a day and three a day practices, and gets the same treatment the president would if he was playing for the Vikings. He was flown in on the owners private plane and picked up personally by head coach Brad Childress. Does anyone else on the team get that tight of treatment, Im going to go with Hell No. Not to mention the 2 quarterbacks who were battling for the starting spot. What happens to them. How do you expect these guys to want to play if something happens to Farve. Farve led the lead in interceptions last year, is that a quarterback worthy of a 25 million dollar contract for 2 years? This is going to be an interesting year for the Vikings. If all else fails, they can always give the ball to Peterson and let him run.

In Beantown land, the Red Sox have released starting pitcher Brad Penny to make room for reliever Billy Wagner in the rotation. Penny (7-8) asked for a release from the Red Sox after going 1-6 in is previous 11 outings with an ERA of slightly over 5.61.

Ricky Rubio, the 5th pick in this years N.B.A. draft, might not be playing in the United States for a while. FC Barcelona has offered him a deal to leave his team , Joventut, that is worth an estimated 8.1 million dollars. This money is only to buy him out of his contract, once he is no longer on Joventut, then he would be able to sign a deal with Barcelona or Minnesota, which ever team makes the biggest effort to sign him. Why he would pass up an opportunity to play in the N.B.A., I have no idea. isn’t that every ball players dream? To play with pros, to travel from city to city and play for millions of people while making millions of dollars. The same can be done over seas, but when your talent level is that of Ricky Rubio, you look for the best compitition to go up against. The best competition is in the United States.

In the world of Baseball

Red Sox 3 White Sox 2 [D. Bard (1-1) W / T. Pena (1-2) L]

David Ortiz hit two homeruns, one a walk off shot, and the Red Sox defeated the White Sox 3-2. Tim Wakefield, (7-3) pitched an effective 7 innings in his first game back since coming off the disabled list, giving up six hits and one earned run while striking out 3. The two RBI’s for the White Sox came from Scott Podsednik, a solo homerun, and Paul Konerko. Big Papi, who has hit 7 homeruns in his last 11 games, has 10 walk off homeruns for his career, 2 behind Mickey Mantle for most walk off homeruns in a season.

Marlins 5 Mets 3 [J Johnson (13-3) W / Mike Pelfrey (9-9) L]

The Marlins got another strong outing from ace pitcher J. Johnson and beat the hapless Mets 5-3. He went 6 innings giving up 3 earned runs. The Marlins remain 7 games out of first place and 5.5 games out of the wild card lead. The Mets got more bad news today when the team announced thay would be shutting down starting pitcher O. Perez for the season. Hanley Ramirez, batting .361 (second in the league) was 3-3.

Phillies 4 Pirates 1 F/10 [R Madson (5-4) W / S. Jackson (2-3) L]

The Phillies got a surprisingly strong outting from former ace Cole Hamels, helping the Phillies to a 4-1 victory over the Pirates in extra innings. Hamels (7-8) pitched eight innings, giving up 7 hits and no earned runs while striking out 7. Chase Utley got the scoring started in the first with a solo homerun. The pitchers went at it for the rest of the game, until the 9th inning came. The Pirates tied the game with a pitch hit homerun from Brandon Moss, only to see Ryan Howard, in the top of the 10th, smack a 3-run homer on the very first pitch he saw. Paul Maholm pitched just as good as Cole Hamels, going seven innings, giving up 5 hits and one earned run while striking out 4

Yankees 9 Rangers 2 [ A. Pettitte (11-6) W / D. Holland (7-8) L]

The New York Yankees got back to their winning ways, taking care of the Rangers 9-2 in New York. Homeruns by Posada and Hairston Jr. powered the Yankees to a 5 run 6th inning. Andy Pettitte had another strong outing going 7 innings giving up 5 hits with 2 earned runs while striking out 7. For the Rangers Holland had a rough night, going six innings giving up 6 runs on 7 hits.

Angels 4 Tigers 2 [ J. Saunders (10-7) W / E. Jackson (10-6) L]

The Angels avoided the sweep, beating the Tigers 4-2 in a battle of two of the top pitchers in the A.L. Jackson gave up 4 earned runs on 8 hits striking out 3. He didn’t get much run support, the only two RBI’s for the Tigers came from shortstop Everett on a two run homer in the 5th. The Angels, king of the small ball, got a big shot from Torri Hunter, a 2-run homer, to start the scoring in the first. Figgins and Morales added RBI singles later in the game to seal the deal.

Indians 4 Royals 2 [ D. Huff (8-7) W / L. Hochevar (6-7) L / L. Wood (16) S]

In a game that matched up the two worse teams in the A.L. Central, the Indians got a good outing from Huff, pitching 6 innings while only giving up 2 runs. Hochevar gave up four runs on 8 hits, striking out 6

Padres 12 Braves 5 [T. Stauffer (2-6) W / K. Kawakami (6-10) L ]

The padres waited for the 6th inning to do all of their scoring, tallying 6 in the sixth and three more in the ninth, to defeat the Atlanta Braves 12-5. Gonzalez and Eckstein each knocked in 2 RBI’s and third baseman Kouzmanoff hit a 2 run homer, chasing Braves pitch Kawakami out the game in the 5th inning. He gave up 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 3. Brain McCann was the only Brave to bring his bat on Wednesday, totaling 4 RBI’s, including a 3 run homer in the first.

Cardinals 3 Astros 2 [ J. Pineiro (13-9) W / R. Oswalt (7-5) L]

The Cardinals got to Oswalt early, doing all of their scoring in the first inning, and the Cardinals
took care of the Astros 3-2.Matt Holliday hit an RBI single followed by an 2 RBI single by Mark DeRosa. That was all Pineiro needed, gong 8 innings, giving up 2 runs on seven hits while striking out 5. After giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in the first, Oswalt settled down, giving up no more runs on 6 hits through six innings.

Orioles 5 Twins 1 [ J. Guthrie (9-12) W / N. Blackburn (8-9) L ]

The Twins had an opportunity to gain some ground on the Tigers, but failed to do so by losing to the Baltimore Orioles 5-1. Guthrie gave the Orioles a strong outing, pitching 7 innings giving up 1 run on 6 hits. Catcher Chad Moeller went 2-2 with 2 RBI’s. Blackburn had another rough outing, going 5 and 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs on 9 hits, failing to register a strike out.

Rays 2 Blue Jays 3 [B. League (2-5) W / J. Howell (6-4) L ]

A wild 9th inning might have taken the Rays out of playoff contention, as the fell to the Blue Jays in walk off fashion 3-2. The Rays had a 3-1 lead heading into the 9th, but a homerun by R. Barajas tied the game in the bottom of the 9th. Four batters and three walks later, J. Howell threw a wild potch, allowing M. Scutaro to score and give the Blue Jays the win. The Rays are now 4 games out of the wild card lead behind the Red Sox.

Dodgers 6 Rookies 1 [ R. Wolf (9-6) W / J. Fogg (0-2)

The dodgers got the long ball going and stopped the red hot Rookies 6-1 on Wednesday. Two homeruns by Andre Either and a three run shot from James Loney gave Randy Wolf all the offense he needed. Wolf went 7.1 inngins giving up 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 5. The Dodgers now lead the Rookies by 3 games in the N.L. West with one game left in this series.

Cubs 9 Nationals 4 [A. Guzman (3-3) W / J. Bergmann (2-3) L ]

The cubs rebounded from their horrible lost to the Nationals yesterday with a 9-4 victory over Washington. Milton Bradley, who earlier in the day said that he felt hatred from Chicago, homered in the third inning and the Cubs added 6 more in the 8th. Livan Hernandez and Rich Harden pitched pretty well respectively, each giving up 2 runs on 5 hits while going 6 effective innings.

Reds 4 Brewers 3 F/10 [D. Herrera (3-4) W / M. Burns (3-5) L / F. Cordero (27) S ]

A big mistake by Ryan Braun might have cost the Brewers the ballgame against the Reds on Wednesday. On a line drive ball from D. McDonald, Braun took a few steps up, only to realize that he wasn’t going to be able to get to the ball that flew right over his head for an RBI double in the top of the 10th. The Brewers, after being as close as 2.5 games from first place within the last month, has now fallen 12 games behind the first place Cardinals.

Athletics 3 Mariners 5 [ L. French (4-3) W / G. Gonzalez (4-5) L / D. Aardsma (30) S

The Mariners beat the A.L.’s lowest scoring team 5-3 on Wednesday. In a game between the bottom two teams in the A.L. West, it looked like it was decided early, once J. Lopez smacked a two run homer in the first inning. The Mariners have been without all star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki for the past 11 games, but surprisingly the mariners have won 9 of those 11 games.

Giants 4 D’backs 3 [ J. Miller (3-3) W / C. Qualls (2-2) L / B. Medders (1) S ]

Bengue Molina had one chance to win the game for the Giants and the man didn’t disappoint. He hit a 3-run homer into the left field stands in the 8th inning to help the Giants gain ground on the Rookies, who lost today to the Dodgers. They are now 3 games behind the Rookies for the wild card lead.


Tomorrows Action

Rangers(+185) vs. Yankees(-201)
Phillies(176) vs. Pirates(+168)
Indians(+101) vs. Orioles(-109)
Mets(+210) vs. Marlins(-228)
White Sox(+109) vs. Red Sox(-117)
Reds(+153) vs. Brewers(-161)
Royals(+146) vs. Mariners(-154)
Astros(+240) vs. Cardinals (-260)
Athletics(+180) vs. Angels (-191)
Nationals(+192) vs. Cubs(-210)
Dodgers(+125) vs. Rookies (-133)
Padres(+216) vs. Braves (-234)
D’backs(+117) vs. Giants (-125)


Jaguars @ Eagles (-7.5)
Rams @ Bengals (-2.5)
Dolphins @ Buccaneers (-2.5)


In the world of futbol

The English Carling Cup continued on Wednesday with 14 teams in action. Blackpool, Carlisle United, Cardiff City, Tottenham, Stoke City, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion all tallied victories.

UEFA Champions League had 5 games to be played 2 of which finished in draws.

Stuttgart and Politehnica Timisoara, as well as, Florentina and Sporting Club Portugal all played to draws on Wednesday.

Arsenal, behind goals by Eduardo (pen) Eboue, and Arshavin, took care of Celtic 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium in England.

Apoel Nicosia needed all three goals to advance on aggregate, defeating FC Copenhagen 3-1.

Olympiakos didn’t need to do much, already leading 2-0 in aggregate, defeated Sheriff Tiraspol 1-0.
Apoel Nicosia, Arsenal, Florentina, Olympiakos and VfB Stuttgart all advanced.

Tomorrows action in the Carling Cup matched up Crystal Palace against Manchester City

TODAY IN SPORTS (8-26-09)

In the world of baseball.

On April 15^th, the Colorado Rookies were 15.5 games behind the L.A. Dodgers in the N.L. West. After last night, the Rookies are now only 2 games behind the Dodgers with two more to play in this mid week three game series. The Rookies needed a bases loaded RBI single to defeat the Dodgers 5-4 in 10 innings. After not giving up a homerun in his last 15 games, Clay Kershaw game up a homerun, allowing the Rookies to come back from a 2-0 deficit to take the lead 4-2 heading into the ninth inning. With the score 4-3, Manny Ramirez came up to the plate, with the trying run on third. With the count 0-2 with two outs. Manny hit an RBI singleto tie the game. The Rookies haven’t had back to back walk off vicotries since June 2002. The Rookies are now 18 games above .500 for the first time in franchise history.

The Rangers, looking to gain some ground on wild card leader Red Sox, headed into New York to take on Joba Chamberlain and the Yankees. This one wasn’t close to start, with Joba giving up 7 earned runs, all with two outs, in only 4 innings of work. With the score 10-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees looked to give this game one last go. With the bases loaded, the Yankees tallied three straight hits to cut the lead to 10-9 with no outs. After a bunt attempt by Nick Swisher was caught, the Yankees grounded into a game ending double play. The Ranger beat the Rays and Yankees in back to back games for the first time all year.

With the Rangers winning, the Red Sox had to do the same in order to keep their 1.5 games lead in the wild card race. The White Sox got a solid effort from Freddy Garcia. In only his second game of the season, Garcia pitched 6.1 innings giving up 5 hits and 3 earned runs. Boston’s ace out up similar numbers, giving up 4 hits and 3 earned runs in 6.2 innings. This was a pitchers duel that looked like it would be decided late. In the bottom of the 7th, Victor Martinez hit a game tying RBI single to make the score 3-3. Jason Bay game the Red Sox the lead for good with a solo shot in the bottom of the 8^th. Boston would tack on two more, giving them the 6-3 lead over the White Sox. Chicago, losers of three straight, is 4.5 games behind the Tigers and are now tied with the Minnesota Twins for second place in the A.L. Central.

The Rays got 2 monster homeruns from Carlos Pena, to go along with four RBI’s, and Tampa Bay defeat the Blue Jays 7-3. Pena hit his league leading 36^th and 37^th homeruns, giving him 2 more homeruns then he has singles on the year. The blue Jays havent looked like a team wanting to finish the season, losing 8 of their last 10, including 2 in a row. With wins from the Red Sox and the Rangers, the Rays stayed 3 games behind Boston and 1.5 games behind the Rangers for the last playoff spot in the A.L.

The Giants looked to rebound after a disappointing road trip to Colorado, but had to do so against D’backs ace Dan Harden. Harden went 7 strong inngins, giving up 6 hits and 2 earned runs, while striking out 6. Hardens counterpart, Matt Cain, went 7 innings as well, only giving up 4 hits and one earned run while striking out 4. With the score 2-2 in the 8^th, Ishikawa sent a 3 run shot into the stands to give the Giants a 5-2 lead heading into the 9^th. Arizona tried to fight back, adding 2 in the 9^th, but couldn’t get the tying run across the plate. The Giants got the victory 5-4 and remain 4 games behind the Rookies for the wild card lead.

The Padres took on the Braves in a game with very little playoff implications. Adrian Gonzales hit his 34^th homerun only to see dependable closer Heath Bell blow his third save of the year, allowing the Braves to tie the game in the ninth. With the bases loaded in the 10^th inning, Garrett Anderson struck out, leaving everyone stranded. David Eckstein doubled in the go ahead run and the Padres defeated the Braves 2-1. The Braves are now 5.5 games behind the Rookies for the wild card lead.

The phillies got 2 homeruns from Jimmy Rollins and scored 2 runs in the top of the ninth, but even that wasn’t enough for Brad Lidge. Lidge, who was perect last year, saving 41 games in 41 tries, blew his 8^th save of the year and the Phillies fell to the Pirates 6-4. McCutchen drove a two run shot over the fences. With the Dodgers loss, the Phillies remain a half a game behind them for best record in the N.L.

The Brewers scored five runs in the ninth, only to watch J. Votto and L Nix blast solo homeruns in the 13^th inning to give the Reds an 8-6 victory. L. Nix got his first 2 homerun game of his career.

The Nationals roughed up the hapless Cubs 15-6. Chicago, already out of playoff contention, allowed 2+ runs in 4 different innings, including 6 runs in the 5^th. Zambrano (7-5) homered for the fourth time this year.

The Twins remined in the A.L. hunt with a walk off victory over the Baltimore Orioles 7-6. D. Young hit an RBI single in the ninth to seal the deal.

Zach Greinke struck out 15 Indians, both a career high and a franchise record, and Kansas City took care of the Indians 6-2 in K.C. Greinke (12-8) pitched 8 innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 earned runs.

A pitching duel was decided in the first inning, by who other than Prince Albert. Pujols hit an RBI double in the first inning as Wainwright and Rodriguez each gave up three hits, with the one run being the only difference.

Jarrod Washburn beat familiar foe John Lackey and the Anaheim Angels 5-3 on Tuesday. Washburn (9-7) pitched 6 innings, giving up 8 hits and 3 earned runs. Miguel Cabrera homered for the second straight game. Curtis Granderson added a solo shot in the fifth. Lackey (7-6) gave up 11 hits and five earned runs. Howie Kendricks hit his 8^th homerun of the year, a 3-run shot in the 2^nd.

The Mariners needed a 2-run homerun from R. Langerhans to put away the Athletics in extra innings. An Error by Adam Kennedy tied the game in the 8^th, eventaully sending this game into extra innings.

M.L.B. Gamessssssssss of the day (yesterdays record 8-6)

Indians over the Roaysl

Tigers over the Angels

Phillies over the Pirates

Yankees over the Rangers

Rays over the Blue Jays

Braves over the Padres

Red Sox over the White Sox

Marlins over the Mets

Giants over the D’backs

Mariners over the Athletics

Dodgers over the Rookies

Cardinals over the Astros

Twins over Baltimore

Brewers over the Reds

Cubs over the Nationals

In the world of basketball..

Amare could be leaving sooner then we think. In an interview yesterday, the media reports that Amare Stoudamire was hinting that he could be leaving the Suns this off season.

The Atlanta Hawks added Joe Smith to beef up their small front count.

In the world of futbol

Arsenal, Stuttgart and Florentina are all in action today as the UEFA Champions league (play-off round) continues.

Yesterdays Carling cup winners included Burnley, Portsmouth, West Ham United and Blackburn. The surprise lost of the day came from middlesbrough.

In other news…….

The Dallas Cowboys said they will not try to move their 180 foot jumbo screen that sits at the top of Cowboys Stadium. The screen, which cost 40 million dollars to build, goes from 20 yard line to 20 yard line, would cost an estimated 2 million dollars to move a couple feet. The screen is not in violatino of any codes, so Jerry Jones will be reluctant to move it.

The New York Mets season seems to get worse and worse as the days go by. On Tuesday, the Mets shout down Johan Santana for the year, telling the media he will need elbow surgery. This is the fifth met from their opening day roster the has been lost for the season.

Michael Vick’s return to the field is only one day away as the Eagles take on the Jaguars. The first team is expected to play the whole first half and some of the second. Once the starters start hitting the bench, Vick will make his long awaited debut in an Eagles uniform.

The New York Jets have reportedly names Mark Sanchez the starting quarterback for opening day. Mark, the fifth overall pick, has been both impressive and shakey at times, but Rex Ryan saw enough to make him the face of the New York Jets.