Saturday College Football Live Blog (15 hours of madness)

Wednesday Morning Quick Hitters

2 struggling MAC teams battle…kinda…Temple wins 14 – 10.

Rodney Harrison’s career possibly over.

The Cleveland Browns suspended TE Kellen Winslow Jr for 1 game.

Reggie Bush has surgery.

London gets ready for Chargers – Saints.

The Boston Bruins came away unsatisfied again as they lose to the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout, 3 – 2.

Russian police are taking over the investigation of Alexei Cherepanov’s death.

Wondering why no Boston writer has done a story about the death of Harry Mangurian Jr., Boston Celtics owner at the start of the Larry Bird era. He was 82.

Kobe Bryant injures knee during the Lakers 102 – 98 pre-season win over the Bobcats.

Friday Morning Quick Hitters

The Philadelphia Phillies offense was dormant until the 6th inning when a Furcal error and the classic Derek Lowe meltdown rulted in HRs by Chase Utley (yes Phillies Fever Cowbell Remix was playing in Matty’s home when Utley hit his HR) and Pat Burrell to give the Philles all they need to overcome Manny and the Dodgers in Game 1. The Phillies win 3 – 2. Remember today’s game is at 4:30 p.m. on Fox.

All of New England GASPED when Mike Timlin was added to the playoff roster(They must have thought he was closing). Game 1 tonight at or around 8 PM from The Trop in Tampa.

#21 Wake Forest outduels the Clemson Tigers 12 – 7.

The NHL Season opened up on North American soil last night, as the Detroit Red Wings hoisted the Stanley Cup banner. The Toronto Maple Leafs had ideas of crashing the party and did so as Nikolai Kulemin scored at the 7:25 mark of the 3rd period to give the Leafs a 2 goal lead and the game winner. Toronto won 3 – 2.

The Boston Bruins won their opener against the Colorado Avalance 5 – 4. Tim Thomas has 35 save, standing on his head at times making huge stop after huge stop, none bigger than a flurry with 10 seconds left in the game.

Joe Thornton and his San Jose Sharks got off to a strong start, beating up on the rival Anaheim Ducks 4 – 1.

The Vancouver Canucks used an emotional tribute of Luc Bourdon, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in New Brunswick in May, to extinguish the Calgary Flames 6 – 0.

Sunday Morning Quick Hitters

Upset of the day, #8 Alabama slams #3 Georgia 41 – 30…guess that Black uni didn’t do any good.

Ole Miss uses a blocked extra point to upset #4 Florida 31 – 30.

LSU stays unbeaten by beating Mississippi State 34 – 24

Michigan scores 20 in 4th Quarter, upsets #9 Wisconsin

Terps top #20 Tigers

Auburn holds on for win over Tennessee 14 – 12

Navy upsets Wake Forest 24 – 17

#2 Oklahoma takes care of #24 TCU

The Philadelphia Phillies clinched the NL East for the second straight year with a 4 – 3 win over the Nationals

The New York Mets kept hope alive by beating the Florida Marlins 2 – 0. That win coupled with the Milwaukee Brewers 7 – 3 loss to the Chicago Cubs, leaves the Brewers and the Mets in a tie for the Wild Card spot.

The last day at the other New York stadium Shea.

Thursday Morning Quick Hitters

The Boston Red Sox used 4 1st inning runs along with a critical hit late to beat the Cleveland Indians 5 – 4. Tampa Bay also won, beating the Baltimore Orioles 11 – 6, so the Rays are still up on the Sox by 3 games for the AL East Division Title.

The Minnesota Twins took the 2nd game in the battle for the AL Central title, beating the White Sox 3 – 2. The Twins are now just 1/2 game back..

The New York Mets blew an opportunity to gain ground on the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost to the Atlanta Braves 10 – 4, by blowing a 4 run lead to the Chicago Cubs and finally losing in the 10th inning 9 – 6. The Mets remain 1 1/2 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and tied for the Wild Card with Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Brewers gained that tie with the Mets by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 4 – 2.

The LA Dodgers opened up a 4 game lead on the Arizona Diamondbacks by slamming the San Diego Padres 12 – 4. The D-Backs lost to the St Louis Cardinals 4 – 2.

Troy Brown will make his retirement official today.

The ax finally fell in Detroit. Matt Millen (Patrick Sullivan applauds somewhere) finally wore out his welcome in Detroit.

The New York Giants suspended Plexiglas Burress for 2 weeks and 1 game. Burress will appeal.

Jason Taylor discusses potentially career ending injury.

Former Nebraska Cornhusker RB Thunder Collins charged with murder.

Beanie Wells and Terrell Pryor to start for the Buckeyes

The Boston Celtics brought their trophy, courtesy TD Banknorth Maine, to Maine yesterday. Don’t forget, the Sports Vortex had Boston Celtics great Jo Jo White yesterday. You can download the interview on the right Talkshoe widget.

Tuesday Morning Quick Hitters

The San Diego Chargers got their 1st win of the season against the NYJ 48 – 29.

Green Bay’s Al Harris may have a torn spleen.

The ever popular sports hernia get another player, this time Jeremy Shockey.

The Boston Red Sox had to put off their celebration for another night, losing to the Cleveland Indians 4 – 3. The Sox magic number is still 1 and with Tampa Bay’s 4 – 2 win over the Orioles they are 2 1/2 games back in the AL East. The Red Sox are 7 games up on Minnesota in the Wild Card.

The Philadelphia Phillies increased their lead over the New York Mets on Monday. The Phillies beat up on the Atlanta Braves 6 – 2. The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs at Shea 9 – 5. The Chicago Cubs clintched the NL Central. Philadelphia leads the NY Mets by 2 1/2 games in the NL East and the Mets lead the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card race by 1 game.

The Arizona Diamondbacks gain 1/2 game on the Dodgers in the NL West by beating the St Louis Cardinals 4 – 2. The D-Backs are now 2 games behind the Dodgers.

USC’s top DB Shareece Wright might be lost for “weeks”

Boston Bruins Patrice Bergeron is back on the ice for the 1st time since he took the cheap shot hit from the thug of the Phialdelphia Flyers. The Bruins beat the Canadiens 8 – 3.

Sunday Morning Quick Hitters

NCAAF

Nore Dame won one for Lou Holtz yesterday, beating Michigan 35-17. Charlie Weis suffered a horrific knee injury in this one when a player ran into his knee and he suffered a…wait for it…wait..for..it….torn ACL and MCL. Perhaps him and Tom Brady can rehab together. The video above is from NBC Sports and the Weis knee injury is at about the 1:30 mark, folowed by the slow motion replay. Do not watch while eating breakfast.

USC made all the hype around it’s game with Ohio St look ridiculous, pasting the Buckeyes 35-3. We all have to band together and hope that OSU loses one more game this season so that they don’t get to rebound from this and get blasted in the national title game again.

South Carolina fumbled away the game against Georgia.

Oklahoma made sure that the PAC-10 officials didn’t bite them in the ass again.

Wisconsin pulled out a win on the road at Fresno St.

East Carolina came from behind to beat Tulane and improve to 3-0 on the season (can you say BCS Buster?)

Two games ended on completed Hail Mary’s, one was a win , one was an agonizing loss that brings back memories of the Titans/Rams Super Bowl.

Upset in the Top 25, UNLV knocked off Dennis Erickson’s Arizona St Sun Devils on the road.

Oregon lost their quarterback but won the game.

MLB

You may notice a pattern here…

The Red Sox split a double-header with the Blue Jays

The Rays split a double-header with the Yankees

The Mets split a double-header with the Braves

The Twins swept the O’s and tied the idle White Sox (rain-out)

The Phils held on to an early lead and knocked off the Brew Crew to tighten the Wild Card race and keep pace with the Metropolitans.

Young Clayton Kershaw got the win in Colorado for the Dodgers.

An old friend may have put the last nail in the Diamondback coffin.

The Cubs and Astros will play 2 in Milwaukee.

NFL

The Texans/Ravens game has been postponed until Nov 9th because the Texans stadium, Reliant Field, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike.

Jeff Fisher says the police report was filled with errors in regards to the Vince Young incident. As someone who lived in Tennessee, I can tell you I am just stunned by this, really, just floored (you can turn the volume down on your sarcasm detector right now).

Pro Football Talk speculates that Vince Young may retire.

The Patriots elevated Matt Gutierrez from the practice squad.

Whoever has Lane Kiffin as the first coach fired in the NFL season may be holding onto the golden ticket. In related news DeAngelo Hall is awful. Look, Hall may think he is all that, but he single-handedly lost the Falcons two games due to his idiocy last year, and certainly didn’t help his new team at all on Monday Night. Look up “washed-up” in the dictionary, and their will be a picture of DeAngelo Hall getting a pass interference penalty covering another team’s 3rd wideout.

The Sports Vortex

Live at 8am this morning to recap your NCAA Saturday and preview your NFL Sunday.

You can listen above or at http://www.wjzf.org

Saturday Morning Quick Hitters

#19 South Florida upended #13 Kansas with a late field goal, 37 – 34

Beanie will not play in the clash at the Coliseum.

Sedenka’s Mountaineers give Bill Stewart some security in a long term contract.

Lots of Rain Outs Friday

The Boston Red Sox stopped the surging Toronto Blue Jays in their tracks Friday, shutting them out 7 – 0.

The Los Angeles Dodgers slammed the Colorado Rockies 7 -2.

The Arizona Diamondbacks kept pace by beating the Reds 3 – 2. The D-Backs are 3 1/2 games back of the Dodgers.

Big East Weekly Preview- Week 2

Alright boys and girls we are off and running…and it wasn’t exactly a stellar weekend for the Big East. It was business as usual for the teams playing patty-cakes, but Rutgers, Louisville, and especially Pitt failed to make a statement for the conference. This week brings a few big contests, including a game potentially being played through a hurricane. On with the picks!

Last Week: 6-2 Season: 6-2

Bye: Rutgers

UConn at Temple: Hey Temple won a road game! Granted it was Army, but who is counting?(editor’s note: Army is the CMSPLOG’s adopted team this year…but Danks is a Navy fan) This is a fun contest, because it’s a battle between the team that replaced the other in the Big East. Temple was booted out…with good reason…and UConn took its place. As much as we love to make fun of the Owls, the Huskies are the one’s who need to improve a sluggish offense. Did they blowout Hofstra? Yes…but starting quarterback Tyler Lorenzen was anemic at best, with the three picks in the opener. Fortunately, Donald Brown looked solid on the ground, which doesn’t bode well for Temple…a team prone to the ground attack. Look for Brown to get the ball early and often.
Prediction: 31-17 UConn

Tennessee Tech at Louisville: Boy oh boy…did Louisville look awful or what? Hunter Cantwell picked the wrong time to forget how to play quarterback, as the Cardinals were embarrassed at home to instate rival Kentucky. I hope Steve Kragthorpe enjoys his job, because he may already be on the hot seat. They should be able to right the ship a bit this week as they take on the Techsters, who struggled to beat Gardiner-Webb last week. Look for a big bounce back game after the embarrassment from last week.
Prediction: 42-10 Louisville

Buffalo at Pitt: Losing to Bowling Green at home was brutal. Losing to Buffalo at home should send Pitt to Division 1-AA. Granted Buffalo had a fine debut, with a beatdown of UTEP, but they are still Buffalo, and Pitt is…well…we won’t go there. Expect LeSean McCoy to break the 100-yard mark, and Bill Stull should gain some confidence through the air against the Bulls defense. If Pitt loses to Buffalo, Coach Wanny should be fired before he leaves the field.
Prediction: 38-17 Pitt

Akron at Syracuse: This will be the Orange’s best chance at a 1-A team this season. Although Akron was respectable in a loss to Wisconsin. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why Syracuse hired Greg Robinson. He had one of the worst defenses in NFL history, and now he has helped bring a once respectable program to hell. The Orange secondary better be ready, because Zip hurler Chris Jacquemain will be airing it out. The Cuse will need to grind it out on the ground, and play more physical…something they haven’t done since the days of Dwight Freeney. Prediction: 21-20 Syracuse

South Florida at Central Florida: Everyone will talk about the Florida/Miami game this weekend, but this could be a better game. Both teams are coming off wins against FCS schools, with USF looking much more impressive…including 300 yards on the ground. Central Florida will miss former runningback Kevin Smith’s production all year long. They are hoping frosh Ronnie Weaver will get the job done. It will be difficult against a very stingy Bulls defense. USF has never lost to Central, and I don’t expect it to change this year. The Bulls should be able to push and pull their way to victory.
Prediction: 28-14 USF

Cincy at Oklahoma: Oklahoma looked so good last week that QB Sam Bradford was benched in the second quarter…tough day. However, Dustin Grutza had a fine debut as well, throwing for a career-high 296 yards, with three scores. It will be a shootout. Both teams have legitimate D’s…but they have even better O’s. Let’s not forget that Oklahoma is not exactly strong against the spread offense (see 2008 Fiesta Bowl). Bradford, along with DeMarco Murray will prove to be too much at the end, but expect the Bearcats to hold their own, and raise a few eyebrows around the nation. Prediction: 40-28 Oklahoma

Game of the Week. West Virginia at East Carolina: It’s going to be a wet one folks. Hurricane Hannah is expected to be in the Carolina area when these two teams square off. And what a battle it may be. ECU coming off a huge win over the lady Techsters of Virginia, and WVU using the air for the first time in 100 years, to easily defeat ‘Nova. The last time these teams played at ECU Pat White struggled big time, but the Mountaineers were still able to win. The Pirate defense has improved over the last few seasons, and may be ready to halt the WVU offense…but are they ready for the new look spread, which included 200+ yards through the air from White. Plus, Noel Devine was essentially rested last weekend, and should be ready to go off. Expect the Pirates to score some points, with the WVU secondary still a work in progress. Though, it will be hard Brandon Simmons to find yards against a very strong West Virginia front seven. This all gets thrown out if the Hurricane is in full effect.
Prediction: 31-24 WVU

Chris Sedenka is the host of the PM JAB, which can be heard weekdays between 3-7pm on 96.3FM and AM1440 Sportsradio WJAB in Central and Southern Maine. He also enjoys drinking Tang!

Friday Morning Quick Hitters

The College Football season kicked off last night as #23 Wake Forest beat up on Baylor 41 -13. Riley Skinner threw 3 TD passes in the win.

The NY Yankees avoided a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox as Jason Giambi came off the bench to win the game 3 – 2. Josh Beckett scratched from another start and will seek opinion for elbow woes.

Christian Guzman hit for the cycle helping the Nationals to continue the LA Dodgers slide 11 -2.

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3 -2, extend their lead over the Red Sox in the AL East to 4 1/2 games.

The Chicago Cubs uses a 5 run 8th inning, powered by an Aramis Ramirez grand slam, to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6 – 4.

The Minnesota Twins slipped to 1 1/2 games back of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central with a 3 – 2 loss to the Oakland A’s.

Pacman Jones has been fully re-instated.

The Colts brick wall center, Jeff Saturday, will miss 6 weeks with knee injury.

Houston Texans WR Harry Williams, who has a cracked vertebrate and severe ligament damage in his neck, walked out of the hospital.

The Memphis Grizzlies sign Iranian center Haddadi.

The Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors will meet in the pre-season in the China Games.

Oh My Goodness

Stu Barns retires and joins Stars coaching staff.