A Maple Leaf Edition of Friday Quick Hitters

Greetings from Canada

Boise State’s Ryan Dinwiddie lead a late charge, and connected with a 35 yrd TD pass to Rombe Bryant with 12 seconds left to beat the Calgary Stampeders 32 – 28. Thursday Night Football, YEAH, followed by a Friday Night double header.

I could get used to saying Jim Sorgi. Payton Manning and his bursa sac are still laid up. It may be as long as 6 weeks before he is ready to play. Somehow, I don’t feel very bad.

Apparently this is the week of fights. The Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs Single A affiliates squared off in a melee that resulted in 17 ejections. Now all we need is a battle royal in The MLS.

The Golden State Warriors re-signed Monta Ellis to a 6 year, 66 Million Dollar deal. Ellis is expected to run the offense the way Don Nelson wants.

Is there any chance that MLB does the right thing and chooses Mark Cuban as the next owner of the Chicago Cubs? Can you imagine Chicago with Jerry Reinsdorf and Mark Cuban? I’m guessing Bud Selig and the owners will never allow it to happen, but it sure would be fun.

MLB Roundup

Ryan Braun went 4 – 4 with a 9th inning home run to cap a sweep of the St Louis Cardinals, 4 – 3. The Brewers have won 8 straight, 7 straight on the road, to move within 1 game of division leading Chicago Cubs.

The NY Mets regained a 1 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies, winning 3 – 1. Carlos Delgado hit a 2 run double off JC Romero in the 8th to break the 1 – 1 tie.

Tampa Bay continues its road woes, losing their 7th straight on the road, to the Royals 4 – 2. The Tampa loss pulls the Red Sox back to even with Tampa Bay atop the AL East.

And Finally…

The WNBA tries to put the brawl behind them…by signing a 50 yr old Nancy Lieberman. The Detroit Shock signed Lieberman to a 1 game contract to help divert the PR nightmare the brawl has been. The Old Dominion star was the youngest women to ever win a medal at the Olympics, winning Silver in the 76 games.

Sunday Morning Quick Hitters

Join us for a LIVE edition of The Sports Vortex, brought to you by Chicago Dogs, 285 RT 1 Scarborough, ME, to be simulcast on WJZF from 4 to 6 PM EST

MLB Round-Up

Sox lose again in the land of Angels. Beckett looks great for 6 and then gives up 4 in the 7th. Vlad gets it started and Willy Aybar finishes them off. In a related story Air Force One may be making an unscheduled flight from Pawtucket, RI to California. In another related story, people are setting fire to eBay in Portland Maine.

Dan Haren’s 7 scoreless combined with Chad Billingsly’s rough 1st inning, Arizona beat the Dodgers 3 – 2. Former Sox Brandon Lyon made it interesting in the 9th giving up a leadoff HR to Jeff Kent and allowing 1 more to cross, but does just enough to get his 20th save.

Another former Sox (see a trend) Lenny DiNaaaaaaado hit Jose Molina in the 12 to bring home the winning run allowing the Yankees to beat the A’s 4 – 3. The Yanks offense continues its struggles leaving an astounding 21 runners on. Both closers blew leads in this 4 hour and 45 minute marathon.

The Brewers win its 3rd straight game, beating the Giants with offense this time. Prince Fielder homered for the 2nd straight game and Ricky Weeks had a 2 run double to spur the victory. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting the Brewers prospect Darren Ford has been traded to Oakland for Huston Street. There is no MLB confirmation of the deal as of yet.

Evan Longoria blew open a pitchers dual between the Jays Roy Halladay and the Rays Matt Garza, in the 6th inning with his 1st career grand slam. Dan Wheeler closes out the game for his 4th save and moves Tampa 1 1/2 games up on the Sox.

The Cubbies lose their 2nd straight game to the Astros and 3rd straight overall, 4 -1 Saturday, as their bats fall silent again. Carlos Zambrano fell to 10 – 4 on the season, but tried to help his own cause with his second homer of the season in the 7th. Wandy Rodriguez went 6 2/3 for his 5th win of the season.

The Cardinals are steaming back into the race with the Cubs with their 4th straight win. The Cards are now just 2 games back of Chicago. Down by 5, the Cards came back with help from Albert Pujols who went 3 – 4 with 4 RBIs. The Cards bullpen shut out the Padres the rest of the way and the Cards came away with a 6 – 5 victory.

In a wild one in Miami, the Florida Marlins outlast the Phillies 9-5 for the victory. Cody Ross (4 – 5 and a homer short of a cycle) and Jorge Cantu drive the offense for the Marlins. Pat Burrell hit 2 homers for the Phillies. Kevin Gregg made it interesting in the 9th, loading the bases then striking out Ryan Howard on 3 pitches and getting the previously mentioned Burrell to ground out to end the game. The Phils are still 1 game up on the Mets…speaking of the Mets

Josh Fogg continued his resurgence for the Reds, beating the Mets 7 – 2. The Mets looked like the hapless Mets of the Willie Randolph era, hitting into 3 double plays, making errors and taking a called third strike, twice, wit the bases loaded.

Other scores Baltimore Magic struck Luke Scott as he walks off against the Tigers 11 – 10. The Nats rookie John Lannan helps his team over the Braves 8 – 2. Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer help demolish Texas 14 – 2. The win pulls the Twins to 1/2 game back of the White Sox, who lost to the Royals, 9 -1.

Other News

Greg Norman could be the oldest person to win a major PGA event today, as he leads the British Open by 2 strokes with 18 holes to go.

The little QB that could, Doug Flutie, along side JoPa, entered the College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.

And just for the hell of it, The Indiana Fever beat the New York Liberty 71 – 55 in the WNBA’s first outdoor game. With temps hovering around 90 degrees, the teams did battle on a makeshift court at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open facilities in NYC.