Hockey News from NHL.com
MONTREAL - Rookie hopeful Max Pacioretty might want to give his father some of the credit for breaking the ice and scoring his first pre-season goal.
Pacioretty further cemented his bid to make the Canadiens team when he scored in regulation…
NASCAR News from ThatsRacin.com
After Kansas rankings
That’s Racin’s weekly ranking of the top 40 teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as of the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. (Last week’s ranking in parentheses):
1. (3) Jimmie Johnson - car No. 48
Kansas victory was his 12th in 43 Chase races held in the history of playoff format.
2. (2) Carl Edwards - car No. 99
Last-lap move to top Johnson as Kansas was more brave than smart, but sure was fun.
3. (1) Greg Biffle - car No. 16
First, first and third in the first three playoff races and he’s still chasing two guys.
4. (4) Kevin Harvick - car No. 29
Top-10 streak offers proof that consistency isn’t enough to win a title these days.
5. (6) Jeff Burton - car No. 31
Hanging around still in the Chase but he’s right when he says he needs more speed.
6. (8) Matt Kenseth - car No. 17
Hard to fully appreciate how hard this team worked to get fifth-place finish at Kansas.
7. (9) Jeff Gordon - car No. 24
Played hurt, or at least sick, at Kansas and acquitted himself well by finishing fourth.
8. (7) Dale Earnhardt Jr. - car No. 88
If he’s going to make any kind of Chase move you’d think it has to start at Talladega.
9. (10) Clint Bowyer - car No. 07
Owned up to the mistakes he made as he tried to will himself to a victory at Kansas.
10. (5) Kyle Busch - car No. 18
Hard to believe how much has had go wrong after having had so much go so right.
11. (12) Denny Hamlin - car No. 11
It seems Hamlin has accepted the fact he can’t find any luck when it’s Chase time.
12. (11) Tony Stewart - car No. 20
Not a lot going well for any of the Gibbs teams, and that’s hit this team really hard.
…. (click below to continue checking rankings)
Football News from NFL.com
The Oakland Raiders fired Lane Kiffin on Tuesday just four games into his second season, bringing finality to a situation that had been simmering for eight months.
What an ugly end to a bitter feud between (former) Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin and team owner Al Davis. It is almost a given these days, that any coach associated w/ the Raiders is on a very short leash, and in many cases, has really no control or power at all within the organization. Everything gets done Davis’ way, when he wants and how he wants it. And today, Al Davis wanted a new head coach so he fires Kiffin after only 4 games.
Oakland has played good enough to be competitive in 3 of their 4 games, but only has 1 win to show for their efforts. In Raider country, that just isn’t good enough. Since Jon Gruden led the team to the Super Bowl earlier this decade, the Raiders have been a mockery in the NFL. It almost seems as if they are cursed. They have had good players, including Randy Moss, but just can’t seem to put a collective team effort towards winning football games.
Raiders fans should get use to the losing and lack of having a relevant coach. As long as Al Davis pays the bills, he will dictate how the team will run, which players will be picked up, etc.
Baseball News from L.A. Times
Now can the Dodgers win two playoff games for the first time in 20 years?
SAN FRANCISCO — Baby steps. First, a division title in the worst division, but now can the Dodgers win two playoff games for the first time in 20 years?
Football News from NFL.com
Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers hurt his right shoulder during a 30-21 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Packers don’t expect to know how serious the injury is until Monday.
The New York Jets on Sunday, showcased some retro NFL jerseys against the Arizona Cardinals. Based on the results of the game, the Jets may want to consider playing in the old school Titans jersey (blue/yellow) more often. The jerseys looked totally awkward on the typically “green” Jets players, but the performance of Brett Favre (career high 6 TD’s) and the Jets defense make a strong argument to keep on playing in the New York Titans jerseys.
The team has made the special New York Titans jersey available in most players’ names/numbers.
Check out a sampling of the retro jerseys below. Most qualify for FREE SHIPPING & these are the best prices you’re going to find.
Baseball News from L.A. Times
Veteran pitcher gets the 355th victory over his career, moving into eighth place on the all-time list, and DeWitt drives in both runs.
Blake DeWitt hit a bases-empty home run and singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Greg Maddux earned his 355th career victory and the Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1, Saturday night.
Baseball News from L.A. Times
It could be the Mets, Phillies or Cubs, but East Coast weather could delay the end of regular season. Now that the Dodgers are champions of the National League West, they will open the playoffs Wednesday in …
Continue reading on L.A. Times
The Los Angeles Dodgers completed their rise to the NL West crown earlier this week when the Arizona Diamondbacks were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals. The division championship comes on the heels of the Manny Ramirez trade in August and the fall of the D-Backs, who appeared to have the division in-hand throughout the season. In the end, however, the pressure of the Dodgers resurgence appears to have been too much for the young Arizona team to compete against.
The Dodgers should get a lot of credit for saving their season, which undoubtedly was a failure for new manager, Joe Torre, at least until the Ramirez trade. The Dodgers plain sucked - they couldn’t score and their pitching was questionable. Adding Manny to the lineup changed everything. Suddenly, the team could put up runs and give the pitchers some breathing room. Batting averages are up across the board and Ramirez is a legitimate candidate for National League MVP, but will likely lose it to Albert Pujols, who continues to showcase his incredible skills in all aspects of the game.
A Dodgers/Mets match-up would surely be interesting, but it will only happen if New York can avoid a dramatic failure for the 2nd year in a row. The Phillies would be interesting as well, since both teams are similar. The Cubs are stronger on pitching and offense, so I think this series would be short-lived.
Football News from NFL.com
Brett Favre was listed as questionable Friday for the New York Jets’ game against Arizona with a sore left ankle, but is expected to start against the Cardinals.
The ageless wonder that is Brett Favre continues to amaze as the quarterback of the New York Jets. While the team hasn’t performed up to what expectations were - especially after the 1st game, Favre has looked like… Favre. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes erratic.
This week, the Jets will lineup against the Arizona Cardinals, who are also fighting for an identity and looking to prove pundits wrong. The Cardinals are continuously looked at as the NFL’s annual loser - they haven’t won anything in their entire existence. With a hobbled Favre and good mixture of offense and defense Sunday, the Cardinals could start the season 3-1 and put the Jets in a 1-3 hole; neither of these were expected by the respective team’s fans or the analysts.
The Jets will have to run the ball effectively with Thomas Jones, but also get good decisions and solid plays out of Brett Favre. The AZ defense will make the QB pay if he is not careful with the football.
Game prediction:
AZ 24, NYJ 20
Football News from NFL.com
The NFL found no evidence that Cleveland Browns defensive players intentionally gouged the eyes of Baltimore running back Willis McGahee during the Ravens’ 28-10 win last Sunday.
I’m not sure I agree with the NFL’s position on the incident from last week’s Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns game. If Willis McGahee’s eyes were not gouged, how does he come out of the pile w/ a bloody eye? Running backs get tackled and go down 40+ times game in some cases, but rarely if ever, do they have a bleeding eye to show for.
The NFL likely found “some” evidence that the eye gouging occurred, but not enough to warrant any kind of action. As long as the trend does not continue, I don’t see a problem with their decision. Keep the issue under wraps and a minor issue and hopefully it will just go away. There are too many good things happening in the NFL (LOL, right?), to let something like this take away from the season.
Football News from NFL.com
Two days after Lions vice chairman Bill Ford Jr. essentially said he’d fire the team president and CEO if he had the authority, Millen has parted ways with the team, according to NFL Network’s Adam Schefter.
Millen has been less than stellar in Detroit for the Lions; in fact, he’s been AWFUL!!! Known for his consistent drafting of wide receivers in the 1st round of the NFL Draft year after year, Millen ignored his teams weaknesses for too long. This firing should’ve been done about 5 yrs ago, not in 2008. The Lions are going continue sucking for a few more years until the new GM has a chance to gut the roster and bring in a better core group of guys - other than WRs of course.
Hockey News from NHL.com
VANCOUVER - Now the longest-serving member of the Vancouver Canucks, defenceman Mattias Ohlund hopes he stays with the team.
Ohlund is entering his 11th season with the Canucks. There has been speculation recently that the Swede could be …
Baseball News from L.A. Times
How come no one’s talking about that other local team, the one that glided into baseball’s playoffs and isn’t still trying to get in? Chalk it up to marketing, Manny and a craftily low-key manager.
The best team in baseball isn’t even the biggest story in its own city. Right now, Los Angeles is all caught up in the Dodgers’ magic number and only casually interested in the Angels’ magic team.
Football News from NFL.com
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without
injured Pro Bowl running back Willie Parker and nose tackle Casey
Hampton for Monday night’s home game against Baltimore.
Baseball News from L.A. Times
The former pitcher is best known for the ligament-transplant surgery named for him, but the career that revolutionary procedure rescued was a great one. He won 288 games.
Tommy John is so intrinsically linked with the once-revolutionary, now-commonplace elbow surgery that bears his name that younger baseball fans might not realize he ranks among baseball’s all-time winningest pitchers.
