MONDAY QUICK LINKS

• The Maine Black Bears Men's Hockey Team had its annual Blue/White game today at  The Alfond.
• Maine High School scores HERE at MBR.ORG.
• Maine Sports Legends name Hall of Fame inductees.
• The Lewiston MAINEiacs beat the Quebec Remparts 5 – 2 Sunday at The Colisee.
• Alex Gonzalez gets good news on his wrist.
• JD Drew hitting his stride at the right time, hitting 2 HRs in the 12 – 7 win for the last regular season game of the season.
• Jon Lester officially named Game 1 starter. Josh Beckett follows up in Game 2. Here are the possible game times and series layout.
• Ray Allen, when not hiding sneakers around Massachusetts, is not worrying about a contract extension.
• Weekend Warm Up regular Ian Rapoport reports that the Boston Herald confirms Junior Seau will sign with the New England Patriots.
• The New England Patriots stood strong when needed and squeaked out a 27 – 21 win over the Baltimore Ravens in Foxborough.

Friday Morning Quick Hitters

Tampa Evan Longoria has been touted as the savior all year, and he picked a great time to prove it. Longoria went 3 - 3, 2 HRs and 3 RBIs to power the Rays to a 6 - 4 win over the Chicago White Sox. The Rays lead the Best of 5 Series 1 Game to None.



In the 1st NL game of the day, Philadelphia, powered by a Shane Victorino grand slam and 7 innings of 2 hit pitching from Brett Myers, beat CC Sebathia and the Milwaukee Brewers 5 - 2. The Phillies go up 2 Games to None in the Series.

In the last game of the day, Chicago may be about to burn again. The Los Angeles Dodgers took it to the hapless Cubbies once again for a 10 - 3 win over the Cubs. The Cubs infielders all committed errors, leading directly to 5 Dodgers run and Manny hit another bomb to finish the Cubs off. The Dodgers lead the Best of 5 Series 2 - 0.

#15 Utah needed a last second field goal to polish off Oregon St. 31 - 28.

Pitt's LeSean McCoy ran for 2 TD's as Dave Wannstedt's Panthers beat their 3rd ranked team of the season, upsetting #10 South Florida 26 - 21. Pitt is now 5 - 1 (2 -0 in the Big East) and South Florida dropped to 5 - 1 (0 - 1 in the Big East)

The Buffalo Bills have locked up an important piece of their offense, signing Lee Evans to a 3 year 37.25 million dollar deal with over 18 million guaranteed.

Redskins likely without top 2 DBacks for Philly game.

The Chicago Bears suspended DT Tommy Harris for violating team rules.


David Stern responds to the report that Tim Donaghy was the only person breaking the law.

Portland Trailblazers fans hold their breath as Greg Oden injures ankle.

Wednesday Morning Quick Hitters

DON'T FORGET! MONTREAL EXPOS APPRECIATION DAY BELOW AND INTERVIEWS ABOVE. ALSO REMEMBER THE SPORTS VORTEX LIVE TONIGHT 9PM. WE WILL HAVE A SPECIAL GUEST LIVE RIGHT AT THE OPEN. LET'S JUST SAY A SPACESUIT AND JETPACK MAY BE INVOLVED!

The Chicago White Sox won the pitching duel against the Minnesota Twins to propel the Pale Hose to a divisional series against the Tampa Bay Rays. There were only 7 toal hits in the game, but the biggest a Jim Thome blast in the 7th, leading the White Sox to the 1 - 0 win

Brian Cashman gets a 3 yr deal to stay in Yankee Land.

Pat Burrell leaves Philadelphia Phillies practice with back injury.


Lane Kiffin finally met his demise in Oakland, as Al Davis fired him. Priceless video of the Al Davis press conference and Kiffin's response.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!! Tony Mandarich used steroids at Michigan State. (Editor's note: By breaking news we mean "we know you already knew that")

The Pittsburgh Steelers tried to bolster their running back corps by signing Najeh Davenport.

Monday Morning Quick Hitters

BREAKING NEWS : (Insert Ron Burgundy here) Scott Linehan is OUT as the St Louis Rams coach. Jim Haslett is in.

The Dallas Cowboys lost to a division rival Sunday, allowing the Redskins to come to Irving and beat them 26 - 24.

Brett Favre did something he has never done by throwing 6 TD passes as defenses took the day off in NYC as the New York Jets beat the Arizona Cardinals 56 - 35. By the way, can someone throw away those awful Jets unis.

The Tennessee Titans defense forced 4 turnovers and rookie RB Chris Johnson beat the Minnesota Vikings 30 - 17.

The Kansas City Chiefs stunned high scoring Denver, by picking of Jay Cutler twice and Larry Johnson had almost 200 yards runsing on the way to a 33 - 19 win over the Broncos.

The New Orleans Saints offense came to play with big performances from Deuce McAllister and Drew Brees as they slammed the San Francisco 49ers 31 - 17.

Derrick Brooks looked like the Brooks of old, helping the Tampa Bay Bucs D to 4 turnovers on the way to a 30 - 21 win over the Green Bay Packers. Tampa kicker Matt Bryant kicked less than 5 days after the death of his 3 1/2 month old son. In Packers news, Aaron Rodgers may have big shoulder issues.

It looked like 2003 all over again in Charlotte, as Mushin Muhammed, Steve Smith and Jake Delhomme had big games on the way to a 24 - 9 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

The Jacksonville Jaguars outlasted a great performance from Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub, beating the Texans in OT 30 - 27.

Derek Anderson kept his job for another week, leading the Cleveland Browns to a 20 - 12 win over the Bengals.

Better late than never for the San Diego Chargers, as the Chargers scored 25 points in the 4th quarter to outlast the Oakland Raiders 28 - 18.

The Buffalo Bills may have put the final nails in Scott Linehan's coffin, storming back and past the St Louis Rams 31 - 14.

The Chicago Bears finally held on to a lead, beating the Philadelphia Eagles 24 - 20.


Steve Buckley is reporting and Terry Francona confirmed that Boston Red Sox Starter Josh Beckett has an oblique strain and will not start til Game 3 of the ALDS in Boston on Sunday.

The American League Central still hasn't found a winner yet. The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 5 - 1 yesterday, combined with the Minnesota Twins 6 - 0 win over the Royals forces the Pale Hose to play a makeup game Monday against the Detroit Tigers. If the White Sox win, then there will be a playoff game on Tuesday to determine the Central Division winner. If the White Sox lose, the Twins would play the Tampa Bay Rays.

In a fitting end to Shea Stadium, the New York Mets couldn't extend their season, losing to the Florida Marlins 4 - 2. The Mets loss, combined with the Milwaukee Brewers 3 - 1 win over the Cubs, makes the Milwaukee Brewers as the NL Wild Card team and piuts the Brew Crew into the playoffs for the 1st time since Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Cecil Cooper and Portland Maine's own Pete Ladd played in the American League in 1982.

Here is the Playoff Picture so far

Wednesday

Milwaukee Brewers @ Philadelphia Phillies 3 PM
Los Angeles Dodgers @ Chicago Cubs 6:30 PM
Boston Red Sox @ California Angels 10...10 PM