Tiger Woods, Can He be Stopped?

(Photo Courtesy of J. Pat Carter) Ben Hogan now has some company as Eldrick "Tiger" Woods notched career victory number 64 with a one stroke win in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. And after a dramatic 25 foot put on hole number 72 to beat Bart Bryant by one stroke. Tiger's four rounds were scored as follows: 70, 68, 66, and 66 making him the winner at -10. This was his fifth time winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The question now with Tiger's dominance in 2008 is will he lose?
And is he the most dominant player in any sport ever?

Only time will tell but don't be surprised to see his next victory come in Augusta at the Masters.

Patriots and Red Sox say Bye to Veterans

The Troy Brown era apparently has come to an end in New England. The 15 year veteran out of Marshall, where he won a Division 1AA national championship. He will certainly be remembered for being Brady's prime receiver for their three Superbowl victories, as well as being not only willing to play defensive back when his team needed it, but the ability to do it as well. I personally remember him most for his punt return touchdown in the 2001 AFC championship game at Pittsburgh. His career stats are: 557 receptions, 6,366 yards, 11.4 ypc, 31 TD, 178 rushing yards, 51 tackles, 3 interceptions, 2,625 punt return yards, 3 punt return TDs, and 1862 kick return yards. He may sign on with another team but it's uncertain at this point, poetical justice would have him retiring as a New England Patriots.

The Boston Red Sox have released longtime backup catcher Doug Mirabelli, the 12 year veteran out of Wichita State University. He will certainly be remembered as Tim Wakefield's personal catcher and for his police escort return, hopping out of the car with his uniform already on right into Fenway Park to play that days game. He was one of only 8 guys left that was both on the 2004 and 2007 World Series team and certainly was a valuable member of this squad. Jason Varitek often spoke of how prepared Dougie was for his start. He had 337 hits in 1456 at bats, a .231 average. 78 doubles, 2 triples, 58 homeruns, 206 RBI, 165 walks, 3 stolen bases, a .317 OBP, .407 slugging percentage and .724 OPS.
It's been said that Doug often calls his homeruns by yelling out "Dougie's going deep," which was made into a website that produced a daily schedule for Doug. Here's day 1, day 2, and day 3. Additionally, Curt Schilling wrote a nice little goodbye to Doug on his blog.

Celtics Win 10th Straight + Random Bball Notes

The bright lights were on Wednesday as the Celtics to their season high 10th win a row. Garnett and (Ray) Allen led the way with 18 points each. Paul Pierce continues to play well as he had 14 points to go along with 11 assists. Eddie House and James Posey had 11 and 10 respectively off the bench, how valuable of a pick up were these guys?

This was Sam Cassell's first home game at the TD Banknorth Garden and Kevin Garnett moved into 31st on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

For the Sonics they've lost six in a row and 10 out of their last 11, and in those six games have let up an astounding 112ppg average. They certainly aren't going to win many games without better defense. Kevin Durant had 16 to lead the Sonics in scoring, Earl Watson had 11, and Johan Petro a double double with 12 & 10.

The Sonics also feature Chris Wilcox from the University of Maryland, who won a national championship. For some reason the starting five from this squad that won in 2002 is a pretty easy trivia question for any sports aficionado. And whenever I see one of them play I immediately think of the other four.

The starters were:
Steve Blake
Juan Dixon (Tourney MOP)
Chris Wilcox
Byron Mouton (Calling him a 'journeyman' would be an understatement as this article from 2007 describes)
Lonny Baxter (now playing in Spain, originally drafted in the second round by the Bulls)

What are some other memorable championship starting lineups? Leave a comment let me know your thoughts!

Sports Quote of the Day: "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." - Satchel Paige

Song of the Day: Wonderwall by Oasis

Movie of the Day: Semi-Pro

Bryant Women Lose NE-10 Championship

The 6th seeded Bryant Women's basketball team had quite the journey to get to the conference finals, which were held today at Stonehill College. First was a home game against St. Michael's College, which the Bulldogs easily won 73-52. From there on out they had to travel on the road, with a win in Worcester, MA over Assumption College 64-58 and a win Friday in Rindge, NH over Franklin Pierce College 78-65. Up next was the Stonehill Skyhawks, the number one team in the NE-10 and ranked 10th nationally.

This was a game of runs and scoring spurts. 10-0 runs, giving and taking a few points were constant throughout the game and it made it a very exciting one to watch and broadcast. Sophomore Kelsey O'Keefe led the way with 27 points, helped by 17 from Cara Johnson, and 10 from freshman Siamone Bennett.

The officiating in the game was inconsistent to say the least as three bryant players fouled out, two of which were post players, one had four fouls and two had three fouls. I can't recall a game where that many players were in significant foul trouble. Stonehill to their credit hit 30 of their 33 free throw attempts, which was truley the difference maker in the game.

The NCAA selection show can be viewed on www.bryantbulldogs.com tonight for both the men's and women's teams.

Celtics Clinch Playoff Birth with Win over Pistons

(Photo courtesy of Jesse D. Garrabrant)
The Boston Celtics defeated the Detroit Pistons behind a season high 31 points from Kevin Garnett. The Celts missed the playoffs in the past two season. This is a huge win for the simple factor that they now have home court advantage over Detroit.(winning 2 out of the 3 games that these two teams play) Rajon Rondo had 16 including a thunderous throw down which he hit his head on the hardwood, and luckily wasn't hurt badly. Pierce had 15, Perk 10, and Ray Allen had only 3 on 1-9 shooting.

For Detroit 'Sheed and Big Shot Billups each had 23, Rip had 15, and Tayshaun Prince contributed 7.

Lebron James had 50, 10 assists and 8 rebounds in a 119-105 victory in New York over the Knicks.

He and Kobe are the obvious two front runners for league MVP, with Chris Paul and maybe Garnett at 3 and 4 respectively. This raises the question, 'who you got' as league MVP?

Kobe or Lebron? My opinion...Lebron gets his first league MVP award, Kobe a close second. Possibly co-league MVPs

Leave a comment and post your thoughts!

Signing Day in Boston? Moss and Cassell both Sign

Good news out of Foxboro, as the Patriots have resigned record setting wide receiver Randall Gene Moss, better known as Randy to a 3 year, $27m deal. Reportedly he is taking less money to do what he came to New England to do, win a Superbowl. Additionally, ESPN.com is reporting that tomorrow the Celtics will sign veteran point guard Sam Cassell. He's a bigger point guard and will be able to bang against Chauncy Billups when the teams play, and move Rondo off the ball, something he did now and then in college at Kentucky. The Celtics, who made no trades before the dead line also signed veteran post-player P.J. Brown.