What a game!
I have to admit that I did not watch the first half completely but I did watch from the half time on. Not sure what to think of the show during half time “The Who”. The light show was excellent but the music was pretty good. I can tell you one thing though - there was well over 10,000 (give or take a thousand) CSI fans in the house when the song “Who are you” came on. The crowd erupted with sing-a-longs for the entire song. I have so many favorite moments in the second half that I don’t know which one to post tomorrow. Come back tomorrow and see what I picked. Once again - Congrats go out to the New Orleans Saints!

BOSTON (UPI) — New York Mets left-handed reliever Billy Wagner joined the Boston Red Sox Tuesday.

The Mets, who had put him on waivers four days earlier, will get two players to be announced later from the Red Sox, Major League Baseball said on its Web site.

Wagner waived his no-trade clause in return for the Red Sox agreeing not to exercise his 2010 option while keeping the right to offer him salary arbitration. That allows Wagner to become a free agent after the season and puts Boston in line to be compensated by any team that signs him.

The Red Sox reportedly are on the hook for the prorated portion of his $10.5 million 2009 salary for the rest of the season.

Wagner, 38, has 385 career saves, putting him within striking distance of John Franco, who holds the record for left-handers at 424.

He had reconstructive elbow surgery less than a year ago.

I’m not sure what the complete deal will be here but I would love to know which players are jumping over to the Mets. I haven’t really had a chance to watch Wagner play before but I do intend to see if Boston puts him in. He might be a good asset to the club especially since he’s a skip and turn away from over coming John Franco’s 424 saves. Just like any other new comer - Welcome to the Club!

This month is definitely the month - especially if you are into paintballing like I am. I haven’t paintballed in about a year or so and I’m looking into getting back into shape and signing up to the local club and begin my retraining in having some good ole fashion fun. Now in order to do this I would have to supply myself with the right gear that both protects me as well as gives me that sweet look of coolness. BDU pants would be a great start especially if you get yourself some black ones like the ones I want. The one feature that I believe is the one that stands out the most is the reinforced seat and knee patches. These two sections of the body are the ones to go first especially if you are a true baller. So if anyone is thinking about getting me something worthy and long lasting these would be it.

This following article piece is from ArcaMax sports coverage of the Bulls and Celtics game on Saturday -

BOSTON (UPI) — Back-to-back overtime jump shots by Tyrus Thomas Saturday helped Chicago beat Boston 105-103 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round matchup.

Garnett’s knee injury likely will cause him to miss the post-season.

With Garnett on the sidelines it makes me feel a little better for the Bulls to finish them off in six games. What I would like to also mention goes to those “professional” analysts that gave Chicago a snowball’s chance in hell of winning that first game a thumbs down on their prediction and a strong HAHAHA. In watching the Bulls play they are starting to look like a more focused and more determined team then before. A lot of people have written off the Bulls because of their lack of stats and performance in the last few years. The Bulls are back and they are going to make things tough for the Celtics and those who come after.

This video as well as others have made me think that you can be held back from succeeding and you can be handicapped in any manner but if you look into your soul you know that something burning inside of you is screaming to get out. Listen to your inner voice and set yourself free to accomplish whatever comes your way.

Last nights game was one to watch and enjoy, well as a fan of the Bulls of course. With Ben G. Drew G. combining a total of 42 points you know it had to be a good game. Had they not lost last night they would walked into Portland with three wins and a better feel for that game. This link will take you to a video click provided by ESPN which shows some excellent moments during the game. The quoted piece below is from the UPI (United Press International) site - a site I visit almost on a daily basis to get an update of what happens in the world of sports when I’m unable to watch.

CHICAGO (UPI) — Nick Collison scored 21 points Saturday night — five of them in overtime — to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 109-98 victory over Chicago.

Collision scored the final point in regulation when he sank a free throw with more than a minute left to play and then put the Thunder ahead for good with a three-point play to break a 96-96 tie during the extra period, when Oklahoma City outscored Chicago 15-4. Click here to read more of their coverage…

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen the great one smack one out of the park but it might be sooner then later that that image will be back. Sosa is currently fit to return to MLB and he wants to come back in full force and from what people have seen he looks to be in great shape especially when it comes to his hitting. I would be really excited to see him sport a red “B” but I don’t know if Boston would even throw a bid for his skills. Check out the full story at this link and give it a complete read so that you can get a full view of what he is planning on doing. If any Red Sox decision makers are reading this (yeah right) please send Mr. Sosa a bid and who knows maybe he’ll come on over.

This past weekend I had the honor and priviledge to attend the race at the Toledo Speedway. I was assisting Chet Productions with audio and video during the race as well as set up and take down of the equipment the provided. I saw a few “accidents” take place that pretty much everyone knew at least one of them was intentional.

Each year I participate in the setup which might be once to twice a year. The crew in which accompanies the company are just awesome. We are like a tight family when it comes to working and hanging out wiht each other. I can’t wait until the next production which should be sometime between April and May. Until then I’ll try to keep in touch with the crew as well as the races.

Oh and if there’s anyone out there that works for the Arca/Remax Series that is reading this and would like to find a new owner for the Dodge Charger Pace Car I would like to inform you that the search is over - just select me and I’ll be more then happy to drive the car as is.

Game one of the AL Championship Series starts tonight between the Red Sox and the The Rays. Just about everyone I have spoken to today and throughout this week I heard that most of them don’t think Boston will make it through the series. Well I’m here to say that regardless what they say I strongly believe that Boston will come out ahead and finishing the series with a comfortable lead.

The above image is brought to you by AccuScore and from what you can see they are presenting to you that the Red Sox have a slim chance of winning tonight. I would love to have Boston come in and kick some butt early in the game. Now… from what I read and saw it looks like Daisuke Matsuzaka will be the first to open the can of whoopass on the Rays.

I won’t be able to watch the game tonight so for those of you who can and are please come back and leave me so details as to the outcome of the game both positive and negative.

I am still in shock even though it’s been about a day and a half later. Ohio State losing like they did yesterday is something that should be remembered forever. Yes I know that Michigan lost as well to the Irish but they didn’t lose the game as bad as OSU did to USC.

I watched each and every play that Ohio had but for some reason they couldn’t keep their minds focused on the game because every time they had an advantage it felt like USC presented a play that would throw them off.

I have to give the USC group some huge props because even though they were favored to win the game there were still some die hard OSU folks that wouldn’t accept it. Congrats to Mark and his troops on getting the job done.

LOS ANGELES - Mark Sanchez completed 17-of-28 passes for 172 yards and four touchdowns Saturday to lead top-ranked Southern California to a 35-3 win over No. 5 Ohio State.

Joe McKnight rushed for 105 yards on 12 carries for the Trojans (2-0), who hadn’t played Ohio State since 1990.

Damian Williams had three receptions — two for touchdowns — for 49 yards and Stanley Havili added a TD as part of a five-catch, 49-yard game. USC has so far outscored its two opponents — Ohio State and Virginia — 87-10 this season.

Todd Boeckman struggled for the Buckeyes (2-1), throwing for 84 yards on 14-of-21 completions. He was also intercepted twice.

Terrelle Pryor completed 7-of-9 passes for 52 yards, and ran 11 times for 40 yards, but Ohio State went without a touchdown for the first time in 142 games.

Watching the video at first look appears to be quite brutal but as the coverage goes on you’ll notice that they are basically fighting with very stylish weapons that are no different then pillows. My friend Bill is involved in battles like this but his battles are with actual weapons with of course careful attention to safety. This sport might be something I would try out gicen that there are some times where I find myself wanting to hit something or someone and the only thing I have is my punching bag at home that doesn’t really fight back. I think I’ll do some research and see if something like this is local or maybe in the state.

On Saturday my wife and I had the privilege to attend the annual Maumee River Dragon Boat Race. This year I joined the Toledo Parents under the name of “Powerful Paddelin Parents”. We had a blast the entire day, it started a bit late at first and just worse as the day went on but all in all it was a great experience. Our team came in 2nd in round one which wasn’t too bad considering I didn’t have any practice with the team the week before. On the second round we came in first place which of course is a great feeling especially when the other teams racing with you found it necessary to chant weird sayings and perform silly dances. Now on the third race we didn’t do too well - we came in fourth. I think that by the time we were up again from the second race we were pretty much in snooze mode. I believe it was about 2 hours before the last race. Well either way it was fun and I hope to join again next year and maybe bring home a trophy. I would like to thank my better half Lisa for waking up that early (7:00am) on a Saturday and then basically hang out the entire day under a hot sun - I would like to also thank the team that allowed me to participate and enjoy the fun with them. We’ll get them next year! If you want to see more photos of the event then please visit the link below.
More Photos

It’s games like this one that I would love to have multiple persons so that way I can attend all the family events and also attend the good games that occur throughout the season. Watching the standings and seeing that Boston did horrible this past weekend it actually felt good to know that my boy Lester can still bring his A-Game and give us a great performance. With this win I hope that things stay the same for the remainder of the season or maybe the next month.

SEATTLE - Jon Lester held the Mariners to eight hits in 7 1/3 innings and Jonathan Papelbon finished up the shutout Monday night when the Boston Red Sox beat Seattle 4-0.

Lester (8-3) struck out six for Boston, which had lost three straight during the weekend in Anaheim.

Papelbon came on in the eighth with one out and the bases loaded — getting Raul Ibanez to hit into a double play to get out of the jam — and then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for 29th save.

Jason Varitek drove in two runs with a homer and Jed Lowrie drove in two for Boston.

Seattle starter and loser Jarrod Washburn (4-9) allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Yuniesky Betancourt and Adrian Beltre had two hits each for the Mariners, who have lost three straight and six of their last eight games.

MLB: Boston 18, Minnesota 5

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox pounded Minnesota pitchers for 23 hits, including homers by Kevin Youkilis and Kevin Cash, and blitzed the Twins 18-5 Wednesday.

Youkilis hit a two-run home run and finished with four RBI and three runs scored, leading the Boston onslaught. Cash hit a solo home run, Dustin Pedroia ripped a three-run double and Jacoby Ellsbury produced four hits.

Boston erased an early 3-0 deficit with a four-run third inning and stayed ahead, exploding for seven more runs in the seventh.

Justin Morneau slugged a two-run homer for the Twins, who lost three straight in Boston after winning five games in a row.

Josh Beckett (9-5) was the winner, allowing all five Minnesota runs in five-plus innings.

Minnesota’s Livan Hernandez (9-6) gave up six runs and 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings and took the loss.
Now this game was something that I knew was coming. The last game they had where they managed to only get 1 run for the whole game was completely disgusting. Now I feel a little better knowing that when Boston needs to kick butt they can do it with complete ease. Can’t wait to see what the next game will bring - hopefully something a bit different, like multiple homeruns during one inning.

Before you watch the video below I would like to inform those of you who are sport nuts especially when it comes to baseball to realize that this woman is probably available for any team. Watch the video and let me know what you think.