February 29th update

Matt Kenseth wins fiery Daytona 500

• As reported on Monday, the Daytona 500, typically held on a Sunday, was postponed for a day. When it finally took place on Monday night (after further rain delays) the fireworks started.
• Something broke on Juan Pablo Montoya's car sending him careening into the Safety Car (the irony here is not lost on anybody). The Safety Car held 200 gallons of kerosene, which went spilling out of the car. Montoya and the driver of the Safety car were able to get away unharmed but the kerosene went up in flames and delayed the race. When the fire was out, the track had to be cleaned and repaired in order for the final 40 laps of the race to be run.
• Driver Brad Keselowski live tweeted the event, effectively tripling his Twitter followers during the fire delay. Danica Patrick (and a few others) ended her race in the 162nd lap when she got caught up in an accident brought on by the aggression by drivers trying to take advantage of the restart of the race after the fire.


All-Star game injury

• In the third quarter of the NBA All-Star game on Sunday Dewayne Wade fouled Kobe Bryant on a drive to the basket, hitting him in his face. Bryant had a bloodied nose, but nobody thought anything else of it at the time.
• However, it turns out Bryant had broken his nose and suffered a concussion from the foul. Bryant will be re-evaluated by doctors to see if he can play in the Lakers next game on Wednesday, but it's unusual for this to even be an issue in the first place because generally players do not try very hard in All-Star games, especially when it comes to hard fouls. Bryant’s Lakers teammates came out in defense of their superstar. Andrew Bynum said “ It was an All-Star game, I don’t understand what that was all about. It was crazy.”
• For what it's worth, Wade has apologized, saying that what's done is done and all he can do now is say he's sorry.

June 10th update

Roberto Luongo shaky for a second straight game

- Boston ties up the Stanley Cup finals 2-2 with a 4-0 win behind a strong performance by star goaltender Tim Thomas.

- Both teams' goaltenders have won the Vezina Trophy, given annually to Hockey's best goalie, but over the past two games Vancouver Goalie Roberto Luongo has allowed 12 goals, a massive number for any two game span, let alone two in the finals.

- Luongo brought back memories of the Canucks first round series in which, after being up 3-0 to the Chicago Blackhawks, Luongo forgot how to stop the puck allowing in 11 goals over the next 2 games. He did not play an entire game again until game 7 which Vancouver won 2-1.


Mavs close to within 1 win of NBA title

- The Mavericks were on fire from the 3 point line, making 68% (13-19), which was one short of the record for 3 pointers made in the NBA Finals. Dirk Nowitzki only made 1 3 pointer but led the team with 29 points overall.

- Lebron James had a triple double (at least 10 points, rebounds and assists) but only scored 17. It was the second straight subpar scoring game for James, who has only 25 combined in his last 2 games, despite averaging 28 points per game in his playoff career. He hasn't scored more than 2 points in the 4th quarter since Game 1, when he scored 5.

- Dwayne Wade scored 23 points but suffered a hip injury in the first half that may make him less effective for the remainder of the series. Earlier Thursday afternoon, Wade and James poked fun at reports that Dirk Nowitzki had been sick during game 4.


Final Leg of Horse Racing Triple Crown to be held Saturday

- The race will be held at 6:30 EST but will not feature a Triple Crown winner, as different horses have already been victorious in the first 2 legs. There has not been a Triple Crown winner since 1978 when Affirmed won all 3.

- Animal Kingdom, the Kentucky Derby winner is listed as the favorite at 2-1. Nehro and Shackleford, the Preakness winner, are among the other front runners.

- Also called the "Run for Carnations," because the winning horse is blanketed in white carnations, the Belmont is among the biggest gambling events in the United States annually.

June 8th update

Pryor to drop out of Ohio State
- Terrelle Pryor, the highly touted Ohio State Quarterback, has declared he will not return to school for his senior season as fallout over an NCAA investigation (and to a lesser extent badly timed traffic violations) continues to ravage one of the top collegiate football programs in the country

- The scandal, in which several OSU players used their popularity to get cheap or free goods and services from area businesses, has already led to the resignation of popular and successful coach Jim Tressel, who lied about knowledge of these incidents. Additionally, Pryor and 4 other teammates were already suspended for the first 5 games of the 2011-12 season.

- Pryor is expected to try and enter the NFL through its supplemental draft, a rarely-used secondary player selection process where players with sketchy histories have historically made their way into the professional football ranks.

- Despite being the quarterback at a major college program, a lot of NFL scouts feel that he will be a Wide Receiver in the NFL due to his athleticism and size.


Mavs tie NBA Finals 2-2 in another thriller
- The Dallas Mavericks tied the NBA Finals 2-2 with an 86-83 victory in what has become one of the most tightly contested series in recent memory.

- Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points including 10 in the 4th quarter despite having a high fever. He's drawing comparisons to Michael Jordan, who scored 37 points and led the Bulls to a win in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals despite playing with a 103 degree fever.

- Dwayne Wade came through with another big game but missed a potential game tying free throw with under a minute left and fumbled the inbounds pass on the final play of the game which led to a wild, missed 3 pointer by Mike Miller.

- Lebron James only scored 8 points, the first time he has failed to score in double digits in his playoff career.

- The last 26 times the NBA Finals has been tied at 2-2, the winner of game 5 has won the series 19 times.


Bruins crush Canucks to get on the board in Stanley Cup
- The Boston Bruins finally broke through the Vancouver Canucks defense and continued to pound the back of the net, winning game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, 8-1, but in the process, they lost one of their best players for the rest of the series.

- A vicious, blindside hit on Bruins right wing Nathan Horton, the Bruins 4th leading scorer in the regular season, left him with a concussion and out of the rest of the Finals. Vancouver's Aaron Rome, who laid the hit, was suspended for 4 games which would cover the extent of the Finals as well. It's the first time a player has been suspended for more than 1 Stanley Cup Finals game.

- The Bruins finally broke through the Vancouver defense and continued to pound the back of the net, winning game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, 8-1. Vancouver still holds a series lead of 2-1, but this win was desperately needed by the Bruins as 3-0 series deficits are rarely overcome.

- In their past 5 Stanley Cup appearances, the Bruins have only won a total of 5 games, never winning more than 2 games in any one series.