Tribe wins two,Devils ice Penguins

Since we last had time to write,the Cleveland Indians moved to within one game of the World Series with two wins at home over the Boston Red Sox.

Game 3 went to the Tribe 4-2 in a game most notable for Jake Westbrook's gutsy seven inning effort and Kenny Lofton's two run homer off the high-priced Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Lofton's second inning shot into the seats gave the Indians a lead that they would never relinquish.
The Indians added two runs in the fifth on a Asdrubal Cabrera single and Travis Hafner fielders choice,runs that were needed as the Red Sox would add two runs in the seventh on a 2 run Jason Varitek homer.
Westbrook got the win and Joe Borowski fired the ninth to earn the save.

The Wahoos then added Game 4 to their belt with a 7-3 win.
The Indians plated all seven runs in the fifth inning and held off a 3 solo homers in a row barrage by the Red Sox in the sixth to give Paul Byrd the win.
Byrd allowed two of the homers and took the win after allowing two runs in 5+ innings.
Casey Blake's solo homer gave Cleveland the early lead and singles by Asdrubal Cabrera and Victor Martinez scored two more runs.
Jhonny Peralta's three run homer then put the game solidly in the Cleveland win column.

Game 5 in Cleveland will see a pitching rematch of Game 1 with C.C Sabathia for the Indians against Josh Beckett for the backed against the wall crimson hose.

Arron Asham broke Pittsburgh hearts with his 3rd period goal(2) to lift the New Jersey Devils to a 5-4 win over the Penguins and then followed up a few minutes later with a bop to the nose of Sidney Crosby.
I am not sure which I liked more!!
The Devils led 2-0 early with two goals by their "defensive" line as Jay Pandolfo (2) and John Madden (4) each popped in 1st period goals.
Each player assisted on the each others goals and David Clarkson picked up assists on both goals.
After 2 Pittsburgh goals tied the game at 2 after the first period of play,the Penguins grabbed the lead early in the second on a power play goal by Sergei Gonchar.
The Devils roared back to tie and take the lead on two power play goals by Travis Zajac (2 and 3).
The first Zajac goal was assisted by Zach Parise (first of three in the game) and Paul Martin,while assists on the second went to Parise and Brian Gionta.
The Penguins tied the game before the end of the second and that led to the only goal of the third period,Asham's game winner.
Asham's goal was assisted by Parise and Patrick Elias.
The win improves the Devils to 3-3 on the year with 6 points and only three more games on this murderous road trip.
The Devils battle the Flyers in Philadelphia today at 7:00.

Bullpen Notes

The hot rumor for the Pirates managing job has the job going to John Farrell.
Farrell,a former Indian pitcher and farm director is currently the Red Sox pitching coach.
To me,if the job goes to anyone other than Farrell,Joel Skinner or Torey Lovullo,it would be a surprise to me.

The Arena Football league has returned to Cleveland.
The Las Vegas franchise moved to Lake Erie and switched conferences so that the new team can be in the same division as Columbus...
No word on the new teams name.....

A game on today on MASN from the Hawaii Winter Baseball league.
I will watch it when I can and if any Pirates or Indians are playing,I will give a report.

Back later with the promised political post with anything new sports added!

Photo Credits
Lofton/Sizemore-Paul Sancya-AP Photo
Byrd-Al Behrman-Getty Images
Devils-Jim McIssac-Getty Images

Both Teams are 3-3????

After the results of the first six games of the NFL season,both the Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks are 3-3.
This is surprising to me on both fronts,as I didn't think Cleveland would be able to be 3-3 due to a tough schedule and especially after their horrid opening day vs Pittsburgh.
Nor did I think that Seattle would lose 3 games early on,but both are,to my great surprise.

The Browns defeated the Miami Dolphins 41-31 in a game that was not as close as the score indicates.
Cleveland raced to a 24-3 lead,allowed the Dolphins to close to 27-24 before turning the jets back on and pulling away.
It almost seemed like they allowed the Dolphins to catch up and then devastate them by pulling away just when Miami thought that they had a chance.
Derek Anderson threw three touchdowns-all three to Braylon Edwards and added a rushing touchdown to boot.
Even more encouraging was the fact that Anderson did not throw any interceptions.
Jason Wright scored the games first points on a one yard touchdown run.
Wright was playing in place of the injured Jamal Lewis and finished with 59 yards on 20 carries,but the better ground performance went to Jerome Harrison,who rushed for 57 yards in just 8 carries.
If you remember back in the Browns preview,I wondered why the shifty Harrison was not used as a change of pace back and that I thought he could be quite effective in that role.
Hopefully yesterday earned him more opportunities to play.
The offensive line played well,as Jason Taylor provided the only Miami sack and Joey Porter continued to be a non-factor.
The defense still needs to pick things up.
31 points to a Cleo Lemon led team is not a wonderful performance,but the win is what counts and I would have taken 3-3 going into the bye week every time that it would have been offered to me before the season.
The Browns return in two weeks in St.Louis against the 0-6 Rams.

Meanwhile in Seattle...........
I wrote in my game picks that I thought the Saints were sitting on a big game and I was right.
But I was wrong because I thought the Seahawks could hold them off and that was far off the mark.
The Saints dominated the Seahawks 28-17 in a game that had it all.
Inept offense (although the stats don't show it),bad defense (in the first half) and horrid special teams.
Boone Stutz dribbled a snap that eluded Ryan Plackemeier and quickly handed the Saints a touchdown,momentum and a lead that they would never relinquish.
Matt Hasselbeck' s stats look great,but they were mostly accumulated late with the Saints trading yardage for clock and when the Seahawks still had a heartbeat,Hasselbeck stepped on it with a pass that could be charitably described as awful.
Shaun Alexander had another bad night,but that was more to being behind and Mike Holmgren's bad play calling.
Speaking on which-Mike Holmgren has to be the most overrated playcaller in the game.
Always a draw on 3rd and long and always a screen pass on third and short.
Cannot knock the depleted wide receiving corps,they are doing their best when you consider guys like Bobby Engram and Nate Burleson are your top guys.
Usually those guys are 3rd wideouts at best.
But the offensive line is supposed to be a strength and when 800 pound Hollis Thomas is able to dump the QB,there are problems somewhere.
I could add more,but I would just be adding to the fire.
For a better recap-try Field Gulls .
They do an excellent and detailed recap every week and I will be adding them to the links page.
The Seahawks remain home for a visit from the 0-6 Rams.
Get used to hearing about the Rams as they will be covered here for the next two weeks.

Bullpen Notes

The ALCS continues tonight in Cleveland with Jake Westbrook defending for the Wahoos against Daisuke Matsusaka for the Dirty Waters.
Coverage here tomorrow.

Ohio State did indeed rise to the number 1 ranking.
I think I will enjoy it now.
Don't think it will last the season.

Well traveled minor league outfielder Kevin Thompson was claimed by the Pirates from Oakland today off the waiver wire.
Thompson likely will be an Indianapolis Indian,but this is the type of move that I like-Gamble on some of these guys that never got a chance and maybe one or two will pan out.

Back tomorrow with ALCS action and some political commentary that you may or may not be interested in.....

Photo Credits
Browns-Roadell Hickman-Cleveland Plain Dealer
Seahawks-Dan DeLong-Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Buckeyes swat Flashes,Indians and Devils rally for wins.

Brian Hartline was the star of the game as the Buckeyes cruised to a 48-3 win over Kent State at Ohio Stadium.
Hartline's 90-yard punt return set an all-time record at Ohio State and his touchdown catch on the Buckeyes first possession set the stage for a long day for the Golden Flashes.
Donald Washington grabbed a Julian Edelman screen pass and ran 70 yards for the touchdown in the game's biggest defensive play.
A very dull second half saw only one touchdown, a two-yard run by backup QB Rob Schoenhoft, although the Bucks did kick two field goals.
Overall the game was pretty much what was expected-a big lead and lots of reserves in the second half.
Generally, pretty tedious, but the win seems to have been achieved without any major injuries and that is always a plus.
The Buckeyes tackle the visiting Michigan State Spartans next Saturday and should go into the game as the top-ranked team in the country after losses by the two teams ranked ahead of them in LSU and California.

The Cleveland Indians broke open an extra-inning contest with a seven-run 11th inning to earn a split of the first two road games with a 13-6 win in Boston in the ALCS.
Trot Nixon's pinch-hit single opened the floodgates as the Indians smacked around three Boston pitchers in the 11th.
Good thing that the Indian offense showed up as Fausto Carmona was routed in just 4 innings of work and the normally reliable Rafael Perez was torched in his relief outing.
The Indians hit 3 homers off Boston hurlers as Grady Sizemore, Jhonny Peralta, and Franklin Gutierrez all connected.
Tom Mastny picked up the win from the bullpen.
Game 3 is Monday night in Cleveland.
Perhaps more on this game tomorrow.

The New Jersey Devils came out ready to play, but then played horrendous defense in falling two goals behind the winless Atlanta Thrashers.
However, the difference between this game and the loss to Florida was easy to tell-this time the towel was not thrown in.
The Devils scored three unanswered goals to take a lead, allowed Atlanta to tie, but then as Patrick Elias struck his second power-play goal of the game with 28 seconds remaining gave the Devils badly needed 6-5 victory.
The Devil power play was working early as John Madden's early 1st-period power-play goal (3rd) gave the Devils the early lead.
The other Devil tallies went to Travis Zajac (1st), Sergei Brylin (1st) and Jay Pandolfo (1st).
The Devil defense was awful and the usual suspects stood out.
Johnny Oduya can be sat at any time, why not give new Devil Sheldon Brookbank a look and scratch Oduya?
He is consistently killing this team as he allows snipers to shoot freely from the outside and if he tries to stop that, they skate around him for point-blank shots.
But the effort tonight was better and the offense did seem to have a bit more flow, but that could be that Atlanta is pretty bad.
The tougher test comes Wednesday night in Pittsburgh vs the Penguins.
Even though it is another road game, it will be nice to play in real hockey towns.
All these Southern arenas are making me ill.........

Bullpen Notes

Anyone else that is watching the ALDS notice that Fox seems to either have microphones all over the place or has turned them up dramatically?
Either way, it sounds almost like video game baseball.
But at least they aren't cluttering the screen with the lead-off graphic like TBS is........

Dusty Baker has agreed to a three year to skipper the Reds.
I like Dusty, but I am not sure that this is a good fit for him.
Dusty seems to get more out of veteran, contending teams and the Reds are not really either of those...

Juan Diaz added the IBF Lightweight title to his WBA belt with a stoppage at the end of the 8th round as Julio Diaz did not answer the bell for Round 9.
We had Juan ahead 80-72 at the end of the bout.
Hopefully, a final unification can be arranged for Diaz against WBC champ Joel Casamayor in 2008.

The Cleveland Browns (2-3) battle the winless Miami Dolphins (0-5) in Cleveland today at 1:00.
A winless opponent with an inexperienced backup Quarterback adds up to this ......
Our pick-Browns 28-14

The Seattle Seahawks (3-2) face another winless team in the New Orleans Saints (0-4) tonight at 8:30 in Seattle.
This is a far more dangerous game than the Browns have as the Saints are sitting on a big game and the Seahawks are injury-plagued at wideout, but........
Our pick-Seahawks 21-17

Photo Credits
Hartline-Neal Lauron-Columbus Dispatch
Indians-Stephen Savoia-AP Photo
Elias-John Amis-AP Photo
Diaz-Nam Huh-AP Photo
Helmets-Helmet Project

Wahoos scalped in Boston

Lots of stuff to write about today.
The Cleveland Indians rolled into Boston riding high and having their ace starting in Game 1,had to feel good about their chances.
Instead after a 10-3 beating in Game 1,the Tribe has to look at tonight's game 2 as a must win.
David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were never retired in the game once and that tells the tale.
You will not defeat the Boston Red Sox very often,if you cant get those guys out at least some of the time.
Sabathia was ripped for 8 runs in his less than 5 inning evening and seemed to almost be too strong.
He hadn't pitched for seven days and some pitchers can get too much rest and overthrow as a result.
That then leads to a lack of command or touch.
I think that was what happened to C.C last night and I believe that you will see a better Sabathia in his next outing assuming that the series makes it that far.
The Tribe started fast with a first inning homer by Travis Hafner,but sputtered thereafter,as Cleveland was able to just add two meaningless runs when the game was decided by Asdrubal Cabrera.
Cleveland needs Game 2 badly.
A victory and the Tribe returns to Lake Erie with a split and three home games coming up.
A loss and not only are they down 2-0,they are down by that margin with having used their two best pitchers.
Game 2 is tonight at 8:20 with the Indians going with Fausto Carmona against the Sox and Curt Schilling.

In a bonus for me,the Red Wings moved their start for last nights game vs the Blackhawks back an hour from its original schedule.
So I was able to watch and cover the game for here.
The Hawks fell behind early 2-0,but kept battling and working and within a 61 second span late in period 2 had tied the game at 2.
Patrick Sharp cut the lead in half with a power play goal that was assisted by the young guns Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and then Brent Seabrook took a Robert Lang pass and fired a long laser by Dominik Hasek to tie the game.
Only one goal in the third period and it belonged to Chicago as Robert Lang finished off his old team with a power play goal to conclude the scoring at 3-2.
Seabrook and former Devil Andrei Zyuzin garnered assists.
Great game by the Hawks and any of you Hawk fans out there (Just Greg,I think) can start getting excited-this team has quite a future,if handled right.

The Ashland Arrows crushed the visiting Mansfield Tygers on Homecoming night in A-Town 35-10.
Five touchdowns for Taylor Housewright,as he tossed 3 through the air and produced two more on the field turf.
The Arrows move to 7-1 overall,5-0 in the OCC and keep their first place tie with Lexington.
The Minutemen cruised to a 43-0 win over Madison.
Both teams face quality teams before their game in two weeks as the Arrows take on the Clear Fork Colts,while Lexington faces the West Holmes Knights.

Bullpen Notes

The Ohio State Buckeyes return home today for a non-conference tilt vs the Kent State Golden Flashes.Should be a walk in the park,but never say anything for sure.
Our pick-Buckeyes 56-7.

The New Jersey Devils return to action tonight in Atlanta vs the Thrashers.
Here is hoping for better efforts than the other night in Miami.

The Hagerstown Suns released their 2008 schedule yesterday.
The Hickory Crawdads will be here for a four game series from July 11-14,while the Lake County Captains will make three visits to Hagerstown.
The Kannapolis Intimidators and Asheville Tourists return to the home schedule,while the Greenville Drive and Augusta Greenjackets drop from the home portion for 2008.

Anyone else surprised that Leo Mazzone and the Orioles parted ways?
That was destined to be when the Birds fired Mazzone's close friend Sam Perlozzo last year.
Another boneheaded Baltimore move.

And finally,a article on coaches that will not participate in the unsportsmanlike trend of icing kickers just before the snap.
The coaches that do that had better do it this season,I bet that option will not be there for them next season.

Photo Credits
Fenway-Jim Rogash-Getty Images
Blackhawks-Jerry Mendoza-AP Photo
Housewright-Jason Molyet-Mansfield News-Journal
Helmets-Helmet Project

One word-Awful

One word covers the New Jersey Devils play and (in most cases) effort last night-Awful.
The 3-0 loss to the Florida Panthers before 43 people in Miami was not awful because of the loss,it was HOW they lost.
Little enthusiasm, little spark and after the Panthers went ahead 2-0,it seemed that most of the Devils just wanted to head back to the hotel.
If the Devils goalie was not Marty Brodeur-the score could have been easily 7-0.
Now to be fair-the second Panther goal can blamed on the coach as after a bad interference call on David Clarkson,Brent Sutter made the power play 5 on 3 for calling the ref a name that Bill O'Reilly uses to order Ice Tea!
Yes,it was a bad call and should have been addressed,but that basically put the game away considering how the Devils played.
There are some legitimate reasons for the play thus far.
The injuries to Jamie Langenbrunner and Colin White are killing this team.
Langenbrunner adds scoring and toughness,while White is the steady hand defensively that this team is screaming for right now
And I am so tired of watching Johnny Oduya screw up every game.
Cant we please showcase Richard Matvichuk for a while and scratch Oduya?
God,he is terrible!
The defense is struggling but would look much better with the prospective addition of Danny Markov and White's return from the IR.
Things I liked:
Nice game from Marty,even in the loss.
David Clarkson,Mike Mottau ,Arron Asham,Vitaly Visnevski and Zach Parise never stopped trying.
Outside of that,not much.
The Devils play in Atlanta on Saturday night.

Bullpen notes

The Cleveland Indians begin the American League Championship Series in Boston tonight vs the Red Sox.
Game time 7:00 as the Tribe sends C.C.Sabathia to the hill vs the Beantowners Josh Beckett.
Coverage here tomorrow.

Dusty Baker is appearing to be the leading candidate for the Cincinnati Reds managing job.
Not sure if that is a great fit for Dusty.

Rumors are flying that the Rogers Corporation will attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills after the passing of current owner Ralph Wilson.
Wilson has stated that after his death,the Bills will be sold to the highest bidder and no hometown discount for Buffalo.
This would be a killer shot to the CFL as a league and could be its downfall.

Speaking of the CFL-The Hamilton Tiger-Cats lost in Montreal on Canadian Thanksgiving 27-19.
The loss dropped the Cats to 2-12 on the season and eliminated them from the playoff hunt.
Like that had not been decided long ago!

The Ashland Arrows battle the Mansfield Tygers (correct spelling) in Ashland tonight,as the Arrows attempt to keep their share of first place in the OCC.
As of now the 6-1 Arrows are in 7th spot in Region 6 and would qualify for the State playoffs.
One problem-the team that they are tied with for 1st (Lexington) is in the same region and holds the 6th spot.
So the Ashland-Lexington game that could (if both teams win out) decide the conference title,could also send the loser out of the state tournament.
The two teams play in Lexington two weeks from tonight.

Finally-Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts on the environment.
Kudos to Gore for the award and all his work.
Now we just need him to run for President to put his efforts into the highest position in the world.

Photo Credits
Clarkson-Allen-Doug Benc-Getty Images
Helmets-Ohio Helmet Project
Gore-A inconvenient truth

Towes scores in debut,Blackhawks lose to Sharks

Pre-season Calder favorite Jonathan Towes fired in a goal on his first NHL shot,but that was the only goal that the Blackhawks scored,as the San Jose Sharks rallied for a 2-1 victory.
Two power play goals by San Jose's Milan Michalek made the difference in the game,but the big story was Towes making his NHL debut.
Towes scored his goal in spectacular fashion,as he grabbed a Brent Seabrook pass at the blue line,blew past Matt Carle of the Sharks and fired the puck over the Sharks backstop Evgeni Nabakov.
The first period goal gave the Hawks their only lead.
Towes centered a line that included first overall selection Patrick Kane and the two seemed to mesh well together.
Kane assisted on the Towes goal.
Nikolai Khabibulin was sharp in goal for Chicago as he stopped many quality scoring chances from the Shark shooters.
All and all-I am beginning to have hope for the Hawk future from what I saw.
There are still some pieces that need to be added,but there is promise in Hawk land.
Now,lets hope that the new Wirtz running things is an improvement on the old one.
Next game for Blackhawk coverage will be October 23 as the Hawks battle Columbus...

Bullpen Notes

The New Jersey Devils are in Miami to take on the Panthers tonight at 7:30.
Coverage here tomorrow.

Speaking of the Devils,turns out there is a reason that veteran blueliner Richard Mativchuk has been a healthy scratch in all 3 Devils games.
Coach Brent Sutter thinks he is too slow to be effective in his system and the Devils are looking to trade Mativichuk very soon.
I am not sure that moving him is a smart move,but better to get something for him than scratch him every night.
And it would also give extra cap space to acquire another player as well.
This also shows that (for now,at least) Lou Lamoriello is giving Sutter whatever he wants to do things Sutter's way.

Another Devils Note-Rumor is that the reason that the Devils want to move Matvichuk now is to have the cap room to add unsigned free agent defenseman Danny Markov before Markov is signed by another team.

Former NHL defenseman Rob Ramage was found guilty of five alcohol related charges in the crash that killed former Blackhawk Keith Magnuson in 2003.
The former Colorado Rockie that was traded just before the Rockies moved to New Jersey will be sentenced in January.

And finally-good news for Ryan!
Dennis Miller is returning to television!
Versus is giving Miller a sports talk show that will air after NHL Hockey on Tuesday nights starting in November.........

Photo Credit
Toews-Nam Huh-AP Photo

Season reviews-SAL edition

Since they are no games today,I figured that I would catch up on how some players that we follow did in 2007 and where they might go in 2008.

Position Players-Batting Average,Home Runs,RBI

Chris Marrero:
Hagerstown: .293, 14,53
Potomac: .259, 9,35.

Marrero tailed off a bit at seasons end,but had a spectacular 1st full season.
Chris could start the year at AA Harrisburg,but may also start at High A Potomac for a month or so.

Justin Maxwell:
Hagerstown: .301,14,40
Potomac: .263,13,43

Maxwell is finishing his season at Washington,but is not expected to be a threat to start there next season.
Maxwell is highly thought of and could begin next season at AAA Columbus,but is guaranteed to be no lower than AA Harrisburg.

Mike Daniel
Hagerstown: .290,7,37
Potomac: .296,4,41

Daniel progressed well,but needs to develop his power numbers.
Mike could start at either AA Harrisburg,but a brief return to High A Potomac is possible.

Adrian Cardenas
Lakewood: .295,9,75

Cardenas had a strong 2007 season and seemed to adjust well to a position change from SS to 2B.
Adrian will be at High A Clearwater next season.

Nick Weglarz
Lake County: .276,23,82
Kinston: .143,1,1

Weglarz had a spectacular first season as an outfielder and projects to have a quite a future.
Nick will return to Kinston,where he had a brief cup of coffee this season.

Matt McBride
Lake County: .283,8,66
Akron: .576,0,0

McBride had a solid season and had a cameo at AA Akron.
Matt is rumored to go to AA Akron,but really should be assigned to High A Kinston

Logan Morrison
Greensboro: .267,24,86

Morrison was a power presence in a great year for Greensboro.
Morrison should be the power anchor next year for High A Jupiter

Pitchers-Won-Loss,ERA

Erik Arnesen
Hagerstown: 6-7 4.61

Arnesen split time between the bullpen and the rotation this year.
Erik finished the season very strongly with two strong efforts.
Erik could move up to High A Potomac or begin the season back at Low A Hagerstown,depending on the Nationals needs.

Cory Van Allen
Hagerstown: 1-3,3.62
Potomac: 3-7,5.49

Van Allen's record was not great at Hagerstown,but that was due more to lack of support than poor performance.
Cory had some problems at Potomac,but showed flashes of potential.
Cory will likely return to Potomac to start 2008.

Marco Estrada
Hagerstown: 1-5,5.25
GCL Nats: 0-0,3.28
Potomac: 5-3,4.94

Marco battled injuries at Hagerstown and early on at Potomac,but was dominating in his last four starts,as he allowed just 4 runs over his last 25 and two thirds innings.
Marco's excellent stretch run should allow him to start next year at AA Harrisburg.

Mike Crotta;
Hickory: 10-5,4.39
Altoona: 0-1,10:12

Crotta picked up his game in the second half after a slow first half.
Mike's improvement was one of the main reasons for Hickory's last to first run in the SAL.
Crotta should start at High A Lynchburg.

Bradley Clapp;
Hickory: 6-10,6.41

Clapp's season was the reverse of Crotta's and seemed to have problems of some type in the second half.
Clapp will likely move to Lynchburg,but Hickory return is not out of the question.

Jared Hughes
Hickory: 8-9,4.64

Hughes was consistently the Crawdads best pitcher over the season,but really fell off over the final month of the season.
Hughes should start at High A Lynchburg.

Eric Krebs
Hickory: 2-2,1 save,4.82
GCL Pirates: 2-0,2.08

Krebs was out with injuries and upon his return was converted to the bullpen.
Krebs and his power arm may be better suited for the pen and his numbers seem to bear that out.
Eric could start at either Hickory or Lynchburg next season.

Alex Periard
West Virginia:7-7,2 saves,3.55

Periard was a main anchor in West Virginia's great season and looks to be a solid prospect.
Alex will start at High A Brevard County and could even move to AA Huntsville with a strong spring training.

Mike Ramlow
West Virginia:5-5,1 save,6.11

Ramlow struggled this season,but I think that he may have a future as a lefty bullpen specialist.
Mike could return to West Virginia or move up to Brevard County.

Bullpen Notes

Here is a great column from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on the retiring Mack Strong.
A very nice goodbye to a good guy.

Nationals Farm Authority now has their look at Potomac up.

No Devils tonight,but a rare look for me at the Chicago Blackhawks as they battle San Jose on a Shawn off night.
Tonight is the debut for Chicago rookie Jonathan Towes and we will be covering the game here.

And finally,supporters of Al Gore took out a full page open letter in the New York Times (not cheap) imploring him to run for the Democratic nomination.
The main reason that we have not endorsed a candidate here is that we want to keep options open in case of a Gore change of heart.
Here is a link to their website.