NHL
NEWLY ACQUIRED BERNIER STARS IN SABRES WIN
Steve Bernier was not the marquee name in Tuesday’s trade-deadline deal between the Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks. That honor went to former Sabres All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell. Yet Bernier quickly made a name for himself to the Buffalo faithful!
Bernier scored goals on both of his first two shots, and then added an assist to power his new team to an 8-4 drubbing of the visiting Nashville Predators. The young rightwinger’s offensive explosion ended a 12-game scoring drought that was the longest of his career. (Campbell tallied one assist in his Sharks debut.)
Toni Lyndman also turned in a solid performance for Buffalo with a career-best four assists.
The win lifted Buffalo into eighth place in the Eastern Conference playoff standings ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers, who were idle.
OTHER NHL SCORES
San Jose 4, Columbus 2
Minnesota 3, Tampa Bay 2
Chicago 1, Phoenix 0
Colorado 3, Vancouver 2 – OT Shootout
Toronto 4, Florida 3 – OT Shootout
NBA
CELTICS EDGE CLEVELAND; TAKE THREE-GAME LEAD
Now we’re down to playing for home-court advantage as the NBA moves into the final seven weeks of the season. On Wednesday, the Boston Celtics edged closer to gaining that advantage over the Detroit Pistons.
Boston hosted Cleveland and came away from the TD Banknorth Garden with a 92-87 win over the Cavs. Meanwhile, the Pistons were losing to the Utah Jazz, which gives Boston a three-game advantage for the best record in the NBA.
Ray Allen had 22 points to lead Boston while Kevin Garnett had 18, Leon Powe had 13, and Paul Pierce had 12. The Celtics shot 52 percent to just 38 for the Cavs.
LeBron James had 26 points for Cleveland while Delonte West chipped in with 20.
The Celtics improved to 44-12 on the season while Cleveland is now 32-26.
OTHER NBA GAMES
Atlanta 123, Sacramento 117
Portland 82, LA Clippers 80
New York 113, Charlotte 89
Toronto 107, Minnesota 85
Philadelphia 101, Orlando 89
Denver 138, Seattle 96
New Orleans 120, Phoenix 103
NBA NOTES
• Just four days after Michael Redd joined the 10,000-point club, LeBron James stamped his membership card on Wednesday. Redd did it at age 28; James is just 23. He’s the youngest ever to reach that milestone.
• Who saw this coming? The New Orleans Hornets have defeated the Phoenix Suns all four times the teams have met this season.
• This was the kind of game the Atlanta Hawks were looking for when they got Mike Bibby. Against his former teammates, Bibby scored 24 points and dished out 12 assists to lead Atlanta to a win over the Sacramento Kings.
• How can you explain the dominance of the Utah Jazz over the Detroit Pistons. The Jazz can only dream of getting to the finals to face the team they have beaten six straight times! At one time in Wednesday’s game, Detroit when almost 12 minutes without scoring a basket in the second half.
FACTS OF THE DAY
NBA PLAYOFF STANDINGS
EAST
1. Boston 44-12
2. Detroit 42-16
3. Orlando 37-23
4. Toronto 32-24
5. Cleveland 32-26
6. Washington 27-30
7. Philadelphia 26-32
8. New Jersey 25-32
WEST
1. LA Lakers 40-17
2. San Antonio 38-17
3. New Orleans 38-18
4. Phoenix 39-19
5. Dallas 38-19
6. Houston 37-20
7. Utah 37-21
8. Golden State 34-22
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE: DAVID CARR, NFL QUARTERBACK
BIO NOTE: Carr was the first player selected in the 2002 NFL draft—picked by the Houston Texans.
RECENT NEWS: On Wednesday, Carr was released by the Carolina Panthers after one unsuccessful season at QB.
FAITH QUOTE: “I've seen friends who have gone on the other side; they've been without God and the family structure. They had all the money and had the fame and all the things that come with it, but they struggled. Some guys collapsed. Some guys that I've known from Fresno State or schools nearby that didn't have God in their life...you don't hear from them anymore, because they couldn't handle the pressure. They didn't know how to lean on God and their family. God's there to take all the pressure. He's bigger than all of us.”
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
SENATORS PUNT PADDOCK
This was not expected from the Ottawa Senators. Just 18 games from the Stanley Cup playoffs, the team that played in those finals last year is struggling—and as a result has fired coach John Paddock. It’s not as though Ottawa is hanging around the cellar in the Northeast Division. In fact, they are in first place with a one-point lead over Montreal. The team shot out of the blocks at the beginning of the season winning 15 of its first 17 games, but since then they have won 21 and lost 20. Bryan Murray, the team GM, will move behind the bench to try to reignite the Senators.
NO-COUNT GAMES MEAN SOMETHING
It doesn’t matter. It won’t matter later. On April 1, the scores all go away. But in late February, when the northern half of the nation is peaking around snowdrifts and sliding down the highway on ice rinks to get to work, it matters. Somewhere, someone is playing baseball. In green fields of grass (last time it was spotted in the north was sometime around Christmas), the Detroit Tigers edged the New York Mets 4-2. With the sun (last spotted in the north for about 15 minutes a couple of weeks ago) shining on baseball helmets, the Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago White Sox 7-3. Hope floated for the Texas Rangers as they beat the KC Royals 6-1. Yes, somewhere baseball is being played again. Spring is just 21 days away. The long winter is just about over.
OCHOA STARTS OUT HOT
The best women’s golfer in the world doesn’t quite get the same publicity as her counterpart Tiger Woods, but that doesn’t stop Lorena Ochoa from doing her best Tiger Woods impersonation just about every time she plays. Like Woods, she is starting off her 2008 golf season sizzling hot. On Thursday, making her debut for the new season, Ochoa shot a 66 at the HSBC Champions tournament in Singapore. Ochoa, who is a steady regular at the LPGA Bible study headed by Cris Stevens, was six under par on the first day of play as she seeks to defend her title as the 2007 LPGA Player of the Year.
KUDOS TO STRINGER
Coaching college basketball—coaching any level of basketball, in fact—takes a toll on a person. The grind of practice, of planning, of agonizing over losses, of trying to treat players fairly and with dignity, of dealing with problems, parents, and people in general. The nervousness of game time and the heart-pounding emotions that rise and fall throughout a game. The aftermath of the game when all you can think about is what the team could have done better—what you as the coach could have done better. Now imagine having done that—gone through that—since 1973. Thirty-five years. Welcome to the world of Vivian Stringer, who on Wednesday night picked up her 800th career victory as a college basketball coach. Only two women—Pat Summitt and Jody Conradt—have gone where Stringer has gone. Cheyney State back when nobody cared about women’s basketball in college. Then Iowa. And now Rutgers. Year after year. And 800 wins.
SPRINT CUP STANDINGS
With two races in the books, Kyle Busch leads the Sprint Cup standings. The racers head next to Las Vegas for the UAW-Dodge 400 on Sunday, March 2.
Driver Points Car
1. Kyle Busch 335 Toyota
2. Ryan Newman 329 Dodge
3. Tony Stewart 316 Toyota
4. Kurt Busch 299 Dodge
5. Carl Edwards 296 Ford
6. Kasey Kahne 294 Dodge
7. Kevin Harvick 268 Chevy
8. Jimmie Johnson 267 Chevy
9. Greg Biffle 262 Ford
10. Jeff Burton 261 Chevy
INSIDE SPORTS SPECTRUM
Do you read Sports Spectrum magazine? If you do, you’ll be able to identify the athlete featured in the March-April edition of the magazine, which is arriving in mailboxes across the country this week.
THURSDAY’S SPORTS SPECTRUM FEATURE
• Born in the US but grew up in Australia.
• Loved Australia Rules Football but plays a more gentlemanly sport.
• Goes by the nickname Badds.
CAN YOU NAME THIS SPORTS PERSON?
WEDNESDAY’S SPORTS SPECTRUM FEATURE
• He is one of the top closers in baseball.
• He travels each November to the Dominican Republic to share the gospel and teach baseball.
• He has been in the playoffs every year since 1995.
CAN YOU NAME THIS SPORTS PERSON? Mariano Rivera
SPORTS SPECTRUM RADIO
SS DAILY INTERVIEW
To hear today's interview, go to the Sports Spectrum radio home page. It can be found at www.sport.org.
THE THURSDAY GUEST
CLYDE CHRISTENSEN, wide receivers coach, Indianapolis Colts
You won’t hear much about this from the major secular sports outlets, but the combine in Indianapolis was a hotbed of spiritual activity. Coach Christensen will talk about that—and about the new Christian coaches that have been recently hired to coach in Atlanta and Washington. It’s what you like about Sports Spectrum—good news you can’t get anywhere else.
