NHL
FLYERS NIP CAPS, MOVE ON TO SEMIS
It took a little longer, but the Philadelphia Flyers are in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Working overtime against the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of their matchup, the Flyers got a power play goal from Joffrey Lupul at 6:06 of the bonus session to quiet the Verizon Center crowd and end the season for the hometown Caps.
The Caps led first in the contest when Nicklas Backstrom scored at 5:42 of the initial period. But the teams skated off at intermission tied 1-1 after Scottie Upshall scored for Philly at 15:38.
The Flyers took the lead in the second period when Sami Kapanen notched his second goal of the playoffs. All three of the Flyers goals were unassisted.
At 15:29, Alexander Ovechkin seemed to have rescued the Caps when he buried his fourth goal of the series into the net and scored the goal that sent the game into overtime.
The power play in overtime playoff action is a rarity, and the Caps were not happy to be playing a man down because Tom Poti was nailed for tripping. The power play was just nine seconds from expiring when Lupul picked up a rebound off Cristobal Huet and sent it into the net.
OTHER PLAYOFF SCORE
San Jose 5, Calgary 3
The Sharks win their series with the Flames and head into the Western Conference semifinals. Jeremy Roenick led the Sharks with two goals and two assists. San Jose scored four goals in the second period to ice the win.
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS SCHEDULE
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Montreal vs. Philadelphia
Game 1: Thursday at Montreal
Pittsburgh vs. New York Rangers
Game 1: Friday at Pittsburgh
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Detroit vs. Colorado
Game 1: Thursday at Detroit
San Jose vs. Dallas
Game 1: Friday at San Jose
NBA
SPURS, MAGIC, HORNETS ALL GO UP 2-0
Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and Tony Parker all showed their scoring and leadership skills on Tuesday as each led his team to victory in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs.
New Orleans 127, Dallas 103
Paul scored 32 points and handed out 17 assists as he continues to build a legacy of greatness in the Big Easy. Among Paul's highlights on Tuesday were 10 for 16 shooting from the floor and 12 for 14 shooting from the free throw line. He also had five rebounds and committed just three turnovers. His sidekick David West scored 27 points as New Orleans built a 2-0 series lead. The Hornets shot 60 percent from the field and on defense caused the Mavs to commit 15 turnovers.
Orlando 104, Toronto 103
Dwight Howard, like Paul, is making his mark in playoff basketball for the first time. For the second straight game in the Magic's series with the Raptors, the budding superstar assembled a double-double-this time getting 29 points and 20 rebounds to pace the hometown Magic. Orlando zoomed off to a 35-18 lead after the first quarter, and Toronto just couldn't keep up. Chris Bosh scored 29 for the Raptors, but he missed a possible gamewinning jumper at the buzzer.
San Antonio 102, Phoenix 96
Tony Parker poured in 32 points for the Spurs as they came back from a seven-point halftime deficit to put the Suns in a big hole. Amare Stoudemire bested Parker by one point, taking game scoring honors with 33, but his Suns crashed and burned in a third period in which they scored just 11 points.
NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY'S GAMES
Atlanta at Boston
Philadelphia at Detroit
Denver at Los Angeles Lakers
EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Boston vs. #8 Atlanta
Game 1: Boson 105, Atlanta 81
Boston leads 1-0
Game 2: At Boston Wednesday
#2 Detroit vs. #7 Philadelphia
Game 1: Philadelphia 90, Detroit 86
Philadelphia leads 1-0
Game 2: At Detroit Wednesday
#3 Orlando vs. #6 Toronto
Game 1: Orlando 114, Toronto 100
Game 2: Orlando 104, Toronto 103
Orlando leads 2-0
Game 3: At Toronto Thursday
#4 Cleveland vs. #8 Washington
Game 1: Cleveland 93, Washington 86
Game 2: Cleveland 116, Washington 86
Cleveland leads 2-0
Game 3: At Washington Thursday
WESTERN CONFERENCE
#1 LA Lakers vs. #8 Denver
Game 1: LA 128, Denver 114
LA leads 1-0
Game 2: At LA Wednesday
#2 New Orleans vs. #7 Dallas
Game 1: New Orleans 104, Dallas 92
Game 2: New Orleans 127 Dallas 103
New Orleans leads 2-0
Game 3: At Dallas Friday
#3 San Antonio vs. #6 Phoenix
Game 1: San Antonio 117, Phoenix 115 (2 OT)
Game 2: San Antonio 102, Phoenix 96
San Antonio leads 2-0
Game 2: At Phoenix Friday
#4 Utah vs. #5 Houston
Game 1: Utah 93, Houston 82
Game 2: Utah 90, Houston 84
Utah leads 2-0
Game 3: At Utah Thursday
MLB
SABATHIA STYMIES ROYALS
Cleveland Indians ace C.C. Sabathia struggled in his first four starts of the season. His fifth start of the season was a different story!
On Tuesday, Sabathia (1-3) dominated the Kansas City Royals. He pitched six shutout innings. He struck out 11 and allowed the Royals just four hits.
While Cleveland's ace returned to his Cy Young form of 2007, Royals' ace Gil Meche got roughed up-again. Meche (1-3) lasted just 3 1/3 innings against the Indians. He surrendered eight earned runs.
Casey Blake was the offensive powerhouse for the Tribe. Blake went 4-for-4 with a grand slam and six RBI.
David Dellucci and Jhonny Peralta added home runs for Cleveland.
Kansas City has now dropped five straight.
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCORES
Detroit 10, Texas 2
Boston 7, Los Angeles Angels 6
Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 4
New York Yankees 9, Chicago White Sox 5
Minnesota 5, Oakland 4
Seattle 4, Baltimore 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES
Arizona 5, San Francisco 4
Philadelphia 8, Colorado 6
Houston 11, San Diego 7
Cincinnati 8, Los Angeles Dodgers 1
Pittsburgh 3, Florida 2
Washington 6, Atlanta 0
Chicago Cubs 8, New York Mets 1
Milwaukee 9, St. Louis 8 - 12 innings
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE:
GABE GROSS, outfielder, Tampa Bay Rays
BIO NOTE: Gross played football in college at Auburn University.
RECENT NEWS: On Tuesday, Gross went 2 for 4 with three runs scored to help the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-8. After the game, the Brewers announced that they had traded Gross to the Tampa Bay Rays for pitcher Josh Butler.
FAITH QUOTE: "In my life, Jesus Christ is the backbone of everything I do. He is the basis from which I operate. My favorite verse in the Bible would be Proverbs 3:5-6. For me, it's knowing that when I put my trust in God He's going to direct my paths."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
NFL
WHAT DRAFT? LONG GOES TO MIAMI
So much for suspense and drama at the NFL draft. The Miami Dolphins have made up their mind, Jake Long has made up his, and the people who sign the contracts have made up theirs. Long will be selected by Miami with the first pick, and he'll be ready to learn the playbook ASAP. That leaves the drama up to the St. Louis Rams, who will select next. Who will that be? Let's wait and see. The speculation by the experts will not change anything anyway.
NFL
GO, MARVIN, GO!
Marvin Lewis is not about to be pushed around by Chad Johnson. While Johnson has been demanding a trade and threatening not to play for the Cincinnati Bengals next season, Lewis has coolly declared that CJ's stance is fine with him. If Johnson doesn't want to play, that's okay with him, because he's not going to trade him. Kudos to Lewis for not letting one of the employees run the company. It's a little like having a kid in class who wants all the attention, so he acts up. If you try to wrest him back into submission, he gets the attention he wants and just keeps doing what he was doing. But if he is ignored, he loses all reason for acting up. Lewis is one teacher who won't let the student rule the classroom. Here's hoping Marvin Lewis and the Bengals who want to play have a successful season.
NFL
ALEXANDER CUT; RESPONDS WITH CLASS
No matter what you think of Shawn Alexander-and even if you are a Seattle Seahawks fan who booed the man when his body was beat up and he couldn't perform up to his usual high standards-you have to respect the way he bowed out in Seattle. After the team released him on Thursday, Alexander released a statement that responded with dignity and decency. Despite the way many criticized him in Seattle, Alexander had nothing but high praise for the fans and the team-even thanking the fans for supporting him. He also indicated to the citizens of Seattle that he is one of them-vowing to continue to live in the city and even retire there once his career ends. Whoever gets Shawn Alexander next will get a man of deep faith in Jesus Christ, high standards for how he lives his life, and true love for his wife and family. And if he's healthy again, they'll get an outstanding running back.
NBA
SUITS PILE UP AGAINST BENNETT
Clay Bennett may wish he had never heard of the Seattle SuperSonics before this is over. The lawsuits against the man who wants to move the Sonics to Oklahoma City are piling up like Sonics' losses this year. The most recent is Howard Schultz' attempt to have a federal district court make Bennett divest himself of the team because, according to Schultz, the new owner was disingenuous about keeping the Sonics in town. Also, the city of Seattle has litigation pending against Bennett that seeks to force him to honor his lease agreement for the Key Arena, where the Sonics play their home games. Meanwhile, the NBA has approved the move of the Sonics, making one wonder why they didn't wait to make sure all the legal questions were answered first.
THIS JUST IN
Notes of significance from the Christian sports community
New Book: The Goal and the Glory
By Josh Davis
Josh Davis spent his formative years learning to swim. He learned his lesson well, and he went on to capture gold medal in the Olympics. In fact, he won three gold medals in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympic Games. Now Davis and his wife are the parents of five kids, and he is a popular speaker in churches and conferences. Davis has also written a book that examines the faith stories of a number of Christian athletes. The book, which will be in the bookstores soon, contains the stories of such notable athletes as John Naber, Laura Wilkinson, David Robinson, and Jennie Finch.
