NHL
STARS, PENS WORK OT TO DISPATCH SHARKS, RANGERS
Dallas 2, San Jose 1
Brenden Morrow finally ended one of the Top 10 longest games in Stanley Cup history on Sunday. Morrow's power play goal at 9:03 of the fourth overtime period sent the Stars and their fans at the American Airlines Center into delirium as the 2-1 win finished off the San Jose Sharks.
The win sends the Stars into a Western Conference showdown with the Detroit Red Wings, who swept Colorado in the other semis.
Dallas and San Jose played to a first period standoff, as neither team got the puck into the net until Antti Miettinen did so for Dallas at 4:49 of the second period. The Sharks evened the score at 1:39 of the third when Ryane Clowe picked up his fifth postseason goal.
The game took more than 5 hours to complete, making it the eighth longest playoff game ever. The teams battled for 69 minutes of ice time.
Pittsburgh 3, New York Rangers 2
Pittsburgh and New York played just one overtime period in the Steel City before their game and series were decided. Marian Hossa was the Penguins' hero when he scored his fifth postseason goal at 7:10 of the extra time. Hossa also scored the game's first goal at 8:45 of the second. Evgeni Malkin made it 2-0 in the second, and that's where the game stood until early in the third when Lauri Korpiskoski scored. Just over a minute later, Nigel Dawes tied the game for the Rangers, and that's where things stood until Hossa knocked home the winner.
NBA
BOSTON BLASTS HAWKS; LAKERS WIN GAME 1
Boston 99, Atlanta 65
It was fun for it lasted for Atlanta, but Game 7 in Boston appeared to be anything but fun for the young Hawks. Boston, standing on the brink of the biggest upset in NBA playoffs history, made sure the visitors from Atlanta had no designs on coming into the Celtics' crib and stealing a win. Boston raced out to a 26-17 first quarter lead and then extended that to 44-26 at the half.
Boston's suffocating defense allowed the Hawks to shoot just 29 percent from the field and forced 16 Atlanta turnovers. Boston scored 25 of their points off turnovers by Atlanta. The Hawks' top scorer, Joe Johnson, had 16 points.
Meanwhile, the Celtics hit 47 percent of their attempts, placed five players in double figures, and were led by Paul Pierce's 22 points. Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Los Angeles 109, Utah 98
Welcome to Kobe's World, Utah. In Kobe's world, you can get hurt by allowing him to shoot from the field (8 of 16, including one trey) and you can get hurt by putting him at the free throw line (21 of 23). Kobe Bryant made sure the Utah Jazz knew he was around on Sunday at Staples Center by leading the Lakers with 38 points in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
In Kobe's World, there are also some important helpers, including Pau Gasol, who score 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Lakers. And Lamar Odom, who went 16 and nine. Even Sasha Vujacic helps out sometimes. In this case, he contributed to KW with 15 points-including nine in the first three minutes of the second period.
The Jazz countered with Mehmet Okur's 21 points and 19 rebounds and Carlos Boozer's 15 and 14. Utah even had six players with 11 or more points. But it was not enough to get a win in Kobe's World.
NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
BOSTON VS. CLEVELAND
Game 1: Tuesday at Boston
DETROIT VS. ORLANDO
Game 1: Detroit 91, Orlando 72
Detroit leads 1-0
Game 2: Monday at Detroit
WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS. UTAH
Game 1: LA Lakers 109, Utah 98
LA leads 1-0
NEW ORLEANS VS. SAN ANTONIO
Game 1: New Orleans 101, San Antonio 82
New Orleans leads 1-0
Game 2: Monday at New Orleans
MLB
JONES POWERS BRAVES SWEEP OF REDS
Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones has been a very good big leaguer for a long time. Yet the 15-year veteran is on pace to have the best season of his career. On Sunday, Jones continued his torrid start with a 3-for-6 day at the dish that included his ninth home run and five RBI to power the Braves past the Cincinnati Reds 14-7.
Jones, who is leading baseball in hitting at a .425 clip, crushed a Bronson Arroyo pitch for a three-run home run to highlight a seven-run second inning. Arroyo (1-4) saw his ERA rise to 8.63 with the loss.
Mark Kotsay also had a big day at the plate. The Braves center fielder went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI.
Braves reliever Royce Ring (1-0) earned the win in relief of Tom Glavine.
Atlanta outscored Cincinnati 25-8 in their three-game sweep of the Reds.
NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES
Colorado 7, Los Angeles Dodgers 2
St. Louis 5, Chicago 3
Washington 5, Pittsburgh 2
Philadelphia 6, San Francisco 5
New York Mets 5, Arizona 2
Florida 10, San Diego 3
Houston 8, Milwaukee 6 - 12 innings
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCORES
Boston 7, Tampa Bay 3
Toronto 4, Chicago White Sox 3
New York Yankees 8, Seattle 2
Oakland 3, Texas 1
Kansas City 2, Cleveland 0
Minnesota 7, Detroit 6
Los Angeles Angels 6, Baltimore 5
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life -- in the words of an athlete in the news.
TODAY'S FEATURE:
BRANDON WEBB, pitcher, Arizona Diamondbacks
BIO NOTE: Webb pitched in college for the University of Kentucky.
RECENT NEWS: Okay, this is getting a little ridiculous. It is May 5, and Brandon Webb has already won seven games. Whether you like projections or not, Webb's seven wins projects to 35 victories on the season. Of course, no one expects the man to go 35-0, but he certainly stands in good stead to win at least 20 games.
FAITH QUOTE: "Having Jesus Christ in my life has been huge. My parents taught me at an early age to follow the Lord, and as a Christian I really need Him. Out on the road and in professional baseball there are lots of temptations. Following the Lord helps you keep tings in perspective."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
NCAA
CLEANUP TIME IN BLOOMINGTON
The mess created by Kelvin Sampson has left Tom Crean in a bad spot. So far, he's bringing back a player who averaged 9 points a game last season for the Indiana Hoosiers and not much else. While Sampson skates off to the NBA to try to help Scott Skiles fix the Milwaukee Bucks, his legacy is one of someone who ransacks a house and then turns it over to the new owner before getting out of town. Crean has had to dismiss some players from the team-players who were infected with severe bad attitudes. As a result, Crean will start his first season at Indiana with hardly any players with college hoops experience. But if Hoosier fans will be patient as he sorts things out, it won't be long until they have a team they can be proud of again in Bloomington.
MLB
Two major league oldtimers are having a hard time with some important milestones. One won't reach his; one will. Julio Franco, who is 49 years old, wanted to stay in professional baseball until he was 50-but it's not going to happen. Franco, who played in the majors last season for the New York Mets and Atlanta, was playing this year in the Mexican league. Saturday, he announced that he was done. The other oldtimer still reaching for goals is Greg Maddux. The crafty righthander is attempting to win the 350th game of his career, but he's finding it a tough task at age 42. On Sunday, Maddux took the hill for the San Diego Padres in his fourth attempt to reach 350, but he couldn't do it. He left the game after giving up five runs in 5 2/3 innings. Only seven other pitchers have won 350 games in major league history.
TRACK
NO PROBLEM, MON! BOLT BOLTS TO 9.76
While Jamaican superstar Asafa Powell heals up from a pulled muscle, his countryman Usain Bolt is not about to slow down. Running in the Jamaican International Invitational in the capital city of Kingston on Saturday, Bolt raced to a 100-meter time of 9.76-the second fasted time ever recorded in the event. Powell holds the world record. Jamaica has long been known for its sprinters, including Olympian Veronica Campbell. Now Bolt has joined Powell and Campbell as elite runners from the land of jerk chicken, beautiful beaches, and Bob Marley.
SPRINT CUP STANDINGS
We are 10 races into the 2008 NASCAR season. On Sunday, Clint Bowyer captured the race at Richmond with Kyle Busch in second and Mark Martin finishing in third. The race to get into the Cup Chase looks like this.
1. Kyle Busch 1,495
2. Jeff Burton 1,477
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,391
4. Clint Bowyer 1,372
5. Kevin Harvick 1,350
6. Denny Hamlin 1,349
7. Jimmy Johnson 1,318
8. Tony Stewart 1,297
9. Greg Biffle 1,269
10. Carl Edwards 1,230
Results: Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond
1. Clint Bowyer
2. Kyle Busch
3. Mark Martin
4. Tony Stewart
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Ryan Newman
7. Carl Edwards
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Jeff Gordon
10. Kasey Kahne
11. Jeff Burton
12. Reed Sorenson
13. Bobby Labonte
14. Greg Biffle
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Denny Hamlin led most of the race until he had a flat tire in Lap 390. That left Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the lead. He was ahead until Lap 398 of the 400-lap event until Kyle Busch bumped him and spun him out. That's when Bowyer raced to the front and held on for the victory.
THIS JUST IN
Notes of significance from the Christian sports community
New Book: The Mulligan
By Wally Armstrong
After ending a successful career as a PGA golfer, Wally Armstrong began a venture of teaching golf and of using gold analogies to teach biblical principles. One of his latest ventures is teaching timeless truths through golf is a book called The Mulligan. It's a book that can be used by the Christian for edification, and it can be given to the non-Christian as an outreach tool. Find out more about the book at www.wallyarmstrong.com.
