It's Friday!

It's Friday. Here's what's happening....

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Before I get to the usual blog stuff, I just want to mention that my wife Kim and I are celebrating our 5th Wedding Anniversary today!










I love you very much Dear. Thanks for saying yes!

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Today is August 6th, the 218th day of 2010. There are 147 days left in the year.

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Where in the World is Stanley Cup?

It's official: Wings sign Modano to 1-year deal.

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It's National Root Beer Float Day.

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Riley Barber headed to Dubuque.

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Vacationers on a budget might want to consider an economical getaway next weekend: On August 14th and 15th all national parks will be open to the public at no charge.

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Battling the champs in their backyard.

Roster set for tonight's game.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders take their 4-1 record on the road tonight, when they take on the Montreal Alouettes for the second time this season. Kickoff from Montreal is set for 7:00pm EDT on 620CKRM and the Rider Radio Network. Listen links are to the right on this blog.

Check out Riderville.com for the latest on "Canada's (And Clearwater, Florida's) Team."

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Florida police responding to a report of a break-in said they found the intruder sleeping naked on a couch inside the home. He was arrested and charged with burglary.

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Today in Sports History:

1879 - The first Australian rules football game to be played at night took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The game was to promote the introduction of electricity to the city of Melbourne.

1890 - Cy Young achieved his first major league victory. He would accumulate 511 in his career.

1926 - Gertrude Ederle became the first American woman to swim the English Channel. She was 19 years old at the time. The swim took her 14 1/2 hours.

1949 - Chicago White Sox player Luke Appling played in the 2,154th game of his 19-year, major league career.

1952 - Satchel Paige, at age 46, became the oldest pitcher to complete a major league baseball game.

1969 - The first fair ball to be hit completely out of Dodger Stadium occurred. Willie "Pops" Stargell, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit the ball 506 feet from home plate.

1981 - Lee Trevino was disqualified from the PGA Championship in Duluth, GA when he had his scorecard signed by Tom Weiskopf instead of himself.

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A Bronx, New York, woman was arrested after robbing a fast food joint. When police caught up to her they hauled her off to jail where they found a $20 bill and two glass pipes tucked up where the sun don't shine.

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It's not unusual for a team to lose a game here-or-there over a 162 game schedule. But, it was how the Tampa Bay Rays lost yesterday that has them upset, as they dropped an 8-6 heartbreaker to the Minnesota Twins, before a surprisingly large Thursday afternoon crowd of 29,210 at Tropicana Field.

It was a strange game from start-to-finish. Before the fans barely had a chance to settle into their seats, the Twins jumped on Tampa Bay starter Wade David for four first-inning runs. Alexi Casilla scored on a one-out double by Joe Maurer, Maurer scored on Delmon Young's double, Young scored on Jason Kubel's single and Kubel scored on J.J. Hardy's two-out single.

Minnesota built the lead with a fifth-inning homer by Jason Repko, and a sixth-inning double by Drew Butera that scored Hardy, giving the Twins a 6-0 lead.

The Rays, who showed few signs of life Thursday, finally woke up from their afternoon slumber in the bottom of the eighth-inning. B.J. Upton led off the inning with his 10th homer of the season to make it 6-1. Then, with two outs, Tampa Bay got busy. A bases-loaded walk to Willy Aybar forced in Kelly Shoppach, cutting the deficit to 6-2. Then Jason Bartlett, pinch-hitting for Matt Joyce, took a 1-0 pitch and deposited it into the first row of the left field bleachers, scoring Sean Rodriguez, Evan Longoria and Aybar, tying the game at 6-6. And if you found that strange, you hadn't seen anything yet.

With two-outs and runners at the corners in the top of the ninth, Kubel sent a ball up the shaft into the infield. With Rays' shortstop Bartlett under the ball and waiting to make the inning-ending catch, the ball struck the catwalk over fair territory, droipping to the ground untouched for a base hit. Jason Repko trotted home with the go-ahead run, then moments later, Young scored on a line single to left by Michael Cuddyer, putting Minnesota up by a deuce, at 8-6.

John Jaso drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth, but that's as close as Tampa Bay would get to another rally, dropping the game 8-6 to the Twins.

Needless to say, Rays' manager Joe Maddon was none too happy after the game.

"I know it works both ways, but to lose a game in a pennant situation like that, because of a roof, truly indicates why there's a crying need for a new ballpark in this area, regardless of where they put it," Rays manager Joe Maddon said, referring to the club's desire for a new stadium. "It just needs to be a real baseball field where, if you lose the pennant by one game and look back at a game like that, because the roof got in the way, we'd be very upset."

Matt Capps, the fourth Minnesota pitcher of the eighth-inning got the win. In 1 1/3 innings, he fanned 3 and walked 1, while not allowing a hit or a run. He's now 4-3.
For Tampa Bay, Joaquin Benoit was tagged with the loss, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, with no strike outs and 1 walk in 1 inning. He's now 0-1.

The Rays fall to 67-41, and are again in second place in the A.L. East, 1/2 game nehind the Yankees. Tampa Bay hits the road for six games, beginning with 3 at Toronto starting at 7:07pm EDT tonight, followed by 1:07pm EDT starts both Saturday and Sunday. A three-game set at Detroit starts Monday, then the Rays return home for 3 games with Baltimore and 3 against Texas, starting next Friday. You can follow the Rays on 620AM WDAE and the Rays Radio Network. All games through Friday, September 3rd, can be seen on Sun Sports. The Saturday August 14th game against Detroit will be on FOX.

Notes: Tampa Bay's top pick in the June first-year player draft, outfielder Josh Sale of Bishop Blancet High School in Seattle, Washington, is still unsigned. The Rays have until August 16th to sign him....Andy Sonnanstine made a rehab start last night for Class A Charlotte. He allowed 1 run on 2 hits, with 4 strike outs and 1 walk in 1 1/3 innings. The Stone Crabs scored a run in the ninth to beat Lakeland 4-3....In tonight's first of three games in Toronto, Matt Garza(11-5, 4.11) will start for Tampa Bay. He'll be opposed by the Blue Jays' Brett Cecil(8-5, 3.77).

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Elena Kagan was confirmed by the Senate yesterday. (After blowing away Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg in the 50 yard dash.)

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The Yankees lead Tampa Bay by 1/2 game in the A.L. East(The Rays lead the Wild Card lead), Boston is 6 back, Toronto trails by 11 1/2 back and Baltimore(who are 3-0 with Buck Showalter as manager) is 32 1/2 games behind.

In the A.L. Central, the White Sox lead Minnesota by 1 1/2 games, Detroit trails by 9, Kansas City is 16 games behind and Cleveland is 16 1/2 games out.

Out in the (not-so)wild A.L. West, Texas leads Oakland by 8 1/2 games, the Angels by 10, and Seattle is 23 1/2 games behind.

In the N.L. East, Atlanta leads Philadelphia by 2 games, The Mets trail by 8 games, Florida is 9 behind with Washington(Stephen Strasburg is expected to pitch next Tuesday) trailing by 14 1/2.

In the N.L. Central, Cincinnati leads St. Louis by 1/2 game, Milwaukee is 11 behind, Houston is 13 games behind, the Cubs are 13 1/2 back and Pittsburgh is 22 1/2 games off the pace.

San Diego leads the N.L. West by 2 games over San Francisco(The Giants lead the N.L. Wild Card chase). Colorado is 7 1/2 behind, the Dodgers trail by 8 and Arizona is 23 games back.

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Jimmy hangs out with Mommy.

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The San Francisco Giants lost ground in the N.L. West pennant race yesterday, losing at Atlanta 3-2, in front of 24,538 fans at Turner Field in Atlanta.

The Giants built a 2-0 lead, as Andres Torres scored on Aubrey Huff's first-inning ground out and Torres' second-inning double that scored Aaron Rowand. Alex Gonzalez homered in the second with Rick Ankiel on base for Atlanta, tying the game 2-2. Eric Hinske, celebrated his 34th birthday in style, hitting his 9th homer of the year in the sixth-inning, giving the Braves the run they would need for the 3-2 win.

Jerr Jurrjens went 6 innings for Atlanta, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, with 3 strike outs and 3 walks. The win evens his record at 3-3. Billy Wagner picked up his 26th save. Tim Lincecum took the loss for San Francisco, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out 7 and walking just 3, but allowing 2 homers, to drop to 11-5.

The Giants are 62-47, and are now 2 games behind first-place San Diego in the N.L. West(The Padres blanked the Dodgers 5-0 Thursday). San Francisco currently leads the N.L. Wild Card race by 1 1/2 games over both Philadelphia and St. Louis. San Francisco continues their six game road trip, with tonight's 10:35pm EDT game at Atlanta, with the final game against the Braves starting at 1:35pm EDT on Sunday. The Giants return home on Monday for four games with the Cubs and three big games with division-leading San Diego starting next Friday. Next Saturday's game with the Padres airs on FOX, with the Sunday game against San Diego showing on ESPN.

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Today in Elvis History:

1955 - Elvis Presley's single "Mystery Train" was released.

1966 - Elvis Presley's single "Love Letters" hit #6 in the U.K.

1994 - Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley made a public appearance in Budapest. Jackson was shooting a video.

2002 - The "Elvis, Then & Now" book-a-zine went on sale.

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With sale done, Rangers look to future.

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Today is the start of Hobo Week. (Somehow they get credit for a whole week, even though Hobo Week actually lasts 4 days.)

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From http://www.tampabaystorm.com

In the Huddle with JD

By Jason Dixon

Coaches like to speak of “the second season.” You play the regular season to make it to the second season. For the Tampa Bay Storm, the second season will start the same way the first season did, with a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma to take on the Tulsa Talons.

Read the rest here.

The Tampa Bay Storm (11-5, 3-3) look to avenge a season-opening loss to the Tulsa Talons (10-6, 6-0) on Saturday as they travel to the BOK Center to take on the Southwest Division champs in the Divisional Round of the 2010 AFL Playoffs. In the season opener, the Talons defeated the Storm 69-58 at the BOK Center April 3.

Tulsa enters the contest as winners in four of its last five, while Tampa Bay comes in as losers in two of its last three after putting together a season-high eight-game winning streak.


Who: Tampa Bay Storm vs. Tulsa Talons

What: AFL Playoffs – Divisional Round

When: Saturday, August 7, 2010
Kickoff – 8:05 PM EST on 1250AM WHNZ

Where: BOK Center
200 South Denver
Tulsa, OK 74103

For more information regarding playoff schedule and tickets, visit ticketmaster.com, call 813.301.6600 or log on to http://www.tampabaystorm.com/.

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Today in Beatles History

1960 - The Beatles scouted a drummer named Pete Best. Best was playing at the Casbah Coffee Club.

1965 - The Beatles album "Help!" was released in the U.K.

2002 - The album "King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents" was released by Ringo Starr and His New All-Starr Band.

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Tod Leiweke named Lightning C.E.O.

Lightning Sign Free Agent Center Mike Angelidis.

2010 Preseason schedule.

2010-2011 Regular Season schedule.

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Today is National Fresh Breath Day.

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Coming up:

Tonight --

CFL Football: Saskatchewan Roughriders at Montreal Alouettes 7:00pm EDT

Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays 7:07pm EDT

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves 7:35pm EDT

Saturday --

Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays 1:07pm EDT

Nascar Nationwide Series: Zippo 200 at the glen at Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen International, New York 1:30pm EDT

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves 7:10pm EDT

Arena Football: AFL Divisional Round Playoff Game Tampa Bay Storm at Tulsa Talons 8:05pm EDT

Sunday --

Nascar Sprint Cup Series: Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the glen at Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen International, New York 1:00pm EDT

Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays 1:07pm EDT

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves 1:35pm EDT

IZOD Indy Car Series: Honda Indy 200 presented by Westfield Insurance at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio 2:30pm EDT

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That's all for today. See you tomorrow!