It's Sunday!

It's Sunday and day two of a three-day weekend. Here's what's happening....

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Today is September 5th, the 248th day of 2010. There are 117 days left in the year.

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Lamoriello's statement on Kovalchuk deal approval.

Penguins' Lemieux receives Order of Canada.

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Today is Be Late for Something Day.

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After grueling off-ice workouts, Jacks ready to hit the ice.

Ex-Muskie McCauley signs with Buffalo.

Storm have first Fall Camp practice.

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Today is Cheese Pizza Day.

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Labour Day has arrived.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders look to rebound from Week 9's 17-14 loss at Edmonton, as they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers this afternoon at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. The Riders, who have lost 3 of their past 5, trail Calgary by 4 points in the CFL West. Saskatchewan enters the Labour Day Classic with a 5-3 record while the Bombers, who dropped a 39-17 decision at Montreal on August 19th in their most recent game, are 2-6. Kickoff today is set for 4:00pm EDT on 620CKRM and the Rider Radio Network. Listen links are to the right on this blog. The Riders will travel to Winnipeg for the Banjo Bowl, starting at 1:00pm EDT on Sunday, September 12th.

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

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The first US Labor Day observance was held in New York City on this date in 1882.

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Today in Sports History:

1901 - The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues was formed in Chicago, IL. It was the first organized baseball league.

1906 - Brandbury Robinson of St. Louis University was recognized as throwing the first forward pass in football history.

1914 - Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a professional player in the International League.

1918 - Babe Ruth (Boston Red Sox) threw a six-hitter in the opening game of the World Series.

1920 - Bill Tilden won the first of seven U.S. Open men's singles crowns.

1955 - Don Newcombe (Brooklyn Dodgers) hit his seventh home run of the season. The feat set a National League record for home runs by a pitcher.

1960 - Cassius Clay won the gold medal in light heavyweight boxing at the Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. Clay later changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

1971 - J.R. Richard, of the Houston Astros, tied Karl Spooner’s record when he struck out 15 batters in his major-league baseball debut.

1972 - Arab guerrillas, the Black September movement, attacked the Israeli delegation at the Munich Olympic games. 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team, five guerrillas and a police officer were killed in the siege.

1975 - In New York, Martina Navratilova appeared at the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service office and asked for political asylum.

1983 - "Sports Illustrated" became the first national weekly magazine to use four-color process illustrations on every page.

1987 - John McEnroe was fined $17,500 and suspended for two months for his behavior during a match with Slobodan Zivojinovic.

1989 - Chris Evert retired from professional tennis after a 19 year career.

1997 - The FOX group announced a deal to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers.

1998 - Mark McGwire (St. Louis) hit his 60th home run of the season. The home run tied McGwire with Babe Ruth.

1998 - Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs) hit his 58th home run of the season.

1999 - The Cincinnati Reds set a major league team record for home runs in two consecutive games. The team hit 14 home runs over the two games at Veteran's Stadium.

2001 - The New York Islanders signed Alexi Yashin to a 10-year $90 million contract. It was the biggest deal in NHL history.

2002 - In New York, the NFL held a concert to celebrate its season opener. Eve, Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias and 'N Sync's Joey Fatone performed. The event preceded the rare Thursday-night opener between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers.

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The 36th annual National Suicide Prevention Week begins today and runs through Saturday. See http://www.suicidology.org/ for history, factsheets and media kits.


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Baltimore - A lead-off homer by John Jaso made little difference, as the Baltimore Orioles thumped the Tampa Bay Rays 8-4, before a crowd of 18,943 Saturday night at Camden Yards.

The Rays scored first as Jaso led off the game with a homer, but the lead didn't last long. In the bottom of the first, Nick Markakis homered with Brian Roberts aboard, for a 2-1 Baltimore lead. In the third, Luke Scott walked to force in Cesar Izturis and Matt Wieters doubled, chasing home Markakis and Ty Wigginton, for a 5-1 lead.

Carl Crawford scoted on a fourth-inning double by Matt Joyce, bringing Tampa Bay back to within 3, at 5-2. In the bottom of the fifth, Luke Scott scored on a Felix Pie double that bounced into the stands, then Pie scored on a Julio Lugo ground out, giving the Orioles a 7-2 lead.

In the sixth, Baltimore got another run when Pie singled home Wigginton, putting Baltimore up 8-2. The Rays would score twice in the ninth on home runs by Joyce and Brad Hawpe, but the Orioles would hang on for the 8-4 win.

Jeremy Guthrie allowed 2 runs on 6 hits with 7 strike outs and 1 walk in 7 innings to get the win for Baltimore, he's now 9-13. Rays starter James Shields went 4 1/3, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits, with 3 strike outs and 1 walk, dropping to 13-12 on the season.

The Rays are 83-52, and trail the Yankees by 2 1/2 games in the A.L. East. First pitch this afternoon in Baltimore is set for 1:35pm EDT on 620AM WDAE and the Rays Radio Network. After today's game, Tampa Bay will then play three in Boston and three more in Toronto, before returning home on Monday, September 13th, for a big three-game set with the Yankees to jump start a six-game home stand, that includes three games with the Angels. After that short stay at home, the Rays play four at New York on the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd. All games for the remainder of the season can be seen on Sun Sports with the exception of the September 18th game at Anaheim, which will be available online at MLB.tv. Two Wednesday games with the Yankees, September 15th and September 22nd, will air on ESPN.

Notes: Wade Davis(11-9, 4.29) will start for Tampa Bay today against Baltimore. He'll be opposed by the Orioles' Chris Tillman(1-4, 7.92)....The Tampa Bay Rays and the Montgomery Biscuits (AA, Southern League) have extended their player development contract (PDC) for four more years, effective through the 2014 season.

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Happy Birthday to Jesse James. The notorious bandit, not the moron who stepped out on Sandra Bullock, was born this day in 1847.

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The Yankees lead Tampa Bay by 2 1/2 games in the A.L. East, Boston is 10 back in the division race and trail in the Wild Card race by 7 1/2, Toronto is 16 1/2 back and Baltimore(Eliminated from post-season contention) is 36 games out of first.

In the A.L. Central, Minnesota leads the White Sox by 3 1/2 games, they're 11 games ahead of Detroit, with Kansas City 22 1/2 back and Cleveland 24 games behind.

Out in the (not-so)wild A.L. West, Texas leads Oakland by 8 and the Angels by 10 1/2 games, with Seattle trailing by 22 1/2 games.

In the N.L. East, Atlanta leads Philadelphia by 1 game(The Phillies lead the Wild Card race by 3 games), Florida trails by 10, the Mets are 13 behind and Washington is 21 out.

In the N.L. Central, Cincinnati leads St. Louis by 8 games,(The Cards are 6 1/2 games behind in the Wild Card race), Houston is 16 back and Milwaukee is 17 out, the Cubs are 20 1/2 behind and Pittsburgh(Eliminated from post season competition) is 34 games off the pace.

San Diego(The Padres have lost 9 straight) leads the N.L. West by 2 games over San Francisco(The Giants trail the N.L. Wild Card chase by 3 games), Colorado is 5 1/2 behind(They're 6 1/2 back in the Wild Card), the Dodgers are 8 games out, and Arizona is 21 games behind.

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Stay tooned evreewun. Todaze Jeemy peekchure is neckst.

Hi Daddy. Let's play cars!






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Los Angeles - Relying exclusively on power, the Giants belted four home runs, including Juan Uribe's go-ahead clout in the ninth inning, to escape with a 5-4 victory Saturday night over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Read the rest here.

Notes: Jonathan Sanchez(9-8, 3.54) starts tonight's ESPN game against the Dodgers, who start Hiroki Kurada(10-11, 3.39)....Pablo Sandoval was nagged by tightness in his hips, prompting Giants manager Bruce Bochy to leave the third baseman out of Saturday's lineup against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His place was taken by Edgar Renteria, who is just off the disabled list....With Triple-A Fresno having been eliminated from postseason consideration, manager Bruce Bochy indicated that "two or three" Grizzlies players likely will be promoted to provide further depth. Fresno's season officially ends Monday, though Bochy wasn't certain when the callups would arrive. Leading candidates for promotion include utility men Emmanuel Burriss and Eugenio Velez, who had stints with the Giants earlier this season. Right-handers Waldis Joaquin and Kevin Pucetas also are possibilities.

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Today in Elvis History:

1954 - Elvis Presley made his first and last appearance at the Grand Ole Opry.

1957 - Elvis Presley began recording seasonal tracks for a forthcoming Christmas album.

1957 - Elvis Presley recorded the song "Treat Me Nice." The song was released as a single in September 1957.

1993 - The Elvis Presley five-CD boxed set "The King Of Rock'n'Roll - The Complete 50's Masters" hit #159 in the U.S.

2001 - "Junichiro Koizumi Presents - My Favorite Elvis Songs" was released exclusively in Japan. The collection of Elvis Presley songs were picked by Japan's prime minister.

2006 - The Elvis Presley two CD and one DVD set "Essential" was released in Australia.

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Argos' Durie the new Pinball.

Former Riders make return trip.

Visit the league's official website: CFL.ca.

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Today in Beatles History

1975 - Wings released "Letting Go."

1996 - Capitol Records released The Beatles Anthology video set. Over ten hours of material made up the set.

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Today is the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Saint Gotthard Auto Tunnel in Switzerland—the longest underground motorway in the world.

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The Beavers have this week off, after last night's 30-21 loss at TCU. Oregon State plays their home opener on Saturday, September 18th, against the Louisville Cardinals. Kickoff at Reser Stadium in Corvallis is set for 5:30pm EDT. You can listen to the game on the Beaver Sports Network. Fox SAports Northwest has the T.V.

Here's the 2010 Oregon State Beavers' football schedule.

And here's the 2010 football roster.

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Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme’s attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford failed on this date in 1975.

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SPARTA, Ky. – Helio Castroneves’ No. 3 Team Penske car had just enough ethanol in the tank to pull into Victory Circle at Kentucky Speedway.

Just enough was good enough to take a surprising victory in the Kentucky Indy 300. It was surprising because a pit lane miscommunication on Lap 89 forced race strategist Tim Cindric to bring Castroneves back in three later on the final opportunity to pit under caution. Surprising because with 35 laps left Castroneves was running 10th. Surprising because he had to hit fuel mileage numbers while still trying to make up ground with cars traveling 217 mph-plus.

The victory in the 200th Indy Racing League event caught the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion off-guard.

“You have to remember it is 200 laps,” said Castroneves, who jokingly referred to this as his third victory (black flagged in the final laps at Edmonton) of the season. Because he pitted on Lap 147 -- two laps later than the lead pack thanks to previous off-sequence stop, he was able to out-fuel the front-runners -- most of whom needed a splash in the final five laps.

“Unfortunately, we had an issue with our pit stop, but we started to make ground and head to the front,” he said. “I tried to stay steady and saving fuel. All of a sudden, (Cindric) says ‘Try to make this number.’ I was like, ‘That's going to be impossible, man.’ He was already thinking to make a number that would be very difficult. But when we pitted the last time, he just said you've got to make this number because we have nothing to lose, and it’s definitely going to pay off.

“I remember in 2008 here I ran out of fuel and finished in second (to Scott Dixon). This time it paid off for Team Penske. We were loose in the beginning, but at the end it was meant to be.”

Officially, it was win No. 2 for Castroneves, who overtook teammate Ryan Briscoe for fourth in the championship standings with two races left.

Pole sitter Ed Carpenter finished second at the track for the second year in a row and Panther/Vision Racing teammate Dan Wheldon was third.

“The whole Panther racing team has done a phenomenal job to be able to bring the two cars to these last two races,” said Wheldon, who led a field-high 93 laps and finished second to Dario Franchitti a week earlier at Chicagoland Speedway. “Having Ed on board is a fantastic addition and we have a great relationship. The race went very well and the No. 4 boys did a fantastic job in the pits.

“The ending was unfortunate. I am bummed that the race didn’t turn out different, but it will motivate us for the last two races.”

Tony Kanaan charged from 26th in the 27-car field to fourth and Franchitti was fifth.

Marco Andretti earned a second consecutive top 10, with Scott Dixon following in seventh. Danica Patrick finished ninth and Bertrand Baguette posted his season best in 10th. Paul Tracy, competing at the track for the first time, was 10th with 10 laps left. But he was one of the fuel-starved and pitted on Lap 194. He finished 12th, one position behind Dreyer & Reinbold Racing teammate Justin Wilson.

Franchitti closed the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points gap on Will Power, who finished eighth, to 17. Twin Ring Motegi, where Power hasn’t competed and Franchitti has finished second and third his past two visits, is up next (Sept. 19). The finale is Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.


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Dutch fleet commander Cornelis de Houtman taken hostage in Java on this date in 1596.

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From http://www.nascar.com

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Jamie McMurray believed he had the fastest car from the first practice to the last lap Saturday night.

McMurray proved the point by taking the lead for good on the final restart and holding off Kyle Busch to win the Great Clips 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Busch, trying to become the first driver in the 28-year history of the Nationwide Series to win 11 races in a season, fell short in his late attempt to catch McMurray.

Busch dropped from first to third as McMurray took the lead coming out of pit row following the final caution flag on the 167th of 195 laps.

“He definitely wanted to get in front on the restart,” said McMurray’s crew chief, Tony Eury Sr. “He got out in the middle and got in front. That’s the kind of move you have to make to win the race.”

Busch led the most laps in the race but finished second, less than a second behind McMurray. Carl Edwards was third.

McMurray, who raced to his first Nationwide Series win in Atlanta in 2002, won for the first time since 2004 in Darlington. He has two Sprint Cup wins this year.

“I think Jamie is showing everybody how good he is this year,” Edwards said.

Kevin Harvick finished fourth, followed by Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano. Jason Leffler, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top 10.

Sam Ard won 10 series races in 1983. Busch matched that mark in 2008. Busch’s 10th win this season came on Aug. 20 at Bristol.

Busch also finished second to Harvick in the 2009 Atlanta race.

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Coming up:

Tonight --

Junior Hockey: SEJHL Showcase at Fort Myers Skatium, Tampa Bay Minor Juniors vs Atlanta 2 11:00am EDT

Baseball: Dunedin Blue Jays at Tampa Yankees 1:00pm EDT

Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles 1:35pm EDT

Junior Hockey: SEJHL Showcase at Fort Myers Skatium, Tampa Bay Minor Juniors vs TBA 3:00pm or 5:00pm EDT

CFL Football: Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Saskatchewan Roughriders 4:00pm EDT

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers 8:00pm EDT

Nascar Sprint Cup Series: Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia 7:30pm EDT

Monday --

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 4:10pm EDT

Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT

Tuesday --

Baseball: Florida State League North Division Playoffs, Game One Dunedin Blue Jays at TBA Time TBA

Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 9:40pm EDT

Wednesday --

Baseball: Florida State League North Division Playoffs, Game Two TBA at Dunedin Blue Jays Time TBA

Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks 9:40pm EDT

Thursday --

Baseball: Florida State League North Division Playoffs, Game Three TBA at Dunedin Blue Jays Time TBA (If necessary)

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres 10:05pm EDT

Friday --

Nascar Nationwide Series: Richmond 250 at Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Virginia 7:00pm EDT

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

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres 10:05pm EDT

Saturday --

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres 4:10pm EDT

SEJHL Hockey: Palm Beach Hawks at Tampa Bay Minor Juniors 5:15pm EDT

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

Nascar Sprint Cup Series: Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Virginia 7:30pm EDT

MJHL Hockey: Palm Beach Hawks at Tampa Bay Major Juniors 8:00pm EDT

Sunday --

SEJHL Hockey: Palm Beach Hawks at Tampa Bay Minor Juniors 9:30am EDT

MJHL Hockey: Palm Beach Hawks at Tampa Bay Major Juniors 12:15pm EDT

CFL Football: Saskatchewan Roughriders at Winnipeg Blue Bombers 1:00pm EDT

NFL Football: Cleveland Browns at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00pm EDT

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

Baseball: San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres 4:05pm EDT

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That's all for today. See you tomorrow. Go Riders!