Nov 7, 2009 7:03 PM Posted by mvuk
Terrelle Pryor threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in his return to his home state and No. 15 Ohio State won a duel of the Big Ten's top two defenses with a 24-7 victory against No. 11 Penn State on Saturday.
The Buckeyes (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) got an added bonus, too: a tie for the conference lead with Iowa after Northwestern handed the Hawkeyes their first loss of the season.
Left for dead in the Big Ten after a demoralizing loss at Purdue last month, Ohio State's hopes for a fifth straight league title look much brighter. A showdown with Iowa at the Horseshoe awaits next week.
Pryor's 62-yard touchdown pass to Devier Posey deflated the hostile crowd and gave Ohio State a 17-7 lead late in the third quarter.
Daryll Clark had the only score for Penn State (8-2, 4-2) with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.
Nov 7, 2009 3:29 PM Posted by mvuk Greg Williams' 51-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the first half got slow-starting Pittsburgh going, and the No. 14 Panthers extended their best start to a season since 1982 by beating Syracuse 37-10 on Saturday.
Dion Lewis ran for 110 yards and a touchdown for the freshman's sixth 100-yard game, tight end Dorin Dickerson caught his 10th touchdown pass this season and the Panthers (8-1, 5-0 in Big East) won their fifth in a row heading into next Saturday's game against No. 19 Notre Dame.
Bill Stull was 16 of 23 for 225 yards and no interceptions as the Panthers, who last were 8-1 during Dan Marino's senior season 27 years ago, set themselves up for a possible Big East title-deciding game against No. 4 Cincinnati on Dec. 5. Nov 7, 2009 3:20 PM Posted by mvuk Dan Persa threw a touchdown pass and Marshall Thomas recovered a fumble for another touchdown, and Northwestern snapped No. 8 Iowa's 13-game winning streak with a 17-10 victory on Saturday.
It was the first win over a top-10 opponent for the Wildcats (6-4, 3-3 Big Ten) since knocking off then-No. 6 Ohio State 33-27 in overtime in 2004.
Iowa lost quarterback Ricky Stanzi to an apparent ankle injury early in the second quarter. Freshman James Vandenberg was just 9 of 27 for 82 yards filling, and couldn't lead the Hawkeyes (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) to any points after Stanzi left the game.
Northwestern scored twice off turnovers in the second quarter. Thomas recovered a fumble in the end zone after the hit that knocked Stanzi out of the game, and Drake Dunsmore caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Persa after another turnover.
Brandon Wegher had 63 yards rushing for Iowa, whose national title hopes are all but over. The Hawkeyes can still win at least a share of the Big Ten title with victories over Ohio State and Minnesota in their final two games. Nov 6, 2009 3:40 PM Posted by mvuk Some interesting baseball moves since the end of the World Series:
*Twins trade CF Carlos Gomez (centerpiece of the Johan Santana trade) to Milwaukee for J.J. Hardy
*Royals trade Mark Teahan to Chicago White Sox for Chris Getz (starting 2B last year) and Josh Fields (one-time big prospect)
*Arizona exercises $8.5 million option on Brandon Webb (injured all of last year)
*Phillies exercise $9 million option on Cliff Lee
*White Sox buyout $12 million option on Jermaine Dye
*Hank Blalock (guy the Pirates are rumored to have interet in) has picked up Scott Boras as his agent
*Boston trades for 25 year old OF Jeremy Hermida, gives up 2 prospect (luv that trade for Boston)
*Angels re-sign Bobby Abreu to a 2 yr/$19 million deal
(9:21 pm)
*Dodgers excercise $20 million option on OF Manny Ramirez
Nov 6, 2009 3:28 PM Posted by mvuk Today the Pirates have assigned pitchers Virgil Vasquez and Eric Hacker outright to Triple-A Indianapolis and catcher Steve Lerud outright to Double-A Altoona.
The 40-man roster now stands at 36 players, plus two pitchers (Jose Ascanio and Evan Meek) on the 60-day D.L. Nov 5, 2009 7:08 PM Posted by mvuk In celebration of its Tradition of Excellence, the Pitt athletic department has moved its season-opening men’s basketball game versus Wofford on Friday, Nov. 13 to 8:10 p.m. ET. During a pre-game ceremony, Pitt will raise a banner in honor of last season’s appearance in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 7:45 p.m.
The contest was originally set to tipoff at 7 p.m.
In 2008-09, Pitt advanced to the NCAA Regional Final/Elite Eight for the first time since 1974, finished with a school-best 31-5 overall record, placed second in the Big East regular season with a 15-3 record, earned the nation’s No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history, concluded the year with a perfect 19-0 home record at the Petersen Events Center and secured a No. 1 seed upon entering the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Nov 4, 2009 10:35 AM Posted by mvuk The Maxwell Football Club today announced that Pitt freshman running back Dion Lewis and coach Dave Wannstedt are semifinalists for two of its most prestigious college football honors.
Lewis is one of 16 players named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, given to the College Player of the Year, while Wannstedt is one of 15 semifinalists for the George Munger Award, which is presented to the College Coach of the Year.
Finalists for the respective awards will be announced on Nov. 23. Voting for finalists will be done by Maxwell Football Club members, college head coaches, sports information directors and select national media members.
The 2009 Maxwell Award winner will be announced as part of the “Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show” on Dec. 10. Nov 3, 2009 8:31 PM Posted by mvuk Alot of talk of late about the Pitt/Penn State rivalry. Tom Dienhart of Rivals.com recently asked Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt about the game and Wannstedt had an interesting answer. Q: Do you want to play Penn State every year?
![]() "We need to be playing Penn State. I was on the job about a month and I talked to Coach Paterno about it. It probably won't happen until he retires and I understand that. It's his prerogative. But it'll happen. Maybe I won't even be here, either [when it happens]. We should play each other. It's a great, great national in-state rivalry. We should be playing each other. There is no question about that. There probably isn't anyone who would disagree with that."
Nov 3, 2009 8:18 PM Posted by mvuk
The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced they have acquired infielder Akinori Iwamura from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jesse Chavez. The announcement was made by Pirates Senior Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington.
The 30-year-old Iwamura, who was a nine-year veteran of the Japanese Central League while playing with Yakult from 1998 to 2006, spent the last three seasons playing with Tampa Bay. He was converted from a third baseman to a second baseman following the 2007 campaign and went on to make 152 appearances at second base for the American League champion Rays in 2008. Iwamura also led the Rays in hits (172), runs (91) and at bats (627) in 2008 while ranking third in the American League in triples (nine).
A career .281 hitter in the Major Leagues, the left-handed hitting Iwamura hit .290 (67-for-231) with 19 extra-base hits and 22 RBI in 69 games for the Rays in 2009. He missed close to three months of big-league action after suffering a partially torn ACL in a collision with Florida's Chris Coghlan on May 24 (he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on June 22).
Huntington announced that the Pirates have exercised the club option on Iwamura for the 2010 season.
“Akinori Iwamura brings to the Pittsburgh Pirates solid attributes offensively, defensively, on the base paths and in the clubhouse,” said Huntington. “He is a good athlete with above average speed and is a tough out with a solid career on-base percentage. Additionally, he played Gold Glove caliber third base for years in Japan and has made a smooth transition to second base. We are very pleased to add a player of his caliber to our lineup and to our organization.” Iwamura, a six-time Gold Glove winner (2000-02, 2004-06) and five-time All-Star (2001-02, 2004-06) while playing in Japan, signed a three-year deal with Tampa Bay on December 15, 2006.
During his rookie season with the Rays in 2007, Iwamura hit .285 with 21 doubles, 10 triples, seven home runs, 34 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 123 games. His .359 on-base percentage that season tied him with Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki for third among Major League rookies and set a Rays rookie record. He also produced a .975 fielding percentage in 2007 to rank first among all Major League third basemen.
Iwamura has also captured two Gold Medals while playing with Japan during the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics, hitting .386 with three RBI in 2006 and .286 with three RBI in 2009.
The 26-year-old Chavez spent his first full season in the Majors in 2009 and led the Pittsburgh pitching staff with 73 appearances. He was acquired by the Pirates from Texas on July 31, 2006, in a deal for pitcher Kip Wells. Nov 3, 2009 6:17 PM Posted by mvuk Multiple sources are reporting that the Pirates and Tampa Bay have completed a trade, that quite frankly I don't understand. The deal would bring the Pirates second baseman Akinori Iwamura. Buster Olney of ESPN is reporting that the Pirates will send Tampa Bay reliever Jesse Chavez in return. Chavez, 26, posted a 4.01 ERA in 67 innings for the Bucs. Iwamura, 30, hit .291 in an injury-plagued 2009 season. The deal will be a sign and trade one because Tampa holds a $4.85 million club option on Iwamura. Iwamura played 3 seasons with the Rays. He was a third baseman in 2007 then moved to second base in 2009. Last year, he played in only 69 games after injuring his knee in late May. He rejoined the team for the final month of the season. Iwamura has hit .281 with 103 RBIs in 344 career games over 3 seasons. I don't understand the Pirates trading a relief pitcher that they have control over until 2014. Chavez threw the ball 94-95 MPH and was thought to be a candidate to be the closer next season. Something must have happened over the last couple months of the season to turn the Pirates opinion of Chavez. I'm assuming Iwamura fills the Pirates need for a second baseman. I guess they've come to the opinion that Delwyn Young is nothing more than a bench player. No official comment yet from the Pirates. | |
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