| Flyers hit quarter in stride
The Flyers reach the quarter mark of the season with today's Black Friday matinee against the Washington Capitals. So, where is John Stevens' team right now? It already has seven more wins than it had last season at this point. This is Game 2 of a five-game segment that closes out November. "We're pretty happy where we are right now," defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "Our team can get better; we can play better. I expected us to win games, and we have. But it's time to get it going." The feeling on the team and staff is that the Flyers' true face still hasn't appeared. Some players, such as Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall, need to boost their games. Carter, in particular, began the season with four goals in his first seven games but has just one goal in his last 11. "I was happy with the start; I got some bounces and things going my way," Carter said.
Nigeria: Union Bank in Financial Institutions Games
Union Bank FC will this evening trade tackles with Union Homes in the football event of the ongoing maiden edition of the West Africa Financial Institutions Games, tagged WABFIG 2007, at the Union Bank Sport Complex, Surulere Lagos. According to the draw made yesterday Skye Bank will battle their counterparts from Benin Republic in the first match of the round robin four- team event. .
Groban Gets Oprah Bounce, Jordin Sparks Doesn't Fly
The Grinch might be stealing Christmas from music retailers, but thanks to Josh Groban and Oprah, there's still some singing in Whoville. For the sales week kicked off by Super Tuesday—the release date before Thanksgiving when record labels typically schedule their big guns—the figures were abnormally bad, with only one Top 10 bow and a seven-week-old album topping the charts. Still, that album, Groban's Noël, can thank last week's performance on The Oprah Winfrey Show for driving it past Alicia Keys and into the number one spot. Noël crowned the Billboard 200 by selling 405,000 copies for the week ended Sunday, according to SoundScan numbers released today. The holiday disc, featuring Groban's take on "Silent Night," "O Come All Ye Faithful" and other wintery classics, originally debuted in the 10 spot in mid-October.
Grass-roots program for a blossoming sport
LOWELL -- Up until two decades ago, Peter Pinto was a hockey referee who didn't know very much about lacrosse. But that changed in a hurry once Pinto had an opportunity to officiate a few lacrosse games. "I found lacrosse through hockey," said Pinto, 52, who grew up in Somerville. "I started officiating lacrosse about 20 years ago and the sport became an instant addiction. I no longer officiate hockey. "Lacrosse is such a great game to watch. It's quick. It's a tough sport. The most impressive thing about the sport is the ball movement. Watching the way players pass the ball. To be running as fast as you can and zip the ball while on the move to a teammate like it's a laser is really something to see." Eventually, officiating lacrosse games turned into a labor love, one that Pinto wanted to share with as many young players as possible.
Singer '09: Headaches the norm for NFLers
I was sitting on the couch watching football this past Turkey Day when my four-year-old cousin stumbled into the room. After tumbling onto the couch and staring at the screen for a while, she uttered the following words:
"Why do they play? They run and then" - she clapped her hands as a tackle was made on the screen - "they die."
Those are awfully philosophical thoughts coming from someone who still wears diapers, I thought. She should eat some more turkey. But instead, I decided I'd try to explain my thinking to her.
"Well, they get a lot of money to play. And some of them enjoy it," I said, looking at her to gauge her approval.
She scrunched her nose and shook her head in that spastic way little kids do. "I don't like it," she said.
Outlaws move to 11-1 at home
MASON CITY — Great hockey teams find a way to win.The North Iowa Outlaws proved they could be a great team, escaping with a 3-1 NAHL Central Division victory over the Fargo-Moorhead Jets on Saturday at the North Iowa Ice Arena."We’re doing everything we can to win," North Iowa forward Ross-Ring Jarvi said. "Great teams always find a way to win games, and that’s what I think we are, a great team."North Iowa defenseman Matt Morin put North Iowa in front 1-0 heading into the first intermission, scoring a power-play goal with 31 seconds remaining in the opening period.Fargo-Moorhead’s Mark Johnson tied the score with 2:46 left in the second leaving the third period to decide the outcome."We were a lot better in the first period (Saturday) than we were (Friday) and then kind of got a little uninterested in the second period," said North Iowa coach Dave Boitz, whose team improved to 6-0-0 against the Jets this season.
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