Sports briefs April 14, 2010
Eagles snare national title
For the second year in a row, a Boston-based team has won the NCAA Division I men’s hockey national championship. A year after watching their archrivals from Boston University take home the title, the Boston College Eagles defeated the Wisconsin Badgers by a score of 5-0 in Saturday’s championship game in Detroit to win the school’s fourth championship, three of which have come since 2001. The victory was also a measure of revenge for the Eagles, as the Badgers beat the boys from Chestnut Hill in the championship game back in 2006. The championship capped a terrific tournament run for Boston College. The Eagles defeated the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (by a score of 3-1), Yale (9-7), Miami University of Ohio (7-1) and Wisconsin (5-0) on their run to the title. According to the Boston Globe, the Eagles finished the 2009-2010 season on a thirteen-game unbeaten streak, sporting a 12-0-1 record during the run that included a Hockey East championship. The Eagles only trailed for a total of 55 seconds during those thirteen games. This year’s Frozen Four, held at Detroit’s Ford Field, home of the NFL’s Lions, set various attendance records, as over 37,000 spectators attended the championship game.
No charges for Big Ben
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won’t be charged with a crime for his most recent sexual assault allegations, FoxSports.com reported on Monday. According to the Associated Press, which published the story on FoxSports.com, “Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright said the 20-year-old student’s accusations could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” The AP also reported that the student decided she didn’t want to press charges. The lack of charges seemed to center on a lack of evidence that a crime had been committed, as doctors couldn’t say whether or not the alleged victim had been raped.
Lightning cleaning house
After another disappointing season, the Tampa Bay Lightning are making some significant changes. TSN reported on Monday that both head coach Rick Tocchet and GM Brian Lawton were fired by the team, signaling that the new ownership group is looking to take the franchise in a different direction. New owner Jeff Vinik, a financier with ties to the Boston-area, told the TSN staff that “our hockey operations department needs a fresh start in order to help us fulfill our goal of being a world-class organization.” The Lightning went 53-69-12 during Tocchet’s two seasons at the helm and missed the playoffs both times. Rumors have had the team making major moves for the past couple of months, as stars Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis may find themselves shipped out of town. The Lightning finished the 2009-2010 season with a record of 34-36-12 and 80 points, eight points out of a playoff spot.
Sox, Yankees play too slowly?
Even though members of the media didn’t really need another reason to talk about the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, MLB umpire Joe West decided to give: he thinks to two clubs play the game too slowly. According to ESPN.com, West called the pace of play when the two teams meet “embarrassing” and “a disgrace to baseball.” ESPN said that the average length of regular MLB games was 2:55 minutes in 2009, while Red Sox-Yankees games this past week averaged 3:38. Players from both sides, including Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon and Mariano Rivera brushed off West’s comments, with Rivera telling the New York Post, “”If he has places to go, let him do something else. What does he want us to do, swing at balls?” On Monday, the Associated Press reported that MLB commissioner Bud Selig was “concerned” about the pace of games as well. “The pace of some of them drags on when pitchers take too long between pitches and hitters constantly step out of the batter’s box,” said the AP article of Selig’s thoughts. As of Tuesday, however, no measures had been suggested by anyone in Selig’s office to curb the length of games.
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