Miami (Ohio) New No. 1 on USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey PollCOLORADO SPRINGS. Colo. – Miami (Ohio) University received 30-of-34 first-place votes and 506 points to claim the top spot on the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll for the first time this season after sweeping the University of Nebraska Omaha in a weekend series. This Week's Top-15 Match-ups:Friday. November 2No. 12 Maine @ No. 5 Boston CollegeNo. 7 Denver @ No. 8 MinnesotaNo. 10 Colo. Coll. @ No. 3 North DakotaNo. 14 Mich. Tech @ No. 9 WisconsinSaturday. November 3No. 10 Colo. Coll. @ No. 3 North DakotaNo. 14 Mich. Tech @ No. 9 WisconsinSunday. November 4No. 7 Denver @ No. 8 MinnesotaThe University of Michigan (446) moved up one spot to No. 2 while the University of North Dakota (433) received two first-place votes but fell two spots to No. 3. The University of New Hampshire (430) claimed the remaining two first-place votes and moved up from No. 6 to No. 4. Boston College (385) rounded out the top five. The University of Minnesota Duluth made its debut on the poll this week at No. 15. NOTES: This is the first time since January 30. 2006 that Miami has held the No. 1 spot on the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll. USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll - #5(First-place votes in parenthesis. Last Week's Ranking. 2007-08 Record. Weeks In Top 15) 1 Miami (Ohio) University. 506 (30). 2. 6-0-0. 52 University of Michigan. 446. 3. 5-1-0. 53 University of North Dakota. 433 (2). 1. 3-1-1. 54 University of New Hampshire. 430 (2). 6. 3-0-0. 55 Boston College. 385. 5. 3-1-2. 56 Michigan State University. 323. 9. 4-1-0. 57 University of Denver. 250. 7. 4-2-0. 58 University of Minnesota. 247. 10. 4-2-0. 59 University of Wisconsin. 235. 11. 3-1-0. 510 Colorado College. 219. 4. 2-2-0. 511 Clarkson University. 174. 8. 4-2-0. 512 University of Maine. 143. 13. 4-2-0. 413 University of Notre Dame. 99. 12. 4-3-0. 514 Michigan Tech University. 97. 15. 4-2-0. 215 University of Minnesota Duluth. 47. NR. 4-1-1. 1Others receiving votes: St. Lawrence University. 14; Niagara University. 10; The Ohio State University. 9; U. S. Air Force Academy. 7; University of Alaska Anchorage. 4; College of the Holy Cross. 1; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 1. ABOUT THE POLL: The 13th annual USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey Poll is conducted each week in conjunction with the American Hockey Coaches Association. The poll includes input from coaches and journalists representing each of the six NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences as well as composite votes from officers of the American Hockey Coaches Association and USA Hockey Magazine the most widely distributed hockey magazine in the world.
Approximately five years ago. Inside College Hockey got off the ground (specifically at 6 a m on Oct. 7. 2002). Thanks to you we're still here five years later and we continue to grow. We're usually not ones to pump our tires but we couldn't let our fifth anniversary pass without a look back at our journey from a two-person seat-of-the-pants operation to.. well an eight-person seat-of-the-pants operation
All of that of course has nothing to do with Miami and in all fairness. Miami has done plenty to earn the No. 1 ranking. The RedHawks are 6-0-0 on the season with wins over Vermont. Ohio State and Nebraska-Omaha. The RedHawks are scoring four and two-thirds goals per game and allowing one and a third. Jeff Zatkoff hasn't been as mind-blowingly brilliant as Jean-Philippe Lamoureux but a.951 save percentage and a 1.2 goals-against average are just fine thank you very much. Most important though the RedHawks have done all of this despite losing Nathan Davis to a separated shoulder in the first game of the season. Losing your best player - and not just a great scorer but a fantastic two-way forward - is a tough blow but Miami's absorbed it astoundingly well against some pretty tough competition.
[Update3] In local college news. (2-2) picked up their second win of the season with a 5-3 win over U. C. Davis Saturday at Sharks Ice in San Jose. The Broncos face U. C. Irvine November 3rd on home ice. Thursday through Sunday featured a 4-team tournament in San Jose between SJSU. New Mexico. University of Colorado and Long Beach State. The opening Best of the West Showcase game on Thursday featured New Mexico vs. University of Colorado. Colorado dropped 13 goals in the opener. Andrew Neitenbach scored four goals in the route. Friday Long Beach dropped another football score on New Mexico with 5 different players registering a multi-goal game and the University of Colorado overpowered San Jose. P. J. Bevan and Chad Wetzel scored twice for Colorado. On Saturday SJSU stomped on University of New Mexico. Josh Legge scored a hat trick and 6 different Spartans lit the lamp and the University of Colorado downed Long Beach on an overtime goal by Max Myers. Long Beach defeated SJSU on Sunday. (3-4) split games with UCLA at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo over the weekend and will return home to face Oregon twice at the Redwood City Ice Oasis on Friday and Saturday. UCLA travels to for two games at the Oakland Ice Center November 2nd and 3rd.
The opening entrance for super flyweight Constancio "Tacho" Alvarado (2-0-3) set the tone for Friday's raucous Riot Boxing event at the Monterey Convention Center. Former Salinas fieldworker Alvarado came out for his fight with Jose Pacheco (0-0-2) to loud latin music a roaring crowd and a ring bathed in the tricolor green white and red. The buzz seldom dipped for the rest of the evening. Alvarado may have given up height and reach to Pacheco but "Tacho" came to the fight with very heavy hands. He landed several punches early and showed good strength pushing Pacheco up against the ropes in the first. Pacheco was the aggressor towards the end and he finished the round with a long looping right hand. A head butt opened up a cut over Alvarado's left eye in the second and it flowed heavily for the rest of the fight. The pace slowed slightly for the final two rounds but a hard shot from in close stunned Pacheco in the middle of the third. With Pacheco content to stand and trade instead of trying to cut off the ring. Alvarado finished strong. Constancio Alvarado was bloody for the fourth and final round but he could not put a game Pacheco down. All 3 referees scored the bout 38-38. 38-38. 38-38 a unanimous draw. The second fight featured two boxers looking for their first professional win. San Jose's Maurice Slade (0-2) out of the American Kickboxing Academy vs Oakland's Yonas Gebleegziabher (0-3) out of Kings Gym. Slade looked to attack off the counter but in the process he let Yonas score a number of punches in the first. At the end of the round many spectators were pleading for Slade to throw punches. It would be a familiar refrain. Slade exhibited excellent movement and agility but never let his hands go. Yonas Gebleegziabher earned a majority decision win by being the more active fighter. Former #1 ranked WBO welterweight and NABO champion Jose Celaya (31-3. 16KOs) continuted his comeback tour against a boxer he defeated in April. Juan Pablo Montes de Oca (9-12-2. 6KOs) of Los Angeles. Celaya came into the bout 6 pounds over the 154 pound limit and a first round knockdown of de Oca might have signaled a more decisive performance from Celaya than the first fight. Juan Pablo Montes de Oca plodded foward and landed solid punches when he was able to catch up to Celaya which was not often. A frustrated de Oca started stomping his feet and tapping his head with his gloves while yelling at Celaya in the third round. The antics drew a warning from referee Marty Sammon. Jose Celaya's defense and mobility allowed him to elude many of de Oca's telegraphed punches but Celaya often tucks his arms into his body and pulls straight back. Against a puncher with explosive speed that could spell trouble. The fourth round was Juan Pablo Montes de Oca's best trapping Celaya up against the ropes and landing numerous blows to the body. Jose Celaya earned a majority decision win 59-54. 58-55. 56-57. Many spectators vocally expressed their displeasure with the lack of action in the final two rounds but in a post fight interview Celaya noted an illness he has been fighting earlier this week. Undefeated Salinas boxer Jesus Vega was pulled from the Monterey card at the last minute by the CSAC scuttling his return bout after a 4 year battle with cancer. Cuban Freddy Rojas (1-5) stepped in on a few days notice to participate in a 4-round slugfest with Gabriel Garcia (4-3) whose uncle is Georgie "The Hammer" Garcia. Garcia dictated the action early and showed tremendous power when turning on punches inside. From the outside. Gabriel Garcia's long slapping shots were a little more unrefined. It looked like Garcia would walk through Rojas after two but he ran into a boxer with solid technique and one who could punch. Garcia held on as both traded punches for the final two rounds earning a unanimous decision win 40-36. 40-36. 39-37 and a standing ovation from the crowd. Cynthia Talmadge (1-1. 1KO) of San Francisco was fighting at a more natural weight of 120 pounds after her loss against a larger Jennifer Barber at the in July. Talmadge would face featherweight Leonie Hall (0-3-1) who had to leave her San Diego home due to the Southern California wildfires. Hall who is deaf actually defeated Talmadge three years prior in the amateur ranks. Talmadge came out more agressively in her second professional fight throwing combinations and trying to avoid a hard charging Leonie Hall like a bullfighter. Hall repeatedly tried to get in close and let loose with punches but she paid a high price in the process. Cynthia Talmadge landed a hard right that stunned Hall halfway through the second round followed by a brutal combination that dropped Leonie to the mat. Referee Ray Balewicz counted to two before waiving off the motionless boxer. Cynthia thanked Riot promoter Jerry Hoffman for his dedication to women's boxing in the post fight interview and said that there will be more to come from her in the future. Team Garcia super featherweight Eloy Perez (10-0-2. 2KOs) of Salinas headlined the Monterey Riot card with a fight against 37 year old southpaw Ron "teflon" Boyd (5-3. 2KOs) of Washington D. C. The day after Eloy Perez's 21st birthday he found himself staring down a much larger Boyd giving up half a foot in height. Boyd also had the imposing former Flyweight and SuperFlyweight title holder Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson in his corner. Boyd came out strong overpowering the smaller Perez early. Towards the end of the round. Eloy started to land long lunging jabs piercing Boyd's guard. Perez was quicker to the punch in the second round and the damage started stacking up for Boyd. Perez could close the gap and back out without getting hit. Boyd was eating punches while he tried to move forward. There was no plan B. At the end of the second. Perez stumbled a little into the ropes and Teflon Boyd tried to jump on the brief opening without success. More punches started to stick to Boyd in the third and Perez turned on a left hook that wobbled Teflon Ron. Boyd never recovered in the fourth and his trainer repeatedly called for him to snap out of his "survival mode". Two crushing lefts to the body dropped Boyd to one knee in the fifth round. Seconds later Eloy Perez dropped him with another body shot and referee Ray Balewicz stepped in and stopped the fight. The Riot Boxing series in its 15th year of showcasing Northern California boxing talent may not be able to continue with rising costs and prohibitive logistical conditions. The series has featured a number of former state and world boxing champions including IBF/IBO flyweight champion Nonito Donaire. WBC female minimumweight title holder Carina Moreno. IBF featherweight champion Robert Guerrero. Cal State Jr Welterweight title holder Jesus Rodriguez and WBC welterweight title holder "Sugar" Shane Mosley who will fight November 8th at HP Pavilion was a special guest at ringside. Jesus Rodriguez was in the corner for several of the Team Garcia boxers. More information on the Riot Boxing series is available via. A photo gallery from the Monterey Riot is available. A highlight video with rounds from Garcia-Rojas. Celaya-de Oca and Perez-Boyd and post-fight interviews from Celaya. Garcia. Talmadge and Perez is available here: . . The Riot is an excellent venue to showcase local boxing talent and on the topic of whether or not this would be the last event promoter Jerry Hoffman said recently on his :
Briefly our twice annual RIOT event has become too costly to continue without a title sponsor and more VIP support. An efficient gate only covers half the cost in executing the show as fans have come to expect. The other hurtle is not knowing what to expect from the California State Athletic Commission. The process of producing an event like THE RIOT is challenging enough without fighters being pulled from the show.
Salinas super bantamweight Eloy "The Prince" Perez fighting an opponent who dwarfed him by six inches scored his second career knockout with two devastating punches to remain undefeated in the main event of The Riot at the Monterey Conference Center. Perez fought a nervewracking first round against Ron Boyd (5-3) whose fishing-pole reach was threatening until Perez solved the problem with his lightning speed."He was a giant. He was huge." Perez said of Boyd who trains in Washington D. C under former world champ Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson who worked his corner. "I didn't know he was going to be that tall. I just knew he was a lefty and that's about it. But I heard Max and Don telling me to work behind the jab and I could hear (Garcia Boxing stablemate) Chuy Rodriguez telling me to go to the body and that's what I did."
Whomever says "old time hockey is dead" should have been at the DCU Center last night. The home fans in attendance may not have like the result but old time hockey fans would have loved the action as the Hartford Wolf Pack and Worcester Sharks pounded each other for 60 minutes with huge hits with the Wolf Pack coming out ahead 2-1 before an announced crowed of 3,464. The first period saw no scoring but hockey fans certainly enjoyed the first 20 minutes as both teams played very physically. WorSharks forward Riley Armstrong got the party started with a bone-crunching check of Hartford defender Jake Taylor behind the Wolf Pack's net. Taylor was slow to get up and did not return. Not to be outdone a couple shifts later Hartford forward Dane Byers laid a beautiful open ice blast on TJ Fox that sent Fox flying through the air. The next shift it was Craig Valette's turn as Valette threw a huge shoulder into the chest of a much larger Hugh Jessiman. The last of the first period's big hits would be when WorSharks rookie defender Derek Joslin pasted Hartford’s Greg Moore as Moore tried to slip the puck past Joslin. Moore was also slow to get up but continued on with his shift. Despite all the huge hits the first period was remarkably clean with referee Francois St. Laurent keeping his whistle in his pocket until late in the first. The second period started more wide open than the first with Hartford goalie Chris Holt and WorSharks netminder Taylor Dakers both making big saves in the period's early moments. As in four of the WorSharks first five games game six was no different as the opponent scored first when Hartford winger Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau wristed a laser over Dakers' glove and just under the crossbar for a 1-0 Wolf Pack lead. That lead would last a whole 39 seconds. On the next shift Ashton Rome found himself alone behind the Hartford net and Mike Iggulden got just enough of the centering feed to deflected it just past a stretching Holt to knot the game at 1-1. The first fight of the game came next as Francis Lessard to exception the three hits against him in one shift. The first to knock him down was Iggulden who got him in front of the Worcester bench. Just a handful of seconds later Valette hit Lessard in front of the Hartford bench. To complete the trifecta. Brennan Evans got Lessard right at the WorSharks blue line. Lessard was visibly less than pleased and went after Evans in the Worcester zone. Lessard landed a few blows but effectively ended the fight as he turtled while Evans was landing clean shots. Hartford would take the lead with under a minute to go as Greg Moore blocked a Lucas Kaspar power play shot and went end to end beating Dakers high to the glove side for a 2-1 advantage. The goal was not shorthanded as Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau's penalty for high sticking had just expired. The WorSharks thought they tied the game just 45 seconds into the third period when Tom Cavanagh found the twine behind Holt but St. Laurent immediately waved off the goal and called Nate Raduns for goaltender interference. The video replay shown on the DCU jumbotron shows the call may belong in the "questionable" category. Midway through the final period Hugh Jessman boarded Armstrong in retaliation for the Taylor hit just inside the Wolf Pack zone and Brad Staubitz defended his team mate by skating two zones to battle with Jessman. Jessman had the early edge but Staubitz landed several unanswered bombs and got the take down to win the decison. The officials confered to determine if Staubitz had left the bench to begin the altercation--he did not--and Jessman's boarding minor was washed out by Staubitz's instigator penalty. Hartford played a defensive game from that point and any hope of a miraculous comeback was squelched by a deserved too many men on the ice minor when Dackers played the puck by the WorSharks bench just after Graham Mink had jumped on the ice to replace him. GAME NOTESThe National Anthem was performed by Ed Arndt on electric guitar. Arndt has performed it several times at the DCU center for the New England Surge and is by far the best of the folks that perform the song before Sharks games. It's going to be fun to watch Devin Setoguchi once his ankle fully heals. Setoguchi took Mink's spot on his usual line and played right point on the second power play unit. Neither team could capitalize with the man advantage with both teams going 0-4 on the power play. Hartford ended the game with 22 minutes in penalties. The WorSharks had 32 the difference being Staubitz's instigator misconduct. Hartford's assistant coach J. J. Daigneault played 9 games for the Worcester IceCats during the 1995-96 season scoring a goal and ten assists in nine games after being traded to St Louis from Montreal for Pat Jablonski. In other Hartford news. Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau owns the longest name currently playing in the AHL at 24 letters. Olivier Magnan-Grenier from Lowell is second on that list at 20 letters. The three stars of the game were1) Moore (GWG)2) Iggulden (1g)3) Holt (25 saves)Honorable mention goes to Valette for another oustanding game although in this one he did get on the score sheet with the second assist on Iggulden's goal. Even strength linesCavanagh/Raduns/IgguldenKaspar/Armstrong/SetoguchiPackard/Fox/MinkValette/Rome/(everyone)Traverse/EvansSpang/JoslinWalsh/StaubitzPenalty KillFox/PackardValette/RomeRaduns/SetoguchiTraverse/EvansSpang/JoslinWalsh/StaubitzPower PlayIggulden/Cavanagh/MinkRaduns/Armstrong/KasparWalsh/JoslinSpang/SetoguchiFace Offs (offense/neutral/defense = total) (unofficial)Raduns 6-2/0-1/3-5 = 9-8Armstrong 0-0/2-3/0-1 = 2-4Setoguchi 4-1/0-0/0-2 = 4-3Fox 1-3/0-3/0-2 = 1-8Rome 2-1/0-3/2-2 = 4-6Cavanagh 4-1/0-0/1-1 = 5-2Kaspar 0-1/0-0/0-0Every Worcester player excepting Dackers had at least one hit. Staubitz. Rome. Evans. Joslin and Fox each had two. Armstrong and Valette had three. Mink had four. Valette blocked 4 shots on the penalty kill. Dackers made four big saves. BOXSCORE
Hartford 0 2 0--2Worcester 0 1 0--11st PeriodScoring: None. Penalties: WOR-Cavanagh. Tom (Tripping). 17:14. 2nd periodScoring: 1. Hartford-Parenteau. Pierre 3 (Dupont. Brodie 2) 8:33. 2. Worcester-Iggulden. Mike 4 (Rome. Ashton 1; Valette. Craig 2) 9:09.3. Hartford-Moore. Greg 4 (game winner)(unassisted) 19:02. Penalties: WOR-Armstrong. Riley (Interference). 0:13. HFD-Lessard. Francis (Fighting. Major). 11:13. WOR-Evans. Brennan (Fighting. Major). 11:13. HFD-Pock. Thomas (Hooking). 12:40. HFD-Parenteau. Pierre (High sticking). 17:02. 3rd periodScoring: None. Penalties: WOR-Raduns. Nate (Obstr goalie interfe). 0:45. HFD-Byers. Dane (Slashing. Roughing. Double minor). 2:03. WOR-Evans. Brennan (Roughing). 2:03. HFD-Lessard. Francis (Hooking). 5:39. HFD-Jessiman. Hugh (Board check. Fighting. Major). 10:14. WOR-Staubitz. Brad (Fighting. Instigator. Major. Ten minute misc.). 10:14. WOR-BENCH served by Raduns. Nate (Too many men). 19:05. Shots On GoalHartford 10 7 7--24Worcester 6 9 11--26Power Play Conversions: Hartford - 0 of 4. Worcester - 0 of 4. Goalies: Hartford-Holt. Chris (60:00. 26 shots. 25 saves; record: 2-1-0). Worcester-Dakers. Taylor (59:20. 24 shots. 22 saves; record: 1-1-0). A: 3464. Referee: St. Laurent. Francois. Linesmen: Boyle. Ed; Messier. Mark.
The Portland Pirates out hit out shot out played and totally "out hockied" the Worcester Sharks at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Maine last night. Fortunately for Worcester it took overtime for the Pirates to outscore them and the WorSharks returned to the Bay State with a point after the 3-2 overtime loss. Despite playing their worst game of the season the WorSharks actually held the lead 2-1 after two periods. As has happened in four of the WorSharks five games the opponents struck first when Matt Christie found the twine after a pass from Brian Salcido. Worcester would score both of its goals off of turnovers in the second period. Mike Iggulden and Riley Armstrong both beat Portland netminder Jonas Hiller in one-on-one situations. Iggulden's goal was just 39 seconds into the second and was assisted by Tom Cavanagh. Armstrong's was unassisted. The Pirates would pull even early in the third while on the power play with Bobby Ryan putting one past Thomas Griess while Dennis Packard was off for interference. Greiss wearing his customary number 29 should have been wearing number 1 as for long stretches of the game it seemed he was the only one out on the ice for the Sharks. With the Sharks being outshot nearly two-to-one and scoring chances few and far between. Greiss made save after save to keep the WorSharks in the game. With Worcester barely hanging on Andrew Ebbett connected just to the left of Greiss and Portland grabbed the win and the extra point. GAME NOTESDevin Setoguchi returned to the WorShark's lineup finishing the game with one shot on goal and 2 minor penalties. The WorSharks had three natural defensemen on the ice when the game winner was scored with Brad Staubitz at forward. Despite the loss the WorSharks have trailed for less than 38 minutes in over 300 minutes of game time. Nate Raduns did not score a goal for the first time this season. He was on the ice for Iggulden's goal and leads the WorSharks in plus/minus at +6. Worcester scratches were Marc Busenburg. Mike Morris. Josh Prudden and Jonathan Tremblay. BOXSCORE
Worcester 0 2 0 0--2Portland 1 0 1 1--31st PeriodScoring: 1. Portland-Christie. Matt 1 (Salcido. Brian 6) 12:06. Penalties: POR-Bouck. Tyler (Holding). 2:44. WOR-Setoguchi. Devin (Tripping). 8:39. WOR-Staubitz. Brad (Interference). 10:00. WOR-Rome. Ashton (Interference). 15:47. 2nd PeriodScoring: 2. Worcester-Iggulden. Mike 3 (Cavanagh. Tom 4) 0:37. 3. Worcester-Armstrong. Riley 2 (unassisted) 13:35. Penalties: WOR-Raduns. Nate (High sticking). 7:22. POR-Dingle. Ryan (Interference). 16:04. WOR-Valette. Craig (Fighting. Major). 18:11. POR-Rome. Aaron (Fighting. Major). 18:11. POR-Ebbett. Andrew (Hooking). 19:17. 3rd PeriodScoring: 4. Portland-Ryan. Bobby 1 (power play) (Christie. Matt 1; Ebbett. Andrew 7) 2:08. Penalties: WOR-Packard. Dennis (Interference). 2:03. WOR-Joslin. Derek (Roughing). 7:51. WOR-Setoguchi. Devin (Roughing). 7:51. WOR-Walsh. Tom (Game misc.). 7:51. POR-Dixon. Stephen (Roughing. Game misc.). 7:51. POR-Ferguson. Simon (Roughing). 7:51. POR-Segal. Brandon (Board check). 7:51. WOR-Raduns. Nate (Tripping). 12:02. WOR-Armstrong. Riley (Diving). 15:21. POR-Bouck. Tyler (Interference). 15:21. WOR-Iggulden. Mike (Hooking). 19:50. OverimeScoring: 5. Portland-Ebbett. Andrew 3 (game winner)(unassisted) 3:26. Penalties: None. Shots On GoalWorcester 5 11 4 0--20Portland 12 5 19 3--39 Power Play Conversions: Worcester - 0 of 4. Portland - 1 of 7. Goalies: Worcester-Greiss. Thomas (63:26. 39 shots. 36 saves; record: 3-0-1). Portland-Hiller. Jonas (63:26. 20 shots. 18 saves; record: 1-0-0). A: 3966. Referee: St. Laurent. Francois. Linesmen: Unknown; O'Neill. Mike.
A lot of news is swirling around tonight's edition of the Riot Boxing series in Monterey. After 15 years declining sponsorship logistical problems with the California State Athletic Commission and attendance concerns may signal the end for what has become one of the top showcases for Bay Area and Central Californian boxing talent. Undefeated Salinas super featherweight Jesus Vega (14-0-2) was scheduled to make his return to the ring after a 4 year battle with testicular cancer. According to the Monterey Herald's. Vega was cleared by a neurologist a radiologist an opthomologist a cardiologist and his Salinas oncologist only to be overruled at the last minute by a California State Athletic Commission doctor citing an abnormality. Taylor also reported that Vega has been training for the fight for close to two months and that he was frustrated by the doctors decision. Gabriel Garcia was named as a replacement for Jesus Vega. He will face Freddy Rojas in a 4 round super featherweight bout. Bruising Salinas super featherweight (9-0-2) will headline the October 26th Monterey card in a 8-round bout with (5-2) of Washington D. C. Perez turned in a dominant performance against Barbaro Zepeda in San Jose earning a unanimous decision win (60-54. 60-54. 60-54) but that was followed by a draw against Carlos Vinan August 10th in Sacramento (78-74. 76-76. 73-79) and a difficult unanimous decision win against Odilon Rivera again at HP Pavilion (60-54. 60-54. 60-54). Perez will look to rebound with a strong performance against the southpaw Boyd who is 5-1 in his last 6 fights. Also on the card is former #1 ranked welterweight contender Jose Celaya former amateur golden gloves champion Cynthia Talmadge facing off against deaf San Diego boxer Leonie Hall former Salinas fieldworker Constancio Alvarado and San Jose welterweight Maurice Slade looking for his first win as a professional. Tickets may be ordered through 3PM by calling 915-1119 and after 5PM they will be available at the Monterey Conference Center box office. More information is available from and Riot Boxing promoter Jerry Hoffman's blog. An updated fight card:
RIOT BOXING OCT 26TH IN MONTEREYMain Event - Super Featherweights (8 rounds)Eloy Perez (9-0-2 Salinas) vs. Ron Boyd (5-2 Washington DC)Special Attraction - Jr. Middleweights (6 rounds)Jose Celaya (30-3 Salinas) vs. Juan Pablo Montes de Oca (9-11 Las Vegas)Super Featherweights (4 rounds)Gabriel Garcia (3-3) vs Freddy Rojas (1-4 Las Vegas)Female Feature - Bantamweights (4 rounds)Cynthia Talmadge (0-1 San Francisco) vs. Leonie Hall (0-2-1 San Diego)Super Flyweights (4 rounds)Constancio Alvarado (2-0-2 Salinas) vs. Jose Pacheco (0-0-1 Los Angeles)Welterweights (4 rounds)Maurice Slade (0-1 San Jose) vs. Yonas Gebleeziagher (0-3 Oakland)* card subject to change
Monterey has never been treated to a boxing show quite like the next edition of The Riot scheduled at 7:30 p m. Friday at the Monterey Conference Center. Just for starters. Jerry Hoffman's event will feature four top-drawer Salinas boxers each with a legitimate shot at a spot in the world rankings in the coming months. But it's more interesting than that. The showcase performers of the six-bout show include a cancer survivor a former Salinas fieldworker a boxer who once was ranked No. 1 in the world a woman who works construction all day in one city then trains deep into the night in another and a fighter who is completely deaf. Three of the bouts including the main event feature an undefeated fighter. A bona fide boxing legend will work the corner of one of the combatants. And here's the most amazing thing of all. This edition of The Riot a Central Coast fixture for the past 15 years may well be the last.
SHARKS ANNOUNCE AFFILIATION WITH THE PHOENIX ROADRUNNERS OF THE ECHL - 10/19/2007San Jose Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson and Sharks Vice President and Assistant General Manager Wayne Thomas announced today that the club has formalized a two-year secondary affiliation with the Phoenix RoadRunners of the ECHL. America’s Premier "AA" Hockey League. The Sharks top development affiliate is the Worcester Sharks of the American Hockey League."We are pleased to add this quality organization as our development affiliate," said Thomas. "The Phoenix club has a long-standing tradition of excellence in its market – on and off the ice – and we look forward to their assistance in the development of Sharks prospects. Brad Church played in the Sharks organization and brings the same competitiveness and preparation as a coach as he did as a player."The ECHL began play in 1988-89 with five teams in three states and has now expanded to 25 teams ranging from New Jersey to Alaska. The Phoenix RoadRunners enter their third season in the ECHL but their history as a franchise runs much deeper then just the past three seasons. The Phoenix RoadRunners were actually the first professional franchise in the state of Arizona. The team initially existed from 1967-1974 in the WHL. The team played in several leagues for various spans of time over the next few decades but eventually went dark in 1997. After four years without a minor league hockey team the RoadRunners were revived in the ECHL by the same group of owners from the Phoenix Suns. Arizona Rattlers and Phoenix Mercury including Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver and Chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo. The group also purchased the familiar hockey name and logos for play in their new home at US Airways Center. The team had its best campaign finishing fourth in the West Division and eighth in the National Conference in 2006-07 which earned them a berth in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The team returns for the 2007-08 season led by head coach Church and a new affiliation with the San Jose and Worcester Sharks.
PDN's in New York City is one of the largest photography conventions in the U. S. There are a number of manufacturers agencies and software companies showcasing products and services but one of the best reasons to attend is to meet the photographers themselves and learn how they are adopting new technologies to produce better images. Below is a brief rundown of the last three days of the conference with a focus on sports photography and two or three hockey links thrown in as well. Not sure why the audio cuts out on a few of the clips but there is still some good info included.
DAY 1First stop of the day was the booth to take another look at the new D3 DSLR and ask the staff a little more about it. The sample photos on display taken with very high ISO looked remarkably clean see this Dave Black on Ken Rockwell's website but would those results under set conditions apply when shooting very dark practice rinks or boxing events. It was explained that one of the reasons for the improved high ISO performance is the larger size of the sensor and the increased amount of detail each pixel can contain. The rep also talked about how long the full frame (FX) camera was in development how the scene recognition system and enhanced metering and white balance will improve performance and how you can bump the frame rate from 9 to 11 by selecting the smaller DX mode. Inside Digital Photo has a video interview with Steve Heiner. Nikon's General Manager of Digital SLRs. Steve Heiner made a brief cameo on this blog along with Robert Scoble to discuss the Coolpix S51c. One of the themes of the PhotoPlus conference that photographers were most interested in this year was online image archiving distribution and printing. Four companies I wanted to see were Santa Clara's and. Printroom's VP of Marketing Andrew Baum explained the new flash storefront creation tool which makes it easy to create professional looking flash photography galleries. He also pointed to the Detroit Red Wings storefront as an example. Interesting tool but the quality of prints from Printroom are better than any online print lab I have tried. Did not get to see SmugMug at the conference but their independent book publisher was there. Blurb may have the most affordable book publishing options but the quality is also very good. They have templates where you can drag and drop your photos and text and select from a number of different printing options. If I was going to take 30-40 photos from this blog and 10-15 articles I have written it would make a very interesting book in probably less than an hour. ($10 off your first book with promo code: photoplus07). Digital Railroad offers an online digital archive and marketplace for photographers and the DR highlights individual photographers successfully using the product in different disciplines. Digital Railroad hosted a for photographers also sponsored by the and. PhotoShelter is a similar online distribution offering for photographers home to Eric McErlain. Ellen Blanchard and Allen Clark's. Lots of good hockey and soccer photography there. Ran into PhotoShelter VP of Sales and Marketing Grover Sanschagrin and 's Brad Mangin at the PhotoShelter booth. Later that night they hosted possibly the best party of the weekend but the line was full so I sampled a local bar sans gogo dancers and watched New York fans hate on the Red Sox. DAY 2It took a few minutes to recover from stopping me on a street corner and asking me to buy a hot dog but I powered on to the Jacob Javits Center for Day 2. On the back side of the conference hall. Brad Kuhns of IPNstock wrote software to include all 27,290 photo submissions for the National Geographic Traveler and PDN Focus Contest into thirteen 12x5 foot panels. The final product produced on an Epson Stylus Pro 11880 printer was a segmented 154x5 foot print. Very cool. There is a brief shot of one panel in the video above. Stopped by the Nikon booth again this time to listen to Nikon Professional Photographer discuss and show samples from the new D3 and D300. Also met Account Coordinator Matthew Kopacz who arranged the event in San Francisco last week. Talked briefly about Nikon's marketing campaign with bloggers and about things that hit photographers while shooting sports. Visited the flash accessory booth to speak with Quest C. Couch. A lot of people were crowding Gary Fong's booth asking about the but if I was going to recommend one accessory for a flash it would still have to be Lumiquests top selling product the. If you are at a large arena or concert hall with no ceiling to bounce a flash off of it is a very simple and effective solution. The should solve a lot of digicam flash problems. Quest C. Couch mentioned "the larger the light source the softer the shadows" and he also recommended using a flash from more natural directions. More on off camera flash can be found at. Also noted from the latest AMSP bulletin (American Society of Media Photographers): Minnesota Wild team photographer Bruce Kluckhohn () was featured as one of the best sports photographers. He has been shooting the Wild for the last 7 seasons and recently began covering the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse teams. Kluckhohn discussed the benefits of digital photography compared to film noted some of the licensing arrangements he has with the Minnesota Wild and said that multimedia capture is not yet on his radar. DAY 3On the last day of the conference I got to listen to presentations from two of the best sports photographers in the business and. There are brief clips from both in the video at the top of this post but unfortunately both were taken at the wrong times. While I was still charging a battery. Dave Black talked about using external lights and long exposures to shoot ice climbers on a glacier as the sun faded. The results were spectacular. He also showed more examples of the Nikon D3's high ISO performance. New York Times photographer Vincent Laforet discussed using a tilt shift lens to photograph various sporting events in the video clip at the top. Then as I stopped recording he started to talk about his sports aerial photography (NY Times multimedia presentation ). His shot from above of skaters and their shadows from the Lasker ice skating rink in Central Park is one of my favorites. Laforet talked about which helicopters he would not fly in there were only two and that using vibration reduction did not really work for him from the air. The shutter speeds were too quick and VR would slow the shot down. He did recommend not having any part of your body resting against the side of the helicopter when shooting. Laforet's shots of surfers at the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii from the top down were impressive but it was nice to compare his field of view from photographers I have seen shoot the break over the years from the water and from the shore. My favorite shots are still of Jaws from the shore (some with helicopters in the frame filming action from below the top of the wave) and Mavericks in Half Moon Bay from a boat. Laforet's tilt shift sports photos were an interesting look at select perspective photography. Another company at the conference released a product with a similar purpose. Lensbabies third generation. Lensbabies' Dave Aakhus demos the new lens in the video above but you really have to google lensbabies and take a look at some of the resulting photos for yourself. At the end of the conference my brother joined me to check out a few of the software companies on display. On the walk home we stopped by the Law and Order television studio took a photo of the last meat packing plant in the meat packing district took a photo of architect Frank Gehry's "Sails" and stumbled upon a live 10-day. 6 hours a day art exhibit from Ragnar Kjartansson. A short clip snuck into the video above. Kjartansson was playing slow guitar and wailing into the microphone in an empty warehouse lined with a few fake trees. Exhibit websites are available and. Visit at your own risk.
Inside Digital Photo posted video podcasts from photographer and author photographer during a live model shoot. Leica USA's Director of Marketing on the new Summarit-M lenses and an intro to the PhotoExpo with PDN PhotoPlus International Conference and Expo show director. Professional photographer and photobusiness guru John Harrington posted two video features showcasing different products and companies from PhotoPlus and. Harrington also lead a session on best business practices for freelance photographers. and also posted about the conference but the blog coverage of the conference was also pretty good. Photoshop trainer and author Scott Kelby wrote a brief review and Kathryn Hill has extensive notes and sample photos.[Update] - PDNpulse com.
When covering a show as big (and noisy) as last week's PhotoPlus Expo in New York City it's easy to overlook some of the lower-key products tucked away in the various corners of the show floor. To be sure the gear that grabbed the most attention at PhotoPlus 2007 was at the front of the hall where Nikon's new flagship digital SLR the D3 and Canon's new top-of-the-line DSLR the EOS 1Ds Mark III were making their debuts.
Walking to the Jacob Javits Center on Friday softball pitcher asked me if I would like to buy a hotdog for charity. Behind her were a row of television cameras. Omarosa. Marilu Henner. Tiffany Fallon and a hotdog stand. 5-time Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci and model Carol Alt made the hotdog. I have never seen the regular apprentice show but apparently this was the celebrity version. I asked Carol Alt about hockey but blanked on the name of her boyfriend. Alexei Yashin. Not my fault. I am a Western Conference guy. She mentioned that she talks to Yashin daily and that he is enjoying the season with Russian Super League team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl where he has 5 goals and 9 assists in 19 games. Yashin may be one of the most enigmatic and contentious stars of the modern NHL. Drafted second overall by the Ottawa Senators in 1992. Yashin went on to register six 30-goal seasons in the NHL including a runner-up finish for the Hart and Rocket Richard trophies in 1998-99. A series of contract disputes lead to Yashin sitting out the 1999-2000 NHL season surrendering his Senators captainship to Daniel Alfredsson. A draft day blockbuster trade in 2001 sent Alexei to the New York Islanders for towering defenseman Zdeno Chara. Bill Muckalt and the 2nd overall pick in the draft (Jason Spezza). The Islanders signed Yashin to a monster 10-year $87.5 million deal which resulted in the end of an 8-year playoff drought. Early playoff exits in three straight seasons pushed expectations for Yashin to a new level in 2005-06. Alexei Yashin was named captain of the New York Islanders after the trade of Michael Peca but he delivered a subpar 28 goals and 38 assists. A lingering knee injury limited Yashin to only 58 games in 2006-07 and the Islanders bought out the remainder of the contract after the season. Alexei and his agent were not pleased with the offers made by NHL clubs this offseason and he signed a 1-year deal with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the RSL. This was an interesting break from all of the conference presentations and parties but at least I can say I was Jennie Finch's first celebrity apprentice hotdog sale.
Last week marked the grand opening of the new on 47th street and 6th avenue in Manhattan. Located at the base of the new NHL World Headquarters the 6,700-square-foot "retail mecca" designed by architecture firm Gensler and Reebok's GlobalDesign Team features a 29 foot video wall new RBK edge jerseys and custom apparel from all 30 NHL teams interactive video game kiosks an XM radio studio that will feature live hockey programing on (XM station 204) a floating 400 Rbk hockey stick sculpture a mini Starbucks with hockey artwork and more flat panel HD television screens than you can count. The new store is spacious and it will take fans some time to work through the new merchandise. Most of the traffic was centered around the new RBK Edge jerseys the new line of vintage NHL apparel and the Orange County Choppers custom NHL motorcycle. I asked one of the employees what opening day was like (Friday. October 12th) and he said it was like a rock concert with wall-to-wall people and media autograph sessions and a Stanley Cup procession down 6th avenue. NHL Executive Vice President of Marketing Brian Jennings said in a press release. "The 'NHL Powered by Reebok' store will serve as a year-round showcase for the sport of hockey and will bring the game to life through a multi-sensory experience. We are excited to partner with Reebok because of their immense retail experience. Together we have produced a store that will undoubtedly become a must-see destination for hockey fans worldwide."It is definitely worth a visit and if you purchase a vintage Quebec Nordiques jersey shirt or new RBK 9K skates you can walk a couple of blocks and test them out on the open ice rinks at the Rockefeller Center or in Central Park. A photo gallery from the new NHL store is available. Photos were taken with a Nikon Coolpix S51c.[Update] - Washington Times.
So after the morning skate I made my way down to the new NHL store which held its grand opening today. If you have not heard the store is at 1185 Avenue of the Americas (the corner of 47th St and 6th Ave.) in Manhattan and if today was any indication it will be a beacon of hockey greatness in the middle of the Big Apple. There were literally thousands of people in and around the place. Just walking around in the store was not easy... Inside is where the action was at. To the left of the main entrance sat Lord Stanley's Cup and there was a line out the door and wrapped around the block to get your picture taken with it. There are these gigantic photos about 25 feet tall along the left wall of Alex Ovechkin. Sidney Crosby. Joe Thornton and Martin Brodeur showcasing the new uniforms. Sorry for the shoddy photography. I blame the tools (my cell phone) with which I had to work with.
The Worcester Sharks behind the strength of a 39 save performance by goaltender Thomas Greiss defeated the Providence Bruins 5-3 to win the battle of Atlantic Division unbeatens. The WorSharks had the game's first two power plays and even skated 5 on 3 for over a minute but could not get the puck past Bruins rookie netminder Tuukka Rask despite crashing the net on numerous occasions. As they would all game both goaltenders made several great saves throughout the early part of the first period. For the first time this season the WorSharks got on the board first as Ashton Rome batted the rebound of a Brad Staubitz blast out of the air and past Rask to take a 1-0 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the first stanza. Despite being shorthanded late in the first it appeared the Sharks would escape the period with the lead despite being outshot by a wide margin but Providence had other ideas. In a play that looked like it may have been offsides. Bruins forward Byron Bitz gained the blue line and hit a streaking Petteri Nokelainen who blasted a shot just past the outstretched pad of Greiss and just inside the post to tie the game with 7.7 seconds remaining. In the second period the Sharks would take the lead on their next power play chance as Sandis Ozolinsh blasted a shot just wide of Rask in what appeared to be a set play and Mike Iggulden tipped the rebounding puck past the sprawling netminder for the 2-1 lead. Under two minutes later the Sharks would strike again this time with the fourth line. Jonathan Tremblay and Dennis Packard spent the whole shift pinning the Bruins in their own zone with big hits and a relentless fore check when the Bruins turned it over behind their own net. Nate Raduns double shifting with the second and fourth lines banked the puck off of Rask and into the net for his fourth goal in four games. Tremblay's assist was his first AHL point. The next two goals would be by Providence and both would be scored by former Worcester Icecat Jeff Hoggan. The first would come 96 seconds after Raduns tally and the tying goal would come four minutes into the third period to tie the game 3-3. The WorSharks would take the lead for good at the 9:01 mark with an odd combination. With Sharks defender Tom Walsh holding the puck behind Greiss' net the Sharks changed forwards with a line that hadn't played together all game. Captain Graham Mink and Packard at wings and TJ Fox at center. Mink swung the net taking the puck from Walsh and as Mink flipped the puck into the attacking zone all three forwards crashed the net with Mink gaining the lose puck and flipping it wide of Rask. Packard grabbed the puck on the goal line to Rask's left and hit Fox with a nifty pass with Fox tipping the puck into the now empty net for his first professional goal. Providence nearly tied the game later in the period but Martins Karsums slapshot found iron to the right of Greiss. The WorSharks iced the game with six second remaining with the Bruins using an extra attacker as Raduns hit the open net from 150 feet away on a clearing attempt. GAME NOTESWorcester scratches were Marc Busenburg. Mike Morris. Josh Prudden. Patrick Traverse and Devin Setoguchi. The AHL requires all players to wear a visor. Sandis Ozolinsh followed the absolute letter of the rule having a visor attached to his helmet. He may have to work on the "spirit of the rule" part as the visor was barely low enough to protect his forehead. The three stars were1) Fox (GWG. +2)2) Hoggan (2g)3) Greiss (39 saves)Honarable mention has to go to Raduns and his two goals. The jersey situation appeared to be fixed with all players wearing their normal numbers. Attendance was announced at 3,362. Not a bad total considering the WorSharks had to compete with both the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox in game seven of the ALCS both happening around the Sharks game. Even strength linesKaspar/Armstrong/MinkCavanagh/Raduns/IgguldenValette/Fox/RomePackard/Raduns/TremblayWalsh/EvansOzolinsh/StaubitzSpang/JoslinPower Play linesIggulden/Cavanagh/MinkKaspar/Raduns/ArmstrongOzolinsh/WalshSpang/JoslinShorthanded linesValette/RomeCavanagh/RadunsFox/PackardWalsh/EvansSpang/StaubitzJoslin/Ozolinsh(Walsh)Face-Offs (offense/neutral/defense = total) (unofficial)Raduns 2-6/2-3/3-3 = 7-12Cavanagh 4-1/1-0/1-0 = 6-1Fox 0-1/1-1/4-3 = 5-5Armstrong 2-4/2-3/1-2 = 5-9Rome 4-2/0-0/0-2 = 4-4Valette 0-0/0-0/0-1 = 0-1Kaspar 0-1/0-0/0-0 = 0-1Both Staubitz and Ozolinsh blocked shots while short handed. Joslin had a hit; Valette. Evans. Staubitz. Cavanagh and Tremblay each had two. Armstrong had three and Rome had four. Greiss had 5 big saves. I didn't track them for Rask but he had at least a half dozen. BOXSCORE
Providence 1 1 1--3Worcester 1 2 2--51st PeriodScoring: 1. Worcester. A. Rome (1) (B. Staubitz. C. Valette) 13:56. 2. Providence. P. Nokelainen (2) (B. Bitz. M. Lashoff) 19:52 PPPenalties: C. Collins Pro (tripping) 1:16. M. Hunwick Pro (hooking) 1:59. B. Evans Wor (interference) 9:17. J. Tremblay Wor (slashing) 16:11. T. Fox Wor (hooking) 18:382nd PeriodScoring: 3. Worcester. M. Iggulden (2) (S. Ozolinsh. G. Mink) 9:09 PP. 4. Worcester. N. Raduns (4) (D. Packard. J. Tremblay) 11:06. 5. Providence. J. Hoggan (2) (B. Bitz. B. Skinner) 12:40Penalties: C. Collins Pro (holding) 7:11. M. Lashoff Pro (interference) 16:053rd PeriodScoring: 6. Providence. J. Hoggan (3) (W. Rabbit. C. Collins) 4:12. 7. Worcester. T. Fox (1) (D. Packard. G. Mink) 9:01. 8. Worcester. N. Raduns (5) (T. Cavanagh) 19:54 EN Penalties: M. Karsums Pro (high-sticking) 0:54. C. Valette Wor (holding) 10:04. V. Sobotka Pro (holding) 12:52Shots on goalProvidence 16 12 14--42Worcester 8 12 7--27Power Play ConversionsProvidence Bruins 1 of 4. Worcester Sharks 1 of 6. Goalies: Providence-Rask. Tuukka (59:21. 26 shots. 22 saves; record: 3-1-0). Worcester-Greiss. Thomas (59:43. 42 shots. 30 saves; record 3-0-0). A: 3362. Referee: David Banfield (44). Linesmen: Tim Low (68). Brian MacDonald (13)
Rookie netminder Taylor Dakers making his first professional start turned aside 25 of 26 Lowell Devils shots to lead the Worcester Sharks to a 2-1 victory in front of an announced crowd of 3,246 at the DCU Center in Worcester. The game's first few minutes saw some big hits and the one that Brennan Evans threw on Lowell defender Sheldon Brookbank in the referee's crease started the game's only fight with Evans getting his right arm free to land several good shots. As Brookbank threw a few of his own. Evans switched to lefts to win the decision. In the first two WorSharks games the opponent found the twine first and this game was no exception as Ivan Khomutov fired a low wrister from the right circle that beat the crossing Dakers to give Lowell a 1-0 lead just over six minutes into the contest. Worcester is getting a reputation of answering early goals quickly and last night was no exception as under two minutes later rookie Nate Raduns skated into the attacking zone against both Devils defenders and threw an easy backhand at Lowell goaltender Frank Doyle that was easily saved but before he could cover the bouncing puck a streaking Dennis Packard poked it in to knot the game at 1-1. The Sharks would score again in the first period as Raduns went coast-to-coast after a Lowell turnover in the Worcester defensive zone and threw a pass across the Lowell goalmouth to Packard. The puck banked in off of a sprawling Doyle and across the goal line for what turned out to be the game winner. Raduns has goals in all three Worcester games. Referee Jamie Koharski must have had a plane to catch as whistles were few and far between with both teams getting just two power plays. Neither team was able to capitalize on the man advantage. The goalies took over for the last two periods with both making several nice saves to keep the game 2-1. The biggest save of the night for Dakers came with just under a minute remaining as he flashed the glove out to grab a hard blast from the point while being screened. Dakers also showed great control of rebounds during that stretch twice deflecting hard shots to wide open Sharks defenders for easy clears. Sandis Ozolinsh a veteran with 836 games of NHL experience played in his first ever AHL game after signing a PTO with the WorSharks on Friday. The rust of not having played in a game for over 10 months showed but as the game went on you could see him getting more comfortable every shift he took. He was on the ice during the last minute of the game while Lowell skated with the extra attacker. GAME NOTESSharks head coach Roy Sommer went with his usual first line of Kaspar/Armstrong/Mink but mixed up his other lines as the game went on. Brad Staubitz saw shifts at both forward and defense. Every line combination Worcester threw out there played very well. The defensive lines were also shuffled quite a bit and each combination played solidly. Sommer pulled Dakers with 3.1 second left in the first period and the face-off to the left of Doyle. Armstrong lost the draw cleanly and Lowell got off a decent attempt on the open net. The shot crossed the goal line just wide and not much after the horn sounded. The loudest cheer of the night came from the Charter Zone club after JD Drew hit a grand slam in the 1st inning during the Indians/Red Sox ALCS game. With the press box gang watching the game over the internet several nearby fans ran over to watch the home run as the internet feed is delayed about 40 seconds over the TV broadcast. Worcester was not immune from the jersey issues the AHL has been having. Because of the problems Derek Joslin was wearing number 24 instead of his usual 25 and Staubitz had on 34--Jonathan Tremblay's usual number--instead of 6. Worcester scratches were Marc Busenburg. Mike Morris. Josh Prudden. Devin Setoguchi and Jonathan Tremblay. Devin Setoguchi was seen walking around the concourse between periods wearing a protective boot on his injured left ankle. No official word on his prognosis but he didn't have the look of someone that was going to be playing soon. Score a hit for referee Jamie Koharski who knocked over Ozolinsh before a face-off as Ozolinsh was skating backwards after a brief conversation with Patrick Traverse with the Sharks on the power play. The three stars of the game were1) Raduns (GWG. 1A. +2)2) Packard (1G. +2)3) Dakers (25 saves)Honorable mention goes to Craig Valette who didn't appear on the score sheet but may have played one of the best games of his career. Face-offs (offense/neutral/defense = total)Raduns 3-4/0-6/2-0 = 5-10Armstrong 3-4/2-3/0-3 = 5-10Kaspar 0-0/0-1/0-0 = 0-1Fox 0-3/1-1/2-2 = 3-6Cavanagh 4-1/0-3/1-2 = 6-6Mink 0-0/0-0/1-0 = 1-0 Iggulden 1-1/0-0/0-0 = 1-1Rome 1-0/0-0/1-0 = 2-0Spang. Packard. Raduns and Fox all had hits. Traverse and Rome had two. Mink and Evans had three. Armstrong had four and Valette had five. Rome blocked a shot and Ozolinsh made a save on a puck that squirted by Dakers. Dakers made four big saves. BOXSCORE
Lowell 1 0 0--1Worcester 2 0 0--21st periodScoring: 1. Lowell-Khomutov. Ivan 2 (Fraser. Mark 3; Gionta. Stephen 1) 6:15. 2. Worcester-Packard. Dennis 1 (Raduns. Nate 1; Iggulden. Mike 5) 8:00. 3. Worcester-Raduns. Nate 3 (game winner) (Staubitz. Brad 1; Walsh. Tom 1) 14:44. Penalties: LOW-Brookbank. Sheldon (Fighting. Major). 5:24. WOR-Evans. Brennan (Fighting. Major). 5:24. 2nd periodScoring: None. Penalties: WOR-Evans. Brennan (Tripping). 3:52. WOR-Traverse. Patrick (Slashing). 17:08.3rd periodScoring: None. Penalties: LOW-Malmivaara. Olli (Hooking). 4:55. LOW-Ryznar. Jason (Slashing). 8:22. Shots On GoalLowell 9 9 8--26Worcester 16 4 15--35 Power Play Conversions: Lowell - 0 of 2. Worcester - 0 of 2. Goalies: Lowell-Doyle. Frank (58:55. 35 shots. 33 saves; record: 1-2-0). Worcester-Dakers. Taylor (59:56. 26 shots. 25 saves; record: 1-0-0). A: 3246. Referee: Koharski. Jamie. Linesmen: Messier. Mark; Millea. Chris.
Strikeforce promoter Scott Coker has experience putting together a number of K-1 kickboxing tournaments and bringing in Joe Riggs (27-9) and Niko Vitale (24-7) after dominating wins on the last Strikeforce Playboy card add an edge to this Middleweight competition early. Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports that the California State Athletic Commission will require two alternates to be in place before the tournament can be held. Iole also notes that Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Frank Shamrock has not agreed to face the tournament winner and that the tournament MMA format is one that Strikeforce is looking to use more often in the future. A dream bracket would also include San Jose's Cung Le or local David Terrell but a Shamrock-Le fight may take place at a later date and Terrell is trying to make a successful comeback from injury in the UFC.
- Boxing promoter Jerry Hoffman is bringing the popular Riot Boxing series back to the Monterey Conference Center October 26th for an exciting 6-bout card. Sharkspage favorite Eloy Perez headlines the event with a fight against Washington D. C.'s Ron Boyd undefeated Jesus Vega (14-0) returns to the ring former top ranked contender Jesus Celaya (30-3) and San Francisco Golden Gloves champion Cynthia Talmadge are also scheduled to appear. On his blog. Hoffman previews the fight card with posts about the addition of deaf female boxer a post about Eloy Perez's main event opponent trained by former World Champion Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson and writes about undefeated Jesus Vega's from testicular cancer. A press release from Riot Boxing:
6 bout card set for October 26th at Downtown Monterey Conference CenterSeveral undefeated prospects a former #1 contender a cancer survivor and a deaf female fighter highlight THE RIOT boxing card promoted by Jerry Hoffman and 12 Sports Productions. Historic downtown Monterey is the venue. The Main event finds 9-0-2 Eloy Perez of Salinas challenged by Ron Boyd of Washington. DC. Boyd at 5-2 is trained by former World fly and superflyweight champion Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson. Perez turns 21 on the eve of THE RIOT and will face his toughest challenge as a pro. The bout is an 8 rounder at 130 pounds.14-0 Jesus Vega also of Salinas has already won the biggest fight of his life. The promising southpaw was diagnosed with testicular cancer 4 years ago but has the disease in total remission. With a complete clearance by his oncologist. Vega resumes his pro boxing career against Fruedin Rojas of Las Vegas. This bout will be a 4 round affair contested at 130. Our female feature has a pair of decorated amateurs seeking their first win as professionals. 0-1 Cynthia Talmadge of San Francisco dropped her professional debut to undefeated Jennifer Barber on THE RIOT card in July but earned a trip back. Her opponent. Leonie Hall is 0-2-1 as a pro but beat Talmadge 3 years ago when both were top 5 amateurs in their weight classes. This time the two will collide at 120 pounds in a 4 rounder. Hall's world is silent. Returning to Monterey for the first time since 2001 is Jose Celaya. The one time pride of Salinas encountered a rude awakening when he left his previous team in favor of a signing bonus with a group that had no boxing experience. Celaya promptly got knocked out in consecutive TV appearances. He has since humbled himself to start all over despite achieving a #1 contender record as a welterweight while under the guidance of Max and Kathy Garcia who head Team Garcia Boxing. Now an independent. Jose Celaya at 30-3 tries to regain some of his former glory. He'll be in a 6 rounder vs. Juan Pablo Montes de Oca. Another Salinas fighter. Constancio Alvarado at 2-0-2 was literally plucked from the fields last year by Team Garcia and has become an unbeaten energized Super Flyweight. He is challenged by Jose Pacheco of Los Angeles in a 4 at 116. A pair of winless pros complete the card as 0-3 Welterweight Yonas Gebleeziagbher of Oakland matches with 0-1 Maurice Slade of San Jose. Tickets are available by calling (831) 688-1604 to charge by phone or visit and find to order online. The bell rings for the first bout at 7:30PM.
San Francisco. CA. Promoter Mr. Michael Borbet of XFIGHT Promotions is bringing one of the most exciting ring sports - Muay Thai to the Bay Area with his first event on October 19. 2007 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. The event is marked as "War of the Contenders" as ranking fights with worldclass athletes to be sanctioned by the World Boxing Council - Muay Thai Division (WBC Muay Thai). United States Muaythai Federation (USMF) and World Muaythai Council (WMC). This is a history in the making where for the first time all three sanctioning bodies have united as one to support the growing demand for Muay Thai. This is the first event in San Francisco’s history under Full Muay Thai Rules. With public interest in martial arts at an all-time high. XFIGHT Promotions is working closely with Mr. Anthony Lin. President of USMF. North American Coordinator for WBC Muay Thai and sole representative for WMC to sanction up to six events in year 2008. "The objective is to build the ranking system thus uniting the Muay Thai community and to hold National. International and World Championship Titles under the banners of WBC Muay Thai. USMF and WMC in USA." said Mr. Borbet. "For the first event. XFIGHT has been working closely with Fairtex and USMF to invite 30 athletes from 16 gyms in 8 States to participate in this ranking event," added Mr. Borbet. The main event is a rematch between Fairtex fighter. Armando Ramos from San Francisco. CA versus Dan Rawlings from Florida. The event will have up to 15 bouts with male and female athletes competing for professional and amateur rankings. "We are excited to see that there are so many female athletes that want to compete in this event. I am excited to see one of our very own. Jenna Castillo from Mountain View. CA face Melanie Kohler-Edwards from Utah," said Ms. Mimy Sisavat. General Manager of Fairtex Muaythai Fitness. "It is an exciting time for the sport of Muaythai." said Mr. Lin. "Muaythai is gaining the international recognition as one of the most effective and exciting stand-up combat sports. It is most suitable for MMA self-defense weight loss and more... We are excited that Muay Thai under USMF. WMC and International Federation of Muaythai Amateurs (IFMA) has been recognized by the General Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF) in 2006 making it a step closer to becoming an Olympic sport." As Mr. Hein Verbruggen. President of GAISF. Switzerland says. "Muaythai is now a member of the Olympic family"... Fairtex. Singha Beer. Superfly and All Pro Bail Bonds are the official sponsors for the event. XFIGHT Promotions - War of the Contenders starts at 6:00 pm at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium located at 99 Grove Street. San Francisco. CA 94102 this Friday. October 19. 2007. VIP - $150. Ringside - $80. Reserved - $60 and General - $40 seating tickets can be purchased through City Box Office at 415- 392-4400 or.
Thanks to Anthony Lin of for the email. He notes that future kickboxing events may be held in the San Francsico and Mountain View Fairtex locations drawing competitors from the legendary Fairtex gyms in Thailand and other international competitors. Lin also reports that this is the first time three sanctioning kickboxing bodies (WBC Muay Thai. WMC and USMF) will be working together on a Muay Thai promotion in the USA.- - MMAjunkie com.
PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko is headed to New York City for a Monday press conference to announce a new contract has learned. The Russian fighter who is one of the sport's top-ranked fighters and MMA's most sought-after free agent will share the details of his recently signed contract at the reception. Event organizers are tight-lipped about the contract as well as the fight promotion that signed Emelianenko. However all answers will be answered on Monday at 5:30 p m. ET we're told.
I am in New York City for the Photo Plus Expo photography conference. If I can make it to the Emelianenko press conference. I will post about it here.- The news of Pride FC Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko's contract signing lead to the resignation of UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture possibly the most visible figure in mixed martial arts. Couture cited a lack of respect and
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