Rousing anthem electrifies at start of Boston Bruins game, emotional crowd unites with rousing rendition - VIDEO

Before last night's game, Bruins regular Rene Rancourt gets the anthem started and then a passionate crowd takes it to the bridge (and further!)

Pre-game scenes from last night's Boston Bruins game

There is nothing worse than staged, stale and forced nationalism. When it has to be encouraged, or cajoled out of a crowd of people, it is one of the ugliest sights around. However, the flip side of that is that when it comes naturally, when a group of people with a common thread come together and let their emotions and passion get the better of them, it can be awe inspiring.

The Boston Bruins got back on the ice last night for the first time since Monday's Boston Marathon tragedy. The atmosphere in the stadium pre game was electric, a passionate crowd ready to let their emotions out in the open. A very respectful silence greeted Rene Rancourt as he started the anthem before the game.

Then, this happened.




The Bruins went on to lose in a shootout to the Sabres. It was always going to be a tricky game for Boston, with so much emotion running through the building. On top of that, the Sabres were battling for make the playoffs, something the Bruins officially achieved last night by gaining the single shootout point.

It should be said the Sabres are also due praise, for gathering with the Bruins after the game at center ice, and saluting the crowd, a classy gesture after a hard fought, crucial NHL match.

Bruins and Sabres gather center ice post game to salute the crowd

After all is said and done, no detailed commentary required really. Just click on 'replay' and enjoy, over and over. Boston Strong. Damn right it is.


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Former Patriot lineman Joe Andruzzi comes to the rescue at Boston Marathon - VIDEO

The Superbowl champion offensive lineman Joe Andruzzi comes to the aid of a stricken runner

The city of Boston was struck by tragedy on Monday, on a day normally set aside for the celebration of sports. Patriots day is a huge day in Boston, one of the greatest sporting cities in the World. You all know about the New England Patriots, the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Celtics and indeed the Boston Bruins. Those legendary teams are but the tip of the ice berg. Boston is also home to the world’s oldest and some say the most prestigious marathon, and it is also home to some of the finest collegiate teams in all of the United States.

The city of Boston eats, breathes and lives sports. This of course makes yesterday’s tragedy all the more palpable, all the more painful. The perpetrators chose the Marathon as their target, thus striking at the very heart and soul of the city of Boston.

Last night, as the city struggled to come to terms with the events of the day, sports took something of a back seat. With a massive (offensive line-man sized) caveat. The Boston Bruins sensibly postponed their NHL game last night, to ensure that a large crowd didn’t gather in such trying circumstances. The Boston Celtics also cancelled their Tuesday night NBA game in advance, for the same, sensible reasons.

Sports will, however, be a major part of the healing process. Boston’s athletes are already chiming in, en-masse, to support the citizens of Boston.

One former Boston athlete has already provided tangible support the likes of which few could imagine, and perhaps fewer still would actually act on.

Joe Andruzzi was an excellent and popular offensive lineman for the New England Patriots. He played 122 games in the NFL and was a Patriot from 2000-2004, winning a stunning three Superbowl rings with the team. Joe comes from a family full of Patriots, all three of his brothers were at one stage New York fire-fighters, and all three acted with heroism on 9/11. Yesterday, among the chaos, Joe wasted no time to throw himself into action. Spotting an injured woman clearly in distress, with family members clearly frozen by fear, Joe grabbed her up and brought her to safety and treatment.

Joe Andruzzi and Marathon tragedy victim

Last night the quiet, unassuming man-mountain released the following statement;

“Marathon Monday should be about uplifting stories, personal challenges and fundraising milestones, but today’s bombings irrevocably changed that. While I appreciate the interest in hearing our perspective on today’s horrific events, the spotlight should remain firmly on the countless individuals — first responders, medics, EMTs, runners who crossed the finish line and kept on running straight to give blood, and the countless civilians who did whatever they could to save lives. They were the true heroes. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this senseless tragedy.”

Joe’s quiet, effective, passionate heroism is a striking statement on how sports can help a community rebound from tragedy. There is no doubt that sports will help Boston back onto its feet. Thanks in part to the outpouring of emotional and physical support from its athletes, past and present, Boston will rebound back stronger than ever before.

Here's the ESPN report on Joe Andruzzi's involvement:




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2013 Masters tournament slides into farce

The 77th Masters continues to be a magnet for controversy, as first Guan Tianlang is penalised with a little used 'slow play' penalty while second, Tiger Woods avoids disqualification for a much more serious offence.

Tiger Woods cheats - and gets away with it

Golf's poster child tournament, the Masters, has not had a dream opening couple of rounds. Instead, quite the opposite. Decisions made by those in charge have added to the view that Golf's hierarchy is an archaic, unfair, old boys club, which will drop the hammer of the law on a 14 year old kid whilst protecting one of its bigger money spinners, the latter guilty of a far more grievous foul than the former.

Simply put, 14 year old Chinese future-star in the making Guan Tianlang almost didn't make the cut after having been penalized for 'slow play' by the Masters referee, The decision has been widely criticized by the media, fans and players alike, many of the latter pointing out that the rule is almost never used.

Guan Tianlang

Woods, meanwhile, took a drop shot from a good distance outside the allowed zone, and then, in what is a wonderful mirror into just how arrogant he is, chose to tell everyone he knew he fouled and faulted. Most in the media immediately began to ask, 'Shouldn't Woods be disqualified?'

Incredibly, the Masters is going to let Woods play on with, effectively, a slap on the wrists.

For the Woods apologists out there (believe it or not, there are such a thing as Tiger Woods apologists) who are suggesting that the 37 year old is rightfully in the clear because of the rule that video evidence viewed in retrospect ends with a lighter sentence, not so fast.

The key element here is, Woods himself brought attention to the fact that he had fouled. It is Woods himself who called his foul play to light, not video evidence.

The absolute correct penalty in the situation that unfolded is a simple disqualification for Woods, for cheating. Instead, the old fuddy-duddys in charge have looked at their gross margin percentages, considered a final two days of the Masters without their meal-ticket (Woods) and bent the rules to enable him to continue to play.

This a day after bringing down the house on a 14 year old Chinese kid who took a little too long to select the right club.

What does this all tell us? One thing we can have no doubt about is, once again, Tiger Woods is in trouble for dropping his balls in the wrong place. And, once again, he appears to have got away with it.

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Epic Caroline Wozniacki Masters tee shot fail - VIDEO

Caroline Wozniacki takes a tee shot for her boyfriend Rory McIlroy during the festivities to open the Masters. Results were not awesome.

Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki

Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe they are not. The famous old ball player and movie star were an all-star couple with a dramatic, star glazed quality that we couldn’t resist. Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki? What can you say, really, bar, Jokin’ Joe and Marilyn will not be challenged for ‘athlete couple of all time’ for some time yet.

Nevertheless, Rory and Caroline are being gleefully rammed down our collective throats at every possible occasion. Thankfully, we still get a chance to laugh at their antics on occasion, perhaps unintentionally, and definitely not as planned out in advance by their seemingly rabid PR teams.

This week in the Masters par 3 tournament Rory McIlroy and his playing partner Graeme McDowell played the course with their respective lady friends as their caddies. Rory even let Caroline have a shot. Let’s have a look at how that went.




Perhaps Caroline should stick to tennis, for now anyway. Notice how the divot went further than the 'tee shot'?

It is just as well McIlroy is not superstitious, and he won't take this epic tee shot fail into the tournament proper with him as mental baggage. It is as well McIlroy is rock solid mentally, and completely unlikely to do anything crazy like, for example, walk off the course in the middle of the back nine.

Oh, wait....

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The Nebraska Cornhuskers and 7-year-old Jack Hoffman, a moment of true class - VIDEO

The Nebraska Cornhuskers will be getting all sorts of Karma points for this classy act, where they organised for 7 year old cancer patient Jack Hoffman to score a touchdown in their spring training game

Jack Hoffman takes the field with the Nebraska football team

The Nebraska Cornhuskers turned a regular spring training game into something special, with a classy act that deserves every second of the positive exposure and discussion it is getting.  By now over 4 million people have viewed the incident on YouTube and 7-year-old Jack Hoffman has become a household name.

Late in the spring game, the Nebraska coach called a timeout, and out onto the field trotted little Jack wearing adorable, tiny football pads and a miniature No. 22 jersey. Hoffman stumbled around a little at first, but suddenly got a surge of confidence and zipped into the end zone, with a convoy of excited blockers to the side and in front of him. As he scored the TD, he was mobbed by both offensive and defensive players, and coaches too, and the huge crowd went crazy.

Do yourself a favour, brighten up your day by watching Jack on his epic rumble into the endzone below.



All too often even the most well intentioned of events like this can look staged and stale. The players and coaches of Nebraska deserve high praise for pulling this off with such total abandon and investment. The players and coaches really threw themselves into this fully, and it shows.

You too can join 'Team Jack' on Facebook right here.

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Irish kid's brilliant Ruby tricks video grabs Dan Carter's attention

Enjoyable rugby trick-shot video created by young Irish lad gains the attention of All Blacks legendary outhalf Dan Carter

George Morgan strutts his stuff

You may remember the brilliant ‘trick shot’ video we talked about some time ago by Håvard Rugland in Norway. Håvard is now working on an NFL career while his video is up to an incredible 2,750,229 views. Ireland now has its own trick shot star on YouTube. Step forward George Morgan. His enjoyable video centres around his rugby skills. Check out the lads ability to hit a lamppost at will.

We loved the shot straight into the waste basket.






A terrific side note to this enjoyable video. One of the greatest players ever to grace the game, New Zealand’s Dan Carter, took note of the video and gave George a nice shout-out on same. Tip of the cap to Dan, classy stuff.

All Blacks legend Dan Carter

The best part of the whole thing? The massive smile on George’s face as he goes through his repertoire of trick shots.

Sometimes sports is just all about the fun of it.


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The Boston Red Sox open 2013 with a bang

The Red Sox showcase surprisingly effective youthful talent and a diverse, powerful range of bullpen arms in shocking 8-2 opening day win in New York

Jon Lester kept the Yankees swinging and missing all day long

Coming into the 2013 MLB season most seasoned Boston Red Sox fans were basically hoping for a tiny glimmer of hope. After the abject disasters of '11 and '12, Sox fans were basically hoping that the team would be somewhat competitive and would show some signs of life to cling on to going forward.

The message appeared to be, 'Guys, just don't embarrass yourselves.'

Well, if yesterday's outing in the Bronx is anything to go by, this Red Sox team might exceed all expectations, even the loftier ones. The Sox young, diverse team didn't just beat the Yankees, they crushed them. The 8-2 scoreline was actually flattering to the Yankees.

The hosts for the afternoon looked old, tired and flat. The Yankees highly paid veteran 30-something club watched from the bench (Jeter, A-Rod, Granderson and Texiera, all injured) as Jon Lester and the Red Sox simply cut through Yankee stadium like a knife through butter.

The two starters for the day embodied the entire story. Spring outings for Jon Lester suggested he might be reacting well to the appointment of John Farrell as Red Sox skipper. His velocity is up, his mechanics no longer look an issue and his sparkling competitive edge of old seems to be back. Meanwhile, CC Sabathia looked old, tired and anything but an opening day ace. While Lester regularly hit 94/95 mph (even as high as 97), Sabathia struggled to maintain 89, hovering around the 88/87 mark.

Whatever about Lester's dominance, the story of the day was no doubt the emergence of Jackie Bradley Jnr, Boston's dynamic, exciting 22 year old rookie outfielder. The road to success in the majors is littered with the decaying corpses of over hyped young players that didn't make it, however Bradley appears to have all the tools, the demeanour and perhaps most importantly the support to cut it at this level.

He was a constant thorn in the Yankee's sides, and proved a wild hit in his first Major League start.

The Boston bullpen was another glossy bonus on opening day. Obviously there is a long way to go, but the Red Sox showcased a very diverse selection of arms yesterday afternoon, with an exclamation mark of power behind the gun-slinging convoy of talented bullpen crew. After Lester held the Yankees down, the bullpen kept their collective foot on the Yanks throat. A combination of Uehara, Miller, Bailey, Tazawa and finally Hanrahan kept the Bronx Bombers to just the one hit.

Hanrahan showed a tantalising glimpse of what might be a solidifying of the closer position in Boston for the first time since Papelbon took his circus to Philly.

All in all, a very gratifying day for Boston fans. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of all is that the bar for the 2013 season was set so low that even a small percentage of yesterday's outing carrying over the rest of the season would mean a year that could probably be deemed a success.

The Red Sox celebrate winning game one against the Yankees

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