November 2007 The Lion’s Eye Page 10 Red Sox Sweep to Take Second Title in 3 Years By Tom McGlinchey ~ Lion's Eye Staff Writer tam5160@psu.edu Breaking the “Bambino” curse in 2004 seems to have helped the Boston Red Sox, who won their second baseball world title in 3 years this month. Going into 2007, the Red Sox, who had not made the postseason the year before, came into training camp with one goal: to have another championship to start off the new millennium. The Sox dominated in training camp, winning many of their games. Going into the season, the team seemed confident that ~ they had a shot of dominating the American League East. The Boston Sox were off and running early in the season as their rivals, the New York Yankees, struggled. They started with a 6 game lead over the East after the first month of the season. That lead began to grow as the Sox looked to pull away, securing a comfortable 17 game lead. Late in the season, the team began to lose ground a bit, and the Yankees closed in on their 17 game lead with a vengeance. As the season came to a close, the Yankees had clinched the AL Wild card, but they were aiming to beat the socks and take the championship. It was not to be, however, as the Sox pulled out a win and went on to be the champs. Going into the postseason, the Sox had the best record in the majors and they faced the Los Angeles Angels to start their run for the world title. Josh Beckett, the ace of the staff, won 20 games during the regular season and pitched a shutout game that started a frenzy. Daisuke “Dice K” Matsuzaka won Game 2 for the Sox. Finally, in the ALDS (American League Divisional Series) Curt Schilling took the mound for the Bo Sox. He won the game and shut the door on the Angels’ dreams. Next up for the Sox was facing the Cleveland Indians, who were coming off “the series win against the New York Yankees. As the ALCS got under way, manager Terry Francona put his best pitcher on the mound. Beckett won Game 1 of the ALCS with a plethora of runs to back him up. As the series progressed the Sox looked out of it. After winning that first game, Cleve- land won the next three and backed Boston into a corner. With one game to go before they were about to be eliminated from the postseason, Manny Ramierez blasted a home run to keep the drive for the World Series alive for one more game. Then in Game 6, J.D. Drew hit a grand slam into the center field seats at Fenway Park. Everyone was thinking of what happened in 2004, when the Sox were down 3-0 to the New York Yankees and came back, roar- ing for a four game sweep to finish the series in seven games. Every fan hoped for a repeat performance: The hero this time was the rookie second baseman, Dustin Pedroia, who hit a solo home run. That clinched the Championship Series for the Sox. The goal was now in sight. The only thing standing in their way was a team who had just won 21 out of their list 22 games, a team whose own run for the Series was amazing in itself. This formidable opponent was the Colorado Rockies, a relatively new team, and a very clear underdog throughout the entire season. The World Series started off with a bang for the BoSox. They had their best arm on the mound; and Beckett pitched a beauty in game 1 for them. The final score was a blow out score 13-1. Game 2 was more evenly matched - the final in this one was 2-1 in favor of the Red Sox. Game 3 was a nail-biter, with the Sox up 6-2, in the 8th inning. The Rockies came up and tried to pull out one win in the series. Matt Holliday, the Rockies main home run hitter, hit one off of Hideki Okajima to bring the score within one run. The Red Sox had other ideas and began to pull away again, leaving the score 10-5 in the bottom of the ninth. The Rockies went down without a fight in the ninth, giving the Sox a 3-0 lead in the series and one win away from a second world title. Game 4 was no different - the Sox came out swinging even though the score didn’t show that. The score was 1-0 in favor of the Sox for a few innings. Then they piled it on in the Sth with 3 more runs. The Rockies fought back in the 7th and 8th to bring the score with in one run again, but the Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelabon came on the mound to close the game. He was spectacular. Giving up one hit and striking out 4 hitters, his pitching helped The Sox earned their second title in 3 years with a 4-3 win in Colorado. The city of Boston can rejoice. in the glory of having another World Series winning team. Tee Hockey Schedule Penn State Delaware County November 2007 *Friday, 11/ 2, TBD, Ice Line, East Stroudsburg : TBD *Saturday, 11/3, 10:10 PM, Flyers Skate Zone, Atlantic City, Richard Stockton College # Friday, 11/9, 11:00 PM, Rich- mond, Richmond #Saturday, 11/10, TBD, Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth *Friday, 11/16, 8:45 PM, Flyers Skate Zone, Pennsauken, Rutgers- Camden *Saturday, 11/17, TBD, Wall Sports Arena, Monmouth Friday, 11/30, TBD, PSU Delco Tournament, [UP * Denotes DVCHC games -# Denotes Colonial Collegiate Hockey Conference Games www.clubs.psu.edu/de/delcohockey/ Questions, contact Chris Malarick at cym345@psu.edu By Bryan Drissel Penn S State Football Team Having TIT o Lion's Eye Sports Editor : tmd5061@psu.edu On the field, a foul is solved with a yellow flag being thrown and a few yards being subtracted, but unfortu- nately for some of the Penn State football team, it’s not that simple. Recently, some of the Nittany Lion football players have faced some legal troubles. The most seri- ous of these was starting running back Austin Scott being charged with rape and felony sexual assault. There were other issues including underage drinking and a brawl over the last few months. Whether or not these allega- tions prove true or not, there is still a cause for concern. ~The problems started in April when some of the players were involved in a fight off-campus. Starting safety An- thony Scirrotto and backup defensive tackle Chris Baker are currently awaiting trial on assault charges for that brawl. Scirrotto and Baker were also suspended by the team for the first couple games of the season. Coach Joe Paterno decided to punish the entire team for the altercation as well. After each home game through- out the season, the entire team must help some of the community service groups on campus to clean Beaver Stadium. Then there were a series of incidents between October 5 and October 7 that brought the discipline of the team into question. During that time, there were two players ar- rested for underage drinking and another fight. Even Joe Paterno himself found his name in the headlines after a verbal altercation with a driver. Some were even calling it a “road rage” incident, but the real story was later re- leased. Coach Paterno had witnessed the driver run a red light. He drove up beside her and warned her that she shouldn’t drive like that. The driver’s husband replied to Paterno’s warning by saying “That’s my wife your speaking to.” Paterno replied “That’s your problem.” Also during that span of time from October 5 to October 7, the news of Austin Scott’s suspension was revealed. Scott was originally suspended by Coach Paterno for “violating unspecified team rules.” Shortly after, Scott was officially charged with rape and felony sexual as- sault. He will be arraigned on November 15. These series of events that have come to light recently will hopefully not distract the rest of the team from play- ing well on the field. The school, the team, and the law will all handle the punishment for the players in their own way. Hopefully, no more players get into anymore trouble. Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno - Google.com
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