Saturday's game had all the necessary ingredients to be made into a Hollywood film. One team struggled and faced an almost insurmountable deficit.
Tom Keller — St. Louis' projected starting pitchers for the next three games: Chris Carpenter (reigning Cy Young winner), Jeff Suppan (1.86 ERA this postseason) and rookie Anthony Reyes (surrendered only four hits in Game 1 win). Even with Carlos Guillen and Craig Monroe hitting the cover off the ball, the Cardinals should win two of those games. But with the series back in Detroit, Kenny Rogers breaks the consecutive playoff scoreless innings record — without the aid of pine tar/dirt/Flubber — and wins Game 6 to keep the series alive.
Men's soccer senior defender Greg Janicki was named the Big Ten's Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after scoring the game-winning goals in MSU victories against Valparaiso and Northwestern. His goal against Valparaiso on Wednesday was the first of his career, while the goal on Sunday came in double overtime and gave the Spartans their first conference win of the season.
How quickly the tables have turned. MSU has earned significant negative attention in the national spotlight the last couple of weeks.
Starting next season, several Major League Baseball teams will sell caskets marked with their team colors and insignia. Among the early buyers: The Kansas City Royals, who will use the caskets to house their playoff hopes once the season is a month old. Almost half of baseball fans want Barry Bonds to fall short of Hank Aaron's home run record, according to an Associated Press-America Online poll released last week. Worse for Bonds, almost 98 percent of fans hope he doesn't break Placido Polanco's record for biggest head in the league. In other baseball news, MLB players and owners reportedly have reached a tentative agreement for a new labor contract.
A.J. Sturges will have bragging rights at this year's holiday dinners. Sturges, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound defenseman and the brother of MSU sophomore forward Dan Sturges, helped the U.S.
Evanston, Ill. — It takes a lot to overcome a 35-point deficit in less than 22 minutes.
After 90 grueling minutes of regulation play, the MSU men's soccer team entered overtime against Northwestern, needing a clutch goal to capture its first Big Ten win of the season. With less than three minutes remaining in double overtime, MSU junior midfielder Ben Pirmann lifted an impressive pass into the box.
• The players are usually the first to credit the coaching staff after a big win, but there was hardly any mention of coaching moves in the post-game press conference.
Offense Bishop: The Tigers have been nearly unstoppable lately. They have lit up some great pitchers during the playoffs.
"I've been a Tigers fan since I can remember — I'd do whatever it takes, as long as it isn't life threatening.
The MSU women's basketball program established itself as an organization of national superiority two seasons ago when it reached the national championship game. Last year, the team made it to the Sweet 16, further cementing the success of the program. But gone are the days of Kristin Haynie, Kelli Roehrig, Lindsay Bowen and Liz Shimek, and now it's time for senior captains Victoria Lucas-Perry, Rene Haynes and Katrina Grantham to lead the team into a new era of basketball as the upcoming season looms. Five letterwinners from last year — including Shimek and Bowen, MSU's all-time No.
Three seasons ago, Brandon Gentile donned a red, white and blue jersey while playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 Team.
With a Big Ten showdown against Northwestern looming on the horizon, the MSU men's soccer team could easily have looked past its Wednesday opponent, Valparaiso. Instead, the Spartans came out and played suffocating defense from the first whistle to the last, crushing the Crusaders, 2-0, at Old College Field. "Today was what we call a Spartan effort," MSU head coach Joe Baum said.
The last time the Detroit Tigers won a World Series title, most MSU athletes were in diapers or had not even been born. "None of the players on our team have experienced the Tigers win," MSU baseball head coach David Grewe said.
The MSU men's soccer team will play Valparaiso in its second-to-last home game of the season at 4 p.m.
Grown men were brought to tears. Homeless people and residents from places like Farmington Hills united with fist pumps and chanted cheers. More than 40,000 people decked out in navy and orange flooded the streets.
In the No. 8 MSU hockey team's 3-2 loss Sunday at Western Michigan, head coach Rick Comley's fears about the depth of his team proved to be accurate. "It's thin right now, "Comley said.
It was a long, hard offseason for Travis Walton. Last season, the then-freshman guard was known primarily as a defensive stopper.
After surrendering 772 yards and 69 points combined in its last two losses, MSU's defense will get shaken up for Saturday's game against Northwestern. Most glaring are the position changes for two Spartans who have started every game in 2006.