Tampa Bay sweeps Boston, trail 3 1/2 games for Wild Card spot

The Tampa Bay Rays capped off a sweep against the division rival Red Sox to draw within 3 1/2 games behind Boston for the AL Wild Card spot. Rays pitcher James Shields earned his 15th win of the season as Tampa routed Boston 9-1. BJ Upton joined the 20/20 club with a grand slam to put the game out of reach. Baltimore awaits the red hot Rays as Boston returns home with a hopefully tough series against Toronto. On August 7th, Tampa seemed far out of the playoff picture, falling 10 games behind then 2nd place New York. The Yankees now hold the lead over the Red Sox with Tampa only a few games behind, however Boston has 7 games against the lowly Orioles and Tampa has 7 games against the first place Yankees to close out the season. The most important match up is a 4 game series between the two teams starting this Thursday in Fenway.

Cowboys manage to drop another Sunday night opener, fall to Jets

The Dallas Cowboys blew a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter as New York celebrated a victory on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. A Dallas 4th quarter drive, led by Tony Romo, was stopped at the one yard line as Romo fumbled the ball on a possession that would've put the game out of reach. The Jets would then tie the game on a blocked punt by Jonathan McKnight. With the score tied at 24, both quarterbacks had a chance to win the game. Mark Sanchez led a drive that ended in a punt and on the ensuing possession, Romo threw an interception to Darrelle Revis to give the Jets the ball back in field goal range. Arizona product, Nick Folk, punched in the victory for the Jets as he kicked a 50 yard field goal with 27 seconds left. Dallas actually had a chance to get within field goal range at the end of the game, but Romo fumbled a snap and time expired. This is Dallas' first ever loss with a 14 point lead going into the 4th quarter. Somehow, someway the Cowboys managed to lose the game.

Newton falls short of comeback, Cardinals win 28-21

With a game full of big plays, Cam Newton's Carolina Panthers fell a yard short of forcing their match up against Arizona into overtime. Newton excelled in his NFL debut game by going 24-37 with 422 yards and 2 TDs. Despite throwing an interception, Newton became the first NFL Rookie QB to throw for 400 yards in their debut. Kevin Kolb also shined in his Arizona debut by going 18-27 with 309 yards and 2 TDs. The steady quarterback play was a breathe of fresh air for Cardinals fans. Arizona scored on a 70 yard TD pass from Kolb to Early Doucet to tie the game with 10:24 left in the fourth quarter. After a defensive stop, Arizona's Patrick Peterson returned a punt for an 89 yard TD. Carolina got the ball back as Newton, the 1st overall pick, attempted to lead a game-tying drive. Carolina fell a yard short of the end zone on 4th down, clinching the win for the Cards.

UConn Men's Basketball to play in 2012 Carrier Classic

Here's a new idea for college basketball: play a game outdoors... On a boat. That's what the UConn Huskies plan to do next year aboard an aircraft carrier in San Diego Bay. The reigning NCAA basketball Champions could play either Kansas, Florida, Texas, Illinois, or Arizona on Nov 9, 2012. On Veteran's day, Michigan State will take on North Carolina in the inaugural Carrier Classic. The game is a rematch of the 2009 NCAA title game and it will take place aboard the USS Vinson.

Bell blows save as D-backs win on a bases loaded walk

Down by two runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Diamondbacks hit two home runs against one of the best closers in baseball to tie the game and send it to extra innings. An inning later Lyle Overbay, the man who had the game-tying shot, drew a walk to score Upton as the Diamondbacks squeaked by the Padres to win their fourth in a row and 15th in a row at home. The ninth inning rally came seconds after the jumbo-tron showed Luis Gonzalez’s walk off bloop single against Mariano Rivera that gave Arizona its World Series championship a decade ago. Fans left happy as the red-hot team (in purple tonight) gave them memories from 2001 and a World Series Replica Ring. The San Francisco Giants slipped again as they were blanked by the Dodgers, 3-0. Arizona now has a 9 1/2 game lead and a magic number of 8 with 16 games to go in the regular season.

Michigan beats Notre Dame in the first night game at the Big House

Denard Robinson threw a 16 yard touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree with 8 seconds to go as the Wolverines stunned Notre Dame 35-31 in the fIrst night game at the Big House. Down 24-7 at the end of the 3rd quarter, Denard Robinson led a furious comeback by scoring 4 TDs in the last quarter. Despite some poor play by Robinson early on, he maintained his composure by out dueling Notre Dame's staring QB Tommy Rees. Breaking tradition at Wolverine Stadium was definitely worth it as Michigan came out on top in a heart-pounding finish.

Peterson given 7 year, $100 million contract extension

The Minnesota Vikings gave RB Adrian Peterson a $100 million contract extension with $36 million guarenteed over the next 7 years. The contract will expire in 2017, when Peterson turns 32 which is a relatively old age for an NFL RB. On the Dan Patrick show, Peterson stated that he was worth $100 million and more than both Chris Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald, who were both given long term deals this offseason. Peterson will prove if he is worth the money this Sunday against the Chargers as he'll try to break the NFL record of 296 rushing yards he set the last time Minnesota played San Diego.