FanNation - The Republic of Sport

CJBOSOX Presents the Friday Filler

A rundown of what you might have missed in the past week of sports

NBA Action

The new "Big Three" locked up homecourt in the playoffs as well as the best record in the NBA. Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Adrian Dantley, Dick Vitale, and Pat Riley were elected into the basketball Hall of Fame. Chris Paul dished out 15 assists to go along with his 33 points in a win over New York. He followed it up with a triple-double vs. Golden State. He's making his fantasy owners love him even more as he had 16 assists vs. Minnesota. Joel Pryzbilla, who had been rebounding like Rodman lately, broke his hand, and will miss the rest of the season. Stop the presses, the Knick won...twice. Al Jefferson had 40 points for the Wolves, but lost. Chris Bosh messed around and got a triple-double.

NHL Action - Postseason Has Arrived!

Jarome Iginla scored his 50th goal. This week's shutouts: Philly's Martin Biron vs. New Jersey & Pittsburgh, St. Louis' Manny Legace vs. Columbus, Buffalo's Jocelyn Thibault vs. Boston. Phoenix's Daniel Carcillo had a hat trick against Dallas. Buffalo's Thomas Vanek had one against Boston. Buffalo D Teppo Numminen made his return following heart surgery. Tampa Bay C Vincent Lecavalier will have shoulder surgery. Montreal will host the 2009 All-Star game. Keith Tkachuk scored his 500th career goal. So what if it was an empty-netter. Dallas signed D Nicklas Grossman to a two-year deal. The Wild's Nick Shultz had an appendectomy. Tampa Bay won the top pick in the NHL Lottery. The Rangers beat New Jersey 4-1 and then 2-1 tonight to  take a 2-0 lead in the series. Pittsburgh beat Ottawa 4-0 only to lost 5-3 tonight, that series is tied at 1-1. Joe Sakic scored the game-winner in OT as Colorado stole home ice from the Wild. Game 2 of the series just ended in OT again, except this time the Wild won 3-2 on a Keith Carney goal to tie the series at 1-1. Calgary dropped San Jose 3-2 in the series opener. Detroit took Game 1 over Nashville 3-1. Montreal beat Boston 4-1 in their series opener. Evgeni Nabokov and San Jose shutout Calgary to even the series at 1. Marty Turco and Dallas blanked Anaheim. Washington leads the series against Philadelphia after a 5-4 win earlier this evening.

MLB Action

Ken Griffey, Jr. hit HR #594. Josh Beckett made his season debut. It wasn't a pretty one (5 runs in 4-2/3 innings). Toronto locked up Alex Rios for seven years, $70 million and Aaron Hill for four years, $12 million. Michael Cuddyer landed on the 15 Day DL with a dislocated finger. Bill Hall and Chase Utley each hit a pair of HRs on Friday. Dontrelle Willis walked 7 as Detroit fell to 0-5. Kelly Johnson, Mike Jacobs, Frank Thomas, Joe Crede hit Grand Slams. Jake Peavy struck out 8 while allowing just 1 run on 2 hits. Gerald Laird hit a pair of HRs to go along with his 6 RBI on Sunday. Ben Sheets fired a shutout. Greg Maddux won his 348th game. Pat Burrell and Mark Reynolds each blasted 2 HRs on Monday. Arizona signed Chris Young to a six-year extension. Talk about taking care of business early. Scott Spiezio got three years probation for drunk driving and hit-and-run. I have a couple of thoughts. First, he should have got another year for that awful soul patch. Second, to be serious, you or I would have served time. Derek Jeter strained his quad. Torii Hunter hit a pair of HRs, the second being a game-winning Grand Slam on Monday vs. Cleveland. Bill Buckner threw out the first pitch for the Red Sox home opener. He was greeted with a standing ovation. Rich Harden missed a start because of a sore back. He's so soft. The Mets put Matt Wise on the DL. Atlanta Brave prospect Jordan Schafer received a 50 games suspension for HGH. Bengie Molina hit a pair of HRs on Tuesday. Cliff Floyd (knee) landed on the DL. San Diego put Michael Barrett (elbow) on the DL. El Duque (foot) is out indefinitely. Detroit finally won. Mike Jacobs and Albert Pujols hit a pair of HRs on Wednesday. Mike Napoli and Jason Kubel hit Grand Slams. Cleveland signed Fausto Carmona to a four-year, $15 million deal. It could increase $28 million more over three years if Cleveland picks up his options.

March Madness Action - It's Over

Kansas knocked off Memphis in OT to win the National Championship. Mario Chalmers hit a three to send the game into overtime. He won the Most Outstanding Player Award. Darrell Arthur was great with 20 points and 8 boards for the Jayhawks. Earlier Memphis proved everybody wrong (well, most everybody) by knocking off UCLA to go to the title game. Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose combined for 40 of Memphis' 68 points. Chris Douglas-Roberts led the way with 28 points. Derrick Rose added 25 points and 9 rebounds. Kansas jumped off to a huge lead, let UNC get within 5, and then pounded them to submission. Brandon Rush led the charge with 25 points. One I missed last week: Ohio State won the NIT tournament. Mike Montgomery is leaving Stanford for the Cal job. Dick Vitale earned a spot in the National Collegiate Baskeball Hall of Fame. Coach K will probably introduce him. Eric Gordon is going pro. Joining him is Arizona's Jerryd Bayless and Chase Budinger, Louisville's Earl Clark, Florida's Marreese Speights, LSU's Anthony Randolph, UCLA's Kevin Love and Darren Collison, Syracuse's Donte Greene, Stanford's Trent Johnson, West Virginia's Joe Alexander, Texas A&M's DeAndre Jordan, USC's O.J. Mayo and Alabama's Ronald Steele. Miami signed Coach Frank Haith to a five-year extension. John Calipari was named the Naismith Coach of the Year. He didn't look the part in the closing minutes of regulation on Monday. Bill Self will stay in Kansas. LSU hired Trent Johnson as their new Coach.

Closing Remarks - NCAAF, NASCAR, NCAAWB, Masters

Penn State won't talk contract with Joe Paterno until after the season. Florida WR Percy Harvin had heel surgery. Penn State kicked WR Chris Bell off the team after he threatened a teammate with a knife. Syracuse RB Averin Colier will miss time with a fractured foot.

Carl Edwards won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Tennessee repeated as Women's NCAA Basketball Champs. For Pat Summit, it was her 8th title.

After two round Trevor Immelman leads with a -8, Brandt Snedeker is in second at -7, Ian Poulter sits in 3 at -5 tied with two others, Steve Flesch, and Phil Mickelson. Tiger Woods is tied for 13th at -1.

That concludes this weeks Friday Filler. To the readers, since I started this blog I have noticed that it doesn't get enough hits. It only seems to get 100 or less in a week. I would like to see more view on the Filler. Please spread the word. If you have any suggestions as to how to better advertise this blog please let me know. As always feel free to comment or add a story that I might have missed.