Usa Local News

02 October 2011

Good Day To Be A Dallas Star

Francis Wathier and Vernon Fiddler each had a goal and an assist, leading the Dallas Stars to a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Andrew Raycroft stopped 33 shots for the win, but the Blues lost forward B.J. Crombeen, who broke his left shoulder blade and is out indefinitely. Crombeen was injured in the third period.

Jake Dowell and Tomas Vincour also scored, and Trevor Daley added a pair of assists for the Stars, who ended their preseason winning six of seven games. Jaroslav Halak stopped 20 shots, but the Blues, who won five of their eight preseason games, were shut out for the second time at home.

Dowell scooped a shot over Halak for a 1-0 lead at 5:25 of the first. Wathier scored on the Stars' first power play, deflecting Daley's shot from the point screening Halak at 8:29 of the first for a 2-0 lead.

Fiddler beat Halak with a wrist shot at 5:01 of the second period for a 3-0 lead, and Vincour scored from in tight at 11:16 of the second to make it 4-0.

What a Finish for the Ponies

TCU's 22-game home winning streak is over. The Horned Frogs' long stay in the national rankings could be next. No. 20 TCU rallied from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but SMU held on for a 40-33 upset on J.J. McDermott's fourth touchdown pass of the game and one last defensive stand.

The Horned Frogs scored 23 points behind three fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Casey Pachall, a month after they ambushed Baylor with 25 points in the final period before the Bears drove to the deciding field goal in a 50-48 win. That loss in Waco ended TCU's 25-game regular-season winning streak. Sunday could mark the first time the Frogs are unranked since October 2008.

"For us, at some point, it was all going to come to an end," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "You didn't want to end right here, but the bottom line is our group downstairs has to do some soul-searching."

It looked like the Mustangs (4-1) would cruise to just their second win over a ranked opponent since the program was shut down by the NCAA's so-called death penalty in the 1980s. But Pachall made it interesting before faltering in overtime. His toss on fourth-and-2 was tipped and bounced off the chest of TCU's Brandon Carter, prompting a wild SMU celebration.

"It was real tough after getting off to a slow start," said Pachall, who was 30 of 42 for 304 yards. "To come all the way back, and have it happen like that, it's never easy to swallow." The Mustangs moved the ball well behind McDermott and Darius Johnson, who repeatedly teamed up for big third-down completions, starting with a 13-yard touchdown on the game's opening drive.

The pair hooked up on a 21-yard score to put the Mustangs ahead 33-17 barely a minute after Pachall had thrown his first TD pass on the opening play of the fourth quarter.

McDermott and Johnson did it again on a 32-yarder on third-and-17 midway through the fourth before TCU finally stiffened. After forcing a punt, the Frogs drove 77 yards to a field goal, then SMU's Kenneth Acker hesitated a yard deep in the end zone and was tackled at the 10 on the subsequent kickoff.

The Frogs held and had to drive just 46 yards to the tying score, a 4-yard pass from Pachall to Luke Shivers with 1:16 remaining.

"The bottom line is we've come back twice and come up short," Patterson said. "Our kids did everything the could to get to that point, but you've got to find a way to finish." Both of SMU's post-death penalty wins over ranked teams have come against TCU.

The other was in 2005, a week after TCU entered the rankings with an upset of Oklahoma. SMU is off to its best start since going 5-1 in 1986, the year before the program was shut down. "What a win. It's been a long, long time coming," McDermott said. "We were up. They stormed back. I'm ecstatic, so proud of our guys."

SMU's Zach Line entered the game second nationally with 11 touchdowns, but the biggest play from the linebacker-turned-running back came on the kickoff coverage team to start the second half. He stripped TCU's Greg McCoy inside the 10, and Chris Parks recovered in the end zone for a 24-10 lead. The Mustangs rode the momentum swing from that play until TCU's big rally in the fourth quarter.

The Frogs, coming off an unprecedented three straight seasons with the nation's top defense, gave up more than 450 yards for the second time this year. The first was in the Baylor loss. The Horned Frogs couldn't stop SMU on third down and were having trouble getting first downs themselves for the most first half.

The problem was best illustrated early in the second quarter when TCU had second and less than a yard and couldn't keep the ball. Ed Wesley lost 4 yards, and Waymon James fell down short of the first-down marker after catching a short pass from Pachall.

Wesley turned things in TCU's favor in just one play, though. He ran through a huge hole in the middle of the line and skirted through the secondary before he was caught from behind on a 63-yard run to the SMU 3. Matthew Tucker scored two plays later to cut SMU's lead to 17-7.

Details Emerge in SDPD Officer's Death

In what is another sad development in recent news for the San Diego police department, an additional member of the force died Saturday in a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 15.

Officer Jason Prokop, 34, was traveling southbound on I-15 when he was involved in a collision with another vehicle that had been stopped on the freeway, said Lieutenant Andra Brown with SDPD.

One witness said the fatal string of accidents began when a stalled vehicle was hit by another vehicle on the I-15.

"The car in the opposite [direction] of traffic tried to help the guy in the stalled car out," said Marlon Dumbrique, "and that's when he was struck by another car."

Dumbrique said an ambulance had arrived but the stream of cars was not slowing down.

According to reports, Officer Prokop, who was off-duty at the time, got out of his vehicle in order to render aid to the other driver invloved in the collision, at which point he was struck by another vehicle.

"I also saw a car sideswipe another car in the right shoulder lane," said Dumbrique, "I believe that was when another guy was struck."

An exact timeline of the accident was not made immediately available and investigators on the scene said they considered it a complicated case due to how many vehicles were involved.

Prokop, a five-year veteran of SDPD assigned to Central Division , was declared dead at the scene. He scheduled to go into work at 6 a.m., according to officials.

"Everyone in this command, this department, in the community in the family is grieving right now," said Capt. Mark Jones of SDPD at a news conference held later in the day.

Prokop's death is another in a string a officers who have passed from SDPD and the department's Central Division in particular.

On Aug. 24, off-duty Officer Christopher Blakeley, 26, was killed while riding his motorcycle in Palm City near Nestor.

On Aug. 6, Officer Jeremy Henwood was shot and killed while sitting in his patrol car in City Heights. Henwood, 36, served with the SDPD for four years but during that time served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. The suspect in his shooting, Dejon White, 23, was killed that same evening in a shootout with police.

Also in August, Officer David Christopher Hall was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Linda Vista home, police said.

Just two weeks before that, the department learned of the death of another colleague.

SDPD Detective Donna Williams and her daughter Bree Williams were attacked and killed in their Rancho Penasquitos home on July 18. The detective's son was arrested in their deaths.

"The entire department this past year has been a very tough year but everybody is professional," said Jones. "Everybody knows that we help each other to get through these things and we always do."

Ryan Howard's Big Blast

Baseball, like other sports, or movies, or television shows, are nothing more than a collection of moments in a certain order that ultimately create the story of the events that took place. Some of these moments serve only to take up space and keep things going, while others serve to advance the narrative. Those are the moments that really count; the ones when the villain reveals himself, or when the protagonist gives some heroic speech.

Or in this case of Game One of the National League Division Series, it's when Ryan Howard hit a ball to the second deck.

It was the sixth inning of the inaugural game of the annual Second Season for the city of Philadelphia, and the Phillies found themselves behind the eight ball and up against a 0-1 series deficit, thanks to a first inning, three-run homer from Lance Berkman, and a fine pitching performance from Kyle Lohse.

Down 3-1, with two men on and one away, Ryan Howard stepped into the box. The slugger, coming off his worst season to date, stood in the box and gave gave the Phillies their first “big” moment of the postseason, when he deposited a belt high offering into the second deck of Citizens Bank Park, to put the Phils ahead, 4-3, in what would be the deciding moment of the game.

The crowd roared, Howard got his curtain call, and the Phillies were off to the races, buoyed by a three-run shot that ignited the offense that sent them well on their way to an 11- lead over the St. Louis Cardinals.

It was one of those moments that, depending on which way it went, was going to be the deciding moment of the game. Had Howard struck out or harmlessly popped out to the third baseman, it may very well have been the Cardinals, and not the Phillies, who drew first blood.

But as big as Howard's homer was, perhaps there was a moment that didn't happen that proved to have a bigger impact on the game.

With the Phillies within striking distance and Howard coming to the plate, it was a very curious of Tony La Russa to not go to a left-handed pitcher, despite the fact that Kyle Lohse was holding the Phillies in check. But when you consider that he isn't going to overpower hitters, and that Howard has hit left-handers to the tune of a .224/.286/.347 line this season, it was a moment of non-management that shifted the course of the game.

But, that's the playoffs for you. Every move is magnified and second guessed by bloggers and beat writers and fans. But that's just good news for the Phillies, and because what did happen was Ryan Howard crushing a ball and Roy Halladay throwing eight strong innings to take a 1-0 series lead.

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Devils Beat Flyers, 2-1

David Clarkson's power-play goal with 4:21 left in the second period, snapped a tie and lifted the New Jersey Devils to a 2-1 preseason victory over the Flyers Saturday night.

Petr Sykora added his second goal of the preseason, strengthening his chances of making the team. Sykora scored on a breakaway off a pass from Zach Parise that got by three Flyers at 4:12 of the second.

Flyers took a 1-0 lead on Scott Hartnell's power-play goal with 3:31 left in the first. Philadelphia used with few regulars, but Ilya Bryzgalov played the entire game and made 18 saves.

Martin Brodeur backstopped New Jersey's regular lineup and stopped 25 shots.

New Jersey (3-3) will open the regular season at home against Philadelphia (4-2-1) next Saturday.

Teen Shot in New Castle County

New Castle police are investigating the shooting of a 15-year-old boy.

The incident happened Friday night shortly after 9 p.m. on the 100 block of Whitburn Place. The victim was shot in the foot and was transported to the Christiana Hospital. The suspect fled the scene before police arrived.

The suspect was described as a black male, 5’09” tall, with dreadlocks or braids in his hair.

Anyone with information should contact the New Castle County Police Department at (302) 395-8110. Tipsters may call Crime Stoppers as well at (800) TIP-3333.

DC's Version of the Wall Street Protests

For the last two weeks, demonstrators have taken their grievances to Wall Street, railing against what they see as excessive corporate influence on government and society. They call it a "Corporatocracy."

On Saturday, that movement came to D.C. Sort of.

As of early Saturday afternoon, you could find tour groups that outnumbered the group called "Occupy DC," which held a self-described general assembly in McPherson Square. At the peak of participation, between 40 and 50 people braved the rain and the chill.

"You gotta start small," said Justin Rodriguez, one of the participants. "Everything has to start somewhere."

Like their fellows in New York, these hardy souls were brought together out of dissatisfaction with the government and what they see as the too-close relationship between money and power.

"We're united around a sense that the country's gone in a bad direction, allowing corporate interests to govern where the people should be governing," said Micah Bales, another protester.

What they lack in numbers, they make up for in devotion to their cause. And despite the fact that their protests were often drowned out by a women's percussion practicing across McPherson Square, the men and women of "Occupy DC" believe that this is just the beginning.

"We're locals, and this is a homegrown movement," said Bales. "We're not just gonna come in and do our little thing. We're here for the long haul."