Two of BU’s Hockey East opponents, No. 2 Merrimack and Boston College (tied for fourth) are. But it means little to a team that took a four-game winning streak into December and knocked down BC along the way. The Terriers did fall to Merrimack, but they seem to have corrected their biggest fault of the season since then — inconsistent play.

It’s BU’s improvement more than anything that makes it deserving of praise, although Merrimack and BC sport better records. This Terrier team, as it proved with a couple wins against BC, isn’t the same one that dragged its unmotivated self into the Tsongas Center for their worst loss since 1999.

Statistically, the Terriers aren’t the nation’s gold stars — the only two categories BU leads the nation in are penalty minutes (21.08 per game) and short-handed goals (six). But they’re improving. BU’s defense now ranks 30th in the country, allowing 2.85 goals per game. While that statistic may make you cringe, it’s greatly improved. Even goalkeeper Kieran Millan‘s goals-against average has dropped. At one point it was above 3.00, but now sits at 2.69.

The Terriers have their strengths, such as their seventh-ranked offense. The Terriers score 3.55 goals per game, getting points from almost all of their players, whether it be scoring leader Matt Nieto or fourth-liner Wade Megan.

The statistics won’t make you choke on a drink, but the Terriers just won back-to-back games at Conte Forum for the first time since 1993-94. The combined score of of the two good efforts was 10-3, and the Terriers haven’t played badly since that loss to UMass-Lowell, outscoring opponents 18-8.

By taking down BC, the Terriers gained an edge over the Eagles. But BU lost to Merrimack, so what makes the Terriers better than the Warriors?

Despite the loss, BU dominated the game for roughly 50 minutes. It was also after UMass-Lowell destroyed the Terriers and everyone, from BU head coach Jack Parker to assistant captain Justin Courtnall, was very, very unhappy. It was a huge question mark: Would the Terriers rebound, or would they lose their second game in a row?

The Terriers not only rebounded, they played their best game of hockey this season. The Terriers should have won, and would have, if it wasn’t for a trademarked late-game meltdown. Still, the Terriers came the closest they had all season to playing a full 60 minutes of hockey, and Parker was far from disappointed with their effort.

Also, the Terriers have had a much tougher schedule than Merrimack so far. The Warriors went undefeated — and earned the nation’s top spot — until a Friday night loss to Providence, but the Terriers were the toughest team the Warriors faced. They still haven’t played BC or UMass-Lowell, two of the other top-five teams in Hockey East.

This isn’t October’s Terriers, and their slow start shouldn’t fool observers into thinking BU can’t contend for Hockey East’s top spot. Their record may still have them a little lower than the conference’s top space, but the Terriers will be a threat in the Hockey East Tournament.

Thumbnail photo via Flickr/seriouslysilly

The 6-foot-4 lineman crashed his car into a tree in Portland around 1:45 a.m. PT, KOIN-Channel 6 reported. Suh’s car was the only involved, although he allegedly also drove his 1970 Chevrolet Coupe into a drinking fountain, curb and light pole after losing control of the car.

Police officers who arrived at the scene ruled that Suh was sober, and Suh and his two passengers sustained no injuries.

According to KOIN, Suh — who is serving a two-game suspension for some post-whistle action – cooperated with the police.

But that didn’t prevent the Boston Celtics from releasing a sneak preview of one of their upcoming commercials. The video features inspirational music and shots of different Celtics, including emotional leader Kevin Garnett, long-time Celtic Paul Pierce and 3-point shooter Ray Allen.

The video also flashes short captions, and here’s where the Celtics take advantage of their ancient rivalry with the Lakers and budding one with the Heat. One caption reads, “I am not Hollywood,” while another says “I am not South Beach.”

And the last caption reads, “I am a Celtic.”

Check out the full video below, and kudos to Red’s Army for bringing it to our attention.

A report done by CNN stated that the lockout affects other businesses by up to 30 percent. Some of those other businesses ranged from a recent Iowa graduate who used to seat vend at Hawks games to a hotel that estimates a loss of roughly $400,000 to $500,000 because of the lockout.

"It's time for you to come back to the table, stop squabbling over the millions of dollars that you're squabbling about and think about the everyday business person that's not only in this city, but across this country," New York Sen. Michael Smith said in the video.

The lockout is affecting more than just individuals and hotel businesses, as establishments close to basketball arenas are also facing problems.

To hear more, check out the video below, courtesy of CNBC.com.

Kraft will earn the MIAA Distinguished Friend Award, Sanders the MIAA/Ron Burton Community Service Award for leadership and respect toward others and retired Pembroke High School principal Ruth Lynch the William N. Gaine, Jr. Sportsmanship Award for spreading sportsmanship.

Sanders and former Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett will comprise a "tips from the best" panel presentation. Motivational speaker Harvey Alston, the MIAA Student Advisory Committee and Reading Memorial High School athletic director Philip Vaccaro will also give presentations.

In addition, one school in each district will be recognized for displaying outstanding sportsmanship. Awards for the top three entries to the MIAA Student Sportsmanship Essay/Multimedia Contest will also be awarded at the event.

The event, which will last from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., is expected to draw over 1,000 members from different schools.

For more information on high school sports, visit MIAA.net.

The Cardinal are ranked fourth in the latest BCS rankings with a 9-0 record. The one-loss Ducks, which played in last year’s championship game, are ranked fifth. The teams meet Saturday night in a game featuring two standout quarterbacks. Andrew Luck, expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, leads Stanford, while Darron Thomas sets up in the shotgun for Oregon.

ESPN’s College GameDay visited Palo Alto for the big game, and Cardinal fans showed their support for the home team with some interesting signs.

A few signs were derived from intricate math problems. Others referenced old computer games and recent events.

Click here to see some of Stanford’s clever signs >>

Montreal and Boston are deadlocked with 14 points each, while the Senators have 15 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres are ruling the division, with 21 and 20 points, respectively.

The Bruins have already defeated Toronto and Ottawa, but they’ve had trouble beating Montreal. The one division opponent that Boston has yet to face is Buffalo, but the two teams will meet up on Saturday night.

Despite Boston’s success against Toronto, the Maple Leafs are third in the conference and fifth in the league. The Sabres are seventh overall, while the Senators, Canadiens and Bruins all fall in the league’s last 10 spots.

Given that all five conference teams are separated by just seven points with over five months left to play, which team do you think will win the Northeast Division?

Who will win the Northeast Division

On the call, Obama not only showered praise on the Cardinals' championship, but he also promised the traditional face-to-face meeting at the White House and called Game 6 — when the Cardinals erased multiple deficits to win — one of the best games he's seen in a while, Yahoo! Sports reports. The president also praised La Russa for ending his career after winning the World Series yet again.

The Cardinals and La Russa had to wait nine days for Obama's call, even though La Russa said on KNOX radio that the White House called to confirm his office's number at the start of the World Series.

Last year's championship San Francisco Giants didn't have to wait nearly as long, but the 2009 champions — the New York Yankees — didn't get a call from the first-term president.

Pekka Rinne

Having a good goalie like Rinne is absolutely crucial. While hockey is a total team sport, goalies have arguably the biggest individual impact. And teams with good goaltenders tend to be more successful at attaining Lord Stanley

But for seven years? That's a lot of hope, pressure and success to pin on just one player.

Rinne isn't the first goalie — especially recently — to find a long-term, lucrative deal. Way back in 2006, the Islanders offered their starting goalie,  Rick DiPietro, a 15-year deal. While DiPietro's contract has yet to be duplicated when it comes to the position, it reflects a growing trend amongst teams desperate to secure talented netminders.

In the offseason, the Flyers trumped the Predators by signing newly acquired goalkeeper Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 million deal. Nine years for a goalkeeper who is already 31 years old?

Bryzgalov, who holds a 2.55 career goals-against average, is one of the game's better netminders. In 2009-10 with the Coyotes, the Russian posted a 2.29 goals-against average. He followed that up with a 2.48 goals-against average in 2010-11, prompting Philadelphia to deal for him in the offseason.

Acquiring Bryzgalov made sense, especially because netminding woes have traumatized the Flyers for the past few years. But signing him to nine years is a bit outlandish.

In order for the deal to pay off, Bryzgalov needs to be solid for at least four years. It's even more pertinent in this scenario because the Flyers had to uproot two once-central players in Jeff Carter and Mike Richards just to make room under the salary cap.

It's similar situation with Rinne. The 29-year-old finished last season with a 2.12 goals-against average and was beyond phenomenal for Nashville in the playoffs. His goals-against average was slightly higher at 2.57, but Rinne made more than a few stupefying saves. His quick glove and sharp reflexes no doubt played into his new contract.

It makes sense for teams like Nashville and Philadelphia to feel the need to lock down a good goaltender for the next 10 years. But goalies, and players in general, don't always play well enough — or play enough, in DiPietro's case – to justify their contract. They start to struggle and their skills deteriorate until you one day find yourself asking, "what ever happened to what's his name?"

That's roughly what happened to the Islanders' DiPietro. In 2005-06, the Boston University alum played his first "full" year with the Islanders, appearing in 63 games and recording a 3.02 goals-against average. The season after, DiPietro was awarded the 15-year contract and he responded with a 2.58 goals-against average through 62 games.

The 30-year-old posted one more good year until he started to tank — badly.

While his goals-against average didn't inflate monstrously, he stopped being an option for the Islanders in net. Over the past three years, DiPietro appeared in only 39 games for the Islanders thanks to injuries.

Here's a sampling of those injuries: A knee injury in December 2010 ushered DiPeitro to the injured reserve list. Two months later, it was broken bones from a fight that kept DiPietro out. A concussion in October this season forced the goaltender to miss action.

Here's the moral of DiPietro's unencouraging story: Injuries happen and can make extremely effective and talented players virtually useless. Granted, DiPietro's story is just one extreme case. But it proves that strange things happen and that the fabled "injury bug" exists.

Then there's age. There aren't too many goalies like Tampa Bay's Dwayne Roloson, who has somehow stuck around into his 40's and still actually has a chance of kissing the Stanley Cup.

Even New Jersey's Martin Brodeur might not stick around past 40. The 39-year-old's performance has started to drop off over the past few seasons, along with his playing time. If the jump in Brodeur's goals-against average from 2.24 one year to 2.45 the next doesn't convince you, this might: In a game against Toronto, Brodeur was out of position and tried to slide to his left to make the save. He tried laboriously to regain position, but he couldn't. In other words, he just looked old.

These contracts may be front-loaded – allowing players to earn more money in the earlier stages of the contract as opposed to the latter stages. But if they aren't, teams like Nashville and Philadelphia are going to suffer once the contract starts to taper down as age forces the netminders to sputter.

It would probably be best to sign a goaltender for a few years and then re-evaluate the player when the contract ends. You might lose said goalie, but that's probably better than ripping through your team's core just to acquire someone who might not play as well as you need him to.

All it takes is one injury or a bit of aging and it's as if all that spent money was mashed, shredded, eaten or stolen in some sketchy magic trick.

The 32-year old was working out at Gold's Gym in Colonie, N.Y., at 5:45 a.m. before he started yelling and punched another gym member, the Albany Union Times reports. Police were summoned and a two-minute altercation broke out between Brothers and the police.

Police said Brothers, who was 6-foot-1 and roughly 230 pounds, was stunned with a Taser at least four times. Police then restrained Brothers, but not long after he went into cardiac arrest. Brothers, of Troy, N.Y., was transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital and was declared dead at 7:14 a.m.

In addition to attacking another gym member, Brothers wrecked weight machines, dumbbells, computers and filing cabinets before the police finally restrained him.

Police asked that Brothers be tested for performance-enhancing drugs, according to the report.

Bodog has dedicated an entire betting section to Kardashian after her divorce filing from basketball player Kris Humphries. The website includes a list of potential new boyfriends for Kardashian, starting with specific sports and narrowing the field all the way down to Ashton Kutcher, Jesse James or Tiger Woods.

Check out other celebrities who have dated basketball stars here >>

Just two days after beating Columbia, Witt found out that he was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship, the Yale Daily News reports. As a finalist, Witt will need to fly down to Georgia for an interview, which is currently scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 19 at 8 a.m. However, kickoff for the Yale-Harvard game is at noon the same day. The interview is scheduled to end by 8:30 a.m., but it would still take Witt two hours to fly back up to New York and then additional time to get to Yale.

“It’s still very new, it’s still very fresh just finding out this information,” Witt told the Yale Daily News. ”So I need to kind of reevaluate. If the Rhodes Committee is willing to work with me, in a perfect world, I can interview first thing in the morning and get on a flight to be back in time for the game on Saturday. But I don’t know if that will be possible.”

The Rhodes Scholarship would allow Witt, who has a 3.91 GPA, to study at Oxford for two or three years. So far this season, Witt has thrown for 1,393 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The Bills and Fitzpatrick agreed to a six-year contract extension Saturday. The deal is worth $59 million, Yahoo! Sports reports.

"I'm excited about Ryan getting this done. He'll be our quarterback for a long time," general manager Buddy Nix said. "It really makes everything easier for us. It's easy to put good players around him if you’ve got that position that you feel good about. And we do."

So far this season, Fitzpatrick has thrown for 1,477 yards and 12 touchdowns, leading the Bills to a 4-2 record.

"It's been a long road. There’s been a lot of hurdles and obstacles that I've had to overcome," Fitzpatrick said. "I think we've got this thing headed in the right direction. So to be a part of that, and to be able to continue to be a part of that for years to come, I'm really excited about it."

The 24-year-old announced the giveaway via Twitter, stating that entries can be submitted simply by tweeting McCourty's Twitter account, which he shares with his brother, explaining why you want the tickets.

McCourty will announce the winner by retweeting someone at 3 p.m.

The pair was at a Bahamas beach one day when James discovered Wade's peculiar secret — toenails painted black – Wade revealed in an interview with GQ magazine.

"Three years ago I was like, 'Man, I kind of want to paint my toenails black,'" Wade told the magazine. "At first I thought, 'Nah, I can't do that. They're going to kill me.' But eventually I decided to try it."

Wade's pampered toenails received their fresh coat of paint at the Mondrian Hotel in Miami.

Yes, the Rangers came within an out of winning the 2011 World Series twice, but it was the Cardinals who recorded the last out. And right after the Cardinals won, as usual, the MLB shop rolled out its official World Series Champions collection.

MLB's online store is offering Cardinals championship hats and shirts, among other things. At one point, those other items included a few championship ones that didn't represent the Cardinals.

The online shop recommended a few Texas Rangers championship items, including a wallet and a bracelet, Yahoo! Sports reports.

Let's hope there were no Rangers fans trolling MLB.com last night.

Photo of the day

Which rally animal is your favorite?

AP Photo

Quote of the day

"We're supposed to be home, watching the World Series. And now we're world champions."
– Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols after the Cardinals won their 11th World Series title

Tweet of the day

Supervillains united?

Video of the day

Look, they're so happy.

Theo Epstein

The Red Sox and Cubs made the reportedly inevitable official on Friday night when the two clubs announced that Epstein was leaving Boston to become the president of baseball operations in Chicago. Esptein’s era in Boston will be remembered by most for producing a curse-snapping, top-of-the-line franchise.

How did he do it? Smart moves and great draft picks, of course.

Among his many moves, Epstein shipped off fan-favorite Nomar Garciaparra, signed Daisuke Matsuzaka and brought aboard David Ortiz. He also was responsible for drafting Jonathan Papelbon, Clay Buchholz, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. To see a list of his top 10 moves, click below.

Click here to see which moves have been Epstein’s best >>

6:30 p.m.: Day 1 has officially ended, and the remaining results are in.

Master Women's Eights: Toronto Sculling Club

Men's Doubles Championship: Peter Graves and Tom Graves of Craftsbury Schulling

Women's Doubles Championship: Jen Goldsack and Jen Daley of Penn AC/Vesper

Men's Collegiate Fours: University of Virginia Rowing Association

Women's Collegiate Fours: Washington University (St. Louis) Rowing

Men's Singles Championship: Mahe Drysdale of West End Rowing Club

Women's Singles Championship: Gevvie Stone of Cambridge Boat Club.

4:01 p.m.: All but one of the races have ended. We're still waiting for the results, but we'll have them up as soon as possible.

Here are some important event winners:

Men's alumni eights: Northeastern University Rowing Alumni

Women's alumni eights: Friends of Brown Women's Unversity Crew

Men's club eights: Brown University

Women's club eights: University of Tennesse

Men's club singles: David Judah

Women's club singles: Carissa Louwen

We just got this result in: Potomac Boat Club won the women's master fours (average age 40-plus).

Again, we're sorry for the delay in results, and we'll have the results of the final results up as soon as possible.

And the crowd estimate for the day: 164,000.

3:44 p.m.: More results!

Master Women's Doubles (40-plus): Saiya Remmler and Bell Teresa from Cambridge Boat Club

Master Men's Fours (average age 40-plus): Charles River Rowing Association

Master Men's Eights (average age 40-plus): Kennebecasis Rowing Club

The results are still coming in delayed, however.

3:32 p.m.: Stuck my head outside to check out the weather. It's much colder and cloudier than before. It's rivaling the conditions from this morning.

3:27 p.m.: As promised, here are some local collegiate teams competing in the collegiate events:

UMass-Amherst, UVM, Wentworth, Amherst College, Tufts, Boston College, Colby College, Middlebury, University of Rhode Island, Clark University, Connecticut College, Bates College, Wesleyan, Trinity College and WPI.

And that's just for the men's event.

For the women's event, here are the participating New England schools:

Trinity College, Bowdoin College, Connecticut College, Wellesley, Simmons College, Assumption College, Clark University, Middlebury, US Coast Guard Academy, Sacred Heart, Amherst College and Franklin Pierce University.

3:14 p.m.: More on the collegiate teams participating, especially the local ones, soon.

3:12 p.m.: Daniel Gorriaran and Michael Smith took advantage of a split in last year's winning crew to take the Master Men's Doubles 40-plus title.

And the University of Tennessee's women's crew won the Club Women's Eights event.

3:04 p.m.: As the men's eights (40-plus) passed by the Cambridge Boat Club, fans with Chinese flags were cheering on the crew from Shanghai.

3:00 p.m.: Men's doubles, championship style, will kick off the day's final events at 3:17 p.m.

2:49 p.m.: I know the weather says no rain, but the sun is almost completely gone over here by the Cambridge Boat Club and the sky is pretty much covered in clouds.

Just something to keep an eye on.

2:43 p.m.: Rapid reaction here, but those are all the results that we've gotten so far.

2:39 p.m.: Some other results:

Don Rowing won the men's club fours event.

2:36 p.m.: And another local team wins an event at the Head of the Charles. Boston University's women's crew team won the Club Women's Fours event with a total time of 19:49.42, while Brown's men team won the Club Men's Eights event from bow No. 7

2:30 p.m.: Maybe the result system has been fixed! There are a bunch I'm holding in my hand right now. So here it goes.

Club Singles Men competition goes to David Judah. While it is a little impressive, considering he was bow No. 64, scullers who finish in the top five percent of the Club Singles competition can't compete in the event next year.

Interesting.

Now for the women's event: Carissa Louwen came up from Bow No. 34 to take the event with a total time of 22:08.24.

2:16 p.m.: No drama at this point of the course for the Master Women's Doubles 40-plus…yet.

But as the weather turns chilly yet again, it looks as though the California tandem of Izzie Brown nd Janet Bellantoni are rowing well. They've passed a few boats, and they're currently behind New York's Kori Siciliano and Christine Goodness, who started the race No. 8.

2:09 p.m.: Drama in the Master Men's Doubles 40-plus event!

Boat with bow No. 7, which is John Ciani and Jaime Bea from SLO Rowing Club, had a little bit of a mishap.

I couldn't make it outside in time to see, but four witnesses told me the pair was about to hit the bridge so they needed to stop and adjust course. The new course took them from going through the middle arch to going through the arch closes to the Cambridge Boat Club. The problem with choosing that path?

There's a tree that's submerged in the water.

The boat was briefly entangled in the tree before getting out and getting back on course.

2:05 p.m.: A couple updates for you. First off, I just found out that the results are about an hour behind. They're hoping to correct that before the races end today. Until then, think of it as all the free suspense in the world you could ever want.

Secondly, we got the results in for the Alumni Women's Eight, which featured a little bit of an upset. Friends of Brown Women's Crew took home the victory, with University of Virginia Alumni coming in second.

1:52 p.m.: A lot of interesting things just happened.

First off, Northeastern seemed to be falling behind in the Club Women's Eights.

Then MIT and Holy Cross were locked in a battled heading into a turn. MIT was supposed to yield to Holy Cross as they both passed under the bridge, as Holy Cross was the faster boat, but MIT did not.

And then Villanova-Wildcat had to stop right before the bridge and adjust course, as the boat would have hit the bridge.

Interesting stuff going on here. Looks like the crowd thinks so too, as it's the biggest crowd that's been here all day.

1:42 p.m.: Let's take a look at some of the schools participating in the Club Women's Eights event.

Yale has one crew, Connecticut has a couple, MIT, Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern also have teams participating in the race.

1:33 p.m.: Club Men's Eights is going on right now. Fat Cat Rowing Club from Canada, University of Rhode Island and A Quebecoise d'Aviron just passed the Cambridge Boat Club.

University of Rhode Island isn't the only New England school involved, as Harvard has two teams (one with bow No. 1 and the other with bow No. 3) and Boston University has bow No. 2. Yale, Northeastern and Boston College are also competing.

Hobart College, with bow No. 15, was rowing very powerfully and seemed to be gaining ground and time.

1:24 p.m.: The weather is much nicer now. The clouds are gone and it looks as if the warmer temperature is attracting a larger crowd.

Fred Schoch, who is also a member of race operations, said it's still too early to estimate a crowd number but he expects it to eclipse 150,000.

1:18 p.m.: Unofficial results say that Northeastern University Rowing Alumni have won the Alumni Eights Men event.

Club Men's Eights is underway, and Club Women's Eights should be starting at 1:26 p.m.

1:12 p.m: We're having serious results issues out here. Something apparently went wrong with the system. Thanks again for your patience with us.

1:09 p.m.: Just spoke to a member of Team Attager, Fred Schoch, who was in Team Attager's third seat.

"I rowed in this race for 13 years before winning it, and it's such an emotional high when you win it for the first time," Schoch said. "Winning the Head of the Charles is a big deal."

This is Team Attager's sixth-straight victory. The team is from Cambridge, Mass.

"We're too old for the event, but every year we win, we're like, 'we have to go back and defend,'" Schoch said.

12:42 p.m.: Clouds are starting to dissipate here.

The Club Men's Fours event is going on right now.

12:31 p.m.: Here are the other events slated for today, in this order:

Club Men's Fours

Club Women's Fours

Club Men's Eights

Club Women's Eights

Master Men's Doubes 40-plus

Master Women's Doubles 40-plus

Master Men's Fours 40-plus

Master Women's Fours 40-plus

Master Men's Eights 40-plus

Master Women's Eights 40-plus

Championship Men's Doubles

Championship Women's Doubles

Collegiate Men's Fours

Collegiate Women's Fours

Championship Men's Singles

Championship Women's Singles

For the collegiate championships, I'll have a list of schools competing once it gets closer to start time. All championship races will occur between 3-4 p.m.

12:24 p.m.: No. 6 Erin Ketelle, from the Nashville Rowing Club, just passed by the Cambridge Boat Club. Sandwiched between her and No. 7 Clare Goslant, from Cambridge, was Texas native Sara-Mai Conway.

Not only was she rowing smoothly, but she seemed to be gaining ground.

After Conway came Goslant and Angelina Heyse.

12:15 p.m.: More results, this time for Senior-Master Doubles Men (50-pus).

Doug Hamilton and Mike Hughes, from the Ridley Graduate Boat Club in Canada, won the event by 2.34 seconds over Belmont Hill School's Tom Darling and Peter Kermond.

12:05 p.m.: The scullers are back out, as the Club Men's Singles event has started.

Just saw Nicholas Timmons, Daniel Ellis and Thomas Quigley pass by the Cambridge Boat Club.

Timmons was last year's Youth Special Medal winner.

And apparently it's not too cold for the bees.

11:54 a.m.: It's very cloudy outside, although the forecast says no rain. It's cold, but that doesn't seem to deter the crowd, which has been growing over the course of the races.

Thank goodness for ethernet cords. Wireless is apparently non-existent here.

11:50 a.m.: Since the results are taking a lot of time to come to us, I'll post a list of all the winners in their events when today's races are over.

11:47 a.m.: Alumnae Women's Eight going on right now. No. 13 George Washington's team and No. 14 University of New Hampshire's team just passed the Cambridge Boat Club.

11:32 a.m.: Hopefully we'll be able to talk to Team Attager. I've been told that one of the members will stop by in around an hour.

After the alumni events end, both club single events will start.

11:30 a.m.: Peeked outside for a look at the men's alumni race. It's a lot warmer now and the bridge is packed with spectators, and there are more people on the Boston side of the river than at the beginning.

Ever Green Boat Club's Dartmouth College alumni team No. 2 looked like they were in good shape, and BMA Boat Club's Cornell team also looked impressive, especially since they had passed Dartmouth's alumni team No. 3.

11:19 a.m.: Just found out that Massachusetts' own 1980 Rowing Club won the men's Senior-Master Fours event, with a time of 17:42.10.

We finally have the results for the women's Grand-Master Singles (50-plus) event. CB Sands-Bohrer, a member of the Cambridge Boat Club, won that race.

11:09 a.m.: Some previews/upcoming events:

Women's Alumnae Eights will start when the Men's Alumni Eights finish. For the women's race, University of Virginia's alumni team holds the course record, and they'll be trying to defend their title against Yale, Stanford and Brown.

11:03 a.m.: Just received word that the results for men's and women's Senior-Master Singles are final.

We have another unofficial result, this one for women's Senior-Master Eights.

Marin Rowing Association beat Etats Unis Rowing Club, who finished fourth. 1980 Rowing Club finished third, and Watercat Rowing Club slotted in at the third spot.

10:58 a.m.: So here's the deal — things are a little crazy at the media center, which is why there's a huge delay in results. Again, I'll try my best to get them to you as they come in.

Team Attager's win is official.

The next event slated to start is Alumni Men's Eights. Northeastern University's alumni team holds the course record, and they'll be searching for their third-straight victory.

10:51 a.m.: Here are the unofficial results for both men's and women's Senior-Master Singles (40-plus) events:

James McGaffigan beat out Gregory Benning, after Benning was handed a penalty, to take home the men's event.

Lisa Schlenker won the women's event by almost 30 seconds over Maureen Harriman.

10:44 a.m.: Thank you all for being patient with us while the internet issue was being sorted out. It looks like it's back, at least for now. Hopefully for good.

We've got a few both official and unofficial results in, including the winner of the Senior-Master Men's Eights 50-plus event.

It was Team Attager, who won their sixth straight. Also, Team Attager is actually 'Regatta' spelled backwards. Mind blown, right?

10:33 a.m.: Having technical difficulties, but we'll be back with you as soon as possible.

9:52 a.m.: The moment you've all been waiting for: The winners of the Grand-Master Singles Men (50-plus) competition have been announced!

Peter MacGowan successfully defended his title, winning this race with a total time of 19:09 over John Tunnicliffe and his time of 19:12.

Tunnicliffe started the race as No. 37.

MacGowan is 53 years of age, while Tunnicliffe is 50 years old.

9:46 a.m.: There are some sky banners, intermittently.

The next event is…

Senior-Master Men's Eights 50-plus!

Team Attager has won this event six straight times, and there's a wealth of international teams — five total — including a team from Australia and one from Italy.

9:35 a.m. Sun is out. Kind of.

Laura Imperial, No. 10, doesn't seem to be doing so well. There are a few rowers who have passed her, including No. 13 Rebecca Hollins.

Interestingly enough, last year's winner Tina Vandersteel starts the race at No. 3 this year, with Olwen Huxley (No. 1) and Julie Dykema (No. 2) ahead of her.

9:21 a.m.: Still waiting on results from the first race. Word along the grapevine is that they've changed the system a little bit this year, so it might take a little longer. Thank you for your patience with that!

9:14 a.m. It looks like James McGaffigan is keeping a solid pace over Tom Bohrer, thanks in part to his earlier start.

It looks as though Sean Wolf, the Somerville, Mass. native, might be en route to posting a better time than Bohrer. The gap between them as they passed the Cambridge Boat Club was very close.

It's still chilly, and it doesn't look like the sun will show up again anytime soon.

9:05 a.m.: The next event on tap (which has already begun) is the Senior-Master Men's Singles (40-plus).

This field features James McGaffigan, who won the event last year after after defeating Tom Bohrer, who is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist winner.

9:02 a.m.: We're still waiting on the results for the first event to turn final.

9:00 a.m.: It's getting a lot warmer outside, and the sun is finally getting in a little river time.

Eleanor Acworth and Joanne Barker (No. 21 and 24, respectively) just passed the Cambridge Boat Club. Barker was pressing Acworth and gaining on her.

There are a few light breezes but nothing too bad, and it doesn't look as if the weather is affecting any participants yet.

8:52 a.m.: For some background on this race… Margarita Zetta has won this even three times. CB Sands-Bohrer also has an impressive resumé in this event — she has earned a silver medal in this event and is a two-time world champion.

8:47 a.m.: The second race, Grand-Master Women's Singles (50-plus) has started. I'll have the results from the last race as soon as they're posted.

8:43 a.m.: I just spoke to Laura Knight, whose daughter will be rowing tomorrow for the University of Wisconsin. Knight, who is from New York state, said she is watching today because she enjoys rowing and this race is one of the most unique courses.

Knight said this course provides many viewing points, which allows her to stand at a different place every year.

And this isn't Knight's first year watching the race.

"I love it every year," Knight said. "I like the fact that rowing crosses every age spectrum."

8:26 a.m.: There are a couple of good battles going on on the Charles right now. The race is timed so it features staggered starts, but some of the rowers are begining to catch up to each other. Bob Elridge, from Wellesly, Mass. was just pressing Cambridge Boat Club's Dennis Ruane.

8:12 a.m.: We should have results up roughly 10 minutes after each race is over.

Peter MacGowan, who is defending his title, almost tied the course record with his winning time last year — he was one second shy.

8:06 a.m.: There aren't too many spectators here (by the Cambridge Boat Club, which is where the media center is). A handful of them are hanging out on the bridge and there a who are scattered on the banks of the Charles.

8:01 a.m.: And it's underway…

7:59 a.m.: Head of the Charles is almost underway. It's a little chilly outside, but it's not very windy and the water looks pretty calm.

7:50 a.m.: The first event this morning will be the Grand-Master Men's Singles (50-plus), which is slated to begin at 8 a.m. Last year's winner, Peter MacGowan will be racing with Bow No. 1. The results of every race will be posted as they become available.

7:34 a.m.: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The Head of the Charles isn't that far off from starting now. On my way here, I caught some participants practicing and the umpires getting set up, and many souvenir tents. The sun hasn't quite come up everywhere, but it looks pretty clear outside.

6 a.m.: The 47th Head of the Charles Regatta is set to begin Saturday morning on the Charles River in Boston.

Rowers from around the world will make their way to the city to participate in the largest regatta on the planet, while thousands of enthusiasts will head to the shores to watch.

NESN.com will provide updates in this live blog for both days of the competition, so be sure to check in throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday for the latest news and all the results from the regatta.

The Raider fans who frequented the bar became obnoxious, so the bar responded by no longer televising Raiders games at the bar, Larry Brown Sports reports.

“They were taunting, insulting, rude, loud, and making people feel uncomfortable,” the bar’s manager, a man named Wayne, told Larry Brown Sports. “People were leaving the bar, so we had to do something.”

Deadspin first reported the incident through a photo, which can be seen below, of a sign on the bar’s door.

Photo courtesy of Deadspin

Against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Benn scored one of the best goals of the season so far. The 22-year old squirmed past Columbus' Kris Russell's hit, skated into Columbus' zone, beat three more Blue Jackets and grabbed the twice-deflected puck before scoring on a top-shelf goal.

Check out Benn's goal below.