Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN Sports) - Boxing great Joe Frazier died late Monday night in Philadelphia after a brief battle with liver cancer.
Frazier, 67, was most famous for a series of classic fights vs. the great Muhammad Ali, who was his rival in and out of the ring for most of his career and after it came to an end.
The pair came to have a grudging respect for each other over the years, and Frazier even indicated he forgave Ali for hurtful comments he made about "Smokin' Joe" in an apparent effort to hype their fights.
His family asked to be able to grieve on its own and would have more on "our father's homecoming celebration" at a later time.
HBO fight analyst Larry Merchant, who became friendly with the ex-champ, said Frazier will be dearly missed.
"This is a body blow to me because I knew him personally as well as professionally," Merchant told ESPN.com's Dan Rafael. "I thought he was as honest and as real a fighter as there ever was. He followed in a tradition of (Jack) Dempsey and (Rocky) Marciano as the 'Warrior King.' "
Frazier, who hailed from Beaufort, South Carolina but lived mostly in Philly, was 32-4-1 with 27 knockouts in an outstanding career.
John Nestor - AHN Sports Correspondent
Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN Sports) - The Chicago Bears got Earl Bennett back for their crucial Monday night matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles and it paid off right away.
Bennett made several clutch plays and the Bears overcame a third-quarter deficit to post a 30-24 victory over the Eagles in Philadelphia.
Out of the lineup since sufffering a chest injury in a loss to New Orleans in Week 2, Bennett returned Monday night to catch five passes for 95 yards and a crucial touchdown.
It was a much-needed jump-start to the Chicago offense, which put together drives throughout that limited the opportunites the Eagles' high-powered offense.
"He's just a steady player that can do a lot of things for you," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "He made a lot of big plays. For a guy like Earl, when you haven't played in a long time, you're anxious to come back and get out there on the football field and show people what we've been missing. He gave us a boost."
Bennett caught a TD pass from 5-yards out early in the fourth quarter to put the Bears on top, 27-24. It was another in a list of big plays he has made against Philadelphia.
In two career games against the Eagles, Bennett has caught 14 passes for 208 yards and 3 TD. Last season he had nine receptions for 113 yards and 2 TD in a 31-26 win over Philadelphia in Chicago.
At 5-3 the Bears are on the move in the NFC and Bennett is happy to be back and contributing.
"It was very frustrating not to be able to be out there with your teammates to help them out and win games with them," Bennett, a fourth-year player said. "But you've just got to put that behind you and move forward. It was a lot of fun to be back out there making plays."
John Nestor - AHN Sports Correspondent
Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN Sports) - Jim Thome is going to take at least one more shot at winning a World Series and he is going to do it back in Philadelphia.
According to a report on the team's website the Phillies and Thome have agreed on a one-year, $1.25 million contract, pending Thome passing a physical.
It's not a surprising move at all since it is no secret that both sides had hoped for a reunion this past season. It was not meant to be as the Minnesota Twins traded Thome to the Cleveland Indians in August.
Thome has a great relationship with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who has been a guiding influence in his career since their time together in Cleveland. Thome also has fond memories of the Phillies, who traded him to the Chicago White Sox following the 2005 season to pave the way at first base for Ryan Howard.
With Howard out with an Achilles injury, Philadelphia must feel Thome can give them some innings in the field as well as provide a lefthanded bat with some pop off the bench.
Thome hit a combined .256 with 15 home runs, 50 RBI, a .361 on-base percentage and a .477 slugging percentage with the Twins and Indians. He has hit 604 homers in his career, which ranks eighth on the all-time list.
Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN Sports) - This is how it was supposed to be.
The Philadelphia Flyers, who lead the hapless Columbus Blue Jackets 8-0 after two periods, were designed to be one of the NHL's elite teams and they are sure playing like it Saturday night.
Ilya Bryzgalov was expected to be a shutdown goalie and the Flyers many new acquisitions were expected to add some offensive firepower.
The new Flyers are hitting the back of the net, including Jaromir Jagr and Jacub Voracek, Max Talbot and Sean Couturier have each scored a goal as the Flyers are dominating the Blue Jackets.
Jojo Doria - AHN Sports Contributor
Kansas City, KS, United States (AHN Sports) - The failure to overturn a two-goal deficit coupled with injuries doomed the Colorado Rapids' chance to continue the defense of their MLS title Wednesday night, when they succumbed to a determined Sporting Kansas City 2-0 at a soggy Livestrong Sporting Park.
Amid the cold and rainy atmosphere, Aurelien Collin and C.J. Sapong delivered goals on each side of halftime that sealed Sporting's triumph, and spot in the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-0 aggregate total.
Graham Zusi provided the assists on both goals, sending set pieces into the box with Collin coming through in the 28th before Sapong capped the rout in the 76th.
Sporting KC will host either the Houston Dynamo or Philadelphia Union in the conference finals Sunday.
The consecutive losses ended the defending champion Rapids' season. The Rapids, coming off a 2-0 loss at home in the opening leg Sunday, were severely shorthanded entering Wednesday's second leg.
Colorado was missing three starters Wednesday with Caleb Folan, Kosuke Kimura, and Drew Moor all sustained injuries at Dick's Sporting Goods Park that will kept them out of the return leg.
Embattled Rapids coach Gary Smith had to rely on a makeshift squad with Scott Palguta, Joseph Nane and Ross LaBauex replacing the three injured starters.
Prior to Sunday's costly setback, the Rapids had already lost Jamie Smith to a torn right ACL and Pablo Mastroeni to a concussion.
Tyrone Marshall was also kept out of Wednesday's match after earning a red card Sunday.
Jojo Doria - AHN Sports Contributor
Denver, CO, United States (AHN Sports) - Mike Smith, who has made his presence in goal felt since being signed as a free agent in July, frustrated the Avalanche by stopping 39 shots in the Phoenix Coyotes' 4-1 victory over Colorado Wednesday night at Pepsi Center.
It marked the third straight win and the fourth in the last six games played by the six-year veteran Smith, who was inked July 1 to replace Ilya Bryzgalov, whose rights were traded to Philadelphia a month earlier.
Radim Vrbata scored twice against his former team, including the eventual game-winner off his own rebound with 2:03 to play in the second period.
The 30-year-old right winger Vrbata sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:33 remaining in the third period for his second consecutive two-goal game.
Taylor Pyatt and Lauri Korpikoski also lit the lamp in the triumph, the third straight for the Coyotes.
Ryan O'Reilly scored the lone goal for the Avalanche, who suffered their fourth loss in five home games this season.
It was also the third setback in the last four games overall for Colorado.
Semyon Varlamov allowed three goals on 27 shots in the loss.
With the win, the Coyotes have gone 4-0-1 in their past five contests. It moved them within two points of first-place Dallas in the Pacific Division entering Thursday night's home tilt versus Nashville.
David Goodhue - AHN News Reporter
Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN) - Most overweight and obese teens want to lose weight, but a new study finds they are going about it the wrong way.
Researchers with Temple University in Philadelphia looked at data from 44,000 adolescents and found that about 75 percent of them wanted to shed pounds. But they also found this group was more likely to report smoking.
While females trying to lose weight were more likely to report participating in 60 minutes or more of physical activity per day, they were also prone to drink soda daily.
Males trying to lose weight were more likely to report having no days of physical activity. They also reported playing more than three hours of video games per day.
The researchers said in a statement that they are encouraged that the teens wanted to lose the weight, but their methods are often counterproductive.
"For example, among the girls who are exercising, they may not realize that one soda could undo that 30-minute walk they just took," they said.
The researchers recommended that when teens tell their doctors they are trying to lose weight, an important follow-up question from the physician should be, "How are you doing that?"
Kris Alingod - AHN News Contributor
Philadelphia, PA, United States (AHN) - The tugboat operator responsible for a deadly collision between a barge and a tourist vessel last year on the Delaware River has been sentenced to one year in prison, the U.S. attorney in the eastern district of Pennsylvania announced Tuesday.
Matthew Devlin will spend a year and a day in prison beginning Jan. 5 next year under a plea agreement with prosecutors. The 35-year-old admitted to one count of misconduct of a ship operator causing death, a charge under a federal statute applicable to involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors had proposed a sentence between 37 and 46 months. However, U.S. District Court Judge Legrome Davis decided on a more lenient punishment.
Devlin, who was distracted by a family emergency while navigating the vessel Caribbean Sea on the day of the accident, previously agreed to the permanent revocation of his Coast Guard-issued license as mate.
The Caribbean Sea was pulling an unmanned 250-foot barge, the Resource, on July 7, 2010, when the barge crashed into a stranded tour boat.
The tourist vessel, an amphibious boat operated by Ride the Ducks, was carrying 35 passengers and two crew members. Two Hungarian students, Szablcs Prem, 20, and Dora Schwendtner, 16, drowned.
The accident took place in shallow water near Penn's Landing while the "duck boat" was stationary due to an engine problem.
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that Devlin was on his cell phone when the collision took place. He was operating the Caribbean Sea from the lower wheelhouse, where visibility was limited, instead of the upper wheelhouse, from where the captain had told him to pilot the tugboat.
In addition, Devlin did not ask any of his fellow crew members to serve as lookout. The Caribbean Sea, which is owned by K-Sea Transportation, was manned by five crew members at the time.
The NTSB found that Devlin made 15 outbound calls and received six calls between noon on the day of the accident until 2:37 p.m., the time of the crash. The calls were to his mother's home phone and cell phone, his wife's cell phone and his father's cell phone. They were made in violation of company policy prohibiting the use of personal cell phones while on watch.
According to local reports, Devlin testified tearfully in court that the calls were about complications during his son's eye surgery.
The accident prompted Ride the Ducks, the nation's largest amphibious tour operator, to temporarily suspend operations in Philadelphia. The company and K-Sea Transportation are the focus of a wrongful death complaint from families of the victims who cite safety failures and a lack of emergency procedures.
The NTSB investigation had also faulted the duck boat captain for failing to follow company policy requiring him to alert the Coast Guard immediately about problems with steering, propulsion or passenger injury. Moreover, he did not follow emergency procedures that would have forced passengers to don life jackets once the tour boat was stranded in the water.
Jojo Doria - AHN Sports Contributor
Sunrise, FL, United States (AHN Sports) - The Jets rallied late and then beat the Florida Panthers in the shootout round with Andrew Ladd scoring the deciding shootout goal to lift Winnipeg to a thrilling 4-3 victory Monday night at BankAtlantic Center.
Ladd beat Jose Theodore to give the Jets an edge after a scoreless first round in the shootout before Kyle Wellwood's tally sealed Winnipeg's second win in three games.
Evander Kane scored a pair of goals, including the game-tying goal with 50 seconds remaining in regulation, while Wellwood had a first-period goal for the Jets, who improved to 2-1 on their season-long seven-game road trip.
Winnipeg edged Philadelphia 9-8 Thursday night, but was shut out at Tampa Bay 1-0 Saturday.
Ondrej Pavelec, who turned away two shots in the scoreless overtime period, stopped a season-high 39-of-42 Florida shots for the victors.
The Panthers, making the first of three-game homestand after winning two of their three tilts on their recent road trip, got a pair of goals from Tomas Fleischmann.
Jason Garrison also lit the lamp for Florida, while Theodore ended with 28 saves.
The Jets built a 2-0 lead in the opening stanza before Florida closed to 2-1 with 20 seconds left in the period courtesy of Garrison's slapshot.
Fleischmann scored twice in the third period before Kane's late equalizer.
Monday's contest marked the first of six meetings between these division rivals who are slated to meet again next week in Winnipeg.
It is also the first game of the season where the Jets faced Panthers assistant coach Craig Ramsay, who was their head coach last season. Ramsay was not retained after the Jets moved from Atlanta.
Kris Alingod - AHN News Contributor
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) - Buses that pick up passengers curbside have a higher incidence of fatal accidents than buses that stay at terminals, according to a report by the National Transportation and Safety Board.
NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman released the first comprehensive report on bus safety on Monday after a six-month study. She revealed that curbside buses are seven times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than conventional carriers.
The agency reviewed data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from January 2005 to March 2011. It found that there were 1.4 deadly accidents per 100 vehicles for curbside buses that have fewer than 10 carriers or that have been in business less than a decade, compared with 0.2 fatal incidents for buses that operate from terminals.
According to the report, curbside buses are also more likely to be out-of-service due to driver violations such as fatigued driving and fitness violations, compared with conventional carriers.
Hersman said safety violations are not discovered because curbside buses are excluded from regular enroute inspections. The buses also rely on online bus brokers, which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has no authority to regulate.
In addition, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has a lack of inspectors and enforcers. The agency has 878 employees reviewing compliance of more than 765,000 buses, a ratio of 1 worker to 1,000 carriers.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who requested the study, called the findings a "wake-up call."
The review was in response to a spate of deadly accidents early this year. A bus operated by World Wide Tours crashed in the Bronx in March as it was making its way to Chinatown on I-95, killing 15 passengers.
At least two other major accidents occurred the same month. Two people died and dozens were injured when a tour bus bound for Philadelphia crashed on the New Jersey Turnpike. On I-95, a bus operated by PRT tours rolled over on its way to Boston.
The second crash resulted in only injuries while the first prompted the U.S. Transportation Department to order Super Luxury Tours out of service and canceled the company's license for violating insurance requirements.
In a Senate hearing following the accidents, Hersman had testified that the two most important factors in bus safety are the condition of the vehicles and the performance of the drivers, but that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has not taken this into account in compliance reviews.
According to Hersman, the NTSB issued a number of recommendations years ago, such as installing seat belts and better emergency exits for children, the elderly and the disabled.
In response, lawmakers had criticized the Transportation Department for failing to implement the recommendations. They called for the passage of a bill, first introduced in 2009, requiring seatbelts, anti-ejection glazing on windows, stronger roofs to withstand rollovers, and reduced flammability of bus interiors.
According to the NTSB, there are nearly the same number of passengers on buses every year, 750 million, as there in commercial aviation, 800 million. Fatalities from motorcoach operations average 20 annually, while in aviation there are 70 deaths.
