Boston Bruins game postponed In Wake Of Explosion

BOSTON (AP)

The NHL says Monday night's game between the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins at TD Garden has been postponed in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.

No makeup date has been scheduled.
The league says it ''wishes to express its sympathy to all affected by the tragic events that took place in Boston earlier this afternoon.''

Two bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon on Monday, killing two people, injuring 23 others, and sending authorities rushing to aid wounded spectators. A senior U.S. intelligence official said two other explosive devices were found nearby.

Jennings leaves Packers to sign with Vikings

After more than a day of courting, Minnesota signed Green Bay Packers receiver Greg Jennings on Friday to a five-year contract. ESPN's Josina Anderson is reporting that Jennings' five-year deal is for $47.5 million with $18.5 million guaranteed. Jennings, 29, was the biggest-name receiver still available in free agency, and the Vikings were perilously thin at the position after the trade of Percy Harvin to the Seattle Seahawks earlier in the week.

"To me, he was a unique situation," Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman said of being aggressive in free agency with Jennings. "And I tell you guys all the time, if there's something unique out there that you have an opportunity to go get a player, we're very, very fortunate to have the ownership we have to give us the resources we need to go do a move like we did today. So, again, I'm a very strong believer in building through the draft, but every once in a while something unique will come about that you just want to make sure that you can try and get accomplished to get that player here."

Jennings, who was limited to a career-low eight games for the Packers last year, finished with only 36 catches for 366 yards and four touchdowns. He continues the border-state crossover in recent years that has seen former Packers Brett Favre, Ryan Longwell, Darren Sharper, Robert Ferguson and others head to Minnesota.brian hall

Robbie Rogers comes out as gay, retires

Former Columbus Crew and United States midfielder Robbie Rogers has come out as gay and announced his retirement effective immediately.

The 25-year-old American, who played for Leeds United and left League One side Stevenage last month, wrote on his blog that he had been afraid of revealing his sexuality - but that he is now leaving football.

Rogers, who won 18 caps for the United States men's national team, wrote: "Secrets can cause so much internal damage. People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay.

"Try convincing yourself that your creator has the most wonderful purpose for you even though you were taught differently.''

He added: "Now is my time to step away. It's time to discover myself away from football.''.sky sports

Francisco Liriano Breaks Arm Scaring Kids?

Francisco Liriano was set to sign a two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason, but the deal nearly fell apart when the left-hander suffered a broken arm. Fortunately the injury is to Liriano’s right arm, so he ended up agreeing to a one-year deal with the Pirates with a team option for 2014.
What makes Liriano’s broken arm so bizarre are the stories that have come along with it. A few weeks ago, a Dominican newspaper reported that Liriano fractured his right arm after he slipped and fell in a bathroom. The 29-year-old said that is not what happened at all, but that doesn’t make the injury any less of a fluke.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Liriano said he broke his arm while intentionally slamming it into a door on Christmas Day in an attempt to scare his children, who were in the room next door. The left-hander said he felt little pain at first but decided he needed to go to the hospital after about 20 minutes.
“I was surprised when I got to the hospital and they told me it was broken,” he explained.
Liriano said that his agent, Greg Genske, couldn’t believe it when he told him what had happened and that he would not be able to make the trip to Pittsburgh for his physical with the Pirates. He also said that he never spoke with anyone in the Dominican Republic about the injury, so he has no idea where the report from El Caribe came from.larry brown sports

Kaepernick tough on himself After Loss

Kaepernick said Tuesday that he'll be training in the Atlanta area within a week, and the strong-armed and fleet-footed quarterback will bring some of his receivers along with him. All of it is part of Kaepernick's quick evolution from backup to starter that will continue when he enters training camp as the unquestioned franchise star.

After losing 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens in New Orleans on Sunday, Kaepernick summed up his breakout second season ''as not being good enough.'' He said the Super Bowl loss will stick with him ''for the rest of my life.'
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''It's good to get the experience,'' Kaepernick said. ''We should have won that game regardless, though.''
A man of few words and a lot of yards, Kaepernick's potential might give 49ers fans reason to be optimistic more than anything following the first Super Bowl loss in the franchise's storied history.
Kaepernick threw for 1,814 yards and 10 touchdowns with three interceptions in the regular season, starting seven games after taking over for Alex Smith, who will likely be traded or released in the coming months to clear salary-cap space. He also ran for 415 yards and five touchdowns.
Kaepernick really ran away with his new role in the playoffs.

As San Francisco started utilizing more of the Pistol offense he made famous at Nevada, Kaepernick threw for 798 yards and four touchdowns in three postseason games. He also ran for 264 yards and three scores, including a quarterback-playoff record 181 yards rushing in a divisional-round victory over Green Bay.

''He was fantastic the entire season,'' 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. ''The stage was not too big for him. He competed at the highest level and played extremely well. He showed a lot of poise, a lot of leadership the entire game. I can't say enough, really. With Colin, it's always just appropriate.A/P

Super Bowl 2013 sets ratings record

Nielsen ratings reported the game scored a 48.1 rating and 71 share in its select measurement of big cities. That's 1 percent over a similar measurement in last year's game.
For three years in a row, the Super Bowl has set a new record for most-watched event in U.S. television history. Nielsen is expected to have an estimate of how many people watched the game later on Monday.

One ratings point represents 1,147,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.7 million TV homes. The share means that 71 percent of TVs that were on at the time were tuned to the Super Bowl.

At CBS' request, that ratings figure did not include a 30-minute period when there was a partial power outage in the Superdome. During that period, the metered market rating was 46.5, nearly two full points behind the 45-minute period directly before it.
The network also drew criticism by the Parents Television Council for not moving quickly enough to edit out a profanity said by Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco shortly after the game. Flacco was caught by microphones describing his team's victory as ''f------ awesome.''

The game also illustrated the explosive growth of second screen activity. The company Trendrr TV, which tracks activity on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, estimated there were 47.7 million social media posts during the game. That compares to 17 million during the 2012 Super Bowl and 3 million the year before that.a/p

X GAMES Caleb Moore, 25, Dies After Crash

The innovative freestyle snowmobile rider, who was hurt in a crash at the Winter X Games in Colorado, died Thursday morning. He was 25.

Moore had been undergoing care at a hospital in Grand Junction since the Jan. 24 crash. Family spokeswoman Chelsea Lawson confirmed his death, the first in the 18-year history of the X Games.
''He lived his life to the fullest. He was an inspiration,'' Lawson said.

A former all-terrain vehicle racer, Moore switched over to snowmobiles as a teenager and quickly rose to the top of the sport. He won four Winter X Games medals, including a bronze last season when his younger brother, Colten, captured gold.

Caleb Moore was attempting a backflip in the freestyle event in Aspen last week when the skis on his 450-pound snowmobile caught the lip of the landing area, sending him flying over the handlebars. Moore landed face first into the snow with his snowmobile rolling over him.
Moore stayed down for quite some time, before walking off with help and going to a hospital to treat a concussion. Moore developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for surgery. The family later said that Moore, of Krum, Texas, also had a complication involving his brain.A/P