It was a homecoming of sorts for several members of the University of Vermont mens' basketball team, who faced Butler last night in the Hoosier State.

For those of us who remember the skinny kid from Texas who threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in just his second major league start, the news that the Boston Red Sox traded away Clay Buchholz yesterday is tinged with some sadness.

In Monday Night Football, two teams with varying degrees of playoff hopes met in Landover, Maryland last night, and one came away with their long shot post-season hopes still alive, the other veering from a self-controlled path to a playoff berth due largely to their own mistakes.

The New England Patriots took care of their own pre-Xmas wish list in impressive fashion yesterday. They went to Denver, where even Tom Brady has a losing record, and left with a 16-3 victory.

The Boston Bruins played a tight, mostly mistake free game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, losing in overtime but gaining one point for a regulation tie, then came home to Boston last night and played a sloppy, mistake-filled game against the Anaheim Ducks, getting nothing out of it but a 4-3 loss.

The New England Patriots looked to be in control of their Monday Night contest against the Baltimore Ravens last night, building up a 23-3 first half lead, but some uncharacteristic sloppy play to open the third quarter turned the game around in a hurry and the Pats needed some Tom Brady magic in the fourth quarter to finally pull away with a 30-23 win.

The hot stove wars are heating up major league baseball, one day after the Boston Red Sox ramped up the arms race by acquiring White Sox ace Chris Sale from Chicago. The NY Yankees weren't about to let that shot across the bow go unanswered and yesterday re-acquired the game's premier closer in Aroldis Chapman, luring him away from the World Champion Chicago Cubs with the biggest contract ever handed out to a reliever, a five-year, $86 Million deal.

Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski dropped jaws all across major league baseball yesterday, and exploded hot stoves across New England with the news that he had acquired Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale in exchange for four prospects, including two ranked as among the best potential future stars in the game.

The Boston Bruins finished off a back and forth battle with the Florida Panthers last night on an overtime goal by David Pastrnak, a thing of beauty that needs to be seen to be appreciated, and sent the Bruins faithful home buzzing about the team's 4-3 win.

Even without Rob Gronkowski on the field, Tom Brady had little trouble entering the record books yesterday to become the winningest NFL quarterback of all time.