Virginia Senator Ben Affleck???

From: Washington Post
If you liked him as Bennifer . . . you'll love him as Benator!
That's the hot new idea being tossed around by Virginia Democrats, who are desperately searching for a big name to challenge the reelection bid of rising GOP star Sen. George Allen next year, now that outgoing Gov. Mark Warner has ducked out.
Why, who should happen to be pondering a move to Thomas Jefferson country but a certain square-jawed media magnet with a taste for liberal politics and millions to spend on it . . . Ben Affleck ! Star of "Gigli" and the J.Lo tab romance, now happily settled with "Alias" star Jennifer Garner .
The couple, expecting their first child, have been shopping for real estate around Charlottesville. British tabloids claim it's a done deal; we will only go so far as to report that they checked out at least one country estate a few weeks ago. ...Read more here

Monday Morning Quarterback

Josh Wilson returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown to lead Maryland's solid defensive effort in a 22-12 win over Wake Forest on Saturday. Keon Lattimore ran for 76 yards (on 15 carries) and the only offensive touchdown for the Terrapins (2-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who continued their recent dominance against the Demon Deacons (1-3, 0-1). Maryland has won seven straight in the series, including all five matchups since Jim Grobe took over here.
Maryland allowed Wake Forest 111 yards rushing and 244 total yards, while recovering two fumbles and holding the Demon Deacons to 5-for-19 on third-down conversions. And except for Barclay's 4-yard scoring run late in the third, Wake Forest's offense seemed out of rhythm just about all day.
Terp quarterback Sam Hollenbach was 12-22 for 169 yards with one interception and kicker Dan Ennis was a perfect 3-3 on field goals. Freshman Lance Ball added 51 yards on 17 carries.
The Washington Redskins have a bye this week.
The Washington Nationals got swept in all three games by the New York Mets this weekend and are officiially out of the playoffs. With six games left to play, the Nationals need to spit the six games to finish with a winning record for the season. But is has still been a great year for the Nationals first season in Washington.

"J.D." Wins Rockstar INXS

After a 13-week public audition, a former homeless musician has been named the new frontman of Australian rock group INXS, filling the shoes of late singer Michael Hutchence.
Canadian J.D. Fortune was selected by the band from a field of 15 that had been whittled to three for Tuesday night's finale of the ratings-challenged reality show CBS' "Rock Star: INXS."
"J.D. has a slightly dangerous edge and will bring a sense of spontaneity to our live show," INXS guitarist Tim Farriss said in a statement released Wednesday. "In addition, he has both the star quality we were looking for and is an inspired lyricist. I think he'll grow with us on all levels."
The single "Pretty Vegas," recorded before the final show's taping, was released to U.S. radio outlets Wednesday via the band's new label, Sony BMG's Epic Records.

Washington Redskins 14 Dallas Cowboys 13

From: The Washington Post
There was no indication the Washington Redskins were capable of scoring a touchdown, much less staging a miracle comeback and ending the curse of the Dallas Cowboys, 14-13.
Trailing by 13 points, still looking for the first trip to the end zone this season and facing an offensive crisis, quarterback Mark Brunell heaved a pretty pass on fourth and 15 from the Dallas 39-yard line, hitting Santana Moss in stride with less than four minutes to play. It was just the beginning.
Suddenly, Dallas's lead was six, and when a holding penalty negated the Cowboys' apparent first down a minute later, it became clear the Redskins would get the ball back at least one more time.
Their final drive began with 2 minutes 52 seconds left, and no timeouts, and on the second play Brunell put everything he had into the ball, unleashing a 70-yard bomb over the middle. Moss outraced cornerback Aaron Glenn and safety Roy Williams and did not stop running until he hit the wall behind the end zone. ...Read more here

Monday Morning Quarterback

Another bad sports weekend. The Maryland Terps lost their second home game in a row to West Virginia, 31-19. Maryland, like the two previous weeks, was in good shape going into the fourth quarter. But backup quarterback Pat White directed three fourth-quarter touchdown drives, and West Virginia ripped Maryland's defense for 301 yards rushing to win easily.
Freshman Jason Gwaltney scored two touchdowns for the Mountaineers (3-0), who had lost three straight at Maryland (1-2) since 1997. West Virginia let a 15-point lead dwindle to 21-19 before Gwaltney scored on a 15-yard run with 4:56 left in the game.
The Terrapins began their comeback with a 73-yard touchdown throw from Hollenbach to tight end Vernon Davis with 10:22 left. Davis caught the medium-length pass at the right sideline and easily outran the Mountaineers to the end zone. Then Antonio Lewis fumbled away the following kickoff, and Hollenbach converted the mistake into a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jo Jo Walker. But the Terps never got closer.
Hollenbach went 20-for-31 for 291 yards. Davis caught five passes for 158 yards, but the Terrapins could muster only 50 yards rushing against a defense that entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in yards allowed (128.5). ...Read more here
The Washington Nationals even had a worse weekend, losing two games in San Diego that they should have won and instead of being 2 1/2 games out of the wildcard playoff , they are now 4 1/2 games behind the leader with only 12 games left to play. The Nationals had won four straight on the road trip including a three game sweep of the New York Mets.
In the Saturday game with San Diego the Nationals had a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning when San Diego scored 5 runs to tie and force overtime. The Padres then scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 12th to win 8-5. ...Read more here
In the Sunday game, Washington behind the strong pitching of Esteban Loiaza held a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the eight inning, when San Diego scored to tie the game 1-1. The Padres then won the game 2-1 in the ninth inning by scoring a run on a Nationals throwing error.
Two heart-breaking losses and a chance at the playoffs slipping further away. ...Read more here

Washington Nationals Still in the Hunt

The Washington Nationals swept a 3 game series with The Mets in New York and are now 2 1/2 games from a wild-card spot in the playoffs with 15 games left to play. They have been written off several times the past month but keep coming back. They will need to win 10-11 of the 15 games to have a good chance at winning the wild-card.
From: The Washington Post
Quote
Somebody tell these guys they're dead. Display the Nationals' headstone in their locker room. Hand out "Washington R.I.P" T-shirts. But what good would it do? Somehow, the undead Nats never get the memo. Or the autopsy. Yes, they're alive -- alive again. How many times is that, and what exactly is the record?
Time after time for 11 weeks, the Nats have had their heads handed to them, their hearts kicked around and their spirits dragged through the infield dirt. They've come back from 0-8 to 8-8, and 1-7 to 7-7, only to lose in 10 innings both times. They came back from 0-6 to lead 7-6 with two outs in the ninth Sunday, only to lose 9-7. Their best efforts invariably led to their worst kick-in-the-gut defeats.
Games like this one at Shea were exactly the kind they usually found a way to lose or have taken. At one point, the Nationals lost 13 one-run games in a row, the major league record for such exasperation. They've lost on the road on a "balk-off" and a "walk-off." Twice since July 1, they've lost 1-0.
"A lot of people don't actually think we can win" the wild card, he(manager Frank Robinson) said after his office had cleared... "But we can. We need some help. But if we take care of our own business and keep winning, we'll be all right. Because everybody is playing everybody else, and, every night, somebody is going to lose." Quote...Read more here

Monday Morning Quarterback

Not the best weekend for sports. First, Maria Sharapova losses in the semi-finals of the US Open and Andre Agassi losses in the Mens final to Roger Federer, 6-3 2-6 7-6 6-1.
On the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York, 35-year-old Agassi graced the city with a display that was in equal part stubborn and inspired before bowing to the superiority of the superlative Swiss. And I was hoping the "old man" could win one more big title. ...Read more on the US Open here
Then my Maryland Terps lose to Clemson, 24-20 after leading 20-10 late in the fourth quarter. Terps quarterback Sam Hollenbach went 18-for-28 for 288 yards and two touchdowns for Maryland. Receiver Vernon Davis had six catches for 140 yards and a touchdown, but the running game was held to 56 yards on 40 carries.
The Terps are 1-1 (they beat Navy last weekend 23-20 when Hollenbach went 19-for-30 for 217 yards, and Mario Merrills ran for 149 yards on 30 carries to help Maryland recover from an early 11-point deficit in the opener for both teams)....Read more on the Terps loss here
Then the Washington Nationals lose 2 out of 3 to the Atlanta Braves, losing the Sunday game 9-7 after coming back to take the lead in the eigth inning (7-6 ). Chad Cordero gives up the lead on Chipper Jones homerun after 2 out in the ninth.
This leaves the Nationals 4 games back in the wild-card play-offs with just 18 games left to play. Time is ruuning out on the Nationals great innaugral season in DC. ...Read more on the Nationls loss here
But the Washington Redskins did save the weekend by winning their opening football game 9-7. But it was hardly a big win against a Chicago Bears team that is not suspose to be very good this year. The Redskins allowed only 166 total yards, overcame three turnovers, several untimely penalties and the loss of starter Patrick Ramsey, who had his neck wrung in the second quarter by blitzing linebacker Lance Brigs.
Mark Brunell, booed mercilessly last year by the home fans, entered and led three scoring drives, all ending in field goals by John Hall and powered in part by the running of Clinton Portis, who rushed for 121 yards on 21 carries. Looks like it may be a long season for the Redskins with an 8-8 record at best. ..Read more about the Redskins win here

Maria Fails to Make US Open Finals

Maria Sharapova lost to Kim Clijsters in the semi-finals of the US Open, but will still regain the number 1 ranking in the world from Lindsay Davenport. Clijsters, the athletic Belgian fourth seed needed six match points to kill off the stubborn Siberian Sharapova 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 on Friday, setting up a final against French 12th seed Mary Pierce.

Maria Heads Final Four at US Open

Maria Sharapova, the tournament's #1 seed, advanced to the semi-finals of the US Open and will face Kim Clijsters. The other semi-finals places Mary Pierce against Elena Dementieva. Dementieva defeated Lindsay Davenport, the #2 seed.

Maria into Round of 8 at US Open

Having cruised through the first three rounds, Maria Sharapova needed her best tennis to contain the hard-hitting Indian Sania Miraz, before eventually overwhelming her 6-2 6-1, to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open for the first time

Sharapova into US Open Sweet 16

Maria Sharapova won her third round match in the US Open defeating German Julia Schruff 6-2, 6-4 in a match lasting over an hour on Arthur Ashe Court.
Maria had lost only three games in the first two rounds combined as she heads into the round of 16 against Indian Sania Miraz who is ranked 47th in the world.