Sean O'Shea

The Boston Red Sox deserved to be eliminated from post season play if for one reason only -- John Lackey.

The notion of Lackey taking to the mound after announcing he was divorcing his wife who has what sounds like very serious breast cancer would be too much to bear.

The Red Sox should be glad they will not have to face that searing spotlight this post season.

After two losses that the Irish lost ugly now they are showing they can win ugly too.

The 15-12 victory over Pittsburgh will not have quieted the critics or pleased the purists.

But it is a win, albeit an ugly one.

In the end it comes down to defense and Notre Dame finally had it against Michigan State.

A stellar performance by the defensive unit , especially stopping the Michigan State run game, left coach Brian Kelly beaming and flashing an unfamiliar smile in his post game press conference.

“I couldn't take it any longer,” Kelly said,. “If I had to listen to you guys another week, I wasn’t going to show up.

Until the Michigan loss last week it is doubtful if a loss hurt more than the last second defeat to Michigan State last year.

Remember the scenario with seconds left instead of having Don Conroy kick a 46-yard field goal for a tie in extra time Coach Dantonio called for a fake field goal on 4th-and-13 from the Notre Dame 29 – and pulled off a touchdown.

Brian Kelly says he still believes but the Notre Dame coach is starting to sound like General Custer waiting for the cavalry to arrive.

Meanwhile his team is getting scalped.

Michigan pulled of a sensational last second victory 35-31 against Notre Dame before 114,000 fans last night in The Big House.

This was be Brian Kelly’s worst loss since being head coach of Notre Dame, especially as the boo birds were out in force after last week’s debacle against South Florida.

It asks fundamental questions about whether he is able to step up from Cincinnati to the most visible job in college football.

Led by an incredible display by Richard Dunne and a marvelous exhibit of goalkeeping by Shay Given, (pictured) Ireland somehow managed a 0-0 draw against Russia in Moscow on Tuesday.

Russia had several open goal chances but missed them all while Ireland had only one good shot on goal the entire 90 minutes

However, Richard Dunne in particular and Shay Given played powerfully to keep Ireland in the hunt for a place in the European Nations finals next summer.

Kilkenny had a well deserved All Ireland final win over Tipperary at Croke Park on Sunday, winning the title by four points.

It was Kilkenny's fifth victory in six years and they were the better team throughout. They won by 2-17 to 1-16.

Tipperary kept the game close enough but a strong finish by Kilkenny saw them score a critical point to leave four points between the teams.

Notre Dame must have though they wandered into the Twilight Zone after Saturday's truly extraordinary events surrounding their season opener when they lost to University of South Florida.

As the lightning crashed and the thunder rolled and the players resembled the Three Stooges with dropped passes, interception,stupid penalties, I found myself wondering if there was something more at work.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly is in a must-win even before his first game of the season.

A loss against South Florida will derail the careful narrative that the Irish will improve greatly from last season and play in a major bowl game, perhaps even a BCS game.