SPAM und Nonsins ... » second against Wayne Simmonds, and Scott Hart

HOUSTON - When Case Keenum woke up Wednesday morning, he didnt even realize it was Christmas Eve.Its easy to see why Houstons quarterback hasnt had time to think about the holidays. Instead of visions of sugar plums dancing in his head, hes swimming in play calls, formations and defensive alignments after being plucked off the St. Louis practice squad to start for the Texans.Keenum was released by Houston in training camp when the team traded for Ryan Mallett. But after Mallett, Ryan Fitzpatrick and rookie Tom Savage all went down with injuries, the Texans called on Keenum again.And he delivered, guiding them to a 25-13 win over the Ravens to keep their playoff hopes alive just six days after re-signing with the team. Houston needs a win and losses by both Baltimore and San Diego to clinch a post-season berth.Theres really no normal right now, Keenum said. I cant even believe its Christmas Eve. I havent done a whole lot of shopping in the last few days.Running back Arian Foster said that Keenum was the first person at the facility and the last one to leave every day last week. Keenum wasnt sure exactly how many hours he spent working that week but knows it was a lot.I really dont want to estimate. Id probably count the hours I slept easier, Keenum said.So how many hours did he sleep?It went by too fast, he said. Not enough hours.Coach Bill OBrien was impressed with Keenums poise and the way he led the team Sunday. OBrien said its hard to be thrown into a locker room suddenly and be expected to be a leader.Coming in there and having the recollection of our schemes that he did was really good, OBrien said. When he got into the huddle, he did a good job.It was the first NFL win for Keenum, who lost each of the eight games he started for Houston last season. He was 20 of 42 for 185 yards with an interception against the Ravens.Keenum was excited to return to the Texans in the city where he starred at the University of Houston. He left the school as the NCAAs all-time leader in career total yards (20,114), yards passing (19,217), touchdowns passing (155) and total touchdowns (178).Despite his stellar college career, he went undrafted before being picked up by the Texans.After struggling in his first stint as a starter for the Texans, he is excited to have finally gotten his first NFL win. He said hes received too many well-wishes to count since the victory Sunday.Theyre all special and all mean a lot, he said. I dont play to prove people wrong, although thats nice to do. I play to prove people right that have been in my corner and been supporting me my whole life.Keenum thinks hes been helped by an increased knowledge of defences and how to pick up protections since being released by Houston in August. Hes still a bit in shock at the wild turn his life has taken in the last couple of weeks, but he has a plan to not let the situation overwhelm him.(Its) very crazy, he said. But I try not to pick my head up and look around. ... Just taking it a day at a time.___AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Roger Clemens Jersey . Notes on P.K. Subban, Dale Weise, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Ilya Bryzgalov and more. Teoscar Hernandez Jersey . Granlund scored 2:04 into the first period. Max Reinhart, on his first NHL shift of the season, neatly stripped the puck from Zack Smith at the Senators blue-line. As he moved in, his attempted shot deflected into the slot where Granlund buried a shot past Craig Anderson. http://www.bluejaysonline.com/blue-jays-roger-clemens-jersey/ . -- Jonas Hiller is cautiously confident he has kicked his vertigo. Freddy Galvis Jersey . Like a magic trick, the puck popped out behind Stalock in the San Jose net. While Sharks coach Todd McLellan decried the legality of the tiebreaking goal, the Los Angeles Kings celebrated their latest, greatest escape yet. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Jersey . Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here.SAN JOSE, Calif. - Matt Read, Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux scored in a span of 2:45 early in the third period to erase a one-goal deficit and lead the Philadelphia Flyers past San Jose 5-2 on Monday night for their first win over the Sharks since 2000. Mark Streit and Jacob Voracek also scored and Steve Mason made 20 saves for the Flyers, who had 11 losses and two ties in the series since beating the Sharks on Dec. 21, 2000. Sharks rookie Matt Nieto scored twice in the first period for his first career multigoal game, but that lead was erased in a flash early in the third period when Antti Niemi was sent to the bench as San Jose lost for the fourth time in five games. The Sharks have just four goals in those five games but were in position to get the win before the Flyers took advantage of shaky goaltending by Niemi and lacklustre overall play from San Jose to set a franchise record with their 10th win this season when trailing in the third period. Read started the onslaught when his shot on the rush deflected off defenceman Matt Irwins stick to tie the game 1:11 into the third. The Flyers took the lead just 1:18 later when Niemi gave up a big rebound on Erik Gustafssons point shot that went right to Raffl in the slot. A neutral-ice turnover by Irwin led to Girouxs 18th goal on a shot that deflected off Niemis glove, stunning the home crowd 1:27 after Philadelphia took the lead. Giroux also set up Voraceks late goall that sealed the win, finishing the game with a goal and two assists.dddddddddddd The Flyers had controlled play since the first period but were unable to get the equalizer until early in the third. Niemi made a nice save early in the second against Wayne Simmonds, and Scott Hartnell and Gustafsson each missed the net on good chances later in the period. The Sharks almost extended their lead on a late power play but Mason robbed Brent Burns with a glove save to keep San Joses lead at 2-1 heading into the third. The teams traded power-play goals early in the first period, with Streit scoring on a point shot through a screen by Simmonds after Nieto was called for hooking in the offensive zone. Nieto more than made up for his transgression the rest of the period. With Nicklas Grossmann in the box for hooking, Irwin shot the puck into the corner from his own blue line. Tommy Wingels raced to the puck to negate an icing call and sent a perfect feed to Nieto in front of the net for the deflection on his first career power-play goal. Nieto was the recipient of another nice pass later in the period, when Burns set him up with a blind, backhand pass from the corner that led to his second goal. That gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead that lasted until the third. NOTES: Flyers D Kimmo Timonen was scratched for the second straight game with a foot injury. ... The Sharks snapped an 0-for-16 slump on the power play with Nietos first goal. ' ' '