Here is a video clip of Madonna’s speech to the crowd at the Boston MDNA show at the TD Banknorth Center that took place last night (Tuesday 04 September).

Boston Speech: ‘Why I Love America’

Alex Avila’s drive sailed to deep right field, barely clearing both an outfielder and a wall.

An exhilarating opening series at Comerica Park was finally over, and the Detroit catcher could look forward to some much-needed rest.

“I’m too tired right now,” Avila said. “I’m glad we have an off day (Monday). this weekend has been crazy.”

Avila’s two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Tigers a stunning 13-12 victory over Boston on Sunday, leaving the Red Sox winless in three games under new manager Bobby Valentine.

Detroit swept the season-opening series, scoring 26 runs and winning twice in its final at-bat.

The Tigers trailed 10-7 on Sunday when Miguel Cabrera tied the game with a three-run shot off Alfredo Aceves in the ninth. Boston then scored twice in the 11th, but Mark Melancon (0-2) couldn’t hold the lead.

Cabrera and Prince Fielder singled with one out before a wild pitch sent Cabrera to third and Delmon Young’s sacrifice fly cut the margin in half. Avila followed with a drive to right and Cody Ross tried to make a leaping catch, but the ball appeared to hit a restraining gate just above the wall before caroming back onto the field.

Avila paused near second before being waved around the bases by the umpires. the play was not reviewed. Valentine said he asked and was assured by umpires that the ball had clearly hit the railing above the fence.

“You don’t see those kinds of games at this level very often,” Avila said. “There’s really no rhyme or reason or explanation for it.”

It’s certainly rare for the Red Sox: They lost for the first time when scoring 12 runs or more since a 22-13 loss to the Chicago White Sox on may 31, 1970, according to STATS LLC.

Duane Below (2-0) got one out for the win _ even though Detroit manager Jim Leyland said he wouldn’t be available _ in a game that lasted 4 hours, 45 minutes. Cabrera had five RBIs.

The Red Sox and New York Yankees are both off to 0-3 starts _ the first time that’s happened since 1966, according to STATS LLC.

Boston is without newly acquired closer Andrew Bailey, who had surgery on his right thumb. Melancon and Aceves are the primary candidates to close in Bailey’s absence, and both blew saves on Sunday.

“This is a work in progress,” Valentine said. “We’re three days in after losing our closer, and we’re still trying to figure it out.”

Nick Punto and Dustin Pedroia hit RBI singles in the 11th to give Boston the lead, but it didn’t hold up. Adrian Gonzalez homered earlier for the Red Sox.

“Our guys played a hell of a game,” Valentine said. “We had a walk-off loss on opening day, then got beat 10-0 and were down 4-0 in the first inning today _ but we fought back and took them 11 innings.”

Detroit beat the Red Sox 3-2 in Thursday’s opener on a ninth-inning hit by Austin Jackson, then cruised to a blowout Saturday. the Tigers seemed on their way to another easy win when Jhonny Peralta’s three-run double in the first inning gave them a 4-0 lead, but starter Max Scherzer couldn’t hold it.

Scherzer allowed seven runs on eight hits in 2 2-3 innings, but Boston’s Clay Buchholz wasn’t much better. he allowed seven runs on eight hits in four innings in what was his first start since June because of a stress fracture in his back.

Buchholz had gone 42 consecutive starts since the beginning of 2010 without allowing more than five earned runs.

Detroit reliever Daniel Schlereth allowed a two-run homer to Gonzalez on the first pitch he threw after coming on in the sixth. that gave Boston a 9-7 lead, and Vicente Padilla pitched four scoreless innings of relief for the Red Sox after replacing Buchholz.

The 34-year-old Padilla kept the powerful Detroit lineup off balance, at one point lobbing consecutive pitches of 54 and 52 mph on the stadium gun to Fielder in the seventh.

Punto made it 10-7 with an RBI infield single in the ninth, but Jackson and Brennan Boesch led off the bottom of the inning with singles, and Cabrera tied it.

“We’ve got to get this straight: It’s not about Prince and me,” Cabrera said. “We’ve got 25 guys, it’s about the Detroit Tigers, it’s about everybody here. We feel comfortable about everybody here so let’s play ball and play hard.”

NOTES: the Tigers placed RHP Doug Fister (strained left side) on the 15-day disabled list and recalled RHP Brayan Villarreal from Triple-A Toledo, moves they announced after Saturday’s game. … Valentine went out onto the field after Gonzalez was hit by a pitch from Phil Coke in the eighth. the umpires then warned both benches, which appeared to annoy the Boston manager even more.

Avila’s homer gives Tigers 13-12 win over Red Sox

The Tampa Bay Rays haven’t let a little controversy sway them from signing free agents over the past two seasons. Last year, it was outfielder Manny Ramirez, who was long cited as a prima donna for his behavior on and off the field in Los Angeles, Boston and Cleveland.

This year, the team has signed designated hitter Luke Scott, who created a stir in Baltimore last season by expressing doubts about Barack Obama’s birth certificate.

“(President Obama’s) birth certificate has yet to be validated,” the Kansas City Star quoted Scott as saying in may. “If they can counterfeit $100 bills, I think it’s a million times easier to counterfeit a birth certificate, if you ask me. … so, all it is, let’s just see if it’s real. Anybody can produce a document, so let’s check it out.”

The president’s 1961 birth in Honolulu was questioned by some as long ago as 2005, despite an abundance of evidence to discredit claims that he was born outside the United States, or as a foreign citizen. the Baltimore Orioles were quick to distance the organization from Scott’s comments.

Scott later told the Baltimore Sun he felt it was his duty as an American to use the platform available to him as a professional athlete to question authority.

“We all have that responsibility as Americans,” Scott said. “Whatever platform you have, large or small, fight for what’s right. Fight for what’s right and fight for the principles of honor, integrity, accountability, being a person. Responsible. Hard work. Discipline. Honesty. things like that, try and pass those principles on to the next generation. be a voice for that. Maybe being a baseball player and having a little bigger platform than the next (person), then my responsibility should be to stand up for those principles. if I was in construction or working in an office I should stand up for those principles as well.”

Scott also drew barbs from then-Ray Matt Garza in September 2010, when he quoted the Bible after Garza expressed satisfaction in a win after a previous rough outing against the Orioles.

Scott chastised Garza for boasting, using the verse: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Garza responded the next day by saying he thought it was inappropriate for Scott, a devout Christian, to bring religion into baseball. “My feeling is that God has a lot better things to worry about than if I’m going to throw a strike on a certain pitch. A lot of other things,” Garza said. “I’d rather (Scott) not bring it up.”

Scott later defended his comments.

“He’s just saying religion is not something you bring into baseball,” Scott said. “It’s all a matter of choice. That’s not how I view it. I consider it a blessing to be here, and I am thankful for the opportunity to play. and that’s just my personal beliefs.”

New Tampa Bay Rays DH Luke Scott has stirred controversy over Obama’s birth certificate and religion – Tampa Bay Times

Nate Robinson is close to signing with the Golden State Warriors and could join the team as soon as Wednesday, sources close to the situation confirmed to SI.com.

If the seven-year veteran passes a physical as expected, the sources say he has agreed to a one-year deal worth approximately $1 million. Robinson, the 5-foot-9 guard who’s best known as the only player to win the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest three times, recently completed a buyout of the final season of his deal with Oklahoma City before becoming a free agent. According to a source close to the situation, Robinson only gave back approximately $250,000 of the $4.5 million owed to him by the Thunder and will be paid approximately $3.4 million this season based on the proration of the lockout-shortened season.

For Robinson, it’s less about the money than it is about rebuilding his name in Golden State. he was a productive and popular player during most of his four-plus seasons in new York, even averaging 17.2 points per game during the 2008-09 campaign in which the Knicks went 32-50. but he developed a reputation as an immature, me-first talent during his later years with the Knicks and while with Boston.

"I’m a fun and loving type of guy and always a positive person who’ll be trying to make people smile and laugh, and people take that as being a little kid and being silly," Robinson told SI.com recently. "this whole situation has definitely humbled me as a person and as a player. I just feel like, at times, I really don’t get that fair shot, like some other guys in the league, but I guess that’s my path. … I’ll continue to work hard."

Robinson spent most of his Celtics days near the end of Doc River’s bench, although he had some memorable moments in the seven-game, 2010 NBA Finals loss to the Lakers when he dubbed Glen "big Baby" Davis and himself the "Shrek and Donkey" of Boston’s bunch. he was traded to the Thunder last February and played in just four regular-season games and logged only 12 combined minutes in Oklahoma City’s three playoff series.

The Warriors (2-3) could use depth and scoring in their backcourt, as Stephen Curry is once again dealing with the sort of nagging ankle injury that forced him to have offseason surgery. Veteran guard Monta Ellis is leading the team in scoring at 20.8 points per game, but rookie guard Klay Thompson (11th pick overall out of Washington State) has struggled in the early going. Robinson has never been known as a good defender, though, and first-year coach mark Jackson has been preaching defense since he was hired in June.

The story was first reported by the Bay Area News Group.

Warriors close to signing Robinson

CLEVELAND — it has been nearly five years since Dwane Casey last served as a head coach in an NBA game.

The Minnesota Timberwolves fired Casey on Jan. 23, 2007. The team was .500 at that time. and as he gets his second chance as a head coach in the league, that’s where his new team starts — at 0-0, in Cleveland on Monday evening.

“I’m far more confident in what I want to do,” Casey, the new Toronto Raptors coach, said Monday morning after the team’s shoot-around. “My first time out I had a veteran team that had been to the conference finals. it was a winning team, without the same personnel, but they wanted to do some of the things. But this is my personality. this team is my personality: the defensive focus. I’m far more confident this time around in my decisions, what I want to do, how I want to do it. I am different.”

***Casey declined to announce his starters on Monday. in the Raptors’ two pre-season games, Casey used two different lineups. at home to Boston, it was Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Andrea Bargnani and Jamaal Magloire. on the road, Jerryd Bayless and Aaron Gray replaced Calderon and Magloire.

In addition, Casey said the starting centre spot will rotate between Magloire, Gray and Amir Johnson.

“Everybody’s kind of keeping it from everybody right now,” Casey said. “They’re not announcing it and getting it out there. we don’t know who they’re starting. That’s one reason we don’t want to announce who we’re starting. It’s not going to be a major secret after the first few games. Early, nobody knows. It’s kind of unusual. nobody really gave their whole offensive package in the two exhibition games. everybody is kind of in the dark.”

***The Raptors will not get to see their first pick from the 2011 Draft until next year. Jonas Valanciunas, the fifth-overall selection, will play another season in Lithuania before coming to Toronto.

However, Cleveland will get an early look at Kyrie Irving, the first-overall pick. The point guard will start on Monday. Irving averaged 16 points and three assists in two exhibition games, going to the free-throw line 15 times in the first game. he played just 11 games in his lone season at Duke because of a toe injury last year.

“He is an attacker,” Casey said. “He’s a guy who has a great command of the basketball in his hands. he thinks attack first. I think he’s had seven [missed] three-pointers. … He’s capable. Once he starts to knock those down, he’s going to be a terrific, terrific player. But he is an attack-mode point guard.”

• Email: ekoreen@nationalpost.com | Twitter: ekoreen

Raptors coach Dwane Casey excited, not nervous, for second chance

While we all hear the stories about how great Kobe and Lebron are, we do not give enough time to the lesser known players that are still very good. sure Lebron has great dunks and Kobe can shoot from anywhere, but there are many other good players in the league that put on a jersey every night like those two guys.

One of those players is Rajon Rondo of the Celtics. He is the point guard on that NBA Championship caliber team that happened to win it all back in 2007. He is fast and a great passer and is becoming a better scorer each and every game. many do not know about him since his is overshadowed by Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen there in Boston. Soon he will be a household name as he keeps improving.

Another great scoring guard is Monta Ellis of the Golden State Warriors. He is averaging around 25 points a night and many do not even know who he is. That is a shame and something should be done about that. Maybe he will make the all Star team soon and then his name will get out there.

Both these players should get more press coverage as they are very talented and should be shown on TV more. Perhaps they will continue to get better and become the stars of their teams in the future. Other players also fit this mold. Guys like JJ Hickson, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant amongst others are all up and coming players in the NBA.

The Best Guards in the NBA