15.

Curt Schilling Suspended by ESPN

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling was suspended by ESPN and taken off their Little League World Series coverage for a tweet in which he compared Muslims to Nazis.

"Curt's tweet was completely unacceptable, and in no way represents our company's perspective. We made that point very strongly to Curt and have removed him from his current Little League assignment pending further consideration," ESPN said in statement.

Schilling was brought back for MLB post season coverage.

Holy Cross Football Announced Syracuse Game in 2019

The Holy Cross Crusaders football team has finalized their schedule for the 2015-2017 seasons and a game against Syracuse in 2019 at the Carrier Dome. 

“I am pleased to announce that our football team will have the opportunity to play at Syracuse in the 2019 football season. This will be another important game for our program and our institution to play against a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent on a big stage with a national audience," said Athletic Director Nathan Pine.

Holy Cross and Syracuse have played 28 times in their history. This will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1973. 

Holy Cross Announces 2 Additions to Men's Basketball team

Holy Cross head men's basketball coach Bill Carmody has announced that Karl Charles and Matt Zignorski have joined the incoming freshman class for the Crusaders. 

“We are very happy to have Karl Charles and Matt Zignorski joining our program. They have both played at a high level, coming from winning high school and AAU programs. They are well rounded players who can dribble, pass and shoot, and we expect them to contribute to our program immediately," said Carmody.

Karl Charles has started every game so far this season for Holy Cross while Zignorski has been important off the bench.

Photo is of Karl Charles.

Bravehearts Ian Strom Makes SportsCenter Top Plays

Worcester Bravehearts got some national recognition making ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 plays with this diving catch.

Worcester Bravehearts Win Title

The Worcester Bravehearts won the FCBL Championship for the second straight year, defeating the Bristol Blues 6-4 in game three of the series at Muzzy Field.

CVS Charity Classic Donates $1.3 Million to Local Charities

The CVS Charity Classic donated $1.3 million to over 100 charities across Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Since the tournaments inception, the classic has raised more than $19 million for charity.

The 2015 CVS Classic was won by Keegan Bradley and Jon Curran

The 2016 CVS Charity Classic is set for June 26th-28th 2016 at Rhode Island Country Club.

Photo courtesy of Constance Brown photography

9.

Tyler Beede Pitches for Team USA in Futures Game

Auburn native and San Francisco Giants pitching prospect Tyler Beede pitched a scoreless inning in relief in Team USA's 10-1 win over the World Futures Team. Beede faced four batters in the fourth inning giving up only one hit and throwing 12 of 15 pitches for strikes.

8.

Holy Cross Names Bill Belichick's Daughter as Girls Lax Coach

Holy Cross has named Amanda Belichick, the daughter of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, the head women's lacrosse coach.

Belichick became the sixth head coach in program history and came to Holy Cross after spending the last two seasons as head coach at Wesleyan University.

"I am excited and honored to be the next women's lacrosse coach at Holy Cross. I want to thank Nathan Pine, Joe Bertoletti and the entire search committee for this opportunity, and for believing in my vision for the future of Holy Cross women's lacrosse. I look forward to building on the school's great tradition and working with the talented student-athletes in the program," said Belichick.

7.

Holy Cross Basketball Fires Milan Brown

After finishing with a record of 14-16 overall and 8-10 in conference play, Holy Cross relieved basketball coach Milan Brown of his duties following a Patriot League tournament loss to Bucknell.

"I am disappointed that we must make this change, but the success of our men's basketball program has not been commensurate with our competitive expectations under Coach Brown's leadership," said Nathan Pine, the director of athletics at Holy Cross. 

6.

Sharks Head Coach Roy Sommer Gets Win 600

The Worcester Sharks defeated the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-3 to give head coach Roy Sommer the 600th win of his AHL career. Sommer became only the third coach in AHL history to win 600 games. 

5.

Holy Cross Basketball Hires Bill Carmody

Holy Cross named Bill Carmody as Head Coach of the men's basketball team. Carmody became the 17th head coach in the history of the program and has 32 years of division one coaching experience, 17 of which come as a head coach. 

"I am excited about the opportunity to become the head coach at Holy Cross, and I look forward to bringing the program back to the top of the Patriot League," Carmody said.

4.

Worcester Natives in the World Series

This year's World Series between the Mets and Royals featured three Worcester natives, two for the Mets and one for the Royals. For the Mets, Shaun McNamara, a scout, and J.P. Ricciardi, special assistant  to General Manager Sandy Alderson. 

For Kansas City, pitcher Tim Collins is out for the year having Tommy John surgery but is an important part of the Royals future and helped them get to the Series last season.  

The Royals won the World Series 4-1 over the Mets

3.

Sharks Leave Worcester

The Worcester Sharks were a part of the Worcester sports community since 2006 but after the 2015 season they left for San Jose to become the San Jose Barracuda.

GoLocalWorcester looked at reasons why Worcester will miss the Sharks as well as what the Sharks leaving met for the DCU Center.

In their stay, the Sharks have made it to the playoffs four times and finished first in thier division once (2009-10). 

2.

The Deflategate Saga

The controversy started after the AFC Championship game when the Indianapolis Colts accused the Patriots of intentionally deflating footballs.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hired Ted Wells to conduct an "independent" investigation into the matter and in early May, the Wells Report was released. The Wells Report states that it was "more probably than not that Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities."

Five Days later, Goodell suspended Tom Brady for four games. The Patriots were also stripped of a 2016 first round pick and a 2017 4th round pick as well as being fined $1 million. The organization accepted those penalties, however, Brady would appeal.

After a long and drawn out appeal process, a New York federal court judge overturned Tom Brady's suspension, making him eligible to play. 

However, the NFL is now appealing the ruling and that appeal hearing is set for February, but will not impact the Super Bowl.

1.

Patriots Win 4th Super Bowl in Brady/Belichick Era

The New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl XLIX to win their fourth Super Bowl in the Brady/Belichick era and their first in ten years.

The game ended when the Seahawks and quarterback Russell Wilson decided to throw a pass on the goal line instead of running the ball with Marshawn Lynch. Wilson's pass was picked off by Malcolm Butler.

Tom Brady completed 27 passes in the game and was named Super Bowl MVP for the 3rd time in his career.