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5908. wabbit - 12/9/2007 7:07:21 PM  Ray Allen was shaky, Kevin Garnett was quiet, and Paul Pierce flat out struggled. Trouble for the Boston Celtics? No. On a night when the three superstars were less than super, Rajon Rondo matched a season-high with 18 points, and the Celtics continued their torrid pace by holding off the Chicago Bulls 92-81 on Saturday night. Sure, Allen scored 21 points, but Rondo was the difference. Boston was leading 86-70 after James Posey threw a behind-the-back pass to Allen with 5:23 remaining, but instead of cruising to a win, the Celtics had to hang on. The Bulls scored the next 11 points, culminating with a three-point play by Andres Nocioni that made it 86-81 with just under a minute left. Garnett then hit a fadeaway jumper, and the Celtics won their sixth straight. At 17-2, they own the league's best record.
Maybe the Phoenix Suns were a little tired after scoring all those points on this road trip. Maybe on the second game of a back-to-back, and the finale of a five-game trip, the NBA's offensive juggernaut took the league's worst team a little too lightly. Or maybe the frigid Minnesota winter chilled Steve Nash and the red-hot Suns on a day when temperatures dipped well below zero. Whatever the reason, the success-starved Timberwolves will take any win they can get, any way they can get it. The magnificent Suns' offense fell flat in the second half and Al Jefferson tied a career-high with 32 points to go with 20 rebounds to carry the Timberwolves to a 100-93 victory on Saturday night.
LeBron James consistently hit jumpers. He looked good on drives to the basket and wowed the crowd with a couple of dunks. Too bad for the Cleveland Cavaliers that was before the game. When James shed his basketball gear for street clothes just before tipoff, he could only watch helplessly Saturday night as the reigning Eastern Conference champions extended their slide. Gerald Wallace scored 22 points and Raymond Felton went 8-for-8 from the foul line in the final 16 seconds as the Charlotte Bobcats snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 96-93 win over the slumping Cavaliers. As James missed his fifth straight game with a sprained left index finger, the Cavaliers couldn't hold onto a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter, then missed several chances down the stretch in their sixth straight loss.
NBA scores
5909. wonkers2 - 12/9/2007 8:12:07 PM Sailboat Race Pics 5910. wabbit - 12/10/2007 3:21:01 PM  Motivated to the extreme by the garden-variety guarantee of victory issued by second-year Steelers safety Anthony Smith at mid-week, the Patriots made beating the Steelers seem like the most urgent, most desperate task ever put before them. Guarantees, though, had a rough day Sunday when the New England Patriots stayed unbeaten with a 34-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes, Randy Moss caught two and Steelers safety Smith, who guaranteed his team would win, was burned on two long scoring throws. The lopsided victory followed a two-game struggle in which the Patriots (13-0) needed late comebacks to beat teams with losing records, Philadelphia and Baltimore. They had a short week to prepare for the Steelers (9-4) after beating the Ravens on Monday night on a touchdown catch by Gaffney with 44 seconds left.
Tony Romo and Jason Witten put mistakes behind them well enough to connect on a game-winning touchdown that gave the Dallas Cowboys the NFC East title. Romo threw a 16-yard pass to Witten with 18 seconds left, lifting Dallas to a 28-27 win over deflated Detroit on Sunday. The quarterback fumbled near midfield on the drive and the bouncing football was recovered by a teammate after going through a linebacker's hands. The tight end lost the football on the previous possession, less than 1 yard from a go-ahead score. Dallas (12-1) clinched the NFC East for the first time since 1998 and moved a step closer to earning home-field advantage in the conference playoffs.
The Green Bay Packers are going back to the playoffs. And maybe they're bringing a running game with them. Green Bay didn't need Brett Favre to throw the ball all over the field to clinch the NFC North on Sunday, relying on the rushing of Ryan Grant and a pair of special teams touchdowns from Will Blackmon in a 38-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders. The Packers (11-2) assured an end to their two-year absence from the postseason with three games left.
Matt Hasselbeck threw four touchdown passes - the most of his soaring season - and Seattle clinched its fourth consecutive NFC West title with an emphatic 42-21 victory over Arizona on Sunday, ending the Cardinals' quest for their first division title since 1975. The Seahawks (9-4) stormed to a 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter, intercepted Kurt Warner five times and sacked him five times while cruising to their fifth consecutive victory. It's their longest streak since a team-record 11-game run two seasons ago that helped them reach their first Super Bowl. This current streak has come since coach Mike Holmgren declared he was ditching most of a stalled running game and relying on Hasselbeck's passing.
NFL scores
5911. OhioSTOPAS - 12/14/2007 3:52:05 AM Seem to be a lot of Yankees on today's list of cheaters . . . 5912. wonkers2 - 12/14/2007 3:30:22 PM Mitch Albom on the Mitchell Report 5913. jexster - 12/14/2007 6:39:52 PM Here's an idea - BASEBALL CARDS!
Name By Name 5914. wabbit - 12/14/2007 9:45:00 PM I almost feel bad for the guys named in the report. They probably represent the tip of the iceberg. 5915. wonkers2 - 12/14/2007 10:58:33 PM I'm sure that's true, but the time has come to put a stop to the doping. They've been putting crackheads in jail for 20 years. These guys don't deserve a free pass. 5916. jexster - 12/17/2007 4:17:27 AM Leave Barry ALONE! Put asterisks by Clemmons, the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Orioles....The Trail of Steroid Abuse
We shall overcome Honkers's racist lynchings
FIRE Bud Selig NOW 5917. wabbit - 12/17/2007 5:59:34 PM 
"Doesn’t help us, does it?" Colin Montgomerie said. "If he took a bloody year off, it would help. Never mind 10 weeks."
He's talking about Tiger Woods, of course, who won the Target World Challenge with a seven-shot victory, receiving a $1.35 million check that goes to his Tiger Woods Learning Center. Woods has had quite a year in 2007. He became a father for the first time. After winning, he walked over to his 6-month-old daughter, dressed in a red fleece top, for a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the head. Then came the presentation on the 18th green at Sherwood Country Club, where Woods collected his eighth trophy of the year.
Jim Furyk cut a six-shot lead down to two at the turn and was poised to get even closer on the 10th hole. Woods holed a 12-foot birdie putt up the slope, and Furyk three-putted for bogey from 4 feet above the hole. It was a stunning two-shot swing, and Woods soon restored his margin and coasted to victory.
He closed with a 4-under 68 to tie the tournament record at 22-under 266, making him the first player to win consecutive titles at this year-end tournament for an elite, 16-man field.
Masters champion Zach Johnson won the B-flight and a load of Christmas cash. Johnson birdied the last hole for a 68 to finish second, worth $840,000. Furyk, who hit another tee shot in the water for double bogey on the 15th, shot a 71 to finish third and won $570,000.
The margin of victory was the largest at this tournament in its nine-year history, and it was the third time this year that Woods won a tournament by seven shots or more. And this after taking a 10-week break.
5918. wabbit - 12/17/2007 6:00:22 PM  A simple slant pattern to his favorite receiver gave Brett Favre yet another record in a milestone season. It's been a pretty big year for his team, too. The Green Bay Packers secured a first-round playoff bye for the first time since 1997. Favre threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, eclipsing Dan Marino to become the NFL career leader in yards passing, in a 33-14 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. Greg Jennings and Donald Lee caught scoring passes and kicker Mason Crosby was 4-for-4 from 44, 50, 25 and 46 yards for Green Bay, which needed only to win for the first-round bye after the Seahawks lost 13-10 to the Panthers. Green Bay (12-2) also kept pace with the Cowboys for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and is one victory off the franchise record.
After Baltimore's Matt Stover missed a 44-yard field goal in the extra period, Miami's Greg Camarillo turned a short completion into a 64-yard touchdown, and the Dolphins beat the Baltimore Ravens 22-16. With the 1972 perfect-season Dolphins cheering them on, the woebegone 2007 team rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit and snapped a 16-game losing streak. Camarillo broke over the middle on third down and had two steps on the secondary when he caught a pass from Cleo Lemon near midfield. Finding himself in the clear, Camarillo sprinted to the end zone for his first NFL touchdown. The Miami bench quickly emptied as Holliday and his teammates ran after Camarillo and mobbed him in the corner of the stadium. With their first victory since Dec. 10, 2006, the Dolphins (1-13) avoided matching the worst start in NFL history. Cam Cameron finally earned his first victory as an NFL head coach, 11 months after taking the job.
The Patriots found another way to stay unbeaten - with a running game. Facing rain, wind and chilly gusts above 20 mph, New England relied on Laurence Maroney 's rushing instead of Tom Brady 's passing and beat the New York Jets 20-10 Sunday in the Spygate rematch to clinch home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. After the Patriots became the second team in NFL history to go 14-0, Bill Belichick broke into a broad grin at his sideline and kept it until he met Eric Mangini, his former protege and defensive coordinator. Mangini had angered Belichick when he left to become coach of the Jets last season. Most of their previous four midfield meetings were colder than Sunday's weather. Mangini had turned Belichick in for having a video assistant use a sideline videocamera in violation of NFL rules after the season opener in which the Patriots beat the Jets (3-11). The NFL fined Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 and took away their first-round draft choice next year for the illegal taping. He said there was no extra meaning to Sunday's win because of that. Video helped the Patriots when they challenged a call of a 7-yard touchdown pass from Chad Pennington , who was in for the injured Kellen Clemens , to Justin McCareins with 2:32 left. Replay officials ruled he didn't get both feet in the back of the end zone. Then Mike Nugent missed a 35-yard field goal attempt.
NFL scores
5919. wonkers2 - 12/22/2007 12:14:51 AM Here's a new sport not for the faint of heart!5920. wonkers2 - 12/24/2007 2:31:01 AM Let's Go Sailing! 5921. wonkers2 - 12/28/2007 4:19:30 AM Racing sailboats are on steroids, too! 5922. jexster - 12/28/2007 4:40:14 AM The SS Plutocrat 5923. wabbit - 12/31/2007 11:02:21 PM From disarray and heartache to confidence and dominance, the Washington Redskins will enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the NFC after Sunday's 27-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys with a hot quarterback and maybe the hottest running back. And with a defense coming off a game in which it allowed exactly 1 yard rushing. And, perhaps most importantly, on a mission for the teammate who wore No. 21. It's been four weeks since the Redskins attended the funeral of their best defensive player, and they haven't lost since. "Win for Sean" was as strong Sunday as it was when the four-game winning streak began Dec. 6, reinforced by everything from the fiery speech given by kick returner Rock Cartwright on the field before the game to the white "21" on the front of the black baseball cap worn by coach Joe Gibbs at his postgame news conference. The Redskins (9-7) will travel to Seattle on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. game, a rematch of a 2005 division playoff won 20-10 by the Seahawks. Washington will be riding the longest current winning streak in the NFC, including three straight victories by double digits. It's a remarkable renaissance for a team that stayed afloat with close, ugly games before losing four straight, the last defeat coming the day before Taylor's funeral.
Kerry Collins waited all season to prove his value in Tennessee. The Titans wouldn't have been celebrating Sunday night without him. Collins rescued his teammates in the most precarious circumstances, leading them to three straight second-half field goals in relief of injured Vince Young and helping Tennessee rally for a 16-10 win at Indianapolis that drew cheers from Nashville and moans from Cleveland. The final piece of the AFC playoff picture came down to the final game on the final weekend of the regular season. Tennessee had to win to make the postseason for the first time since 2003, while an Indy win would have sent the Browns to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Inside the RCA Dome, you could almost hear the groans coming from the shores of Lake Erie when Peyton Manning traded his helmet for a headset early in the second quarter. To the Browns' chagrin, that was how the Colts chose to play.
Three teams finished the season 11-3; Indianapolis, Dallas and Green Bay. I'm rooting for Green Bay to meet NE in the Super Bowl.
| Wild Card Weekend | Game | | Sat, 1/5, 4:30pm | Washington Redskins at Seattle Seahawks | | Sat, 1/5, 8pm | Jacksonville Jaguars at Pittsburgh Steelers | | Sunday, 1/6, 1pm | New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | | Sun, 1/6, 4:30pm | Tennessee Titans at San Diego Chargers | | Divisional Playoffs | Game | | Sat, 1/12, 4:30pm | Seahawks/Bucs/Giants at Green Bay Packers | | Sat, 1/12, 8pm | Steelers/Jags/Titans at New England Patriots | | Sun, 1/13, 1pm | Chargers/Steelers/Jags at Indianapolis Colts | | Sun, 1/13, 4:30pm | Bucs/Giants/Redskins at Dallas Cowboys | | Conf. Championships | Game | | Sun, 1/20, TBA | AFC Championship Game | | Sun, 1/20, TBA | NFC Championship Game | | Super Bowl XLII | Game | | Sun, 2/3, TBA | University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz. |
Finally, farewell to Vinny Testaverde, who announced his retirement on Saturday after a 21-year NFL career. I was sad to see him leave NE, and Tom Brady said Testaverde was "one of the best teammates I've ever had". Testaverde was a class act who battled through a horrible first six years in Tampa Bay to have a good NFL career. Maybe he'll end up coaching quarterbacks somewhere.5924. wabbit - 12/31/2007 11:08:20 PM  It was a perfect regular season for NE, who had a record-breaking finale in the 38-35 win over the Giants. The game could not have been scripted better. What a treat.
A big thank you to Roger Goodell of the NFL Network. This game was on their schedule, meaning a lot of people would not have seen it without going to a sportsbar. Goodell decided that a game of this magnitude should be seen everywhere, and as a result, it was simulcast by CBS and NBC. Thanks to Goodell, some 34.5 million viewers watched this game.
Thanks also to Tom Coughlin, without whom this game would have been a bore (yes, Tony Dungy, I'm thinking about you and Peyton Manning). Neither team had any real stake in the game, except for the records that the Pats stood to break (and they keep reminding us they don't care about those). The Giants weren't even going to play their first string team, according to the pundits. But Coughlin didn't listen to the pundits, and the Giants played like it was the Super Bowl, not a game that didn't really matter for them. Eli Manning had the game of his life for three quarters. He played like a kid who just enjoys playing, not the machine he too often becomes, and he completed some really impressive passes, including four for touchdowns. As long as they threw the ball, they owned the Pats defense for the first half.
By the second half, the Pats defense was starting to click and had better control of the game. They had taken away the Giants running game in the first half, and in the second they started pressuring Manning. By the fourth quarter, it was easy to see that the Giants were out of surprises; the Pats were all over them. And I can't be the only person who just *knew* that Randy Moss was going to run that exact same pattern again and get his record 23rd touchdown catch on Brady's record setting 50th touchdown pass. I can't believe the Giants didn't see that one coming.
Something happens on the sidelines that may partly account for the Pats success. When the Pats offense were off the field, they were watching the play of the Giants and Tom Brady has them huddling up to discuss things. Not with the coaches, just the guys who would be back on the field momentarily. They did this a lot, all season. I didn't see the Giants doing that. Eli Manning sat on the bench and rested, watched the game, but didn't engage his teammates. Brady is a leader, the other guys really want to play with him. I don't see that in Manning and the Giants. And he's running out of time, imo, to change his teammates' opinions.
Brady has had some year. In this game he went 32-42 passing for 356 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. For the season he had an NFL-record 50 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 4,805 yards (third all-time for one season), 68.9 percent completion rate and a 117.2 rating this season. Brady's previous high for touchdowns passes in a season was 28, which he eclipsed four hours before the Red Sox won the World Series. He's only the fourth quarterback to average 300 passing yards per game for a season.
The Patriots traded second-, fourth- and seventh-round picks (the 60th, 110th and 238th overall choices) in the draft last spring to Miami (60 and 238) and Oakland (110) for Wes Welker and Randy Moss, respectively. Between them, they got 210 receptions for 2,668 yards with an average of 12.7 ypc, and 31 touchdowns. That's some good trading.
There are those who say the Pats offense isn't playing as well now as they did at the beginning of the season. In the last five games of the year, three played with weather a factor, New England scored 27, 34, 20, 28 and 38. We'll take that kind of a slump any day.
I hope the Super Bowl is this good. I doubt it will be.
5925. jexster - 1/1/2008 12:41:00 AM Geaux Tigers!
5926. jexster - 1/1/2008 12:42:15 AM Anyone have naked pics of Tom Brady? 5927. jexster - 1/1/2008 10:57:08 PM Get your bets DOWN
Take Ohio State and the 4 1/2
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