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5883. wabbit - 11/25/2007 6:39:44 PM  Sampras never faced a break point and converted one of two against his opponent as he handed Federer a 7-6 (8), 6-4 defeat at the Venetian Macao arena, wrapping up a three-match Asian exhibition series between the two tennis greats. Sampras downplayed his victory, noting Federer was coming off a long season and that he was helped by his big serve and the fast indoor carpet surface. He had only aimed to win one set during the three-match series.
"Let's not get carried away," he said at a news conference. Sampras ruled out a comeback from retirement, telling the audience after the match, "I had my time in the '90s."
Federer tried to put on a positive spin on the loss, saying he wasn't embarrassed to lose to his idol, but still showed some disappointment. "It's been tough beating my idol the last two times. I'm happy that he got me at least once," he said, but adding, "I hope we can do it again in the future. I'd like to get him back."
The two players have won a combined 26 Grand Slam titles, but Sampras, 36, retired five years ago after winning the U.S. Open in 2002. Twenty six-year-old Federer is fresh from another stellar season as he won three Slams and last week's Masters Cup in Shanghai in compiling a 68-9 winning record.
5884. wabbit - 11/25/2007 6:40:52 PM  College football isn't normally big on second chances, but in this historic season of attrition at the top of the polls, Missouri has been dealt a second chance of epic proportions. Beating Kansas on Saturday night in front of the largest Arrowhead Stadium crowd (80,537) in 35 years earned the Tigers their first-ever Big 12 North title and will more than likely send them to the top of the polls Sunday for the first time since 1960. That's nothing, however, compared to the potential windfall awaiting 11-1 Missouri if it can avenge its only loss of the season next week against 10-2 Oklahoma: a conference championship and a berth to the BCS national championship game.
Boston College ended a 15-game losing streak against Miami to head into the Atlantic Coast Conference title game with a victory, and the 15th-ranked Eagles didn't even need Doug Flutie to do it. Matt Ryan threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns Saturday to lead BC to a 28-14 win, BC's first victory over Miami since the 1984 'Hail Flutie' pass that ended one of the greatest games in college football history. Boston College (10-2, 6-2 ACC) will play for the conference championship in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 1 against Virginia Tech, which beat Virginia 33-21 Saturday for the Coastal Division title. BC already clinched the Atlantic Division with last week's victory over Clemson. But they wanted the win, anyway. The Hurricanes (5-7, 2-6) failed to qualify for a bowl game for the first time in 10 years.
Under coach Tom Osborne, Nebraska was one of the bullies of college football, a program to be feared. Under coach Bill Callahan, the Cornhuskers were too often the ones getting pushed around. After watching Callahan's Huskers for five games, Osborne, in his new role as interim athletic director, decided it was time for change. He fired Callahan during a five-minute meeting Saturday. Callahan left the football complex without speaking to reporters. The move was expected after the Huskers finished 5-7 with Friday's 65-51 loss at Colorado, a game in which they squandered an 11-point halftime lead by allowing 34 consecutive points.
NCAA Football
5885. wabbit - 11/25/2007 6:41:58 PM  Daniel Briere hasn't let the absence of linemate Simon Gagne hurt his production. Briere had a goal and two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Briere, signed by the Flyers to a multiyear deal in the offseason, redirected a perfect pass from Scott Hartnell in front of the Senators net for his 12th goal of the season. Gagne was Briere's linemate at the beginning of the season, but has missed the past eight games, and 12 of the past 14, with a concussion. Briere hasn't missed a beat, posting six goals and six assists during Gagne's eight-game absence. R.J. Umberger, Scott Hartnell and Mike Richards also scored for the Flyers, while Antero Niittymaki stopped 29 shots in a rare start. Playing without Daniel Alfredsson , their captain and leading scorer, the Senators got goals from Wade Redden, Dany Heatley and Christophe Schubert.
The Nashville Predators' failure to control the Minnesota Wild in the final two minutes could come back to haunt them. Branko Radivojevic scored the go-ahead goal with 1:53 remaining, leading the Wild to a 4-3 victory Saturday night. Aaron Voros, Matt Foy and Marian Gaborik also scored for Minnesota, which took a 3-2 lead into the third period. Vernon Fiddler scored the tying goal for the Predators in third period at 10:16 when Alexander Radulov found him low in the slot and Fiddler shot the puck between Niklas Backstrom's legs. Radivojevic scored what proved to be the winning goal when he beat Chris Mason high over his left shoulder on a 3-on-2 breakaway at 18:07.
Nikolai Zherdev made sure the Columbus Blue Jackets earned a full two points in another strong performance against Detroit. Zherdev scored the winning goal in a shootout to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings on Saturday night. Michael Peca and Rick Nash also scored in the shootout for Columbus, which won after Detroit tied it with two goals in a team-record 5 seconds. The game was the second shootout in a week between the teams, with Detroit winning Sunday. Manny Malhotra and Zherdev scored in regulation to help Columbus win its second straight game. Pascal Leclaire made 23 saves, and also made a big stop on Henrik Zetterberg in the shootout. Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Holmstrom also scored for Detroit, which has lost five of seven. Chris Osgood made several spectacular saves to keep the Red Wings in the game.
NHL scores
5886. wabbit - 11/25/2007 6:42:46 PM  Stan Van Gundy coached his 200th NBA game Saturday night and Orlando stomped his former mentor and boss Pat Riley's team, the Miami Heat, 120-99. With the win the Magic improved to 12-3. Hedo Turkoglu scored 27 points, Rashard Lewis added 19 and Dwight Howard had 17 points and 13 rebounds to hand the Heat its Eastern Conference-leading 10th loss. Wade had 32 points, Shaquille O'Neal added 20, and Ricky Davis had 23 points and seven assists, but Miami trailed for all but the opening minutes. Orlando shot 56 percent from the field but 8-of-22 from the line, while Miami shot 47 percent from the field.
While winning has become routine for the new-look Boston Celtics, this victory was different. It had the players huddled around the locker room TV, giggling like school kids as they watched it again. And the replay was just as sweet. Ray Allen made a 3-pointer at the buzzer after Eddie House knocked away Jason Richardson 's inbounds pass with 4.7 seconds left, and the Celtics stunned the Charlotte Bobcats 96-95 on Saturday night. If there's any doubt Boston is ready to put their struggles of recent years in the past, this was another indication. The leprechaun returned to the Celtics' side. Allen had missed 11 of his previous 14 shots in a flat performance for the Celtics, yet hit nothing but net on the jumper from the left wing, setting off a wild celebration for the Celtics, who won their third straight game and improved to 11-1.
The Atlanta Hawks have won two in a row on the road. That those wins have come against the teams with two of the worst records in the NBA matters not to these Hawks. Sure they trailed by double digits in the fourth quarter of both of them, but after losing the previous 17 away from home, the Hawks will take them wherever and however they can get them. Josh Smith scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to help Atlanta erase a 21-point deficit in a 94-87 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
NBA scores
5887. jexster - 11/25/2007 8:32:51 PM NCAA National Championship
How does MISSOURI v. West VA grab your fetid buckeyes!!! 5888. wonkers2 - 11/25/2007 9:04:17 PM Tom Osborne was one of the all-time great college coaches. Can't say the same for his job in the House of Representatives! 5889. wonkers2 - 11/25/2007 9:06:20 PM Can anybody explain what the kerfuffle was about between the L.S.U. coach and the refs, not long before the first overtime started? What was the call that upset the L.S.U. coach? 5890. wonkers2 - 11/25/2007 9:26:52 PM Mountain Wingsuits 5891. wabbit - 11/26/2007 5:16:25 PM Wingnuts. But it sure looks like fun. 5892. wabbit - 11/26/2007 5:16:42 PM  I'd say Donovan McNabb's job is in jeopardy. The Philadelphia Eagles gave the rest of the NFL a smidgen of hope Sunday night: they showed that the New England Patriots can be vulnerable. Asante Samuel returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and had a second pick to shut off a late Philadelphia drive as the Patriots beat the Eagles 31-28 Sunday night to run their record to 11-0. It was only the second truly competitive game of the season for New England, which trailed 28-24 midway the fourth period. A 69-yard drive, capped by Laurence Maroney's 4-yard run, put the Patriots ahead of the 22-point underdog. Then Samuel's second interception finished the job. James Sanders added an interception in the final seconds to officially close it out. But at least the Eagles were competitive against a team which had won its first 10 games by an average of 25 points. The Patriots had a seven-point lead twice, 7-0 and 14-7 but that was as large as either team led all game. And the Eagles led for much of it in a contest in which A.J. Feeley, a career backup replacing the injured McNabb at quarterback for the Eagles, outplayed Tom Brady for most of the game. Philadelphia cornerback Lito Sheppard turned Randy Moss, moving in on Jerry Rice's single-season mark for touchdown receptions, into nothing more than ordinary. It was the Patriots' smallest margin of victory this season, and it comes just a week after a huge blowout of the Buffalo Bills and their largest victory margin.
LaDainian Tomlinson reached another milestone and the Chargers got a much-needed win. Philip Rivers quieted the boo-birds and rediscovered Antonio Gates, throwing two of his three touchdown passes to the All-Pro tight end and leading San Diego to a 32-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Tomlinson had a quiet day until his 36-yard run early in the third quarter pushed the reigning league MVP past 10,000 career rushing yards, making him the 23rd player in NFL history to reach the milestone and the third in less than a month. The Chargers (6-5) won for the fifth time in seven games following their shocking 1-3 start. This was the first time in a while that so many things went right for the Bolts. The Ravens (4-7) lost their franchise-record fifth straight game. Quarterback Kyle Boller was sacked four times.
The Minnesota Vikings know how to make Eli Manning look bad, and this time they did it in front of big brother, Peyton. With Peyton watching in the stands, Darren Sharper, Dwight Smith and Chad Greenway picked off passes by Eli and returned them for touchdowns in leading the Vikings to a 41-17 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday. The Vikings (5-6) have picked off Manning eight times in the two games, scoring on four of those picks and coming close on another. Sharper scored on a 20-yard return, Smith rumbled 93 yards and Greenway followed from 37 yards just a few plays later as the Vikings set a team single-game record for interception returns for touchdowns. Sharper's interception came after Manning and tight end Jeremy Shockey had a miscommunication on a blitz read. It seemed Sharper was the only one who knew where the pass was going. Smith's score came on a tipped pass and Greenway's TD came with Manning under pressure.
NFL scores
5893. wabbit - 11/26/2007 5:35:50 PM  James Johnson set a Grey Cup record with three interceptions to help the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19 on Sunday night for their first Canadian Football League title in 18 years. The former Arkansas State player, selected the MVP of the game, returned his first interception 30 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, and sealed the game in the final minute with his third.
Kerry Joseph threw a 29-yard TD pass to Andy Fantuz in the fourth quarter, and Luca Congi added three field goals for the Roughriders, also CFL champions in 1966 and 1989. Joseph was 13-of-34 for 181 yards and an interception and ran for 101 yards on 10 carries. Dinwiddie was 15-of-33 for 225 yards.
The Blue Bombers, playing without star quarterback Kevin Glenn, failed in a bid to win their first title since 1990. Ryan Dinwiddie, making his first CFL start after Glenn broke his arm last week, threw a 50-yard scoring pass to Derick Armstrong. Troy Westwood made two field goals, and Winnipeg scored six points on three conceded safeties.
5894. arkymalarky - 11/27/2007 4:04:31 AM Well, Jex, AR is Nuttless 5895. wabbit - 11/30/2007 5:01:01 PM  Tony Romo took a knee, sealing a playoff-clinching, record-setting victory over the team he grew up rooting for and the quarterback he's obviously patterned himself after. So when it was time for hugs and handshakes, the kid from Wisconsin went looking for Brett Favre. He had to settle for Aaron Rodgers. Favre was already in the locker room getting treated for a banged-up right elbow and a separated left shoulder. Besides, the graying icon already had seen enough from Romo and the Dallas Cowboys.
For all his denials about Favre's influence on him, Romo sure played a lot like a young No. 4 Thursday night - full of moxie and joy, but needing a bit of a high-wire act to send the Cowboys past the Green Bay Packers 37-27 and into the lead for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Romo led Dallas to two field goals, then three touchdowns on his first five drives. He finished with four TD passes, giving the Cowboys (11-1) their sixth straight win and guaranteeing a spot in the playoffs. They also have a leg up on avoiding a trip to Lambeau Field should these teams meet again in the NFC championship.
It sounds like it was a great game. I wouldn't know, since I didn't see it. Neither did most NFL fans across the country, because it was shown on the NFL Network, a pay-to-watch cable channel. I hope someone gets this situation resolved soon. I can't see paying for a package that includes all of eight regular season games, and then whatever rehashes they show to use the time. Football isn't like baseball or basketball or even hockey, where they play a ton of games in the course of a season. What were they thinking? I guess if they piss off enough fans, they think big cable will cave. We'll see.
5896. wabbit - 11/30/2007 5:11:11 PM  The New York Knicks' brief winning streak is history, and the Boston Celtics nearly made history ending it. The Celtics cruised to their biggest victory since Larry Bird was in high school, beating New York 104-59 on Thursday night to send the Knicks to their third-worst loss and their second-worst scoring performance of the shot-clock era. It was the sixth-biggest win in Celtics history and the biggest since a 153-107 victory over the Baltimore Bullets in 1970 - five NBA titles ago. Only Nate Robinson's 37-foot 3-pointer at the final buzzer saved the Knicks from scoring the fewest points in franchise history. That might not be enough to save coach Isiah Thomas from getting fired: He was all-but-gone during an eight-game losing streak before earning a reprieve with two straight wins. And, unlike the Boston area's NFL team, the Celtics didn't even try to run up the score. Kevin Garnett played just 22 minutes, scoring eight points before leaving the game midway through the third quarter with Boston ahead 69-34. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen also sat out the fourth quarter and played 29 minutes apiece. Rajon Rondo dribbled out 24 of the final 26 seconds, turning the ball over on purpose rather than go for a 50-point win. Robinson followed with long jumper off the inbound pass to save the Knicks from their lowest-scoring game in the shot clock era. The exchange kept Boston from threatening it's biggest-ever win, a 153-102 victory over Philadelphia on March 7, 1962.
Sasha Vujacic did his best impersonation of Kobe Bryant, dominating the fourth quarter with his perimeter shooting. Bryant scored 24 points, but remained on the bench during the final 12 minutes while Vujacic scored 19 of his career-high 22 points to power the Los Angeles Lakers to a 127-99 rout of the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. The victory was completed just hours after coach Phil Jackson received a two-year contract extension. Andrew Bynum had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Luke Walton added a career-high 14 points in 27 minutes. Los Angeles' much-improved second unit played so spectacularly and efficiently down the stretch that Bryant was reduced to spectator status - despite the fact that Los Angeles led by only six points after three. The Lakers' reserves outscored their Denver counterparts 63-29.
Al Harrington gives up 9 inches and 60 pounds to Yao Ming. Yet by using his quickness to front and harass the 7-foot-6 Yao, Harrington is somehow able to shut down Houston's All-Star center. Harrington outplayed Yao for a second straight meeting, shutting him down at one end and scoring 18 points on the other to help the Golden State Warriors beat the Rockets 113-94 on Thursday night for their eighth win in nine games after an 0-6 start. Yao shot 4-for-12 and had five turnovers, finishing with a season-low 10 points. Andris Biedrins started the game guarding Yao but coach Don Nelson quickly changed to Harrington. In two games against the Warriors since Harrington joined the team last season, Yao has only 19 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
NBA scores
5897. OhioSTOPAS - 12/2/2007 7:16:07 PM How 'bout them BUCKEYES!! No. 1 and heading for the national championship again. (I think LSU most deserves to be the opponent.)
That West Virginia - Pittsburgh game had (from my admittedly biased perspective) the most one-sided officiating I've ever seen. Fortunately, justice prevailed! 5898. jexster - 12/2/2007 8:42:11 PM What a bunch of bitches! What a joke 5899. jexster - 12/3/2007 4:56:43 AM TIGER BAIT!
Welcome to New Orleans
 5900. OhioSTOPAS - 12/3/2007 2:22:04 PM See you there, Jex!
(Picture a tiger flattened by a giant chestnut.) 5901. wabbit - 12/3/2007 5:20:47 PM  No. 10 Hawaii was rewarded for being the nation's only unbeaten team with an at-large bid to the Sugar Bowl to face No. 4 Georgia. The roar from the chanting, green-clad crowd at Stan Sheriff Center was deafening. The Aloha State has been in a football frenzy for the past two weeks, starting with Hawaii's win over last year's BCS buster Boise State to win its first outright Western Athletic Conference title. On Saturday night, the Warriors (12-0) completed their perfect season with a dramatic come-from-behind 35-28 victory over Washington.
LSU has a ticket to the title game. Everyone else has a pretty good gripe. The latest chapter in this crazy, unpredictable college football season was written Sunday when LSU won the sport's version of the lottery, being picked to play Ohio State for the championship and leaving about a half-dozen other candidates with plenty to complain about. The Tigers (11-2), ranked second in the latest Associated Press poll, will be the first team to play in the BCS title game with two losses. No. 1 Ohio State goes into the game, Jan. 7 at the Superdome in New Orleans, at 11-1.
Organizers decided to stick with their historical Pac-10-Big Ten matchup Sunday, picking 13th-ranked Illinois to play Southern California on New Year's Day after Ohio State got upgraded to the national championship game. It is the first trip to Pasadena for the Illini (9-3) since 1983, and their first bowl game since the 2001 season. For the sixth-ranked Trojans (10-2), the Rose Bowl is getting to be like their own New Year's tradition. This is their third straight trip, fourth in the past five seasons and 32nd overall.
The Fiesta Bowl will pair the 11th-ranked Mountaineers against the third-rated Sooners in a match-up of teams that had their national title hopes dashed in the last three weeks. The Mountaineers (11-2) were still stinging from a 13-9 loss to arch rival Pittsburgh on Saturday night -- a defeat that knocked them out of the Bowl Championship Series title game. The Fiesta has played host to two representatives of non-BCS conferences -- Utah and Boise State -- but decided it would rather have Big East champion West Virginia instead of Hawaii, pride and champ of the Western Athletic Conference. Oklahoma and West Virginia will meet for the fourth time, and the first in the postseason. Oklahoma leads the series 2-1.
A week later than it wanted, Kansas beat Missouri. An Orange Bowl bid is the surprising Jayhawks' reward. The eighth-ranked Jayhawks (11-1) got their first Bowl Championship Series berth Sunday and will meet No. 5 Virginia Tech (11-2) in Miami on Jan. 3. The Hokies got their Orange Bowl spot by beating Boston College for the Atlantic Coast Conference title. Kansas, which set a school record for wins, was an at-large pick and benefited greatly from Missouri's 38-17 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship. "A two-loss team compared to a one-loss team was probably the most pressing thing that we looked at," Orange Bowl CEO Eric Poms said. Never mind that both of Missouri's losses were to Oklahoma, that the Tigers were two slots ahead of Kansas in the final BCS standings and beat the Jayhawks head-to-head on Nov. 24 to doom Kansas' national-title hopes. The Orange Bowl simply didn't like what it saw Saturday night, and Kansas reaped the benefits.
NCAA Football
5902. wabbit - 12/3/2007 5:21:11 PM  It came down to a showdown between a gifted scorer and a likely Hall of Fame-bound goalie. Martin Brodeur made a glove save on Ilya Kovalchuk in the shootout and the New Jersey Devils beat the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 on Sunday for their seventh straight victory. Brian Gionta , second up for the Devils, had the only goal in the shootout. After Gionta beat Johan Hedberg with a backhander, Kovalchuk squared off against Brodeur with the win hanging in the balance. Brodeur, who had 23 saves in regulation, snared the puck after Kovalchuk tried to maneuver him out of position.
Roberto Luongo saw his 3 1/2-game shutout streak end, but it wasn't his fault as the Vancouver Canucks lost 2-1 to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. Aaron Voros and Eric Belanger scored for Minnesota, which won its fourth straight and moved into sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division. Mike Brown scored for Vancouver, which lost in regulation for just the second time in 13 outings to fall two points behind the Wild. The Canucks managed just 20 shots on goal - four with Luongo pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute.
It was certainly not flashy, but Dustin Penner gave the Anaheim Ducks a reminder of what they lost when they let him go in the offseason. While the Ducks continued to struggle to find their scoring touch, Penner set up in the crease and scored a first period goal when the puck deflected off his mouth, as Edmonton completed a sweep of a home-and-home series against Anaheim with a 4-0 victory Sunday. Raffi Torres, Joni Pitkanen and Tom Gilbert also scored for the Oilers who have won four of their last five games.
NHL scores
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