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The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Lefty wins his 40th PGA Tour event with his never-ending supply of tricks up his sleeve. What We Learned this week at Pebble Beach.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
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AP2003-04 ARSENAL FC
Backstory
Following the 2002 championships in the English Premier League and the FA Cup, a postseason tournament for all English soccer teams, Arsenal manager Arsene Wegner was supremely confident. He not only wanted a Treble (Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League titles), but thought his team could go undefeated. As he was quoted in the Sept. 21, 2002 Daily Mirror: "It's not impossible. I know it will be difficult for us to go through the season unbeaten. But if we keep the right attitude it's possible we can do it." But instead Arsenal got none of those titles in 2002-03, much less went undefeated.
The regular season
Among the top teams, Manchester United had sold off David Beckham before the 2003-04 season, Chelsea -- under its new owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich -- had invested 100 million pounds in new talent, and Arsenal purchased the contract of German goaltender Jens Lehmann. It turned out Arsenal's move worked out best. The Gunners finished 12 points above Chelsea, but more importantly accomplished Wegner's goal of going undefeated. Arsenal had 26 wins and 12 draws, becoming the first undefeated first-division English soccer club since Preston North End in 1888-89, the first year first-division English soccer existed. This accomplishment is why you see Thierry Henry in U.S. shaving-supplies ads.
The postseason
The Premier League doesn't have a postseason. The FA Cup and the Champions League (which features the top clubs from throughout Europe) occur concurrently with the Premier League season. Taking the FA Cup and the Champions League into account, Arsenal did not have an undefeated 2003-04. The Gunners were bounced in the FA Cup semifinals by Manchester United and in the Champions League quarterfinal by Chelsea.
On April 9, after those losses, Arsenal rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits against Liverpool for a 4-2 victory to keep their undefeated Premier League season going.
Postscript
Arsenal has not won a Premier League title since its undefeated season. But it did win an FA Cup in 2005.
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