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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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
SALT LAKE CITY - The governor has already proclaimed Utah national champions and the state attorney general is threatening a lawsuit against the Bowl Championship Series.
Football season hasn't quite ended in Utah, where there is a desperate push to get the unbeaten Utes the No. 1 ranking in the final AP college football poll. Fans have been swamping poll voters with e-mails, hoping Utah can make an unlikely leap to the top.
"The bottom line is, we're the only team in the country that does not have to explain a loss,'' coach Kyle Whittingham said.
Whittingham has been fielding calls all week asking where the Utes should end up in the final rankings. The BCS national championship will be decided Thursday night when No. 1 Florida plays No. 2 Oklahoma, but AP poll voters are under no obligation to put the BCS champion on top of the final media poll.
Utah finishing No. 1 might just be a bigger upset than what the Utes pulled off in New Orleans, when they beat No. 4 Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl, but it's technically possible.
The athletic department isn't making any official effort to promote the team, but Whittingham has gladly answered the repeated questions about whether the Utes are worthy.
The Associated Press poll has 65 voters and none of them cast a No. 1 vote for the Utes at any point this season. At least one plans to for the final poll, and others are considering it — with plenty of pressure from Utah fans.
Molly Yanity of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer posted an online message this week asking Utah fans to stop with the e-mail overload — she watched the Sugar Bowl and planned to consider the Utes before she was inundated by fan mail.
"I got over 300 e-mails in about 36 hours, but I understand what they're after,'' Yanity said Tuesday. "There is still a game to be played and I have them on my mind as is and don't need any more e-mails.''
Tom Keegan of the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World said unless Oklahoma routs Florida, he believes Utah deserves to be No. 1. Keegan is among the voters who have received countless e-mails pleading the Utes' case and noted how polite the fans were, but said he was basing his vote on what he saw the team do during the season.
"They're the only unbeaten, plus look at who they've beaten,'' Keegan said. "It's not like they've been playing stiffs in conference or out of conference.''
Utah's plight has become the latest rallying cry for BCS opponents.
The Utes won the Mountain West Conference title, but the league does not have a guaranteed spot in one of the lucrative bowl games. Florida and Oklahoma have one loss each and will be playing for the title while the Utes (13-0) can only watch — just as they did in 2004, when they became the first team from an outside conference to make a BCS game.
Utah easily beat Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl and finished No. 4 in the final rankings.
Boise State was in a similar situation two years ago after beating Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, and the underdog argument is back to bug the BCS once again.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Tuesday that he is investigating the BCS for a possible violation of federal antitrust laws, contending the bowl setup unfairly puts schools like Utah at a competitive and financial disadvantage.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, issued a similar statement last week, calling for BCS reform.
Shurtleff and Hatch will win points with their constituents by taking a popular stance against the unpopular BCS, but there is little they can do the help the Utes in the next two days before the final poll is released.
Utah was ranked No. 7 entering the postseason and No. 5 Southern California and No. 3 Texas won their bowl games. Utah would need to somehow leapfrog the Trojans, the Longhorns, Florida and Oklahoma to claim the national title.
Whittingham said he is supposed to vote for the Florida-Oklahoma winner in the final coaches poll, but plans to break the rules and put the Utes at No. 1.
"I'm not a guy that's going to go out and campaign and politic,'' he said, "but if somebody asks me I'll give them my opinion.''
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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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.
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The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.