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Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
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.
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Here is your 2009 version of Alabama football, everyone. Don't be shocked by the orange and blue hue to it.
Life is different these days at Alabama. The big wins haven't left, but the days of caveman offense have been supplemented by – deep breath, Tiders – the spread option.
Yep, the fifth-ranked Tide joined the 21st Century Saturday night in a convincing 34-24 victory over No.7 Virginia Tech. Even Tim Tebow would've been proud.
"This is the first step in trying to create an identity for this team," said Alabama coach Nick Saban.
How's this for an identity: the zone read option, the Wildcat formation, the Pistol formation, the running game from the shotgun. If you didn't know any better, you'd swear the Florida Gators were running around the Georgia Dome.
"A little something different," said Alabama tailback Mark Ingram. "Maybe we'll keep using it."
You better believe they will. The last time the Tide was in this building, they were a handful of plays away from winning the SEC championship and playing for a national title.
Revamped Alabama has a new quarterback (better than the old one), a new running game (more dynamic than the old one) and the same nasty defense. The only question on this team — a rebuilt offensive line — has eased into the transition with the help of the spread option principles.
The Alabama offensive philosophy the past two years under Saban was fairly basic: line up under center, run it down your throat and throw over the top. Nothing freaky, fancy or forced.
The spread principles now allow this team to block more efficiently, yet still have an aggressive attitude at the point of attack. The misdirection and deception allows the line to peel off blocks quicker, instead driving and sustaining blocks with a power running game.
The first play of the game was Ingram running the Wildcat, and there were many more that followed. By the time Ingram scored on an 18-yard pass from Greg McElroy to finish the scoring, Alabama had nearly 500 yards off offense against one of the nation's best defenses -- including 268 yards rushing.
McElroy is more talented than last year's starter John Parker Wilson. Ingram and Roy Upchurch are just as potent — and more dynamic — as Glenn Coffee. But no matter who Alabama throws out on the line, they're not close to what they lost in All-Americans Andre Smith and Antoine Caldwell.
So the change in philosophy really wasn't so much of a drastic step as it was a logical move in finding a way to make the offensive line more of a strength than a liability.
"We're still a physical line," said Alabama guard Mike Johnson. "This is the first game; we're going to grow with this with each week. There's no telling where it can takes us."
Maybe right back to the Georgia Dome in December for the SEC Championship game. With You Know Who on the other sideline.
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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 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
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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.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
