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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.
Getty ImagesCall me old fashioned, but I hereby cast my vote that we wait until after the Sprint Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November to hand Jimmie Johnson a fourth championship trophy.
Also call me a member of that lonely, minority group which thinks Johnson will not win this year’s championship.
Johnson was still spitting confetti out of his mouth on the post-race stage at Homestead last November when people first started talking about him being a heavy favorite to score Number Four.
The move to save time and pre-anoint Johnson picked up steam as the season wore on. It is, of course, coming to a crescendo this week as he leads 11 other no-chance losers to New Hampshire.
The reasons for his ex pre-facto coronation range from “He’s Jimmie” to “It’s Jimmie and Chad’s time of the season” to that beautiful gem of illogic, “Until somebody else wins a championship he has to be the favorite.”
Make no mistake, Johnson and his team are good and are quite capable of winning a fourth-straight championship. Fast cars, good driver and smart support people are never to be underestimated in racing.
But, there is a reason why nobody has won four in a row before: It’s hard to do. Especially these days.
When Cale Yarborough won three in a row back in the 1970s, he was, like Jimmie, driving for a top team, that of Junior Johnson. There were few other teams on the same level. During each of Yarborough’s three championship seasons, there were only six other drivers who won races.
These days? Lots of teams and drivers are capable of winning races. For example, during Johnson’s 2008 championship season, 10 other drivers won races. This year, through the first 26 races of the season, 12 other drivers have won Cup races.
Johnson has led a charmed life in the playoffs the past three years; very little has gone wrong in terms of skill and luck. His engines have hummed, his pit crew performed ballet and it was almost eerie the way he emerged from massive wrecks with his cars still in pristine condition.
But even charmed lives come to an end. The year will come when Jimmie and Chad will not be at the head table during the year-end awards banquet. The year will come when Jimmie gets too close to a lapped squirrel at the wrong time. The year will come when one of Knaus’ boys will send the car out with the catch can still attached.
Let’s face it, these guys are due for a bit of untimely misfortune.
There is nothing personal in all of this. I think the No. 48 operation may be No. 1 of all time when it comes to being nearly perfect at the perfect time. But they are a team comprised of human beings and nobody from the species has lived forever.
Jimmie Johnson is a favorite to win the 2009 Cup championship, but he’s not the favorite.
Jim Pedley is managing editor of Racin’ Today. Read more NASCAR news at racintoday.com.
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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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