Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
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: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
AP
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Connecticut Huskies made a statement in the Southeastern Conference’s backyard, while Steve Spurrier and South Carolina left embarrassed by what the coach described as a “sad, sad effort.”
Andre Dixon rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown and resilient Connecticut ended a trying season with a 20-7 victory over the Gamecocks in the Papajohns.com Bowl on Saturday.
“I was a little worried that the season had been so long and so tough on them that I didn’t see a whole lot of emotion from them,” Huskies coach Randy Edsall said. “But I guess they were just saving it up for today.
“I told them in the locker room (after the game) that they’re never going to be around something like this for the rest of their lives. In all my years of coaching, I have never been around a team like this. It’s hard to describe unless you’ve been through the ride with us.”
It was a choppy one. The Huskies (8-5) are 3-1 in bowl games since moving up to Division I-A (now FBS) in 2002, but this was their first win over an SEC team — and it came in the powerhouse league’s home base. They won their final three regular-season games and overcame the October stabbing death of cornerback Jasper Howard to reach a bowl.
“We talked about earning respect,” Edsall said. “We came down here against an SEC team in the heart of one of the passionate areas in the country for college football. We wanted to be able to show what kind of program that we have, and I think we did that very well.”
UConn won’t get much argument from the Gamecocks (7-6). The nation’s 95th-rated pass defense throttled South Carolina and quarterback Stephen Garcia while the offense relied on Dixon’s 33 carries to control the ball.
The senior said he and his teammates drew motivation from Howard’s memory. He was killed in a fight outside a school-sponsored dance Oct. 18.
“This is a really special team,” Dixon said. “It says something about our character and how strong of a family UConn is and how tight we are. It’s just amazing when 105 guys come together and commit themselves to doing something great and then they do it.
“Before the game, I told the guys, ’I challenge you to put everything together and do it for Jazz.’ I think that’s definitely what happened.”
Dixon was the Most Valuable Player and joined teammate Jordan Todman as 1,000-yard rushers, the first time two UConn backs have surpassed that mark in the same season.
Garcia completed just 16 of 38 passes for 129 yards while gaining 56 yards on 15 carries. He lost a fumble, was intercepted once and didn’t get much help. An emotional Garcia called the Gamecocks’ performance “very disappointing.”
He said they never got it going, “and it shows on the scoreboard.”
UConn had a pristine performance, with zero penalties. Linebacker Lawrence Wilson called it “the most complete game we’ve played all year.”
The Gamecocks avoided their first shutout in three seasons on Brian Maddox’s 2-yard touchdown run with 3:24 left. Their only other possession ending in UConn territory resulted in a botched field goal attempt.
It was another difficult postseason chapter for the Gamecocks, who are now 4-11 in bowl games and 1-3 under Spurrier. They have been outscored 51-17 the past two years including a loss to Iowa in last season’s Outback Bowl.
This one was marred by dropped passes, a missed interception and costly penalties that kept a mostly garnet-and-black clad crowd subdued — and steadily shrinking by the fourth quarter. Spurrier couldn’t blame them for leaving early.
“The first thing I want to do is apologize to about 30,000 Gamecocks who came here to see a football game, and we couldn’t put one on,” he said. “I thought we were ready to play. But obviously our offense was very sad and our defense wasn’t as good as it’s been most of the time. We thoroughly got beat by a better team, a better disciplined team.”
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.