BEAT NEWS: 24/7 in-depth player and team news from local beat writers in all major North American newspapers.
TEAM RUMORS: Read the hottest team, player and general sport rumors from every newspaper source around the web. See your breaking rumors here first.
LOCAL COLUMNISTS: A daily collection of columns from newspaper sources who publish the best and worst of your favorite teams and players.
INSIDE EDGE: Your one stop for all fantasy news on sleepers, hot players and waiver wire additions. The ultimate collection of expert strategies to help win your league.
NFL Columns
November 20
New York Post
columnist Jay Greenberg
"
One minute Leon Washington was closer to forcing the Jets to give him the $6 million a year he wanted. And then his right leg got twisted under the Raiders' Tommy Kelly on a first-down play even simpler than, seemingly, what to do when someone puts $5 million on a table. "One thing with business I learned, it's risk and reward," Washington said yesterday of his training-camp decision to turn down the Jets' proposed contract extension that reportedly averaged $5 million per season and guaranteed him $10 million, though the new money wouldn't kick in until next season. "I knew coming into the season that was a risk. "That said, things happen for a reason," he added. "With my faith in God, my ..."
November 20
New York Post
columnist George Willis
"
The Giants came back from their bye week saying all the right things yesterday, conducting business as usual almost as if their four-game losing streak were a distant memory. All eyes were pointed forward to a seven-game season that begins Sunday against the Falcons at Giants Stadium, a stretch that could determine the future of the franchise. Make no mistake: Not only are the playoffs at stake over the next few weeks, but so are jobs and future jobs. "We're looking at this as a new season," center Shaun O'Hara said. "We were 5-4 and there's nothing we can do about that. We can't change it. All we can work for is going forward." Then he added, "The one thing this team has is that we have ..."
November 20
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
columnist Dave Hyde
"
Here's why Ricky Williams might be the most amazing story in football right now: He's doing things he never did before. No one expected that from him. Not at 32, in his second football act, after all the miles and all the stories. But Thursday night, in the 24-17 victory against Carolina, the Dolphins offense wasn't just Run, Ricky, Run. It started with this: Catch, Ricky, Catch. Asked to be a feature back in a competitive season for first time since he wore dreadlocks, Williams caught a 14-yard pass for the Dolphins' first touchdown. He then ran a 1-yard touchdown out of the Wildcat formation for the second touchdown. He'd never done this before, by the way. Never run for and caught a ..."
November 20
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
columnist Jim Mandich
"
The Dolphins came up here on a short week of preparation with a banged up football team and found a way to get it done. Try to figure out all the combinations used on the injury-depleted offensive line if you can. Try to figure out exactly how any positions on the line Nate Garner played in Thursday night's 24-17 win over the Panthers, but somehow the Dolphins managed to pull out an important victory. It was a stinky start to the game, but the offense grabbed the momentum in the second quarter, just making enough plays to take the lead. While the defense kept Carolina to a field goal in the first half you knew it was going to get dicey in the second half, and it did. That third-down ..."
NBA Columns
November 20
New York Post
columnist Peter Vecsey
"
For A New Yorker who three years in a row purchased season tickets a section removed from the 76ers' bench just to be assured of the opportunity to be entertained by Allen Iverson whenever in Philadelphia, it's distressing to see his career tumbling (bouncing outta Graceland) so unhappily and dishonorably. Two seasons ago, Iverson was an All-Star, averaging 26.4 points for a Nuggets team summarily swept by the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Since, if you're scoring at home or sponging off someone else, he's been run out of more towns — Denver, Auburn Hills and Memphis — believe it or not, than Larry Brown. Sad to say, in actuality, Iverson quit his last two pit stops. The same ..."
November 20
New York Times
columnist Jonathan Abrams
"
With the basketball in his hands, Orlando's Jameer Nelson performs the two-man two-step that the Magic and the entire N.B.A. have sought to perfect. His eyes dart, his mind absorbs, his feet react as his teammate Dwight Howard sets a pick and rolls to the basket, initiating a chain reaction designed to produce defensive mayhem. No other play in the N.B.A. creates such havoc, no other play is used as often. The basic pick-and-roll is the bread and butter of the N.B.A., with two teammates working in conjunction on offense, with one player dribbling the ball and the other standing still and trying to block the path of the ball handler's defender. As all hoopsters know, once the pick, or ..."
November 19
L.A. Daily News
columnist Ramona Shelburn
"
It happens to all of us at some point, usually on a schoolyard, and usually during recess or lunch. A boy or a girl, whichever applies to you, starts picking on you for seemingly no reason. Only there is a reason, but it doesn't become evident to you until you're in your mid-20 s. Jest, infinite or otherwise, generally means exactly the opposite as what it seems, indicating affection rather than derision. In team sports, it is something of a rite of passage. The butt of everyone's jokes often tends to be the most popular guy on the team. All of which means congratulations are in order for Lakers forward Pau Gasol, and not simply because he is set to make his season debut tonight against ..."
November 20
Toronto Star
columnist Dave Feschuk
"
Reggie Evans, the Raptors power forward, has made a career of sneaking up on people. Barely recruited out of high school in football-first Florida, he went undrafted from the University of Iowa. But when he makes his regular-season debut for Toronto, it's safe to say he'll get his share of pre-performance fanfare. Twelve games into the season, after all, the Raptors are a study in extremes."
MLB Columns
November 20
Washington Post
columnist Thomas Boswell
"
Unless you're the Yankees and can buy titles, the core of any baseball franchise is not its starting rotation or batting order. Over time, you are your organization. Before spring training, the Nats probably will sign two free agent starting pitchers and a couple of bullpen arms. They might trade for a middle infielder, too. But from a long-term view, the Nats have signed their most important offseason class, even though the average fan might not recognize a single name. Roy Clark, Ron Schueler, Davey Johnson, Kasey McKeon, Jay Robertson, Johnny DiPuglia, Doug Harris, Bryan Minniti and Jay Sartori will change the Nats' future more than a couple of 12-game winners. When the regular season ..."
November 20
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
columnist Bryan Burwell
"
Of all the many mysteries surrounding our national pastime, none is more baffling than the rather peculiar obsession by so many who profess a love of baseball who repeatedly try to turn this wonderfully simple game into a mind-numbing, highfalutin' brain twister. So someone is going to have to help me on this one. When did pitching victories become passé? Apparently I have been misled for all these years. Here I was thinking that guys who win 18, 19, 20 or 25 games were some kind of special. I always figured that a guy who was able to go out on the mound every five days and pretty much guarantee his team a victory was one of those Cy Young-type hurlers everyone dreams about. Now I find out ..."
November 20
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
columnist Jeff Gordon
"
Chris Carpenter was the best starting pitcher in the National League. When he pitched, he was the toughest starter to hit. That is why he won the league's earned-run average title. Adam Wainwright built the best season -- from start to finish -- so he deserved the NL's Cy Young Award this season. But Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum got it instead, to the great agitation of Cardinal Nation. What went wrong? * Many baseball writers downplayed the value of actually winning games, since Lincecum won just 15 times with a decent supporting team. * Wainwright and Carpenter split a lot of votes as teammates. Wainwright earned the most first-place votes, but still finished third in the balloting. ..."
November 19
New York Post
columnist Kevin Kernan
"
THINK big. General manager Brian Cashman and the Yankees got the memo last off-season and it resulted in the club's 27th World Championship. You can be sure the Yankees still are thinking big this offseason, and that they are figuring out ways to sign Matt Holliday and/or trade for Roy Halladay, a pitching deal I've been pushing since July. The Mets need to take the same approach. The player at the top of their shopping list must be right-hander John Lackey. If not, why are the Wilpons even in the game? The Mets should pull a Cashman and sign both Lackey and Holliday. Win now and the victories come in summer. Sign Lackey, at the least, and the rest of the pieces can fall into place. Sign ..."
NHL Columns
November 20
Ottawa Sun
columnist Chris Steveson
"
The crowd of 17,039 at Scotiabank Place for the visit by the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins last night was the second smallest of the year after the Penguins first visit (17,014, Oct. 12) and isn't going to help the Senators' average attendance figure this season. But, hey, as Senators president Cyril Leeder pointed out yesterday, "winning is the best marketing tonic." A convincing win over the Cup champs — even with a decimated Pittsburgh blue line — was a positive step for the Senators, representing one of their best wins of the season against a quality opponent. But you can't win them all, so Leeder said the club is closely examining its ticket pricing policies to try and make ..."
November 19
New York Post
columnist Larry Brooks
"
LET'S face it. The Rangers are in trouble. Not only are they plagued by roster deficiencies that have been exacerbated by a couple of injuries with which the organization seems unequipped to cope, but nearly every team in the East that finished behind them last season seems improved, perhaps dramatically so. The Islanders are better. The Thrashers are better. The Lightning is better. The Senators are better. The Sabres are better. And they are all harder to play against than the Rangers, every single one of them. See, that's the most disturbing part of the season, the most disturbing part of the way the team has been constructed and, to an extent, the way it has been coached. This mix of ..."
November 19
Los Angeles Times
columnist Helene Elliott
"
Anyone who has followed the Kings for more than a few seasons is conditioned to wait for the next shoe -- or skate -- toduring even the most prosperous of times. No matter how many good things happen, an injury or slump always seems to come along to delay their progress and dash fans' hopes yet again. There has been more prosperity this season than most in recent memory, but it's worth wondering how long that will last now that left wing Ryan Smyth is projected to be out of the lineup for as long as a month after suffering an upper-body injury Monday. The Kings' first full game without Smyth, the fearless, experienced forward who did so much to galvanize linemate Anze Kopitar this season, ..."
November 19
Chicago Tribune
columnist david Haugh
"
Since John McDonough took over as team president on Nov. 20, 2007, here are the 10 most significant moments of his tenure, in chronological order. Dec. 19, 2007: The Hawks announce Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita will rejoin the team as ambassadors. April 2008: No April Fools' joke. On the 1st, the Hawks announce they will televise all 82 games. Four weeks later, the reach extends when the Hawks sign a three-year deal with WGN-AM to broadcast games. June 16, 2008: Healing another wound, Pat Foley is hired after a two-year hiatus to do play-by-play on TV. July 18, 2008: The team opens the door wider by holding a fan convention -- the only one of its kind in the NHL."