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NFL Headlines
October 6
Houston Chronicle
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Sunday’s game at Reliant Stadium was a perfect example of why the Indianapolis Colts are perennial winners and the Texans are perennial losers. The Texans, 0-4 this season and 32-68 overall, became the first team in NFL history to blow a lead of at least 17 points in the last five minutes and lose in regulation. The Colts escaped with a 31-27 victory after overcoming a 27-10 deficit in the last five minutes. They scored three touchdowns in a span of two minutes, 10 seconds. This collapse was so profound for Houston fans it was Oileresque. “I’m in shock,” middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. “I still can’t believe what happened. It’s unbelievable.” Quarterback Sage Rosenfels, pressed into ..."
October 6
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Three plays into the game it was obvious this wasn't going to be an enjoyable trip to the Valley of the Sun. Starting quarterback Trent Edwards delivered a third-down pass on the money to rookie James Hardy, but in the process took a vicious hit from blitzing safety Adrian Wilson. Edwards' head slammed against the ground, concussing him. He was down for several minutes, and when he was helped to the bench his eyes were glazed and he was clearly out of it. "He's responding, but he's still a little groggy," Jauron reported after the game. "Hopefully he'll be fine as time goes by. It's a good time to have a bye, heal some things up and get some work done." And while Edwards is healing, the ..."
October 6
New York Daily News
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Tom Coughlin sent a message to Plaxico Burress when he suspended him for a game. Then Burress' teammates went out and sent an even louder statement. The defending champs showed they can still dominate without him. That was true Sunday against the struggling Seattle Seahawks, who got what their coach Mike Holmgren called "a good, old-fashioned you know what." The Giants hammered Seattle, 44-6, at the Meadowlands for their biggest regular-season blowout in 36 years, since a 62-10 victory over the Philadelphia on Nov. 26, 1972. They also beat San Francisco, 49-3, in a January 1987 playoff game. And Eli Manning didn't miss a beat without his favorite target, as he had the finest statistical ..."
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At the end of the day, only their unblemished record looked pretty. But as one of the NFL's two undefeated teams, the Titans hardly cared. All that mattered was they'd found a way to win again, this time a 13-10 victory over the Ravens that wasn't decided until the very end. "Slowly we are building an identity, and building something here,'' quarterback Kerry Collins said. "The things that happened today, I think they went a long way.'' Plenty of bad happened for the Titans. They were miserable on offense most of the game and lost their composure on defense. They committed too many penalties and had to deal with injuries to some key players. But the Titans got off the mat, scored 10 fourth ..."
MLB Headlines
October 6
Philadelphia Inquirer
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Jimmy Rollins, soaked in champagne, his eyes burning from the alcohol, stood in the middle of the visitors' clubhouse at Miller Park today and recalled a conversation he had with Larry Bowa when the Phillies closed Veterans Stadium in 2003. "This is the house you helped build," Rollins told Bowa. "The one across the street is going to be the one that we build." The one across the street is Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies will host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday in Game 1 of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series. Behind two home runs from Pat Burrell, the Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2, today in Game 4 of the NL division series to advance to their first ..."
October 6
Orange County Register
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Paul Revere's ride took less time. But the Angels managed to rally their troops and extend their stay in the post-season with Erick Aybar's RBI single in the 12th inning - and sixth hour - of a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of their American League Division Series Sunday night (and Monday morning on the East Coast). "That's a long night," Angels third baseman Chone Figgins said. "I looked up at the time on the scoreboard and it was 11 o'clock then 12 o'clock - then Aybar got the big hit and I was jumping up and down. "We were against the wall from the first pitch on. We battled. Some things happened. But our team battled through it." "Some things happened" alright - five ..."
October 6
Chicago Tribune
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Juan Uribe knocked on a couple of clubhouse door entrances Sunday and ran. That was just a sampling of how comfortable the White Sox play in their own environment despite facing long odds and sitting through a 35-minute rain delay. "Maybe that's just the way we're going to do it the rest of the playoffs," closer Bobby Jenks said after the Sox averted elimination for at least one more day by beating Tampa Bay 5-3 in Game 3 of this best-of-five American League Division Series. "We're going to try." Behind the revival of timely hitting that was non-existent in two losses at indoor Tropicana Field and aggressive baserunning, the Sox gave crafty left-hander John Danks enough support to force a ..."
October 6
Wisconsin State Journal
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On a Sunday afternoon that so many presumed would be the last time to see CC Sabathia in a Milwaukee uniform, the left-hander who carried the Brewers into the playoffs almost singlehandedly said "Wait a minute." "Who knows, maybe it's not my last appearance," Sabathia told reporters shortly after the Brewers' 6-2 loss to Philadelphia in Game 4 of a National League Division Series that ended their season. "Coming here, meeting these guys, making new friends, that will all factor in my decision," said Sabathia, who went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts for the Brewers. "This is a great team. I wanted to come in and add to it. Luckily, I was able to do that." Sabathia was loose and ..."
NBA Headlines
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Hornets center Tyson Chandler sprained his right ankle in the first quarter of New Orleans' preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night. Chandler sat out the rest of the game, but returned to the bench in his warmups to watch the second half and stood without apparent pain to chat with teammates during timeouts. "I'm fine,'' Chandler, who did not score and had one rebound, said as he left the New Orleans Arena following the Hornets' 106-103 victory. "I just stayed out as a precaution.'' The injury occurred under the Hornets' basket after Chandler stepped into the lane to help defend a drive by C.J. Watson. Chandler appeared to turn his ankle as he landed and ..."
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Exhilaration had given way to exhaustion by the time the Knicks left the Skidmore College gymnasium for the final time Saturday afternoon. Even Coach Mike D'Antoni showed signs of mental fatigue as he tried to assess his first training camp with the team. “I’m, what is it, confidently enthusiastic?” D’Antoni said, sounding unsure. Cautiously optimistic? “Cautiously optimistic, that’s a good one.” Enthusiastically confident? “We’re not quite there yet.” D’Antoni kept his superlatives in check as the Knicks broke camp here. There were some nice moments, but they survived more than they thrived in their first week of breakneck-paced basketball. The final 20 minutes were perhaps the ..."
October 6
New York Daily News
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To start at point guard for the Knicks these days, there are several basic requirements: The more favorable comparisons you draw to Steve Nash, the better. And if you don't answer to the name Stephon Marbury, you're really ahead of the game. To no one's surprise, Chris Duhon is two-for-two in those categories heading out of training camp and into the Knicks' first preseason game under Mike D'Antoni, on Wednesday against the Raptors in Toronto. The former Bulls backup has been playing with the first team, with Marbury taking his long-expected demotion. "He shoots the ball a little bit better than I thought," D'Antoni said of Duhon, a career 39% shooter. "The toughest thing for a point ..."
October 6
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Before Michael Beasley made his NBA debut, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra requested patience with the No. 2 overall selection in last June's draft. "It's going to take some time," Spoelstra said prior to tonight's 95-91 overtime exhibition loss to the Detroit Pistons at AmericanAirlines Arena. It did. It took until the start of the second half. Utilized mostly among reserves in his three-point first half, Beasley then thrived when deployed alongside Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion in a 13-point third quarter. "He got into his rhythm," Spoelstra said. The forward out of Kansas State finished with 16 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes, turning early nerves into the type of tangible ..."
NHL Headlines
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Wade Redden needed only two games to make his presence felt for the Rangers. The defenseman had a goal and an assist, and the Rangers rallied to beat the Lightning 2-1 and swept their two-game, season-opening series in Europe. "It feels good to chip in the goal," Redden said. "It's going to be my intention to keep building throughout the season." Redden, who signed a six-year, $39 million free-agent deal with the Rangers during the summer, tied it with a power-play goal 3:47 into the second period when he blasted a shot past goalie Olaf Kolzig off a pass from Markus Naslund. "Wade is a very calculated player, he's a very poised player," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "He's got a lot of ..."
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Nights don't come much more perfect than the one Sunday night at the Globe Arena Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa's Swedish captain, set up two goals by Dany Heatley to pace Ottawa to a 3-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second half of this unique home-and-home in Sweden's capital. At the game's conclusion, he was named the game's second star, delighting the capacity crowd of 13,699 that crammed into the Globe to see Alfredsson place his second – and likely last – NHL game in Sweden. During the game's last minute, with Ottawa holding a commanding 3-0 lead, the crowd was in full throat, chanting Alfredsson's name over and over. Asked if it was the perfect night, ..."
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The Vancouver Canucks appear to have solved a dilemma along the blueline by making a four-player trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Canucks shipped defenceman Lukas Krajicek and minor-league forward Juraj Simek to Tampa in exchange for defenceman Shane O'Brien and forward Michel Ouellet. Canucks general manager Mike Gillis was facing an unenviable situation this week as the team was crafting its final roster. The team had eight defencemen in camp, all of them on one-way NHL contracts, and risked losing one to a waiver claim if they tried to demote a rearguard. Already, Vancouver lost Nathan McIver to a waiver claim by the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, which unexpectedly thinned its ..."
October 6
Durham Herald-Sun
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Another Carolina Hurricanes player has undergone surgery. The team said Monday that forward Scott Walker is expected to miss six weeks after having surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand. The surgery comes four days before the Hurricanes open the regular season Friday night against Florida. The Hurricanes already will be without forward Justin Williams for at least three more months after he tore his right Achilles' tendon"