Todays News Blog

Somebody had to play defense in Tuesday night’s Hornets-Lakers game. The Hornets finally did in the fourth quarter, and it proved decisive. David West scored 15 of his 40 points in the final period to outscore Los Angeles by himself, and New Orleans beat Los Angeles 116-105 to snap the Lakers’ 15-game home winning streak.

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Carmelo Anthony didn’t care for the color of the new removable splint he was sporting on his broken right hand, preferring it to be Denver Nuggets blue over bright red. Then again, a splint of any color sure beats surgery. The Nuggets All-Star guard will miss at least three weeks after breaking a bone in [...]

After 19 straight wins and an NBA record 27-2 start, the Boston Celtics have lost that swagger. The lockdown defense and the poise are missing, too, as teams line up to get a shot at the defending champions. On Tuesday, it was the lowly Charlotte Bobcats, as Raymond Felton scored 25 points and rookie D.J.

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Boston College’s Jeff Jagodzinski met with New York Jets officials Tuesday to discuss their head coaching vacancy — an interview that was expected to cost him his job with the Eagles. Jagodzinski, who became BC’s coach in 2007, was told by athletic director Gene DeFilippo that he would be fired if he met with the [...]

Tulsa raced through the rain to another GMAC Bowl win and a couple more records, too. Tarrion Adams rushed for 207 yards and three touchdowns, David Johnson passed for three scores and Damaris Johnson did a little bit of everything in the Golden Hurricane’s 45-13 GMAC Bowl victory over No. 23 Ball State on a [...]

Jim Calhoun figured No. 5 Connecticut would need all the second chances it could get against No. 25 West Virginia, and that meant going hard after missed shots. Jeff Adrien scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and Connecticut used a huge rebounding advantage to beat the cold-shooting Mountaineers 61-55 on Tuesday [...]

Texas coach Rick Barnes can think of one way to improve the Big 12. Just add Arkansas. Michael Washington scored 22 points, including a driving dunk in the final minute, and the Razorbacks beat the seventh-ranked Longhorns 67-61 Tuesday night. Arkansas has now beaten two top 10 teams from the Big 12 this season.

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In a year of prolific offenses, Drew Brees stood out like, well, Dan Marino. Brees came so close to Marino’s NFL record for yards passing that the New Orleans Saints quarterback won The Associated Press 2008 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award Tuesday. Brees threw for 5,069 yards, 15 fewer than Dan Marino’s 1984 [...]

Left out of the national title game, Colt McCoy and Texas made the most of their trip to the Fiesta Bowl. They just hope they did enough to impress poll voters. McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play, lifting the third-ranked Longhorns to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 [...]

Carmelo Anthony could barely put on his socks and struggled to fasten his watch. Tying his shoes? That was simply too much for his injured right hand. Anthony scored 21 points and set a season-high with nine assists despite injuring his hand in the third quarter of the Denver Nuggets’ 135-115 win over the Indiana [...]

Texas coach Mack Brown has a theory about bowl games. “If the teams are fairly even, the team that wants to be there the most and has the edge and is more motivated usually wins,” Brown said. If third-ranked Texas had a choice, it would be in Miami preparing to face Florida for the BCS [...]

The New England Patriots plan to put the franchise tag on quarterback Matt Cassel, according to a published report. Cassel’s future hinges heavily on Tom Brady’s recovery from a season-ending knee injury in the first game this season. Franchising Cassel would keep him from becoming an unrestricted free agent and give the Patriots an option [...]

Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin has a strained left hamstring and his status is uncertain for Saturday night’s NFC divisional playoff game at Carolina. “We’ll see how it goes this week,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said at his Monday news conference. Boldin was injured on a 71-yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner in the second quarter [...]

Pittsburgh made it to the top of The Associated Press’ college basketball poll for the first time and it wasn’t even close. The Panthers (14-0) took advantage of losses by season-long unanimous No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Connecticut to make the jump from third to first Monday, receiving all but two of the [...]

The Green Bay Packers’ season came apart thanks in large part to a defense that consistently blew fourth-quarter leads. Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and most of his staff were let go Monday as a result. Packers coach Mike McCarthy released six assistants, including five on defense: Sanders, defensive ends coach Carl Hairston, defensive tackles coach [...]

The Tampa Bay Rays added a big bat for the middle of their batting order, agreeing to a $16 million, two-year contract with Pat Burrell. The 32-year-old spent the past nine seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, who defeated the Rays in the World Series a little over two months ago. He hit .250 with 33 [...]

Scott Pioli, who helped build the New England Patriots’ dynasty, may have a second suitor among teams looking for general managers. Pioli, 43, was scheduled to meet with Kansas City Chiefs owner and board chairman Clark Hunt, possibly Monday, persons with knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press.

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Above the Metrodome’s deafening noise, Donovan McNabb stayed poised. Completing passes precisely when the Eagles needed him to, McNabb repeatedly sidestepped the Minnesota rush and sent Philadelphia to a 26-14 playoff win Sunday after being all but forgotten as a postseason contender just one month earlier.

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The Baltimore Ravens had Chad Pennington spinning, ducking, on his heels and on his back. When he did manage to get a pass away, they were often there to snatch it. The Ravens came up with four interceptions, including one returned 64 yards for a touchdown by Ed Reed, and won 27-9 Sunday to spoil [...]

Tyrese Rice came through with another big game against North Carolina, one that ended all the talk of a perfect season for the top-ranked Tar Heels. Rice scored 25 points and Rakim Sanders added 22 to help Boston College stun North Carolina 85-78 on Sunday, likely ending the Tar Heels’ run atop the early season [...]

Bill Parcells is staying with the Miami Dolphins, owner Wayne Huizenga said. After the team’s playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Huizenga said Parcells has decided to remain for another season. Parcells’ contract allows him to leave and still receive the $9-12 million remaining on his four-year contract if the franchise is sold.

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Darren Sproles ran off the field clutching the game ball, leaving Peyton Manning to hang his head in frustration. The San Diego Chargers outdid Manning for the second straight January, again turning to surprise stars to spark them along in the playoffs. Given more playing time because of LaDainian Tomlinson’s groin injury, the speedy little [...]

Anthony Parker scored a season-high 26 points, Chris Bosh added 23 points and 10 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors overcame a 39-point performance by Orlando’s Dwight Howard to beat the Magic 108-102 on Sunday. Parker was 13-of-16 from the field and came within one point of his career high. The Raptors also got 18 points [...]

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis had a 90-minute phone conversation with New York Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride about the team’s coaching vacancy. The two spoke Saturday after Gilbride had expressed interest in the job through his agent, Raiders senior executive John Herrera said Sunday. Gilbride is the first outside candidate to talk to Davis [...]

Michigan made its case for staying in The Associated Press’ Top 25. Manny Harris had 16 points and four teammates also scored in double figures for the 23rd-ranked Wolverines in a 74-64 victory over Illinois on Sunday that ended the Illini’s seven-game winning streak. Michigan (11-3, 1-1 Big Ten) needed a victory to give it [...]

Darren Sproles ran off the field clutching the game ball, leaving Peyton Manning to hang his head in frustration. The San Diego Chargers outdid Manning for the second straight January, again turning to surprise stars to spark them along in the playoffs. Given more playing time because of LaDainian Tomlinson’s groin injury, the speedy little [...]

DeJuan Blair knew that he was not the main focus of the two dozen or so NBA scouts or the national television audience. The featured attraction was supposed to be college basketball’s latest flavor-of-the-month, Georgetown freshman Greg Monroe. In the second half, however, it was Blair who was thumping his chest while chants of “Let’s [...]

Kansas coach Bill Self has said it all season: Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich have to play well for the Jayhawks to beat good teams. They did against Tennessee and Kansas ended up with its biggest win of the season. With Collins blowing past defenders with crossover dribbles and Aldrich flying in for dunks and [...]

A little-known player and few big misses put an end to Boston’s longest winning streak in nearly 26 years. Recent call-up Matt Ellis scored his second and third goals of the season to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 win over Boston on Saturday, snapping the Bruins’ 10-game winning streak and handing them their [...]

Only Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin prevented the Montreal Canadiens from an All-Star sweep. The NHL announced the starting lineups Saturday for the midseason classic, and the host Canadiens filled four of the six slots for the Eastern Conference. Crosby and Malkin, teammates and linemates with the defending East champion Pittsburgh Penguins, both broke the [...]

Fans purchased more than 20,000 tickets to Minnesota’s playoff game over six days, assuring there will be no local TV blackout when the Vikings host Philadelphia at the Metrodome on Sunday. The Vikings announced the sales results Saturday afternoon for their wild-card playoff game with the Eagles after moving the remaining 3,100 seats that were [...]

In a strong statement leading to the Australian Open, Andy Murray has beaten Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on consecutive days. The Scotsman defeated the top-ranked Nadal 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 Saturday to capture the Capitala World Tennis Championship exhibition and $250,000 winner-take-all prize. A day earlier in the semifinals, he topped the No.

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Peyton Manning guided Indianapolis on an 81-yard scoring drive, giving the Colts a 7-0 first-quarter lead over the San Diego Chargers in their wild-card playoff game Saturday night. Manning threw passes of 36 and 17 yards to Anthony Gonzalez on successive plays, putting the ball at the San Diego 2. Joseph Addai scored on a [...]

The Arizona Cardinals were no playoff pretenders. Kurt Warner opened with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald and connected with Anquan Boldin on a 71-yard scoring play as the Cardinals beat Atlanta 30-24 Saturday before a raucous, white towel-waving crowd in their first home playoff game in 61 years.

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Connecticut’s Donald Brown showed he has nothing left to prove at the college level. Brown ran for a career-best 261 yards in his final college game, helping the fumble-prone Huskies overcome a mistake-filled first half and defeat Buffalo 38-20 in the International Bowl on Saturday. After becoming the 14th player in major college history to [...]

Undefeated, and uninvited. Led by Brian Johnson and a swarming defense, No. 7 Utah completed its perfect season by upsetting fourth-ranked Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl on Friday night. After piling up wins in the Mountain West Conference against a schedule deemed soft, the Utes (13-0) were left out of the BCS national championship [...]

The Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t about to follow one big loss with another one. Anderson Varejao scored a career-high 26 points — the majority of them off passes from LeBron James — and James had a triple-double as the Cavaliers stayed unbeaten on their floor with a 117-92 win Friday night over the Chicago Bulls after [...]

The atmosphere was electric. Bundled-up fans got a chance to extend their New Year’s Eve parties and watch hockey in a venerable stadium where baseball usually fills the seats. If the setting was different, the results were the same Thursday. The Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks again, this time out in the cold [...]

From carrying couches to an All-American carrying a football. Now, Big Ten MVP Shonn Greene figures he’s ready for the next level. The Iowa running back turned Thursday’s Outback Bowl into a farewell party, leading the Hawkeyes past South Carolina 31-10 and then announcing he intends to skip his senior season to enter the NFL [...]

Matthew Stafford gave the type of performance in the Capital One Bowl that’d make a fitting finale to his excellent Georgia career. Whether this was his last game with the Bulldogs, the junior quarterback hasn’t decided. Stafford threw three touchdown passes in the final 18 minutes against No. 19 Michigan State, hitting Knowshon Moreno for [...]