So, it looks like I spent another sports year feeling pre-agitated about things that did not come especially close to happening. Zack Greinke won the Cy Young Award ... he won it rather easily. There was no sudden and overpowering push to get Jack Morris into the Hall of Fame while Bert Blyleven writhes in baseball limbo. The Cleveland Browns did not hire Eric Mangini.
U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro kept alive his challenge at the ATP World Tour Finals in London with a nervy 6-4 3-6 7-6 victory over Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday.
Happy Thanksgiving Week, all. Our family will celebrate in Seattle with both daughters (hooray!), and I hope all of you have a good time eating, watching football, and giving thanks for having such a wonderful NFL columnist in your lives. You know, me.
Being two days shy of Thanksgiving means there's only six short weeks left in the NFL's regular season. The clock is ticking, so here are some things you need to know as we stare down the stretch run to the playoffs....
Barcelona are desperate to call on the services of Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Tuesday's vital Champions League group showdown with Inter Milan in the Camp Nou.
So, it looks like I spent another sports year feeling pre-agitated about things that did not come especially close to happening. Zack Greinke won the Cy Young Award ... he won it rather easily. There was no sudden and overpowering push to get Jack Morris into the Hall of Fame while Bert Blyleven writhes in baseball limbo. The Cleveland Browns did not hire Eric Mangini.
U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro kept alive his challenge at the ATP World Tour Finals in London with a nervy 6-4 3-6 7-6 victory over Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday.
Happy Thanksgiving Week, all. Our family will celebrate in Seattle with both daughters (hooray!), and I hope all of you have a good time eating, watching football, and giving thanks for having such a wonderful NFL columnist in your lives. You know, me.
Being two days shy of Thanksgiving means there's only six short weeks left in the NFL's regular season. The clock is ticking, so here are some things you need to know as we stare down the stretch run to the playoffs....
Barcelona are desperate to call on the services of Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Tuesday's vital Champions League group showdown with Inter Milan in the Camp Nou.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- There may still be confetti floating in the South Florida air after Jimmie Johnson's championship celebration Sunday night, but in this "full-speed ahead" sport of NASCAR, nothing ever comes to a complete stop. That's just the way NASCAR Chairman Brian France wants it.
Robin Soderling blew Group B at the ATP Tour Finals in London wide open with a shock straight sets victory over world number two Rafael Nadal on Monday.
• Every Thanksgiving I end up going back and forth between my family in Detroit and my family in Atlanta, so there's not always time for football on my Thursday afternoon, believe it or not. But this day always makes me think of Detroit -- because I'm from there, and because of the coin-flip incident in 1998, which everyone wants to talk about around this time of year.
No catcher ever has won the Most Valuable Player Award unanimously, an honor Joe Mauer of Minnesota somehow was deprived of in the 2009 voting announced Monday by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Only one vote stood between Mauer and his rightful claim to history: a first-place vote for Miguel Cabrera, a powerful hitter, but a guy who played first base for a second-place Detroit team that coughed up a division title by finishing 1-4 while Cabrera went 3-for-20 and, on the last weekend of the season, was drunk and involved in a domestic violence episode. The vote was cast by Keizo Konishi of Kyodo News and the Seattle chapter of the BBWAA.
Joe Mauer didn't need to win the American League Most Valuable Player award on Monday to justify his historic season, just as he doesn't need that particular piece of hardware to reaffirm his status as the best catcher in baseball. But this latest honor is especially appropriate because it serves as a reminder that no player in baseball is more valuable to his town, his team or his franchise than the 26-year-old hometown hero with the perfectly manicured sideburns and the perfectly pleasant personality.
SEATTLE -- Bring up all the clichés you want: David over Goliath. Substance over style. Team over individual. They all fit Real Salt Lake, which outlasted the heavily favored Los Angeles Galaxy on penalty kicks Sunday night after a 1-1 draw and 120 minutes of last-man-standing soccer (RECAP).
The Pittsburgh Pirates have some things going for them. They may be one of the two least valuable teams in baseball, they may play in the sport's fifth-smallest market, and they may endure all the woes that come with holding the record for most consecutive losing seasons in a major American sport, but they don't spend a lot, and like all other low-end ball clubs they have the help of rich cousins.
The college football season has come to an end for a number of teams around the nation and several highly-rated underclassmen have decisions to make. With the deadline for application to the NFL draft seven weeks away, the non-seniors must decide whether they should opt for April's event. Scouts expect a record number of underclassmen to enter next year's draft, so this week's column concentrates on the draft stock of a dozen non-senior prospects.
NEW YORK -- Talking with commissioner Roger Goodell, while he was getting his makeup wiped off in our NBC Football Night in America studio Sunday night after his Eagles-Bears halftime appearance ...
Ben Wallace had retired. He had made that clear to friends and family who asked him about his future plans. He was all set to make his decision official with the NBA last summer when he began getting phone calls from a few former teammates who weren't having it.
Real Salt Lake sealed an upset win over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday night with a 5-4 penalty victory, after extra-time in the Major League Soccer Cup final that ended with the score at 1-1.
CARSON, Calif. -- When the Los Angeles Galaxy needed a deciding goal last Friday to send them to a sixth MLS Cup final appearance, neither of the team's biggest stars -- David Beckham nor Landon Donovan -- scored the winner in overtime against Houston.
Rick Hendrick's silver anniversary in NASCAR is now officially his most successful, a dynasty unmatched in racing. With Jimmie Johnson's fourth straight title, it's the fifth for the organization this decade and ninth overall, tying the sport's all-time record for car owners. And with Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon finishing second and third in the standings, respectively, it's the first time in the history of the sport one man has stood alone with three teams atop the Cup Series podium.
DENVER -- Looking back, I really can't fathom how these two 6-3 teams were ever tied for first place to start with as this Week 11 Sunday dawned. The only thing I can figure is the standings doubled as the NFL's version of an optical illusion. Maybe it's like when they warn you about objects in the mirror actually being closer than they appear, only to the exact opposite effect in this case.
World number one Roger Federer had to battle from a set down to beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 4-6 7-5 6-1 in their Group A opener at the ATP Tour Finals in London on Sunday night.
David Beckham has pledged his future to the Los Angeles Galaxy and says that victory in Sunday's MLS Cup final against Real Salt Lake would rank alongside other career achievements such as winning the Champions League with Manchester United.
SEATTLE -- Still dubious David Beckham is making an impact in this country? More than 40,000 tickets have been sold for Sunday's MLS Cup final between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake at Qwest Field (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, Galavisión), with another 2,000 made available late in the week. That would mark the biggest crowd for MLS' season-capper in seven years and the third-biggest ever for a game not featuring the local team.
Tottenham Hotspur humiliated Wigan 9-1 with England striker Jermain Defoe scoring five to move into the Champions League spots in the English Premier League.
Real Madrid returned to the top of the table in Spain after edging past Racing Santander 1-0 on Saturday, while previous leaders Barcelona could only draw 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao.
Manchester United kept in touch with English Premier League leaders Chelsea with a 3-0 crushing of Everton on Saturday, but Arsenal's title hopes suffered a big setback.
The Iraqi Olympic Committee said Saturday it stands by its decision to disband the country's soccer association -- a move that led to the association's suspension from international football.
While much of the focus this weekend will be on Jimmie Johnson's pending fourth straight championship, do not expect to see the No. 48 blowing the doors off the competition like it did at Phoenix. While Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus may say they go for the win at every race track, the Lowe's Chevy will have one of the more conservative setups in South Beach. So if you have already expended your picks this Chase on other drivers besides Johnson, you will not be disappointed. Expect the eventual champ, who only has to score 25th or better to clinch the title, to be a lock for the top 10 or top 15. That means if you are in the same position as the No. 48 team for your fantasy title, Johnson is a safe, conservative bet -- though he has never won at Homestead.
Chris Bosh's offseason transformation began in an unlikely place -- his couch. Early into his summer, Bosh decided to watch the championship game from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It was supposed to be one of those feel-good moments, like popping in a classic film that always makes you smile, but it made him angry even as he saw himself receive the gold medal.
One note before I start my Friday column: My sympathies -- and I'm sure everyone who reads this will echo my sentiments -- to the family of Chris Spielman this morning. His wife, 42-year-old Stefanie Spielman, died Thursday after a fourth recurrence of breast cancer. When the disease first appeared, Spielman took a year off from football in 1998 to be Mr. Mom, and I visited the family in Columbus and marveled at the adjustments and selflessness of both of them in dealing with the disease and the personal realities that intruded. My heart goes out to the Spielmans.
Other than commissioner David Stern, can you name anyone in the NBA who plays a more influential role than Spurs president and coach Gregg Popovich? I didn't think so.
SEATTLE -- As the reborn Los Angeles Galaxy prepare to take on Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup final on Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, Galavisión), I can't help but think back to a scene in Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 13, 2008.
Hardships surrounding Zuffa's promotion of UFC 106 have shone a bright light on two important facts as Saturday's pay-per-view looms from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
It's baseball awards time, which means it's also time for my own 2009 awards, starting with the Least Valuable Player (and American League fans, it's not who you think it is.) Following those are the Anti Cy Young Award (the Les Sweetland) and the not-so-great Manager of the Year Award (the John McCloskey). Enjoy.
Jimmie Johnson leaned out the window of the black sport utility vehicle and waved in the general direction of the guy screaming his name over the din of horns and diesel trucks. A yellow cab tooling up a bustling Columbus Avenue prompted him to tuck back inside quickly.
The NHL schedule officially hits the quarter-pole when the Sabres tangle with the Bruins on Nov. 20, and that milestone that has us itching to rank the season's top performers.
Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on exactly 100 and passed 30,000 international runs as India batted out for a draw in the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Lee Westwood claimed the halfway lead at the Dubai World Championship as two birdies on the final three holes gave him a two-shot advantage over a six-strong group tied for second place.
The news that Los Angeles Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt are divorcing came with a bitter kick: Team chairman Frank's first move against his soon-to-be-ex was to fire her from her job as the Dodgers' chief executive.
With Dick Jauron's demise in Buffalo this week, the first domino has fallen in the NFL's annual exercise known as hiring/firing season. While nowhere near as many head coaching vacancies are expected this year compared to last year's record bloodletting, when 11 teams changed the guy in the No. 1 headset, you can be sure Jauron won't be the only one shown the door.
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