Let the trash-talking begin
PHOENIX -- Giants player Plaxico Burress has boasted that New York will beat the New England Patriots 23-17 in the Super Bowl Sunday.
"We're only going to score 17 points?" said Tom Brady, Patriots quarterback and MVP Wednesday. "OK. Is Plax playing defense? I wish he had said 45-42 and gave us a little credit for scoring more points."
The Patriots scored a record 589 points this season, and Brady threw 50 touchdown passes. New England has not scored fewer than 20 points in its 18 wins this season.
"Plaxico is a hell of a player," Brady said. "If he feels that way, I think that's great. I'd hate for him to think he's going to lose this game. It's obvious nobody does."
Phoenix becoming top sports destination
PHOENIX -- What was once the sleepy home of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, the Fiesta Bowl and baseball's spring training has blossomed into a national sports capital.
This year's Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and New York Giants is the latest in a growing list of national sports events that have landed in the desert.
"This [Phoenix] is the destination," said Derrick Hall, president of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. "This is the place to be."
The Phoenix area now has four major professional sports franchises, two PGA Tour events, two NASCAR races, two major-college bowl games, an LPGA tour event and a marathon.
The area will also stage the NCAA men's basketball regionals each of the next two years.
Tiger Woods pursues winning streak
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--Tiger Woods is back at the top of the leader board.
Woods, who won the Buick Invitational on Sunday by eight strokes, shot a 7-under 65 Thursday to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic.
"I played well today, just a bunch of good golf shots," Woods said after his bogey-free round at the Emirates Golf Club.
Eleven players, including Abu Dhabi Golf Championship winner Martin Kaymer, were tied for second at 67. Defending champion Henrik Stenson was tied for third with 12 others.
The Buick Invitational was Woods’ fourth straight and 62nd career title win, tying Arnold Palmer for fourth place on the PGA Tour list. If he wins in Dubai, it will be his seventh win in eight starts.
Charges dropped against NFL player
MURFREESBORO, Tenn.-- A Tennessee judge dismissed misdemeanor charges against suspended NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones on Thursday.
The cornerback was charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct after police said he got into an argument with a woman, refused to leave a suburban Nashville club and shouted profanities at officers. He could have faced a $100 fine for both charges.
Jones has been arrested six times since the Titans drafted him in 2005. The NFL suspended Jones last April because of his off-field conduct and will review his status after the Pro Bowl.
Officials question umpires about the Ku Klux Klan
NEW YORK—Major League Baseball umpires are livid the organization has sent investigators to their hometowns, asking neighbors a series of questions that include whether the ump belongs to the Ku Klux Klan.
World Umpires Association president John Hirschbeck and union spokesman Lamell McMorris said Tom Christopher, the Milwaukee-based supervisor of security and investigations in the commissioner's office, had asked questions about Klan membership to neighbors of umpires Greg Gibson and Sam Holbrook, who live in Kentucky.
In addition, Hirschbeck said similar questions had been asked to neighbors of umpire Ron Kulpa, who lives in suburban St. Louis.
O’Brien can return to coaching
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Former Ohio State basketball coach Jim O'Brien won an appeal Thursday and can return to the college sidelines after he had been fired by the school and essentially banned from coaching by the NCAA for paying a recruit.
"I am pleased that my three-and-a-half-year battle with the NCAA has finally come to an end and resulted in victory," O'Brien said in a release issued through his lawyers. “If I choose to coach again, I can do so without restriction."
Andy Geiger, former Ohio State athletic director, said he dismissed O'Brien for giving a 7-foot-3 Serbian recruit, Aleksandar Radojevic, a $6,000 loan in 1999 for family expenses to help the family during a family illness.
From the Associated Press
Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.
Lead Supervisors:
Prof. Brian
Richardson
Prof. Phylissa
Mitchell
Editing supervisor:
Prof. Pam Leucke
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd