A body believed to be New England Patriots player Marquise Hill was found by searchers following a jetski accident on Lake Pontchartrain
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) -- The PGA Tour's Barclays tournament will be played at the recently completed Liberty National course in 2009.
JaMarcus Russell is making it rain.
• Cleveland Browns -- The steep price they paid is no small compensation, but in landing both Joe Thomas and Brady Quinn, the Browns came away with a potential franchise left offensive tackle and a franchise quarterback in the span of 20 picks. It's a move that could determine the fate of this franchise for a long time to come.
BUFFALO BILLS
Today's hypothesis: The NFL Draft is the biggest sporting event in America. Before writing that bold sentence, I toyed with various other adjectives until settling on "biggest.'' Among them:
There may not be a better off-campus house in America than the one that Wisconsin senior tackle Joe Thomas shares with five teammates in Madison. Miller Lite tap in the kitchen, poker room in the basement, John Belushi poster on the TV room wall and -- everyone's favorite -- padded red bra hanging from the antlers of a six-point trophy buck. "I was just doing laundry one day, and it snuck its way into my clothes," Badgers defensive back Ben Strickland says mischievously while watching Pardon the Interruption from the depths of a recliner. In Thomas's room upstairs, his laptop rests on homemade legs: four rolls of toilet paper. In the backyard there's a hot tub, a hammock and a couch. The best in late-night college carryout is within stumbling distance on Madison's busy streets.
BUFFALO -- There were 12 of us watching the game that January evening, a dozen converted Bills fans huddled around a television in the den of a rented house in the city's University Heights section. I had lived in Buffalo for just under 42 months, but my education as a Buffalonian was nearly complete. I knew the difference between Albright-Knox, the city's famed modern art gallery, and Chuck Knox, the Bills' best coach before Marv Levy. Pronunciations such as Cheektowaga and Tonawanda, the tongue-twisting towns that tripped up the new television anchors, rolled from my lips as if I were a Niagara Frontier native. And while I hated winter in Western New York, a season that lasted longer than many marriages, I had come to admire the heartiness of my fellow Buffalonians as they combated snow drifts as tall as Manute Bol and wind-chill readings that often dipped below zero.
All you need is one look at the personal conduct policy that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handed down on Tuesday to know that the man isn't playing around. Along with slapping a season-long suspension on Tennessee cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones and an eight-game punishment on Cincinnati wide receiver Chris Henry, Goodell sent a blaring message to the rest of the league's teams, coaches and players. That statement wasn't just about a first-year commissioner flexing his muscles. It was about a first-year commissioner doing some serious educating.
Is Peyton Manning funny?
There was little shock around the NFL when the Denver Broncos cut defensive end Courtney Brown earlier this week. Brown can't stay healthy and it appears that he'll never measure up to the excessive expectations pinned on him when he entered the league as the first pick in the 2000 draft.
He hurried through the bowels of the L.A. Coliseum wearing only a towel, a frantic 49ers official at his side. For Ronnie Lott, a future Hall of Famer rushing to the locker room of the franchise that had discarded him -- because San Francisco's Charles Haley was in the middle of a scary postgame tirade, and no one else was capable of calming him down -- this was what complete vindication looked like in September of 1991.
If we've learned anything from the first few weeks of the NFL's unrestricted free agency period, it's that bigger bank accounts usually lead to riskier decisions within the marketplace. The recent increase in the NFL's salary cap -- it has grown by nearly $25 million over the last two years -- has given more teams more license to indulge in the kinds of moves that they wouldn't even consider a few years ago. I'm talking about aging running backs signing for good money and guards -- yes, guards -- finding fat paydays after years of being dismissed as the most expendable components of an offensive line. It's these types of trends that have made this offseason all the more interesting.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Charles Sharon was charged with stealing a handgun that police said was found under the seat of the player's sport utility vehicle during a drug-related search.
There was only one word that crept into my mind upon hearing that the Patriots reportedly were interested in trading for Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss: Madness. I realize that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady misses his former favorite targets, Deion Branch and David Givens. I also understand that New England head coach Bill Belichick helped transform running back Corey Dillon from a troubled bad boy in Cincinnati to a valuable contributor on the Patriots 2005 Super Bowl championship team. But Moss redeeming himself in New England? I just don't see it happening.
When I wrote a column about the long suffering of Philadelphia sports fans, I was hoping that there'd eventually be an end in sight. For Eagles fans, it's now easier to see the Golden Gate from the Ben Franklin than it is to see a Super Bowl.
CENTENNIAL, Colorado (Ticker) -- A lot of retirees head to Florida. Jake Plummer apparently would rather stay in the Rocky Mountains.
It appears that the New England Patriots will get their man.
Musings, observations and the occasional insight as the NFL offseason continues to generate headlines on this Valentine's Day. ...
Eight simple words, uttered more than a year earlier -- and in Peyton Manning's finest hour, I couldn't get them out of my head.
If television is indeed the drug of the nation, as the hip-hop band Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy once declared, then we're all doomed with our dependence on the NFL. No programming is more popular among Americans -- more people watched this year's AFC championship game than last year's Academy Awards -- and the NFL enjoyed record viewership in 2006.
MIAMI -- As it became apparent in the runup to Super Bowl XLI that this might be a mudder's day, the prevailing theory in the press was that a bad field would favor the Bears. The Bears are used to playing in muck, the smart money said, while the Colts were at their best on a fast track.
With the first Friday of the month upon us, it's time once again for the all-reader-submission edition. Thanks as always for all your entries. Have a great Super Bowl weekend.
Indianapolis head coach Tony Dungy had an interesting perspective on the legacy of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning when this postseason began. When asked, for probably the one millionth time, if Manning needed to win a championship to ensure his place in history, Dungy said that history would probably be a lot kinder to Manning than any of us can ever imagine. He mentioned how hard it is to judge a man's career while he's still playing. He talked about how history can turn revisionist once a player finishes his career. And the more Dungy talked, the more he made a convincing point: There's still plenty of time to know what kind of mark Manning will eventually leave on this game.
MIAMI -- Oh to have had Jim Sorgi hooked up to an EKG monitor or blood pressure machine when Peyton Manning first ambled off the field shaking his right thumb, a look of real concern in his eyes as the AFC Championship Game wound down to its most crucial juncture.
CBS is counting on a "Super"-sized audience to tune into this Sunday's big game between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears.
CBS was supposed to be the boring investment once it became a standalone public company a year ago.
Who do you pick in the semis: Andy Roddick or Roger Federer? Roddick's recent successes notwithstanding, I say Federer in four. -- Kevin Knudson, Starkville, Miss.
Chicago Bears fans, poor souls, must be asking themselves, why, oh why, should Lovie and the gang even bother showing up in Miami?
Lane Kiffin, offensive coordinator at Southern California, agreed Monday night to a five-year contract to replace Art Shell as head coach of the Oakland Raiders, SI.com has learned.
Chicago Bear fans are no doubt thrilled their team is heading to Super Bowl XLI in Miami, but it's stock market bulls who had the biggest win on Sunday.
Mike Tomlin, defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, has been chosen as the Pittsburgh Steelers' new head coach, SI.com has learned.
• Numbers to know: You can't forget the Rex Grossman watch, but don't fixate on it to the point where you look past the Thomas Jones factor. The Bears are 14-1 in the past 15 games in which Jones carries at least 20 times. Last week against Seattle, Jones ran for two touchdowns, becoming the first Bears rusher to do that in a playoff game since Walter Payton in 1979. Look for the Bears to feed the ball to Jones and Cedric Benson, limiting the impact the erratic Grossman can have on the game.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- New North Carolina coach Butch Davis retained three members of former coach John Bunting's staff Tuesday but will not keep defensive coordinator Marvin Sanders.
Indianapolis Colts strong safety Bob Sanders is the inspiration behind today's column. When asked before the playoffs how Indy's defense could overcome its regular season problems, he said the unit would be better because injuries had ruined the team's continuity in the past. Now that the Colts were healthier, their execution would be sharper.
It had to end like this. How could it not? The script for this game was written long before it was ever played. We've seen the ending to this movie so many times that we should have been reciting the final plays before they happened as if we were watching a cult classic.
It just makes sense that the Colts and Patriots would meet in the AFC Championship Game. Indy-New England has become the premiere rivalry of the 21st century, although it hasn't been an even one. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has done little in the last two games to shed his label as a postseason underachiever and no one gives him more trouble than the Pats. Meanwhile, New England quarterback Tom Brady is coming off another miraculous performance in the divisional playoffs and now stands 12-1 all-time in the postseason, including 6-1 away from Foxboro.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick was very hands-on at the finish of last Sunday's playoff win over the Jets. In his haste to lay an awkward midfield man-hug on Jets coach Eric Mangini, Belichick shoved a Boston Globe photographer out of his way. Belichick later apologized, but as this list shows, it's far from the first time that a sports figure has wanted a camera (or cameramen) or reporter out of the picture.
Nick Saban had to have known when the Little Debbies were wrong.
Here are a few words of advice for new Atlanta Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino: Talk to former college head coaches who took jobs in the NFL before you. Chat with Nick Saban and Butch Davis. Seek out Mike Riley and Steve Spurrier. Don't just enjoy that fat, five-year, $24 million deal the Falcons recently gave you. Think about all those other highly successful coaches who walked into the league with hyped reputations and ambitious ideas. Pay very close attention to where they are now because that could be you one day.
FOXBORO, Mass. -- If it's possible for a 21-point loser to have earned a huge measure of respect this weekend, the New York Jets have done it. New England's victory on Sunday was a 23-16 game with 10 minutes left, and Tom Brady, the best quarterback most of us will ever see, had to convert a huge third-and-eight to prevent the Jets from having one last chance to make a game of it. Then, of course, the roof caved in, and New England romped 37-16.
FOXBORO, Mass. -- Greatness is no longer part of the equation in New England, home of those three shiny Lombardi Trophies that the Patriots love to display anywhere on almost anything. But with their playoff opener Sunday against the upstart New York Jets, the Patriots proved that while they might not be the league's best team, they're still among the most dangerous.
Ken Whisenhunt, who is scheduled to interview for the vacant Cardinals head coaching job in Arizona Friday and has already spoken with the Atlanta Falcons about their opening, has emerged as the favorite to succeed Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh, a source familiar with the Steelers' search said Friday.
Now that it's done, and the two-win debacle of Art Shell's second stint as Raiders head coach has mercifully ended, there's only one little remaining problem on the horizon in Oakland: Now what?
It's going to take a while, isn't it? To see the Pittsburgh Steelers take the field and not think of Bill Cowher as the face -- the unmistakable face -- of that storied franchise. The jutting jaw. The flying spit. The look of complete disgust that launched a thousand heart palpitations whenever he aimed it in the direction of his chastised players.
New England Patriots star Tom Brady is suing Yahoo over the use of his photo in an advertisement for fantasy football.
Football fanatics may be eagerly anticipating the start of the National Football League's 2006 season this Thursday, but they should also be prepared to open their pocketbooks a little wider this year if they plan on attending a game.
The San Diego Chargers' Steve Foley was shot Sunday by an off-duty policeman who had followed him to his home after noticing Foley's car driving erratically, a sheriff's investigator in San Diego, California, said.
Two new candidates from outside the NFL have emerged as the search for the National Football League's next commissioner narrowed to 11 semi-finalists in Detroit earlier this week.
When the National Football League's 87th season kicks off on Sept. 7 in Pittsburgh, the league's erstwhile commissioner, Paul Tagliabue, will be packing for a much-deserved vacation to China.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' fifth Super Bowl win could also signal a positive year for stocks, if the Super Bowl stock indicator is to be believed.
Little Big Man
U.S. stocks might have had a very bad Friday, but they had a surprisingly good Sunday, as the National Football League playoffs produced a Super Bowl matchup that suggests a winning year for stocks is now a lock.
When the New York Jets and New England Patriots end their football game next Monday, the lights will go out on one of the great shows in the history of television.
Ten years ago, Denise Brown was a fixture on television news, discussing the killing of her sister Nicole Brown Simpson, whose ex-husband, former football star O.J. Simpson, was standing trial for Nicole's murder.
The New England Patriots established themselves as a football dynasty Sunday night. But their 24-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles didn't break any ratings records.
Wall Street thinks the chances of the Fed not raising interest rates again Wednesday are about as great as the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl XXXIX.
Wall Street thinks the chances of the Fed not raising interest rates again next week are about as great as the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl XXXIX.
Could New England fans be getting tired of winning?
Capitalism is coming to the most successful socialist state the planet has ever known: the National Football League.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - If you've got Ray Lewis in your fantasy football league, you might want to consider trading him.
The Patriots' Super Bowl 32-29 win might be good news for New England sports fans, but it'll probably make superstitious investors pretty nervous.
Want another bull market for stocks this year? Superstitious investors should pull for the Carolina Panthers to beat up on the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in Houston on Feb. 1.
Want another bull market for stocks this year? Pull for the Colts and the Eagles to win Sunday's National Football League playoff games and advance to the Super Bowl.
Put aside for a moment those textbook fundamentals. One of the most accurate gauges for predicting which way stocks will swing in 2002 is based on pigskin, not P/Es. Or so history tells us. We're r...
Al Lerner, the billionaire chairman of credit card issuer MBNA, is a philanthropic guy. He's donated $100 million to the Cleveland Clinic for a research institute, $25 million to his alma mater, Co...
For Tony Amonte, the measure of his success in the National Hockey League this season was simple enough: He scored 44 goals, second-best in the NHL. But there are other achievements the Chicago Bla...
What I most remember about the football coaches of my youth was their foul breath. To a man, they liked to get up close and personal whenever you erred. Miss a block or run the wrong pass route, an...
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