Filed under: Atlanta Falcons, Saints, NFL Live Blogging

The Atlanta Falcons have been extremely difficult to beat at home over the past couple of seasons, owning a 19-3 record at the Georgia Dome since 2008. They have an opportunity to wrap up home field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs with a win against their divisional rivals from New Orleans on Monday, while the Saints are still clinging to a slim chance of coming back and winning the NFC South. To do that, they need to win their final two games and hope for a little bit of help (an Atlanta loss next weekend) as well.

Either way, it's the rare Monday night matchup that is actually a good one heading into the game, and we'll be live chatting all of the action starting at 8:30 PM ET, so please stop on by and join us.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/27/saints-vs-falcons-monday-night-football-live-chat/

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SoccerByIves/~3/biQtKqPuNk8/americans-abroad-weekend-rewind-1.html

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Filed under: Ohio State, Bowl Games

Terrelle Pryor's sure put himself into a nice pickle.

The guy who isn't ready for the NFL now may have to go the NFL. Either that or he sits out the first five games of the 2011 season courtesy of an NCAA suspension for benefiting from selling items he earned while benefiting The Ohio State University.

Rest assured, though, it's not Pryor's fault. Not his fault whatsoever. He didn't know he couldn't sell his paraphernalia, ranging from a Big Ten championship ring to a trinket of gold pants given by the University for beating Michigan. He sold them, you see, for the most noble of causes: to help his family.

That's the word from Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, who also lavished gushing praise on Ohio State's compliance department as it saw its marquee player given the NCAA hammer. It was only on "this particular bylaw" -- which in NCAA vernacular probably is Bylaw 9, Paragraph 12, Subset 4, Provision 5.2 -- that the university did not give enough information. For all the other 783,209 bylaws, Ohio State was spot on.

Seriously.

"For everything else we were top of the charts," Smith said. "This one, we did not do as good a job."

And Santa will have absolutely no problem getting into all those chimneys from Zagreb to Zambia.

 

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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/23/poor-terrelle-pryor-and-ohio-state/

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Filed under: European Soccer, MLS, U.S. Men's National Team, Real Salt Lake

U.S. national team forward Robbie Findley will be showcasing his beguiling (and often infuriating) combination of athleticism and clumsiness in the English second division beginning next month after reaching a 2.5-year deal with one-time European power Nottingham Forest.

Findley must secure a work permit to validate the contract, which should not be too much trouble for a player whose 10 appearances in 14 national team games this year was equaled by only Michael Bradley and Jonathan Bornstein.

"With his great pace and progression in the game at the moment we feel he will be an excellent addition to Forest in the Championship," Nottingham coach Billy Davies said on Thursday.

"He's got electric pace and the ability to cause problems. Robbie has got an eye for goal and he's a player who is desperate to play on this kind of stage."

 

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Source: http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2010/12/23/robbie-findley-signs-with-englands-nottingham-forest/

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Filed under: Buccaneers, NFC South

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-6) playoff hopes are still alive. Imagine that.

The Bucs had three wins last season and their defense has been decimated by injuries. Their offense revolves around a second-year quarterback and rookies. Add to that, they are the youngest team in the NFL.

But the Bucs have a shot for a Wild Card berth.

If New Orleans (10-4) loses to Atlanta on Monday night, the Buccaneers make the playoffs if Tampa Bay wins at New Orleans next Sunday and Green Bay loses at home to Chicago or the Giants lose at Washington.

If New Orleans beats beats Atlanta on Monday night, the Buccaneers make the playoffs if Tampa Bay wins at New Orleans and Green Bay loses at home to Chicago and New York Giants lose at Washington.

The Packers (9-6) absolutely can lose to Chicago (11-4). Remember the Bears want the No. 2 seed and first-round bye. The Giants (9-6) can absolutely lose to the Redskins. Remember, the Giants are reeling.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/27/will-the-tampa-bay-buccaneers-make-the-playoffs/

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Filed under: Jimmie Johnson, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR

LAS VEGAS -- In a luxury suite in the Bellagio Hotel high above the Las Vegas strip, Jimmie Johnson was all smiles and "aw shucks" on the eve of collecting an unprecedented fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship trophy. He was at the hotel to meet with a small group of reporters and to unveil the true benchmark of an athlete's success.

Forget the historic five NASCAR titles, Johnson now has a video game named after him: "Jimmie Johnson's Anything With an Engine."

The game doesn't go on sale until 2011, but the concept launch this week meant the vivid collision between two of America's favorite pastimes, video gaming and NASCAR. And it was interesting to observe the hip, young gaming reporters, dressed in black adorned with lots of zippers and skull designs and colorful tattoos, sizing up the NASCAR All-American good guy's entry into their eclectic world.

"So how does it feel to be a legend?'' asked Jon Carnage, a former professional wrestler who is now a reporter from the video game blog Destructoid. He clearly caught the humble Johnson off guard.

"It's still strange to me that I hear that,'' Johnson replied.

Perhaps he should get used to it.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/12/03/jimmie-johnson-taking-time-to-savor-fifth-championship-in-las-ve/

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Filed under: Eagles, Vikings

Bob Costas, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will be in a stadium Sunday night, as per usual, for NBC's NFL telecast. Producer Fred Gaudelli and director Drew Esocoff will be in their normal perch, in the production truck.

They, and the rest of the NBC crew may be the only people at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, as the scheduled game between the Eagles and the Vikings was postponed Sunday in advance of an expected blizzard in Philadelphia and the rest of the Northeast.

The game was moved to Tuesday night, and will air nationally at 8 p.m ET. Though the league cited uncertainty of the extent of the storm and what could follow, adding that a winter storm warning is in effect for the area until 1 p.m. Monday, the NFL delayed the Eagles-Vikings game 48 hours, rather than moving the game to Monday night, when it would have clashed with an attractive previously scheduled New Orleans-Atlanta showdown on ESPN.

Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/26/vikings-eagles-postponement-lands-nbc-in-snowdrift/

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Filed under: Golf Odds and Ends

Stock Up

Ernie Els

The smooth-swinging Els won his fifth South African Open title Sunday by one stroke over Retief Goosen. His first win in this tournament came 18 years ago, which speaks of his longevity in the game. Despite opening with back-to-back 65s, Els' best round might have been his third. After opening with three bogeys through his first five holes, he finished with seven birdies and maintained his lead over Goosen entering Sunday.

Player of the Year Honors

The Golf Writers Association of America announced its Players of the Year on Friday. The Male Player of the Year went to Graeme McDowell over Jim Furyk and Martin Kaymer in the award's closest race. Bernhard Langer took home the senior version after winning back-to-back majors and five Champions Tour events in 2010. Yani Tseng, who won two LPGA majors this year, was named Female Player of the Year with 69 percent of the vote. All three players are first-time winners and will be honored at Augusta next April.

 

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Source: http://golf.fanhouse.com/2010/12/20/monday-movers-ernie-els-rules-south-african-open-again/

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Filed under: Celtics, Nuggets, NBA Rumors

After the Celtics took care of the Nuggets on Wednesday, Kevin Garnett wanted to take care of some unfinished business.

Boston beat a Denver team playing without Carmelo Anthony by a final of 105-89, but the more interesting development came after the final buzzer, when Garnett headed for the Nuggets' bench to share a few private words with George Karl.

Garnett, as you may recall, drew quite a bit of criticism after the Pistons' Charlie Villanueva took to Twitter to say that Garnett had called him a "cancer patient" during a game back on November 2. Garnett responded by issuing a statement to defend himself, which read in part, "My comment to Charlie Villanueva was in fact 'You are cancerous to your team and our league.' I would never be insensitive to the brave struggle that cancer patients endure."

Karl, who missed part of last season due to battling throat cancer, responded at the time by saying, "It's disappointing and crossing the line ... philosophically, if Kevin and I were close friends, I'd probably call him up and say, 'I don't think that's right (what you said).'"

Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/12/09/kevin-garnett-seeks-out-george-karl-to-clarify-cancer-comment/

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Filed under: Blue Jays, Mariners, Orioles, Phillies, MLB Hall of Fame

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Longtime baseball executive Pat Gillick is the newest member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gillick was elected by the Expansion Era Committee, the only candidate on a ballot of eight former players, three executives and one manager to receive the necessary 75 percent of the vote.

"I can't tell you what an honor this is, and really I think it's on behalf of all the people that I worked with over the years. That's who I feel this honor is for," Gillick said. "The owners, the scouts, the managers, the player development people -- they'll share in this award.

"It's over the hill."

Gillick received votes from 13 of the 16 members of the selection committee, one more than was necessary for election. Falling just short once again was Marvin Miller, the legendary former head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, who received 11 votes.

Gillick is currently a senior adviser for the Phillies. He served as general manager in Philadelphia from 2006-08, following stints as the GM in Seattle (2000-03), Baltimore (1996-98) and Toronto (1985-93). He world World Series championships with the Blue Jays (1992-93) and Phillies (2008), and his 2001 Mariners won a record 116 games.

 

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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/12/06/pat-gillick-elected-to-baseball-hall-of-fame/

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