Sean Taylor shot

Holy crap, what is wrong with people? If you have to be a greeter at WalMart, or pump gas, or ask would you like fries with that?, so be it, but get a job. Don't go shooting people while you're trying to rip off what they've worked for. From SI:

Washington Redskins star safety Sean Taylor was in critical condition Monday after he was shot during what police are investigating as a possible armed robbery at his home.

The 24-year-old player was in the intensive care unit following several hours of surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital, said family friend Richard Sharpstein, his former lawyer. He remained unconscious early Monday evening.

Taylor lost a "significant" amount of blood because the bullet damaged his femoral artery, and doctors are worried about blood flow to the brain, added Sharpstein, who was at the hospital with the player's family and friends.

Taylor has had several problems on and off the field, including an incident two years ago in which he was accused of brandishing a gun.

The shooting came eight days after another invasion was reported at his home. According to police records, someone pried open a front window, rifled through his drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed...

Not that Taylor is a beacon of light in the greater scheme of things, but still...I suppose I won't be surprised when the news breaks that this was a revenge thang. What goes around comes around, right?

addendum: Sean Taylor died early this morning.

Saskatchewan wins Grey Cup

James Johnson set a Grey Cup record with three interceptions to help the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19 on Sunday night for their first Canadian Football League title in 18 years. The former Arkansas State player, selected the MVP of the game, returned his first interception 30 yards for a second-quarter touchdown, and sealed the game in the final minute with his third.

Kerry Joseph threw a 29-yard TD pass to Andy Fantuz in the fourth quarter, and Luca Congi added three field goals for the Roughriders, also CFL champions in 1966 and 1989. Joseph was 13-of-34 for 181 yards and an interception and ran for 101 yards on 10 carries. Dinwiddie was 15-of-33 for 225 yards.

The Blue Bombers, playing without star quarterback Kevin Glenn, failed in a bid to win their first title since 1990. Ryan Dinwiddie, making his first CFL start after Glenn broke his arm last week, threw a 50-yard scoring pass to Derick Armstrong. Troy Westwood made two field goals, and Winnipeg scored six points on three conceded safeties.

NFL Football

I'd say Donovan McNabb's job is in jeopardy. The Philadelphia Eagles gave the rest of the NFL a smidgen of hope Sunday night: they showed that the New England Patriots can be vulnerable. Asante Samuel returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and had a second pick to shut off a late Philadelphia drive as the Patriots beat the Eagles 31-28 Sunday night to run their record to 11-0. It was only the second truly competitive game of the season for New England, which trailed 28-24 midway the fourth period. A 69-yard drive, capped by Laurence Maroney's 4-yard run, put the Patriots ahead of the 22-point underdog. Then Samuel's second interception finished the job. James Sanders added an interception in the final seconds to officially close it out. But at least the Eagles were competitive against a team which had won its first 10 games by an average of 25 points. The Patriots had a seven-point lead twice, 7-0 and 14-7 but that was as large as either team led all game. And the Eagles led for much of it in a contest in which A.J. Feeley, a career backup replacing the injured McNabb at quarterback for the Eagles, outplayed Tom Brady for most of the game. Philadelphia cornerback Lito Sheppard turned Randy Moss, moving in on Jerry Rice's single-season mark for touchdown receptions, into nothing more than ordinary. It was the Patriots' smallest margin of victory this season, and it comes just a week after a huge blowout of the Buffalo Bills and their largest victory margin.

LaDainian Tomlinson reached another milestone and the Chargers got a much-needed win. Philip Rivers quieted the boo-birds and rediscovered Antonio Gates, throwing two of his three touchdown passes to the All-Pro tight end and leading San Diego to a 32-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Tomlinson had a quiet day until his 36-yard run early in the third quarter pushed the reigning league MVP past 10,000 career rushing yards, making him the 23rd player in NFL history to reach the milestone and the third in less than a month. The Chargers (6-5) won for the fifth time in seven games following their shocking 1-3 start. This was the first time in a while that so many things went right for the Bolts. The Ravens (4-7) lost their franchise-record fifth straight game. Quarterback Kyle Boller was sacked four times.

The Minnesota Vikings know how to make Eli Manning look bad, and this time they did it in front of big brother, Peyton. With Peyton watching in the stands, Darren Sharper, Dwight Smith and Chad Greenway picked off passes by Eli and returned them for touchdowns in leading the Vikings to a 41-17 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday. The Vikings (5-6) have picked off Manning eight times in the two games, scoring on four of those picks and coming close on another. Sharper scored on a 20-yard return, Smith rumbled 93 yards and Greenway followed from 37 yards just a few plays later as the Vikings set a team single-game record for interception returns for touchdowns. Sharper's interception came after Manning and tight end Jeremy Shockey had a miscommunication on a blitz read. It seemed Sharper was the only one who knew where the pass was going. Smith's score came on a tipped pass and Greenway's TD came with Manning under pressure.

NFL scores

NBA

Stan Van Gundy coached his 200th NBA game Saturday night and Orlando stomped his former mentor and boss Pat Riley's team, the Miami Heat, 120-99. With the win the Magic improved to 12-3. Hedo Turkoglu scored 27 points, Rashard Lewis added 19 and Dwight Howard had 17 points and 13 rebounds to hand the Heat its Eastern Conference-leading 10th loss. Wade had 32 points, Shaquille O'Neal added 20, and Ricky Davis had 23 points and seven assists, but Miami trailed for all but the opening minutes. Orlando shot 56 percent from the field but 8-of-22 from the line, while Miami shot 47 percent from the field.

While winning has become routine for the new-look Boston Celtics, this victory was different. It had the players huddled around the locker room TV, giggling like school kids as they watched it again. And the replay was just as sweet. Ray Allen made a 3-pointer at the buzzer after Eddie House knocked away Jason Richardson 's inbounds pass with 4.7 seconds left, and the Celtics stunned the Charlotte Bobcats 96-95 on Saturday night. If there's any doubt Boston is ready to put their struggles of recent years in the past, this was another indication. The leprechaun returned to the Celtics' side. Allen had missed 11 of his previous 14 shots in a flat performance for the Celtics, yet hit nothing but net on the jumper from the left wing, setting off a wild celebration for the Celtics, who won their third straight game and improved to 11-1.

The Atlanta Hawks have won two in a row on the road. That those wins have come against the teams with two of the worst records in the NBA matters not to these Hawks. Sure they trailed by double digits in the fourth quarter of both of them, but after losing the previous 17 away from home, the Hawks will take them wherever and however they can get them. Josh Smith scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter to help Atlanta erase a 21-point deficit in a 94-87 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.

NBA scores

NHL

Daniel Briere hasn't let the absence of linemate Simon Gagne hurt his production. Briere had a goal and two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Briere, signed by the Flyers to a multiyear deal in the offseason, redirected a perfect pass from Scott Hartnell in front of the Senators net for his 12th goal of the season. Gagne was Briere's linemate at the beginning of the season, but has missed the past eight games, and 12 of the past 14, with a concussion. Briere hasn't missed a beat, posting six goals and six assists during Gagne's eight-game absence. R.J. Umberger, Scott Hartnell and Mike Richards also scored for the Flyers, while Antero Niittymaki stopped 29 shots in a rare start. Playing without Daniel Alfredsson , their captain and leading scorer, the Senators got goals from Wade Redden, Dany Heatley and Christophe Schubert.

The Nashville Predators' failure to control the Minnesota Wild in the final two minutes could come back to haunt them. Branko Radivojevic scored the go-ahead goal with 1:53 remaining, leading the Wild to a 4-3 victory Saturday night. Aaron Voros, Matt Foy and Marian Gaborik also scored for Minnesota, which took a 3-2 lead into the third period. Vernon Fiddler scored the tying goal for the Predators in third period at 10:16 when Alexander Radulov found him low in the slot and Fiddler shot the puck between Niklas Backstrom's legs. Radivojevic scored what proved to be the winning goal when he beat Chris Mason high over his left shoulder on a 3-on-2 breakaway at 18:07.

Nikolai Zherdev made sure the Columbus Blue Jackets earned a full two points in another strong performance against Detroit. Zherdev scored the winning goal in a shootout to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings on Saturday night. Michael Peca and Rick Nash also scored in the shootout for Columbus, which won after Detroit tied it with two goals in a team-record 5 seconds. The game was the second shootout in a week between the teams, with Detroit winning Sunday. Manny Malhotra and Zherdev scored in regulation to help Columbus win its second straight game. Pascal Leclaire made 23 saves, and also made a big stop on Henrik Zetterberg in the shootout. Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Holmstrom also scored for Detroit, which has lost five of seven. Chris Osgood made several spectacular saves to keep the Red Wings in the game.

NHL scores

NCAA Football

College football isn't normally big on second chances, but in this historic season of attrition at the top of the polls, Missouri has been dealt a second chance of epic proportions. Beating Kansas on Saturday night in front of the largest Arrowhead Stadium crowd (80,537) in 35 years earned the Tigers their first-ever Big 12 North title and will more than likely send them to the top of the polls Sunday for the first time since 1960. That's nothing, however, compared to the potential windfall awaiting 11-1 Missouri if it can avenge its only loss of the season next week against 10-2 Oklahoma: a conference championship and a berth to the BCS national championship game.

Boston College ended a 15-game losing streak against Miami to head into the Atlantic Coast Conference title game with a victory, and the 15th-ranked Eagles didn't even need Doug Flutie to do it. Matt Ryan threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns Saturday to lead BC to a 28-14 win, BC's first victory over Miami since the 1984 'Hail Flutie' pass that ended one of the greatest games in college football history. Boston College (10-2, 6-2 ACC) will play for the conference championship in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 1 against Virginia Tech, which beat Virginia 33-21 Saturday for the Coastal Division title. BC already clinched the Atlantic Division with last week's victory over Clemson. But they wanted the win, anyway. The Hurricanes (5-7, 2-6) failed to qualify for a bowl game for the first time in 10 years.

Under coach Tom Osborne, Nebraska was one of the bullies of college football, a program to be feared. Under coach Bill Callahan, the Cornhuskers were too often the ones getting pushed around. After watching Callahan's Huskers for five games, Osborne, in his new role as interim athletic director, decided it was time for change. He fired Callahan during a five-minute meeting Saturday. Callahan left the football complex without speaking to reporters. The move was expected after the Huskers finished 5-7 with Friday's 65-51 loss at Colorado, a game in which they squandered an 11-point halftime lead by allowing 34 consecutive points.

NCAA Football

Way to go, Pete!

Sampras never faced a break point and converted one of two against his opponent as he handed Federer a 7-6 (8), 6-4 defeat at the Venetian Macao arena, wrapping up a three-match Asian exhibition series between the two tennis greats. Sampras downplayed his victory, noting Federer was coming off a long season and that he was helped by his big serve and the fast indoor carpet surface. He had only aimed to win one set during the three-match series.

"Let's not get carried away," he said at a news conference. Sampras ruled out a comeback from retirement, telling the audience after the match, "I had my time in the '90s."

Federer tried to put on a positive spin on the loss, saying he wasn't embarrassed to lose to his idol, but still showed some disappointment. "It's been tough beating my idol the last two times. I'm happy that he got me at least once," he said, but adding, "I hope we can do it again in the future. I'd like to get him back."

The two players have won a combined 26 Grand Slam titles, but Sampras, 36, retired five years ago after winning the U.S. Open in 2002. Twenty six-year-old Federer is fresh from another stellar season as he won three Slams and last week's Masters Cup in Shanghai in compiling a 68-9 winning record.

NFL Football

Brett Favre set a Green Bay record with 20 consecutive completions and finished with a season-high 381 yards and three touchdowns in the Packers' 37-26 victory over the slumping Detroit Lions. The three-time MVP put together another sensational performance that made the 38-year-old quarterback look as if he's back in his prime. Favre's seventh 300-yard game of the season matched a team mark he set in 1995. Green Bay (10-1) matched its best 11-game record since 1929 and the NFC North leaders took a four-game lead with five games left in the regular season. The Packers can improve their chances of earning home-field advantage if they win next week at Dallas - also 10-1 after manhandling the New York Jets 34-3 later Thursday. Detroit (6-5) lost its third straight game, making its playoff picture bleak because it would lose wild-card tiebreakers against the New York Giants, Washington, Philadelphia and Arizona.

Of all the great players and great teams the Dallas Cowboys have had, Tony Romo, Terrell Owens and the 2007 club are the first to start 10-1. And if 10-1 Green Bay wasn't up next, the Cowboys might be able to savor such an accomplishment. Dallas kept the stakes up for the next big matchup next Thursday night with a 34-3 victory over the New York Jets on Thursday that was as lopsided as it seems. Romo led the Cowboys to a touchdown on the game-opening drive, then threw for another touchdown soon after. Once Terence Newman returned an interception 50 yards for another score midway through the second quarter, the only question left was whether Romo would throw another TD to tie the club single-season record.

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts are still trying to recapture their Super Bowl-winning groove. But they sure looked a whole lot more like themselves Thursday night. Manning threw three touchdown passes, Anthony Gonzalez had 105 yards receiving and the defending champs, after getting stunned with 10 quick points by the Falcons, rebounded for a 31-13 victory. Indianapolis (9-2) had struggled the past three weeks, losing twice and pulling out a lackluster home win over Kansas City. The Colts' malaise carried over the first quarter at the Georgia Dome, with the Falcons striking for Morten Andersen's 34-yard field goal and Joey Harrington's 48-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White. But any thoughts the Falcons (3-8) had of pulling off a huge upset were quickly wiped out by Manning. He threw all three of his TD passes in the second quarter, going 23 yards to Reggie Wayne, 8 yards to Dallas Clark and 5 yards to Ben Utecht.

NFL scores

The Crime Report

Michael Vick has turned his sorry ass over to get a head start on serving his sentence. I believe he is employing the Martha Stewart maneuver and hoping for leniency and sympathy. From SI:

Michael Vick surrendered to U.S. marshals Monday and will remain in jail until his sentencing on a dogfighting charge in three weeks.

The Atlanta Falcons quarterback is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 10 but turned himself in because he anticipates a prison term on the federal dogfighting conspiracy charge, according to a court document. Vick could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

"From the beginning, Mr. Vick has accepted responsibility for his actions, and his self-surrender further demonstrates that acceptance," Billy Martin, one of Vick's lawyers, said in a statement. "Michael wants to again apologize to everyone who has been hurt in this matter, and he thanks all of the people who have offered him and his family prayers and support during this time."

Vick is being held at Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw until his sentencing, U.S. marshals told The Associated Press. The mixed-gender facility houses about 450 inmates...

Mr. Vick has accepted responsibility for his actions...are you kidding? He lied and loudly proclaimed his innocence until his cohorts turned on him. Now we're supposed to accept him as an upstanding citizen? Please. I maintain he should be dropped into a pit of vipers. See if they give him any more sympathy than he gave his loser dogs. Asswipe.

Barry Bonds is under indictment. Also from SI:

The home run king wasn't home free after all.

Barry Bonds was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice Thursday and could go to prison instead of the Hall of Fame for telling a federal grand jury he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs.

The indictment came just three months after the San Francisco Giants star broke Hank Aaron's career home run record, and it culminated a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes.

But for all the speculation and accusations that clouded his pursuit of Aaron, Bonds was never identified by Major League Baseball as testing positive for steroids, and personal trainer Greg Anderson spent most of the last year in jail for refusing to testify against his longtime friend.

Then came the indictment -- four counts of perjury, one of obstruction of justice; a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison -- and Bonds' lawyers seemed caught off guard.

The 10-page report mainly consists of excerpts from Bonds' December 2003 testimony before a grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO. It cites 19 occasions in which Bonds allegedly lied under oath...

Seriously, didn't everyone with two brain cells see this one coming? Why do *stars* continue to believe they are above the law? Ok, perhaps because we put them on pedestals and are willing to pay crazy amounts of money to watch grown men PLAY GAMES. It won't end until the fans insist it ends. Need proof?

Mike Tyson was sentenced Monday to 24 hours in jail and three years' probation for drug possession and driving under the influence.

The former heavyweight champion had pleaded guilty in September to a single felony count of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor DUI count.

Tyson had faced a possible maximum sentence of four years and three months in prison.

The charges stemmed from a traffic stop in Scottsdale last December.

Police pulled Tyson over after the boxer had spent the evening at Scottsdale's Pussycat Lounge. An officer said he saw Tyson wiping a white substance off the dashboard of his black BMW, and that his speech was slurred.

Authorities said they found bags of cocaine in Tyson's pocket and in his car.

Tyson told officers later that he used cocaine "whenever I can get my hands on it," and that he preferred to smoke it in Marlboro cigarettes with the tobacco pulled out, according to court documents. He also told police that he used marijuana that day and was taking the antidepressant Zoloft, the documents state.

Since his arrest, Tyson checked himself into an inpatient treatment program for what his lawyer called "various addictions."..

What kind of sentence do you suppose YOU would get for a similar offense? How is this guy getting away with this? Isn't he a known quantity by now? Sheesh. And let's not forget the twenty Ole Miss players mentioned earlier. May as well start 'em early, right?

NFL Football

It was a comeback victory in every sense of the word. The Cleveland Browns literally had to come back onto the field to complete a 33-30 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday after it appeared the game ended with a missed field goal by Phil Dawson. The Browns trailed 30-27 on the final play of regulation when Dawson attempted a tying 51-yard kick. The ball hit the left upright and seemingly bounced off the crossbar before bounding into the end zone. The officials called the kick no good. The Ravens ran off the field, celebrating a victory in which they scored 16 straight points in the fourth quarter, the last three on a 47-yard field goal by Matt Stover with 26 seconds left. Many of the Browns walked off in stunned silence after Dawson's kick. Several Cleveland players, however, insisted Dawson's kick hit the curved center support behind the crossbar. They gathered in the end zone, pointing at the spot where the football struck before bouncing back. They were right. After a lengthy discussion, the officials ruled the kick passed through the uprights and called the teams back onto the field. NFL rules dictate that a field goal is not reviewable by replay. Referring to the initial call, referee Pete Morelli said, "It was a ruling by one of the officials. The other official informed me that the ball hit the back of the extension of the goal post. ... We determined that was what it struck. Therefore, it made the field goal good."

As the ball left Mike Nugent 's foot and floated through the uprights, the New York Jets stormed the field and celebrated their first win in nearly two months. With thousands of Pittsburgh fans at Giants Stadium waving their yellow Steelers towels, Nugent kicked a 38-yard field goal 5:03 into overtime to give the Jets an unlikely 19-16 victory Sunday. The kick broke a six-game losing streak for the Jets (2-8), who celebrated their first win since Week 3 against Miami in a huge circle around Nugent. In front of a crowd that sometimes looked as if it was a home game for the Steelers (7-3), with fans decked out in black and gold waving their Terrible Towels, the Jets hung tough. Thomas Jones was a huge reason, running for 117 yards on 30 carries and becoming the first running back in 35 games to reach 100 yards against the top-ranked Steelers defense.

Tom Brady. Randy Moss. Even Kyle Eckel. The New England Patriots are showing no mercy to any opponent, not even the Buffalo Bills, a team for which coach Bill Belichick has publicly expressed affection. Scoring touchdowns on their first seven offensive possessions and getting the eighth on a turnover, the Patriots won their 10th straight game, routing Buffalo 56-10 Sunday night. Brady and Moss, ready to rewrite the NFL record books, led the romp. Brady was 31-for-39 for 373 yards with five TD passes, four to Moss, as New England became the 10th team since 1970 to start a season 10-0. The way they played, they appear unbeatable, and barring injury are an excellent bet to become the NFL's first perfect team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. It was the ninth time in 10 games New England won by more than 17 points and the ninth time it scored more than 34 points. The Patriots did it coming off a bye week after their only close game of the season, a 24-20 win in Indianapolis in which they came back from a 10- point deficit with less than 10 minutes left. They also did it against a Buffalo team that came in 5-4 with four straight wins. Brady, who has yet to throw fewer than three touchdown passes in a game, increased his TD passes to 38, just 11 short of Peyton Manning 's single-season record, set in 2004. Moss' four TD catches gave him 16 for the season, six short of the record set by Jerry Rice in 1987.

NFL scores