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SEATTLE -- Chris Johnson has set the NFL record for yards from scrimmage in a season, the first of multiple milestones within his reach in the Tennessee Titans' season finale.

Johnson
Johnson

The second-year running back caught a pass in the flat for a 9-yard gain in the second quarter Sunday at Seattle to break Marshall Faulk's 1999 record for scrimmage yards in a season. The play gave Johnson 2,254 yards from scrimmage.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher got the ball from a game official and tossed it to a team staffer.

Johnson was also closing in on joining Eric Dickerson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis and O.J. Simpson as the only NFL runners to reach 2,000 yards in a season. He needed 128 yards for that mark.

Johnson entered Sunday needing 234 yards to break Dickerson's record of 2,105 yards rushing set in 1984. He needs 63 yards to break Earl Campbell's franchise record of 1,934 yards rushing set in 1980.
source-http://sports.espn.go.com/

The father of Patriots WR Wes Welker said Sunday his son looked as upset as he's ever seen him after suffering a left knee injury in a loss at Houston.
"I've seen him look like that before," Leland Welker told the Boston Globe. "It was always in a losing effort or something like that. It wasn't a good sign."
Welker went down on his first catch of the game in the Patriots' first drive. He planted his left leg awkwardly, and had to be carted to the locker room after being helped to the sideline.
"We're sick," Leland Welker told the Globe. "We're absolutely sick. We take all those hits and stuff all season long. And then just one fluke cut, and he just blows it out."
The Patriots released no details about the extent of Welker's injury. He led the NFL with 123 catches this season.
His mother, Shelley Welker, told the Boston Herald her son was "very, very upset."
Said Shelley Welker to the paper, "it's one of those where it's a cut he makes all the time. And I don't know what happened. But just say your prayers for him and hope it's not anything bad." -- Sean Leahy
source-http://content.usatoday.com

Steve Bruce turned to his dugout, mimed an impersonation of a man tossing a coin and shrugged. A few moments later, the manager held out his bunched fists towards Adam Reed and Michael Liddle, his young substitutes, both clamouring to make their debuts for Sunderland, and told them to pick a hand. Liddle clearly won.

Barrow’s FA Cup run concluded with nonchalance. What began with 8,000 non-League supporters bellowing belligerence, ended with the Tannoy announcer informing them that a road across the Pennines had been shut due to the weather. As home fans chanted “How the f*** you getting home?”, deflation settled more heavily than the snow.

For the opening 15 minutes, the non-League club were the more adventurous side. Even after Steed Malbranque opened the scoring with an angled shot, Barrow matched their hosts for feistiness, but as the first-half fizzed to a close Lorik Cana and George McCartney were shown yellow cards for two-footed tackles and Sunderland effectively left their opponents dazed. Darren Sheridan, one of Barrow’s joint managers, expressed surprise. “A couple of the challenges were a bit reckless,” he said. “Usually, if you jump in two-footed you know the consequences, but we can’t moan. They deserved to win.”

Goals from Fraizer Campbell in the 52nd and 58th minutes allowed Bruce’s players to relax. For Campbell, who has started only ten games games after his £3.5 million summer transfer from Manchester United, it was a rare productive Saturday.
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“Fraizer knew when I bought him that he would have to be a little bit patient,” Bruce said of the 22-year-old. “He’s only a boy. He’s waited for his chance and I’ve been a bit unfair to him, playing him out of position, but he’s got a great future.”

Sunderland exhaled and Bruce was able to decide between his two tyros. “They were both itching to get on,” he said. “I put my hands out and got them to pick. I haven’t done that before, so it was a first. I don’t think that makes me a tactical genius; there’s no need for tactics when you’re 3-0 up.”

Sunderland (4-4-2): M Fulop — P Bardsley, L Cana, P da Silva, G McCartney (sub: M Liddle, 82min) — S Malbranque, J Henderson, D Meyler, D Murphy (sub: D Healy, 77) — D Bent (sub: R Noble, 72), F Campbell. Substitutes not used: T Carson, R Anderson, R O’Donovan, A Reed. Booked: Campbell, Cana, McCartney.

Barrow (4-4-2): T Deasy — S Spender, P Bolland, M Pearson, G Jellyman — M Goodfellow (sub: M Boyd, 84), R Hulbert, A Bond, P Rutherford (sub: C Logan, 56) — J Walker, G Blundell (sub: G Rothery, 72). Substitutes not used: P Jones, D Sheridan, D Bayliss, S Tomlinson. Booked: Deasy, Hulbert.

 source-http://www.timesonline.co.uk

 source-http://www.hindustantimes.com

 source-http://www.gather.com

The NHL hit home runs with its Winter Classics at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. And the Penguins' shootout win in the Buffalo snow was pretty amazing as well. But now what? We have a few ideas on where the NHL should play next year's Classic — some more serious than others.

New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils, Meadowlands Stadium. It's time for the NHL to go back to football stadiums, and what better place to start than the new Meadowlands Stadium in Jersey? And unlike the old baseball parks the NHL has favored the past two years, this place will be shiny and new ... aside from whatever damage the New York Giants and Jets fans inflict on it.

Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars, Target Stadium. Speaking of new stadiums, the Twins' new home may be the perfect place for Minnesota fans to cheer on the Wild — and take out their anger on the Stars, who left them in 1993 for Texas.

Washington Capitals vs. TBD, FedEX Field. We don't care who plays the Capitals. We just want to see Alex Ovechkin in a Winter Classic. Sid the Kid had his moment to shine in the first Classic, and it's time for Alex the Great to get his chance.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens, Rogers Centre. Most hockey players in the NHL are Canadian. Most of them started out playing on the frozen ponds and lakes of Canada. So why not take the Winter Classic back to where it all started? Sure, the television ratings in the U.S. won't be that great, but who cares? It's time to get at least one Canadian team in the Winter Classic.

Los Angeles Kings vs. Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Coliseum. While the Rose Bowl hosts one of the biggest college bowl games across town, Gary Bettman can prove hockey can survive in warm climates by hosting the Winter Classic in California. Of course, he'll also have to prove an outdoor ice rink can survive in sunny Southern California. But if the NHL ice guys can make it work, the league can pack L.A.'s Coliseum.

Atlanta Thrashers vs. Nashville Predators, Georgia Dome. And if the NHL's ice guys can make a rink work in California, they can make it work in Georgia, too. To actually make it interesting for the casual fan, the loser gets kicked out of the NHL.

Phoenix Coyotes vs. Colorado Avalanche, Canad Inns Stadium. The former Winnipeg Jets and the former Quebec Nordiques would be the perfect match for a game at the home of the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In order to make up for the league's sending teams south of the border, the loser has to stay in Canada and become Winnipeg's new NHL organization.


source-http://msn.foxsports.com

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Jerry Kill has turned Northern Illinois around during his two seasons with the school, but for the second consecutive year, his Huskies came up short in their bowl game with a 27-3 loss in the International Bowl. The Huskies’ loss adds to the Mid-American Conference’s bowl losing streak, making the conference 0-15 since 2006 with just Central Michigan left to play.

How the game was won: South Florida broke a 3-3 first-half tie with 24 unanswered second half points. While the Northern Illinois defense did a good job of bottling up the South Florida offense most of the game, it wore down because its offense wasn’t able to sustain long enough drives to give it adequate rest.

Turning point: When South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels found receiver A.J. Love for a 46-yard touchdowns with 5:12 remaining in the third quarter, it gave the Bulls a 13-3 lead, which, with the way the NIU offense was performing, was insurmountable.

Stat of the game: Northern Illinois allowed running back Mike Ford to rush for 207 yards on 20 carries. The Huskies came into the game allowing 119.42 rushing yards per game and had only allowed 200 rushing yards to an entire team twice this season.

Player of the game: Running back Chad Spann rushed for 93 yards on 20 carries, but more importantly, he finished the season with 1,000 yards to become the first back in coach Jerry Kill’s NIU tenure to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. He finished the season with 1,038 yards.

Second guessing: Northern Illinois was really limited throughout most of the game without the full use of its running game. Spann, who has been the workhorse for the Huskies all season, did his best, but he needed help and until late in the fourth quarter there wasn’t a lot around.

source-http://espn.go.com

An Irish atheist group has published a series of quotations on religion in an attempt to challenge a blasphemy law that went into effect on New Year's Day.
The 25 "blasphemous" quotations include the words of Jesus, Mohammed, Mark Twain, Salman Rushdie and Bjork.
Atheist Ireland published the list on its Web site Friday. It says it aims to challenge the law, which makes blasphemy a crime punishable by a €25,000-($35,800) fine.
"Despite these quotes being abusive and insulting in relation to matters held sacred by various religions, we unreservedly support the right of these people to have published or uttered them," the group said on the site.
"We unreservedly support the right of any Irish citizen to make comparable statements about matters held sacred by any religion without fear of being criminalized, and without having to prove to a court that a reasonable person would find any particular value in the statement."
Lawmakers in staunchly Catholic Ireland passed the law in July, but it came into force January 1.
A person breaks the law by saying or publishing anything "grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion."
Those found guilty of breaking the blasphemy law may try to defend themselves by proving that a reasonable person would find literary, artistic, political, scientific or academic value in what they said or published, the law says.
Atheist Ireland called the law "silly and dangerous," because it provides an incentive for religious outrage.
"We believe in the golden rule: that we have a right to be treated justly, and that we have a responsibility to treat other people justly," the group said.
"Blasphemy laws are unjust: They silence people in order to protect ideas. In a civilized society, people have a right to to express and to hear ideas about religion even if other people find those ideas to be outrageous."
 source-http://www.cnn.com 

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