| Flyers hit quarter in stride
The Flyers reach the quarter mark of the season with today's Black Friday matinee against the Washington Capitals. So, where is John Stevens' team right now? It already has seven more wins than it had last season at this point. This is Game 2 of a five-game segment that closes out November. "We're pretty happy where we are right now," defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "Our team can get better; we can play better. I expected us to win games, and we have. But it's time to get it going." The feeling on the team and staff is that the Flyers' true face still hasn't appeared. Some players, such as Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall, need to boost their games. Carter, in particular, began the season with four goals in his first seven games but has just one goal in his last 11. "I was happy with the start; I got some bounces and things going my way," Carter said.
Steelers, NFL should be ashamed of conditions
There is no excuse — none — for the conditions the Pittsburgh Steelers provided for their game Monday Night against the Miami Dolphins. It was a travesty of football and an insult to the NFL, the players, the fans, and anyone who turned on a television in the hopes of enjoying Monday Night Football. It was a disgrace. The announcers kept talking about old-school football and summoning the names of the Chicago Staleys and Canton Bulldogs from the earliest days of the league, but that was an insult to those teams and those times. I've seen old-school football in old Cleveland Stadium in the days before modern drainage and turf science. Those games were played in mud. This one was played in a bog. .
Comedy and war help in novices’ pursuit of sporting excellence
Hang in here with the idea, but if Great Britain does indeed achieve its stated goal of finishing fourth in the Olympic medals table in 2012, we may have to attribute much of the success to a Gulf War military leader. The man in question is Major-General Patrick Cordingley, who led the Desert Rats into Iraq in 1991 – and it is not a case of him leading our troops into Olympic battle. But if you ask a group of the best young sports coaches in the country, they will tell you that they have learnt as much about their trade from this man as any other. That said, they will also tell you about having to learn to be a stand-up comedian and how going house-hunting is important, too. The eight-strong group of coaches officially graduated last night. At a ceremony at The Belfry, in the West Midlands, they were presented with their certificates by Gerry Sutcliffe, the Sports Minister.
Tulsa falls to rival
Oklahoma City scores game-winner shorthanded.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma City entered the game with the Central Hockey League's top power-play unit. Indeed, special teams play proved the difference, but it was a shorthanded goal that the Blazers used to beat Tulsa.
Garrett Prosofsky lit the lamp 1:47 into the final period, depositing the puck into a wide open net, as the Blazers nudged the Oilers 4-2 before a crowd of 8,136 Sunday night at the Ford Center. The loss was Tulsa's third straight and fifth in six games.
"It seems like a roller coaster," said Tulsa coach Butch Kaebel. "We do really good things and then really bad things. Frenchy (Kevin St. Pierre) made some great saves and then the third goal came on a mistake. Every mistake is being magnified.
Redskins' Taylor dead after shooting at home
ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder's eyes were red. His voice cracked and was barely audible. Next to him sat coach Joe Gibbs, barely more composed.Safety Sean Taylor's violent death had left his team in tears and the NFL in mourning."This is a terrible, terrible tragedy," Snyder said.Taylor died early Tuesday of a gunshot wound from an apparent intruder, a tragic end for a 24-year-old man whose life was transformed by the birth of a daughter 18 months ago."We're going to miss him," Gibbs said. "I'm not talking about as a player. I'm talking about as a person."A day earlier, Taylor and his girlfriend were awakened by loud noises, according to family friend Richard Sharpstein, who learned the details from Taylor's girlfriend, Jackie Garcia. He said Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection.Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said.
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