He is the fourth coaching casualty since the regular NFL season ended. From ESPN-

Mike Shanahan became the latest and most stunning victim of the NFL coaching purge, fired Tuesday by the Denver Broncos after a late-season collapse knocked the team out of the playoffs for the third straight year.

Shanahan joined Eric Mangini, Rod Marinelli and Romeo Crennel on the unemployment line after going 24-24 over the last three seasons, including three straight losses in 2008 that turned a three-game division lead to an 8-8 record.

Despite that, and the 52-21 loss to the Chargers that ended Denver's season Sunday, this was a shocker: The ouster of a 14-year coaching veteran who brought two Super Bowl titles to a city yearning for a championship and was considered my many in this town to be "coach for life."

In a statement, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said: "After giving this careful consideration, I have concluded that a change in our football operations is in the best interests of the Denver Broncos. This is certainly a difficult decision, but one that I feel must be made and which will ultimately be in the best interests of all concerned."

Shanahan, 56, was 146-89, but the Broncos remained stuck at only one postseason victory since John Elway retired in 1999 after Denver's second championship.

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Filed under: Denver Broncos, NFL

The reborn NFL team went 4-12 this year. From ESPN-

Barely into another massive rebuilding project, the Cleveland Browns have already moved to Plan B.

Plan A -- or Plan Cowher -- has been scrapped.

Browns owner Randy Lerner made his second major move of the offseason Monday by firing coach Romeo Crennel, who lost 40 games in four seasons, never made the playoffs and went 0-8 against Pittsburgh, the only full-time Cleveland coach to go winless against the archrival Steelers.

Crennel's dismissal came less than 24 hours after Lerner fired general manager Phil Savage following a 31-0 loss in Pittsburgh.

The Browns, who began the season pegged as one of the NFL's rising teams and ended it at 4-12 and in last place, began their offseason with a disheartening loss.

Note- Oddly Crennel's name came up a year ago after the Miami Dolphins fired Cam Cameron.

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Filed under: Cleveland Browns, NFL

He hasn't played a NHL game since the 2002-03 season. From AP-

Claude Lemieux signed a contract with the San Jose Sharks on Monday after spending the past month with their top minor-league affiliate, giving another boost to his NHL comeback hopes.

The 43-year-old Lemieux signed with the Worcester Sharks on Nov. 25 after a five-year absence from pro hockey. The four-time Stanley Cup winner's new contract is a two-way deal, allowing him to play in San Jose or Worcester.

San Jose general manager Doug Wilson said Lemieux will stay with the Worcester Sharks if he clears waivers Tuesday after signing his new deal. He has two goals, four assists and 12 penalty minutes in 14 games in the minors.

"This is simply the next step in the evaluation process with Claude," Wilson said.

Lemieux played parts of 20 seasons in the NHL, winning titles with Montreal (1986), New Jersey (1995 and 2000) and Colorado (1996). He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP in 1995, and his 80 postseason goals rank ninth in league history.

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Filed under: Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, New Jersey Devils, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks

The AFC West champs after last night's victory will host Indianapolis next weekend.

San Diego recovered from a bad start to make the playoffs. This team has the potential to make the AFC Championship game. Their biggest stumbling point I think is Indianapolis, not Tennessee. The Titans had a great year, but I'm just not sold on them as a Super bowl team. I think either the Chargers or the Colts are more than capable of beating them. We'll know in a little under two weeks, won't we?

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Filed under: Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, NFL, San Diego Chargers, Tennessee Titans

His team got slaughtered yesterday in the final regular season week of the 2008 NFL football.

The Philadelphia Eagles overcame daunting odds to capture an NFC wild-card spot with a dominating 44-6 victory over the Cowboys on Sunday. So much for all that preseason Super Bowl hype in Dallas -- America's Team can start its vacation plans early.

The Eagles (9-6-1) will play at NFC North champion Minnesota (10-6) next weekend.

My friend James Joyner writing about his favorite football team says-

Today, faced with a win-and-you're-in game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Phillips' team came out as flat as I've ever seen them. Surely, Phillips can't still be employed after this.

Of course, this outcome was not only predictable but predicted. In a January 2007 piece on the mere speculation that Jones was thinking about hiring him ("Wade Phillips Top Choice to Replace Parcells?") I wrote:

The man has had four NFL head coaching jobs, including two interim stints, going back to 1985:

Saints (Interim) 1985
Broncos 1993-94
Bills 1998-2000
Falcons (Interim) 2003

Guess how many of those teams he took to the Super Bowl. If you guessed Zero, you were right.

Now, guess how many playoff wins he had? If you guessed Zero again, pat yourself on the back.

He has a career coaching record of 48-39 and is 0-3 in the playoffs.

Wade Freakin' Phillips?!

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Filed under: Dallas Cowboys, NFL
Tags: wade phillips

Chemical analysis of his blood shows Cherepanaov used performance enhancing drugs for at least several months before his death. From Reuters-

Alexei Cherepanov, who died after losing consciousness during a Russian Superleague game two months ago, had been taking banned substances, government investigators said on Monday.

The 19-year-old forward, one of Russia's most talented young hockey players, was rushed to hospital after collapsing late in the third period of the game between Vanguard Omsk and Chekhov, a small town south of Moscow.

He never regained consciousness and later died.

The investigative unit of the Prosecutor-General's office said on its Web site that Cherepanov was suffering from heart problems that should have ruled him out of competing in professional sports.

But it said a chemical analysis of his blood by forensic experts also showed he had taken banned performance-enhancing drugs for several months before his death.

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Filed under: Drugs and Steroids, New York Rangers

Did anyone honestly expect a NFL coach whose team went 0-16 to retain his job? From ESPN-

The Detroit Lions' pursuit of at least one victory in 2009 will have to come without Rod Marinelli, who was fired as coach Monday after a historic 0-16 season.

The Lions lost to the Green Bay Packers 31-21 on Sunday, making them the first team to go winless through a 16-game season. The 1976 expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-14) were the last NFL team to complete a season without a victory.

"No competitor wants to go through something like this," Marinelli said after Sunday's game. "This is not fun to go through, obviously. But there's people going through a lot worse than this."

In a statement released Monday, owner William Clay Ford Sr. announced the promotions of Tom Lewand to team president and Martin Mayhew to general manager.

Ford also announced that defensive coordinator Joe Barry, assistant offensive line coach Mike Barry and secondary coach Jimmy Lake would not be retained; the contract of defensive line coach Joe Cullen will not be renewed; Jim Colletto has been reassigned to offensive line coach; and Dave Boller, the assistant director of pro personnel, will not be retained.

Marinelli was 10-38 in three seasons in Detroit.

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Filed under: Detroit Lions, NFL

It's just a pro-am scheduled by her management company. From Golf 365-

Annika Sorenstam has confirmed that she will take a temporary step back from retirement and play in a Annika bonanza in February.

"It's called the Annika Celebration," said the Swede, who is generally regarded as the greatest womens golfer for much of the two decades spanning the late 20th and early 21st Centuries.

"It's really an event that IMG (her management company) is putting together to help me raise some money for my foundation to help me get it off to a little more than a kick-start. "But it's also their (IMG's) way of celebrating my career and what I've achieved.

It's a three-day event we'll be starting with a Pro-Am and then we have a - what would you call, like an exhibition match with Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer and I think Natalie Gulbis and myself. "It will take place at Reunion in Orlando, just where my academy is. Again, it's something that IMG is putting together; all of my sponsors are involved. We are tying it in with a Super Bowl party, so it should be little bit more on the lighter side than it has been in the past.

Did playing in events mean Sorenstam was keeping the door open for a full time return to tournament golf?

"Well, that's the beauty of it, I suppose. I have the option to do that, and maybe that's why I feel even more that I won't. Never say never, but on the other hand, I feel great right now. This is what I've been waiting for (stepping away from the never-ending grind of professional circuits).

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Filed under: Golf
Tags: Annika Sorenstam

The NFL regular season isn't 24 hours old when the first coaching casualties are already taking place. From ESPN-

Eric Mangini is out as head coach of the New York Jets after the team lost four of its last five games to finish out of the playoffs.

The clincher was the Jets' 24-17 loss to Miami on Sunday that gave the Dolphins the AFC East title.

"We don't take this decision lightly," Jets owner woody johnson said at a Monday morning news conference. "We respect Eric for what he's done but we want to build on the successful foundation he has laid."

Mangini, 37, was 23-26 in three seasons with the Jets, including 0-1 in the playoffs.

"We've made the decision to move on," Johnson said.

The Jets acquired Brett Favre before the season started and ran off to an 8-3 start. But losses to Denver, at San Francisco, at Seattle and Sunday to the Dolphins left New York on the outside of the playoffs for the second straight season.

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Filed under: NFL, New York Jets

What a ride the 2008 season was for Dolphin fans after the despair of last season. First I must mention my pre-season prediction for the Fins.

I safely think they can win 4 or 5 games. More is possible because the schedule is weak, but Miami on the other hand has too many gaping holes still.

Some notes about today's, the playoff picture, and next week's game.

*- Bret Favre threw two costly interceptions and three INTs overall. One was run back for a touchdown by Philip Merling, the other ended a Jet drive with less than five minutes to go in the game.

Both were terrible throws. The first Favre was trying to complete a screen pass to a running back that was covered. Merling was all over Leon Washington and the pass should have never been thrown. The late interception came when the Jets were running the hurryup offense and trying to catch the Dolphins unprepared. Instead the Jets wide out wasn't ready and Favre threw it straight at a Miami defensive back. Dumb, dumb, dumb! The Jets had plenty of time and there was no need to run the hurryup.

*- Chad Pennington made it through an entire 16-game season for only the second time. Favre is on the AFC Pro Bowl team with the same amount of INTs as touchdown throws and Pennington isn't going. What is wrong with this picture?

*- Miami ties the biggest single season by a NFL team. Ten wins, which was also done by the Indianapolis Colts.

*- Dolphin special teams were a mixed bag, which I guess is a improvement over the disasters early in the year. Two bad snaps on punts, one that Fields couldn't come down leading to excellent field position by the Jets were in a negative column, on the plus side was a blocked punt by Miami. When was the last time the Dolphins did that?

*- Ted 'Draft bust' Ginn had two catches for 71 yards. They were big plays. A bomb from Pennington, and a touchdown catch. 56 catches for the year, 790 yards and two touchdowns. Brady Quinn on the other hand threw 2 touchdowns, two interceptions and had a passer rating of 66.6 this year. If I got to eat crow for my wrong pre-season prediction, Dan Arkush should too.

*- Will Bill Parcells be back next year to help run Miami's front office. ESPN reports the 'Big Tuna' has a out clause in his contract.

*- The AFC playoff picture for next week.

Baltimore at Miami
Indianapolis at San Diego/Denver winner

The first game's winner will then play at Pittsburgh. Whoever wins the second game will play at Tennessee.

*- Head to head versus other playoff teams in the AFC, Miami is 1-1. They beat San Diego and Denver each, only one of who will be playing next week, and lost to Baltimore. Miami also lost to the only NFC bound playoff team it faced.(Arizona)

*- Miami achieved 11 wins, but the schedule at the end of the year was weak. Games against KC, Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco, all teams that struggled mightily this year. Denver, NY Jets, and Buffalo all came in at .500 or better this year, but weren't exactly impressive when their spot on the Miami schedule came up.

*- Can Miami sell out the playoff game to prevent a local blackout? The last two times the Dolphins played a home playoff game a sellout didn't take place.

*- Why was the broadcast breaking up early in the first quarter? I've seen this happen in other Dolphin games this year. The problem wasn't with Directv(which I have) because the local television put up a station page during a outage that took place. Whatever the problem is, CBS is at fault.

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Filed under: Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, NFL, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, Television & The Media, Tennessee Titans

They become the first ever NFL team to go 0-16. From AP-

Facing one last chance to avoid their dubious destiny, the Lions lost Sunday's season finale to the Green Bay Packers 31-21 to complete the league's first 0-16 season. The 1976 expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-14) were the last NFL team to complete a season without a victory.

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Filed under: Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, NFL

He died as a result of injuries from being thrown from a horse he rode on December 20th. Arguably the most famous track related fatality in horse racing history, was the death of Harness Hall of Famer Billy Haughton who died in 1986. Haughton was one of the sport's legends and my father knew him.

Continue reading "Jockey Sam Thompson Jr. dead at 36" »

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Filed under: Horse Racing, Obituaries

Three of his family members went to the US Military Academy. From ESPN-

Rich Ellerson, who led Cal Poly to the FCS football playoffs this season and is considered one of the top coaches in the country at running the triple-option offense, has been picked to rebuild the Army football program.

Ellerson, 60-41 in his career as a head coach and 56-34 at Cal Poly, takes over for Stan Brock, who was fired on Dec. 12, days after the Black Knights lost to Navy 34-0.

Army went 3-9 in 2008 for the third straight season. Brock was 6-18 in two seasons as head coach.

"One of our primary goals of the search was to find someone capable of turning around our program immediately and we are confident Rich is the perfect individual to accomplish that," Army athletic director Kevin Anderson said in a school-issued news release.

Ellerson's offensive philosophy of running the triple option is appealing to Army, which uses the option as a base offense. He also has family ties to West Point.

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Filed under: College Football, Independent

Boston hadn't lost a game since November 14th. From AP-

Kobe Bryant had 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Pau Gasol scored seven of his 20 points in the final three minutes, and the Lakers beat Boston 92-83 Thursday to snap the Celtics' franchise-record 19-game winning streak.

The game was the first between the teams since the Celtics romped to a 131-92 victory in Game 6 of the Finals last June to win their first championship in 22 years and league-high 17th title.

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Filed under: Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

Reminds me of college basketball scoring before the shot clock was introduced. From AP-

On Tuesday night, the Hoyas polished off undermanned Florida International 76-38.

Austin Freeman scored 17 points, Chris Wright had 14 and DaJuan Summers added 13 for Georgetown (9-1).

The Hoyas, who won their sixth straight, completely outclassed the Golden Panthers (4-9), who scored the fewest points in their history.

Florida International dressed 10 players -- five of them walk-ons -- and it was quickly apparent they weren't in the Hoyas' class. Georgetown led 23-4 with 10:31 left and were ahead 43-16 at halftime.

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Filed under: Big East, College Basketball

There is a precedent for the league to take over the financially troubled franchise. From ESPN-

The NHL hasn't taken over control of the Phoenix Coyotes, but it is taking an active role in trying to find new investors or ownership for the financially strapped franchise and is being kept apprised of any "significant" financial decisions the team makes, ESPN.com has learned from team and league sources.

The league also is trying to help broker changes to the existing lease with the city of Glendale in the hopes of making the situation more attractive to new investors or owners.

Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes is in dire financial straights, with his outside business interests -- most notably Swift Transportation, a large trucking firm -- having been hammered by high gasoline costs, followed by the dramatic downturn in the economy.

And although team officials say the club has never relied on Swift revenues to run the team, the Coyotes aren't in much better shape and are expected to lose another $30 million or more this season, on top of the more than $60 million they are reported to have lost the past two years.

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Filed under: Labor and Economics, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes

He had been the Fighting Irish's Offensive coordinator since 2005. From AP-

Miami of Ohio named Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood as its head coach on Tuesday.

The hiring of Haywood brings the number of black football coaches in the Bowl Championship Subdivision to six of 119 programs. He succeeds Shane Montgomery, who resigned last month.

"I knew this was the place because there were so many similarities in education [and] the type of student-athletes that are recruited there," Haywood told The Associated Press late Tuesday.

The RedHawks were 17-31 during Montgomery's four seasons as head coach and went 2-10 this season.

Haywood joins Turner Gill at Buffalo, Randy Shannon at Miami (Fla.), Mike Locksley at New Mexico, Kevin Sumlin at Houston, and Ron English at Eastern Michigan as the only black coaches in college football's top tier.

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Filed under: College Football, Mid-American

The Czech goaltender shutout his former team The Nashville Predators by stopping all 27 shots on goal. Michael Frolik scored two of Florida's three goals. The other was netted by Cory Stilman.

Florida is now 9-2-3 in their last fourteen games. That included a 5-game winning streak, so they are 5-1-1 on the road 4-1-2 on the road. This was the second straight whitewash by Florida with Vokoun in goal, they beating Colorado two days ago by the same score of 3-0.

With the win Florida is now 16-13-4. A month ago they were 7-11-1. What a turnaround and it happened with the team missing three of its biggest scorers for 5 or more games. No matter the outcome of other games tonight, Florida will still be 3rd in the Southeast Division going into the Christmas break. Next up is struggling Tampa two games in a row.

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Filed under: Florida Panthers, NHL, Nashville Predators

The last time he wasn't in a NBA starting lineup was three years ago. From ESPN-

With the Washington Wizards off to a 4-21 start, lineup changes were to be expected. Unexpected is DeShawn Stevenson volunteering to sacrifice his 275-game starting streak to help give the team a spark.

Stevenson, who has started 189 straight games since joining the Wizards for the 2006-07 season, will come off the bench Tuesday against the Charlotte Bobcats. Stevenson is shooting 31.7 percent from the field this season.

"In a real team gesture he basically told me: 'Tap, I'm struggling a little bit. Why don't you let me come off the bench and see if I can't get my swag back,' " interim coach Ed Tapscott said.

Tapscott said he hasn't settled on the exact lineup for Tuesday's game. One possibility would have Caron Butler moving to shooting guard and Dominic McGuire starting at small forward.

Washington matched a franchise record for the worst 25-game start with Sunday's 97-86 loss to Dallas, equaling the mark set by the 1966-67 Baltimore Bullets.

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Filed under: NBA, Washington Wizards

A basketball twist to the sports question of 2008- What is the real age of a Chinese athlete?

NBA player Yi Jianlian is being investigated by a Chinese-language magazine which claims he is one of many of the country's athletes guilty of lying about their age on official documents.

Yi, who plays for the New Jersey Nets, has long been reported in the Chinese media to be older than his records show. Earlier this month, China's Sports Ministry reported that it found 36 players in China's professional basketball league whose dates of birth may have been changed.

The December issue of the Chinese-language edition of Sports Illustrated said a reporter for the magazine found records from Yi's middle-school registration in his hometown in southern China that said he was born in 1984.

His official basketball records say he was born in 1987. He is also listed by the Nets as being born Oct. 27, 1987.

A spokesman for the Chinese Basketball Association could not be reached Monday for comment.

Yi could be quizzed again about his age on Monday night when the Nets face the Houston Rockets and fellow Chinese star center Yao Ming in New Jersey.

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Filed under: NBA, New Jersey Nets

He was tied for the rookie scoring lead before his injury happened. From ESPN-

The rookie disclocated his right shoulder during a fight last Thursday night.

"He's going to have surgery in early January and he's done for the year," Jackets general manager Scott Howson told ESPN.com Monday.

"He's four to six months out in terms of return to play -- closer to six months. So he's not going to return this year."

Brassard was tied for the NHL rookie scoring lead with 25 points (10-15) in 31 games and was among the candidates for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

It's a huge blow to a Jackets team that wasn't that deep at center to begin with.

Brassard was the sixth overall pick in the 2006 draft and was the NHL's rookie of the month for October. He has earned points in 20 games this season.

Pierre LeBrun at ESPN writes-

Talk about a punch in the gut. The Jackets were three points out of a playoff spot Monday and can ill afford to lose their No. 2 scorer. So now what? Other GMs around the league can expect their cell phones to ring in the near future.

*****

The Washington Capitals have been shopping veteran center Michael Nylander all season, but we're told the Jackets aren't interested. Too much contract left on that baby. Nylander, 36, has two-and-a-half seasons left on his current deal, which pays him $5.5 million this season, $5.5 million next season and $3 million in 2010-11.

There's always former Blue Jacket Center Gilbert Brule. Oh never mind about that.

Either way, Brassard's injury is a huge blow for a team that needed its core players to stay healthy all year to remain in the playoff race. Ken Hitchcock rates among the best coaches in the NHL, but barring a trade, this might be too much to overcome.

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Filed under: Columbus Blue Jackets, NHL

The final score yesterday was 3-0. If you wanted to get technical, Florida had beaten the Colorado franchise in a home game, but it was the team was still the Quebec Nordiques in 1994. In between 94 and 2008 Florida lost the regular season encounters in Florida between them and the Avalanche plus two Stanley Cup final games.

Highlights of last night's game-

Tomas Vokoun stops all 23 shots on the way to his second shutout of the year.
Brett McLean scored his first goal of the season. It coming against his former team. Honestly I think Florida shoud dump McLean he gets too much play time in return for the scoring production he's given Florida.

Florida is starting to make a believer of me. The win last night put them at 15-13-4, which is only 10th in the Eastern conference. Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and the New York Islanders are so stinking up the place that above .500 doesn't cut it at the moment. But remember, Florida is 7-2-1 over their last 10 games and that came with vital players missing from the lineup.

It is still early to tell if Florida can make the playoffs for the first time in a decade. At the present moment, I think Panther fans have reason for hope.

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Filed under: Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers, NHL

It was the fins version of the ice bowl. Supposedly the coldest game time temperature in franchise history(Does someone really keep stats on such nonsense?) and Miami needed a win to keep any realistic hope for the playoffs. The Dolphins won but it wasn't pretty. In spite of the cold weather, they gave up almost 500(492) total yards of offense to KC, turned over the ball twice, and squandered an excellent scoring opportunity when they went for it on a 4th and 1 just before half-time. I have not seen a worse play call by Miami's coaching staff all year. Sideline passes were dying in mid-air and you try throwing a leap ball to a tight end who's caught one pass all year?

At half-time I swore Miami was going to lose. The score was already 28-24 and the Dolphin defense seemed unable to stop Kansas City. Fortunately Miami got the Chief attack under controlin the second half and staged a comeback. A win is a win, but yesterday's was ugly and I still think as I've written before, that the Dolphin defense is too weak to take this team far in the playoffs if they make it in the first place.

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Filed under: Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, NFL

Another sports writer showing their ignorance about the Florida Panthers. From ESPN-

The Cats won their franchise-record fifth straight road game Friday night in Calgary, a city they hadn't enjoyed any success in whatsoever since 1999. The night before, backstopped by the white-hot Craig Anderson, they shut out the big Oil Drop in Edmonton, a place they hadn't won in since 1998.

Out of 20 possible points in their past 10 games, the Panthers had accrued 14 and sat 10th in the Eastern Conference (just two points out of a playoff spot) heading into Wednesday's action.

And they'd accomplished all this despite seven regulars, including forwards Nathan Horton, Cory Stillman, Richard Zednik and defenseman Bryan Allen, missing from the lineup due to injury.

The big mistake is Johnson not mentioning David Booth as one of Florida's missing players. He is only the team's leading goal scorer! Booth's first game back in the Florida lineup was against Carolina last Thursday.

If Mr. Johnson picks up the phone I will advise he see a good proctologist. So he can get his head out of his ass.