Some of his teammates couldn't watch David Akers when he lined up for the winning kick, preferring to let the crowd's reaction tell them the outcome. Given recent events around the NFL, nobody could blame them. The fans' roar gave them the news -- snap, hold and kick were perfect this time. Akers hit a 38-yard field goal with no time remaining to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 23-20 victory over the...

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady won three Super Bowls with Eric Mangini on their side. The Patriots coach taught his former student that maybe he can win another without him -- especially with his quarterback in championship form. Brady capped long scoring drives with short touchdown passes to Daniel Graham and Kevin Faulk, and Asante Samuel sealed it with a 36-yard interception return for a score...

Bobby Petrino received plenty of offers during his four years as Louisville coach. Finally, he got one worth taking. The Atlanta Falcons lured Petrino away from the college ranks on Sunday, moving quickly to find a new head coach after firing Jim Mora. A formal announcement was set for Monday afternoon at the Falcons' suburban training complex in Flowery Branch -- exactly one week after Mora was let...

Despite his limited playing time and a sub-par shooting percentage, Sasha Vujacic says he's never lacking in confidence. And that's a good thing, since a shooter must have that kind of mentality. Vujacic had his best game in three NBA seasons Sunday night, scoring a career-high 16 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 28.5 seconds left, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Dallas 101-98 to snap...

Although Dwyane Wade said he was sluggish after his four-game layoff, he didn't really show it. Wade returned from a wrist injury and scored 33 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 93-90 victory Sunday night over the Portland Trail Blazers. Wade, who had 25 points in the first half, helped Miami rally from a 16-point deficit and snap a five-game losing streak.

Mark Blount is making it tougher for Minnesota's opponents to focus on Kevin Garnett. The 7-foot Blount continued his recent strong play with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the Timberwolves' 103-99 overtime victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Garnett still led the way with 26 points and 13 rebounds, but Blount's 6-for-12 shooting performance -- including his second 3-pointer of the season --...

No Tony Parker, no sweat, Tim Duncan said with a straight face. Parker missed his first game of the season with a right hip strain, but Manu Ginobili scored a season-high 34 points, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies 110-96 Sunday. The Spurs snapped their first three-game losing streak of the season.

It was a game of perspective exercises. Gilbert Arenas pegged Washington's loss on the early game time. Chris Bosh credited Toronto's win to having a full team for the first time in almost a month. "I don't think we've ever played well on 1 o'clock games," Arenas said after Bosh had 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Raptors to a 116-111 victory over the Wizards on Sunday.

James Jones' shot returned with the leather ball, and that means yet another offensive threat for the Phoenix Suns. Jones scored 25 points, two shy of his career high, and the Suns cruised to their sixth win in a row, 128-105 over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night. Fellow reserve Leandro Barbosa scored 26 and Shawn Marion had 24 points and 17 rebounds in the Suns' 22nd victory in their last...

Grant Hill can't play every game these days, but it takes more than a couple on the bench to make him rusty. After missing three games with a sore left foot, Hill scored 21 points to lead the Orlando Magic over the Boston Celtics 87-79 on Sunday night. Dwight Howard had 18 points and 12 rebounds to help Orlando win its fourth straight.

Ben Wallace did his best, then relented for the first time all night. He had just helped the Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons 106-89 on Saturday night, and he had to admit this wasn't just another regular-season game. There were too many memories, too many good times. "It felt a little strange," he said.

The only Hall of Fame coach the Philadelphia 76ers have is going to spend his days in the front office instead of on the bench. Larry Brown was rehired by Philadelphia as an executive vice president on Saturday, a return to the organization he coached to its last NBA finals. The move stoked speculation that he'll eventually replace coach Maurice Cheeks.

Olli Jokinen knew enough about Roberto Luongo from their six seasons together as teammates to be certain the Vancouver Canucks' netminder wasn't going to let a few soft third-period goals ruin his confidence. And he was right. Luongo stopped six Florida shots in overtime and five of six in a shootout as Vancouver defeated the Panthers 4-3 on Sunday night.

For the second day in a row, the surging New Jersey Devils were solid from their superstar goalie on out to cap a very successful weekend in Canada. Martin Brodeur made 28 saves for his NHL-leading seventh shutout of the season and Brian Gionta scored twice, lifting New Jersey to a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.

Dany Heatley appears to be adapting well to playing without injured Ottawa Senators linemate Jason Spezza. With Spezza sidelined Sunday for the eighth straight game because of a knee injury, Heatley didn't miss a beat against the Philadelphia Flyers. Heatley had two goals and an assist, and linemate Daniel Alfredsson added a goal and two assists in the Ottawa Senators' 6-1 victory over the...

Jeremy Roenick made his possible Chicago swan song memorable. Roenick, who began his career with the Blackhawks, had a goal and an assist Sunday to help Phoenix win its season-high sixth straight, 4-2 over Chicago. Michael Zigomanis, Fredrik Sjostrom and Oleg Saprykin also scored for Phoenix, which hasn't lost in regulation in its last eight, going 7-0-1.

The Boston Bruins recalled rookie Phil Kessel on Sunday from the AHL nearly a month after he underwent surgery for testicular cancer. Kessel learned he had cancer shortly before playing in a Dec. 9 game against New Jersey. He underwent surgery three days later to remove his right testicle. He played two games last week for Providence of the AHL, scoring in a 2-1 loss Saturday to the Manchester...

Sidney Crosby scored an unorthodox goal while sliding toward the net face first. Maybe that's why Martin St. Louis tried to do something different himself on the shot that ended up counting the most. St. Louis put an odd-angle backhander between Marc-Andre Fleury's pads for the only successful shot in the shootout and the Tampa Bay Lightning shook off Crosby's acrobatic goal to beat the Pittsburgh...

The Anaheim Ducks didn't suffer any hangover from their most embarrassing loss of the season. Coach Randy Carlyle wouldn't let them. Bjorn Melin scored in his NHL debut and the Ducks also got goals from Travis Moen and Ryan Getzlaf to beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Sunday night, ending a four-game losing streak.

The St. Louis Blues give the Nashville Predators a fight every time they play. Now, if they could only hand them a loss. The Blues lost 3-2 to their Central Division rivals on Saturday night. It was the 13th straight win for the Predators over the Blues and the fifth time this season the game was decided by one goal.

The Buffalo Sabres ended their rare losing skid and regained the top spot in the NHL. Daniel Briere, Ales Kotalik and Chris Drury had a goal and assist each, and Sabres held on for a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Dmitri Kalinin also scored for the Sabres, who avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season.

One part of the scoresheet showed five power-play goals for the San Jose Sharks. Another part showed only four, thanks to a still-unresolved officiating error that had Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock steaming. Whether the final number turns out to be jaw-dropping or just plain impressive, the Sharks' potent power play was much too good for yet another opponent.