Simon Gagne declined an offer to wear the captain’s C once before. If Philadelphia offers perhaps the biggest honor in hockey again, he’ll accept the responsibility. Then again, there’s no guarantee coach John Stevens will turn to Gagne. The Flyers locker room, which was devoid of strong leadership last season, is suddenly overflowing with options.
The NFL is continuing to monitor spying devices following the penalties levied by commissioner Roger Goodell this week against the New England Patriots. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Sunday that new memos on both videotaping and electronic surveillance of signals have gone out to all 32 teams reminding them of bans on the various types of surveillance.
Another bizarre week of twists, turns and turbulence in Cleveland ended with more absurdity: Browns 51, Bengals 45. Go figure. Derek Anderson threw five touchdown passes, Jamal Lewis rushed for 216 yards and the Cleveland Browns, so desperate after being embarrassed in their home opener that they traded their starting quarterback two days later, outlasted the Cincinnati Bengals and Carson Palmer…
Joey Galloway slowed to a trot, holding the football in his hand like a loaf of bread. Teammates screamed from the sideline, urging him to secure the ball, and Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden cringed. It didn’t matter. The New Orleans Saints never seem to be able to catch up with Tampa Bay’s speedy receiver.
Ron Hornaday Jr. got a victory and a little breathing room Saturday in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship duel with Mike Skinner.
Curt Schilling against Derek Jeter. Mariano Rivera facing David Ortiz. And both times, the New York Yankees came out on top. Jeter hit a three-run homer off Schilling to break an eighth-inning tie and Rivera got Ortiz to pop up with the bases loaded for the final out Sunday night as the Yankees held off the Red Sox 4-3 and cut Boston’s AL East lead to 4 1/2 games.
After sweeping the Minnesota Twins, Detroit wasted little time before looking forward to a crucial three-game series at first-place Cleveland beginning Monday. But the Tigers did spend a few minutes celebrating Todd Jones’ 300th career save. “Great win for us, good for (Jones), off to Cleveland,” manager Jim Leyland said.
New Ducks defenseman Mathieu Schneider will be out at least four weeks after breaking a bone in the left ankle during his first preseason game with the Stanley Cup champions. An MRI taken Sunday revealed that Schneider sustained a non-displaced fracture of the ankle Saturday night in Anaheim’s 3-2 victory over Los Angeles.
Radim Vrbata scored the tying goal on a power play in the second period and netted the deciding tally in a shootout, giving Phoenix a 2-1 victory over the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night in the Coyotes’ preseason opener. Vrbata’s goal in the shootout was the difference in the Coyotes’ 2-1 edge in the tiebreaker.
