1. MOST WINS
The 19 combined wins between USC (9-2) and Clemson (10-1) entering the game are the most in the rivalry’s history, topping the old mark of 18 set last season.

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The Steelers and Baltimore Ravens slugged it out in typical style Sunday night, and it turned into what is becoming an all too typical ending, a Ravens victory.
Baltimore not only went home with a third straight victory over the Steelers and a third straight in Heinz Field, but also with a near mortal lock on its second straight AFC North Division title.
The Ravens’ 13-10 victory bounced them into a two-game lead over their bitter rivals in the AFC North Division. Baltimore is 8-2, and the Steelers 6-4. The teams meet again in two weeks in Baltimore.

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A Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, and then to football as a walk on–my goodness. Watch it all (about 5 3/4 minutes). I caught this by happenstance this morning while exercizing–deeply moving; KSH.

Matt Cain had one thought as he watched Marco Scutaro dig in for the at-bat of his life.

“I was just hoping he hadn’t burned up all of his big hits through the year already,” Cain said. “He’s had so many. I was hoping he had another one in there for us.”

The little Giant, the one they call “Blockbuster,” did indeed. With two outs in the 10th inning, Scutaro floated a single to short center field. Austin Jackson charged hard but finally had to concede he would lose the battle with gravity.

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Chelsea were beaten for the first time in this season’s Premier League as two red cards ushered Manchester United to a 3-2 win in west London.

Two goals down inside 12 minutes, the leaders fought their way off the ropes to level through Juan Mata (44) and Ramires (53) and were looking likelier winners until Branislav Ivanovic was sent off on the hour.

But a second red card for Fernando Torres meant the end of any genuine attacking ambition, and substitute Javier Hernandez bundled a contentious winner (75) to haul United within a point of the leaders and give them a first Barclays Premier League success at Stamford Bridge since 2002.

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The silence has perhaps never been more deafening at Williams-Brice Stadium than it was around 1:30 Saturday afternoon. The South Carolina and Tennessee football teams and a stadium full of fans swallowed hard and experienced a heavy heart.

Marcus Lattimore again went down with a crippling knee injury.

“When you lose a guy like Marcus, he’s such a leader on the team. Everybody loves him. He gets the guys going,” USC quarterback Connor Shaw said. “It’s so unfortunate. No one wishes that on anybody. Prayers are out for him. I know he’ll be mentally strong, and hopefully he can get back.”

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John McKissick began at Summerville High School as football coach in 1952–what was his salary that year. No fair peaking or googling, etc.

Find the answer and all the other articles after you have made your guess there.

“It feels good,” McKissick said. “It’s another win, and if it totals up to 600, that’s great. I feel good for the kids. I feel good for the boys. They can tell everyone they were part of the 600th. I think they will be proud of that.”

McKissick’s success is unmatched at any level. The all-time winningest college football coach is 86-year-old John Gagliardi of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., who enters this weekend with 487 wins in 64 years.

Don Shula is the winningest coach in NFL history with 347.

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Public school students are largely free to exercise their faith on campus and on the field. A player’s personal prayer in the locker room or on the bench is protected by the First Amendment.

The challenges to prayer arise when school employees and resources are involved. A high school football coach can’t lead his team in prayers. Yet a patchwork of inconsistent court decisions boils down to this: Public universities are free to hold prayers before football games as long as they only cite God and do not mention Jesus. A specific nod to Christianity would be viewed as supporting one faith over others. The theory is that a general nod to a deity serves a non-religious purpose, giving fans a moment to reflect, while not advancing a particular faith.

Public high schools, on the other hand, face greater restrictions

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As rain pounded the field in the ninth inning, second baseman Marco Scutaro spread his arms and looked to the heavens. As the water soaked his face, he beamed a 100,000-watt smile.

Moments later, he looked up again. This time his ticket to the World Series, a Matt Holliday popup, was falling his way. As Sergio Romo bounced on the mound like a kid on a pogo stick, Scutaro squeezed his glove and the Giants had a most improbable pennant.

Down three games to one in the National League Championship Series, they dominated the Cardinals over the final three games and bulldozed the defending World Series champions 9-0 Monday night.

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He knew what he was taking on, [Bishop James] Jones says. He was inducted into Hillsborough, and the bereaved families’ campaign against what they complained was a grievous injustice and a South Yorkshire police cover-up, in his early days as Liverpool’s bishop. In 1999, a year into his post, the Hillsborough Family Support Group asked him to preside at the memorial service for the disaster’s 10th anniversary, and they explained their continuing agonies.

So he knew the panel would be examining the actions of the police and other powerful people and organisations, none of whom had been held legally accountable, taken responsibility or at that stage apologised for the failings that caused 96 people to die. The panel’s report removed 23 years’ distortion of the truth about what happened on 15 April 1989 at Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

“I was aware,” he tells the Guardian, in his first major interview since the panel reported, “that MPs, the police, the media, the judiciary, possibly the government of the day, were in the frame. People might think we in the church are naive; we’re not. We know exactly what we are engaging with.”

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Congratulations to them.

What… [his mother] didn’t know was that about halfway through the run, there had been a problem with.. [Ben Baltz’] leg; It hooks together with screws and one of them had come loose, so the leg literally broke in half. This isn’t the first time it’s happened, either. This active boy has managed to break 10, supposedly “indestructible” prosthetic legs (made of carbon fiber, mind you!).

Now, here’s where you need to get out your hanky, because it was this moment that had the spectators in tears:

“All of a sudden the announcer just said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to turn around and look at what’s happening on the course’ … Everybody was crying,” she says. A young Marine had lifted the boy and carried him across the finish line.

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Tom Lehman, one of the world’s finest golfers, has struggled with perfection.

For years, he tried to achieve it. When he failed, he felt guilty, ashamed, depressed.

Then, in 1998, after the missteps had stacked up, Lehman came to the back nine, a realization that signaled the start of what he called the second act of his life: God had forgiven him; now it was time to forgive himself.

This was the core of his message Tuesday morning at the annual Charleston Leadership Prayer Breakfast, an ecumenical Christian event that drew about 1,000 to the Charleston Area Convention Center.

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Jeremy Hill capped his breakout game by leaping the fence dividing the field from the stands at Tiger Stadium and embracing a jubilant throng of students as they celebrated LSU’s quick ascendance back into the national title discussion.

Hill highlighted a 124-yard, two-touchdown performance with a 50-yard scoring run, and the ninth-ranked Tigers handed No. 3 South Carolina its first loss of the season, 23-21 on Saturday night.

Hill’s clutch runs, showcasing his tackle-breaking power as well as breakaway speed, were precisely what LSU needed a week after stumbling to its lone loss of the season at Florida, where the offense had been stagnant.

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A very fun game to watch played in very difficult conditions.

There is no excusing Armstrong’s behaviour. He shouldn’t have taken the drugs and he shouldn’t have compelled others to do the same. But the latest revelations do show how a beautiful sport had been corrupted and how anyone seeking to succeed could have been drawn into such behaviour.

But there are still reasons to admire this obviously deeply flawed man. Armstrong has done wonderful things – on and off the bike – and given me memories that I still savour.

On drugs or not, he was capable of magnificent and daring feats. On stage nine of the 2003 Tour de France, Armstrong swerved to avoid a fellow rider, Joseba Beloki, who had crashed badly on a descent. The American was forced to ride across a steep paddock, jump a drainage ditch and rejoin the race on the road below. It was dramatic, bold and impressive.

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More than honoring his status as staff ace, the lefthander pitched the Yankees into the ALCS against Detroit with a dominating complete-game effort in a 3-1 victory over the Orioles Friday night in front of 47,081 chilly fans at the Stadium.

“CC was unbelievable tonight,” said Raul Ibañez, whose single off Jason Hammel in the fifth broke a scoreless tie. “That performance was a tremendous warrior, a tremendous competitor. He willed that to happen. That’s what it looked like.”

Orioles manager Buck Showalter compared Sabathia’s performance (one run, four hits, two walks, nine strikeouts) to Justin Verlander’s in leading the Tigers past the A’s in Game 5.

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On a bracing Friday night that felt chilled and charmed, just like the enchanted autumn of 2011, the Cardinals gave us one of the all-time shockers. It was something out of the imagination, a baseball fable that couldn’t be real. Except it did really happen, and if you closed your eyes and listened intently, you may have heard the echoes of the late Jack Buck barking “Go crazy, folks. Go crazy.”

In one of the most amazing, improbable, remarkable, miraculous, incredible, unbelievable, astonishing and stupefying comebacks in MLB postseason history, the Cardinals came up with the 2012 version of Game 6.

This was another October, in a new year and in a different city. The retired future Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa wasn’t here to push them on, and the menacing Albert Pujols wasn’t waving a bat at the Nationals, playing his customary role of enforcer. None of it mattered during this 3 hours and 49 minutes of mayhem and madness. The Cardinals are still the team that wouldn’t die.

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Just maybe the Baltimore Orioles’ remarkable run into October is not so improbable after all.

Seventeen wins in extra innings, 31 victories in one-run games. Staving off elimination from the postseason twice already.

They’ve done all that, and might not be done yet.

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Wow. A 13 pitch at bat. That is three walk off hits in two days. If you love baseball, this is some start to the Postseason–KSH.

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Q: What is your faith story? Did you have a Road to Damascus experience, or were you always part of a church-going family?

A: I was raised in a church-going family, going every Sunday and on all of the special days. … However, at age 15 I realized it was not having any impact on my life at all and felt the need and desire to make it a priority.

Q: What role does your Christian faith play in your golf game and in your career as a pro athlete?

A: My belief and faith in God is the grid that everything in my life passes through. What you believe is the core of who you are, so, therefore, whether it is golf, my family, the things I get involved with in my hometown of Phoenix or just the daily choices I make, it is all influenced by my Christian beliefs. Golf is very much like life in that there are ups and downs, successes and disappointments: How you deal with them is what determines so much of what happens not only now but in the future. I believe the Bible and the words of Jesus provide a road map for how to deal with all of the challenges that come with both failure and success.

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Connor Shaw could see it in the Georgia players’ eyes on South Carolina’s first touchdown drive.

A few minutes later, it was even more obvious to Marcus Lattimore after the Gamecocks drove it right down the Bulldogs’ throats for their second touchdown in as many possessions.

“They were shell-shocked. We hit them in the mouth, and they weren’t ready for it,” Lattimore said….

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Update: An article from the local paper is there.

You can read Paul White’s attempted defense here. Next, please make sure to read the whole rule in full which you can find there. You will note that Mr. White quotes neither the full text of the rule nor even the whole paragraph of the rule’s explanation.

Here is why he is wrong:

(1) The last two sentences of the rule explanation (not quoted by Mr. White) state–“The infield fly is in no sense to be considered an appeal play. The umpire’s judgment must govern, and the decision should be made immediately.” The call is to be immediate. It was not. Watch the replay as many times as you like.

(2) Note also White’s correct summary of the purpose of the rule–“The rule exists so an infielder doesn’t purposely drop the ball so he can get force outs for a double or triple play.” Does anyone serious believe, based on where the ball actually was on the field, that a double or triple play could have been attempted much less achieved? Also note that the argument that the runners were protected anyway since they both advanced a base does not work because on a ball this deep they would have advanced 1/2 to 2/3 of the way on the fly ball before going back if it were caught–thus what happened to the runners would have happened anyway which provides no protection whatsoever.
(3) Note next the exact text of the explanation as given by White–“The umpire must rule also that a ball is an infield fly, even if handled by an outfielder, if, in the umpire’s judgment, the ball could have been as easily handled by an infielder.” The key word is the word “easily,” and this was not a play that fits that definition, it could be made, and made with difficulty, indeed one of the reason why the call was made so late was because the infielder and outfielder were so close together which only happens when an infielder is way into the outfield. It could NOT have been handled “easily.” Also, the reason the umpire’s call was in no way immediate is because all the way until the very last seconds it was not clear whether the infielder or the outfielder was going to make the play.

(4) Finally I defy Mr. White to examine all the times this rule has been applied and to find how many similar balls THIS FAR INTO THE OUTFIELD were ever subject to the infield fly rule being called. Rules to be applied properly must be applied similarly in similar circumstances. No fan if his or her team were the other team would have felt this was a fair or reasonable application of this rule, both in terms of its actaul language, and especially its intent–KSH.

Update: Hal Bodley of mlb.com has it right:

But in 54 years of covering Major League Baseball, I’ve never seen the fly rule called when a fielder isn’t under the ball. The infield fly is a complicated rule, designed to prevent infielders from intentionally dropping a popup with more than one runner on base to perhaps get an extra out.

It wasn’t even close in this case. As Holliday charged in, Kozma, his glove outstretched, took a few steps back, deeper into the outfield.

.Another update: Alex Hall disagrees.

Yet one further update:According to an ESPN article:

To put Friday’s controversial play into context, in the past three seasons, there were six infield flies that were not caught in the majors, according to Baseball Info Solutions, the longest measured at 178 feet.
Friday’s infield fly was measured at 225 feet from home plate, according to Baseball Info Solutions.

It was tumultuous and exhausting. What did you expect from wild card vs. wild card except something wild.

The St. Louis Cardinals resumed their preposterous ways in the postseason with a 6-3 loser-goes-home, Game 7 type victory over the Atlanta Braves, but not before the home fans, accused for years of being too sedate, erupted in disgust over a blown call by the umpires in the bottom of the 8th helped ruin and Atlanta rally.

Read it all. It was a truly terrible call by the umpires–KSH

A poll conducted by Grey Matter Research and Consulting shows that 49 percent of Americans see athletes’ public expressions of faith favorably; 32 percent don’t care, and 19 percent take a more negative view.

More than 1,000 American adults were polled about public displays of religion among professional athletes. Participants were asked about specific religious actions commonly displayed by religious athletes, including prayer after games, speaking about faith in interviews and making religious signs, such as crossing oneself or pointing heavenward, on the field.

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[Miguel] Cabrera produced the 17th Triple Crown in history, with the first in 1878. He joined Ty Cobb as the only Tigers to win it. Cobb won the Triple Crown in the Dead Ball Era in 1909 when he hit nine homers — all inside-the-park, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

Cabrera became virtually assured of the Triple Crown when Josh Hamilton, his closest pursuer in the home-run race, went homerless Wednesday afternoon in Texas’ meltdown loss to Oakland.

He won the RBI title with 139; Hamilton was second at 128.

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Erasing some of their worst Ryder Cup memories, the Europeans wore the image of Seve Ballesteros on their sleeves and played their hearts out Sunday at Medinah to match the greatest comeback in history and head home with that precious gold trophy.

Europe got its payback for Brookline, when the Americans roared back from the same 10-6 deficit. This rally was even more remarkable, carried out before a raucous American crowd that began their chants of “USA!” some three hours before the first match got under way.

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Watch it all (just over one minute).