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2B – Daily News – Thursday, December 31, 2009 NFL By The Associated Press AMERICAN CONFERENCE East W L T Pct PF PA x-New England 10 5 0 .667 400 251 N.Y. Jets 8 7 0 .533 311 236 Miami 7 8 0 .467 336 360 Buffalo 5 10 0 .333 228 319 South W L T Pct PF PA x-Indianapolis 14 1 0 .933 409 277 Houston 8 7 0 .533 354 306 Jacksonville 7 8 0 .467 273 357 Tennessee 7 8 0 .467 337 389 North W L T Pct PF PA x-Cincinnati 10 5 0 .667 305 254 Baltimore 8 7 0 .533 370 248 Pittsburgh 8 7 0 .533 338 300 Cleveland 4 11 0 .267 222 358 West W L T Pct PF PA x-San Diego12 3 0 .800 431 300 Denver 8 7 0 .533 302 280 Oakland 5 10 0 .333 184 358 Kansas City 3 12 0 .200 250 400 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East W L T Pct PF PA y-Philadelphia 11 4 0 .733 429 313 y-Dallas 10 5 0 .667 337 250 N.Y. Giants 8 7 0 .533 395 383 Washington 4 11 0 .267 246 313 South W L T Pct PF PA x-New Orleans 13 2 0 .867 500 318 Atlanta 8 7 0 .533 343 315 Carolina 7 8 0 .467 292 298 Tampa Bay 3 12 0 .200 234 380 North W L T Pct PF PA x-Minnesota11 4 0 .733 426 305 y-Green Bay10 5 0 .667 428 290 Chicago 6 9 0 .400 290 352 Detroit 2 13 0 .133 239 457 West W L T Pct PF PA x-Arizona 10 5 0 .667 368 292 San Francisco 7 8 0 .467 302 275 Seattle 5 10 0 .333 267 373 St. Louis 1 14 0 .067 169 408 x-clinched division y-clinched playoff spot ——— Sunday's Games Chicago at Detroit, 10 a.m. Pittsburgh at Miami, 10 a.m. New England at Houston, 10 a.m. Indianapolis at Buffalo, 10 a.m. San Francisco at St. Louis, 10 a.m. Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 10 a.m. New Orleans at Carolina, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at Cleveland, 10 a.m. N.Y. Giants at Minnesota, 10 a.m. Tennessee at Seattle, 1:15 p.m. Philadelphia at Dallas, 1:15 p.m. Washington at San Diego, 1:15 p.m. Kansas City at Denver, 1:15 p.m. Baltimore at Oakland, 1:15 p.m. Green Bay at Arizona, 1:15 p.m. Cincinnati at N.Y. Jets, 5:20 p.m. BOWLS Saturday, Dec. 19 New Mexico Bowl At Albuquerque Wyoming 35, Fresno State 28, 2OT St. Petersburg (Fla.) Bowl Rutgers 45, UCF 24 ——— Sunday, Dec. 20 New Orleans Bowl Middle Tennessee 42, Southern Miss. 32 ——— Tuesday, Dec. 22 Las Vegas Bowl BYU 44, Oregon State 20 ——— Wednesday, Dec. 23 Poinsettia Bowl At San Diego Utah 37, California 27 ——— Thursday, Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl At Honolulu SMU 45, Nevada 10 ——— Saturday, Dec. 26 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl At Detroit Marshall 21, Ohio 17 Meineke Bowl At Charlotte, N.C. Pittsburgh 19, North Carolina 17 Emer- ald Bowl At San Francisco Southern Cal 24, Boston College 13 ——— Sunday, Dec. 27 Music City Bowl At Nashville, Tenn. Clemson 21, Kentucky 13 ——— Monday, Dec. 28 Independence Bowl At Shreveport, La. Georgia 44, Texas A&M 20 ——— Tuesday, Dec. 29 EagleBank Bowl At Washington UCLA 30, Temple 21 Champs Sports Bowl At Orlando, Fla. Wisconsin 20, Miami 14 ——— Wednesday, Dec. 30 Humanitarian Bowl At Boise, Idaho Idaho 43, Bowling Green 42 Holiday Bowl At San Diego Nebraska (9-4) vs. Arizona (8-4), late (ESPN) ——— Thursday, Dec. 31 Armed Forces Bowl At Fort Worth, Texas Air Force (7-5) vs. Houston (10-3), 9 a.m. (ESPN) Sun Bowl At El Paso, Texas Stanford (8-4) vs. Oklahoma (7-5), 11 a.m. (CBS) Texas Bowl At Houston Missouri (8-4) vs. Navy (9-4), 12:30 p.m. (ESPN) Insight Bowl At Tempe, Ariz. Minnesota (6-6) vs. Iowa State (6-6), 3 p.m. (NFL) Chick-fil-A Bowl At Atlanta Virginia Tech (9-3) vs. Tennessee (7-5), 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) ——— Friday, Jan. 1 Outback Bowl At Tampa, Fla. Northwestern (8-4) vs. Auburn (7-5), 9 a.m. (ESPN) Capital One Bowl At Orlando, Fla. Penn State (10-2) vs. LSU (9-3), 10 a.m. (ABC) Gator Bowl At Jacksonville, Fla. Florida State (6-6) vs. West Virginia (9-3), 11 a.m. (CBS) Rose Bowl At Pasadena, Calif. Ohio State (10-2) vs. Oregon (10-2), 2 p.m. (ABC) Sugar Bowl At New Orleans Florida (12-1) vs. Cincinnati (12-0), 5:30 p.m. (FOX) ——— Saturday, Jan. 2 International Bowl At Toronto South Florida (7-5) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5), 9 a.m. (ESPN2) Cotton Bowl At Arlington, Texas Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. Mississippi (8- 4), 11 a.m. (FOX) PapaJohns.com Bowl At Birmingham, Ala. Connecticut (7-5) vs. South Carolina (7- 5), 11 a.m. (ESPN) Liberty Bowl At Memphis, Tenn. East Carolina (9-4) vs. Arkansas (7-5), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN) Alamo Bowl At San Antonio Michigan State (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (8-4), 6 p.m. (ESPN) ——— Monday, Jan. 4 Fiesta Bowl At Glendale, Ariz. Boise State (13-0) vs. TCU (12-0), 5 p.m. (FOX) ——— Tuesday, Jan. 5 Orange Bowl At Miami Iowa (10-2) vs. Georgia Tech (11-2), 5 p.m. (FOX) ——— Wednesday, Jan. 6 GMAC Bowl Mobile, Ala. Central Michigan (11-2) vs. Troy (9-3), 4 p.m. (ESPN) ——— Thursday, Jan. 7 BCS National Championship At Pasadena, Calif. Alabama (13-0) vs. Texas (13-0), 5 p.m. (ABC) ——— Saturday, Jan. 23 East-West Shrine Classic At Orlando, Fla. East vs. West, noon ——— Saturday, Jan. 30 Senior Bowl At Mobile, Ala. North vs. South, 1 p.m. (NFL) ——— Saturday, Feb. 6 Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Chal- lenge At El Paso, Texas Texas vs. Nation, noon (CBSC) NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct GB Boston 23 7 .767 — Toronto 16 17 .4858 1/2 New York 12 20 .375 12 Philadelphia 8 22 .267 15 New Jersey 3 29 .094 21 Southeast Division W L Pct GB Orlando 23 8 .742 — Atlanta 21 10 .677 2 Miami 16 13 .552 6 Charlotte 12 18 .40010 1/2 Washington 10 20 .33312 1/2 Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 26 8 .765 — Chicago 12 17 .41411 1/2 Milwaukee 12 18 .400 12 Detroit 11 20 .35513 1/2 Indiana 9 22 .29015 1/2 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pct GB Dallas 22 9 .710 — San Antonio18 11 .621 3 Houston 19 13 .5943 1/2 Memphis 15 16 .484 7 New Orleans14 16 .4677 1/2 Northwest Division W L Pct GB Denver 20 12 .625 — Portland 20 13 .606 1/2 Utah 18 13 .5811 1/2 Oklahoma City 17 14 .5482 1/2 Minnesota 7 26 .21213 1/2 Pacific Division W L Pct GB L.A. Lakers 25 6 .806 — Phoenix 20 12 .6255 1/2 Sacramento 14 16 .46710 1/2 L.A. Clippers13 17 .43311 1/2 Golden State9 22 .290 16 ——— Tuesday's Games Oklahoma City 110, Washington 98 Cleveland 95, Atlanta 84 New York 104, Detroit 87 Chicago 104, Indiana 95 Houston 108, New Orleans 100 San Antonio 117, Minnesota 99 L.A. Lakers 124, Golden State 118 Wednesday's Games Cleveland 106, Atlanta 101 Memphis 121, Indiana 110 Toronto 107, Charlotte 103 Orlando 117, Milwaukee 92 New Jersey 104, New York 95 New Orleans 95, Miami 91 Utah 107, Minnesota 103 Boston at Phoenix, late L.A. Clippers at Portland, late Philadelphia at Sacramento, late Thursday's Games Chicago at Detroit, noon Miami at San Antonio, 4 p.m. Dallas at Houston, 4 p.m. Utah at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. Philadelphia at L.A. Clippers, 6:30 p.m. Friday's Games New York at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Orlando at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Sacramento at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. MOVES American League OAKLAND ATHLETICS—Agreed to terms with RHP Justin Duchscherer on a one- year contract. Designated LHP Jay Mar- shall for assignment. National League ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS—Agreed to terms with INF Kelly Johnson on a one- year contract. BASKETBALL National Basketball Association PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS—Signed F Shavlik Randolph. NBA Development League RIO GRANDE VALLEY VIPERS—Traded C Kurt Looby to Albuquerque for G Will Conroy. FOOTBALL National Football League CINCINNATI BENGALS—Placed LB Rey Maualuga on injured reserve. Signed TE Darius Hill from the practice squad. Signed TE Carson Butler to the practice squad. CLEVELAND BROWNS—Signed OL Scott Kooistra. Waived LB Arnold Harrison. Signed DB Joe Porter to the practice squad. DENVER BRONCOS—Signed P Britton Colquitt from Miami's practice squad. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS—Signed WR Sam Giguere from the practice squad. Waived QB Drew Willy and signed him to the practice squad. Signed WR John Matthews and LB Brandon Renkart to the practice squad. MIAMI DOLPHINS—Placed LB Channing Crowder on the injured list. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS—Signed DT Rodney Leisle and TE Tory Humphrey. Released CB Greg Fassitt and CB Her- ana-Daze Jones. Re-signed Fassitt to the practice squad. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS—Placed WR Mike Hass on injured reserve. Signed G Trevor Canfield from Arizona's practice squad. Signed WR Patrick Carter to the practice squad. WASHINGTON REDSKINS—Placed OL Mike Williams and S Reed Doughty on injured reserve. Signed P.J. Hill off Philadelphia's practice squad and CB Mar- cus McCauley. COLLEGE TEXAS TECH—Fired football coach Mike Leach. HOCKEY National Hockey League ANAHEIM DUCKS—Assigned LW Kyle Calder to Toronto (AHL). NASHVILLE PREDATORS—Recalled F Mike Santorelli and D Alexander Sulzer from Milwaukee (AHL). ST. LOUIS BLUES—Recalled F Derek Armstrong from Peoria (AHL) under emer- gency conditions. American Hockey League AHL—Named Nathan Costa manager of team business services and Melissa Caru- so coordinator of team business services. BINGHAMTON SENATORS—Recalled G Chris Holt from Elmira (ECHL). SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE—Signed F Ryan Weston. ECHL ECHL—Named Jeff Zavatsky manager of hockey operations. Scoreboard Scoreboard Boyle said it still hasn't quite sunk in that he made the actual team this time around, especially with the tournament in Canada. ''I'm still pretty calm,'' he said. ''My parents and brother are a lot more excited than I was. That's just for right now. Open- ing night, the first game when I put the sweater on is when it will really kick in. It's a tremendous honor and sharing it with my buddies here makes it extra special.'' The Sharks four Cana- dian Olympians will have some company in Vancou- ver, as San Jose has already had seven players picked for Olympic teams and could get an eighth if forward Joe Pavelski makes the U.S. team when it is announced Friday. Backup goaltender Thomas Greiss also was picked Wednesday for the German team. Starting goalie Evgeni Nabokov was already picked for the Russian team and defense- man Douglas Murray will play for Sweden ''That's fun,'' Thornton said. ''It's always a good competition. We'll go against Dougie and Nabby. Hopefully we can score a couple goals on Nabby because last tour- nament we didn't score any on him.'' Continued from page 1B SHARKS to appear in court for a hearing on the coach's request to be allowed to lead his team in the Alamo Bowl. Wide receiver Tramain Swindall said he supported the decision to fire Leach. ''I do agree and I'm supporting Adam and what he's doing because it's the right thing to do,'' Swindall told the AP in a telephone interview. Swindall said he believes Leach was at times out of line in how he treated players. ''And so do most of the players,'' he said. ''It wasn't just about Adam. It was always a negative vibe.'' James is the son of former NFL player and ESPN analyst Craig James. ''We appreciate that the universi- ty conducted a fair and thorough investigation,'' the James family said in a statement. ''From the fam- ily's point of view this has always been about the safety and well being of our son and of all the players on the team.'' Texas Tech officials provided Leach a letter setting out guidelines for dealing with student-athletes. Leach refused to sign it. The letter was included in court papers filed in response to his motion for a restraining order. Among the guidelines: — ''Decisions regarding whether an injury warrants suspension from practice and/or play will be deter- mined by a physician without pres- sure from you or your staff.'' —''There will be no retaliation against any student who as suffered an injury.'' Tech's termination letter said Leach was fired with cause, mean- ing the university believes it does not owe Leach any of the remaining money left on a five-year, $12.7 mil- lion contract he agreed to in Febru- ary. According to terms of the deal, Leach was due a $800,000 bonus on Dec. 31 if he were still the head coach at Texas Tech. Liggett said he planned to file a lawsuit on Leach's behalf against the school. McNeill said he was shocked when he learned of the firing — and he lobbied to be Leach's permanent replacement. ''I'm very interested in the job,'' he said. ''I think that's a double yes, with some exclamation marks.'' Tech is the second Big 12 school to launch an internal investigation into a coach's treatment of his play- ers. On Nov. 16, Kansas investigated Mark Mangino, who was rewarded with a big raise after he was nation- al coach of the year and went 12-1 in 2007. Some players said he was insensitive, though others defended him. Mangino resigned Dec. 3 after reaching a settlement with the school that was later disclosed as a $3 million buyout. In an affidavit included in Tues- day's court filing, Leach said he ''would never intentionally harm or endanger a player'' and that he has been ''forced into this situation without being afforded any process.'' He also said ''absolutely'' no evidence had been given to him that showed he had violated any uni- versity rules or standards. Several former and current Texas Tech players and coaches defended Leach and harshly criticized Adam James' work ethic in e-mails obtained by CBSSports.com. Among those were former Texas Tech wide receiver Eric Morris, who wrote that James was ''never known as a hard worker'' and ''seemed to have a negative attitude toward the football program the majority of the time.'' Despite James being at the center of the turmoil, McNeill said he has- n't treated him any differently. ''There's been nothing personally said to Adam from me but, 'Hey, hang in there,'' McNeill said. Leach's dismissal comes a year after he was Big 12 coach of the year and led Tech to the best season in the history of the program. The Red Raiders went 11-2 last season. A quirky, nonconformist with a pass-happy offense and penchant for pirates, Leach arrived in West Texas in 2000. Since then, he has become the winningest coach in school his- tory. He stopped acknowledging play- ers' injuries to the media in 2003. Not unlike Bob Knight when he came to coach the Red Raiders bas- ketball team for 6 1/2 years, Leach has raised the profile of the city and the school. He appeared on ''60 Minutes'' and was profiled in the New York Times Magazine. Continued from page 1B LEACH mentioned the Rose Bowl to his Ducks until they beat Oregon State in the Civil War to qualify. ''We knew if we just won the Pac-10, everything else would come together,'' Oregon safety T.J. Ward said. ''Coach Kelly didn't have to tell us what we were play- ing for.'' Every player on both Rose Bowl teams crowded into a conference room at a downtown hotel on Wednesday morning — except Oregon tailback LeGarrette Blount, who stayed back at the team hotel in Beverly Hills. Blount has barely spoken to the media since punching a Boise State player after the Ducks' season-opening loss, leading to an eight-game suspension. ''He believes in actions, not words,'' Kelly said in explaining Blount's absence. ''He wants to finish the season, and I respect him. It's his choice. He can talk to anybody, but he chose not to.'' If the Buckeyes are tired of talking about anything, it's their three straight postseason losses in BCS bowl games, including last year's Fiesta Bowl following national championship games in the previous two sea- sons. Ohio State's senior class could go out as the win- ningest in school history with a victory — but a loss would leave those seniors with four Big Ten titles, but no postseason wins. And though Ohio State might lean on its past more than Oregon, both schools are well aware of the histo- ry in the game they're playing Friday. ''You just feel the tradition,'' Tressel said. ''I don't care how old you are.'' Continued from page 1B ROSE solid kickoff return and Enderle's long throw landed in the arms of Davis, who finished with four catches for 119 yards. Komar then made his sliding grab and Akey confidently went for 2. ''Well, they hadn't been able to stop us. ... Let's do it while we got some momen- tum,'' Akey said. With most of the 26,729 in attendance roaring their approval, Enderle had plen- ty of time to connect with Davis, setting off a wild, premature celebration. One overly joyous fan ran on the field to the Idaho bench, only to get shoved down by one of the Vandal players. Idaho (8-5) was penal- ized but Trey Farquhar's kickoff bounced inside the BG 5 and the fans finally got to celebrate for real when the returner was tack- led. ''I tell you what, I love these players ... Don't doubt these players, they'll prove you wrong,'' Akey said. The Vandals surged ahead 28-14 in the second half on touchdown runs of 8 and 13 yards by De'Maun- dray Woolridge, only to see the Falcons rally with 28 of the next 35 points. Woolridge finished with 22 carries for 126 yards, and Enderle was 15 of 28 for 240 and four touchdowns after starting the game 1 of 6. Tyler Sheehan was 33 of 47 for 387 yards and four TDs for Bowling Green (7- 6). It was the 14th consecu- tive bowl loss for the Mid- American Conference. The Falcons' rally started when Jimmy Scheidler took a well-designed tight end screen 15 yards for a touch- down. Continued from page 1B IDAHO Kobe's 44 push Lakers past Warriors 124-118 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant made 16 free throws without a miss despite a broken finger on his shooting hand. He played nearly 43 minutes against the run-and-gun Warriors in his fourth game in five nights. And in a feat of strength to match those marvels of skill and endurance, he put the Los Angeles Lakers on his back and carried them past Golden State. Bryant had a season-high 44 points and 11 assists amid perfec- tion from the foul line, and Los Angeles survived Golden State's 55-percent shooting for a 124-118 victory Tuesday night. ''By his effort alone, I think we owe this game to him in the win column,'' said Phil Jackson, who gave in to Bryant's request to get back in the game even when his exhaustion was obvious. Pau Gasol had a season-high 27 points and 12 rebounds for the defending NBA champions, who have struggled without injured forward Ron Artest during a clear dip in their mostly trouble-free season. The Lakers relied even more heavily than usual on Bryant to avoid their third loss in four days. Bryant came through with 27 points in the second half and 17 in the fourth quarter, clinching his seventh 40-point game of the sea- son on two free throws with 4:04 left. ''That guy is amazing,'' War- riors coach Don Nelson said. ''To be able to shoot like he did with the finger problems that he has on his shooting hand, it's amazing. I love watching him play, and it's always a pleasure to coach against him.'' The huge wrap on the index finger of Bryant's right hand cov- ers the most obvious of his several minor injuries. Bryant had said his free throws were particularly tough with that wrap — yet he was perfect, sealing the win with seven free throws in the final peri- od. ''It's really just the up-and- downs of the season,'' said Bryant, whose 103 40-point games are the third-most in NBA history. ''You're going to have stretches when you're not playing well. It's about how you deal with it and how you play through it.'' Corey Maggette scored 25 points and Monta Ellis added 22 for the Warriors, who beat Phoenix and Boston in the previ- ous three days during the best stretch of another rough start to a season. Golden State shot superbly and ran its uptempo offense well, but had nobody who could guard Bryant in the Warriors' seventh straight loss to the Lak- ers. The Warriors haven't won three straight games yet this sea- son. ''It's a great stage to play on, and a lot of fun,'' said Warriors rookie Stephen Curry, who scored 15 points in his first road game in Hollywood. ''We were right there with them. We've just got to figure out how to finish it out and close it. It was a great experience for me.'' The Lakers still have the NBA's best record (25-6) despite two 15-point loss- es in the previous three days, including their 102-87 Christ- mas flop against Cleveland. They also played their third straight game without Artest, who gave himself a concussion and a deep cut on his left elbow when he tripped and fell at his home on Christmas. In their first home game since their fans littered the court with foam hands in response to the Lakers' gripes about the officiat- ing, Bryant and Lamar Odom both got technical fouls for arguing calls in the final 4:16.