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2B – Daily News – Thursday, January 14, 2010 NFL AP NFL Offensive Player Voting Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division W L Pct GB Lakers 30 9 .769 — Phoenix 24 15 .615 6 Clippers 17 20 .459 12 KINGS 15 22 .405 14 WARRIORS 11 25 .306 17.5 Southwest Division W L Pct GB Dallas 25 13 .658 — San Antonio 24 13 .649 .5 Houston 22 17 .564 3.5 New Orleans 20 17 .541 4.5 Memphis 19 18 .514 5.5 Northwest Division W L Pct GB Denver 25 14 .641 — Portland 23 16 .590 2 Okla. City 21 17 .553 3.5 Utah 21 17 .553 3.5 Minnesota 8 32 .200 17.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct GB Boston 27 10 .730 — Toronto 19 20 .487 9 New York 16 22 .421 11.5 Philadelphia 12 26 .316 15.5 New Jersey 3 35 .079 24.5 Southeast Division W L Pct GB Orlando 26 13 .667 — Atlanta 25 13 .658 .5 Miami 18 18 .500 6.5 Charlotte 17 19 .472 7.5 Washington 12 25 .324 13 Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 30 10 .750 — Chicago 16 20 .444 12 Milwaukee 15 20 .429 12.5 Indiana 13 25 .342 16 Detroit 12 25 .324 16.5 ——— Wednesday's results Miami at Golden State, late Atlanta 94, Washington 82 Boston 111, New Jersey 87 Denver 115, Orlando 97 Houston 120, Minnesota 114, 3OT Indiana 122, Phoenix 114 L.A. Lakers 100, Dallas 95 New Orleans 108, L.A. Clippers 94 New York 93, Philadelphia 92 San Antonio 109, Oklahoma City 108, OT Milwaukee at Portland, late Today's games Chicago at Boston, 5 p.m., TNT Cleveland at Utah, 7:30 p.m., TNT Tuesday's late result Orlando 109, Sacramento 88 NCAA Wednesday's Top 25 results No. 1 Texas 90, Iowa State 83 No. 3 Kansas 84, Nebraska 72 No. 5 Syrcause 81, Rutgers 65 No. 7 Michigan State 60, Minnesota 53 No. 8 Duke 79, Boston College 59 No. 10 West Virginia 69, South Florida 50 No. 24 Clemson 83, No. 12 North Carolina 64 No. 13 Wisconsin 60, Northwestern 50 No. 16 Pittsburgh 67, No. 15 Connecticut 57 No. 18 Brigham Young 67, Air Force 49 No. 19 Temple 60, Pennsylvania 45 Virginia 82, No. 20 Georgia Tech 75 No. 21 Mississippi 80, Georgia 76 Virginia Tech 81, No. 23 Miami 66 Today's Top 25 games No. 9 Tennessee vs. Auburn, 4 p.m., ESPN No. 11 Georgetown vs. Seton Hall, 4 p.m., ESPN No. 17 Gonzaga at St. Mary's, 8 p.m., ESPN2 Today's other televised games Indiana at Michigan, 6 p.m., ESPN Providence at DePaul, 6 p.m., ESPN Stanford at Washington, 7:30 p.m., FSN NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division W L OT Pts GF GA SHARKS 30 10 7 67 152 119 Phoenix 26 16 5 57 121 115 Kings 25 18 3 53 135 130 Dallas 19 16 11 49 131 147 Ducks 20 19 7 47 129 143 Central Division W L OT Pts GF GA Chicago 31 11 4 66 152 102 Nashville 28 16 3 59 136 132 Detroit 23 16 6 52 115 116 St. Louis 19 19 7 45 119 131 Columbus 18 21 9 45 125 158 Northwest Division W L OT Pts GF GA Calgary 26 15 6 58 126 114 Colorado 26 15 6 58 138 134 Vancouver 27 18 2 56 149 117 Minnesota 24 20 3 51 131 139 Edmonton 16 24 5 37 124 152 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L OT Pts GF GA New Jersey 32 11 1 65 127 94 Pittsburgh 29 18 1 59 152 131 Rangers 22 17 7 51 120 123 Philadelphia 23 19 3 49 140 128 Islanders 20 19 8 48 124 144 Northeast Division W L OT Pts GF GA Buffalo 28 11 5 61 123 102 Boston 22 15 7 51 114 107 Montreal 22 21 4 48 119 126 Ottawa 22 21 4 48 127 147 Toronto 15 23 9 39 125 164 Southeast Division W L OT Pts GF GA Washington 28 12 6 62 171 132 Atlanta 20 19 6 46 143 150 Tampa Bay 18 17 10 46 118 136 Florida 18 20 8 44 132 145 Carolina 14 24 7 35 114 154 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Wednesday's results Minnesota 5, Vancouver 2 Pittsburgh 3, Calgary 1 Washington 5, Florida 4, SO Boston at Anaheim, late Today's games Boston at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Buffalo at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Ottawa at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Toronto, 4 p.m. Carolina at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Dallas at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. Florida at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m. Minnesota at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Columbus at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. New Jersey at Phoenix, 6 p.m. Pittsburgh at Edmonton, 6:30 p.m. Anaheim at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. DEALS National Football League KANSAS CITY—Named Romeo Crennel defensive coordinator. NEW ENGLAND—Signed TE Robbie Agnone, TE Rob Myers, DL Adrian Grady, DL Darryl Richard, WR Darnell Jenkins and QB Jeff Rowe. TENNESSEE—Signed DE Marcus Howard, T Nevin McCaskill and DE Jay Moore to futures contracts. WASHINGTON—Announced the retirement of offensive line coach Joe Bugel. National Basketball Association NBA—Fined Boston coach Doc Rivers $25,000 for his conduct surrounding his ejec- tion during Monday's game. NBA INTERNATIONAL—Named Amadou Gallo Fall vice president of development for Africa. HOUSTON—Recalled F Joey Dorsey from Rio Grande Valley (NBADL). National Hockey League NHL—Fined Vancouver Canucks forward Alex Burrows $2,500 for conduct deemed detrimental to the the NHL and the game of hockey. DALLAS—Recalled LW Fabian Brunnstrom from Texas (AHL). FLORIDA—Recalled C Shawn Matthias. OTTAWA—Relieved goaltending coach Eli Wilson of his duties. Recalled F Kaspars Dau- gavins from Binghamton (AHL). Re-assigned C Martin St. Pierre to Binghamton. Major League Baseball American League DETROIT—Agreed to terms with RHP Joel Zumaya on a one-year contract. KANSAS CITY—Named Ned Yost special advisor to baseball operations. SEATTLE—Agreed to terms with 1B/OF Brad Nelson on a minor league contract. TORONTO—Agreed to terms with LHP William Collazo, OF Jorge Padilla, OF Chris Lubanski and INF Jesus Merchan on minor league contracts. National League SAN FRANCISCO—Agreed to terms with INF Aubrey Huff on a one-year contract. CHICAGO—Agreed to terms with RHP Jeff Kennard and INF Bryan LaHair on minor league contracts. HOUSTON—Designated OF Jason Bour- geois for assignment. PITTSBURGH—Agreed to terms with OF Ryan Church on a one-year contract. GOLDEN BASEBALL LEAGUE CHICO—Named Garry Templeton manager. Major League Soccer DALLAS—Exercised its option on M David Ferreira. College NEVADA—Announced sophomore men's basketball F Olek Czyz will transfer from Duke. TEXAS TECH—Named Neal Brown offen- sive coordinator. UNLV—Named Michael Gray defensive tack- les coach and Mike Gerber strength and con- ditioning coach. Scoreboard Scoreboard Johnson is top offensive player NEW YORK (AP) — That blur speeding away from opposing defens- es and running off with The Associat- ed Press 2009 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award is Chris Johnson. Considered the fastest man in pro football, Johnson was uncatchable in setting a league mark for yards from scrimmage (2,509) and becoming the sixth player with a 2,000-yard rushing season. He is the first NFL player to finish with at least 2,000 yards rushing and 500 receiving (503). That earned the second-year pro 38 1/2 votes Wednesday from a nation- wide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Johnson easily beat New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who received nine votes. ''I kind of realize what I did and I feel like I had a dream season,'' said Johnson, who scored 16 touchdowns (14 rushing), second to Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, and tied the NFL mark with six consecutive games rushing for at least 125 yards. Johnson, who has run a 4.2 40 and believes he'll remain the NFL's fastest player unless a team signs Usain Bolt, has bigger dreams, too: breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, and winning the league MVP award. ''I didn't even get one vote at all (for MVP),'' Johnson said. ''Like the season I had, it seemed like, 'What more do they want me to do?' That just felt like rookie of the year; it's a quarterback thing I guess.'' Atlanta QB Matt Ryan beat out Johnson for 2008 Offensive Rookie of the Year. Of course, if Johnson keeps post- ing phenomenal numbers, all kinds of honors and records should keep com- ing. ''That gives me something to look forward to next year,'' he said before focusing on Dickerson's mark. ''You go for 2,000 yards. I don't know what you can really say that makes you want to work harder or anything like that, so it's kind of a good thing and a bad thing me not getting the record.'' Johnson's production was even more impressive considering the Titans began the season with six straight losses. He was a key reason for Tennessee's turnaround to 8-8. Johnson became the first player to run for three TDs of 85 yards or longer in a season; no NFL player had even done that in a career. He'll start next season with a streak of 11 100- yard rushing games; Barry Sanders holds the record with 14 in 1997. In November, Johnson rushed for 800 yards, the best month of any run- ning back in NFL history. By then, it was a one-man show in the Tennessee backfield; as a rookie, Johnson split duties with LenDale White, and rushed for 1,228 yards and nine TDs. This season, White got only 64 carries a year after running for 15 touch- downs in 2008. ''I took a backseat to greatness,'' White noted. ''I'm just happy to be a part of it, to make history with him,'' Titans quar- terback Vince Young added. ''He's going to be a great player. This is just his second year, that's the crazy part.'' No one has rushed for 2,000 yards twice in a career. Titans coach Jeff Fisher says it would be unwise to bet against Johnson setting that prece- dent, too. ''I think he's one player that has a chance to do it again. He's young,'' Fisher said. ''He's special. He has the potential to go the distance and change games and do those kinds of things.'' League MVP Peyton Manning of Indianapolis drew 1 1/2 votes, and San Diego QB Philip Rivers got one. Johnson is the first Titan to win the honor, but the third player in franchise history. Quarterback Warren Moon won in 1990 as a Houston Oiler, and Earl Campbell took the award from 1978-80 with the Oilers. MCT file photo Chris Johnson ran past more than the 49ers this season. Woodson best on defensive side MILWAUKEE (AP) — Charles Woodson does it all for the Green Bay Packers defense — and does it all well. From cover cornerback to ball-hawking safety to blitzing pass rusher, Wood- son's combination of versa- tility and productivity made him The Associated Press 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Woodson appreciates the award and considers it a reflection of the way he and his teammates came togeth- er this season. Still, it reminds him of the one major achievement missing from his football resume: a Super Bowl victory. ''That's it,'' Woodson said. ''Especially now, to get this award, I've done everything an individual can do.'' And at 33, Woodson plans to keep playing as long as it takes to win a title. ''I'm just going to keep taking shots until I get back to the Super Bowl — and win it,'' Woodson said. Woodson tied for the league lead with nine inter- ceptions, returning three for touchdowns, and his ability to play a wide variety of roles was a critical compo- nent of the Packers' defen- sive revival under new coor- dinator Dom Capers. Woodson got 28 votes Tuesday from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL, doubling the num- ber of votes for New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. Revis established him- self as perhaps the league's premier cornerback in 2009, shutting down several of the league's top receivers. He had six picks, returning one for a TD. Denver linebacker Elvis Dumervil, who led the league in sacks, and New Orleans safety Darren Sharper, who tied with Woodson for the intercep- tions lead and also ran back three for scores, each got three votes. Minnesota end Jared Allen received the other two votes. That makes Woodson the first Green Bay player to win it since Reggie White in 1998, and just the second Packer in the 36-year histo- ry of the award. Woodson, the 1997 Heisman Trophy winner, is the first corner- back chosen top defensive player since Deion Sanders in 1994. ''It's a great honor,'' Woodson said. ''I felt like I put a lot into the game, mentally and physically — your body's always beat up — and it's great to be rec- ognized.'' With the Packers making a drive to the playoffs, Woodson played with a painful shoulder injury in the final weeks of the sea- son. Woodson hopes his shoulder will heal so he can avoid surgery in the offsea- son. And while the Packers will likely be considered contenders heading into next season, Woodson knows nothing is guaran- teed; after Woodson lost a Super Bowl with Oakland, the Raiders went 4-12 the following season. Woodson had 63 unas- sisted tackles and 18 assists, according to the Packers, plus 21 passes defensed, four forced fumbles and one recovery, two sacks for 18 yards and three quarterback hits. Capers used Woodson in a variety of roles designed to confuse opposing offens- es, from man-to-man and zone coverage to rushing the quarterback. ''That's the best part of it,'' Woodson said. ''It's kind of like when I was a kid — I played everything.'' Woodson also made his mark off the field in 2009, announcing before the Packers' Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit that he was donating $2 million to the University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital. Court seems skeptical of NFL antitrust protection WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday didn't seem interested in immediately granting the National Football League the broad antitrust law protection the league is seeking. Justices seemed skeptical of arguments that the NFL should be considered one business, not 32 sepa- rate teams working together, when it comes to selling NFL-branded items. The lower courts had thrown out an antitrust lawsuit brought against the league by one of its former hat makers. American Needle, Inc. appealed the dismissal to the Supreme Court. But the NFL also appealed, hop- ing to get broader protection from antitrust lawsuits. Major League Baseball is the only professional sports league with broad antitrust protection. The National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, the NCAA, NASCAR, professional tennis and Major League Soccer are supporting the NFL in hopes the court will expand broad antitrust exemption to other sports. If the court rules broadly for the NFL, it could shield professional sports leagues from antitrust claims in several areas, including player salaries, loca- tion of teams, video-game rights and television broad- casting rights. ''You are seeking through this ruling what you haven't gotten from Congress: an absolute bar to an antitrust claim,'' Justice Sonia Sotomayor told NFL lawyers. NFL lawyer Gregg H. Levy said the league is mak- ing a narrower argument, as ''long as the NFL clubs are members of a unit; if they compete as a unit in the entertainment marketplace ... they should be deemed a single entity'' and not subject to antitrust law. ''The question is: Should they be permitted to join their centers of economic power into one when they promote and sell their T-shirts, sweatshirts, et cetera?'' Justice Stephen Breyer said. American Needle had been one of many companies that made NFL headgear until the league awarded an exclusive contract to Reebok International Ltd. in 2001. American Needle sued the league and Reebok in 2004, claiming the deal violated antitrust law. Lower courts threw out the suit, holding that nothing in antitrust law prohibits NFL teams from cooperating on apparel licensing so the league can compete against other forms of entertainment. American Needle wants the lawsuit restored in the lower courts, while the NFL wants the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court's decision that it can be con- sidered a single entity and apply it around the nation. American Needle's lawyer, Glen D. Nager, under prompting from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told the court that they believe that everything that ''these 32 separately owned and controlled teams joined togeth- er to do by in concert, by agreement, by consent'' should be subject to antitrust investigation. ''You want the Patriots to sell T-shirts in competi- tion with the Saints or whoever,'' said Breyer, who said he knows baseball better. Breyer argued that it is unlikely that NFL teams could compete with each other in selling apparel, because when it comes to baseball, ''I don't know a Red Sox fan who would wear a Yankees sweater even if you gave it away.'' Nager argued that to a 3-year-old child, team alle- giance wouldn't matter. ''They have very small allowances,'' Breyer said to laughter. Several justices wondered whether the antitrust investigation could stretch to the rules of the game and scheduling, ''things that it just seems odd to subject,'' to antitrust investigation, Chief Justice John Roberts said. Levy argued that the licensing and selling of NFL apparel is something the league does to promote the sport as a whole, something Justice Antonin Scalia disagreed with. ''The purpose is to make money,'' Scalia said. ''I don't think that they care whether the sale of the hel- met or the T-shirt promotes the game. They sell it to make money from the sale.'' The purpose of the licensing is to improve and pro- mote the attractiveness of the game product, to get more people interested in watching the games on tele- vision, to get more people interested in buying tickets to the game, Levy replied. ''Well, I suppose that that issue could be tried,'' Scalia said. Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer for the NFL Players Asso- ciation and several other professional sports unions, said afterward that NFL teams believe they should be allowed to ''fix the prices of labor, that they could impose restrictions that would prevent good teams from getting better, or take any other conduct without the antitrust laws coming into play.'' Levy disagreed. ''This case doesn't have anything to do with union agreement issues,'' he said. The case is American Needle v. NFL, 08-661.