The AP's Brian Mahoney reports the New York Knicks have fired head coach Isiah Thomas. Mahoney says Isiah will remain a part of the Knicks organization but he will not be the head coach. That's a tough thing to happen to a great player like Isiah but the Knicks record just hasn't been there. Hoops World says the Knicks are interested in Mark Jackson.
Concerns about what China is doing to Tibet is igniting protests along the path of the Olympic torch. Protests marred the torch proceedings in London and Paris. The torch had to be temporarily extinguished in Paris because of these protests. A similar protest is expected to meet the torch in San Francisco.
Reuters reports in the video below that former light welterweight champion Saoul Mamby wants another shot at the title. Saoul Mamby is sixty years young. Reuters says Mamby likely recently became the oldest boxer ever in a sanctioned bout when he "lost a 10-round draw in the Cayman Islands." Mamby is now looking for win number 46. He says he is in good shape. He certainly doesn't look sixty.
There were protests as the Olympic torch was passed to China on Sunday by Greek officials. Inside the ceremony was beautiful despite the grim action that China has taken recently against Tibet.
Just when you thought the Duke loss was going to be the biggest upset of the tournament Davidson comes back from a 17-point halftime deficit to upset Georgetown. MSNBC reports that Davidson had not won a NCAA tournament game in 39 years before Friday's win against Gonzaga. Now they have won two straight.
Curry scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half and little Davidson rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to stun No. 2 seed Georgetown 74-70 on Sunday, sending the Wildcats to an improbable spot in the round of 16.
Davidson (28-6), which hadn't won an NCAA tournament game in 39 years before Friday, will face No. 3 seed Wisconsin in the Midwest Regional in Detroit.
"I'm numb right now," coach Bob McKillop said.
So is Georgetown (28-6), which was shooting 71 percent from the field early in the second half, had forced Curry to miss 10 of his first 12 shots and was in total command in its quest to make the Final Four for the second straight year.
But despite 14 points from Jessie Sapp, 12 from Jonathan Wallace and 63 percent shooting, Georgetown was undone by 20 turnovers - and Curry's brilliance.
Stephen Curry has been the player to watch in this year's Tournament. He scored 40 points against Gonzaga and 30 points against Georgetown. Patrick Ewing was probably wishing he could run of the stands and block Curry who has been on fire. Will Wisconsin be able to stop Curry? What is clear is that no one is going to care what the score is at the half because Davidson has come back from behind in both games. Here's some links about the game.
NBC Sports reports that No. 1 seeded UCLA just barely escaped from being upset by Texas A&M. The Bruins won 53-49.
There's no quit in the UCLA Bruins. Good thing, since they keep finding trouble and inventing ways to escape.
Darren Collison scored the go-ahead basket on a one-handed layin with 9½ seconds remaining, Josh Shipp blocked Donald Sloan's final drive and the West Region's No. 1 seed held on for a 53-49 victory over Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA tournament Saturday night.
"Once the time clock goes zero, zero, we'll stop playing," Collison said. "We've been through that all season. We knew what we had to do; we knew who was going to win, and all the coaches said we just had to do the right things to win the game."
The Bruins (33-3) won their 12th in a row and will face Western Kentucky or San Diego next week in Phoenix. Their 33rd win is a record at the tradition-laden school that has 11 national championship banners, and their 96th NCAA tourney victory trails only Kentucky's 100.
Washington State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Stanford, UCLA, Xavier and West Virginia have all advanced to the Sweet 16 so far. Xavier made it after a stunning victory over Duke. Up-to-date brackets can be found here on Yahoo Sports. MSNBC also has an useful interactive Final Four chart that lets you zoom in and out on each of the brackets.
Anderson Cooper failed to block soccer star David Beckham's attempts at goal during an action filled interview. Anderson Cooper says, "trying to stop his shots is as bruising on the ego as it is on the body." At least the Coop tried to dive and block one of Beckham's kicks. A for Effort.
You can watch the CBS College Sports crew's Final Four picks in the clip below. Their Final Four site can be found here. All four thought UCLA will make it except one vote for Duke. Memphis and Kansas each had two votes. If you are filling out brackets this year Fox Sports offers ten tips.
60-year-old actor and comedian Billy Crystal got to live a life long dream. He was the lead-off batter in an exhibition game for the New York Yankees playing against the Pirates. Crystal managed to foul one off but ended up going down swinging. He did better in batting practice before the game as you can see in this clip.
Powerizers or Powerbockers are able to run and jump with super human speed and strength because they are wearing special stilts that have powerful springs built into them. These tall jumper shoes are called Powerizers or Powerbocks. Another retailer calls them jumping stilts. Treehugger calls them pogo-stilts. Wikipedia's entry is called Powerbocking.
Whatever you call it - it looks like you can get some very high five to seven foot jumps wearing this these spring-loaded stilts. That kind of height can be difficult to control. What some of the people are doing in the videos below looks very dangerous. If you miss one of those jumps over a fence or a car you could be seriously hurt. Here's a couple videos. You can find more links and resources here, here and here.
U.S. track star Marion Jones began her six-month sentence in federal prison Friday. Jones was sentenced to in jail for perjury. She lied about her steroid use at the Sydney Games. Jones was also stripped of her five medals she won at the games.
Marisa Miller on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover
Supermodel Marisa Miller graced the cover of the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She's wearing strategically placed turquoise beads in the cover photo above. SI claims that the annual special issue will be read by a worldwide audience of 69 million people. The Swimsuit Issue also features Danica Patrick, four athlete wives and 12 NFL cheerleaders. Will Ferrell and Heidi Klum also appear in ridiculous Semi Pro photo shoot. SI also launched its SI Swimsuit website at www.si.com/swimsuit which features videos, model diaries and 1,500 photos.
7-foot-6 Chinese basketball star Yao Ming is out for the season with a foot injury. Sadly, the injury may also dash Yao's Olympic hopes. Newsweekreports that 1 million Chinese fans are weeping alongside Houston Rockets fans.
Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard won the All-Star Sprite Slam Dunk Contest while wearing a Superman cape. He scored 50 on each of his dunks. Here's one of his dunks which technically looks like a Superman throw down of sorts. It's still cool whatever it is.
Is Jason Kidd headed to Dallas? It sure appears that way if the Associated Press has the facts correct. They say that as of this evening the New Jersey nets and Dallas Mavericks have worked out a tentative deal that will send Kidd to Dallas. We are confident that Mark Cuban is excited to have Kidd on the team. You can see Jason Kidd's stats here. He averages about 14 points per game but his key area is helping people score - he also averages over 9 assists per game. Kidd does have some personal troubles that he probably wishes he could leave in New Jersey.
Update: A possible wrench in the trade plans - Mavs forward Devean George may block the deal using a little known rule.
Are Young Players Better Suited to Play in the NBA?
The AP's Jim O'Connell argues in this video clip that some star basketball players who jump to the NBA after high school, or just one or two years of college, have more all around skills than ever. Several players quickly come to mind when you think of O'Connell's argument. The most notable is probably LeBron James.
Jim O'Connell might be right. It might be true that younger players are better suited but it could also be that the recruiters are just getting better at finding the players that are most likely to have the types of skills that will help them succeed in the NBA.
The 2007-2008 New England Patriots will not be remembed as the greatest team in history. They will not even be the team who won there Super Bowl in 2008. The New York Giants won an exciting Super Bowl game in the final minute with a pass from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress for 13 yard touchdown. This wouldn't have been possible without a great catch by David Tyree. This was an 83 yard drive by the Giants in the final minutes to snatch the Super Bowl victory away from the Patriots. The will defintely be remembered as one of the greatest Super Bowl games ever. You can see a box score of the game here.
Three third-down passes from Eli Manning helped get the Giants in field goal range. Lawrence Tynes made a 32-yard field goal for the first points of the game.
The New York Giants took the opening kickoff and held the ball for just under 10 minutes before Lawrence Tynes kicked a 32-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead over the unbeaten New England Patriots in the second quarter of the Super Bowl XLII on Sunday.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning converted three third-down passes during the time-consuming drive.
New England cornerback Randall Gay's return was questionable after injuring his left arm early in the first quarter.
Laurence Maroney has just scored a touchdown for New England to make it 7-3. Not quite as high scoring of a game as you might have expected for these two teams.
It was probably just out of mere curiousity that ABC News/Washington Post ran this poll asking whether people were more excited about the Super Bowl or Super Tuesday. In the football vs. politics it was football by a field goal 40% to 37%.
Asked which they're more excited about, 40 percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll cite the Super Bowl, which kicks off this Sunday at 6:17 p.m. But in a near-upset, very nearly as many, 37 percent, say they're more keyed up about Super Tuesday.
Each is unique this year: A New England Patriots victory over the New York Giants would produce the first undefeated record for an NFL team in 36 years. On Super Tuesday, an unprecedented 24 states are holding presidential nominating contests. Both events promise chills, thrills and smackdowns; the presidential candidates may not have the crowd-pleasing benefit of cheerleaders, but their contact sport is played without pads.
Fandom has a lot to do with it: Half of Americans describe themselves as football fans, and 63 percent of fans are more excited about the championship game than about the upcoming primaries. But among the half of Americans who aren't fans, Super Tuesday holds greater interest by more than a 30-point margin, 48-17 percent.
Men (who are likelier to be fans) are more interested in Sunday's game, but by a smaller gap than you might expect, 48 percent to 34 percent. And women are more apt to be excited by Super Tuesday than by the Super Bowl, 40 to 32 percent.
The good news is you can watch both. The Super Bowl is this Sunday and Super Tuesday is next Tuesday on February 5th. They are both super events but they don't really compete with each other.
Harlem Globetrotters to Retire Curly Neal's Jersey
Basketball legend Curly Neal is going to have his number 22 retired by the Harlem Globetrotters at the Madison Square Garden. This event will take place as part of the Globetrotters' current "Magic As Ever" World Tour, during the team's performance in New York on Feb. 15 at 7:00 p.m. Curly will be the fifth Globetrotter to have his jersey number retired, joining Wilt Chamberlain (13), Meadowlark Lemon (36), Marques Haynes (20) and Goose Tatum (50).
One of the truly magical dribblers and shooters ever to pick up a ball, Curly captured the imagination of fans worldwide, playing in more than 6,000 games in 97 countries with the Globetrotters. Number 22 played for 22 seasons in the red, white and blue, from 1963 to 1985. Curly Neal is still sporting his trademark shaved head, wide smile and infectious laugh.
Curly was part of one of the most extraordinary eras in the team's history, appearing on several popular television programs and specials, including ABC's Wide World of Sports, The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine and The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island. He was also immortalized in animation on The Harlem Globetrotters cartoon series and on episodes of Scooby Doo.
"Curly Neal represents the purity of sport and everything that is great about the Globetrotters and the game of basketball," said Globetrotters CEO Kurt Schneider. "He helped build this organization into a worldwide phenomenon, and we are proud to bestow this honor upon him. He truly personifies wholesome family entertainment and elicits fond memories for millions of fans around the world."
This shouldn't have been any doubts about this at all but there were some concerns. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has confirmed that he will be playing in the Super Bowl against the New York Giants. It would have been an absolute shocker if he were to sit out. The cast - whatever that was about - isn't something that was going to prevent him from playing. His ankle is feeling fine. Now that we now he is playing it is time to return to the hype.
Just when you thought the Duke loss was going to be the biggest upset of the tournament Davidson comes back from a 17-point halftime deficit to upset Georgetown. MSNBC 
NBC Sports 
Powerizers or Powerbockers are able to run and jump with super human speed and strength because they are wearing special stilts that have powerful springs built into them. These tall jumper shoes are called 
It was probably just out of mere curiousity that ABC News/Washington Post 
Basketball legend Curly Neal is going to have his number 22 retired by the 