Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin dies at 85 
He arrived in Washington nearly 75 years ago, the gangly son of a Russian metal worker named Morris Pollinovsky who came to America a poor man speaking no English. Through decades of hard work and a seemingly unstoppable will, Abe Pollin rose to the top of the worlds of business, philanthropy and professional sports. In the process, he transformed his adopted home town by bringing professional basketball and hockey franchises here and by spending $220 million of his own money to build a massive sports and entertainment arena that has dramatically changed the face of downtown Washington.
Mr. Pollin, 85, died Tuesday of the rare neurological disease corticobasal degeneration. He was among the last of the old-school pro sports owners, running the National Basketball Association's Washington Wizards and the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals as a family business, shaped by his strong personality and his intense loyalties. His teams lost more than they won, and fans often criticized his personnel moves or his failure to spend more money, but Mr. Pollin invariably remained set in his ways.
"Abe Pollin reflects an ownership style that was forged in a different era," NBA Commissioner David Stern, a longtime friend, once said of the league's senior owner.
Titans, Once 0-6, Win Fourth Game in a Row
Rob Bironas kicked a 53-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining Monday night, and the visiting Tennessee Titans beat the Houston Texans, 20-17, for their fourth straight victory after an 0-6 start.
The Texans (5-5) had a chance to tie it, but Kris Brown’s 49-yard field-goal attempt with one second remaining was wide left. It was his second miss of the game and marked the second straight game he missed a chance to send the Texans to overtime.
The Titans (4-6) have not lost since Vince Young took over at quarterback. Young, who starred at Texas in college, is 2-0 as an N.F.L. starter in Houston, his hometown. He ran for the winning touchdown in overtime in his previous start there, as a rookie in 2006.
Ryan Takes Lead Role in Guiding Sanchez
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Now that the Jets’ playoff hopes have all but vanished, the development of the rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez takes on paramount importance over the final six games.
Help is on the way, but it will come from a man known for terrorizing quarterbacks, not teaching them. It will come from Coach Rex Ryan, who promised Monday that he would take a more active role with the offense, specifically with Sanchez and halting his turnover parade.
Asked if this added too much responsibility, the portly Ryan quipped, “There’s always a lot on my plate.”
Mauer Near-Unanimous Pick as American League MVP
Joe Mauer spent last weekend at his log cabin north of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. He woke up Monday at his home in St. Paul and spent the afternoon at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, where his teammate Justin Morneau joined him to celebrate Mauer’s near-unanimous selection as American League most valuable player.
“He came up with a bottle of Champagne,” Mauer said on a conference call with reporters. “Hopefully, we can pop that open a little later.”
Mauer and Morneau have never savored a World Series title as Minnesota Twins, but they have both denied Yankees the M.V.P. award in recent seasons. Morneau beat Derek Jeter in 2006, and Mauer beat Mark Teixeira this year, with Jeter finishing third.
Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers talks hunting and fishing
I plucked the December/January issue of Outdoor Life from the mailbox Sunday afternoon, shortly after learning that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffered what was believed to be a mild concussion in a losing effort against the Kansas City Chiefs.
By strange coincidence I turned to the back page first and there was Big Ben, whose team is the defending Super Bowl champion, talking about how much he loves the much safer pastimes of hunting and fishing--and boasting about how he once bagged three ducks with a single blast.
Here's the brief Q&A:
Real clinches MLS Cup in penalty kicks
SEATTLE -- The backdrop was everything that MLS had dreamt, a pulsating setting that evoked visions of soccer's feverish and sophisticated cauldrons in faraway lands.
On a brisk evening in the league's newest outpost, the drama and tension-- if not the quality of play -- served the championship stage admirably. After a 1-1 draw through regulation and overtime, following the traditional five rounds of a penalty kick tiebreaker, Real Salt Lake prevailed in the seventh phase against the Los Angeles Galaxy before 46,011 at Qwest Field.
Nick Rimando, the former D.C. United goalkeeper who sent Real to MLS Cup with three saves during a tiebreaker in the Eastern Conference final at Chicago, stopped Edson Buddle's attempt and then watched teammate Robbie Russell convert against Galaxy backup Josh Saunders for a 5-4 advantage Sunday night.
Johnson Survives for Fourth Consecutive Cup Title
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Denny Hamlin drove his Toyota to victory in the Ford 400 on Sunday, but it was Jimmie Johnson who sped into Nascar history, winning a record fourth straight Sprint Cup series championship by surviving the season finale with a fifth-place finish at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Johnson came into the race with an almost insurmountable 108-point lead in the points race, needing only to finish 25th to secure the victory over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin. As it was, he widened his lead over Martin by leading for 28 laps and won by 142 points.
When Johnson crossed the finish line, accompanied by a roar from a large contingent of his fans in the crowded grandstand, his crew chief, Chad Knaus, blurted into his headphones: “Four straight! Oh, my god, I can’t believe it. This is history. History.”
BCS at-large bids up for grabs in final weeks
NEW YORK — Iowa and Penn State ended their seasons eligible for an at-large BCS selection, and Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech are also in position to become eligible for big-money bowl bids.
The top seven teams in the BCS standings released Sunday were unchanged from last week, with Florida, Alabama and Texas still in control of the destinies in the national championship race.
Barring any major upsets over the next two weeks, the winner of the Florida-Alabama Southeastern Conference title game will face Texas in the BCS title game on Jan. 7 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Lee Westwood of England wins Dubai, money titles
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Lee Westwood of England became Europe's No. 1 golfer on Sunday after winning the Dubai World Championship by six strokes.
Westwood shot a course-record 8-under 64 in the final round at the Earth Course to finish at 23-under 265.
He earned $1.25 million with the 31st victory of his career to overtake Rory McIlroy on the season-long money list and win the European Tour's first Race to Dubai since it changed from the European Order of Merit.
