For the official record, on New Year’s Day of 2008, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1, only prevailing when Sidney Crosby slid the puck between the pads of Ryan Miller at the end of an overtime shoot-out.
Those are just dry details that, on most days or nights, would get read by the casual sports observer, then quickly cast aside. This is, after all, hockey in January, three full months before the playoffs start. What’s the big deal?
Then you add the small detail that the Penguins and Sabres were playing in front of 71,217 of their closest friends at Ralph Wilson Stadium, a place normally reserved for the roar of Bills fans eight times each autumn.
Yes, the NHL’s “Winter Classic”, as the show was dubbed, had a lot of gimmick to it...

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To say that Louisiana State University earned college football’s national championship by winning its virtual home game against Ohio State acknowledges the facts of the occasion – but blurs the reality of the path that led up to the finale.
Oh sure, the Tigers cradled that crystal football in front of a friendly Superdome crowd in New Orleans and wore the championship T-shirts and hats. The record books will read “LSU” as the 2007 kings of college football, and that will never change.
The truth, though, is that LSU is as accidental a champion as we’ve ever seen...

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You want a difficult subject in the NFL, one without a clear solution? Then forget about salary caps, broad commissioner powers, or the necessity of one-hour pre-game shows with weather girls and comedians.
Just broach the subject of what to do late in the season when a team is steaming toward a top seed and a first-round bye.
Recent history is starting to suggest that teams with the noble and understandable goal of making sure all their starters are rested and healthy for the playoffs in January pay an unintentional – and steep – price in the end.
This year alone, we saw Indianapolis and Dallas go into serious shells late in December...

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Situated nine miles northwest from Phoenix in the Arizona desert, the modest city of Glendale is guaranteed to have a permanent place in NFL history when the XLII edition of the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and New York Giants is concluded.
Either the world will witness the conclusion of an unprecedented 19-0 run to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, or the unprecedented site of a perfect Patriots team tripping up at the last and largest hurdle of all.
That alone makes this Super Bowl unique. When those 1972 Miami Dolphins finished without a blemish, the regular season lasted 14 games, not 16...

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