Bills End Their Playoff Drought, and Tears Flow

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2q8w8YD

Colts Fire Chuck Pagano After 4-12 Season

By REUTERS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2C71oZD

Predictions for the N.F.L. Wild-Card Games

By BENJAMIN HOFFMAN from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2C4mTKq

Patriots Cruise Past Jets and Clinch A.F.C.’s Top Seed

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2C1rblW

Giants Finish Their Dismal Season With a Win Over Washington

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2EoRB2o

Sabres Return to Spotlight for the Winter Classic’s 10th Anniversary

By ALLAN KREDA from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2q17Ak4

Manchester City Avoids Defeat but Not Injuries

By MARC STEIN from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2DERw9S

Kristaps Porzingis’s 30 Points Help Knicks Top Pelicans and End Skid

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2CrIRIl

Penn State Tops Washington in the Fiesta Bowl

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2CtIPzP

Readers Respond to ‘Deliverance From 27,000 Feet’

By Unknown Author from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2ln1TbA

Early Hall of Fame Voting for 2018 Shows No Surge for Bonds and Clemens

By BILLY WITZ from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2C1Jjfe

Giants’ New General Manager Fires Vice President for Player Evaluation

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2zPDaRv

Serena Williams Loses to Jelena Ostapenko in Return After Giving Birth

By Unknown Author from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2zPnCgV

Where Are the American Women in Olympic Figure Skating?

By JERÉ LONGMAN from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2zPWy0F

Northwestern Edges Kentucky in a Wild Finish at the Music City Bowl

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2ltd6qb

Jets Put Positive Spin on 5 Wins, and Bring Back Bowles and Maccagnan

By ZACH SCHONBRUN from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2pVnCfA

Is LeBron James, at 33, Better Than He Was 5 Years Ago?

By VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2lj6ZW6

Giants’ New General Manager Says Eli Manning Is His Quarterback

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2pRnxcw

Fukushima Looks to Sports to Rebuild Its Image After a Nuclear Disaster

By SETH BERKMAN from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2ChYULg

Jimmy Garoppolo Leads a 49ers Resurgence

By VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2zMwlQM
The San Francisco 49ers had a record of 1 to 10, with their only win over the unfortunate giants. The Niners quarterbacks, Brian Hoyer and C.J. Beathard, had been very poor. Then came Jimmy Garoppolo.

The season was lost long ago, but San Francisco still designed an exchange late October, sending a second-round pick to the New England Patriots for Garoppolo, Tom Brady's reserve.

Since the agreement, Garoppolo has started four games for the Niners. The results were surprising. Of the quarterbacks with four or more starts, the best attempt-adjusted result is Alex Smith, who has a one-year career with the Kansas City Chiefs. The second is Brady. The third is Garoppolo.

The most important thing is that Garoppolo took a terrible team and made it suddenly unbeatable, with four wins in four starts, including two playoff victories, the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Howard Schnellenberger’s Legacy Gets a Shine This Postseason

BOYNTON BEACH, Florida - Howard Schnellenberger's home is like a museum. Among his articles there is a caricature signed by George H. W. Bush a note by Burt Reynolds, the movie star and former half-soulet of the state of Florida; and a shirt by perhaps the best quarterback who trained Schnellenberger, Joe Namath.



Schnellenberger's career for nearly six decades as a football coach is a reel of sepia lights. He was in a lot of special and memorable places: he's like footballer Forrest Gump, except that he actually trained Gump's fictional character when he returned to Alabama. More than any other, this season has shown how important Schnellenberger has played in the configuration of modern university football.





By MARC TRACY from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2E7KJ9H

Twins’ Miguel Sano Accused of Assaulting Photographer

By BILLY WITZ from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2C4U3xD
The Major League Baseball said Thursday it was investigating allegations that Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sano assaulted a woman who worked as a photographer during team events.

The woman, Betsy Bissen, wrote on Twitter that Sano had caught her and tried to kiss her several times at an autograph event in a mall in 2015 before separating from him.

"No, he did not rape me, but he really attacked me," Bissen writes.

Sano, 24, strongly refuted Bissen's account.

"I unequivocally deny the charge against me today, it never happened," Sano said in a statement. More info By BILLY WITZ from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2C4U3xD

The WTA Tour’s Busiest Player Is a Globe-Trotting Mom

By RAVI UBHA from NYT Sports

If Serena Williams needs advice on traveling with a baby on the tennis tour, she does not need to look far. Tatjana Maria, a friend and resident of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is getting ready to begin a fifth consecutive season around the world with her daughter, Charlotte.

"Serena saw us from the beginning when we were traveling with Charlotte," said María. "But I think she does not need good advice, I think she has a lot of people helping her."

Williams unofficially returns to the circuit at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi on Saturday against reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, about four months after giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia.

But Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion, is not expected to accumulate as many air miles next season as Maria in 2017. She has participated in 33 individual tournaments, the highest number of players ranked in the top 100. more info 

For England’s Next Generation, Shine of Youth Trophies Only Carries So Far

By RORY SMITH from NYT Sports

The night England conquered the world for the second time in a few months, Jurgen Klopp saw images of the celebrations again and again.

Liverpool coach Klopp was particularly attentive to one player: Rhian Brewster, a promising young promise in Liverpool's books, scored England's first goal in the U-17 World Cup final in India, and he finished the tournament as the top scorer.

Klopp was well aware of Brewster's talent. He had invited the teenager to train with Liverpool's first team while Brewster was only 16 years old; he had even found a place for the young striker on the bench for a game against Crystal Palace last season, just days after Brewster's 17th birthday. After scoring three times for England under-17 in the World Cup semi-finals, Klopp called him and told him to "save the number". He was clearly delighted with the accomplishment of his young cargo.More info 

World Cup Draw: Group-by-Group Analysis

By RORY SMITH, ANDREW DAS and VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2zDN2P7

What Makes James Madison’s Coach Nervous? Almost Every Play

By Interview by MALIKA ANDREWS from NYT Sports http://ift.tt/2pR94NN