National Digest
Giants in OT
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Eli Manning has arrived, just in time to take his New York Giants on an improbable trip to the Super Bowl.
A suddenly matured Manning guided the Giants to their 10th straight road win Sunday, a frostbitten 23-20 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers for the NFC championship.
Now comes Mission Impossible for Manning and the Giants, who will play the unbeaten New England Patriots in two weeks for the NFL title.
After Lawrence Tynes missed a 36-yard field goal at the end of regulation following a bad snap, he got a reprieve in overtime following Corey Webster’s interception of a struggling Brett Favre. He nailed a 47-yarder on his third attempt to win it, then sprinted directly to the locker room as the rest of his frozen teammates celebrated on the field.
The Giants grabbed their first NFC championship in seven years, capping a monthlong surge that reversed a trend of mediocrity built around Manning’s inconsistency. He has been a revelation in the playoffs, however, and his calm leadership keyed New York’s turnaround.
Manning shook off below-zero temperatures and a wind chill that would make a Siberian husky shiver. He repeatedly put the Giants (13-6) in position to win in the third-coldest championship game ever — and certainly the most frigid of his young career.
And then he saw Tynes make his first game-winning field goal of the season in the first OT title game in nine years.
It was the second NFC title game to go to overtime. Atlanta beat Minnesota in 30-27 in 1999.
One more test
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Perfection comes down to one game now.
Despite a shaky Tom Brady, the New England Patriots were still too much for the banged-up San Diego Chargers in the AFC championship game Sunday, pulling out a 21-12 victory that sent them back to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in seven seasons.
Brady made several stunningly poor throws that fluttered in the wind, Randy Moss was a non-factor for the second straight game and the highest-scoring team in NFL history sputtered all afternoon. Instead, the Patriots (18-0) relied on Laurence Maroney’s spins, cuts and helmet-rattling runs.
With injured Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson reduced to mostly watching in a parka, the Patriots moved on to a Feb. 3 matchup in Glendale, Ariz., against the New York Giants.
Coach Bill Belichick’s team eclipsed the 17-0 mark of the champion 1972 Miami Dolphins, and will soon try for his fourth NFL title. The Patriots beat the Giants in a 38-35 thriller to close their regular season.
Tomlinson carried on the first two San Diego plays, and did not touch the ball again because of a bad knee. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers hung in despite a bum knee and star tight end Antonio Gates did his best with a dislocated toe.
The Chargers (13-6) gave a better performance than early this season, when they were routed 38-14 at New England. They trailed just 14-12 midway in the third quarter this time, but Brady’s 6-yard TD pass to Wes Welker was enough for New England.
Unanimous win
NEW YORK (AP) — Roy Jones Jr. defiantly wore a gilded crown into a ring surrounded by hostile fans of a Puerto Rican hero. He then taunted Felix Trinidad, waggling his chin and shaking his rump, before rudely flooring Tito twice.
Some old guys just never learn how to behave — yet the 39-year-old Jones showed he can still get down to business, pounding another iconic boxer whose prime is well past.
Jones pranced and punched his way to an unanimous victory over Trinidad on Saturday night, dominating their 170-pound bout. From the opening minutes to the increasingly lopsided final rounds, Jones simply was too fast, even in a fight that was several years too late.
GOLF
PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — D.J. Trahan charged from four shots behind with a sparkling 7-under 65 Sunday to overtake the faltering Justin Leonard and win the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
Leonard stumbled after the turn and finished with a 72 that left him three shots back in second. One shot behind heading into the final hole, Leonard hit into the water on 18 at the Classic Club and took a bogey 6.
Trahan birdied the last hole to finish the 90-hole tournament at 26-under 334 for his biggest payday, $918,000, and the right to play in this year’s Masters.
Kenny Perry, the 1995 Hope champion, and 22-year-old Anthony Kim, who played high school golf in nearby La Quinta, shot 69s to tie for third at 338.
KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii (AP) — Fred Funk won the Champions Tour’s season-opening MasterCard Championship, birdieing the final two holes for a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke victory over Allen Doyle.
The 51-year-old Funk, coming off a 10th-place tie last week in the PGA Tour’s Sony Open, finished with a 21-under 195 total for his third Champions Tour victory in 14 starts and his second title in Hawaii in two years. Doyle had a 68.
Jay Haas, seeking a record third straight money title and player of the year award, closed with a 67 to tie for third with Bernhard Langer (65) at 17 under.
SUN CITY, South Africa (AP) — The Philippines’ Jennifer Rosales and Dorothy Delasin won the Women’s World Cup of Golf, shooting a 7-under 65 in better-ball play for a two-stroke victory over South Korea’s Ji-Yai Shin and Eun-Hee Ji.
Rosales and Delasin had an 18-under 198 total on the Gary Player Country Club course. Shin and Ji closed with a 67. Americans Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst shot a 67 to tied for 10th, 10 strokes back at 8 under.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Germany’s Martin Kaymer won the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship for his first European tour victory, closing with a 2-over 74 for a four-stroke victory over Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson.
SWIMMING
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Michael Phelps cruised to an 8.68-second victory in the 400-yard individual medley at the Southern California Grand Prix meet Sunday night, flirting with his American record before falling off the pace.
Amanda Beard, seeking to make her fourth Olympic team at 26, finished third in the 200 breaststroke. It was Beard’s first meet since November, when she swam a smaller competition in Seattle.
Phelps touched first in 3 minutes, 38.28 seconds — 2.02 seconds off his American mark set in 2006.
SKIING
KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) — Bode Miller finally had something to cheer about Sunday at the traditional Hahnenkamm World Cup races.
Earlier this week, he accused organizers of making the famous Streif downhill course much bumpier and dangerous than it already was. He also criticized organizers for disrespecting the 68-year-old history of the event by changing the slalom course.
But on Sunday, Miller won the combined title for the slalom and Saturday’s downhill, which means he is now the most successful American skier ever with 28 World Cup wins, overtaking Phil Mahre.
SOCCER
GUANGZHOU, China (AP) — Shannon Boxx scored on a looping header in the 77th minute Sunday and the United States beat China 1-0 to win the Four Nations Tournament.
The Chinese held off the Americans with a conservative, low-pressure game, as their players sagged back in their own half of the field most of the time.
But the Americans — undefeated in the three-game tournament — kept attacking and eventually Boxx headed the ball over the goalkeeper from 11 yards.
Hope Solo, briefly dismissed from the U.S. team for criticizing the former coach’s decision to drop her during the World Cup, started in goal for the second time in the tournament and had one save.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
HOUSTON (AP) — Despite a standout college career at Utah State, Kevin Robinson was virtually unknown to most football fans.
He likely helped change that Saturday night, catching a touchdown pass and returning a punt for a score in the West’s 31-13 victory over the East in the 83rd East-West Shrine Game.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Rich Rodriguez agreed to a six-year deal worth $2.5 million annually when he left West Virginia last month for Michigan.
The contract, which has not been finalized or signed, also includes a $4 million buyout. The terms of Rodriguez’s deal were confirmed Sunday by school spokesman Bruce Madej.
West Virginia has sued Rodriguez to collect on a $4 million buyout clause in his contract with the Mountaineers.
SAILING
BREST, France (AP) — Francis Joyon had no heat, no companions and little sleep for nearly two months as he sailed around the globe. Now he has a stunning world record.
The 51-year-old Frenchman circled the planet alone in 57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes, 6 seconds in a trimaran, shattering the record set by Ellen MacArthur by two weeks and beating his own expectations.
