NBA - All Star: All-Star Game Highlights

West fends off East in thriller

Highlights

NBA - All Star: Slam Dunk Contest Highlights

NBA - All Star: Saturday Night Results

Winners

3-Point Contest

• Minnesota's Kevin Love 

Slam Dunk Contest

• Utah's Jeremy Evans

Skills Challenge

• San Antonio's Tony Parker

Shooting Stars competition

• New York team of  Allan Houston, Landry Fields and Cappie Poindexter

NBA - All Star: Saturday Night

3-Point Contest

• Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant
• Orlando's Ryan Anderson
• Miami's Mario Chalmers
• New Jersey's Anthony Morrow
• Minnesota's Kevin Love 
• Miami's James Jones (defending champion)

Slam Dunk Contest

• Houston's Chase Budinger
• Indiana's Paul George
• Utah's Jeremy Evans
• Minnesota's Derrick Williams

Skills Challenge

• Boston's Rajon Rondo
• Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook
• Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving
• San Antonio's Tony Parker
• New Jersey's Deron Williams
• Washington's John Wall

Shooting Stars competition

• Atlanta team of Steve Smith, Jerry Stackhouse and Lindsey Harding 
• Orlando team of legendary marksman Dennis Scott, Magic point guard Jameer Nelson and the WNBA's Marie Ferdinand-Harris
• New York team of  Allan Houston, Landry Fields and Cappie Poindexter
• Texas team of Kenny Smith, Houston's Chandler Parsons and Sophia Young of the San Antonio Silver Stars

NBA - All Star: Rising Stars Challenge Highlights

Team Chuck rolls in Rising Stars

NBA - All Star: 2012 Roster

NBA - All Star: Rising Stars Challenge

"NBA All-Star 2012 will play host to the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, which will introduce an exciting new format to a game that has historically featured NBA rookies facing off against sophomores. For the first time, rookies and sophomores will be mixed together on teams. BBVA, the Official Bank of the NBA, will serve as the title partner of the new event.

TNT Analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal will serve as the general managers of two opposing teams, each with ten man rosters, consisting of NBA rookies and sophomores drafted from a pool that was previously selected by the NBA's assistant coaches. Also, TNT's Kenny Smith will serve as the honorary Commissioner.

The BBVA Rising Stars Challenge Draft was held Thursday, Feb. 16, with a surprise decision by Commissioner Smith to add Heat rookie Norris Cole and Knicks sophomore Jeremy Lin to the roster pool. At the end of the draft, the teams looked like this:

Team Shaq

Blake Griffin, LA Clippers
Jeremy Lin, NY Knicks
Ricky Rubio, Minnesota Timberwolves
Markieff Morris, Phoenix Suns
Kemba Walker, Charlotte Bobcats
Landry Fields, NY Knicks
Norris Cole, Miami Heat
Brandon Knight, Detroit Pistons
Tristan Thompson, Cleveland Cavaliers
Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons

Team Chuck

Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings
Derrick Williams, Minnesota Timberwolves
Paul George, Indiana Pacers
MarShon Brooks, NJ Nets
John Wall, Washington Wizards
Tiago Splitter, San Antonio Spurs (out with injury)Evan Turner, Philadelphia 76ers
Gordon Hayward, Utah Jazz
Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
Derrick Favors, Utah Jazz "

@ nba.com

NHL - Stats Leaders @ 10th February

NHL - League Standings @ 10th February

Soccer - BBVA League Standings after 21 fixtures

Soccer - Serie A Standings after 22 fixtures

Soccer - French Nacional League Standings after 22 fixtures

Soccer - Premier League Standings after 24 fixtures

NFL - SuperBowl: Highlights

NFL - SuperBowl: Giants win!

For second time in five seasons, Giants top Brady, Patriots in Super Bowl

"Elite and Eli. One and the same. And now there are two Super Bowl championships and two MVPs to prove it.

Eli Manning is the big man in the NFL after one-upping Tom Brady and leading the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Sunday's Super Bowl -- in older brother Peyton's house, at that.

"This isn't about one person," Manning insisted. "This is about a team coming together."

A team led by a quarterback who months ago claimed -- to snickers throughout the league -- that he belonged in the same stratosphere as Brady, and then proved it.

Just as Manning did four years ago when the Giants ruined New England's perfect season, he guided them 88 yards to the decisive touchdown, which the Patriots didn't contest as Ahmad Bradshaw ran 6 yards with 57 seconds left.

"Certainly Eli has had a great season. He made some great throws in the fourth quarter, and they deserved to win," Brady said.

They got some help from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, whose late-game risk didn't turn out as he planned. Belichick reasoned the Giants would run the clock down and kick a short field goal, so he gambled by allowing the six points.

The ploy failed.

"Ball was inside the 10-yard line, a 90-percent field goal conversion," he said. "Sure, could have done a better job in a lot of things."

Manning did everything asked of him in the final minutes, a habit for the eight-year veteran. He's beaten the Patriots in two thrilling Super Bowls. The Giants (13-7), who stood 7-7 in mid-December, now own the football world, and Manning owns two Super Bowl MVP awards, the same number as Brady.

It was a classic I-can-top-that showdown with the outcome in doubt until the last desperation pass fell to the turf as the last second ticked off the clock. Manning started the game with nine straight completions, a Super Bowl record; Brady hit 16 straight over the second and third quarters, breaking Joe Montana's Super Bowl record of 13.

Manning finished 30 for 40 for 296 yards and one touchdown, while Brady was 27 for 41 for 276 yards with two TDs and one interception.

"It's been a wild game, a wild season," Manning said.

Manning led six comeback victories during the season and set an NFL record with 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes. He showed that brilliance in the clutch on the winning drive, completing five passes, starting with a sensational 38-yard sideline catch by Mario Manningham.

On second down at the Patriots 6 and with only one timeout remaining, Belichick had his defense stand up as Bradshaw took the handoff. Bradshaw thought about stopping short of the end zone, then tumbled in untouched.

"I was yelling to him, 'Don't score, don't score,'" Manning said. "He tried to stop, but he fell into the end zone."

Brady couldn't answer in the final 57 seconds, although his heave into the end zone on the final play fell just beyond the grasp of lunging All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. New England (15-4), winner of 10 straight since a loss to the Giants in November, was done.

Brady headed off with his head bowed, holding his helmet, still one short of the record four Super Bowl victories by Terry Bradshaw for the Pittsburgh Steelersand Montana for the San Francisco 49ers.

"Certainly it wasn't one play that was the reason we lost," Brady said. "Everybody feels they could do a little more. I'd rather come to this game and lose than not get here."

All around him was the wild celebration by the Giants, NFL champions for the eighth -- and perhaps most unlikely -- time.

"Great toughness, great faith and great plays by a number of guys today," Manning said, deflecting some of the attention. Still, he beat Brady. And he went one better than Peyton, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback who has one ring of his own but didn't play this season as he recovered from neck surgery.

"It just feels good to win a Super Bowl. It doesn't matter where you are," Manning said.

It was the fifth trip to a Super Bowl for Brady and Belichick, tying the record. And it looked like a successful one when they stormed back from a 9-0 deficit and led 17-9 in the third quarter. But the Giants, who reached New England territory on every possession except a kneeldown at the end of the first half, got field goals of 38 and 33 yards from Tynes. And it looked like Tynes, who kicked them into the Super Bowl four years ago at Green Bay and again this year at San Francisco, both in overtime, would get called on again.

Then Belichick, known to try just about anything in a game, took a risk that didn't pay off.

The Giants are the first Super Bowl winner that was outscored during the regular season. They were 6-2 after that 24-20 victory at New England, then lost four straight and five of six.

Coach Tom Coughlin insisted "the prize" was still within reach. Now the Giants are holding tight to that Vince Lombardi Trophy.

"What I was concerned with was these guys making their own history," Coughlin said. "This is such a wonderful thing, these guys carving their own history."

Coughlin got his own piece of the record book as the oldest coach, at 65, to win a Super Bowl.

It was the Giants' fourth Super Bowl championship, more than any franchise except Pittsburgh with six and San Francisco and Dallas with five, and they became the first team to finish the regular season 9-7 and win the title.

New England had the ball for all of one play in the first 11 1-2 minutes, and that play was an utter failure, a rare poor decision by Brady. After Steve Weatherford's punt was downed at the New England 6, Brady dropped to pass in the end zone and had time. With everyone covered and Giants defensive end Justin Tuck finally coming free to provide pressure, Brady heaved the ball downfield while still in the pocket.

Only problem: No Patriots receivers were anywhere near the pass. The Giants were awarded a safety for Brady's grounding in the end zone.

Manning, meanwhile, couldn't have been more on target early, hitting six receivers in the first period. He also was aided by Ahmad Bradshaw, who hardly looked like a running back with a bad foot. Bradshaw broke a 24-yard run, and New England made another critical mistake by having 12 men on the field on a third-and-3 on which the Giants fumbled.

Instead, New York got a first down at the 6, and two plays later Victor Cruz beat James Ihedigbo on a slant to make it 9-0, prompting Cruz to break into his signature salsa move.

Manning's first incompletion didn't come until 1:19 into the second quarter.

At that point, it was 9-3 after Stephen Gostkowski's 29-yard field goal. The Patriots got to the Giants' 11, but All-Pro DE Jason Pierre-Paul blocked a third-down pass.

Soon after, when the Patriots had a three-and-out and Pierre-Paul blocked another throw, Belichick and offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien had a quick discussion. Then O'Brien, soon to take over as Penn State coach, went over to the struggling Brady.

The talk must have helped. On the final series of the opening half, Brady was masterful. Starting at his 4, and ignoring the last time the Patriots began a series in the shadow of the end zone, he was vintage Brady.

With New York's vaunted pass rush disappearing, Brady went 10-for-10 for 98 yards, capping the drive that included two Patriots penalties with Woodhead's 4-yard TD reception with 8 seconds to go in the half. Hernandez and Woodhead each had four catches on the drive that, stunningly, put New England ahead despite being outplayed for so much of the first 30 minutes.

Brady kept firing -- and hitting -- in the third quarter, with five more completions. The Giants didn't come within shouting distance of the record-setting quarterback. He capped a 79-yard drive to open the second half with a 12-yard TD to Hernandez, but then the game turned. Again.

Consecutive field goals by Lawrence Tynes of 38 and 33 yards brought New York within 17-15. Brady then threw deep for his tight end after weaving away from two pass rushers. His throw was short, and Chase Blackburn picked it off early in the fourth quarter.

Although the Giants moved into New England territory again, as they did on every drive to that point, they bogged down and punted.

In the end, though, New York made the critical plays, just as it did in 2008. With Manning in the lead.

"Two hundred and twenty-eight countries just saw Eli," running back Brandon Jacobs said. "I don't have to say anything." " @ nfl.com

NFL - Season's MVP

The NFL Season's MVP will be announced today. I'm a huge Aaron Rodgers fan, so I want him to win, but all the 4 candidates of this post deserve the title too.

Tom Brady


Aaron Rodgers



Drew Brees



Arian Foster

NBA - Standings @ 4th February 2012

NFL - Top 10 Plays of the Season 2011-2012

With the Superbowl 21 and a half hours away, I give you the top 10 plays of the season 2011-2012:

NFL - Peyton Manning's future

Colts' Manning upbeat about health, waits to talk to Irsay

"Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said Tuesday he has no plans to retire and that his recovery from neck surgery is on schedule.

Manning told a group of reporters Tuesday he doesn't plan to stop playing and that his recovery from a third neck surgery continues to be on schedule.

"My plan hasn't changed," Manning said at a hotel after Media Day at Lucas Oil Stadium. "I'm on track with what the doctors have told me to do, and I'm doing
that. I'm rehabbing hard."

When asked about reports he may soon retire, he said that talk is premature: "I have no plans on doing that."

There has been rampant speculation about his recovery, the potential risks of a return, whether the Colts will pay Manning a $28 million roster bonus in early March to prevent him from becoming a free agent or whether the soon-to-be 36-year-old might quit playing.

Manning did say during a taped interview with ESPN Tuesday that he likely will meet with Colts owner Jim Irsay soon to discuss his future with the team. But Manning said it was too soon to tell how his predicament would be resolved.

“That’s hard for me to answer," Manning told ESPN. "We will (talk) at the appropriate time, and some decisions will be made after that. ... It will happen soon."

It's been a tumultuous month for the Colts, and Manning's future continues to cast a shadow over this week's Super Bowl, the first in Indianapolis. The shadow of Manning's unknown future doesn't show signs of going away anytime soon, though he wishes he wasn't such a distraction.

“I can’t explain it," Manning told ESPN. "It’s not the way it should be. I really don’t think it will be as the week goes on.

"If other people want to talk about things, that’s their prerogative.”

Most of the Patriots and Giants said they're not paying attention to speculation that Manning's career could be over, but it's a difficult topic to avoid.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning said Tuesday he hoped to see his brother make a comeback as a member of the Colts.

Cooper Manning, Peyton's other brother, told NFL Network's Albert Breer that Manning was determined to return to play next season. Peyton Manning sounded encouraged about his recovery progress during the ESPN interview and said that everything doctors have told him about the process has been on point, suggesting he's on schedule. 

That update from Manning came despite a Yahoo! Sports report that said the nerves in his arm are not healing in a way that would indicate he can come back to action.

After last week's public spat between the Colts quarterback and team owner Jim Irsay, the two issued a joint statement in hopes of tamping down publicity leading up to the Super Bowl. Irsay has vowed that he won't discuss Manning this week to keep the focus on the Super Bowl.

NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora reported last Saturday that the Colts decided weeks ago to move on without Manning." @ nfl.com