Sports News

HOUSTON - Rob Bironas kicked a 53-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining and the Tennessee Titans beat the Houston Texans 20-17 Monday night for their fourth straight victory after an 0-6 start.

PHILADELPHIA - Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia say a man has pleaded guilty to sending letters to New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin in which he threatened to expose a fictitious sexual tryst among the coach and two women.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Vince Young guided Tennessee to a 20-17 victory over the Houston Texans on Monday, as the Titans improved to 4-0 since he took over as starting quarterback.

LOS ANGELES - Al Thornton scored 31 points and Baron Davis made a clinching layup with 8.5 seconds remaining after missing his first nine shots to help the Los Angeles Clippers beat Minnesota 91-87 Monday night, extending the Timberwolves' losing streak to 13 games.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Tim Duncan scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs beat Milwaukee 112-98 on Monday to end the Bucks' three game winning streak.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Greg Oden tied a career high with 24 points and LaMarcus Aldridge also had 24 to help the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Chicago Bulls 122-98 onMonday night.

PARIS (AFP) - France coach Raymond Domenech on Monday dismissed claims that he had received a bonus of 862,000 euros for successfully guiding the side to next year's World Cup finals.

PARIS (AFP) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called an extraordinary general meeting for December 2 following the Thierry Henry handball incident and an ongoing investigation into match-fixing in Europe.

LONDON (AFP) - Arsene Wenger has played down the significance of his side's first defeat in 14 matches and challenged his players to prove him right in Tuesday's Champions League clash with Standard Liege.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 41 saves in his first victory of the season despite allowing Jarome Iginla's tying goal with 18 seconds left in regulation, and Teemu Selanne scored the only shootout goal in the Anaheim Ducks' 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Monday night.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Jeff Deslauriers made 36 saves for his first NHL shutout, and Sheldon Souray and Ales Hemsky scored a team-record 7 seconds apart to lead the Edmonton Oilers over the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0 on Monday night.

TORONTO - It's been 18 years since an NHL goalie made as many saves as Dwayne Roloson did Monday night.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Dexter Pittman scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half and No. 3 Texas survived Cully Payne's miracle shot to beat Iowa 85-60 on Monday night in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.

LAHAINA, Hawaii - Sean Mosley scored 19 points, Eric Hayes added 12 and Landon Milbourne had 10 to help No. 21 Maryland beat Chaminade 79-51 on Monday night in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

RICHMOND, Ky. - Devin Gibson scored 19 points and Texas-San Antonio defeated California-Irvine 66-56 on Monday night.

LONDON (AFP) - Rafael Nadal said he needed to rediscover his composure when facing crucial points and admitted he was short of confidence in his bid to claim the season-ending World Tour Finals crown.

LONDON (AFP) - Defending champion Novak Djokovic handed Nikolay Davydenko another painful defeat at the ATP World Tour Finals as the Serb secured a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory on Monday.

LONDON (AFP) - Rafael Nadal was beaten in straight sets by Robin Soderling in his opening match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday, the Swede repeating his shock French Open win over the Spaniard.

RICHMOND, Texas - Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin's duel for LPGA player of the year fittingly came down to the final hole of the season.

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.

RICHMOND, Texas - Michelle Wie withdrew from the LPGA Tour Championship on Thursday after hobbling through her first round on a sprained left ankle.

INDIANAPOLIS - Indy Racing League Vice President of Public Relations John Griffin is resigning, effective Dec. 18.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - The nickname "Four-Time" was claimed long ago by Jeff Gordon, leaving Jimmie Johnson in search of a fresh moniker to cap his record-setting fourth consecutive NASCAR championship.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Kyle Busch only needed the green flag to drop to win his first NASCAR title. His coronation was never in doubt and neither, really, was the outcome of the Nationwide Series finale.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Vernon Davis stepped onto the ice and started moonwalking, fully confident he could conquer the sport of curling — or at the least be respectable. He is an NFL star, after all.

LONDON - The projected final cost of construction for the 2012 London Olympics has risen slightly, but the overall budget for the games remains unchanged.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - Steven Holcomb said the U.S. bobsled team was going to be a powerhouse this year. He sure seems like a prophet.

BOSTON - Northeastern University is ending its football program after 74 seasons because the investment required to make it competitive was too high.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Standing behind the same podium where quarterback Tim Tebow delivered his now-famous promise 14 months and 21 wins ago, coach Urban Meyer vowed Monday to be at Florida "as long as they'll have me."

They don't all need glasses. But if you always suspected basketball referees are biased — well, you're right, according to a couple of professors who've studied the matter.