The New York Jets beat the New England Patriots 28-21 at New England. The Jets led for most of the game and are set to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers next week in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh defeated the Jets in their last meeting and match up well against the Jets rushing offense. The winner of the AFC Title game will play in the Super Bowl at Dallas.
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http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/41108835/ns/sports-nfl/
Jim Sutliff
The Chicago Bears held on at home to defeat the Seattle Seahawks 35-24. Seattle had the worst record going into the playoffs but pulled off a surprising victory over the New Orleans Saints to advance to the Bears game. Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler threw for 2 touchdowns and ran for 2 more in the victory. Chicago will play Green Bay in Chicago on January 23rd. This will be the first playoff matchup for the Bears and Packers since December 14th 1941.
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James Sutliff
Aaron Rodgers had one of the best passing games in NFL playoff history. Rodgers was 31 for 36 and threw for 366 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Green Bay Packers went on to win the game by a score of 48-21 and advanced to the NFC Title game. The Packers will face the winner of the Seattle Seahawks-Chicago Bears game.
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Jim Sutliff
The Pittsburgh Steelers had a strong second half and managed to comeback to defeat the Baltimore Ravens 31-24. The Steelers were down 21-7 at the half but scored 14 points in the 3rd quarter. Pittsburgh is 9-0 against divisional teams in the playoffs and have advanced to the AFC Title game 8 times since 1994. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns on the day.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=310115023
James Sutliff
Jim Thome is returning to the Minnesota Twins next season for a reported $3 million. Thome hit 25 home runs last season in only 276 at bats. Thome had an on base percentage of 1.039 and has 589 career home runs. His home run total places him eighth on the all-time list.
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/01/14/twins.thome.ap/index.html?eref=sihp
Jim Sutliff
The Duke Blue Devils lost their first game of the season and ended a 25 game winning streak. Duke is 15-1 on the year and are the defending national champions. Florida State held on to win at home 66-61 for their third win over Duke since 2002.
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Jim Sutliff
Trevor Hoffman has retired after 18 seasons in the major leagues. Hoffman is the all-time save leader with 601 saves in his career. Hoffman spent 15 1/2 seasons with the San Diego Padres and had 552 saves with the team. Hoffman will return to the Padres and work in their front office this season.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6012723
James Sutliff
The Auburn Tigers capped an undefeated 14-0 season with a 22-19 win over Oregon. The Oregon Ducks tied the game with a touchdown and a two point conversion late in the fourth quarter. Auburn moved the ball downfield on a couple of runs by Michael Dyer with time running out. Wes Byrum kicked a 19 yard field goal with no time left on the clock.
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http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recap?gid=201101100075
Jim Sutliff
The Green Bay Packers advanced to the next round of the playoffs with a 21-16 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Aaron rodgers went 18 for 27 and threw for 180 yards. Rodgers had a quarterback rating of 122.5 compared to Michael Vick who posted a rating of 79.9. The Eagles had 7 penalties on the day and Vick tossed 1 interception.
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http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=310109021
James Sutliff
The New York Jets kicked a 32 yard field goal with time running out to defeat the Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning had just led the Colts on an 8 play 48 yard drive that ended with a field goal to put the Colts up 16-14. The Jets answered in 5 plays and Nick Folk kicked a field goal to lift the Jets 17-16.
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Jim Sutliff
LSU defeated Texas A & M 41-24 to win the Cotton Bowl. The number 11 ranked LSU Tigers won their first Cotton Bowl in 45 years and finished the season with an 11-2 record. The number 18th ranked Texas A & M Aggies finished with a 9-4 record after starting the season 3-3.
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http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/40973419/ns/sports-college_football/
James Sutliff
Jim Harbaugh has agreed to a five year $25 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers. The Stanford coach led his team to a top 5 ranking and a 12-1 season. Contract talks between Harbaugh and the Miami Dolphins broke down and it looked as though he would return to Stanford. However, the San Francisco 49ers came in with a top notch offer and the press conference is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5999744
Jim Sutliff
Andrew Luck has chosen to return to Stanford for one more season and to finish his degree in architectural design. Luck would have been the number one selection in the draft by the Carolina Panthers. Andrew Luck threw for 3,338 yards, completed over 70% of his passes, and tossed 32 touchdowns and only eight interceptions.
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James Sutliff
Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Blyleven received almost 80% of the vote and Alomar secured nearly 90% of the ballots. The required percentage for election to the Hall of Fame is 75%. Blyleven had 287 wins, 60 shutouts, and 3,701 strikeouts in his career. His strikeout total placed him fifth on the all-time list for K’s.
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http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AmeveKKW9hl7EDXb0iNU4UM5nYcB?slug=ap-halloffame
Jim Sutliff
Stanford defeated Virginia Tech 40-12 to win the Orange Bowl. Andrew Luck tossed four touchdowns and threw for 287 yards in the victory. Stanford will finish the season in the top five for the first time since their 1940 squad went undefeated and finished second. The Stanford Cardinals only lost one game all season.
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James Sutliff
