Jake Delhomme stood under center at the Chargers 14-yard line with :02 left in the game and down 24-19. What happened next stunned the not just the San Diego fans, but anyone who thought they knew anything about football.


Delhomme, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, fired the ball into the back of the endzone where he found tight end Dante Rosario for the game-winning touchdown pass as time expired. The catch lifted the Panthers to a shocking 26-24 victory in San Diego against the Chargers, who many believe will be playing in Tampa this February.


Trailing 19-10 with less than 10 minutes to go, the Chargers were able to cut into the lead with an Antonio Gates 24-yard touchdown pass. After a D.J. Hackett turnover, Philip Rivers found Vincent Jackson in the endzone with 2:27 left.

A done deal, one would think? Not so, as Delhomme drove Carolina 68 yards on the come-from-behind drive. The Rajun Cajun went 8-for-11 on the drive and finished the game with 23 completions for 247 yards and a touchdown.

Rosario led all receivers in the game with seven receptions for 96 yards and touchdown. Recently acquired Muhsin Muhammad had six grabs for 56 yards. The running game performed exceptionally well as rookie Johnathan Stewart and former Memphis Tiger Deangelo Williams combined for 139 yards on the ground.

Ladanian Tomlinson failed to get into the endzone and was limited to 97 yards. Gates led the Bolts with four catches for 61 yards and a TD. Gates ran into trouble when he fumbled the ball on the way down and Chris Gamble picked up the loose ball and run into the endzone.

Next week, the Cardiac Cats return to Charlotte for their home-opener against the Chicago Bears (1-0) at Bank of America Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast over the Fox Sports network.

Is it ironic that the week Tom Brady is taken off the injury report for the first time in three years that he has a season ending injury? NFL.com's Adam Schefter reports that Brady is finished for the rest of the 2008 regular season.

Late in the first quarter, Brady was hit by Kansas City Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard and an apparent knee injury will sideline last year's NFL MVP for the remainder of the year.
After starting 128 consecutive games for the Patriots and leading them to three Super Bowl championships, Brady's streak stops there as Matt Cassell will now take the snaps for the Patriots. Chris Simms is scheduled to meet with New England and may be signed by Monday evening.
Despite losing Brady, Cassell and the Patriots survived the Chiefs 17-10 to go to 1-0 on the season. Unfortunately, the rest of the season appears grim for the Pats. With games against Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, it does not look pleasant for the New England franchise.

The New York Giants shocked the football world last February when they ended the Patriots 19-0 conquest. The Plaxico Burress touchdown with under two minutes remaining sealed the title for the G-men and everyone who was not a Pats fan was pleased.

Fast forward seven months and with the retirement of Michael Strahan, loss of Jabril Wilson and the season-ending injury to Osi Umenyiora, the defense is not as stout, and with kickoff just minutes away, you wonder if the Skins will spoil the party for the World Champions.

Personally, I see the Skins running all over the G-men.

Prediction: Skins win 27-17!

One thing the G-men have going for them: the last eight world champions have won their season opener. Only 60 minutes will tell if this team can overcome the off-season losses they sustained.

For the rest of you NFL fans, only 3 days until our opening day and you will be able to find me at Glory Days watching my Panthers taking on the Bolts in San Diego.

The ruling on the field is that instant replay will begin tomorrow in three major league stadiums. Umpires will now be able to review video on home run calls, to see if it is in fact a home run or simply a foul ball.

Due to the blown calls this past season, the old-fashioned MLB commisioner Bud Selig decided to overturn the ruling over the past decades against the officials review. To start, the video evidence will rule whether fly balls carried the fence, whether homeruns are fair or foul and if their was in fact fan interference at the wall. Tomorrow, Chicago (NL), Oakland and Los Angeles (A.L.) will begin replaying questionable calls and other stadiums can begin as early as Friday afternoon. Lou Piniella, Cubs GM wondered if a team can challenge a call.
"I'd love to be able to throw a red hankie or a green hankie. Imagine being able to throw something on the field and not be ejected," he said. "I shouldn't say it's not going to work, but this could turn into a little bit of a fiasco initially."

To be honest I think coaches should have one challenge per nine innings. If the NFL can do it, so can MLB skippers. Let's see if this does the game any justice or causes more trauma to the league.

Kids are told that they are not tall enough, athletic enough or good enough to make the team, but has anyone ever been told they are too good to play. Jericho Scott, a nine-year-old, in a New Haven, Ct. little league was barred from playing.

Scott can throw upwards of 40 mph and the team was a perfect 8-0 before the league told him he was not to play anymore. His coach, Wilfred Vidro, had apparently resigned and the team was being disbanded and players redistributed to other teams.

Vidro, on the other hand, says that he is not done coaching and the team was not going anywhere. Jericho says that he misses pitching and the league says the whole reason he was banned from pitching was his pitches are too fast.

He recently stepped on the mound, despite being told not to and the opposing team walked off the field and forfeited. Scott's parents are now discussing their legal options concerning their son's pitching career.

WOW! Too good to play, I have never heard that before, but hopefully we will be able to see this kid pitch when he makes it to Williamsport as a little leaguer and maybe the major leagues.

With 37 games left in the 2008 MLB regular season the Tampa Bay Rays have a 4.5 game advantage over the Boston Red Sox and an astounding 11 game lead over the New York Yankees. Is this a video game being played? Nope.

Not only would it be great if the Rays win the division and make a run at the World Series title, but it would mean that the Red Sox and/or the Yankees could miss the playoffs. Does anyone remember the last time neither team was in the post-season? 1994. That's right because there was no playoffs due to the strike.

Since the wildcard and modern playoffs began in 1995, the Yanks and/or BoSox have always represented the East. In fact, either the Yankees or the Red Sox have been division champion every year except for 1997 when Baltimore won the East. Also, New York and Boston have met thrice in the A.L.C.S. since 1999 with the Yankees holding a 2-1 advantage.

Tonight the Rays continued their winning ways with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over the MLB's best Los Angeles Angels. The win marks their third straight and sixth win in seven games. They will attempt to sweep the series with the Angels Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

All I can say is, "GO RAYS!"

Do you remember Evander Holyfield versus Mike Tyson on June 28, 1997? The much anticipated rematch between the boxing greats was stopped short, much like a bout in Beijing earlier today.

Here's a little story I bet noone knows about yet. ESPN.com reports that Dzhakhon Kurbanov from Tajikistan was disqualified for biting Kazakhstan's Yerkebulan Shynaliyev in the third round of their bout. Shynaliyev showed the referee the blood on his shoulder and Kurbanov was DQ'd immediately for the attrocious act in the ring.
Kurbanov had previously beaten world champion Abbos Atoev in his first fight in the Olympics, but I guess he either liked the stylings of "Iron" Mike or had watched Darla, the dentist's niece from "Finding Nemo," prior to his bout.
Coincidentally, Holyfield, who can sympathize with Shynaliyev was in attendance at the Worker's Arena for the fight. Unfortunately Kazakhstan's Borat was unavailable for comment in the aftermath of the chomp session in the ring.

After this morning's 106-57 rout of Germany, the United States basketball team went to a perfect 5-0 in pool play. Despite NBA players Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman starting for the German squad, they were no match for the U.S. as America scored 53 points in each half to Germany's 57 total points.

In the five victories the Americans won each game by an average 32.2 points and scored 103 points per contest. The toughest tests for the Americans were supposed to be Spain and Greece. Greece defeated the U.S. in the 2006 World Championships, where we finished in third place.
Against Greece this past week, the American team cruised to a 92-69 victory and against Pau Gasol and Spain, the U.S. won easily 119-82. They have struggled from beyond the arc and from the charity stripe this Olympics, but we will see if they are destined to be the dominant team the 1992 Dream Team was in Barcelona.
Since coming to China, the U.S. team has had but one close contest. It just so happens that it is their quarterfinal opponents from Australia. In an exhibition two weeks ago, the U.S. won 87-76 against an Aussie team without Milwaukee Bucks star Andrew Bogut, who had a sore ankle.
The Australians are looking prime for the upset of the 2008 Olympics in basketball. Australia handed Lithuania their only loss earlier today with an impressive 106-75 victory to close out pool play. After leading 55-29 at the half, the Aussies were able to coast to the 31 point win.
The teams who will advance to the medal round from Pool A are: Argentina (4-1), Lithuania (4-1), Australia (3-2), and Croatia (3-2). From Pool B, the teams who advanced are: United States (5-0), Spain (4-1), Greece (3-2), and host China (2-3).
Early on Wednesday, the medal round tips off when Croatia faces Spain at 2:30 a.m. China will play Lithuania at 4:45 a.m. The United States will have their toughest game yet against Australia at 8:00 a.m. and Greece versus Argentina will round out the quarterfinal round.

Okay. I'll put it bluntly: 17 races, 8 finals, 7 world records, and an Olympic record. Did I mention 8 gold medals to boot. Michael Phelps is a phenom in the water and despite all odds, he did the unthinkable. He won gold in every event he raced in.

Whether it was the come from behind relay finish or the .01 second win in the 100 fly, Phelps delivered what he set out to do...that was WIN! It was exciting, it was exhilarating and just a sight to see for anyone who cares about the Olympic games.


Beijing has another American hero. No longer is it just Kobe and athletes of his caliber, but Michael Phelps, the 23-year-old from Baltimore, outdid Mark Spitz's record 7 golds in Munich. It could not have worked out any better for Phelps, who is competing in his third Olympics. His 14 golds he has attained in Athens and Beijing, are incredible.

Phelps said he plans to change the sport of swim ming. His goal is to not just make it a once in every four year event, but an you see before the trials. The inspiration he gives swimmers everywhere or amateur athletes everywhere who dream of Olympic gold, may just do that.

Swimming is a fun sport to watch, and he might be the ticket to making it a more mainstream sport in our country. I know I did not miss a race and neither did anyone else!

George Mason standouts Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas are going across the pond next season to play ball. Campbell, the 2008 CAA Tournament MVP will be heading to Italy to play for Solsonica Rieti, a SerieA Team in the Italian League, while Thomas, the CAA Defensive Player of the Year, will play for Belgacom Liege, a Division 1 Team in the Ethias League in Belgium.

Campbell will be one of five U.S. players, but is the only one with no professional experience. He will look to help lead Riete to a better season, as they finished six games under .500 last year. Thomas will be the youngest player for Liege, but will have 10 other American players as teammates.

Campbell, the Silver Spring, Md., native started in all 34 games averaging 15.6 points and garnered 2nd-team All CAA honors last season. Thomas, the runner-up to CAA MVP (won by VCU's Eric Maynor), led the team with 16.1 points and 10.1 rebounds in 34 starts as he shot .642 from the field.

The seasons begin in October for Campbell and Thomas, so let's hope they are able to excel overseas as much if not more than Gabe Norwood has in the Philippines.

It is finally over. The circus can now leave Lambeau and now relocate to New York. Brett will still wear green this season, but as the Jets quarterback. The Packers and Jets were able to agree on a deal that sends Favre to New York and in exchange, the Packers receive a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2009.

Favre will fly to Cleveland to meet up with his new team as they play Cleveland in pre-season action. He will not step on the field, but a press conference is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Cleveland.

All I can say is "THANK GOD!" It was getting tiring keeping up with Favre, the Packers and the teams that wanted him. After 16 seasons in Green Bay, Favre has passing records and a Super Bowl title, but now, he will try to bring a title to the J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!

This morning, ESPN is reporting that Brett Favre is likely to be traded to the NFC South's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has made it clear that he wants to and will play at any cost. Or is it that money is not the factor.

Last week, the Green Bay Packers offered Favre $20 million to stay at home. After he declined to take the deal to retire a Packer, Favre and the Packers met at training camp. Fans were excited, because they thought they had their quarterback yet again. Except they didn't count on no agreement being met.

Yesterday, the organization met with Favre to discuss possible trade options for the future hall of famer. It seemed that he would ship out to either the Bears or Vikings, but the most recent reports are leaning towards Tampa Bay, who was one of the teams in the early talks of the possibility of trading Favre.

It is likely we will know where Favre will head at some point today, but as a Carolina Panthers fan, I cannot say that I am happy about this move. Considering I have tickets to the Dec. 8 Monday night game versus the Bucs, I do not want to face Favre twice in a year.

He can still play with the big boys, he will continue to play with the best and who knows, he may lead his new team to a title. Only time will tell.

Over the summer months, the NBA has run into a big problem. You know how when every kid is young and they aspire to be in the NBA one day? Well, players have made that dream come true, except now, they are crossing the Atlantic to go play in Europe.

Atlanta Hawks Josh Childress jumped ship and will play for the Greek team Olympiacos next season. The former 2004 1st round draft choice by Atlanta signed a 3-year $30 million contract to hit the hardwood across the pond.

Carlos Arroyo, the former Orlando Magic guard, will play ball in Israel for Maccabi Tel Aviv. His 2007-08 NBA salary was $4 million and he recently signed a 3-year $7.5 million contract to leave America and play overseas. These are just two of the seven NBA players who have signed more lucrative contracts to play in other leagues around the world.

Today, ESPN.com reports that super-star Lebron James would leave the league if a team offered him $50 million per year to play. CSKA Moscow (Russia) and Olympiacos have contacted James. It is yet confirmed whether they have spoken about contracts or not.

I guess the love of the game is lost for the big-headed stars that every child looks up to and wishes to one day play like. If Kobe Bryant left L.A. for Europe, it was be a riot and total devastation to the league to lose the best player in the world.

Maybe if the U.S. Olympic team wins gold in Beijing, these players will realize how great they have it and how many spectators love watching them play for a NBA World Title.

Earlier today, Brett Favre was reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. It will go into effect at 1 p.m. ET on Monday afternoon. So now what?

The future hall of fame quarterback was offered a $20 million contract over ten years to stay retired, but it appears he will report to camp with the goal of starting week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings.

"I think it's come to the point where there needs to be some decisions made on behalf of the Packers, on behalf of Brett, on behalf of all the fans," Commissioner Goodell said.

Favre's private jet arrived in Green Bay on Sunday evening, much to the delight of the Cheese Heads. But the question still remains, will Brett be a Packer this season or will he be ship out for another journey with another franchise?

Carolina Panthers standout wide-receiver was suspended for the first two games of the regular season by Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney after Smith got into it with starting cornerback Ken Lucas during on-field drills. Lucas was carted off the field and has a broken nose. Smith will miss the opening day game in San Diego and the home-opener versus the Chicago Bears.


"What he did was wrong, we take it very serious, and he's being punished severely for it, Panther head coach John Fox said. "His suspension just includes regular season games. Those are the ones they get paid in, and that's the way we'll operate and that's the way the landscape is."


Well, if the Panthers have Super Bowl aspirations, missing all-pro Smith for the first two games means that recent pickups D.J. Hackett and Muhsin Muhammad will have to pick up the slack on the receiving end.

For the first time ever, a WNBA news clip for all you die-hard women's basketball fanatics. Former Tennessee Vols star and current L.A. Sparks rookie Candace Parker was involved in a little scuffle at the end of the game with Detroit the other night. Check it out here!

Not only can Parker dunk, but she can throw a punch as well!

Finally, something cool happens at a women's game that people actually talk about the next day. Probably not today, but if you have not seen the footage, check it out for your own personal enjoyment. FYI, Parker and the Sparks won despite the fighting on the floor. It occurred with 4.6 seconds left and the Sparks defeated the Shock 84-81.

Tomorrow, I will discuss NBA players bolting for Europe, college basketball outlooks for the upcoming season and moves going around in the National Hockey League.

Moving to the MLB, the Arizona Diamondback are on top of the NL West! Woohoo! You're 50-51. Congratulations, you are the least worst team. With 61 games left, is it possible to have a team with a losing record make the post-season? Well, yes. If these five teams continue their losing ways, you may see a team, who right now is eight games worse than the current wild card leaders make the MLB playoffs.

Do not sleep on ex-Yankee manager Joe Torre and his L.A. Dodgers who are only a game back of the D-backs. The reigning National League Champion Colorado Rockies are six back, and after last year's heroics for their playoff push, there's no counting them out until they are mathematically eliminated. Whoever wins this division, there may not be any high expectations in the post-season, but it's baseball, anything can and may possibly happen.

First, let's start with the National Football League and the Brett Favre fiasco. Only a few months after his tearful goodbye to Lambeau, he is back, or is he? Rumor out of Green Bay is that he is seeking a trade. But to where? No chance the Pack send him to Minnesota -- that would be a bad idea. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have come into the mix, but that would not make me too pleased, because I am a diehard Carolina Panthers fan -- Favre twice in a year -- ugh!

Wherever he goes, he takes the three ring circus of media with him. To whomever signs the future hall of famer, have fun, and hope he wins you a championship or it was all for not. Favre needs to make a decision, stick to it and move on. Don't be like John Kerry and be a flip-flopper. He can still play; he proved that last year, and it was only a matter of time that he made a return, or announced in the same off-season he was going to come back.

No offense to the ESPN selection committee who put together these rather fascinating rankings, but explain how George "Freaking" Mason is ranked #100, behind Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth and Drexel???

Go to the NCAA basketball page on ESPN.com and check out the rankings, because in a few days, they will have 1-300 on the NCAA Division-1 list of prestigious programs.

Yes, I realize they have their numbers in a certain way to get the rankings, but how many other CAA squads have gone deep into the NCAA Tournament other than George Mason? The Richmond Spiders, who are now in the A-10 conference advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1988 after defeating the defending champion Indiana Hoosiers and Georgia Tech before falling to top-seeded Temple. In 1991, they shocked #2 Syracuse, as one of the few 15-seeds to survive.

VCU's record is not bad for a mid-major (5-8), but they have never survived the opening weekend of March Madness. They did beat Duke in the 2007 tournament, however. Drexel has never made it to the Big Dance while a member in the CAA, but they have four appearances with only one victory. Again, they did not survive the first weekend.

Old Dominion has nine NCAA appearances with a record of 2-9, and they never surpassed the second round either. Unless they were referring to the Lady Monarchs, then how does a team with two tourney wins rank T-76 in the country?

If you want to look at all-time CAA Championships:

GMU: 3 regular season titles, 4 CAA titles
ODU: 4 regular season titles, 4 CAA titles
VCU: 4 regular season titles, 3 CAA titles
DU: 0 regular season titles, 0 CAA titles

Mason went to the Final Four after defeating three-powerhouse programs. We shocked the world, yet ESPN still thinks these three programs have had more success. It baffles me and other Masonites, but it is what it is. The only thing that matters now is the upcoming 2009 season. The past does not matter. What's done is done, but history has the power to repeat itself.

Only time will tell.

I guess Bill Parcells had enough of Jason Taylor, which may be a huge reason Taylor is now in the burgundy and gold in Washington. If you missed it, the Redskins have acquired long-time Miami Dolphin DE Jason Taylor. In return, the Fins receive a 2009 second-round and a 2010 sixth-round draft choice.

After months of agonizing trade discussion, head coach Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints have signed TE Jeremy Shockey, from the New York Giants. The G-Men will receive a second-round and fifth-round draft pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

If you ask me, it was win-win situations with these two trades.
First off, Parcells no longer has to deal with Taylor's Hollywood life and the so-called "lack of communication." It no longer exists, because the six-time Pro Bowler is now a Redskin. The Fins have an opportunity to pick a high quality player in next year's draft to boot.
The G-Men finally can get rid of all the controversy that is Jeremy Shockey. New York got what they wanted, and Shock is in a new town to stir up trouble for a franchise. Soon, all of New Orleans will either hate Shockey or will hate Sean Payton. The Giants now have two extra picks next draft, and they have a good young TE in Kevin Boss.

It's early into camp, but players are on the move. Just wait until Brett Favre decides to stay in Lambeau and make Aaron Rodgers a pine warmer or create an absolute circus in another city for another team.

Only time will tell, but when it happens, you can read it here or on any other sports wire.