Second best isn&#39;t good enough
307220
Orlando Cabrera may be new to the Red Sox and to this business of Red Sox-Yankees playoffs. He may be as far away as he could get from his previous baseball outpost, Montreal, where the Expos drew closet crowds.
540706
Gary Payton is way too much for second-year pro Luke Ridnour to handle. That&#39;s why the Boston Celtics have notched two of Seattle&#39;s four losses this season.
205123
Each time I leave one of these championship games, I am not convinced that the right teams have reached the championship round. The current system needs to be fixed.
372867
ATHENS, Greece  Their own country has a hard time celebrating a silver medal. If it isn&#39;t gold, it&#39;s symbolic of second place or third place, and that&#39;s just not the American way when it comes to the Olympic Games.
103363
They couldn&#39;t get the big names to play in this year&#39;s Buick Championship and for the better part of yesterday&#39;s final round at TPC River Highlands
75922
Four-time U.S. champions Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto's performance put them in first place as expected, but is neither perfect nor dominant.
21747
THERE can&#39;t be many times when the only unbeaten team in the division goes into a match with the leaders with 15 points to make up.
699205
Stuart Appleby&#39;s golf game was a notch away from its best and that was the difference between winning and finishing second at the Australian Open golf tournament here yesterday.
599263
TAMPA -- Perhaps it would be foolish to consider last night's match against the Tampa Bay Lightning a must-win game.
197529
Missouri needed to be perfect to fare well in its final two games of 2004. The Tigers faltered last week against Illinois, the nation&#39;s No.
309798
Funny thing about pro sports. One team&#39;s mess is another team&#39;s messiah. In Toronto last week, the Vince Carter era came to a close, and not a minute too soon.
394729
They were, in theory, the NFC&#39;s second-best team. Now they&#39;re not and no one else is, either. The NFC has the Philadelphia Eagles at the top, the San Francisco 49ers at the bottom and everyone else in the middle.
671739
Last year both Maryland and Florida State felt slighted by the selection committee, this year both teams have better resumes but could use a couple more wins as the two meet in College Park.
725379
No. 1-ranked Southern California can&#39;t claim perfection yet, needing to win two more games to finish 13-0 and as national champion.
630941
If Jamie McMurray were in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, he&#39;d be second in the standings. Under last year&#39;s points system, McMurray would be sixth.
191239
That wasn&#39;t easy. Team USA beat Greece Tuesday, but barely, edging out a 77-71 victory. We definitely played better than we did in game one against Puerto Rico, but still not well enough to dominate like we should.
152238
These guys are doing what they can, but it just isn't enough.