Defending champs struggling for playoff berth
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Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning bristles at the thought of the defending NBA champions having to sneak into the postseason.
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The fates have not been kind to the last four Super Bowl runners-up.
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Three months ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup. Now there might not be a season for the Lightning to defend that championship.
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The quarterfinal matchup may well show their weaknesses in team play and outside shooting.
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Momentum does not appear to play a big role in determining a World Series champion. For every example of a team that seemed to feed off its recent success, there is a counterexample.
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NEW YORK -- Ah, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Just what a struggling club full of stars needs to get back into contention for a playoff berth.
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Even some within the respective ranks are having a hard time with it, and the fact that the winner has the inside track to a spot opposite Oklahoma or Texas or Texas A&amp;M in the Big 12 Championship game Dec. 4 in Kansas City.
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US National Basketball Association stars are concerned that playing in international events is hurting their ability to play their best in quest of a league crown.
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BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Ravens showed exactly why they had to depend on outside help to reach the playoffs. Baltimore needed to beat the Miami Dolphins and have three other games fall its way to earn a wild-card berth. The Ravens did their part, stumbling to a 30-23 victory yesterday, but failed to get the help they needed elsewhere and ...
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The end of the MLS regular season featured some dramatic situations as teams contended for playoff spots. The Revolution, though, clinched a playoff berth last month and have since been preparing for their postseason, which begins tonight against the New York Red Bulls.
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Scanning the lists of teams who haveÃÂ already clinched playoff spots, one would be hard-pressed to find a single team without serious flaws and serious questions.
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San Diego -- The sports cliche about taking them one game at a time does not apply in a final-week drive for the playoffs. That, the players say, is looking too far ahead.
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The New York Mets are desperately trying to hold on in a rapidly tightening division &#151; and trying just as desperately to avoid a historic late-season collapse.
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After their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Giants were faced with a riddle: How can a team that has lost five of its past six games still hold a playoff spot?
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While the Oakland Athletics keep fighting for a playoff spot, the Toronto Blue Jays are still tangling with each other.
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FOXBOROUGH -- The Revolution moved closer to qualifying for a playoff berth for the fifth successive season last night, but the team appeared to slow down in the second half of a 1-1 tie with the Kansas City Wizards, squandering a lead and wasting chances late.
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With two days left in the regular season, a lot of excitement remained in the National League. Three playoff spots were still undecided, with St. Louis, San Diego and Los Angeles moving into good position to advance to the postseason and Houston, Philadelphia and Cincinnati hoping for dramatic comebacks during the final weekend.