Big Ten: Orange Juice? Illinois not BCS ready, but look out
Illinois isn't Orange Bowl-bound (hello, Ohio State). With Juice Williams still improving (though maybe not as much as Ron Zook would have you believe), another Rose Bowl berth isn't out of the question, Dennis Dodd says.

SPORTS APPRECIATION DAY: 'When I became a fan'
What is Sports Appreciation Day? To understand the what, you need to know about the why.

Ten men needed to click down stretch
The Mets minus Billy Wagner are in big trouble ... unless their offense can score enough to make closing irrelevant. That's why Carlos Delgado is one of 10 key players Danny Knobler pinpoints for the playoff push.

Walsh, May-Treanor win another gold
Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor have won their second successive gold medal in beach volleyball, playing through a steady rain to beat Wang Jie and Tian Jia of China 21-18, 21-18.

Umps, MLB sign agreement to start using replay
Baseball umpires and management signed an agreement Wednesday that will allow the sport to start using instant replay to help determine calls on the field.

RB Jackson reports to Rams as talks continue
St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson ended his holdout on Wednesday while his agent continues negotiations for a new contract.

Bolt pulls off 100-200 double in record time
Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the world record by winning the 200 meters in 19.30 seconds Wednesday night, becoming the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the 100 and 200 gold medals at an Olympics.

L.A. avoids three-game sweep
Given a final chance to extend his hitting streak to 23 games, Garret Anderson delivered for the Los Angeles Angels with a ninth-inning infield single that drove in the winning run in a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.

Royals' Maier HBP, breaks three bones in face
Mitch Maier of the Kansas City Royals suffered three broken bones when hit in the face by a pitch from Cleveland Indians left-hander Zach Jackson in the fifth inning Wednesday night.

Curtis latest Eagles star to have sports hernia
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Kevin Curtis will have surgery Thursday to repair a sports hernia and will likely miss the start of the regular season.

JGR penalized with deductions, suspensions
NASCAR has stripped Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Tony Stewart and Joey Logano of 150 points each and their crew chiefs were suspended indefinitely Wednesday for cheating during Saturday's Nationwide Series race.

Griffey blasts first extra-base hit
Ken Griffey Jr. hit one of Chicago's four homers to move into a tie with Sammy Sosa for fifth on the career list and the surging White Sox routed the Seattle Mariners 15-3 on Wednesday.

Minnesota hits road on high note
Mike Redmond drove in two runs for the Minnesota Twins, who survived some wildness by Francisco Liriano and beat Oakland 3-1 on Wednesday to send the Athletics to their 11th straight series defeat.

Roy Williams horse-collar rule hits colleges
The NCAA banned the horse-collar tackle from college football. Acting on a proposal made by its Football Rules Committee, the NCAA will assess a penalty this season when a runner is yanked to the ground from the inside collar of his shoulder pads or jersey.

Tweaked Cup begins with high hopes
Tiger Woods leads the FedEx Cup series points race but we all know where he'll be -- at home. For the rest of the participants, changes to the rules should produce better golf when getting hot at the right time is the key for victory, Steve Elling says.