Sports

By THOM GABRUKIEWICZ
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
I know, for a fact, that my little hometown (population 25,198) does not allow parimutuel dog racing within its city limits. And research shows that the nearest greyhound track to Fremont is about 45 miles away _ in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

By MATT JAMES
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The weird part is, the Fresno State Bulldogs looked better without the helmet decals.

They didn't play better, but when the mailman brings improvement, you don't turn him away, no matter how small the package.

Last Saturday, if you were one of those who found something else to do, Fresno State played its first football game in 30 years without mascot decals on their helmets.

You also missed the strangest drive of the season, when New Mexico State ran 18 plays before finally scoring on a quarterback sneak.

By HANNAH GUILLAUME
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said that he's ready to play Sunday, just 28 days after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

"I feel good.

By JOHN TUCKER
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Nobody rooting for Ohio State or Michigan wants to think about the possibility of losing Saturday's battle of the decade in Columbus. That could knot up the stomach, make you feel woozy, susceptible.

Better for Buckeye and Wolverine players, and fans, to think along the lines of Vince Lombardi:

"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.''

For the loser, there is no solace.

For the winner, there is no greater gridiron glory.

This is "The 100 Yard War," between hated rivals of a hundred-plus years.

By LEE RASIZER
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
For all of LaDainian Tomlinson's accomplishments, including the unprecedented streak of 15 touchdowns in five games he currently is enjoying, he merely has been human playing in Denver.

By MATT MARKEY
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Nobody knows the University of Michigan comptroller, the chair of the economics department or the student rep to the board of trustees. But everyone here knows who Chad Henne is.

As a true freshman in 2004, Henne was named the starting quarterback for the winningest program in the history of college football.

By RON MUSSELMAN
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Troy Smith isn't a history buff.

But the Heisman front-runner will become part of an AFLAC trivia question if he can lead top-ranked Ohio State past No.

By CHIP SCOGGINS
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Viewed as a legitimate Big Ten contender in the preseason, the Iowa Hawkeyes football team entered the final week of September 4-0 and knocking on the door of a Top 10 national ranking.

Today? The Hawkeyes are 6-5, tied for seventh place in the Big Ten and appear to be coming apart at the seams as they prepare for Saturday's regular-season finale against the Minnesota Gophers.

The collapse has made the Hawkeyes, who lived a charmed life in recent years, one of the biggest disappointments in college football this season and begs the obvious question: What in the world has happened?

"We're obviously disappointed," coach Kirk Ferentz said.

By MARCOS BRETON
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
How does a college football program become elite? By winning games like the one this Saturday, when Cal travels to Los Angeles for a breathlessly anticipated showdown against USC.

For a Cal program on the cusp of elite status, they just don't get any bigger than this.

Awaiting them in a cauldron of 90,000 screaming fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be the lights and cameras of a national television broadcast in prime time across much of America.

Facing them will be a Trojans team on the rise, playing their best football of the season, and still very much in the running for a shot at a national championship.

Looming over them will be a blessed Rose Bowl berth, the first for Cal in nearly 50 years and attainable only if Cal defeats the Trojans in a stadium where USC has not lost in five years.

This level of grandeur is all new for the Bears, the next massive step in the ascension of a program that coach Jeff Tedford revived beginning in 2002.

By LARRY LARUE
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
This is his last job, and this time Lou Piniella insists he means it.

He said that in Cincinnati, where he won a World Series, and in Seattle, where he twice got the Mariners to the American League Championship Series.