Is Jim Furyk setting us up again? The Manheim Township grad is tied for the lead in the inaugural AT&T National Golf Tournament at the Congressional Country Club in Maryland. Will he follow through and come up with a win on Sunday? After all, he was set up to win the Buick Open la......

Ten days without the Phillies. I thought I'd never survive. Baseball, let alone any American sport, is not a big draw in Prague. When the TV at an out-of-the-way Czech inn carries only four stations, it's a sure bet that one won't broadcast a game featuring anything smaller than a soccer ball....

Oh baby, who're you picking? You're crazy if you don't go with Tiger Woods to win the U.S. Open, which will begin on Thursday. Several analysts are picking Jim Furyk. I'd love to pick him, too. After all, he's a local guy, and I've followed him since he was in high school. But th......

Just what Phil Mickelson needs as he gets ready for next week's U.S. Open. More pressure. Earlier this week Butch Harmon decided to heap it on the hefty lefty. Mickelson's golf coach told Sun Media and the Associated Press he thinks Phil will replace Tiger Woods as the world's best go......

A bigger question hangs over these National Basketball Association Finals than which team will emerge as champion. Are we witnessing the next Michael Jordan? Reluctantly, I'd have to say we just might be. Last season when Scottie Pippen said he thought LeBron James would wind up eclip......

When Jordan Steffy was growing up, he gave his PlayStation to a neighbor. "Jordan told me the kid had nothing to do, so he asked if he could give him his PlayStation," Steffy's mother Shari recalled. "He was always doing stuff like that. He would collect his old clothes and give them to ne......

Are the Phillies headed for a June swoon? Or when next month ends will they be closer to the Mets than they are today? They've had a good May, going 15-13 and climbing to 26-27. Their hitting has come alive. They've scored more runs than any team in the National League. But they've lo......

Clinton Portis should be ashamed of himself. What the Washington Redskins running back said last week was unforgivable. When asked to comment on Michael Vick's alleged involvement in dog fighting, here's what the Redskins running back said in an interview that aired on ESPN TV:...

We've just passed the quarter pole of the baseball season. And, surprisingly, it looks like Charlie Manuel and Joe Torre might make it to the finish line. A month ago Manuel seemed destined for the glue factory. In his first two seasons he'd failed to get the Phils to the playoffs. This se......

Change the rule. NBA commissioner David Stern should make that his top priority. The rule that cost the Phoenix Suns a chance to beat the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night has serious flaws and must be fixed. It states that any player that leaves the immediate vicinity of the bench du......

May has not been kind to many of our local star athletes. Perry Patterson failed to impress the Buffalo Bills in a tryout over the weekend. The Bills agreed to give the 6-4, 242-pound McCaskey grad a look after he wasn't selected in the National Football League draft. But the form......

Is he worth it? Is Roger Clemens really worth the $28 million the Yankees are shelling out for him to pitch the five months they hope to get out of him? Is a seven-time Cy Young Award winner who will turn 45 in August worth between $750,000 and $1 million a start? Or, according to ESPN, $4......

Chad Henne is poised to become the first Lancaster-Lebanon League quarterback drafted by the National Football League since Jeff Smoker was selected in 2004. Last week ESPN's Cold Pizza predicted that Henne will be the fourth player selected in next spring's draft. The 6-2, 224-pound forme......

This will be Donovan McNabb's last season in Philadelphia. That's what Sal Paolantonio thinks. The ESPN football reporter said earlier this week on Daily News Live that, "Short of taking (the Eagles) to the Super Bowl, he's not coming back in 2008." The big reaso......

Well, he did it. Charlie Manuel set out to avoid a third straight 10-14 April, and the Phillies' manager accomplished his goal. With a win to spare! He guided the Phils to an 11-14 record and held onto his job for a while longer. Probably for the rest of the season, anyway. After......

Looking at the National Football League schedule, I won't be surprised if the Eagles, the Steelers and the Ravens all make the playoffs this season. The Steelers probably have the easiest schedule in the league, according to ESPN's Bob Glauber. Pittsburgh, which was 8-8 last season, will p......

If I were Joe Paterno's doctor, I'd be a little concerned. But if I were his athletic director, I'd be feeling pretty good. Paterno didn't sound too good on Saturday as Penn State's 80-year-old football coach hacked his way through the Nittany Lions' Blue-White football game. JoePa so......

Call them Dumb and Dumber. What referee Joey Crawford did on Sunday was even dumber than what Dale Earnhardt Jr. did. That's because what Crawford did cost him his job while what Earnhardt did hasn't cost him anything, so far. Crawford challenged Tim Duncan to a fight before the refer......

Local football fans will get to see Matt Nagy in action Monday night. The 1995 Manheim Central grad will lead the Columbus Destroyers against the Philadelphia Soul in an Arena Football League game that will be televised on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. Nagy is a seven-year AFL veteran. He's led the D......

On Tuesday USA Today's cover featured 41 faces of National Football League players who'd been arrested since 2006. Actually, 50 had been jailed. Clearly, the NFL had surpassed the National Basketball Association as the worst-behaved collection of athletes in professional sports. Obvio......

Goodbye, Charlie. If I were the owner of the Phillies, manager Charlie Manuel would be gone. Monday's 11-5 loss to the Mets would have sealed his fate. While suffering their sixth loss in seven games this season, the Phils played the same brand of fundamentally unsound baseball th......

The Phillies could use John Parrish right now. While their bullpen is proving to be a disaster, the relief pitcher from McCaskey has overcome a disastrous injury and is one the few bright spots for the winless Orioles this season. The 29-year-old lefthander has pitched in two of Baltimore&......

As Jordan Steffy battles for the starting quarterback job at the University of Maryland, the best thing he might have going for him is his strong voice. Not his strong arm or legs, but his strong vocal cords. The 6-1, 209-pound Conestoga Valley grad's chief rival, Josh Portis, has a squeak......

As a native Philadelphian, I really want to believe Jimmy Rollins, who insists the Phillies are the team to beat in the National League East. I've been trying to convince myself that the Phils' shortstop is right, and that his team will make the playoffs for the first time since 1993. But ......

Still hanging onto your brackets? Or are they in the trash can, like mine? Hey, I still have Florida, which looks like a winner. But so does just about everybody else. So I'm dead in the water in the office pool. As usual. The Atlantic Coast Conference killed me. As usual....

It's shaping up as a spring of promise for Smoker and Furyk Jeff Smoker's career is on the rise. Jim Furyk's is back on track after being derailed by an injury. Last weekend Smoker came through with a victory in his first start as a professional football player. The 2000 Manhe......

NCAA basketball tournaments are like snowflakes. No two are exactly alike. Last year, none of the tournament's No. 1 seeds made the Final Four. This year, every one is poised to make it. After two rounds, all are still alive, and so are three of the four No. 2 seeds. Last year, C......

I'm trying to help you win your office pool. But I'm also selfishly searching for a team that can dethrone Florida. I think the Gators' most visible star is the most obnoxious player in college basketball. Joakim Noah's hotdogging was tough to take after Florida won the NCAA tournamen......

The major battles began today. Most of the minor conferences that have no chance to produce a national college basketball champion have staged their tournaments and crowned their rulers. The big boys started slugging it out today at noon, when Villanova and DePaul tipped off the Big East T......

What's your magic number? If you're a sports fan, I'm sure you have one — or two or three. In fact, the older you are, the more you have. They're the numbers your favorite players wore. If your hero is still wearing his, treasure the moments, because before you k......

All signs point to another maddening March in college basketball Will this March be as maddening as last? It sure looks that way. On the eve of championship week the country's best college basketball teams are faltering. Last season's NCAA Tournament runner-up is the only top tea......

The longest season has begun. The major league baseball season always has been a season of survival. And considering how it started for two of its most controversial stars, you have to wonder if either will survive it. I hope Alex Rodriguez does and Barry Bonds doesn't. Both were ......

While Las Vegas was putting its best foot forward, Charles Barkley was sticking out like a big, fat, swollen sore thumb. But nobody seemed to mind. On a weekend when Sin City auditioned for a National Basketball Association franchise, the league should have given a thumbs-down to one of it......

Cheer up. We're over the hump. February is more than half-done. Thankfully, in only 12 days we'll say goodbye to the worst sports month of the year. Right now we're hurting for sports news, and we're not getting much help from the Boys of Winter. The National Hockey Le......

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you're all showing each other some love today. I'm happy to report that the sports world is overflowing with it. Many of its bitterest enemies resolved their differences just in time for Cupid's big day. Even Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens kiss......