Redskins Lose to Chargers, 23-17

The Redskins (5-6) were distraught, their playoff hopes all but erased after losing a late fourth-quarter lead for the third straight week. The critical play this time was an obvious tackle-from-behind holding penalty on center Casey Rabach that forced kicker John Hall to try a 52-yard field goal. The attempt was wide right and a little short, Hall's first miss of the season after a 9-for-9 start.
Coach Joe Gibbs was somber after the loss. "That's about three of the toughest losses I've been through," Gibbs said. "This is going to be a real test for us. We'll see what we're made of here." The Redskins lost despite winning the turnover battle 3-0.
They were tied for last in the league with a minus-13 differential entering the game, but three interceptions for the team's first by cornerbacks this season. Springs' pick put the ball at San Diego's 31 with 1:04 left, before Rabach's holding penalty.

Maryland Loses Again, Finishes 5-6

North Carolina State(6-5) beat Maryland 20-14 Saturday to become bowl eligible. The Terrapins (5-6, 3-5) are staying home for the second year in a row, done in by repeated turnovers and other mistakes down the stretch. A week ago, quarterback Sam Hollenbach was responsible for three turnovers - two were turned into TDs by Boston College - and he continued to give away the ball against N.C. State.
With Maryland trailing 10-7 in the fourth quarter, Hollenbach tried to connect with Danny Melendez, but Williams forced him to throw early. Hudson stepped in front of Melendez and ripped the ball out of his hands, then sprinted up the sideline with his first interception of the season. That made it 17-7, and on the next possession, Williams sacked Hollenbach and forced a fumble, with defensive tackle DeMario Pressley recovering for the Wolfpack. When the Terps held, John Deraney came on for a 29-yard field goal to increase the margin to 20-7.
Maryland completely controlled the first half, yet led only 7-3 after Dan Ennis hooked two field goals wide left. The Terrapins completed their schedule losing four of the final five. Hollenbach was 20-for-35 for 235 yards.

Redskins lose again 16-13

Norv Turner was victorious Sunday in his return to FedEx Field, leading his Oakland Raiders to a 16-13 victory over the Washington Redskins, coming out on the winning side of the type of cliffhanger that never seemed to go his way when he was the head coach in the nation's capital for seven years.
The Raiders' defense held Washington to 28 yards in the fourth quarter as Redskin quarterback Mark Brunell went 2-11. The defense scored the only touchdown by the Redskins as the offense could not get much going all game.
The Redskins (5-5) have had six games decided by three points or fewer. They have lost five of their last seven and fell two games behind the Dallas and the Giants in the NFC East. They also dropped to 4-1 at home and - after losing three more fumbles - have an terrible minus-13 turnover differential

Maryland Loses to Boston College 31-16

Boston College scored on both a 94-yard fumble return and a 35 yard interception as the No. 23 Eagles overcame four turnovers in a 31-16 victory over Maryland Saturday. Boston College got two touchdowns apiece from its offense and defense. Both turnovers were committed by Sam Hollenbach, who was intercepted twice and lost a fumble.
The Terrapins trailed 14-10 at halftime, but could do nothing in the third quarter and entered the fourth quarter still trailing 14-10. But the Terps could not capitalize on the Boston College mistakes whereas the Eagles took advantage of the Terps turnovers. "The defense got turnovers, but we just didn't do anything with the opportunities," coach Ralph Friedgen said.
Terps quarterback Hollenbach went 25-for-45 for 230 yards and a touchdown. "Today wasn't his best day," Friedgen said. "Anytime you have as many turnovers as we did, it's almost impossible to win."
Lance Ball ran for 135 yards and a touchdown for Maryland (5-5, 3-4), which still needs one win to become eligible to receive a bowl bid. The Terrapins, who conclude the regular season next week at North Carolina State, went 1-4 at home but did set a new attendance record by averaging close to 52,000.

Google This

Google's stock price closed above $400 a share for the first time yesterday, a move that analysts called a "milestone" in the torrid growth and extraordinary success of the Internet's most profitable public company.
At a closing price of $403.45, up $5.30, Google has a market value of more than $117 billion, putting it in a league of its own for a business that has been public for little more than a year.
As Google stock has skyrocketed, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and hundreds of other Google employees have sold billions of dollars of the company's stock. The sales by Brin, Page and Schmidt alone have put hundreds of millions of dollars of cash into their pockets, as the rise in Google's stock price has vaulted the trio into the ranks of the wealthiest Americans.

Washington Loses to Tampa Bay, 36-35

The Wahington Redskins lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 36-35 on several contoversial calls. But the last and most damaging was a point-point conversion try by Tampa Bay in the last minute of the game with the Redskins leading 35-34. Tampa Bay had just scored to pull within one point of tying the game and were prepared to kick the extra point and most likely send the game into overtime.
But the Redskins jumped off-side on the try and after the penallty, the Bucaneers decided to go for the win instead of the sure tie. Everybody in the stadium knew who would get the ball, but the Redskins (5-4) could not stop the 248-pound fullback Mike Alstoff, who scored earlier on touchdown runs of 2 and 1 yards. Alstott was hit at the line and looked like he might fall short before twisting and keeping his legs moving to barely get into the end zone The Redskins signaled the conversion failed, but the ruling stood after the replay official's review. Several replays appeared to show that Alstoff was stopped short of the goal-line.
"Any time you lose, it's tough. There are always 50 plays where you could have won and 50 plays where you could have lost," Washington coach Joe Gibbs said. "All of our guys thought he was on the ground. That's what everybody told me. I didn't see it, but that's what instant replay is for."
Clinton Portis ran for 144 yards and put Washington ahead with an 8-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter. Mark Brunell threw for 226 yards and two TDs, but also threw two interceptions and fumbled once. The three turnovers helped the Bucs build a 21-13 halftime lead. LaDell Betts scored on a 94-yard kickoff return for the Redskins that was also reviewed.

Maryland 33 North Carolina 30

Dan Ennis, who had missed two field goals and an extra point in regulation, kicked a 28-yard field goal in overtime to give Maryland a 33-30 victory North Carolina on Saturday. The Terrapins (5-4, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) bolstered their bowl hopes by rallying from a 10-point deficit with 9 minutes to play.
The Terps were down 27-17 when quarterback Sam Hollenbach led the Terps to a quick response. Facing a third-and-long, the quarterback sidestepped an oncoming rusher and hit Jo Jo Walker deep for a 67-yard touchdown. Then, after a North Carolina punt, Hollenbach again went deep, this time to Melendez for 80 yards down the right sideline and a 30-27 lead.
But the Tar Heels responded, moving 76 yards in the 2-minute drill to set up Barth's 24-yard field goal with 9 seconds left in the game and a 30-30 tie at the end of regulation. After Ennis' kick to start the overtime, the Tar Heels had a chance to win the game when Holley headed alone for the end zone. But Baker's throw was late, and Gerrick McPhearson got there just in time to tip the ball away. Barth than missed badly to the right on a 38-yard field goal that would have tied the game in overtime.
Lance Ball ran for 161 yards and a touchdown, while Vernon Davis had seven catches for 139 yards and a score.

Maria Beats Lindsay in WTA

Scolding herself to "fight, fight, fight" in the third set, Maria Sharapova outlasted top-ranked Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 at the WTA Championships on Thursday night, with both players advancing to the semifinals. Amelie Mauresmo of France defeated Russian Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-3 to ensure a spot in the semifinals, along with Frenchwoman Mary Pierce, who was idle Thursday.
Sharapova, the defending champion, needed three match points before closing out the 2-hour, 8-minute match with a 107-mph ace. The 18-year-old Russian dropped her racket, raised her arms and soaked in the crowd's applause. "I played smart tennis," she said. "I took out her strengths. It was exciting to beat someone who's been playing such amazing tennis. I'm very, very happy about it."
Davenport walked off the court, shook the umpire's hand and had her back turned by the time Sharapova caught up to her on the sideline for a halfhearted handshake. "I wasn't mad," Davenport said. "She is a little dramatic when she wins and it takes her a while to get to the net."

Sharapova Seeded Third at WTA

Defending champion and World third seed Maria Sharapova showed signs of rust but emerged with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Patty Schnyder in round robin play at the three million-dollar WTA Tour Championships.
Sharapova, who has battled injuries in the latter stages of her 2005 campaign, has played just two tournaments since the US Open, reaching the semi-finals Beijing and crashing out of the quarters in Moscow in mid-October.
Sharapova has the day off on Wednesday, before finishing round-robin play against world number one Lindsay Davenport and Russian Nadia Petrova.

Redskins Beat Eagles, 17-10

The Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles 17-10 in the Sunday night game of the week. The Eagles who have lost three of four and are in danger of slipping out of the playoff race, played the game without their star all-pro receiver, Terrell Owens, who was suspended by the Eagles ealier this weekend for fighting with a teammate. The controversy did not seem to hurt the Eagles on the field, as the game was well played by both teams and remained in doubt until the last minutes of the game. Washington safety Ryan Clark made the final big play of the game, intercepting Eagle's quarterback McNabb's pass with 1:25 remaining.
The Eagles had threatened overtime by moving the ball from their own 15-yard line before Clark snagged the ball on fourth-and-4 at Washington's 7. Redskin quarterback Mark Brunell completed 21 of 29 passes for 224 yards and Tight end Chris Cooley caught seven passes for a career-high 85 yards. Clinton Portis ran 21 times for 67 yards and a touchdown and Mark Sellers had a 1-yard TD run, only the second carry of his six-year career. While those numbers aren't spectacular, they sure were a change of pace after last week's 36-0 blowout against the New York Giants.
``It seemed like it was a guy here, guy there that made plays,'' said coach Joe Gibbs, who gave game balls to the whole team and added a special game ball for lineman Derrick Dockery for falling on a Cooley fumble inside the Eagles 10-yard line that kept the winning drive alive in the third quarter. ``It wasn't any one person - everyone contributed. I'm really proud of our players to bounce back after what happened last week,'' Gibbs said.
Even Washington's contoversial linebacker Lavarr Arrington was a more humble presence, having conceded last week that the coaches were right to bring him along slowly back from his knee injury. Arrington's benching earlier this season was a team distraction, but he completed his return from exile Sunday by starting the game and serving as a team captain. His six tackles tied for the team lead with Phillip Daniels, who played on a sore ankle.

Solomon Key???

You'd have to be insane to do a spinoff of a book that doesn't even have a publication date yet - wouldn't you? Not if it's the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code," Dan Burstein says. Burstein, a publishing entrepreneur, has been on the road promoting "Secrets of the Widow's Son," which promises to prep readers for "Da Vinci" author Dan Brown's next venture into the world of secret societies, conspiracy theories, myths and alternative history.
All that's known about the still-unscheduled Brown book is that when it's finally published (perhaps in late 2006 or 2007), it will involve the Freemasons, will be set at least partly in Washington and will be called "The Solomon Key." That was enough for Burstein. And why not? He'd already made a killing with last year's "Secrets of the Code: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind the Da Vinci Code". Burstein says he got hooked on "Da Vinci" in June 2003, three months after Brown's religio-historical thriller was published. (Thirty-six million hardback copies are now in print worldwide, according to Brown's publisher, Doubleday.) Ah, but those books exist!
How can you do a guide to a book that isn't written ? Check a rumor that there was a code embedded in the dust jacket flaps of "The Da Vinci Code." Sure enough, some letters on the flaps were in a slightly bolder face and spelled out "Is there no hope for the widow's son?" Researching that phrase led to the history of the Mormon church and eventually to a predicted Washington/Freemason backdrop for Brown's next book. Brown later confirmed as much in a rare public appearance.
So if you're truly Brown-obsessed (or if you're just dying to read about the conjunction of Freemasonry, the Founding Fathers and the nation's capital), "Secrets of the Widow's Son," which Burstein commissioned reporter David Shugarts to write, is there for you.
He's far from the only one piggybacking on Dan Brown. By now there are a couple dozen books with such titles as "Da Vinci Decoded" and "The Da Vinci Hoax" that serve as guides to or refutations of Brown's megahit. And there's even another preview title - "The Guide to Dan Brown's 'The Solomon Key,' " by Greg Taylor -though it lags behind "Widow's Son" in Amazon sales rank. Burstein isn't losing sleep about competition. "People are so interested," he says.