Happy New Year!!!

Redskins Beat Giants 35-20

Kicker John Hall walked into the Washington Redskins locker room in a complete outfit of red and white, including the full beard and tall black boots. Santa Claus? No. "Santana Claus," Hall said. Want a better Santana Moss story? Clinton Portis said Moss became a good receiver by playing Frisbee with a dog at the University of Miami. "He used to catch that Frisbee all the time," Portis said. "He'd outrun the dog, jump up and catch the Frisbee."

Whatever the joke, whatever the game, whoever the quarterback, Moss-going-deep has the Redskins on pace for their first playoff berth in six years. Moss added three touchdowns and 160 yards Saturday in a 35-20 victory over the New York Giants, including a 72-yard touchdown grab from Patrick Ramsey after Mark Brunell left with an injury.

The Redskins were leading 21-17 when Brunell left the game with a sprained knee after being sacked by Nick Griesen on the first series of the second half. Ramsey, who was benched after getting hurt in the season opener, entered on the next series and had a sputtering start -- using two timeouts after four plays -- until he unloaded the long one for Moss.

Peaking at the right time, the Redskins (9-6) won their fourth straight and will clinch at least a wild card berth if they win at Philadelphia in next week's regular-season finale. They will win the NFC East with a win and a Giants loss at Oakland next week. Gibbs is 4-0 this December, improving the Hall of Fame coach's record to 56-18 after Dec. 1.

The victory also avenged one of the worst losses of his career, a 36-0 shutout at the Meadowlands on Oct. 30. ...Read more here...

Merry Christmas!!!

Baseball Blues in Washington

D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams pauses during a press conference on baseball Tuesday.

The D.C. Council is unlikely to vote on the critical Washington Nationals stadium lease agreement before January, putting the team's future in jeopardy even as city leaders struggle to win more concessions from tightfisted Major League Baseball.

When it became apparent Monday that the votes were clearly not on his side, Williams asked Council Chairman Linda Cropp to delay council consideration of the lease deal. The council leaves for its winter break at the end of business Thursday, not to return until Jan. 3, and a vote is unlikely before then.

At a press conference Tuesday, the mayor tried to put an optimistic face on a deteriorating situation. "We need to make a few more changes to assure wavering council members that this lease is in the best interests of the city," said Williams, who is postponing his holiday vacation to shore up support.

What's the problem?

- Price tag for the stadium complex now $667 million

- District agreed to publicly finance $535 million, plus cover cost overruns and infrastructure

- League agreed to pay $20 million, give up some parking revenue and donate tickets to needy children

- MLB, critics say, hasn't conceded nearly enough

- Now at least seven council members are prepared to vote "no" ..Read more here...

align=right> D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams pauses during a press conference on baseball Tuesday.

The D.C. Council is unlikely to vote on the critical Washington Nationals stadium lease agreement before January, putting the team's future in jeopardy even as city leaders struggle to win more concessions from tightfisted Major League Baseball.

When it became apparent Monday that the votes were clearly not on his side, Williams asked Council Chairman Linda Cropp to delay council consideration of the lease deal. The council leaves for its winter break at the end of business Thursday, not to return until Jan. 3, and a vote is unlikely before then.

At a press conference Tuesday, the mayor tried to put an optimistic face on a deteriorating situation. "We need to make a few more changes to assure wavering council members that this lease is in the best interests of the city," said Williams, who is postponing his holiday vacation to shore up support.

What's the problem?

- Price tag for the stadium complex now $667 million

- District agreed to publicly finance $535 million, plus cover cost overruns and infrastructure

- League agreed to pay $20 million, give up some parking revenue and donate tickets to needy children

- MLB, critics say, hasn't conceded nearly enough

- Now at least seven council members are prepared to vote "no" ..Read more here...

Redskins Dominate Cowboys 35-7

A perfect day for the Washington Redskins would include a complete, start-to-finish, no-let-up humiliation of tht Dallas Cowboys. Make it a game that puts the playoffs within serious reach, and you've got sheer nirvana.

From the raucous pregame chants of "We Want Dallas" to the seven sacks, four turnovers and four touchdown passes, the celebration never stopped in Sunday's 35-7 blowout, Washington's most one-sided victory in the 45-year history of the rivalry.

The score was 28-0 at halftime, with the Redskins scoring on drives of four, eight, two and two plays. They capitalized off two interceptions, a bad punt and a long pass to Santana Moss that brought back memories of his two fourth-quarter touchdown catches in the stunning 14-13 win over the Cowboys on a Monday night in Week 2.

Washington's third straight victory left the Redskins (8-6) and Cowboys (8-6) two games behind the New York Giants in the NFC East, but the Redskins hold the tiebreaker because of their first Dallas sweep in 10 years.

Washington's 8-2 conference record also puts it in position for a wild-card berth and its first postseason appearance since 1999. ...Read more here...

Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia

Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that relies on volunteers to pen nearly 4 million articles, is about as accurate in covering scientific topics as Encyclopedia Britannica, the journal Nature wrote in an online article published Wednesday.

Unlike Britannica, which charges for its content and pays a staff of experts to research and write its articles, Wikipedia gives away its content for free and allows anyone — amateur or professional, expert or novice — to submit and edit entries.

Wikipedia, which boasts 3.7 million articles in 200 languages, is the 37th most visited Web site on the Internet, according to the research service Alexa. ...To try Wikipedia go here...

Top 10 NFL Rivalries of All Time

Top 10 NFL Rivalries

No. 1 - Cowboys-Redskins The Cowboys and Redskins have hated each other since the series began in 1960 and the rivalry has blossomed into one of the greatest in sports. The two franchises have won eight Super Bowls combined and even in the rare down years, each has given the other trouble. There are too many great games to list, but this year's Monday Night thriller, in which Washington shocked Dallas with a come-from-behind 14-13 victory, has to be among them. ...For full story read here...

Maryland Wins Soccer National Championship

Marc Burch scored in the 31st minute and the goal stood up the rest of the way as the Maryland Terrapins claimed the 2005 NCAA championship, 1-0, Sunday afternoon over New Mexico.

The Terps claimed their first national championship since 1968 and overcame loses in three of the last four National semi-finals.

Jason Garey was named the tournament's offensive MVP, and Chris Seitz was the defensive MVP. Maryland is the first team since 1992 to win the tournament as the No. 1 seed and Seitz is the first freshman goalkeeper to lead his team to the championship since 1990.

"I was proud of the way we played," head coach Sascho Cirovski said. "The national championship game is not always going to be the most artistic game, and yet we tried to attack, we tried to get chances, we tried to play the right way. I'm really proud of that."

Redskins Win 17-13

Clinton Portis ran for 39 of his 105 yards and a touchdown in seven carries during Washington's first drive of the third quarter, helping the Redskins rally to beat the Arizona Cardinals 17-13 and keep their slim playoff hopes alive Sunday.

"We got our backs against the wall in the first half committing all those turnovers," said Portis, who had his sixth 100-yard game this season and second straight. "Once we got down to it, we knew what our bread and butter was." He ran 15 yards to tie the game at 10, sweeping right and tiptoeing along the sideline for a dive over the pylon.

Antonio Brown gave the Redskins the lead for good 17-13 with a 91-yard kickoff return later in the third period.

The Redskins (7-6) needed both shots in the arm after Mark Brunell's horrendous first half. Coming in with five interceptions and a strong passer rating, Brunell had three picked off in the first 30 minutes, going 10-for-18 for 59 yards. He finished 18-of-28 for 122 yards.

Maryland in College Cup Final

Three years in a row, Maryland's path to a national title was halted by a one-goal loss in the College Cup semifinals. The route headed south this year, and for 43 scoreless minutes Friday evening, the possibility of another disappointment hung over SAS Soccer Stadium.

Then Jason Garey and the nation's second-ranked offense unleashed one of the most impressive scoring displays in College Cup history, and the hurdle fell. Maryland's 4-1 victory over Southern Methodist sent the top-seeded Terps into Sunday's final against New Mexico.

Maryland last appeared in an NCAA final in 1968, when the Terps(18-4-2) earned a share of their only national title. After losing in the national semifinals three years in a row, players said they entered this year's College Cup with a more relaxed attitude, paying less attention to the hoopla that surrounds college soccer's final weekend.

The Terps are also used to the competition; this season alone, Maryland faced 14 nationally-ranked opponents. And, of course, they are used to the stage, thanks to three consecutive trips to the final four.

Love is in the Air?

First it was the Jessica and Nick breakup. Now it's Nicole Richie and "DJ" and Valerie and Eddie Van Halen break-ups. And just heard Christina is breaking off her two-year marriage. I guess it's just that Jolly time of year. Who's next? Place your bets here. Can Britney be getting any ideas?

Redskins Finally Win, 24-9

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- In what amounted to a playoff elimination game, the Washington Redskin's defense refused to let their season go down the drain.
Clinton Portis and Rock Cartwright both topped 100 yards rushing and the defense made Ryan Fitzpatrick , the St. Louis Rams' rookie from Harvard, run for his life in a 24-9 victory Sunday that snapped Washington's three-game losing streak.
"You hate to say fight scared, play scared," linebacker LaVar Arrington said. "But at this point I think our guys are scared of missing the playoffs and scared of not having the chance to play for more than your pride and your dignity."
The Redskins(6-6) rushed for a season-best 257 yards, getting 136 yards on 27 carries from Portis, to keep alive faint playoff hopes after losing the previous three games by a total of 10 points. ...Read more here

Green Day Does it Again

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - With the No. 37 debut of "Jesus of Suburbia" on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, punk rock trio Green Day becomes the third act to pull five singles from the same album more than once on this airplay-based chart. The title track from its current album, "American Idiot," peaked at No. 1, as did "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Holiday." "Wake Me Up When September Ends" went to No. 2.
Green Day last performed this feat with its 1994 major-label debut, "Dookie," which yielded the singles "Longview" (No. 1), "Basket Case" (No. 1), "Welcome to Paradise" (No. 7), "When I Come Around (No. 1) and "She" (No. 5).
The other two acts that have scored with five singles from the same album more than once are R.E.M. with "Automatic for the People" and "Monster," and Linkin Park with "Hybrid Theory" and "Meteora." One big difference: those two groups culled their sets of five hits from consecutive albums.

Madonna Ties Elvis for Most Top-10

Madonna ties with Elvis for singles chart record As Madonna's "Hung Up" jumps seven places to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the pop icon matches Elvis Presley's tally for top-10 hits(36), the most for any artist in the rock era.
Madonna racked up that tally in about 21 and a half years, starting with "Borderline." Presley scored his 36 top 10 hits in 16 and a half years, from 1956 with "Heartbreak Hotel" until 1972 with "Burning Love."
"Hung Up" is Madonna's highest-charting single in almost five years, since "Don't Tell Me" reached No. 4 in February 2001. It is her first top 10 hit since her James Bond theme song "Die Another Day" hit No. 8 in 2002.
Madonna already held the record for the most top 40 hits by a solo female artist; she continues in first place as "Hung Up" becomes her 45th top 40 hit, out of 51 chart entries.