Nancy Gay Posts

The Boss, the one who rules Major League Baseball, wasn't in New York Wednesday night as the Yankees celebrated their 27th World Series title with a 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. But George Steinbrenner, 79 -- still the architect of champions and the titan of New York sports -- was watching from his home in Tampa.

Every out. Every pitch. Every player celebration. Steinbrenner could see and hear his players express their gratitude, and his family said he was overcome with joy.

"Thank you. Thank you for everything," Yankees catcher Jorge Posada told the owner through a camera lens. "Thank you for this. Thank you for having the team every year, to try to have a team to be here [the World Series]."

The Boss is not in robust health these days. He wasn't in the clubhouse to feel the champagne shower. But he was "teary eyed" said his son, Hank. "It meant everything."

Running back Larry Johnson will not be in uniform Sunday at Jacksonville when the Kansas City Chiefs return from their bye and attempt to reverse the damage of a 1-6 start. That in itself is a small victory for a rebuilding Chiefs organization, which did its level best to severely punish a longtime problem player who crossed a line most agree constitutes conduct detrimental to the NFL.

And that disciplinary action -- a two-week suspension without pay imposed by Chiefs management, that was later arbitrated by the NFL Management Council, the NFL Players Association, Johnson and the Chiefs to return a week's salary to Johnson -- was neither endorsed nor encouraged by the league office, multiple NFL sources said.

Rather, the NFL told the Chiefs they should avoid issuing a suspension (and encountering the subsequent hearing, NFLPA involvement, settlement, etc.), and simply fine Johnson $10,000.

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NEW ORLEANS -- That wasn't a chip on Michael Turner's shoulder Monday night at the Superdome. That was a stack of cinder blocks the Atlanta Falcons' running back hauled around as motivation in what would be his biggest rushing performance of the season.

This was long overdue -- and surprising, considering Turner waited to get it done against the New Orleans Saints' sixth-ranked run defense: 20 carries and a season-high 151 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown run on Atlanta's opening drive.

Turner tore through Saints tackles up the middle, and he broke loose in the flats like an angry man.

That's because he was.

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- The psyche and impressive football will of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck seems as if it's held together by iron and steel. His body? It's simply not as impervious as his mental makeup.

Those cracked ribs, the chronic disc injury in his back, a sore right shoulder and assorted other aches that would put most NFL quarterbacks on the sideline did not make Hasselbeck a spectator in a runaway 38-17 Dallas Cowboys' victory over Seattle on Sunday at Cowboys Stadium.

When Cowboys defensive end Jason Hatcher plowed into Hasselbeck following a short 3rd-down completion to Deion Branch late in the third quarter, the Seahawks' gritty quarterback crumpled to the turf, grabbing his still-damaged ribcage and signaling to the sideline that his right shoulder also was injured.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A month ago, the Dallas Cowboys were a 2-2 mess; inconsistent on offense, generous on defense and seemingly already out of contention in the cutthroat NFC East following a mistake-filled thrashing by the then-undefeated Broncos in Denver.

Flash forward to Sunday's lopsided 38-17 victory over the battered Seattle Seahawks -- the Cowboys' third consecutive win in their swank $1.2 billion home -- and Dallas' turnaround from bashed to brilliant seems accomplished.

Quarterback Tony Romo completed passes to 10 different receivers, including touchdown throws to the increasingly popular Miles Austin (five catches, 61 yards), as well as to the forgotten Sam Hurd and the once-missing Roy Williams. Romo's performance, where he hit on 21-of-36 passes for 256 yards, capped off the first three-game span without an interception in his seven-year career.

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Alex Smith's return as the 49ers' starting quarterback in the second half of Sunday's 24-21 loss to the Texans at Houston's Reliant Stadium produced career numbers for the former No. 1 overall draft pick. And it may force a philosophical change for a 29th-ranked San Francisco offense that had been sputtering under quarterback Shaun Hill's direction.

Trailing Houston 21-0 at halftime and going nowhere under an increasingly sack-prone and inaccurate Hill (6-of-11 passes, 45 yards, two sacks), 49ers coach Mike Singletary made the switch to the more mobile Smith in the second half and saw immediate dividends.

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The San Francisco 49ers waited through training camp and the first seven weeks of the regular season for their first-round draft choice, wide receiver Michael Crabtree, to make headlines for something other than his contract demands.

The 10th overall pick did just that Sunday, supplanting starter Josh Morgan and sending two other key 49ers receivers -- Brandon Jones and Jason Hill -- to the inactive list at Houston's Reliant Stadium. That gave Crabtree a starting assignment in his NFL debut, and the former Texas Tech star showed he was worth the wait.

Lined up wide, often opposite veteran Isaac Bruce, Crabtree caught five passes for 56 yards, many of them coming against the Texans' press coverage. Three of his catches resulted in 49ers' first downs.

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SAN DIEGO -- Outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil set aside any doubts that the 2009 Broncos' astonishing turnaround isn't legitimate on Monday night when he leveled Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers a second time in the contest, helping punctuate a 34-23 division victory that gave undefeated Denver a stranglehold on the AFC West.

With that, Dumervil had his NFL-leading 10th sack, putting him on pace to surpass Michael Strahan's single-season record of 22 1/2.

"It's hard to get to 10 [sacks]," said Dumervil, who was surrounded in the crowded visitors' locker room at Qualcomm Stadium by teammates hooting and calling him the next Strahan. "Every sack guy knows it's hard to get to double digits.

"But this ... it's a new team, a new regime, and everything is new. We're just trying to innovate. We're trying to build a brand of football here, what we want to be as the Denver Broncos."

SAN DIEGO -- Monday night featured perhaps the NFL's best quarterback battle this season, the duel between Philip Rivers and Kyle Orton, and it all but determined the balance of power in the AFC West, despite the fact that it's only mid-October.

Seriously -- who would have thought that Orton, once mistake-prone and reviled and probably still being burned in effigy by Bears fans, would now sit among the league's elite passers while guiding a 6-0 Denver Broncos team?

Make that the utterly dominant, AFC West-leading Broncos, who rode the franchise record-setting momentum of Eddie Royal returning both a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns in the first half to preserve a 34-23 victory over the foundering San Diego Chargers (2-3).

OAKLAND, Calif. -- JaMarcus Russell's Year 3 NFL resume has had him well on track to become the greatest NFL draft bust since Ryan Leaf almost singlehandedly destroyed the Chargers.

Through Week 5, his status as the NFL's worst starting quarterback was well-established: a completion percentage of 42.1; four interceptions; four lost fumbles; 15 sacks for a supposedly big, strong 6-foot-6 man pushing 275 pounds.

How could Russell simply crumple under even a modest pass rush? How could he possibly put up a passer rating of 46.0 in a Week 2 victory over the winless Chiefs? How could he emerge, unmoved, after horrible Raiders losses wearing cue-ball sized diamond earrings and fur coats?