Sports Spectrum | The Daily, by Dave Branon and Rob Bentz

NBA

CAVS CONTINUE TO IMPROVE, EDGE SPURS

A month ago, things didn’t look so good for the Cleveland Cavaliers. December was going poorly, and by this time last month, they had lost six of eight games and were under .500.

On Thursday, though, when the Cavs beat the
San Antonio Spurs 90-88, their opponents in the finals last spring, the Cavs improved their record for January to 7-1 and their season record to 21-18.

The Spurs jumped out to a 26-19 lead after the first quarter at the AT&T Center in the Texas city. But Cleveland put together a 31-point second quarter to lead at the half 50-43. The Spurs came back at the end to briefly take the lead. After Cleveland went back on top, the Spurs had a chance to tie the game on a Manu Ginobili attempt, but it didn’t find net, and the Cavs got out of town with another win.

LeBron James led the way with 27 points, but his new best friend Anderson Varejao showed that he’s pretty happy to be a rich Cavalier by scoring 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for Cleveland.

Ginobili led the Spurs with 31 points. Tony Parker scored 23, and Tim Duncan had another double-double with 20 and 11.

OTHER NBA SCORES

Phoenix 106, LA Lakers 98

Denver 120, Utah 109

NBA NOTES

• Linas Kleiza. Who is he? Is he the bad guy in the latest Bourne movie? A character in a Dostoyevsky novel? The prime minister of the Czech Republic? None of the above. He is the guy who was the leading scorer for the Denver Nuggets on Thursday. Kleiza is a third-year forward for the Nuggets after playing college basketball at Missouri. He is averaging 11 points a game, but on Thursday he went off for 41 points. He’s from Lithuania, and he’s just 23 years old.

• The age-old question of why fans boo their own players instead of encouraging came up on Thursday in Los Angeles. Kwame Brown, who is obviously no Andrew Bynum, was booed loud and long by folks at the Staples Center. You’d think they would want to find a way to lift him up—after all, he’s the guy in the middle until Bynum returns from his knee injury. Some folks don’t deserve to be rich enough to afford Lakers’ tickets.

NHL

STARS SKATE PAST SHARKS

The Dallas Stars have been struggling of late. One trip to the Shark Tank served as a helpful cure to what has ailed the Stars. For the third time this season, the Stars have traveled to San Jose and all three times have left with a victory. Thursday night was the latest travel boost by Dallas. Veteran Mike Modano scored twice to lead the Stars over the Sharks 4-2.

The win was just the third in the last 10 games for Dallas. Yet for the sixth-straight time—and the third time this season—the Stars went into San Jose and beat the Sharks.

San Jose got goals from Joe Thornton and Milan Michalek in the loss. The Sharks have now dropped three straight.

OTHER NHL SCORES
Anaheim 2, Nashville 1
Columbus 4, Phoenix 3
Ottawa 5, Carolina 1
Toronto 3, Boston 2 – OT Shootout
Montreal 3, Atlanta 2 – OT Shootout
Detroit 3, Vancouver 2 – OT Shootout
Washington 5, Edmonton 4 – OT Shootout

NFL

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

NEW YORK GIANTS vs. GREEN BAY PACKERS

The fairy tale that has been future Hall of Famer Brett Favre’s season could come to a close this week at the hands of the red-hot New York Giants and their imposing defensive line. Then again, Favre might have a different idea.

In front of a cold and raucous Lambeau Field crowd, it’s hard to imagine the 38-year-old gunslinger not playing well. The guy simply elevates his game on the biggest stage. And one more thing to remember is that Favre also performs very well when the temperature is cold. It is supposed to be cold, snowy, and miserable in Green Bay on Sunday evening.

In spite of Eli Manning’s improvement. In spite of Michael Strahan and the Giants formidable pass rush. Brett Favre will overcome to lead his team to another Super Bowl appearance.

SS Pick:

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS vs. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

The San Diego Chargers have the unenviable task of trying to knock off the unbeaten New England Patriots in cold weather, without one offensive star, and with two others hobbling. Does that sound like a recipe for success? Didn’t think so.

With All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates expected to miss the game, and superstar running back LaDainian Tomlinson and starting quarterback Philip Rivers hobbling, it could be a very long day in Foxboro.

Add to those San Diego setbacks the fact that New England’s future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady has played incredible football (58-of-70 passing, 618 yards , and five touchdowns) in each of the last two weekends. And it definitely looks like trouble for the Chargers.

SS Pick: New England 34, San Diego 17

SS PICKS

Playoffs: 5-3

FACTS OF THE DAY

COLD? YOU WANT COLD?

Here are the three coldest games in NFL history:

December 31, 1967: Lambeau Field, Green Bay

Temperature: -13 degrees

Wind chill: -48 degrees

Note: The refs had to give voice commands because their whistles didn’t work. A scheduled marching band was cancelled because the instruments froze up.

Score: Green Bay 21, Dallas 17

January 10, 1982: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

Temperature: -9 degrees

Score: Cincinnati 27, San Diego 7

January 15, 1994: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Buffalo

Temperature: 0

Score: Buffalo 29, Oakland 23

SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER

Getting to the heart of what matters in life

TODAY'S FEATURE: LADAINIAN TOMLINSON

LADAINIAN TOMLINSON, RUNNING BACK, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

BIO NOTE: LaDainian is featured in the Sports Spectrum video Power to Win, used by many as a supplement to parties held on the day of the Super Bowl.

RECENT NEWS: Tomlinson led the NFL in rushing in 2007 with 
					
							1,474 yard
					
					
						o
					
					n the ground.

FAITH QUOTE: "I grew up in a strong Christian home and family. My mother is a strong Christian woman, and she always taught us to always live upright and keep God first, and he'll bless us in a mighty way. And that's just the way I grew up as a humble person, and it has helped me along the way."

MINI MEMOS

Putting the SS spin on today's sports news

BEGIN NOW
Going to Lambeau Field Sunday evening for a little friendly between the Packers and the Giants? You might want to start layering now—and keep layering until then. This could be one of those historically cold playoff games that make Lambeau Field so deliciously legendary. The stadium temperature will read “ 4” at game time, and who knows, it may dip below zero as the night wears on. It probably won’t rival the Ice Bowl of 1967 when it was 13 degrees below zero, but what’s a few degrees among friends? Here’s what we can expect at Lambeau. 1. Some young men, in an attempt to be (a) funny, (b) macho, (c) impressive to some young ladies (d) revelatory of their IQ, will show up without their shirts on. 2. Lots of camera shots of frozen breath and steam coming off bald football players’ heads. 3. Lots of footballs slipping from frigid hands. 4. Brett Favre playing as if it happened to be 65 and sunny. Are you still layering?

MARBURY DOWN
New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury could miss most of the rest of this season after undergoing surgery on his injured left ankle. After surgery early next week, Marbury says, he’ll try to return before the season ends. Marbury has been out for all three of the Knicks’ wins during their current three-game winning streak.

BIG DAY COMING
The most important day for the Michigan Wolverines football team could be February 6. That’s when high school kids sign up to take their talents to the college level. On that day, Michigan’s new coach Rich Rodriguez finds out if Terrelle Pryor will be the guy to run his spread offense. If not, then Lloyd Carr’s replacement will have a bit a dilemma on his hands (as if he doesn’t already with West Virginia University throwing everything but an old washing machine at the departed skipper). All Rodriquez has now on his roster are quarterbacks who opted for Ann Arbor because they are pocket passers—guys who are big, not terribly mobile, and able to drop back and throw the football. Pryor, on the other hand, can throw or he can scramble or he can run with the football. Any way Rodriguez looks at it, he could be in a spot of trouble because even if he gets Pryor (and he’ll have to arm wrestle Jim Tressel to get him), there’s always the Jimmy Clausen (freshman learning on the job) Scenario to worry about. Wonder if Rich Rodriguez is having fun yet.

TROUBLE FOR TEJADA
Somehow, the stories don’t line up, and the folks in Congress want to figure out why. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is on the trail of Miguel Tejada, Houston Astros shortstop, to see if he may have lied when he gave an interview to congressional aides in August 2005. At that time, Tejada said he had never heard teammates talk about steroids and that he hadn’t taken them. However, the Mitchell Report says differently. It contends that Tejada did discuss the substance and that he did take them as well. The problem for Tejada is that lying to Congress is a felonious crime. If the FBI finds evidence that Tejada made false statements, he could be in for some very uncomfortable times ahead.

THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT?
What do we do with bad news about athletes? Should we ignore it? Report it? We asked you what you thought, and so far on The Daily Weekly Poll the results are leaning in favor of reporting bad news only if it affects others negatively. Fifty-three percent of voters say that is the right tactic. Thirty-four percent say it is important to report these things because athletes are public figures. And just 12 percent say it is not important and should not be reported. What do you think? Cast your vote on The Daily Weekly Poll.

WHO IS HE?

Testing your knowledge of past sports stars—taken from “Legends” articles from the pages of Sports Spectrum magazine

THURSDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON

• He was the first college quarterback to throw for more than four TDs in one quarter (he connected for seven!) at Portland State.

• He played in 108 NFL games with the St. Louis Cardinals.

• He racked up 22,771 yards and rang up 137 touchdowns in his NFL career.

• Was a Pro Bowl QB twice (1984 and 1987)

• His son, Nick, is a backup quarterback for Boise State.

WHO IS HE? Neil Lomax

FRIDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON

• He played in nine major league seasons, all with the New York Yankees

• He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1957.

• He made the AL All-Star team at shortstop in 1958, 1959, and 1961.

• He was on three World Series championship teams, and he played in the Fall Classic seven times.

• In 1961, he batted second in the Yankee lineup behind Bobby Richardson and before Roger Maris, who hit 61 home runs that season.

Quote: “I believe that by grace we are saved. It’s a free gift from God. He sent His Son. He died for us. He paid the whole price.”

WHO IS HE?

SPORTS SPECTRUM RADIO

SS DAILY INTERVIEW

To hear today's interview, go to the Sports Spectrum radio home page. It can be found at www.sport.org.

THE FRIDAY GUEST

CARL ERSKINE, former pitcher, Brooklyn Dodgers

One of the people Carl Erskine pitched with while a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s was Johnny Podres, who died last week. Erskine joins the SS team to talk about the team that became known as The Boys of Summer—the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. Take a walk back to the golden age when baseball was king.