It was said that nature abhors a vacuum and sports fans abhor a tie. Yet with the sole exception of baseball, where extra innings can continue ad infinitum, sports contests in the United States used to tolerate ending in a tie. Now, with the heavy influence of statisticians, odds makers and gamblers, sporting events such as football, basketball, hockey and soccer have all added provisions to the rules to eliminate the possibility of a contest ending in a tie; overtime periods some for fixed periods, some with "sudden death" conclusions, still others with "shootouts" as methods for providing a final resolution and no ties. ...more

November 7, 2009

A matter of inches ultimately led to Brandon ending a two-game skid Tuesday night and Bloomingdale missing out on a chance to extend a five-game winning streak in extra innings. ...more

March 17, 2009

Freshman right-hander Kendra Wellnitz pitched a complete game and sophomore Amanda Leiter drove in the winning run to lead the South Florida Community College softball team to a 3-2 win over Brevard CC in eight innings on Thursday. ...more

February 21, 2009

Recent observations concerning whether we lost or won a given war suggest that we have begun to perceive war and its consequences by the same standards that apply to sporting events. The score board is the final arbiter of results and there must be a winner and a loser. Contests which formerly could end in a tie are now resolved by overtime, shoot outs, or extra innings in order to achieve the necessary determination. ...more

February 15, 2009

It's been four years since a Hillsborough County softball team captured a state championship, and six years for a county public school. ...more

February 9, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTE: Plenty of big stories broke between the lines and on the playing fields, courts and tracks of the Heartland in 2008. Wins and losses aside, certain moments transcended the games themselves and stuck out as the top stories of the year. This is Highlands Today's annual year-end run of the stories we covered that had a major impact on the local sports scene. The ranking was determined by the sports department: Sports editor Brian Gjurgevich, senior sports writer Mark Pinson and sports reporter Chris Hoffman. ...more

December 31, 2008

The extraordinary dynamic that awaits the Rays as they prepare to open a potentially pivotal three-game series at Fenway Park tonight is best illustrated by the way the Red Sox reacted to Tampa Bay's walk-off loss Saturday afternoon. ...more

September 8, 2008

The Red Sox warmed up for their final regular-season visit to Yankee Stadium with an extra-inning win over the Blue Jays. ...more

August 25, 2008

With all the pitches a Little League team's players throw during an All-Star season, sometimes just one can define a team. ...more

August 12, 2008

A walk and a stolen base by Ben Zobrist set up a game winning sacrifice fly by Dioner Navarro in the 1tth inning to give the Tampa Bay Rays their 70th victory of the season, which ties the franchise record. ...more

August 10, 2008