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

Stan Van Gundy blamed only one person. Himself. After Orlando slipped from the top perch in the overall NBA standings with a 90-80 loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, the Magic coach didn't want to hear any excuses. No talk of four-day layoffs, no griping about calls, nothing. ...more

January 23, 2009