DOVER, Del.— Few, if any, complained as vehemently about NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow as Jack Roush did.

Like a golfer advanced in years, Lynchburg runner Bill Fastabend sets modest goals for himself these days.

Three days after losing 40-7 at South Dakota State, Youngstown State was a fractured football team.

Even Leigh Torrence wasn’t sure how he deflected the ball. He got a piece of it with his hand, he thought. Maybe it then bounced off his helmet.
What really matters is that he was there, swinging the tide Sunday with a solid defensive play in the fourth quarter. He kept pace with Steve Breaston deep over the middle and caused Kurt Warner’s pass to bounce high into the air and into the hands of diving teammate Carlos Rogers.

Nine years, three defeats, two wipeouts and one absent superstar since the last time it last belonged to the U.S., the Ryder Cup changed hands Sunday at Valhalla Golf Club, where the routine cheer was just as unexpected as the outcome.
“Red, white, Boo!”
For sure, the homespun Boo Weekley inspired the U.S. team and its fans, but it still wasn’t easy coming up with a blueprint for success that didn’t include Tiger Woods. Yet that’s exactly how the underdog U.S. team played it, winning 16 1/2-11 1/2, with a trump of Europe’s aces that no one could have forecast.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Call them the reluctant leaders of this Ryder Cup. For the Americans, Phil Mickelson. For the Europeans, Padraig Harrington.

LOUDON, N.H. - Have things turned this quickly on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup tour?

The Awareness Garden Foundation will be holding its 2008 Golf Classic on Monday, Oct. 6, at Boonsboro Country Club.

In his attempt to redesign the Washington Redskins offense, rookie coach Jim Zorn has constantly peppered Jason Campbell with all sorts of phrases. One of them: “Avoid, reset and throw.”
After a miserable first game, Campbell last week responded with a phrase of his own: “Coach, just trust me.”
On Sunday, both got the point. Campbell went from uncomfortable to prolific with a 321-yard passing day, and he mastered the “avoid, reset and throw” move with aplomb on a 67-yard touchdown to Santana Moss as the Redskins came from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 29-24.

NEW YORK — Serena Williams flung her racket aside and jumped for joy, looking like someone who had just won her first Grand Slam title.
Nope. It sure had been a while, though.
Displaying the talent and tenacity that helped her dominate tennis earlier in the decade, Williams outlasted Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 Sunday night in a thrill-a-minute match chock full of marvelous strokes and momentum swings to win her third U.S. Open championship and ninth Grand Slam title.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady screamed. The fans went quiet.
The seemingly indestructible star of the New England Patriots lay on the ground, clutching his left knee. The NFL’s reigning MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion was done for the day — at least.
“He was in a lot of pain. When you hear a scream, you know that,” Kansas City safety Bernard Pollard said after hitting Brady on the left leg midway through the first quarter.
Untested Matt Cassel took over, and played well as the Patriots beat the Chiefs 17-10 in Sunday’s opener. But they needed a last minute defensive stand to do it.

Former E.C. Glass basketball player Jermaine Ferguson, who graduated last winter from Geneva College (Pa.), will replace his best friend Lloyd Deloatch on an elite professional basketball team in Nässjö, Sweden, a town of 16,000 located two hours south of Stockholm.

ST. PETERSBURG — If baseball’s new replay rule had been around 10 days ago, two really bad calls that went against the Rays would still just be two really bad calls.

The force of a block to the chest likely caused the death of a Reynolds High School football player, the chairman of neurosurgery at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center said yesterday.

BEIJING (AP) - Where Olympians ran, swam and slept, Chinese organizers see pop concerts, a public pool, football games and luxury apartments.

PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) _ The FedEx Cup playoffs opened with a “Caddyshack” moment.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Visa Inc. popped out ads almost as quickly as he swam his laps. Pizza Hut is giving Michael Phelps free pizza and pasta for a year — his teammates, too — for beating Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in one Olympics.

Media General News Service

Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said he’d like to narrow the Hokies’ group of running backs down to three primary ballcarriers soon to prepare for the coming season. Redshirt freshman Josh Oglesby made a strong case to be included in that group during the team’s first scrimmage Tuesday at Lane Stadium.
Oglesby rushed for a team-high 65 yards and a touchdown on five carries in the 78-play scrimmage. His touchdown covered 34 yards. He also blocked a punt.
Senior defensive back Victor “Macho” Harris blocked two field goals, including a 44-yard attempt by Matt Waldron, who is currently third on Tech’s depth chart at kicker. Neither Dustin Keys nor Tim Pisano played because of injuries.

FOREST — High winds at London Downs Golf Club’s fairly tight course resulted in high scores for Monday’s 14th annual Heritage Invitational.

The Olympic flame finishes its long journey to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games on Friday, marking the start of 16 days of competition involving thousands of athletes. With all the action, keeping track of what to watch for can be tough. This guide provides a brief summary of each major sport.

CANTON, Ohio — Rookie Colt Brennan threw two touchdown passes in the second half for Washington, and Matterral Richardson returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown to rally the Redskins for a 30-16 victory against the Indianapolis Colts in Sunday’s Hall of Fame Game.

The Hill City Dolphins finally broke through to claim their first Lynchburg Aquatic League Championship Meet title in team history after 36 years, with a rather decisive victory Saturday at Oakwood Country Club to finish off a perfect season after going 6-0 in the during the season.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Brett Favre’s reinstatement to the NFL was held up again Friday as the three-time MVP mulled getting paid not to play through a marketing deal with the Green Bay Packers that could resolve the standoff over his retirement.

BOSTON — The Manny Ramirez era in Boston is over, his homers and headaches shipped far, far away to Los Angeles.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Broncos rookie Eddie Royal was picked primarily for his flashy ability on kick returns.

If playing eight games in seven days at two tournaments in Las Vegas and Phoenix didn’t exhaust the Lynchburg Hoops AAU basketball team, flying back into Dulles Airport at 5 a.m. on Wednesday before getting lost in Washington, D.C., looking for the Lithuanian Embassy, did.

ASHBURN — Stuart Schweigert is reprogramming the way he reacts on the football field.

MACAU, China — Loaded with star power but wary of complacency, the U.S. Olympic basketball team arrived in China on Monday with a word of caution from coach Mike Krzyzewski.

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Two University of Virginia football players have been charged with petty larceny for allegedly stealing beer from a cooler at a Charlottesville nightclub.