Jets take over division lead
MIAMI, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The New York Jets are used to beating the Miami Dolphins, which they did again Sunday, but this latest triumph put them in an unfamiliar position.
Only once since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 has New York captured the AFC East. The Jets, however, moved into first place Sunday with their 24-0 blanking of the Dolphins, which was their eighth straight win over Miami.
Pittsburgh and Oakland, meanwhile, increased their division leads, Chicago had another stroke of good fortune and St. Louis kept the best record in the NFL.
Long interception returns for touchdowns by cornerback Aaron Glenn and safety Victor Green helped the Jets improve to 7-3 and move past Miami into a half-game lead in the AFC East.
Tormented by the Jets in recent years, Miami committed five turnovers as Jay Fiedler was intercepted three times. Two of them resulted in scores -- a 60-yard return by Glenn and a 63-yarder by Green.
Miami was shut out at home for the first time in 31 years.
In Oakland, Jerry Rice caught eight passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead, 20-yard score with 2:46 left in the fourth quarter, as the Raiders outlasted the San Diego Chargers, 34-24.
The NFL's all-time leader in catches, receiving yards and touchdowns, Rice also caught scoring passes of 12 and 30 yards and has 38 receptions for 637 yards and nine touchdowns in five career games against San Diego. Oakland, thanks to Washington's upset of Denver, opened a 2 1/2-game lead in the AFC West.
In Pittsburgh, linebacker Joey Porter caused a key fumble late in the fourth quarter and Kordell Stewart accounted for 317 total yards and two touchdowns to boost the Steelers past Jacksonville, 20-7.
The Jaguars were threatening to overcome a six-point deficit late in the game when Porter stripped the ball from quarterback Jonathan Quinn at the Steelers' 21. With Baltimore suffering an unexpected setback at home against Cleveland, Pittsburgh has a 1 1/2-game advantage in the AFC Central.
Chicago also moved in front by itself in the NFC Central thanks to a 27-24 win over Tampa Bay. That victory was not wrapped up until Tampa Bay's Martin Gramatica hit the right upright with a 48-yard field goal attempt on the game's final play.
That continued Chicago's charmed season, during which they have twice overcome two big deficits and gone on to win in overtime.
And in Foxboro, Mass., Kurt Warner threw threw touchdown passes in boosting St. Louis past New England, 24-17. The Rams became the league's first eight-game winner.
Other NFL results: New Orleans 34, Indianapolis 20; Atlanta 23, Green Bay 20; Philadelphia 36, Dallas 3; Tennessee 20, Cincinnati 7; San Francisco 25, Carolina 23 in overtime; Seattle 23, Buffalo 20; Cleveland 27, Baltimore 17; Washington 17, Denver 10; Arizona 45, Detroit 38.
Labonte wins race, Gordon wins series
HAMPTON, Ga., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Bobby Labonte took advantage of Jerry Nadeau's fuel problems Sunday to win the NAPA 500 while Jeff Gordon celebrated his fourth NASCAR Winston Cup title in nine years with a sixth-place finish.
Nadeau ran out of gas on the final lap and Labonte took advantage, grabbing the lead some 100 yards from the finish line to win at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the fifth time.
Nadeau took the lead on the 305th lap of the 325-lap race when he blew past Labonte. It appeared he would cruise to victory ahead of Labonte's Pontiac Grand Prix before he ran out of fuel.
Gordon started 24th and raced to the lead early before his Chevrolet Monte Carlo developed a tight handling condition. He finished sixth, but easily was able to clinch the championship before an estimated 96,000 fans on a mild Georgia afternoon.
With five laps remaining, a large banner was unfurled behind Gordon's pit area proclaiming him champion as he officially clinched the title.
The only other drivers to win more than four titles are Winston Cup legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, both of whom captured seven championships.
Labonte, the defending Winston Cup champion, finished 2.031 seconds ahead of Sterling Marlin's Dodge Intrepid. Kevin Harvick was third, followed by Nadeau and Ward Burton.
Three of the top five finishers were Dodges, but the winner drove a Pontiac.
Roy produces third straight shutout
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Patrick Roy recorded his third straight shutout and defenseman Rob Blake scored both goals Sunday to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-0 blanking of the New Jersey Devils in a Stanley Cup Finals rematch.
Roy made 33 saves to extend his shutout streak to a career-best 183 minutes, 53 seconds. His previous best was 168:47 from Feb. 1-7, 1990 as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. He has turned aside all 90 shots in the last three games, backstopping the Avalanche to their longest winning streak of the season.
This was Roy's league-leading fourth shutout of the season and 56th of his legendary career, putting him one behind Dominik Hasek for second among active goaltenders. It also lowered his goals-against average to 1.76.
Other NHL results: Los Angeles 2, Minnesota 2; New York Rangers 6, Atlanta 2.
Clippers stay hot at home
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Elton Brand had 20 points and eight rebounds and Quentin Richardson scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter Sunday as the Los Angeles Clippers posted a 99-85 victory over the New York Knicks, who remained winless on the road.
The Knicks have lost their first six road games, matching their worst start since 1985. They have lost 10 consecutive road games since April, when they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.
The Clippers, meanwhile, have turned into one of the NBA's best home teams. They have won five of seven games here this season and 18 of their last 23 overall.
Los Angeles squandered double-digit leads in the second and third quarters before dominating the fourth. Richardson was five of five from the floor in the final quarter and Earl Boykins scored seven of his 11 points in the last 12 minutes as the Clippers pulled away.
Other NBA results: Toronto 87, Phoenix 81; Los Angeles Lakers 93, Sacramento 85.
South Africa wins golf's World Cup
GOTEMBA, Japan, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- South Africans Ernie Els and Retief Goosen eagled the 72nd hole, then parred the second hole of a sudden-death playoff Sunday to win the World Golf Championships-EMC World Cup.
Goosen, the reigning U.S. Open champion, hit a 5-iron within eight feet at the par-5 18th hole and Els, a two-time U.S. Open winner, made the putt to forge a four-way tie for the lead at 24-under 264.
The four-way playoff involved South Africa, the Danish duo of Thomas Bjorn and Soren Hansen, the New Zealand tandem of Michael Campbell and David Smail and defending champions Tiger Woods and David Duval of the United States. Woods holed a difficult chip shot at the 72nd hole for an eagle that put the Americans in the playoff.
But Duval and Woods quickly lost their magic at the Taiheiyo Club as Duval missed a birdie putt at the first playoff hole. New Zealand also dropped out of the playoff at the first extra hole.
"We really didn't play all that well today until the very end, when we got on a little run to get into the playoff," Woods said.
At the second playoff hole, the par-4 14th, Bjorn missed a 10-footer for par, but Goosen nearly eagled and Els tapped in for the $1 million first prize.
Americans win Warburg Cup
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Critical birdies at the 18th hole by Raymond Floyd and at the 17th by Mark Calcavecchia provided the decisive blows Sunday that rallied the United States to a one-point victory in the inaugural Warburg Cup.
The Americans defeated a team of international players, 12 1/2-11 1/2, with 72-year-old captain Arnold Palmer setting the pace by recording a 2 & 1 victory over his old rival Gary Player in the first of the day's 12 singles matches at the Kiawah Island Ocean Course.
The United States was two points behind at the start of the day, but after a series of dramatic confrontations, the Americans pulled even with the Rest of the World team through the first eight matches.
Denis Durnian of England then won the 18th hole to defeat American Dana Quigley, 1-up, meaning that the international squad needed to win just one of the final three matches to gain at least a tie.
Ian Stanley of Australia appeared ready to give the Rest of the World team that point when he went to the final hole with a 1-up lead over Floyd. But Floyd hit a shot of 185 yards to within six feet at the 18th and made the putt to earn a halve.
Moments later, Calcavecchia, all square in his match with Ian Woosnam, hit his tee shot at the difficult, par-3 17th to eight feet and his birdie putt gave him a 1-up lead that he protected at the final hole.
Larry Nelson then wrapped up the victory with a 3 & 2 decision over Frank Nobilo.
Webb holds off Sorenstam
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Karrie Webb held off her archrival Sunday to win the Tyco/ADT Championship, but Annika Sorenstam had a good consolation prize as she became the first member of the LPGA Tour to win $2 million in a season.
Webb ended a five-month victory drought with her third win of the year. The 26-year-old Australian shot a 4-under-par 68 at the Trump International Golf Club for a wire-to-wire triumph, defeating Sorenstam by two strokes with a 72-hole total of 9-under 279.
Sorenstam fired a 65, but failed in a bid for her ninth win of the season and third straight. The 31-year-old Swede settled for the $115,000 second prize, which pushed her 2001 earnings to $2,105,868. She also set a tour record for the lowest single-season scoring average ever.
Miami regains No. 1 ranking
MIAMI, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Miami is back at No. 1 and Florida State is out of the top 25 in the latest college coaches' football poll released Sunday.
Miami (9-0) lost its spot atop the poll when it struggled to beat Boston College last weekend, but that turned into merely a one-week demotion after the Hurricanes walloped Syracuse, 59-0 on Saturday.
The dominant performance brought Miami three more first-place votes to 33 and a total of 1,468 points. The Hurricanes will host 12th-ranked Washington next weekend and close the regular season at No. 15 Virginia Tech.
Idle Nebraska (11-0), the top-ranked team in the Bowl Championship Series standings, had hurdled Miami last weekend, but lost five first-place votes, reducing its total to 25 and trails Miami by six points.
Florida (9-1) rolled to a 37-13 rout of Florida State and remains third with one first-place vote and 1,352 points. The Gators are just fifth in the BCS poll.
The loss knocked Florida State (6-4) out of the poll. UCLA (6-4) suffered its fourth straight loss, falling to rival Southern California on Saturday, and also dropped out.
Oklahoma (10-1), which is No. 3 in the BCS, is fourth in the coaches poll followed by Texas (9-1), Tennessee (8-1), and Oregon (9-1).
Brigham Young (11-0), one of three remaining unbeatens in Division I-A, edged Utah, 24-21, and picked up a first-place vote, but remains at No. 8.
Maryland (10-1), which locked up its first Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1985 on Saturday, and Illinois (9-1) complete the top 10.
