NFL playoffs resume
CHICAGO, Jan. 19 (UPI) - It will cold today in Chicago and perhaps a lot worse than that in Foxboro tonight when the NFL playoffs resume.
The Chicago Bears and New England Patriots followed a similar script from "worst to first" in their respective divisions and now they will both host a second-round game.
Chicago (13-3) will meet the Philadelphia Eagles (12-5) and the Patriots (11-5) will take on the Oakland Raiders (11-6).
Temperatures are expected to be below freezing when the Bears and Eagles kick off at Soldier field shortly before sundown. Both teams, however, are used to the kind of weather they will face in Chicago.
In Foxboro, Mass., however, snow is expected to fall during the game and perhaps all the way through it - with as much as two inches expected to accumulate. The Patriots-Raiders contest will not start until 8 p.m. local time.
It has been more than 10 years since the Bears have hosted a playoff game at Soldier Field. With the facility undergoing a $587 million facelift, the Bears will play their 2002 home games at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
The Patriots were not expected to make the playoffs, but went from 5-11 to 11-5 under coach Bill Belichick and will make their final game at Foxboro Stadium a playoff contest. Next season, the team moves into CMGI Field, located adjacent to the current home.
The second round will conclude Sunday when St. Louis hosts Green Bay and Pittsburgh entertains the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens.
Parcells says no to Bucs
TAMPA, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Bill Parcells said Friday night he had decided not to return to coaching, forcing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to restart their hiring process.
"I just think it was a case of my own inability to make a commitment that I know is necessary to be successful in the NFL," Parcells said on a Chicago radio show.
"I didn't want to go down there for one or two years, then not be able to follow through with what I know to be the type of effort that has to be in place in order to succeed in this competitive industry.
"I'm finished coaching and there aren't going to be any more rumors about me coaching. I just feel like I couldn't make a commitment to do it. You know, you just can't kid yourself and you gotta know that."
Parcells, 60, had been expected to replace Tony Dungy as coach of the Buccaneers, especially when New York Jets assistant general manager Mike Tannenbaum interviewed for Tampa Bay's general manager job during the week. Tannenbaum was Parcells' salary cap expert in New York from 1997-2000.
But the first indication that Parcells had decided against taking the Bucs job came when Tannenbaum announced Friday he would remain with the Jets.
Tampa Bay has been left in the embarrasing position of having dismissed one of the most respected coaches in the league and being stood up by a two-time Super Bowl champion.
There had been various reports before Dungy was fired that Parcells had already been lined up to replace him and that Parcells was taking the steps needed to assemble a staff.
But those efforts brought a warning in the form of a letter from Jeffrey Pash, the NFL's counsel, to Bucs management.
"We expressed our concern about possible violations of the tampering rules," league spokesman Greg Aiello said.
Capriati survives difficult match
MELBOURNE, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Defending champion Jennifer Capriati overcame troubles with her serve today as well as a small group of disruptive fans to fight off Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in three sets in the third round of the Australian Open.
The top-seeded Capriati, whose career was given a tremendous boost when she unexpectedly won this Grand Slam title last year, recorded a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win that set up a match in the round of 16 against Rita Grande of Italy.
In the men's draw, Marcelo Rios of Chile and Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador were among the early winners Saturday with Lapentti having to rally from a two-set deficit.
Pete Sampras was scheduled to take on Nicolas Escude of France in an evening match.
Daniilidou, 19, played in her first Grand Slam tournament last June at Wimbledon and she appeared ready to make a quick exit Saturday when Capriati stormed through the first set.
But Capriati was plagued by double faults in the second set, eventually having 10 of them for the match. In addition, she was bothered by rowdy Greek fans supporting Daniilidou and also appeared to be distrubed when her opponent took extra time between points.
Capriati's disposition was not improved early in the third set when the chair umpire overruled a call. A ball hit by Daniilidou appeared to be well over the baseline and it was called out by the linesperson. But the umpire overruled the call.
That seemed to inspire Capriati, whose power game returned as she won the final six games of the match.
"I had a lapse there," Capriati said. "I let her back in the match. She definitely picked up her game. In the third set, I played well and I had to or I wouldn't have come out a winner.
"I said to myself that I can beat this girl. I wasn't ready to go home yet."
In other women's third-round matches Saturday eighth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1; No. 4 Kim Clijsters of Belgium overwhelmed Cindy Watson of Australia, 6-1, 6-2; and Marlene Weingartner of Germany surprised No. 10 Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Lapentti, seeded 23rd, managed to rally against Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Rios ousted Alberto Martin of Spain, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Roger Federer of Switzerland, the 13th seed, advanced past Rainer Schuttler of Germany, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Suns end Timberwolves' streak
PHOENIX, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Stephon Marbury hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with 4.5 seconds left in overtime Friday night as the Phoenix Suns snapped the Minnesota Timberwolves' nine-game winning streak, 103-100.
Marbury, who was traded to Phoenix for Jason Kidd prior to this season, made just seven of 28 shots but scored 23 points and had eight rebounds and eight assists. Shawn Marion had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Suns, who had lost seven of their previous eight games.
Kevin Garnett had 32 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota, which fell two games shy of matching its franchise-record, 11-game winning streak set last season. Chauncey Billups had 26 points and Wally Szczerbiak added 22 for Minnesota, which had not lost since a Dec. 28 setback at Sacramento.
Phoenix led by seven entering the fourth quarter and held an 89-83 advantage after Bo Outlaw made a layup with 5:06 left. But Szczerbiak had a pair of free throws and a finger roll before Garnett tied the game with two free throws with 3:13 remaining.
Garnett hit a jumper with 76 seconds left to stake the Timberwolves to a 91-89 lead -- their first since 31-30 early in the second quarter. Outlaw scored underneath to tied it with 57 seconds remaining but Garnett made another jumper with 42 seconds to go to give Minnesota a 93-91 edge.
Marbury tied it on a layup with 28 seconds left and Garnett's three-point attempt from the top of the key just before the buzzer would not fall, sending the game into overtime.
Other NBA results: Detroit 96, Indiana 93; Toronto 89, New Jersey 77; Houston 104, Boston 101; Milwaukee 115, Orlando 100; Denver 96, Seattle 90; Sacramento 121, Golden State 97; Los Angeles Clippers 109, Cleveland 103
Hull produces 99th game-winner
DETROIT, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Brett Hull's 16th goal of the season, coming with 46 seconds left in the first period, put Detroit ahead for good Friday night and boosted the Red Wings to a 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals.
It was Hull's 99th career game-winning goal, surpassing his father for third place on the all-time list.
Hull took a pass in front of the crease from Pavel Datsyuk and put the puck between the pads of goaltender Olaf Kolzig for a 2-1 lead.
Earlier in the game, Luc Robitaille scored his 611th career goal and passed Bobby Hull for the most ever by a left wing.
The Red Wings are 6-1-1 in their last eight games.
Other NHL results: Minnesota 3, Columbus 2; Chicago 2, Tampa Bay 2; Florida 3, Dallas 2; Edmonton 3, Anaheim 1.
Lewis to meet Tyson
NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Mike Tyson, boxing's most controversial figure, and undisputed champion Lennox Lewis have agreed to meet sometime in the next few months to fight for the world heavyweight title.
Las Vegas and New York are the two sites being conisidered for the bout. A news conference has been called for Tuesday in New York with Lewis and Tyson expected to be in attendance.
Lewis is 39-2-1 with 30 knockouts while Tyson is 49-3 with two no contests and 43 knockouts.
Kerry Wood signs with Cubs
CHICAGO, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Kerry Wood, the 1998 National League Rookie of the Year who returned from reconstructive elbow surgery, agreed to terms Friday on a one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs.
Wood went 12-6 with a 3.36 ERA in 28 games in 2001, just two years after sitting out an entire season while recovering from surgery. He was Chicago's last unsigned arbitration-eligible player.
The 24-year-old Wood exploded on the national scene with a 20-strikeout performance against the Astros on May 6, 1998, tying Roger Clemens' major league record. It was Wood's fifth career start and he finished his rookie season with a 13-6 record and 3.40 ERA with 233 strikeouts in 166 2/3 innings.
After missing the 1999 season, Wood went 8-7 with a 4.80 ERA in 23 starts in 2000. But last season, he appeared to be back at full strenghth as he struck out 217 in 174 1/3 innings and held opponents to a major league low .202 batting average.
The 6-5 Wood was on the disabled list in August with tendinitis in his pitching shoulder, but was 2-0 in his last four starts.
In other baseball transactions, Seattle signed righthander Freddy Garcia, the Boston Red Sox agreed to terms with outfielder Trot Nixon and reliever Ugueth Urbina, Montreal signed righthander Javier Vazquez, Detroit signed righthander Jeff Weaver and Cincinnati settled with third baseman Aaron Boone and outfielder Juan Encarnacion.
Pappas shares Hope lead
LA QUINTA, Calif., Jan. 19 (UPI) -- South African Deane Pappas, who gained entry on the PGA Tour this season after finishing fifth on last year's Buy.com Tour money list, fired a 9-under 63 Friday that moved him into a share of the lead with Kirk Triplett and Duffy Waldorf at the Bob Hope Classic.
They all had a 54-hole total of 197 in the five-day tournament, which again saw a barrage of low scoring. There were 19 rounds of 66 or better fired on the four courses used in the tournament.
Brandel Chamblee, Cameron Beckman, second-round leader John Senden of Australia and last week's winner Jerry Kelly were all at 198. Kelly eagled the par-4 seventh hole en route to a 65 after having captured his first PGA Tour event at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Jay Haas was alone in eighth at 199 while Chris DiMarco, Justin Leonard and Craig Stadler all shot 64 to share ninth place at 200.
In the first round of the year on the PGA Senior Tour, Tom Kite shot a 9-under 63 to take a three-shot lead at the MasterCard Championship.
