National Sports Headlines

Alberto Contador was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title Monday and banned for two years after sport's highest court found the Spanish cyclist guilty of doping. The Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended the three-time Tour champion after rejecting his claim that his positive test for clenbuterol was caused by eating contaminated meat on a 2010 Tour rest day.

Tom Brady let his final pass fly toward the scrum of players in the end zone, hoping for an incredible finish. Uh-uh, Tom. Not in this city, and not in this game. Indianapolis is a Manning town, whether it's Peyton or Eli pulling out the wins. And the Super Bowl is suddenly the province of the New York Giants, who have figured out how to topple Brady and the New England Patriots in the biggest...

For the second straight week, a PGA Tour event ended with Kyle Stanley in tears. This time, they were tears of joy. Taking advantage of Spencer Levin's final-round meltdown, Stanley rebounded from a devastating loss at Torrey Pines to win the Phoenix Open on Sunday, overcoming an eight-stroke deficit in a comeback as unlikely as his collapse a week ago.

Back in August, back before the season began, Eli Manning was asked whether he considered himself an "elite" quarterback a la Tom Brady. Manning replied simply that he belonged "in that class." He was questioned and criticized for that, and -- shocking, right? -- it all became quite a big deal in New York.

Eli Manning engineered the last-minute touchdown to give New York the lead, then started celebrating as Tom Brady's desperation pass hit the ground in the last act of the Super Bowl. After guiding the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory over Brady's New England Patriots on Sunday night, Manning has two Super Bowl championships and two Most Valuable Player awards to prove that he's the...

For all the pomp and excess of Madonna's Super Bowl halftime extravaganza a single rude gesture by guest singer M.I.A. is likely to be the most remembered piece of the show. The gesture, accompanied by a barely disguised expletive, came during a performance of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin."' At the end of her lines, British singer M.I.A.

Leave it to the biggest player on Miami's roster to put the Hurricanes on his back and carry them to their most impressive victory in quite a while. Reggie Johnson -- all 6-foot-10 and 284 pounds of him -- scored five of his career-high 27 points in overtime of Miami's 78-74 upset of No. 7 Duke on Sunday.

All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski is active for the Patriots for the Super Bowl, as is wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. Gronkowski has been recovering from a high left ankle sprain suffered in the AFC title game. He practiced on a limited basis this week. Receiver Ochocinco was inactive for the conference title game because of the death of his father a week earlier.

Tim Thomas' return to the nation's capital was less political and more successful. Playing about 10 blocks from the White House -- a place he famously avoided two weeks ago -- Thomas carried a shutout deep into the third period Sunday as the Boston Bruins snapped a two-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals.

Michigan State's Draymond Green made good on his guarantee against Michigan with the best game of his career in the series. Green had 14 points and 16 rebounds -- as many as his hated rival could manage -- to lead the ninth-ranked Spartans to a 64-54 win over the 23rd-ranked Wolverines on Sunday, ending a three-game losing streak in the rivalry.

Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers could see that Kevin Garnett was looking and feeling spry. Running the floor and looking strong on the glass, the 35-year-old Garnett matched his season-high with 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Celtics to their fourth straight win, a 98-80 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.

Javier Hernandez completed Manchester United's comeback from 3-0 down at Chelsea on Sunday, with a late header salvaging a 3-3 draw that still left the champions two points off the Premier League summit After storming into a 3-0 lead by the 50th minute, Chelsea collapsed at home by conceding two penalties that Wayne Rooney converted and then allowing Hernandez to level in the 84th.

Tiquan Underwood is wishing the New England Patriots good luck after they cut him on the eve of the Super Bowl. If they win, the wide receiver who had three catches this season would be eligible for a championship ring. Underwood tweeted that he would use his release as motivation, thanked his supporters and wished the Patriots luck.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he is disappointed in the quality of last week's Pro Bowl and changes must be considered, perhaps even dropping the game altogether. Speaking on ESPN Radio, Goodell says this year's Pro Bowl wasn't "the kind of football we want to be demonstrating to our fans, and you heard it from the fans, the fans were actively booing in the stands."...

Julia Mancuso's wait for her first win of the season is over. Lindsey Vonn will have to wait a little longer to break another record. Mancuso won a super-G on Sunday for her first World Cup victory of the season, while Vonn skied off the course and did not finish. It was the first time two different American women have won World Cup races on consecutive days since December 2006, when it was also...

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers has won the 2011 Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award in a landslide. Rodgers earned 48 votes to two for New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in balloting by a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. The Packers star is the first Green Bay player honored since Brett Favre concluded a run of three straight seasons as MVP in 1997.

After a bunch of off-target games, Marcus Denmon couldn't miss. Especially at the finish. The senior guard hit three 3-pointers in the final 2:05, the last for the go-ahead points, and No. 4 Missouri scored the game's final 11 points to rally past No. 8 Kansas 74-71 in Game 1 of what could be the schools' final border showdown Saturday night.

Tony Parker wasn't playing for an All-Star invitation. He made a strong case just the same. Putting together his most dazzling game in three years -- and doing it against the NBA's hottest team, no less -- Parker scored 42 points and became the all-time franchise assists leader for the San Antonio Spurs in a 107-96 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.

San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh has won the 2011 Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year award for leading the 49ers back to the playoffs. In his first season as an NFL coach, Harbaugh guided the 49ers to a 13-3 mark and the NFC West title and the conference championship game. They beat New Orleans in the first round of the playoffs before losing the conference title game to the Giants.

Curtis Martin has gone from the mean streets of Pittsburgh to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The star running back with the Patriots and Jets for 11 seasons was one of six players elected Saturday to the shrine. Martin once disliked playing the game, but used it to escape a neighborhood where his grandmother was murdered.