'Fridge' in Hospital With Serious Illness

Sports analysts agog after Denver Broncos' latest victory

(NEWSER) - After a stunning performance in yesterday's last-minute 13-10 victory against the Chicago Bears, sports commentators are wondering if Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow really is capable of miracles.

• Declaring Tebow his "personal quarterback and savior," Jeff Neuman at RealClearSports catalogs five miracles made in last night's game. "Zero points on his team's first 11 possessions—and then three scores on their last three, aided by a coach's weird strategy, thin air, a fumble, and a total brain cramp by a veteran running back. Truly, Tim Tebow works in mysterious ways."
• Writing for the Montreal Gazette , Ed Willes also drops the M-word, wondering if "we've ever seen a run like this in the last 50 years of sports: an athlete who's at once both divisive and irresistibly charismatic; an athlete who's in the miracle business every week; an athlete who transcends everything around him."

Challenger disaster prevented initial celebration

(NEWSER) - Two and a half decades later, the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears team is finally getting its White House ceremony. The original one was canceled because of the Challenger disaster; now, President Obama is inviting the team back on Oct 7. Though two of the team’s central players, Walter Payton and Dave Duerson, have since died, most of the team is likely to show up, Bleacher Report notes—with the possible exception of those now coaching. More»

Tampa, Chicago will play league's fifth regular-season game at Wembley

(AP) - With the lockout over, the NFL will return to London for a fifth straight year. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play the Chicago Bears at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 23 in the fifth regular-season game in the British capital. The game had been under threat because of negotiations over a new labor agreement between the league and its locked-out players. The two sides announced a 10-year labor deal yesterday to end the dispute. More»

Local-team upsets match to an 8% upswing in abuse

(NEWSER) - Losses by local NFL teams may trigger episodes of domestic violence among their fans, a new study suggests. Researchers examined domestic violence reports in 1995-2006 and found that upsets of home teams matched up with an 8% bump in incidents of domestic violence. The surge in violence almost doubled when traditional rivals, such the Bears and Packers, squared off. More»

Dolphins' 'Wildcat' formation not only way offenses trying to fool defenses this season

(NEWSER) - Sunday’s four-touchdown performance from Miami running back Ronnie Brown may signal the year of the trick play in the NFL, USA Today reports. The Dolphins’ “Wildcat” formation, in which the running back takes a direct snap, seems likely to catch on. “This is a copycat league,” says San Diego’s LaDanian Tomlinson. “When teams start having success with something, you're going to see more of it.” More»