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Portland Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese pumped his fists as he joyfully celebrated with his players in the locker room at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Nov. 8. The Timbers had just ousted their rivals, the Seattle Sounders, on penalty kicks in the second leg of an epic Western Conference semifinal. Portland had been the decided underdog entering...

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Max Borghi was born to play football. Anybody might jump to that conclusion watching Washington State’s true freshman move up and down the field with a leather ball tucked between his arms. Already this season, Borghi’s thundering runs have netted the Cougars six touchdowns on the ground, while his soft hands have been responsible for another three...

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Rising up from the ground on the outskirts of Brockton, the two-ton, 20-foot statute of Rocky Marciano looms over the city like a god. Wearing boxing trunks wrapped around an Adonis-like body, he stretches his muscular right arm out to deliver the crushing knockout punch against Jersey Joe Walcott that ended their epic 1952 championship fight. In m...

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After Billy Devaney heard Oklahoma had fired Mike Stoops, OU’s ensuing staff reorganization soon became more clear. Those changes meant Bob Diaco would coach on the field again. “I said, ‘Oh, my God, it’s like a hurricane is being unleashed in Norman,” Devaney said. “[Diaco] is so passionate and he’s going to bring so much of that to that group.” A...

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Adam Vinatieri made history Sunday. Again. With a second-quarter 25-yard field goal against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts kicker became the NFL's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen (2,544). Vinatieri entered the game with 2,540 points and tied Anderson's mark with a first-quarter extra po...

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Two months ago, at the first football game of the season, everyone was looking around for Armond Colombo. The patron saint of Brockton football was always, always on the sidelines for Brockton football games. He had been there, unceasingly, for a half-century, and he was still there, still unceasingly, after he retired in 2003 and passed on the rei...

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Giorgio Tavecchio is the 14th Italian to play in the National Football League. Before him Ralph D. Vince, Giovanni A. Bonadies, Giuseppe "Scanlon" Santone and Rocco Segretta in the 1920s; Giuseppe "Jumping Joe" Savoldi and Domenico Cara in the 1930s; Enio Conti, Bruno Banducci, Francesco Gaziano and Pietro Gorgone in the 1940s; Leo Nomellini in the...

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It no longer carries the U.S. Army stamp or the military pomp and circumstance that came with that, but making the All-American Bowl roster still is a really big deal. Naples High School's Chez Mellusi officially became one of 300 high school seniors in the nation to earn a spot in the annual high school all-star game in San Antonio's Alamodome on...

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Today, when chefs can be as famous as movie stars and their creations in the kitchen as admired as original works of art, there are few who rival the success and celebrity of Massimo Bottura. His restaurant, Osteria Francescana, has three Michelin stars and ranks number one on this year's list of "The World's 50 Best Restaurants." It's located in N...

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"My name is Gregorio Leonardo." The way that name rolls off of Topeka High kicker Gregorio Leonardo's tongue is effortless. It's almost as effortless as how the Italian foreign exchange student caught the eye of Trojan head football coach Walt Alexander. "I saw potential with him in the hallway, before I had ever seen him kick," Alexander said. "Ju...

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