NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The New Orleans Saints celebrated last season's Super Bowl championship then launched the defense of their crown with a rousing 14-9 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday to open a new NFL season. With the Big Easy in full Mardi Gras mode as their Super Bowl banner was ...

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - The new season started as last year's ended for the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre -- with defeat in New Orleans and the quarterback taking his share of blame for the loss. Favre, who will be 41 next month, was unable to inspire his team to a revenge win over the ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - For the third year in a row, Rafa Nadal is through to the semi-finals of the U.S. Open. The one title he needs to complete his grand slam collection is now tantalizingly close. Nadal booked his place in the last four by thrashing his fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-5 6-3 ...

In the opener of a critical four-game series between the contenders, the Giants belted four home runs to support starter Matt Cain who pitched eight innings for the win. San Francisco jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the third inning where Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer and the visitors surged ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rivalry spanning almost a decade will be rekindled on Friday when Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters square off for a place in the U.S. Open final. Both players have won the title twice but the stakes could hardly be higher when they meet in the semi-finals at Flushing ...

LEMONT, Illinois (Reuters) - A red-hot Matt Kuchar birdied his final hole to take a one-shot lead in the opening round of the BMW Championship on Thursday while a baffled Tiger Woods watched his Cog Hill magic disappear. Playing on the same course he won the U.S. Amateur title in 1997, Kuchar was ...

Financial terms of the deal for the cornerback, acquired as a free agent in 2006 after spending his first eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders, were not released. The 33-year-old was scheduled to make $6.5 million in base salary over the next three seasons, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal's latest U.S. Open victim, his friend Fernando Verdasco, said his pick to win the year's last grand slam would be Roger Federer and not his Spanish Davis Cup team mate. Nadal stayed on track to win the only major title to elude him by vanquishing Verdasco 7-5 6-3 ...

The Americans next face Lithuania who brushed aside Argentina 104-85 after hitting eight three-pointers from nine attempts in the first half on the way to a staggering 32-point lead at the end of the third quarter. The U.S. and Lithuania will meet in the opening game of Saturday's double-header, ...

Brady took the field with the rest of the team for midweek practice, local media reported. The team said Brady "reports that he's OK," in its official Twitter feed. "He was not ...