Portal enthusiastic at first practice

Spirits were high as the Portal Panthers took the practice field for the first time this fall as coach Justin Chester and his staff started evaluating his team and filling in the holes on the depth chart on an overcast and damp Wednesday on the PHS campus.

Teixeira homers in Braves debut

ATLANTA - Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs in his Atlanta debut Wednesday night, leading the Braves to a 12-3 victory over the Houston Astros.

Blue Devils hope to start where they left off

Around the state of Georgia today, high school football teams will click-clack their way onto practice fields and begin the long and arduous road to August 31, the statewide season opener.

Bullpen blows Glavine's 300th; Bonds, A-Rod homerless

MILWAUKEE - New York's bullpen cost Tom Glavine his 300th win.

Johnson powers Braves to romp of 'Stros

ATLANTA - Mark Teixeira didn't even play, and already he's earning credit for the Atlanta Braves' power game.

Panthers already concerned with depth

The Portal Panthers have made three straight playoff appearances, and as they work toward the fourth, the expectations of the Portal faithful have gone up. Meeting those expectations has not gotten any easier.

Kenny still getting to know Jackets

Times are tough for the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets. As if coming off a 2-8 season in 2006 wasn't enough of a hurdle for the SEB football team to try and overcome, they are going to have to bounce back with a new coach.

It's official, Braves land Teixeira

ATLANTA - Mark Teixeira found himself in a pennant race Tuesday, when the Atlanta Braves finalized a seven-player trade to acquire him from the Texas Rangers.

Trade 3: Braves trade Ledezma to Padres

Trade 2: Braves snag Dotel from K.C.

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Braves made another trade to bolster their bullpen, getting Kansas City reliever Octavio Dotel on Tuesday for pitcher Kyle Davies.

Hall of Fame coach Walsh passes

SAN FRANCISCO - Bill Walsh, the groundbreaking football coach who won three Super Bowls and perfected the ingenious schemes that became known as the West Coast offense during a Hall of Fame career with the San Francisco 49ers, has died. He was 75.

Giants win with Bonds on deck

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds wanted a pitcher to challenge him. Dontrelle Willis was more than ready.

Ripken and Gwynn: Hall of Famers on and off the field

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn took their place in baseball's shrine Sunday, saluted as much for their Hall of Fame careers as their character off the field.

Falcons rookies Anderson and Blalock shining already

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Four days into training camp, Jamaal Anderson and Justin Blalock are enduring a crash course with the Atlanta Falcons.

Jones and Jones help end Atlanta losing streak

PHOENIX - Chipper Jones drove in five runs, Tim Hudson allowed three hits in seven innings and the Atlanta Braves routed Arizona 14-0 Sunday to end the Diamondbacks' eight-game winning streak.

Snedeker breaks own record and wins Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Coming off the worst season of his career, Brandt Snedeker's mission was to become relevant again. He was eligible for only one major and none of the World Golf Championships, and he hated the idea of the world's best players competing without him.

Furyk flies into lead at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Jim Furyk hasn't competed on the PGA Tour in seven months, so he kept his expectations to a minimum at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Ex-UAB players trying to stick together

The scenery will change, but some UAB football players forced to look for new schools after their program was shuttered in December will remain teammates next season.

Silver addresses state of league

NEW YORK - Commissioner Adam Silver is determined to make a schedule that keeps NBA players fresher, and he is willing to discuss starting the season earlier or ending later.

Manning meets with Elway

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - A person with knowledge of the meeting tells The Associated Press that Peyton Manning huddled with Broncos general manager John Elway on Thursday to talk about his future in football. No decision was announced on whether Manning would return in 2015 or retire.

Snedeker, Jones tied at -12

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Enjoying the best weather Pebble Beach has to offer is one thing. Brandt Snedeker knew he had to take advantage of it with his golf clubs, too.

'Bubble watch' commences as season enters final month

As an automatic-qualifying conference, the Mountain West is guaranteed to have one team get into the NCAA tournament. The conference appears to be in decent shape to add another for the second straight season.

Teams gambling big on $100 million arms

Max Scherzer and Jon Lester might as well have neon-green dollar signs stamped all over their uniforms and caps when spring training opens next week.

Daly has lowest opening round in 10 years at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) - Sunshine is always a pleasant surprise at Pebble Beach, and Thursday brought a real stunner: John Daly was near the top of the leaderboard.

Little League, big trouble

CHICAGO - A Little League team that captured the attention of the nation and the hearts of its hometown was stripped of its national title Wednesday after an investigation revealed that team officials had falsified boundaries so they could add ineligible players to the roster.

Woods returning to course when his game 'is ready'

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Tiger Woods said Wednesday his game is "not acceptable" to compete in tournaments and he will return when he thinks it is.

Hall of Famer Jerry Tarkanian dies

LAS VEGAS - He couldn't stop fighting the NCAA any more than he could give up chewing towels courtside. Jerry Tarkanian built a basketball dynasty in the desert, but it was his decades-long battle with the NCAA that defined him far more than the wins and losses.

'Bud' becoming a big name

ATLANTA - Mike Budenholzer may coach one of the best teams in the NBA.

New balls adding pop

JACKSON, Miss. - Tim Corbin sounded more like a philosopher than Vanderbilt's coach as he talked about the new flat-seam baseball designed to bring a little more scoring back to the college game.

Wins on tour get tougher

Five weeks into the new year, all five winners on the PGA Tour were among the top 50 in the world.