The Record, Bergen County, NJ

Patriots Notes

Brown enthusiastic Troy Brown wasn't in the AFC Championship Game against San Diego, but he certainly was into it.

Giants' Super Bowl Moments

Super Bowl XXI Jan. 25, 1987

Giants Notes

Plaxico is late WR Plaxico Burress showed up late for Wednesday's interview session, explaining he was spending time with his wife and baby. Players face a $25,000 fine from the NFL if they skip a Super Bowl media session.

Giants' Ol Having a Good Time ; Flaherty Allows Plenty of Levity

CHANDLER, Ariz. "Like a lady's sewing club" is the way Tom Coughlin describes his offensive line meetings. It hardly seems to be the image the Giants' coach wants to present, a group of ladies fending off the big, bad unbeaten Patriots with some knitting needles. Yet the sewing club, with some banter and downright ribbing, has helped mold the Giants' linemen into the unsung heroes of the offense. Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress may get the attention, but it's the linemen who get the laughs u...

Sights & Sounds

Spotlight on: OL Grey Ruegamer The Giants' do-everything backup lineman has gained attention this week because he was a member of the Patriots' first Super Bowl- winning team six years ago. But his memories Wednesday were elsewhere. Ruegamer spent the morning visiting the memorial for Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinal player killed while on active military duty in Afghanistan. The two were college teammates at Arizona State.

Nets Wade Through Trade Offers for Kidd

Team president Rod Thorn and special assistant Kiki Vandeweghe are working on trying to find new homes for Jason Kidd and some other Nets. They are discussing a three-way trade with the Mavericks and Blazers that involves at least a dozen players, draft picks and cash. These deals are hard to pull off, but it is a possibility.

Countdown Now On for Mets to Sign Star

Finally, after a long winter, the Mets were done with waiting by the phone for the Minnesota Twins to call. But general manager Omar Minaya and his staff were moving on to the only slightly more pleasant task of trekking from the stadium to meet with the agents for Johan Santana. While the Mets have a good relationship with the New York-based Peter and Ed Greenberg, the simple economics of the 72-hour negotiating window spoil any lunch.

Tiki Tells All ; Barber Clears the Air On Coughlin, Eli and a Giant Misunderstanding; Exclusive Interview with Former Giants Star

Tell me your opinion of Tom, John Mara said to his star running back, and right there was Coach Coughlin's career, sitting in Tiki Barber's hands as surely as a crisp game ball. As he sat in Mara's office and measured the magnitude of the request, Barber held a razor-sharp pin that could've bled the air right out of that ball. The Giants had just lost their wild-card game in Philly, finished up 8-9, and here was the team president asking a retiring player - a man with nothing to lose - whethe...

Boujakli's Success Key to Saving Bergen Tech

HACKENSACK - Setting the goal of making it to Atlantic City for the State tournament is certainly not unique to James Boujakli. But part of his motivation differs from other wrestlers. The Bergen Tech junior hopes any success he experiences can be used as a recruiting tool for his school's struggling program.

Zimmerman's Quick Pin Ignites Pompton Lakes

POMPTON LAKES - Pompton Lakes wrestler Brian Zimmerman was mad after watching his team lose its lead against Hawthorne on Wednesday night. But he also knew his opportunity to turn things around was about to arrive. Instead of dwelling on the team deficit, Zimmerman focused on his match and how he could help elevate his teammates.

Lakeland Thankful It Fell Into a Trapp

Just more than two years ago, when Larry Mahurter became Lakeland's head ice hockey coach, he was so impressed with sophomore forward Brian Trapp that Mahurter quickly named him team captain. "That was one of my first moves," Mahurter said. "And I got blasted for it. I just saw someone who was so mature ... He acted and played like a senior back then."

Teaneck's Miles, Sb's Favre Set Bergen County Marks

NEW YORK The Metropolitan Invitational started as a fairly low- key meet in 1999 to give teams a final chance to run before the pressure-packed late-season championship meets. It has since become one of the top meets of the winter. Damian Miles of Teaneck and Michelle Favre of Saddle Brook set Bergen County records Wednesday as five meet records were eclipsed and North Jersey athletes set numerous season bests in individual and relay events. There also was a national class record set as Morr...

The Big Guy Follows His Heart ; Saddle Brook's Maneri Glad He Chose Basketball Over Football

SADDLE BROOK - Justin Maneri is a basketball player. Say those words again, over and over for emphasis.

Sweet Olympic Dream ; 11 Countries in 4 Months for Nh Fencer

ALLENDALE Northern Highlands fencer Caroline Vloka embarks on a voyage Saturday taken by the likes of Ferdinand Magellan, Wiley Post, Steve Fossett and Francis Joyon. Like them, Vloka is circling the globe in search of a dream. Only her dream isn't centered on world traveling milestones, it's on becoming an Olympian.

Game of the Week

Snow goose An adult snow goose can run to about 30 inches in length. They breed in the Baffin Bay area of the Arctic, but winter along the Atlantic Coast from the Carolinas to New Jersey. More than 600,000 snow geese winter in New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland each year.

Rocket Is Quiet at Astros' Camp

HOUSTON Roger Clemens bounced up the steps of the Astros' dugout Wednesday morning and faced a group of wide-eyed minor-leaguers that included his oldest son. For three relaxing hours at the team's minicamp, he was free from questions about steroid use, the Mitchell Report and his pending appearance before a congressional committee.

Thrashers Win, Lose Kovalchuk

The Thrashers snapped a five-game losing streak, but Atlanta's 4- 1 home win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night might have been costly as leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk left the game with an apparent knee injury. Kovalchuk scored his 38th goal, but was forced out of the game for good in the second period. He was injured in a knee-on-knee hit from Pittsburgh's Jarkko Ruutu and made a brief return later in the frame for one shift, but didn't return.

Pandolfo May Be Back in Time to Face Rangers

NEWARK Jay Pandolfo was back in a familiar spot Wednesday morning at Prudential Center and wearing a familiar jersey. For the first time since Nov. 28 when Pandolfo injured a ligament attached to his pubic bone, the Devils' left wing wore the gray practice jersey usually reserved for the checking line and was skating alongside longtime linemate John Madden.

Austria All Downhill, Spectacularly

Kitzbuhel is famous for ski racing. And rightfully so. The Austrian resort hosts the Hahnenkamm Downhill, perhaps the most revered and fearsome World Cup competition. But, long before skiers and tourists arrived as many as 1,000 years ago Kitzbuhel was a mining and farming community. Only in the 1920s, when the mines played out, did the locals turn to tourism, installing their first ski tow and starting that downhill race. I stared at that race course last week, standing beside one of its...

Big Game Won't Subdue Big Party

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. For a change, the FBR Open isn't the biggest show in town, not with the Super Bowl just down the freeway. Still, it's "party on" when the PGA Tour's most raucous event begins a four-day run today at TPC Scottsdale.