The Giants’ 8-5 record and one-game division lead over the Dallas Cowboys

The Giants' 8-5 record and one-game division lead over the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins stem, in part, from their plus-16 turnover differential. Coughlin has not forgotten Wilson's early fumble or that he fumbled seven times, losing four, in his last season at VirginiaTech. He will not allow Wilson to forget, either.

"It's a constant emphasis and awareness on his part of, whatever his body position is, wherever he finds himself, whether it's on the end of a pass, or an exchange, or a toss, get that ball secured," Coughlin said. 

Vice President Joe Biden stepped into his motorcade

Touching down near Denver last week, Vice President Joe Biden stepped into his motorcade and, rather than head toward the city's Democraticneighborhoods, rode 90 minutes to a Republican county that he and President Barack Obama lost decisively in the 2008 election.

At a rally in Greeley, a city in Weld County with a sizable Latino population, he mocked Mitt Romney's call for illegal immigrants to "self-deport."

Hamilton, who admits he's not Armstrong's "biggest fan"

A former teammate of once acclaimed, now embattled former cyclist Lance  Armstrongsaid Friday that there was no question why U.S. Postal Service team members doped during big races.

"It was done by the team, but it was done for the Tour de France so I could be a good teammate for Lance Armstrong," Tyler Hamilton told CNN on Friday. "He wanted you to be riding your best in the biggest races."

Hamilton, who admits he's not Armstrong's "biggest fan," is one of 26 witnesses who testified to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency as part of its investigation into doping by Armstrong and other riders on the team.

The A’s then opened a big four-game series against Texas

Oakland managed to rebound from a 14-inning loss to the Yankeeson Saturday, when the A's blew a four-run lead in the 13th and lost on a two-out error, with a 5-4 win in the series finale at New York.

The A's then opened a big four-game series against Texas by building leads of 2-0 and 4-2. They wound up losing their third one-run game in four days.

"There have been a lot of one-run ballgames and things haven't gone our way," starter Dan Straily said.

Straily, one of 14 A's rookies, struck out eight and left with a 4-2 lead after 6 2-3 innings with Josh Hamilton due to bat and the bases empty.

Ward (26-0, 14 KOs) knocked down Dawson

Andre Ward knocked out Chad Dawson with his third knockdown punch of the night in the 10th round to defend his WBC-WBA super middleweight titles Saturday night and delight his hometown crowd.

Ward (26-0, 14 KOs) knocked down Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs) late in the third round and early in the fourth to take control of the fight and finished him off with a combination at 2:45 of the 10th.Dawson, the WBC light heavyweight champion, moved down a weight class from 175 pounds to 168 to take on Ward. Dawson was also willing to fight in Ward's hometown of Oakland, where an enthusiastic crowd had previously cheered Ward on to four wins.

But Dawson proved to be no match for Ward, who punished the challenger repeatedly with his strong left hand.

Players were incensed that his beer drinking became a topic of criticism

"The reason nobody has anything good to say about him is the media writes nothing but bad (expletive) about him for some reason," Saltalamacchia said. "Nobody understands why. He's a great teammate because he cares about every person in this clubhouse, he does the right things, he's not a prima donna who thinks he's better than the game."

Players were incensed that his beer drinking became a topic of criticism, because for one, at least half a dozen other guys were nursing Bud Lights, and more to the point, drinking in the road clubhouse is not against team rules.

Johnson won 35 races

During that stretch, Johnson won 35 races -- an average of seven a season. In 14 of those wins, he led over a third of the race's lap. Sunday's win was Johnson's third in 20 races. At Darlington, he led 134 of 368 laps. At Dover, he led 289 of 400. See where this is going? Plus, Johnson's three previous Indianapolis wins all came during championship seasons.

His teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. may be leading the points standings right now, but Johnson is the man to beat. Yeah, he's been terrible at restrictor plate tracks, but those poor performances (two crashes and an engine failure) have been the source of bad luck in the drafting lottery. In the 17 non-restrictor plate races this season, Johnson's lowest finish is an astonishing 12th.