LeGarrette Blount had a monster day for Tampa today, rushing for 120 yards and two touchdowns--including the game winner--as Tampa Bay hung on to beat Arizona 38-35.

Blount, picked up on waivers this week, scored on a 1-yard run with 5:13 left that put the Bucs ahead for good.

Blount also had a 15-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that gave the Bucs a 31-14 lead at the time.

Blount might be best known as the Oregon player that sucker-punched a Boise State player last year after their game was over. He was suspended for the rest of the season after the incident, but came back to play at the end of the year after he satisfied certain requirements that were laid out to him by Oregon school officials.

Tarvaris Jackson came on in relief of Brett Favre in the fourth quarter after Favre left the game following a punishing hit that left a gash in his chin.

Jackson, who practiced with the first team in Minnesota all week, promptly threw a touchdown pass on his first play of the game and then a two-point conversion to pull the Vikings to within 21-18 against the New England Patriots.

Jackson lofted a screen pass in the right flat to Naufahu Tahi for a 1-yard touchdown catch. Jackson finished with 36 yards passing on 4 of 6 six completions.

Jackson also had a 33-yard run later in the quarter.

Favre received nine stitches after the game and appeared to be coherent, which will likely mean he will be back in the starting lineup for Week 9, unless something drastic happens during the week.

In a somewhat surprising move, Oregon has taken over the top spot in the BCS Rankings in Week 3 after beating USC yesterday.

Auburn, No. 1 in last week's poll, fell to No. 2 despite beating Mississippi.

Rounding out the top ten are: No. 3 TCU, No. 4 Boise State, No. 5 Utah, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 Wisconsin and No. 10 LSU.

Oregon is also the No. 1 team in the AP and Coaches polls, released earlier today.

It appeared to be a lot worse than it turned out, but it looks like Brett Favre has eluded a serious injury for the second straight week.

Favre's Minnesota Vikings lost to the New England Patriots 28-18 Sunday, and Favre took a jolting hit in the fourth quarter that knocked him out of the game.

He was helped off the field with a towel under his chin, taken to the locker room in a cart, and later had to have nine stitches to close the gaping gash that was left.

Favre looked very disoriented when he left the field on the cart.

Favre started his 292nd straight game today against the Patriots despite having two small fractures in his left ankle. He is also the center of ongoing league investigation surrounding a former sideline reporter for the New York Jets and some lewd text messages she received.

Clint Bowyer won the AMP 500, and teammate Kevin Harvick finished second in a wild finish that ended under caution because of a wreck on the last lap.

Bowyer, who is in the 12-car Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, got a little redemption with his win today.

Bowyer won the first race in the 10-race Chase in New Hampshire, but was penalized 150 points after his car failed a post-race inspection, leaving his chances of winning the Sprint Cup a very slim possibility.

Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin, who were 1-2 in the points coming into the race today, both posted top-10 finishes. Johnson now leads Hamlin by just two points with three races left.

Manager Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants has benched left fielder Pat Burrell for Game 4 of the World Series tonight.

Burrell, who struck out in all four at-bats last night in a 4-2 loss, will be replaced by Cody Ross, who will move over from his starting spot in right field.

Nate Schierholtz will get the nod in right field tonight, his first start of the postseason. Aubrey Huff will move to the designated hitter spot, and Travis Ishikawa will start at first base.

In nine AB's during the World Series, Burrell has eight strikeouts. He has 19 K's in 38 at-bats during the Giants postseason run.

Bochy said that Burrell would get some extra cuts in the batting cage today and would be back in the starting lineup for Monday night's Game 5.

San Francisco leads 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Lebron James is speaking out about the aftermath of his infamous "Decison" over the summer, saying that if he had to do it over again, the process would have been handled differently.

James does not regret choosing to play for the Miami Heat, and without being specific with what he would have done differently, intimated that things would have been handled differently.

"If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit different," James said in an interview with ESPN.com's Michael Wallace. "But I'm happy with the decision I made. There's always going to be a misunderstanding. I don't know what I would [have done], but I definitely would have changed it."

James, the two-time league MVP, spurned offers from six teams over the summer to choose Miami, which teamed him with All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to instantly form a dynamic nucleus.

He turned down his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, a move that was heavily criticized everywhere.

Churchill Downs is getting ready to host the Breeder's Cup next week, and it will have a record number of entries spread out in the races.

184 horses have been entered to compete in the 27th running of the event, including Zenyatta in the Classic event.

Zenyatta will be trying to win the Classic for the second year in a row, but is expected to have a fairly deep field.

Preakness winner Looking at Lucky will also be among the horses competing in the Classic.

Brett Favre will start today for the Minnesota Vikings against the New England Patriots despite two small fractures in his left ankle.

Favre was listed as questionable on the injury report and Coach Brad Childress has been saying it would be a game-time decision as to whether Favre would play or not.

Favre did not practice with the Vikings all week, but was able to take part in light throwing drills Friday. He spent the week in a walking boot at the Vikings' team facilities.

Favre injured his ankle last week in a loss to Green Bay.

His NFL record streak of 291 straight starts appeared to be in jeopardy for most of the week, but will remain in tact at least one more week.

Favre is also embroiled in an off-field scandal involving some possible lewd text messages that were sent to a former employee of the New York Jets.

The league is investigating the matter.

The chase for the Sprint Cup NASCAR championship is winding down, but drivers will get to wind their horsepower way up today at Talladega Speedway during the AMP Energy Juice 500.

It's the only restrictor plate track used in the final 10 races to determine the Sprint Cup champion, and Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick are all out to stay out of the "Big One."

There is always a major wreck at this superspeedway because with the restrictor plates on the cars, the drivers are always bunched a lot more closely together. Invariably, if an accident does occur, it takes out several drivers at the same time.

Johnson is six points ahead of Hamlin, who is coming in red-hot after winning last week and closing the gap.

With just four races to go, things are heating up.

Vince Lombardi set the standard for excellence in the NFL coaching community in his days with the Green Bay Packers, with many of his teachings and famous quotes still widely used today.

"Lombardi" has made its debut at the Circle Square Theatre in New York City, a play that takes a closer look at one of the most influential sports leaders of our time.

Lombardi was the embodiment of traditional values, and was known to carry his rosary beads around with him during practice and games.

Lombardi always seemed to get the most out of his players through his various means to motivate. Using direct, blunt quotes was usually the best way he did this. Here are some of his most famous:

"Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence."

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all."

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will."   

"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." 

David Ramos/Getty Images

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns 114-106 Friday night, spoiling the home opener for the Suns but give Coach Phil Jackson the 1,100th win of his career.

No coach has reached the 1,100-win plateau faster than Jackson, doing it in 1,560 games with the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers.

Jackson has also won an NBA-best 11 championships as head coach.

Jackson wasn't all that impressed with his feat, saying in his post-game press conference: "It’s just a number,but it’s kind of overwhelming how many it is.”

Kobe Bryant wasn't about to sweep the accomplishment under the rug.

“He’s something else, what he’s been able to accomplish,” Bryant said in an interview with Bob Baum of the Associated Press. “I can’t think of any coach who has accomplished what he’s accomplished in any sport, outside of John Wooden.”

The other coaches to reach 1,100 wins are Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Don Nelson and Lenny Wilkens. 

The BCS Rankings will be released later tonight, and don't expect to see any major changes among last week's top two teams, No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Oregon.

Both teams won convincingly on the road yesterday, with Auburn beating Mississippi 51-31 and Oregon pulling away in the second half from USC to post a 52-32 win.

Two previously unbeaten teams lost yesterday, which will shake up their standing.

Michigan State and Missouri both lost tough games on the road, and Florida State was upset.

How will those losses impact those teams?

Boise State, the darling of the BCS, won again and seems to be on a collusion course with controversy. TCU, another team outside the power conferences, also falls in the same boat as Boise. Hopefully, we won't be subjected to watching these teams play in a bowl game against each other for the third straight year. It was cute the first time, but we don't need novelty in college football.