Brian Gionta ended the game with his shootout score.(c) del tufo.

(Philadelphia, PA) ??? New Jersey forward Zach Parise faked out Flyers goalie Antero Niittymaki to get the game-winning shootout goal to give the Devils the 4-3 victory. Brian Gionta scored the second SO goal to end the game. Niittymaki, who has avoided season-ending hip surgery for a torn labrum, had trouble going post-to-post after a complete game. The injury was news to Parise.

???I didn???t know he had a bad hip. I wish you had told me that before the game,??? said an honest Parise.

He then talked about his #1 shootout move.

???It???s the one I???ve done the last couple of times???and it???s worked the last couple of times so I just stuck with it.???

Oddly enough Simon Gagne looked like he scored the first shootout goal on Martin Brodeur (stopped 22 shots) but the Devils goalie managed to use his leg pad to move the puck out of harm???s way before it could cross the goal line. The potential goal was actually reviewed and it was a rarity to review a goal in that situation considering the referee???s are right on top of the play and should be able to make a definitive call.

(PASADENA, CA) - Since 1998, the UCLA Bruins have not been the team the City of Angels made noise about. Staring into the window of adding another year to that, the Bruins defense flexed their muscles and got their city back for a day, and changed USC's travel plans all in one swoop.

UCLA picked off John David Booty within a minute left in regulation to preserve a 13-9 win, ruining the #2 Trojans' hopes to play for the national title in Glendale, AZ.

Booty threw for 274 yards, but could only engineer one scoring drive that put USC up 9-7 at one point. UCLA QB Patrick Cowan put the Bruins up 7-0 in the first quarter with a one-yard TD run, but the Trojans got a safety and a one-yard TD run by C.J. Gable.

CHARGING AHEAD: San Diego Chargers running back LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON leads the NFL this year with 24 total touchdowns. Tomlinson???s total ties for the fifth most in a season. The six-year veteran from TCU needs five TDs throughthe Chargers??? final five games to pass Seattle running back SHAUN ALEXANDER???s NFL record of 28 set last season.

Through 11 games, Tomlinson is ahead of Alexander???s 2005 pace.Following are the players with the most touchdowns in a single season and each player???s total through the first 12 gamesof that year:
PLAYER TEAM YEAR TOTAL TDs TDs AFTER 12 GAMES
Shaun Alexander Seattle 2005 28 22
Priest Holmes Kansas City 2003 27 17
Marshall Faulk St. Louis 2000 26 15
Emmitt Smith Dallas 1995 25 21
John Riggins Washington 1983 24 19
Priest Holmes Kansas City 2002 24 22
LaDainian Tomlinson San Diego 2006 24* ???
*Through 11 games

Tomlinson???s 24 touchdowns in San Diego???s first 11 games would be the highest total by a player in the first 12 games of a season. The Chargers running back can add to his mark this Sunday when San Diego travels to Buffalo.
Following are the players with the most touchdowns through the first 12 games of a season:

Simon Gagne had a great breakaway hit the post. ??2006 photo del tufo.

(Philadelphia, PA) ??? Tomas Vokoun is the #1 goalie in Nashville but with him on the shelf backup Chris Mason stepped up stopping 24 shots and when Flyers defenseman Mike Rathje failed to clear the puck Nashville forward Paul Kariya took it from him and passed it to Martin Erat who buried it at 14:51 to give Nashville the 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

???That was good that we capitalized on that,??? said Mason. ???We said after the first period that the majority of their chances came off our mistakes.???

Early in the game Paul Kariya zoomed in untouched to get a backhand on Antero Niittymaki who made the save. It was a statement made by both teams that this contest would be a close one. Under new coach John Stevens the Flyers have been very competitive and the scores have been close. So much so that the Flyers had a two-game winning streak.

Nashville hammered Peter Forsberg early and Ben Eager came to his aid. Dan Hamhuis gave a nice hip check and J.P. Dumont piled on. Teams are starting to challenge the Flyers because they know they are ready to rumble but when the wrong players end up in the penalty box they lose.

Lucienne Cormier is from New Brunswick, Canada and her husband Rheal is a professional baseball player who has 15 seasons under his belt. The family has had to move quite a few times since Rheal has played for four different clubs. The couple has been together for 22 years and they have been married for 15. When you have kids life on the road can be hard.

???I guess it???s more when you have kids,??? she said honestly. ???Once the kids started school that???s when we signed with Philly for a long-term deal. Actually when we signed with Philly we stay there in the off-season, in New Jersey, so it would be easier with the kids.???

Cormier is a relief pitcher who is at the top of his profession so his salary is good but since baseball players have to endure a 162-game regular season plus a few months of spring training and possibly the post-season that doesn???t leave the family a lot of free time.

???I know baseball players and athletes generally make a lot of money but if you saw how we live sometimes we live out of suitcases and never see our nice houses and barely get to drive our cars,??? she said honestly.