Jeff Hart

Atlanta Falcons coach Bobby Petrino declined to say Friday whether Byron Leftwich or Joey Harrington will start at quarterback against Tampa Bay.

Jimmie Johnson is determined to do everything right this week. The reigning Cup champion, who holds an 86-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon heading into the season-ending Ford 400, got off to a great start Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, winning his fourth pole of the season and the 13th of his career.

Nearly a dozen northeast Georgia football teams will begin their quest for state titles Friday night in the first round of the playoffs in every classification. Here is a capsule look at some of the biggest matchups in the area:

The North Hall and McNair football teams should know a little bit about each other when they meet Friday night in the opening round of the Class AAA playoffs at The Brickyard. The two teams' met last year with the Trojans coming away with a 43-26 win in the second round.

Despite being just five years old Flowery Branch will have a distinct advantage when it comes to playoff football. The Falcons play host to Chamblee in the first round of the Class AAA football playoffs Friday night.

The Habersham Central football team will find out very quickly if it is a pretender or a contender for the Class AAAA state title this year. The Raiders (9-1, No. 2 seed from 8-AAAA) open the first round of the playoffs at home against last year's state runner-up Marist.

Stay-Rod? In a startling turn of events, Alex Rodriguez spoke with the Steinbrenner family and New York Yankees officials Wednesday and told them he wants to stay in pinstripes. His longtime agent, Scott Boras, wasn't involved in the talks.

Wins haven't been easy to come by in Charlotte's brief history in the NBA, but the Atlanta Hawks have provided more of them than any other team. The Bobcats will be trying for their fourth straight win against the Hawks when they visit Atlanta on Wednesday.

Ricky Williams' suspension ended after more than 18 months when he was reinstated Wednesday by the NFL, and the winless Miami Dolphins might welcome him back.

The final regular season broadcasts of HCS-TV