Jeff Hart

Kari Lehtonen turned aside 33 shots in his first NHL appearance in six weeks, and Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and assist in the Atlanta Thrashers' 4-0 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday night.

Georgia coach Mark Richt turned politician late Saturday night as he lobbied for his No. 4 Bulldogs to land a spot in the national championship game.
Richt stated his case after watching No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia lose on Saturday night, opening the way for No. 3 Ohio State, Georgia, No. 5 LSU, and No. 6 Virginia Tech in the new national championship game.

The curse of No. 2 claimed another victim. West Virginia is out of the national title race. Ohio State is in. In a season defined by upsets, Pittsburgh came up with an enormous one, beating the second-ranked Mountaineers 13-9 Saturday night to throw another curveball at the BCS.

The No. 9 Sooners rushed for three touchdowns, quarterback Sam Bradford threw for two more and Oklahoma coolly captured its fifth Big 12 title since 2000 by upending the upstart Tigers 38-17 Saturday night in the conference championship game in the Alamodome.

The Chestatee boys basketball team won its second straight game in as many days holding off Lakeview Academy 51-42 Saturday night at the Lakeview gym.

The Buford football team erased four years of frustration Friday night knocking off Charlton County 21-14 in the quarterfinals of the Class AA state playoffs. The win moved the Wolves into the semifinals at The Georgia Dome next week. They will take on Dublin, who was a 27-13 winner over Pepperell, next Saturday at 9 a.m.

Ware County

North Gwinnett scored 21 consecutive points in the second half and then held off a furious rally in the final minute to beat Newnan 38-35 and advance to the Class AAAAA semifinals at the Georgia Dome next week.

Joe Horn insists that the Atlanta Falcons have far more at stake than building momentum for 2008. Conventional wisdom might dispute Horn's positive spin. The Falcons (3-8) were outscored by a combined 42 points in home losses the last two weeks, due mostly to injuries that have worn down the offensive line.

The New Orleans Hornets lost a crown or two but they're still playing like kings of the road. Center Tyson Chandler missed the second half after losing two crowns, but the Hornets still continued their road success, beating the Atlanta Hawks 92-86 on Friday night as David West had 22 points and 17 rebounds.