This year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup defies predictability

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Distributed by The Sports Xchange

The 2013 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup has no respect for conventional wisdom.

Think about it. Matt Kenseth led the standings by four points midway through this year's championship battle, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series headed to Talladega for the sixth Chase race.

Kenseth has embraced restrictor-plate racing, having won the 2009 and 2012 Daytona 500s as well as the 2012 Chase race at Talladega.

Johnson, on the other hand, has said he'd gladly take a 10th-place finish at Talladega and watch the race from his couch.

LeBron James would prefer the Miami Heat not receive their championship rings before a game

On Tuesday night, the Miami Heat will receive their championship rings for the second-consecutive season. It's a momentous occasion for the franchise, a time for celebration and remembering all that went into last June's triumph. It's hard to imagine how anyone involved with the franchise could look upon the event and find it lacking.

Except for the fact that the Heat players have to follow up that pregame ceremony by facing a very good basketball team. Shortly after receiving their rings, the Heat will play the Chicago Bulls and their returning starDerrick Rose. It's such a challenge, in fact, that reigning MVP LeBron James wishes the ceremony didn't take place before such a big contest. From Michael Wallace for ESPN.com:

Sidney Crosby on future of concussions in sports: ‘I’m not that concerned to be honest’

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby sits down with Bob Costas on Tuesday night for an interview on NBC Sports Network (11 p.m. ET); and as one might expect with Costas, it touches on some interesting topics.

Like, for example, on the future of concussions in sports. It’s a subject they’re both passionate about, with Crosby having successfully rehabbed from them and Costas having expressed concern about their impact on future generations getting involved in sports.

When asked about the future of concussions and sports, Crosby said:

“You know what? I’m not that concerned to be honest. I’m probably more confident than ever that they’ll eventually find ways to help. Whether it’d be prevent them, or to treat them. I think the awareness is at an all-time high now for all sports.”

Clippers' summer of success nearly thrown into chaos by owner

In the early afternoon hours of July 3, owner Donald Sterling called Los Angeles Clippers president Andy Roeser and informed him he had rescinded approval on moving Eric Bledsoe and acquiring free agent J.J. Redick in a sign-and-trade agreement. The three-team deal – delivered the owner's blessing only two days earlier – no longer interested Sterling.

Call it off, Sterling instructed Roeser, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Deal's dead.

It didn't matter the news had broken 24 hours earlier of the Clippers sending Bledsoe and Caron Butler to thePhoenix Suns with the Suns' Jared Dudley and Milwaukee's Redick, on a four-year, $27 million contract, joining Los Angeles. It didn't matter the public had been praising Doc Rivers' first deal as the new senior vice president of basketball operations and coach, that Rivers and general manager Gary Sacks had given their word to teams, agents and players that this was a finalized agreement.

Red Sox one victory away from winning eighth World Series

ST. LOUIS – The palpable sense of strangeness that permeated Busch Stadium on Saturday and Sunday finally relented Monday. There was no crazy ending. No weird play. Nothing to remind us that Halloween is but days away and the spirits had brewed something wicked over the weekend. Just another close baseball game between St. Louis and Boston that left the Red Sox with two chances at home to win their eighth World Series.

Boston ace Jon Lester pitched 7 2/3 brilliant innings, continuing his run of superlative pitching throughout these playoffs, and David Ross' RBI double in the seventh gave the Red Sox a lead they would not relinquish during a 3-1 victory in Game 5 of the World Series at Busch Stadium.

'That's so Metro' Buried, New York Red Bulls Are Champions

COMMENTARY | Same old Metro. Always winning.

Cynics and critics can say whatever they want about how little it means for a team to finish a Major League Soccer season atop the standings. The 2013 New York Red Bulls are and forever will be known as Champions. Nobody can take that away from the team or from what has been the most tortured fan base in the league.

Sunday evening wasn't just about RBNY putting five unanswered goals on the scoreboard en route to defeating Chicago Fire and earning the first significant and meaningful trophy in franchise history. It was a statement of defiance to any and all entities, real or imagined, that have been against this organization for nearly two decades. In the same year that New York City Football Club were announced and New York Cosmos again kinda/sorta became a thing, the Red Bulls emerged as North America's top soccer club.

Kroos and Robben resume Bayern training

Bayern Munich's Toni Kroos and Arjen Robben have both resumed individual training after picking up knocks in the 3-2 win against Hertha Berlin.

Pep Guardiola's men narrowly edged out the capital outfit 3-2 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, with both the midfielder and the winger suffering minor injuries.

However, it appears the pair will soon be able to train with the team again, after being put on individual regimes already.