Top Sports Stories (Jan 22, 2012)

Patriots and Ravens kick it off in the AFC Championship game? what’s going on? (3-0 Patriots)

The Patriots and Ravens are going at it on the Gillette Stadium field, and the AFC Championship game has begun. Thus far, it has been like we thought. The Patriots began with a stop on defense, holding the Ravens to a short gain on first down, then …

Boston Herald • January 22, 2012, 12:18 PM (PST)

NJ.com

Paterno was the last one of his kind

Was it a self-fulfilling prophecy? There will, of course, be those who will claim that the passing of legendary former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was not so much from the effects of the lung cancer that weakened his 85-year-old body as from …

Philadelphia Daily News • January 22, 2012, 12:54 PM (PST)

Los Angeles Times

Mike Brown calls Brian Shaw a "peer of mine"

Brian Shaw hoped he would succeed Phil Jackson last year after spending five seasons as a Lakers assistant coach. But after the Lakers fell in a four-game sweep to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Western Conference semifinals, Lakers executive Jim …

Los Angeles Times Blogs • January 22, 2012, 10:59 AM (PST)

NBC Sports

Key dates in the Penn State child sex abuse case

A chronological look at the case against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, based on grand jury reports. Some key dates in Penn State football and since the scandal broke are included. 1969 – Jerry Sandusky starts his coaching …

San Francisco Gate • January 22, 2012, 12:39 PM (PST)

Chris Paul out with injury; Caron Butler to play

Chris Paul sat out his fifth straight game Sunday with a strained left hamstring. But Caron Butler is playing against the Toronto Raptors at Staples Center after he missed Friday night’s game against Minnesota with a hyperextended right knee. Clippers …

Los Angeles Times • January 22, 2012, 12:04 PM (PST)

Associated Press

Cooley leads Irish to upset over No. 1 Syracuse

By RICK GANO AP Sports Writer SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Mike Brey’s viewing selection for his players the night before meeting top-ranked Syracuse was an easy choice. The Notre Dame coach showed a video of former Irish teams upsetting No. 1 teams over …

msnbc.com • January 22, 2012, 9:12 AM (PST)

Boston Herald