Germany coach Jogi Löw continues lineup experimentation

Ordinarily an attacking midfielder with club team Dortmund, Mario Götze has been used as a “false 9” in Germany’s recent internationals.   There’s a saying in Swabia, the southwestern part of Germany: “no criticism is praise enough.” This unforgiving attitude was [...]

Hideki Matsui reflects on his long road with the Yomiuri Giants and with the New York Yankees

The door opened, and a burst of late afternoon sun tumbled into the foyer of the Atlantic Grill, a seafood restaurant near Lincoln Center in Manhattan. With the sun came a flutter of city sounds circulating in the winter sky, sounds that ceased immediately upon the door snapping shut. Two men stood tall in the quiet semi-darkness.

Giants look to come up big

Since winning nine straight Japan Series titles -- the last in 1973 -- the Yomiuri Giants have come up small when it comes to repeat championships. The franchise hasn't won back-to-back titles in five chances since that so-called V-9 era in the 1960s and early '70s.