Rays
Waiting on Huff has big payoff
Impressed with slugger's work ethic, Rays find room for him after poor '01 and are rewarded with a breakout season.

$1 deals set for finale
ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays will show their appreciation at Sunday's home finale with $1 specials on tickets and concessions.

Up next: The Yankees
SCOUTING REPORT: Everything may not be perfect, evidenced by the weekend scuffle between pitcher Orlando Hernandez and catcher Jorge Posada, but the Yankees are headed toward a fifth straight AL East championship and a shot at another World Series title.

Rays can postpone Yanks' celebration
ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays haven't had many things to celebrate this sorry season.

Lightning
Prospect watch
PLAYER: Mathieu Biron.

Players place more emphasis on scrimmages
BRANDON -- Coach John Tortorella keeps saying not to read too much into the team's scrimmages. But try telling that to center Vinny Lecavalier and wings Ruslan Fedotenko and Shane Willis.

Helping hands, helping feet Soccer charity drive off to running start [Times photo: Toni L. Sandys] Soccer For Souls hopes to share its love of the game with those less fortunate.

NFL
Philly shows off its offense
EAGLES 37, REDSKINS 7: Donovan McNabb shreds Washington's defense, and Philadelphia holds Steve Spurrier's offense scoreless.

Just look at who's 2-0 and who's 0-2
These are strange times we live in. Two weeks into the season and the league is standing on its head -- the unexpected the norm, the predictable the unpredictable.

Around the NFC
BEARS: Backup quarterback Chris Chandler alerted coach Dick Jauron to have the officials review Michael Vick's 42-yard completion to Willie Jackson with 4:02 left. The call was reversed.

Around the AFC
BENGALS: The team has been outscored 54-13 in losses to San Diego and Cleveland.

Vikings, Anderson discuss return deal
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Vikings have offered Gary Anderson, the NFL's career scoring leader, a contract to return as their placekicker.

Golf
Cink is happy to play at Innisbrook but ...
The golfer had his sights set on finishing in the top 50 and playing in a more lucrative event, but he's glad to be back in familiar territory.

College football
FAMU needs QB to remain healthy
It's just the third week of the season, but the book on Florida A&M is this:

Around the nation
Top Tennessee receiver to play against Florida

State practice reports
TBS to broadcast USF-Oklahoma

Et cetera
Around the county
Honors

Sports briefs
U.S. moves on in world basketball

Motorsports
Martin takes lead but don't make a big deal
Mark Martin took the Winston Cup points lead Sunday for the first time in more than two years.

Baseball
Dodgers shut down ace Brown for year
LOS ANGELES -- Oft-injured Dodgers ace Kevin Brown won't pitch again this season because he hasn't recovered from lower back surgery he had in June, manager Jim Tracy said Monday.

Preps
Packers girls focused on state, beating Plant
After finishing 14 points behind state power Plant at the USF Invitational, Largo coach Mike Beck was not surprised to find a hungry group of girls at Monday's practice who wanted to know one thing: What do we have to do to beat the Panthers?

Outdoors
Daily fishing report
Last week, just before Tropical Storm Hanna, a trip offshore for amberjacks using live blue runners, large pinfish and threadfins for bait on offshore springs and shipwrecks proved successful. The jacks were big, running from 35 to 90 pounds, in 110 to 151 feet of water.