MIAMI (Reuters) – The fighting talk from NASCAR title challengers Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards has ventured close to boxing territory and on Sunday, in the season-ending championship race at Homestead Speedway, there really are only two contenders staring each other down.

Carl Edwards goes into the race with just a three point lead over Tony Stewart, meaning that a victory for either driver would be a knockout blow, guaranteeing them the championship.

With Jimmie Johnson’s remarkable five year streak of wins having come to an end, the chance of a walk-off winner on Sunday is a dream finale for the sport.

NASCAR’s play-off system was introduced in 2004 with the intention of creating more close-finishes to the season and none have been closer than this year’s.

Edwards needs only to finish ahead of Stewart to clinch his first series championship while Stewart, who owns the tie break, needs only to tie Edwards to clinch what would be his third.

The 40-year-old Stewart’s victories in 2002 and 2005 haven’t, however, taken away any of his hunger for glory.

“I’d wreck my mom to win a championship, I’ll wreck your mom to win a championship,” Stewart told Edwards at a press conference on Thursday.

MIAMI, Nov 18 (Reuters) – The fighting talk from NASCAR title challengers Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards has ventured close to boxing territory and on Sunday, in the season-ending championship race at Homestead Speedway, there really are only two contenders staring each other down.

Carl Edwards goes into the race with just a three point lead over Tony Stewart, meaning that a victory for either driver would be a knockout blow, guaranteeing them the championship.

With Jimmie Johnson’s remarkable five year streak of wins having come to an end, the chance of a walk-off winner on Sunday is a dream finale for the sport.

NASCAR’s play-off system was introduced in 2004 with the intention of creating more close-finishes to the season and none have been closer than this year’s.

Edwards needs only to finish ahead of Stewart to clinch his first series championship while Stewart, who owns the tie break, needs only to tie Edwards to clinch what would be his third.

The 40-year-old Stewart’s victories in 2002 and 2005 haven’t, however, taken away any of his hunger for glory.

“I’d wreck my mom to win a championship, I’ll wreck your mom to win a championship,” Stewart told Edwards at a press conference on Thursday.

MIAMI, Nov 18 (Reuters) – The fighting talk from NASCAR title challengers Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards has ventured close to boxing territory and on Sunday, in the season-ending championship race at Homestead Speedway, there really are only two contenders staring each other down.

Carl Edwards goes into the race with just a three point lead over Tony Stewart, meaning that a victory for either driver would be a knockout blow, guaranteeing them the championship.

With Jimmie Johnson’s remarkable five year streak of wins having come to an end, the chance of a walk-off winner on Sunday is a dream finale for the sport.

NASCAR’s play-off system was introduced in 2004 with the intention of creating more close-finishes to the season and none have been closer than this year’s.

Edwards needs only to finish ahead of Stewart to clinch his first series championship while Stewart, who owns the tie break, needs only to tie Edwards to clinch what would be his third.

The 40-year-old Stewart’s victories in 2002 and 2005 haven’t, however, taken away any of his hunger for glory.

“I’d wreck my mom to win a championship, I’ll wreck your mom to win a championship,” Stewart told Edwards at a press conference on Thursday.

By Simon Evans

(Reuters) – David Beckham hopes to crown what could be his final season in Major League Soccer with a league championship when he and the L.A. Galaxy face the Houston Dynamo in Sunday’s MLS Cup.

A victory over the Texans would secure the 36-year-old midfielder’s first MLS title to add to league championships won earlier in his career in England with Manchester United and Spain with Real Madrid.

It won’t match those wins in terms of status but it would be the perfect response to critics inside the United States who questioned his commitment to the Galaxy.

The midfielder, who was criticized for loan moves to AC Milan in Italy, came back from last season’s Achilles tendon injury to deliver accomplished performances as L.A. finished with the best regular season record and then came through tough challenges in the playoffs defeating New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake.

Now the Galaxy, who play at their own Home Depot Center venue on Sunday, are hoping to persuade Beckham to come back for one more season although the Englishman has been guarded about his intentions.

“I’ve always said it’s down to how I feel physically,” Beckham said this week, “My priority always is my family and are they happy. We love living here and we’ve loved living here for five years and we continue to love that part of it. But it will be down to how I feel physically. I’m 36 years old, but I still love the game like I was 21 years old,” he said.

Nov 18 (Reuters) – David Beckham hopes to crown what could be his final season in Major League Soccer with a league championship when he and the L.A. Galaxy face the Houston Dynamo in Sunday’s MLS Cup.

A victory over the Texans would secure the 36-year-old midfielder’s first MLS title to add to league championships won earlier in his career in England with Manchester United and Spain with Real Madrid.

It won’t match those wins in terms of status but it would be the perfect response to critics inside the United States who questioned his commitment to the Galaxy.

The midfielder, who was criticised for loan moves to AC Milan in Italy, came back from last season’s Achilles tendon injury to deliver accomplished performances as L.A. finished with the best regular season record and then came through tough challenges in the playoffs defeating New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake.

Now the Galaxy, who play at their own Home Depot Center venue on Sunday, are hoping to persuade Beckham to come back for one more season although the Englishman has been guarded about his intentions.

“I’ve always said it’s down to how I feel physically,” Beckham said this week, “My priority always is my family and are they happy. We love living here [in LA] and we’ve loved living here for five years and we continue to love that part of it. But it will be down to how I feel physically. I’m 36 years old, but I still love the game like I was 21 years old,” he said.

Physically, Beckham remains able to compete with players 15 years younger than him, but he often ends games in clear pain and discomfort.

By Simon Evans

(Reuters) – The Houston Texans must once again show their ability to compensate for the loss of a key player after learning on Monday that quarterback Matt Schaub is out with an injury, but few would bet against them doing just that.

The Indianapolis Colts are proof of the damage a single injury can do as the loss of Peyton Manning has transformed the team from one of the National Football League’s contenders to the only winless team remaining this season.

But the AFC South division-leading Texans (7-3) have shown already this season that the loss of a fundamentally important player need not end a team’s playoff hopes.

The Texans have been without five-times Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson, twice the NFL’s leader in receiving yards, since he suffered a hamstring injury early in a Week Four win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The injury left Schaub without his favorite target so the Texans switched their approach to a more ground-led offense and the results have been impressive with Sunday’s 37-9 crushing of the Buccaneers in Tampa their fourth successive victory.

The Texans are rushing for almost 160 yards a game thanks to outstanding running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate who are proving that the mantra about the NFL being a ‘passing league’ is somewhat overstated.

MIAMI (Reuters) – John Kasay’s overtime field goal gave the New Orleans Saints a 26-23 victory over the Atlanta Falcons as the visitors capitalised on a failed gamble by the home team to take control of the NFC South Sunday.

In other NFL action, the San Francisco 49ers picked up their seventh straight win with a 27-20 victory over the New York Giants, while the Pittsburgh Steelers got back on track with a 24-17 victory over Cincinnati.

Early season pace-setters, the Detroit Lions, saw their overall record slip to 6-3 with a punishing 37-13 defeat to NFC North rivals the Chicago Bears.

The main talking point in Atlanta will be home coach Mike Smith’s decision to go for a fourth-down on his own 29-yard line, a move which failed and allowed the Falcons’ divisional rivals to win the game with Kasay’s 26-yard kick.

The Falcons had rallied in the fourth quarter with Tony Gonzalez collecting on a 20-yard Matt Ryan touchdown pass and then Matt Bryant’s 27-yard field goal leveling the scores.

Smith’s decision to run the ball with only inches needed to make a first down did not come off when Michael Turner failed to advance and that gave Drew Brees the ball, knowing only a little forward progression was required to get within field goal range.

A 12-yard pass to Jed Collins was followed by a six-yard run from Mark Ingram to set up Kasay for the decisive kick. Brees passed for a total of 322 yards and two touchdowns.

MIAMI (Reuters) – The Miami Dolphins ended a year-long streak without a home victory by beating the Washington Redskins 20-9 on Sunday with two touchdowns from Reggie Bush finally giving their fans something to cheer about.

The victory against a disappointing Redskins, whose offense was ineffective with quarterback Rex Grossman throwing two interceptions, snaps a run of seven losses since November 14, 2010.

Miami had lost 12 of their last 13 games at home — with divisional rivals the New England Patriots having won more times at the Dolphins’ stadium.

This was also the second straight victory for the Dolphins following their win at Kansas City last week – when they also stopped their opponent from scoring a touchdown.

Just two wins but after starting the season 0-7 and having endured plenty of dissent from their fans, the Dolphins were finally in upbeat mood.

“I was really happy for the home fans, really happy to get a win here, mostly happy for the players in the locker-room,” said Miami’s head coach Tony Sparano, whose job has been widely reported to be under threat.

“It was nice to get that out of the way and I was really excited to see them cheering. It is nice to be able to walk into the locker-room here and have a chance to celebrate a victory instead of getting on a plane to do it,” he said, referring to the Dolphins better road record.

MIAMI (Reuters) – A field goal in overtime from John Kasay gave the New Orleans Saints a thrilling 26-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons as they took over control of the NFC South in the National Football League Sunday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, meanwhile, continued their rise in the AFC with a 24-17 victory over Cincinnati.

The main talking point in Atlanta will be coach Mike Smith’s decision to go for it on fourth down on his own 29 yard line – a brave move which failed to come off and allowed divisional rivals the Saints to win the game with Kasay’s 26 yard kick.

The Falcons had fought back well in the fourth quarter with Tony Gonzalez collecting on a 20 yard Matt Ryan touchdown pass and then Matt Bryant’s 27 yard field goal leveling the scores.

Smith’s decision to run the ball with only inches to make a first down didn’t come off when Michael Turner failed to advance and that gave Drew Brees the ball knowing he need only make some forward progression to get within field goal range.

A 12 yard pass to Jed Collins was followed by a six yard run from Mark Ingram to set up Kasay for the decisive kick. Brees passed for a total of 322 yards and touchdowns.

The increasingly impressive Houston Texans moved to 7-3 with a 37-9 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Matt Schuab threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns while the Texans’ ability on the ground was evident again with Arian Foster, Ben Tate and Derrick Ward all running in touchdowns.

MIAMI (Reuters) – Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade says he is ready to compete for the United States in next year’s Olympic Games, ending uncertainty over his involvement in the team’s gold medal defense.

Wade said in July that he was unsure whether he would return with other players from the successful Beijing team and compete in London.

But in an interview with Reuters, Wade said he was in talks over his involvement but would say yes if he was asked to be part of the squad.

“I have had talks and obviously the talks will go further as this year goes on but I’ve told them that if they want me, I am there,” he said.

Wade’s Miami Heat team mate LeBron James has also said he will play in London while reports have suggested the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant is also ready to feature.

Wade, a seven-times NBA All-Star, will be 30 next year and one of the older players on the likely U.S. roster but he said that did not worry him.

“Just one more hurrah from me. London would be a great experience and would be a great ending of my Olympic career,” he added.