| TIKI REACHES OUT TO CONGRATULATE EX-'MATE STRAHAN
Monday, they will fly to Phoenix for Super Bowl XLII. Strahan and Barber were teammates for Barber's entire 10-year career, making this trip a bit different. Barber has said numerous times he has no regrets about leaving when he did. "I respect the fact Tiki decided he was done, he didn't want to play any more," Strahan said. "You don't know how many times I said if I quit and we went to the Super Bowl and won, I'm coming back here and hold somebody hostage until I get a ring. I understand Tiki made his decision and I know he has no regrets. . . . If he says it doesn't bother him I'll take his word for it that it doesn't. But if I were at home it would bother the heck out of me. I'm telling you." * There's more than pride at stake in the Super Bowl. The winner's share is $78,000, the loser's share is $40,000.
NBA Beat: Davis awaits reviews after poor performance
Sundance was a blast, man, but this is still his world for at least a few more years, as long as Baron Davis can work basketball into his schedule. Talk about tough critics. Western Conference coaches, who admire his skill but in some cases disdain his approach, vote this week on the All-Star reserves in a race among guards packed so tight that few can recall anything like it. Steve Nash vs. Manu Ginobili vs. Chris Paul vs. Deron Williams vs. Brandon Roy vs. Tony Parker vs. Davis. Seven realistic candidates for three or four spots in the West backcourt, alongside starters Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson, for the midseason showcase Feb. 17 in New Orleans. "It's probably been awhile since we've had this many," Minnesota coach Randy Wittman said. "And there are going to be guys left out.
OAXACA A YEAR LATER: Life returning to normal, but tensions linger
The dining room to the right of the courtyard is as empty as the one to the left. I have returned to Oaxaca on assignment: To find out if, one year after deadly riots crippled the city, it is again an attractive destination for visitors seeking language schools, colonial history, craft markets and art galleries. I'm eager - and a bit apprehensive - to check in on friends I'd made here and find out whether Oaxaca still belongs on Mexico's A-list. It didn't take long to realize that the answer is more complicated than I'd thought. Oaxaca is no longer the filthy, smoldering wreck of 2006. Nor, however, is it the bustling cultural center of years past. It appears safe and clean. But unresolved political tensions have prompted the U.S. State Department to keep it on a watch list.
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