Orleans Saints

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Los Angeles Rams quarterback Chris Miller was released from a New Orleans hospital yesterday after at CT scan revealed no serious damage from a concussion he suffered in the first quarter of a 37-34 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

The NFL has dropped the hammer on the New Orleans Saints. And believe me, it was a heavy hammer. The league on Wednesday afternoon announced the punishment for the Saints in their bounty scandal. (And moments later, the New York Jets announced that they had traded for Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, a sequence of events that surely put Twitter's servers to the test.) With its ruling on the Saints, the NFL made it clear that bounty systems must go the way of leather helmets.

BASEBALL American League * Boston Red Sox -- Signed Steve Lyons (infielder) to a one-year contract. Placed Randy Kutcher (outfielder) on waivers.BASKETBALL (NBA) * Washington Bullets -- Placed Charles Jones (center) on the injured list. Signed Larry Robinson (guard).FOOTBALL (NFL) * New Orleans Saints -- Announced the retirement of Brad Edelman (guard).

This was one of the great scenes of this Ravens season, and it came in the moments immediately after that huge 30-24 win over the New Orleans Saints Sunday. John Harbaugh had just finished his post-game interview and burst through the door of the Ravens locker room. Smiling radiantly, the Ravens coach made a sharp right turn and headed straight for the showers. "HOW 'BOUT THEM RAVENS?!" he screamed. And from the gushing water and swirling mist there came this joyous hooting and howling as a dozen players, including Ray Lewis, still the heart and soul of this team, took up the cry: "HOW 'BOUT THEM RAVENS?

BaseballCincinnati Reds -- Announced the retirement of P Tim Burke.FootballNew Orleans Saints -- Announced the retirement of FB Buford Jordan.HockeyNew Jersey Devils -- Recalled RW Doug Brown from AHL Utica.Pittsburgh Penguins -- Recalled G Rob Dopson from IHL Cleveland.

Baseball2 Sacramento Kings -- Waived F Paris McCurdy. FootballBuffalo Bills -- Activated NT Jeff Wright from IR. Waived DE Reggie Rogers.Miami Dolphins -- Waived OT Dave Zawatson. Activated LB Bryan Cox from IR.New Orleans Saints -- Placed RB Dalton Hilliard on IR. Signed RB Stanford Jennings.San Francisco 49ers -- Waived DE Greg Joelson. Activated TE Brent Jones from IR.

CollegeCatawba College (N.C.) -- Announced the resignation of football coach J.D. Haglan, effective Dec. 31.FootballDenver Broncos -- Signed RB Leonard Russell to a one-year contract. Released RB Robert Delpino.New Orleans Saints -- Claimed TE Patt Evans off waivers from the Kansas City Chiefs.HockeyLos Angeles Kings -- Named Dave Taylor assistant to the general manager.

BasketballMiami Heat -- Signed G John Morton.FootballIndianapolis Colts -- Waived RB Ed Toner. Activated LB Tony Walker from the practice squad.New Orleans Saints -- Placed WR Louis Lipps on IR. Activated WR Marcus Dowdell from the practice squad.Pittsburgh Steelers -- Activated TE Eric Green from the IR. Green was placed on the list Sept. 9 with a shoulder injury. Waived TE Jesse Anderson, who had been claimed from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Green was placed on IR.

BASEBALLmerican League * Orioles -- Agreed to terms with Jeff Ballard (pitcher) on a one-year contract.* Cleveland Indians -- Signed Doug Jones (pitcher) to a one-year contract.* New York Yankees -- Signed Mike Witt (pitcher) to a three-year contract.ational League * St. Louis Cardinals -- Signed Alex Trevino (catcher) to a one-year contract.BASKETBALL (NBA) * Milwaukee Bucks -- Signed Alvin Robertson (guard) to an eight-year contract.FOOTBALL (NFL) * Los Angeles Raiders -- Waived Ricky Hunley (linebacker)

Going into the season, the Washington Redskins figured that today's game against the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome would have playoff implications and maybe even be a division-clincher. The Redskins were correct in their assessment, just not in the way they counted on. Redskins@Saints Today, 1 p.m., Ch. 5, 1430 AM Line: Saints by 9 1/2

Quick look: It is fitting that Peyton Manning and Drew Brees meet in the Super Bowl, because they were the best quarterbacks in the NFL this season and the players who finished first and second in the voting for NFL Most Valuable Player. Brees quarterbacked the Saints to their first Super Bowl appearance by leading the league in passer rating (109.6) and completion percentage (70.6), and by throwing more touchdown passes (34) than anyone. He got a little help from his friends in the backfield — Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell and Reggie Bush — as the Saints went from the 28th-ranked run game in the NFL to the sixth.

NEW ORLEANS - Saints coach Sean Payton carefully avoided superlatives, even as his team chased perfection in bolting to a 13-0 start. As the Patriots learned two years ago, it's not about pursuing 19-0, it's about pursuing victory in the final game. Maybe when this season is over, a three-game skid to end the regular season, including home losses to the Cowboys and Buccaneers, will turn out to be the springboard his Saints needed entering the playoffs. Momentum can be a fleeting thing, but the Saints grabbed firm control of it Saturday when they crushed the Cardinals 45-14.

1 Turning point: For the underachieving Minnesota Vikings (1-3) and New Orleans Saints (2-2), tonight's Monday Night Football contest (8:30, ESPN) could turn their season around. 2 No sweep: The White Sox staved off elimination at the hands of the upstart Rays yesterday to force Game 4 today in Chicago (5:07, TBS). 3 Volleyball clash: One of the top volleyball teams in the area, Mount de Sales, No. 4 in The Baltimore Sun's poll, plays host to No. 5 Catonsville at 5 p.m. 4 Purple night: The Ravens are inviting female fans to "A Purple Evening" at M&T Bank Stadium from 6 to 9 p.m. More than 1,500 fans are expected to meet players.

AN EAGER CROWD HAD GATHERED IN the Baltimore Convention Center's Charles Street lobby to watch a ribbon cutting. It wasn't the ribbon cutting itself that excited this group. It was what came right after -- the Preview Night Party for the Baltimore Boat Show. That meant having first crack at the 700 boats on display inside the center. It also meant that perusing all the vessels and their accoutrements came with drinks, hors d'oeuvres and even Chesapeake cruising tunes provided by Them Eastport Oyster Boys.

The world may be watching when the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears hook up tonight in the Super Bowl, but only because the football gods fumbled the matchup that everybody really wanted to see. OK, not everybody, but everybody who counts. Ravens fans were geared up for glory, and the rest of the country (with a couple of notable metropolitan exceptions) wanted to see the New Orleans Saints complete their unlikely march to Miami. Who would have gone home with the Lombardi Trophy? Who knows, but an Internet site called WhatIFSports.

Every sports town brags that it has the best fans in the world (except maybe Philadelphia), but teacher Colleen Pavelka might have put Chicago over the top when she asked doctors to induce labor on Friday to assure her husband would be able to attend yesterday's NFC championship game at Soldier Field. Obviously, Mark Pavelka is a huge Chicago Bears fan if he was grappling with the choice of watching his wife have a baby or maybe watching Rex Grossman lay a giant egg, but to hear that his wife was willing to move up the birth of the couple's second child just so he wouldn't have to face that decision, well, it almost brought tears to my eyes.

BaseballMinnesota Twins -- Placed 1B Gene Larkin on the 15-day DL with a strain of his left Achilles' tendon, retroactive to Thursday. Recalled OF Dave McCarty from Triple-A Portland.CollegesUrsinus -- Named Larry Morris men's assistant basketball coach.FootballCincinnati Bengals -- Signed RB Eric Ball.New Orleans Saints -- Suspended CB Reginald Jones for the first game of the season for failing to report to camp.Track and field IAAF -- Suspended Ukrainian 400-meter runner Lyudmila Dzhigalova for four years after he failed an out-of-competition steroid test in Kiev on July 31.

BaseballOakland Athletics -- Activated 1B Mark McGwire from the 15-day DL. Optioned C Scott Hemond to Triple-A Tacoma.New York Mets -- Signed P Bill Santamaria and OF-1B Terrence Long.San Diego Padres -- Signed P Dustin Hermanson. Recalled P Mike Campbell from Triple-A Las Vegas. Designated IF Keith Lockhart for assignment.FootballMinnesota Vikings -- Signed DE Roy Barker and DE James Harris, S Lamar McGriggs, DT Esera Tuaolo, CB Harlan Davis and TE Andrew Jordan. Waived WR Ronnie West.New Orleans Saints -- Agreed to terms with WR Eric Martin on a one-year contract.

NEW ORLEANS -- Shortly after taking the job as coach of the New Orleans Saints last winter, Sean Payton set about persuading Drew Brees to sign with the team. Payton showed the free-agent quarterback and his wife around the city - then got lost driving them back to the Saints' suburban training facility. After a period of time steering aimlessly, he called for directions and was told to head in the opposite direction. It might have been the only wrong turn Payton has taken since arriving here.

NEW ORLEANS -- They are two of the most significant quarterbacks to wear the fleur-de-lis, both of them representing in their own way the serial futility of the New Orleans Saints. One was the martyr to the early years - always undersupported, basically an organ donor to a franchise. The other was the perfect match in origin and temperament, but his Cajun spark never quite caught in the postseason. Archie Manning and Bobby Hebert are bearing happy witness to a new New Orleans football outlook.