Your Top Plays for Today: AP's Sports Guide

Here's a look at some of the defining moments, exciting scenes, triumphs and defeats from the world of sports.

Junior Seau was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a bittersweet reminder of the ebullient linebacker who took his own life in 2012 after battling brain disease. At the NFL Honors awards ceremony in Phoenix, on the eve of Super Bowl 49, Seau headlined a 2015 Hall of Fame class that also included running back Jerome Bettis, defensive end Charles Haley, wide reciever Tim Brown and guard Will Shields. He earned six All-Pro selections and 12 Pro Bowl appearances in his 20 year career.

Sunday's Super Bowl 49 caps a National Football League season marred by scandal with a compelling clash between Seattle and New England that promises to clear away the clouds. Each team can cement a place in Super Bowl lore with a victory. Fans partied Saturday night around Phoenix and at the NFL Experience gridiron theme park near the University of Phoenix Stadium in suburban Glendale, Arizona where the game was scheduled to kick off at 4:30 pm (23:30 GMT). "Everything is done," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.

Al Horford scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to spark the Atlanta Hawks over Philadelphia 91-85 for the NBA overall leader's team-record 19th victory in a row. The Hawks stretched their leads to 21 points in the second quarter and as large as 15 points in the third quarter before the 76ers rallied to tighten the score late. In the end, the Hawks held off Philadelphia to complete an unbeaten January run of 17 games while the 76ers stumbled to 10-38, the third-worst mark in the league. Paul Millsap and reserve Dennis Schroder each scored 15 points while Kyle Korver added 14 more, connecting on 4-of-6 shots from 3-point range.

Kevin Love scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds in his triumphant return to Minnesota as the Cleveland Cavaliers ripped the Timberwolves 106-90 for their 10th consecutive NBA victory. Star forward Love had made it clear he wanted to leave Minnesota and he was traded to Cleveland last August in a three-team deal that helped give the Cavaliers the support needed to become a contender after the signing of four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James.

By Megan Davies and Hilary Russ NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a likely 2016 Republican presidential contender, will be promoting his state's life sciences industry in a trip to the United Kingdom starting Sunday, where he is also scheduled to meet the Prime Minister and catch an Arsenal match. The UK is the third largest trading partner for New Jersey after Canada and Mexico, and the trip will focus on pursuing new opportunities for growth between UK and New Jersey in the field of life sciences, Christie told reporters on Friday in embargoed remarks. "One of the main objectives for the trip is to focus on the opportunities that exist between the UK and New Jersey and our country as a whole," said Christie.

By Frank Pingue PHOENIX (Reuters) - Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named the National Football League's Most Valuable Player on Saturday, joining an impressive list of future Hall of Famers to have won the award multiple times. While Rodgers's statistics during the 2014 regular season were not of the record-setting variety he set in 2011, when he first won the MVP award, they were still impressive. "I'd rather be at the hotel right now waiting to play tomorrow," Rodgers said after accepting the award at Phoenix Symphony Hall. It's hard not to get emotional up there." Rodgers had the Packers in position to earn a berth in the Super Bowl game but they squandered a 12-point lead with three minutes to play in regulation before falling in overtime to Seattle.

By Daniel Wallis PHOENIX (Reuters) - The Arizona lawman who bills himself as "America's toughest sheriff" predicts the New England Patriots will win the Super Bowl and says some inmates will be allowed popcorn as they watch Sunday's face-off with the Seattle Seahawks. Joe Arpaio, the 82-year-old sheriff of Maricopa County where the National Football League's championship game will be played, held an event on Saturday at which he popped the popcorn and forecast the Patriots will triumph 27-17. He also took a cheeky jab at his favored team over the "deflategate" scandal, in which the Patriots are accused of using under-inflated footballs during their AFC championship triumph against Indianapolis.

Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis was named the 2014 Walter Payton Man of the Year on Saturday for his commitment to community service and excellence on the field. Davis won the award over San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. "This award means a great deal to me, as it symbolises the valued work that the NFL, its players, and its 32 teams do in the community," said Davis.

(Reuters) - Seventeen-year-old Lydia Ko of New Zealand became the youngest golfer to hold top spot in the world rankings by tying for second place at the LPGA season-opening Coates Golf Championship in Ocala, Florida, on Saturday. American Tiger Woods was previously the youngest golfer to become world number one when he did it in 1997 at 21, while Shin Ji-yai held the women's record after reaching top spot in 2010 aged 22. The Korean-born Ko, led by as many as four strokes in the final round but slipped behind after a double-bogey six at the 17th hole as she finished one shot behind winner and good friend Choi Na-yeon of South Korea, who fired a 68.

By Frank Pingue PHOENIX (Reuters) - The late Junior Seau, who was the heart and soul of the San Diego Chargers' defense, and 12-time Pro Bowl guard Will Shields were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2015 on Saturday. Joining Seau and Shields were former running back Jerome Bettis, wide receiver Tim Brown, and defensive end Charles Haley. The Class of 2015 will also include former Minnesota Vikings center Mick Tinglehoff, who was the seniors committee nominee, and general manger Bill Polian and longtime executive Ron Wolf as the two choices for the contributors category. ...

(Reuters) - Scotland's Martin Laird shot a three-under-par 68 to hold off some charging youngsters on Saturday and take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Phoenix Open. Those shots helped keep him ahead of 22-year-old Japanese Hideki Matsuyama, who birdied the last four holes in a bogey-free 63, and 24-year-old American Brooks Koepka, who fired six birdies for 30 on the back nine in his 64. Former Masters champion Zach Johnson (67) joined them in a tie for second. "This course yields loads of birdies and low scores, like the guys behind me showed today, so if I go out tomorrow and keep firing and keep putting the way I did, hopefully I can get it done." Three players were tied at nine-under, including amateur Jon Rahm of Spain and Arizona State University.

By Steve Keating PHOENIX (Reuters) - Domestic violence and deflated footballs have hogged the off field headlines in the Super Bowl buildup but concussions were back in the spotlight on Saturday when Junior Seau was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Seau stalked the NFL gridiron for 20 seasons earning 12 Pro Bowl selections and a reputation as a feared and ferocious tackler but on Saturday he entered the Canton, Ohio shrine as a tragic reminder of the price paid for playing a violent sport committing suicide almost three years ago by shooting himself in the chest. Seau is among a handful of current or former NFL players who committed suicide in recent years. "I would like to say there will never be concussions in the NFL but that's not practical given that it is a collision sport but the NFL has done more than any organization I know to manage the risk," Dr. Matthew Matava, president of the NFL Physicians Society told Reuters.

By Simon Evans PHOENIX (Reuters) - On the surface, the two head coaches who will face off in Sunday's Super Bowl could not be more different. Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots appears a dour, grumpy figure, obsessed with his job and seemingly having little interest in the outside world. The Seattle Seahawks' Pete Carroll bubbles with enthusiasm, enjoys a joke and looks comfortable in any company. On the sidelines, the 62-year-old Belichick often hides under a hooded sweatshirt, glowering at the game.

New Zealand teen star Lydia Ko became golf's youngest-ever world number one Saturday even though she only settled for a share of second at the season-opening LPGA Coates Championship. "It's a big honor to be the world number one," Ko said. Ko eclipsed the age marks of South Korean Shin Ji-Yai, who was the youngest prior women's world number one at age 22 in 2010, and US star Tiger Woods, who was 21 when he ascended to number one for the first time in 1997. "Tiger Woods, he's amazing," Ko said.

By Steve Keating PHOENIX (Reuters) - There will be one happy billionaire on Sunday when either Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen or New England Patriots counterpart Robert Kraft hoists the Vince Lombardi Trophy as the Super Bowl champion. It is not all fun and games for the 32 National Football League owners who often find themselves in the unwanted public spotlight, facing harsh criticism and personal attacks over their team's and the league's failures. A string of domestic violence cases involving players has left a stain on several teams and the NFL while concussions remain a contentious issue, casting owners in an uncaring light. For the past 14 years, Dan Snyder, principal owner of the Washington Redskins franchise, has defied calls from activists and journalists to change his team's name and Indian logo to something less "offensive." Even U.S. President Barack Obama has waded into the debate, saying that if he owned the team he would consider changing the name, which American Indians and others have long pilloried as racist.

Scotsman Martin Laird fired a three-under par 68 and stretched his PGA Phoenix Open lead to three shots despite a charge from Japan's Hideki Matsuyama in Saturday's third round. Laird, who began the day with a two-shot cushion, fired six birdies against three bogeys to stand on 13-under 200 after 54 holes with Matsuyama, who fired a bogey-free 63 sharing second on 203 with Americans Brooks Koepka and Zach Johnson. Spanish amateur Jon Rahm shared fifth on 204 with Americans Justin Thomas and Ryan Palmer.

Jan 31 (Infostrada Sports) - Scores from the U.S. PGA Tour Phoenix Open at the par-71 course on Saturday in Scottsdale, Arizona 200 Martin Laird (Britain) 66 66 68 203 Brooks Koepka (U.S.) 71 68 64 Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) 69 71 63 Zach Johnson (U.S.) 66 70 67 204 Justin Thomas (U.S.) 67 68 69 Jon Rahm (Spain) 70 68 66 Ryan Palmer (U.S.) 64 72 68 205 Bubba Watson (U.S.) 65 71 69 Daniel Berger (U.S.) 65 69 71 Kevin Chappell (U.S.) 75 65 65 Ryan Moore (U.S.) 69 67 69 Russell Henley (U.S. ...

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Saturday he expects key defender Kam Chancellor to be ready to play against New England in Sunday's Super Bowl despite a late injury scare. "He looked pretty good today," Carroll said after Chancellor took part in the team's "walk-through" practice. Chancellor and teammate Earl Thomas are perhaps the top safety duo in the league, and the versatile, hard-hitting Chancellor is coming off a regular season that saw him finish with 78 combined tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and six deflected passes. Chancellor was hurt on the penultimate play of the Seahawks' final full practice on Friday.

By Simon Evans PHOENIX (Reuters) - A last-minute ticket to the Super Bowl can set you back over $9,000 on the secondary market and if you want to party all weekend in Arizona, you might want to speak to your bank manager. A host of musicians and celebrities will be holding parties, mostly in Scottsdale, over Super Bowl weekend and not surprisingly organizers are putting a premium on the chance to mingle with the rich and famous. A front stage table at the Rolling Stone party, hosted by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler was going for $47,900 on Saturday with a general admission ticket just over $1,100. Among the stars holding concerts or fronting parties this week are rappers Macklemore, Snoop Dogg, Pitbull and Lil Wayne, DJ Calvin Harris and actor Mark Wahlberg while a host of former NFL players will be making appearances.

The NFL will keep a tight rein on more than 100 footballs available for use by the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Super Bowl 49. The league's championship spectacular will unfold on Sunday under the cloud of "Deflategate," a probe into whether the Patriots purposely used under-inflated footballs to gain an advantage in their playoff rout of Indianapolis. Dean Blandino, the NFL's head of officiating, said this week that the Super Bowl footballs would be tested before the big game for correct pressure -- as he believes was done properly in the Colts' game at Foxborough.

By Frank Pingue PHOENIX (Reuters) - Tom Brady will be remembered as one of the National Football League's greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game regardless of whether he captures a fourth Super Bowl title with the New England Patriots on Sunday. A win over the Seattle Seahawks would put Brady alongside Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw and boyhood idol Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks with four Super Bowl rings. A loss would be his third consecutive defeat in the NFL's championship game.

By Bernie McGuire DUBAI, (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy was in a class of his own on Saturday, seizing a four-shot lead with a six-under-par 66 after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic. Denmark's Morten Orum Madsen (66), chasing his second European Tour win, was in second place on 200, two ahead of Britain's Lee Westwood (69). "I felt like today, for the first time this week, I struggled a little bit but felt like I kept it together nicely and didn't drop any shots on the way in," said the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic winner.

Rory McIlroy gave the field a sliver of hope as he unexpectedly struggled on the back nine of his third round Saturday, but even then he will go into the final day of the Dubai Desert Classic leading by four shots. McIlroy took apart the front nine of the Majlis course with five birdies in his first eight holes, but could add just one more to the tally in his last 10 holes. His three-day total now stands at 20-under par 196, four better than 26-year-old Dane Morten Orum Madsen, who shot a similar bogey-free 66 in the third round. Scotlandâ s world number 34 and the defending champion, Stephen Gallacher will have his task cut out if he wants to join a select club of five players who have won the same tournament three successive times.

By Bernie McGuire DUBAI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy was in a class of his own on Saturday, seizing a four-shot lead with a six-under-par 66 after the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic. Denmark's Morten Orum Madsen (66), chasing his second European Tour win, was in second place on 200, two ahead of Britain's Lee Westwood (69). "I felt like today, for the first time this week, I struggled a little bit but felt like I kept it together nicely and didn't drop any shots on the way in," said the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic winner.

By Bernie McGuire DUBAI, (Reuters) - Darren Clarke is really looking forward to competing in the British Open and U.S. PGA Championship this year because both venues have a special place in his heart. The Northern Irishman, the favorite to be appointed captain of Europe's 2016 Ryder Cup team, told Reuters in an interview that he always enjoys playing at St Andrews and at Whistling Straits. "I led in the first round of the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits so I've got fond memories of that effort," said Clarke after missing the halfway cut at the Dubai Desert Classic. "A St Andrews Open is always special as the Home of Golf and this year will be my fifth British Open there so that is something I look forward to very much.

By Bernie McGuire DUBAI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Darren Clarke is really looking forward to competing in the British Open and U.S. PGA Championship this year because both venues have a special place in his heart. The Northern Irishman, the favourite to be appointed captain of Europe's 2016 Ryder Cup team, told Reuters in an interview that he always enjoys playing at St Andrews and at Whistling Straits. "I led in the first round of the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits so I've got fond memories of that effort," said Clarke after missing the halfway cut at the Dubai Desert Classic. "A St Andrews Open is always special as the Home of Golf and this year will be my fifth British Open there so that is something I look forward to very much.

By Bernie McGuire DUBAI (Reuters) - People should not read too much into Tiger Woods' disastrous performance at the Phoenix Open, according to his close friend and fellow former British Open champion Darren Clarke. Clarke himself has struggled since winning golf’s oldest Major in 2011 at Royal St. Georges. The 46-year old Northern Irishman, who is widely tipped to become Europe’s next Ryder Cup captain, has not had a top-10 in 55 events on the European Tour since lifting the Claret Jug.

Martin Laird posted his second straight six-under 66 to take the lead at the Phoenix Open which will be without both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson after they missed the cut. It was also his first bogey of the event at the rain-soaked TPC Scottsdale course. Daniel Berger, who is playing on a sponsor exemption, posted a two-under 69 and he stands alone in second place at eight under. Justin Thomas carded a three-under 68 to move into third place at seven-under-par 135.

Teen star Lydia Ko birdied five straight holes on the back nine to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the season-opening LPGA Tour's Coates Golf Championship. I just have to stay in that mood," Ko said. Ko, who finished 54 holes at 14-under 202, has five career LPGA Tour wins with three of those coming last year. Amy Yang equalled Ko's 65 and jumped into a share of fifth at nine-under.

All-star forward Paul Millsap scored 21 points as the Atlanta Hawks won their 18th consecutive contest with a 105-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Millsap had plenty of help from his fellow all-stars Al Horford and Jeff Teague who finished with 17 and 13 points respectively. The Eastern Conference-leading Hawks haven't lost since December 26 in Milwaukee. Atlanta could post a perfect 17-0 month with a win Saturday against Philadelphia, which will end a seven-game home stretch.

By Mark Lamport-Stokes LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Stunned golf fans at the Phoenix Open were left to ponder how the mighty have fallen after Tiger Woods plunged to new depths with the worst score of his professional career in Friday's second round. Looking more like a struggling amateur than the greatest player of his generation, and arguably of all time, Woods was out-of-sorts in every phase of his game as he laboured to a mind-boggling 11-over-par 82 at the TPC Scottsdale. His chipping, in particular, was poor and many pundits are now pointing to Woods, a 14-times major champion once renowned for his magical skills around the green, as being a sufferer of the 'yips' when it comes to that component. Nerves not mechanics." Arron Oberholser, a PGA Tour player who also works as an analyst and commentator for Golf Channel, said: "I think the greatest player that I've ever seen has the yips.

(Reuters) - A bogey at the final hole left Scotland's Martin Laird with a two-stroke lead after the second round at a wet Phoenix Open on Friday. On a day that will be best remembered for the worst single round by Tiger Woods in his storied career, an error-riddled 82, Laird used a series of precise approach shots to card a second straight five-under-par 66 at TPC Scottsdale. American Daniel Berger (69) was alone in second place on eight-under, while another tour rookie Justin Thomas (68) was next on seven-under.

A bogey at the final hole left Scotland's Martin Laird with a two-stroke lead after the second round at a wet Phoenix Open on Friday. On a day that will be best remembered for the worst single round by Tiger Woods in his storied career, an error-riddled 82, Laird used a series of precise approach shots to card a second straight five-under-par 66 at TPC Scottsdale. American Daniel Berger (69) was alone in second place on eight-under, while another tour rookie Justin Thomas (68) was next on seven-under.

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fans flocking to the Super Bowl in Arizona will see peculiar lights in the Friday night sky. No, it is not a UFO but part of Pepsi's invasion of host city Phoenix ahead of the big game. The soda maker is aiming to recreate a mysterious 1997 UFO sighting over the city as part of its advertising campaign leading up to Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show with pop singer Katy Perry, which Pepsi is sponsoring. Pepsi focused its Super Bowl promotions on the theme "strange things happen in the desert," an idea inspired by Arizona's long history of purported UFO sightings.

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - The owners of the San Francisco 49ers football team have purchased a stake in Sacramento's minor league Republic soccer club, the second major team to do so this week in an effort to bolster the club's chances of winning major league status. Sacramento sports boosters, including Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former star player with the National Basketball Association's Phoenix Suns, are trying to persuade Major League Soccer to pick the Republic as an expansion team, part of a move to make the state capital into a regional professional sports center.

By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston officials on Friday said they planned a heavy police presence and travel restrictions in some areas when the New England Patriots play in Sunday's Super Bowl, hoping to avert the violence seen following championships a decade ago. "We're not going to allow celebrations to become an excuse for dangerous and illegal behavior in the city of Boston," Mayor Marty Walsh said at a news conference. "We're not going to tolerate public drinking, we're not going to tolerate destruction of property." The Patriots face the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl in Phoenix on Sunday.

The worst round of Tiger Woods’ professional career was a mild surprise rather than a complete shock to most golf insiders. Woods shot an 11-over-par 82 in the second round at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Friday, a score that might be stunning to casual observers of the game, but not necessarily to those who have closely observed him. Now for the first time in his career, I am guessing he is concerned in the back of his mind whether he is going to make solid contact, so he is distracted from the target and the execution of the shot." Former British Open champion Ian Baker-Finch said it was too early to write off Woods. Woods has particularly struggled with his chipping since switching instructors from Sean Foley to Chris Como in November.

Commercials that cast dads in a positive light are standing out in this year's crop of Super Bowl television ads -- alongside cute puppies and a burger-eating buxom blonde. "You're reaching the last mass audience that's left on TV," said Keith Quesenberry, a professor of marketing and social media at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and an expert on Super Bowl advertising. In a bid to stimulate water-cooler chatter and whip up social media buzz, many ads -- or teasers -- have been posted online in the run-up to Sunday's showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots.