Tampa Rays fall in extended championship match-up. The Philadelphia Phillies are World Series champs for the second time in the team’s 125-year existence. Philadelphia clinched the title after a 4-3 win on Wednesday versus the Rays. It was a victory delayed by rain showers that poured onto the field during the first scheduled contest Monday night, resulting in two re-scheduled dates for more cooperative weather. In the end, the Phillies tilted the series four games to one, bringing home the city’s first title in any pro sport since 1984.

Greg Oden goes down again, but for how long? A year-long delay of his NBA debut was barely long enough for Greg Oden to go down again with a new injury. The Portland Trailblazers center, who sat out the 2007 season after knee surgery, suffered a foot sprain just two and a half minutes into Portland’s game versus the Lakers. The player says he landed on Laker Derek Fisher’s foot after coming down from a rebound attempt. Oden was set to undergo an MRI Wednesday to determine the seriousness of the injury. “It happens,” Oden said Tuesday night. “You’re out there, you’re playing, you’re battling. It happens.”

Tampa Rays face Phillies tonight. World Series baseball is expected to continue tonight in Philadelphia after a second rain-out forced game five’s cancellation. Following a field-drenched suspension of play in the sixth inning on Monday, fans were disappointed to learn that rain continued throughout much of the day in Philadelphia Tuesday. Weather is expected to cooperate tonight for what could be the end of the season if the Phillies win their fourth game in the best-of-seven series. The teams are tied at two runs each as of tonight’s resumed sixth inning.

Kellen Winslow returns his focus to football. Having criticized Cleveland Browns management for showing little concern about him when he was hospitalized for staph, Kellen Winslow says the game is his main focus. The tight end, whose suspension was announced after his comments, but then rescinded, is well. “I’m ready to move on and just play football,” he says. The Browns reportedly learned that a media relations staffer advised Winslow in text messages against revealing his illness. The player says he was trying to protect his teammates.

 The chief for the Harrison police department yesterday rebuked former Knicks coach Isiah Thomas’s story that the medical issue that brought authorities to his Westchester home early Friday morning had to do with his teenage daughter. “My cops … know the difference between a 47-year-old Black male and a young Black female,” Chief David Hall told The Associated Press. “These people should learn something from Richard Nixon – it’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up.” Thomas, 47, a Hall of Fame basketball star with the Detroit Pistons from 1981 to 1994, was stripped of both his team president and head coach titles within a two-week span last April, after the Knicks completed the fifth straight losing season. He was not officially fired and, therefore, is still under contract by the team. Thomas on Friday told The New York Post that his 17-year-old daughter, Lauren, was the one who had a medical issue which prompted police to be called to his home. Officers responded to a 911 call just after midnight at Thomas’ Purchase home, where a 47-year-old male, who police sources said was Thomas, was taken to nearby White Plains Hospital Center. Witnesses told Newsday that the man had his face covered and refused to give his name. “It wasn’t his daughter,” Hall said yesterday. Police classified the case as “an accidental drug overdose” and reports said it involved sleeping pills.

World Series resumes today after rain interruption. The World Series resumes tonight after heavy rain in Philadelphia led to a temporary suspension of play on Monday. Philadelphia is tied 2-2 versus Tampa in the fifth game of the seven-game contest. A muddy pitcher’s mound and puddles elsewhere led to the interruption in the sixth inning. Fox will broadcast what will be the Major League game of ‘08 if the Phillies win to capture the title. The Rays must win three straight to take the series.

Rumor links leader to NFL. Could a second Rice be poised to lead the San Francisco 49ers? Conflicting media reports suggest that it’s possible. Years after Jerry Rice, widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver to ever play pro football, grabbed three Super Bowl rings in San Francisco, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is being linked to the team. Having once expressed interest in running the NFL, the official was later quoted as saying, “I decided that it would be alright to run a team as well.” The NFL Network recently reported that a 49ers exec wants to hire Rice as team president. But a State Department spokesman says there’s been no contact between Rice and the team.

Patrick Ewing Jr. scrapped from squad. Patrick Ewing Jr. won’t have a chance to achieve NBA greatness on the same team his father once led – at least not this season. Ewing was cut on Monday as the Knicks instead chose to keep shooting guard Anthony Roberson. Ewing scored seven points in nine minutes last weekend versus New Jersey. The senior Ewing is a Hall of Fame center who still leads New York in all-time scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and steals.