Florida Sentinel Bulletin

ISTANBUL — Her year filled with titles and trophies over, Serena Williams can at last admit it: This was a title she had her eye on.

Not that any more evidence of her all-consuming, powerful game was needed, but Williams gave it anyway. She dismissed Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3 Sunday to win the WTA Championships for the third time and finish the year with another title, but not the top ranking.

“Now that I can be honest, I really wanted to win,” Williams said. “I wanted it so bad, but I didn’t want to say it. … It was really important for me to end the year with this title in particular.”

Williams ended the year with a 59-4 record and seven titles. Since her first-round loss at the French Open, she is 31-1, winning Wimbledon, the Olympic gold medal and the U.S. Open. The 31-year-old Williams became the oldest player to capture the year-end championships. But she will finish the year ranked No. 3, behind No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and No. 2 Sharapova, because she did not play as well in the first half of the year. Azarenka lost to Sharapova in the semifinals.

“I had such a good year, it was important to end on a good note,” Williams said. “It was good for my sanity to win. I really wanted it although I didn’t need it.”

NEW YORK — NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor has won a lawsuit that tried to hold him accountable for having sex with a 16-year-old girl in a New York hotel room.

The jury returned its verdict Friday after hearing testimony from the now-19-year-old woman and Taylor. Taylor gave a thumbs-up to a friend in the spectator area when the verdict was announced. The former New York Giants linebacker acknowledged that he had sex in 2010 with a prostitute. He denied, however, that he ignored obvious signs she was a teen runaway in distress.

The woman had claimed that an abusive pimp forced her to have sex with Taylor for $300. She sued Taylor, seeking unspecified damages. The encounter occurred in a hotel room in Montebello, just north of New York City.

As a fan, you are very critical of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they lose a game, no matter how close victory may have been.

If you’re a first year head coach with a new coaching staff, you’re looking for improved play, no injuries to key players, and of course, victories. In Thursday night’s game (tonight) against the Minnesota Vikings, the Bucs faced an opponent with their star, Adrian Peterson, ailing, but the team as a whole, surprising a lot of people.

As far as the Florida Sentinel Bulletin writers are concerned, the Bucs were favored to win and keep pace in what has become a pathetic start for the teams in the NFC South, with the exception of the undefeated Atlanta Falcons. Next up for the Bucs will be the Oakland Raiders, and hopes are the Bucs will start to turn things around heading down the home stretch.

BY TED TAYLOR For the game designated as “Blackout Night” in which Florida A & M University wore black uniforms for the first time and the fans were encouraged to wear black, it turned out to be the appropriate theme as the Rattlers saw the season funeralized at the hands of the South Carolina State Bulldogs. The 27-20 overtime loss dashed any hopes of winning a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship with the second conference loss.

With an open date this weekend, FAMU has plenty of time to wonder what went wrong in a season that had high expectations. At 3-5, the Rattlers are at the doorstep of a losing season for the first time since 2007, so whatever fix is found, it better be quick and tight.

Pictured: Damien Fleming…Quarterback

MIAMI — The lingering backlash caused by Ozzie Guillen’s praise of Fidel Castro contributed to another Miami Marlins managerial shakeup Tuesday.

Guillen was fired after only one year with the team, undone by too many losses and one too many ill-advised remarks. A promising season began to derail in April with his laudatory comments about Cuba’s former leader. Six months later, the episode was a factor in the decision to fire Guillen, Marlins officials said.

Bears coach Lovie Smith had no issues with Ndamukong Suh’s hard takedown of Jay Cutler on Monday night. Neither did Cutler himself, nor the league, which said Monday that Suh would not be disciplined for the hit.

Chicago receiver Brandon Marshall, on the other hand is upset that Suh chased down a scrambling Cutler on the play in question, grabbed the QB’s sleeve, then slammed him to the turf as Cutler tried to spin free. Cutler stayed down for a moment, then later headed to the locker room for what the Bears called a rib injury.

People in the Tampa Bay area were excited to be able to sit at home, and watch Sunday’s game between the Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints. Even the sellout crowd at Raymond James Stadium was ready for a great game.

Although the Buccaneer offense and defense played pretty well, a series of mistakes cost the Bucs victory in a 35-28 defeat. The Bucs had a touchdown nullified, and were denied on four downs inside their opponent’s 5-yard line.

Quarterback Josh Freeman passed for 420 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. His counterpart, Drew Brees, passed for 377 yards, 4 touchdowns, and an interception.

Buccaneer rookie running back, Doug Martin, carried the ball 16 times for 85 yards, and had the crowd on their feet with his 36 yard scamper for a touchdown. The penalty yards the Bucs picked up show why victory was snatched away.

The Bucs won’t have much time to lick their wounds before traveling to Minnesota to face the Vikings and Adrian Peterson in a Thursday night contest. Kickoff will be at 8:20 p. m.

On Thursday, prosecutors dropped battery charges against former Tampa Bay Buccaneer tight end, Jerramy Stevens, from an incident in March 2011.

The State Attorney’s Office elected not to pursue felony and misdemeanor battery charges because two men Stevens allegedly assaulted weren’t consistent with their stories. State Attorney’s Office spokesman, Mark Cox, said the two men retreated and recanted from the original story they gave police.

In a statement from Stevens’ attorney, he said no witness, including the two alleged victims, testified that Stevens punched either victim. Police initially reported the two men were bouncers at the Hula Bay Club and Duke’s Retired Surfer’s Island. Both men worked at a marina next to the club. The two men had met Stevens months before the alleged incident because he docked his boat at the marina.

One of the men, William Russell, had reported that Stevens had broke his jaw, but no witnesses saw Stevens punch Russell. Russell later couldn’t say for certain that Stevens hit him. Stevens signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007 and was released in 2010 after his arrest for marijuana possession. The court date for that case is Tuesday.

Stevens has retired from the NFL, but still lives in Tampa.

JACKSONVILLE, — Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew will miss Sunday’s game at Green Bay, maybe more, because of a foot injury.

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert has a chance to play despite an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Jones-Drew injured his left foot on the first play of Sunday’s 26-23 loss at Oakland. Gabbert injured his left shoulder on a sack in the second quarter.

Coach Mike Mularkey says he doesn’t have results of tests performed on Jones-Drew’s foot, but adds that the injury is serious enough that it could keep the running back sidelined for an extended period. Mularkey says team doctors haven’t ruled out the possibility of it being a Lisfranc injury.