Denver

IT WAS A bad night for a slightly-above-comatose President Obama and befuddled debate moderator Jim Lehrer, and a good night for a caffeinated Mitt Romney, but the biggest loser of the first presidential debate in Denver on Wednesday night was clear: The American people. An deeply divided electorate that craved simple and direct talk on how the 2012 White House rivals will help create jobs or reform health care instead got long, rambling and sometimes hard-to-follow riffs that did, at times, show stark differences between the candidates on issues from taxes to Medicare but lacked kitchen-table directness.

MY FIRST lesson about sucker bets transpired a week before Halloween during my freshman year in college. The Bengals had lost their first six games of the season, three via shutout. They weren't just bad. They were Akili Smith, Peter Warrick and Scott Mitchell bad. And they were playing the Broncos, who would finish 11-5 that season thanks to a talented set of skill position players that included Brian Griese, Ed McCaffrey, Rod Smith and Mike Anderson. Denver was a 10 1/2-point road favorite, but that didn't seem to matter much.

SOME MEN ARE meant to lead. They are meant to nurture, to take the first steps so others may follow. Brian Dawkins always was such a man. When the Eagles retire his No. 20 jersey Sunday night they will honor 13 seasons of class and character, of a well of talent and integrity exploited to its final drop. Seldom do athletes merit this sort of honor. Consider some of the group that Dawkins joins. There is No. 15, running back Steve Van Buren; a champion, a finisher, perhaps the greatest of all Eagles; a man whose death in August reminded us of the quality of his play and the depth of his character.

Texans 31, Broncos 25 DENVER - Houston's Matt Schaub outplayed Peyton Manning, throwing four TD passes against Denver. Schaub finished 17 for 30 for 290 yards to help Houston move to 3-0 for the first time in club history. The Texans improved to 3-16 lifetime against Manning and beat him for the first time in a road game. Houston 7 14 10 0 – 31 Denver 5 6 0 14 – 25 First quarter Den–Dumervil safety, 13:20. Den–FG Prater 32, 8:41. Hou–Johnson 60 pass from Schaub (S.Graham kick)

Matt Barkley sweepstakes On the clock for the first pick in the 2013 NFL draft: The Minnesota Vikings. Last one standing And the winner of the Vince Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl champion is: The New England Patriots. Not so fast. It seems that everybody wants to write off the New Orleans Saints due to the bounty situation. When Highland High graduate Joe Vitt takes over after his six-game bounty suspension, he will be presiding over a lights-out offense guided by QB Drew Brees that can make up for many deficiencies of a subpar defense.

CHICAGO BEARS linebacker Brian Urlacher returned to practice Monday for the first time since July 31, hoping to play in Sunday's season opener. Urlacher did not stop to talk to reporters, but coach Lovie Smith said the eight-time Pro Bowl player looked good considering he had arthroscopic surgery to his left knee Aug. 14. Beyond Urlacher, the Bears also had starting defensive tackle Stephen Paea back from an ankle injury and starting safety Chris...

DENVER - Andre Iguodala says he doesn't want Denver to be just a stopover. The Nuggets wholeheartedly agree. The Nuggets acquired the all-star swingman from the 76ers in the blockbuster trade that sent Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers. Iguodala is under contract for this season with a player option for 2013-14. At his introductory news conference at the Pepsi Center on Thursday, he said he told Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri he wants to be here a while. "We weren't coming into this thinking this will be a one-year deal," Iguodala said.

LONDON - As soon as the medal was placed around his neck, Andre Iguodala picked it up with his hands and stared at it. He turned it over, ran his fingers around it, then stared at it some more. He wouldn't let it go. Iguodala's life changed dramatically in the last 4 days, but it hasn't sunk in yet. All he's been able to think about was this medal, and finally it was his. "I just froze for a second," Iguodala said. "Only a small group can say they were in that position. " The U.S. men's basketball team defeated Spain, 107-100, on Sunday afternoon to capture its second straight Olympic gold medal.