Photograph John McCain surrounded by New York Republicans by Kathy Willens/AP John McCain's Straight Talk Express headed into Manhattan today, taking him to Grand Central Terminal where he got the endorsement of former governor George Pataki. McCain, along with wife Cindy, appeared with Pataki, Alphonse D'Amato, Joseph Lieberman and Rudy Giuliani as the Republican candidate appears to be leading in many Super Tuesday polls over rivals Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul. Pataki,......

Photograph of Obama, Clinton and Edwards at an event in Columbia, S.C. by Elise Amendola/AP With the South Carolina's Democratic primary on this coming Saturday, the three leading Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards gathered together at a Martin Luther King Day Jr. debate in Columbia, S.C. When Clinton addressed the crowd, she said, "We have come so far together. Barack Obama, an extraordinary, young African-American man with so much to......

That's what Senator Hillary Clinton told Tim Russert on Meet the Press yesterday, but no matter what anyone says, race and gender are obviously factors in the hotly contested Democratic primary race. After criticism over her remarks about Martin Luther King ("Dr. King’s dream began to be realized when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act...It took a president to get it done.”) and her husband's remarks about Barack Obama's fairy tale Iraq stance, Clinton......

Former mayor Rudy Giuliani visited Barrington, New Hampshire store The Christmas Dove yesterday during various campaign visits in the Granite State and bought a ceramic angel. Perhaps it was an angel of mercy, as he has begun to pull back NH-related advertising in order to concentrate on the Florida primary, implicitly acknowledging that he doesn't have a chance against Republican front runner Mitt Romney and Senator John McCain, who has surged into second place......

Democratic presidential frontrunner and New York Senator Hillary Clinton is feeling bruised from the Tuesday night debate, where the big moment was when Clinton gave meandering support of Governor Eliot Spitzer's controversial driver's license plan for illegal immigrants. Spitzer's most recent iteration of the plan involves a three tiered system that neither state Democrats, Republicans or illegal immigrants' rights advocates seem to like very much. Anyway, here's what Clinton said during the debate when questioned......

Yankees 4 Red Sox 3: Boston will still win the AL East and will probably have the best record in all of baseball, but the Yankees have shown that they can beat them when it counts. After starting the season 1-5 against Boston, New York won the season series by going 9-3 in the final 12 games. Sunday’s win was a flashback to the old days. Derek Jeter had the big hit, Roger Clemens had......

Yankees 8, Red Sox 7: Everything looked good for the Red Sox as they were playing last night's game. They were up 5.5 games on the Yankees and about to make it 6.5 when the top of the 8th came around and everything went south. Down by 5 runs, the Yankees scored 6 runs in the inning before making a single out. They started the scoring with back-to-back solo home runs by Jason Giambi......

Yankees 11, Royals 5: Good thing the Yankees didn't make that Alex Rodriguez for Ervin Santana move this offseason. Rodriguez hit two homers -- Nos. 50 and 51 -- as the Yankees cruised past the Royals. Detroit beat Seattle again, so the wild-card lead stands at three games. Johnny Damon, who looked like a corpse for most of the season, has played better of late. He socked his 10th homer as the Yankees gave plenty......

Former mayor Rudy Giuliani mugged and joked when lightning struck as he was going to discuss remarks a bishop made comparing Rudy to Pontius Pilate during last night's third Republican debate. His sound was cut and the other Republican presidential hopefuls also got into the act - Mitt Romney pointed at him - and Giulani said, "Look, for someone who went to parochial schools all his life, this is a very frightening thing that's......

Yankees 6, Red Sox 5: Alex Rodriguez really makes himself the center of attention, doesn't he? The Yankees third baseman hit a go-ahead home run off Jonathan Papelbon in the top of the ninth to give the Yankees a comeback win in Boston. The Yankees blew a 4-0 lead and trailed, 5-4, entering the eighth, but they managed to win the game and the series in Boston. They're still 12 1/2 games out of first......

Red Sox 7, Yankees 6: Alex Rodriguez had two home runs, the Yankees had a four-run lead and everything looked rosy. Then the Red Sox rallied for a five-run eighth and took Mariano Rivera to town. Joe Torre didn't help the cause with some questionable bullpen calls, though no one should have a problem with Rivera's pitching in the eighth inning. Torre might also want to consider not running for Jason Giambi for no reason.......

In keeping with our lists of events from 2006, here are some of the sports stories that Gothamist found compelling in the past year. It ranges from the playoff disappointment from the Mets and the Yankees to the welcome performances of last season's Rangers, this season's Jets and Rutgers. Mickelson Chokes at Winged Foot: Everyone knew the Winged Foot course in Mamaroneck, N.Y., was a tough place to play, but no one found it crueler......

Andre Agassi's career has officially ended. After a four set loss at the hands of a familiar tennis foe. Agassi lost 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 5-7 to German qualifier Benjamin Becker (no relation to Boris). Over his 21-year career, Agassi played 1144 matches, won 60 titles, and played in 21 consecutive US Opens. The 36 year-old Agassi is a two-time US Open Champion in 1994 and 1999 and a four-time runner-up. The crowd at Arthur......