ALLAN THE MAN

DETROIT -  The San Francisco Giants capped a wild post-season ride by beating the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in 10 innings On Sunday to complete a four-game sweep and be crowned World Series champions for the second time in three years.

Marco Scutaro, the most valuable player in the National League Championship Series, was again the hero for the Giants, cracking a sharply hit single into shallow center to bring in Ryan Theriot with the winning run.

DETROIT – While many starting pitchers would consider getting banished to the bullpen a demotion, Tim Lincecum has embraced his new role as a key reason the San Francisco Giants are on the brink of a World Series title.

The Filipino-American Lincecum, a Cy Young Award winner in 2008 and 2009 and arguably baseball’s best pitcher, was 10-15 this year with a 5.18 ERA before being yanked from the rotation for the playoffs.

Unable to work out an extension with James Harden, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded the Sixth Man of the Year to the Houston Rockets on Saturday night, breaking up the young core of the Western Conference champions.

The Thunder acquired guards Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-round pick in the surprising deal that was completed Saturday night. Oklahoma City also sent center Cole Aldrich, and forwards Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to Houston.

SINGAPORE, Singapore – Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, boxing’s only 8-division world champion was named "Fighter of the Decade" by the World Boxing Organization (WBO).

Despite dropping a widely unpopular unanimous decision to Timothy Bradley earlier this year in which he lost his WBO Welterweight title, Pacquiao continues to receive awards and recognitions for the body of work he has completed in his career.

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Kobe Bryant will miss the team’s final two pre-season NBA games because of a sore right foot, the team announced on Wednesday.

Bryant hurt his foot in the third quarter of a loss Sunday to Sacramento and will be re-examined this weekend by doctors ahead of next Tuesday’s NBA season opener, when the Lakers play host to the Dallas Mavericks. 

San Mig Coffee superstar James Yap came out with guns blazing against Rain or Shine Wednesday night, scoring 15 points in the first quarter. He easily broke his tournament high total by the third quarter, and it seemed no one could stop him.

But Elasto Painters defensive specialist Jireh Ibañes was able to get into Yap’s head, and the two-time Most Valuable Player ended up getting ejected. All Yap could do was watch as the Mixers collapsed and yielded to Rain or Shine, 80-79.

Oceans apart, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez have both begun their sparring sessions on Monday, according to reports from their respective camps.

Pacquiao and Marquez slug it out on December 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

It was Pacquiao who actually staged his own sparring session when he went three rounds with Filipino welterweight Antony Marcial at the gym owned by businessman Rey Golingan.