Fast Break
Football
Manning marries college sweetie
A Super Bowl championship isn’t the only big event this year for New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Manning married college sweetheart Abby McGrew during a sunset ceremony Saturday at the One & Only Palmilla resort on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
Both The New York Daily News and The New York Post covered the event, with the Daily News providing details from inside the intimate ceremony.
Manning, 27, and McGrew, 24, smiled and giggled during the 16-minute ceremony. They stood on a platform in the sand as waves crashed on the rocks behind them.
Manning and McGrew met as students at the University of Mississippi. Manning popped the question to her during a date in Hoboken in March 2007, and they chose the resort for their wedding after vacationing there several times, The Daily News reported.
McGrew carried a bouquet of white roses and wore a white gown with gold embroidering with a large bow and short train in the back. Her six bridesmaids wore champagne-colored strapless dresses.
Manning and his groomsmen wore khaki suits and white roses in their lapels. Manning wore a tie with blue and white stripes, while his groomsmen kept their collars open.
UFC
St. Pierre retains title with TKO
Georges St. Pierre reclaimed his welterweight title Saturday night at Montreal, dominating Matt Serra in a second-round TKO before a hometown crowd at UFC 83.
The 26-year-old St. Pierre was greeted by a deafening roar from the crowd of 21,390 at Bell Centre, filled with Canadian flags, fervor and more than a little testosterone. He wore black trunks with a fleur-de-lis, matching the tattoo on his right calf.
The boos started before the stocky Serra, from Long Island, N.Y., even started his entrance.
The end came when referee Yves Lavigne moved in to stop a turtled Serra from absorbing any more knees to the body at 4:45 of the second round.
St. Pierre (16-2) did a back flip in the middle of the ring. A dazed Serra (16-5) regrouped and then the two fighters hugged.
Serra upset St. Pierre for the 170-pound crown one year ago at UFC 69 in Houston.
“It’s the most beautiful day of my life. A dream come true. And I couldn’t wish for a better scenario, honestly,” St. Pierre said. “It’s like a dream, it’s amazing.
“But I know what happened (when he lost to Serra). I’m going to work even harder to stay there.”
In the co-main event, former middleweight champion Rich Franklin earned a TKO over Travis Lutter at 3:01 of the second round.
On the undercard, middleweight Jason MacDonald pounded out a win in an all-Canadian grudge match with rival Joe Doerksen.
The Canadian show ranks as the biggest – and fastest sellout – in UFC history. The previous attendance record was 19,049, set at UFC 68 on March 3, 2007, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.