MIAMI—Graig Cooper rushed for a career-best 152 yards and a touchdown, Damien Berry ran for a pair of second-half scores and No. 16 Miami eased past struggling Virginia 52-17 on Saturday. Thearon Collier had a 60-yard punt return for the go-ahead touchdown, and Jacory Harris finished 18 of 31 for 232 yards with two TDs for the Hurricanes (7-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). The 35-point margin of victory was Miami’s biggest in an ACC game since beating Duke 52-7 in 2005.

Meet racing fans at Richmond International Raceway for the SunTrust Indy Classic

Sport sometimes enters a soldier’s day without being invited. Such an episode occurred when Army Captain Brett Prillaman strolled into the mess facility at his base in Baghdad, Iraq, last December. “All they have open at that time of day”—between lunch and dinner—“is a sandwich bar,“ he said. “And you have to get the sandwich ‘to go.‘ I decided to sit down at a shaded picnic table to eat my lunch. Two other soldiers were sitting there eating, and there was a third lunch there, unattended. Both soldiers were grinning as I sat down and started to eat. I asked them what they were grinning about. They both said that in about two minutes, I’d find out.“

Attended: Goochland High School, VMI
  Service branch: Army (captain)
  Served in: Iraq
  Currently: Reassigned last summer to the Virginia National Guard. Works with the State Corporation Commission’s Division of Utility and Railroad Safety.
  When duty no longer calls: Angle intends to maintain his level of fitness by riding his road and mountain bikes and by visiting the gym on his schedule, not Uncle Sam’s. During his 15 months in Iraq, he said, “those of us who were constantly going out on missions had a harder time utilizing the available (athletic and conditioning) assets.“

Super Bowl XLIII ended a bit before 10 p.m. on the eastern seaboard of the United States. In Baghdad, Iraq, it was before 6 a.m. The clock in Kabul, Afghanistan had to read 7:30 a.m. All of which illustrates a minor but very real inconvenience for U.S. troops serving in those areas: Even in this age of blogs and bytes, real-time scores are not always easy to obtain.

WILLIAMSBURG—A planned appearance by Jose Canseco at the College of William and Mary has been canceled. Organizers said several hours before the Saturday night event that it would no longer take place, but offered no details. Canseco has offered to help Major League Baseball deal with the issue of steroids in the game. The former Bash Brother’s admission of his own steroid use and claims that numerous other stars were juiced made him a pariah in the sport, but he has recently suggested that he could help baseball deal with the lingering fallout that threatens to tarnish an entire era.—Associated Press .

A photo of Kyle Busch celebrating his victory at Bristol Motor Speedway appeared in Monday’s Sports section. Unlike most NASCAR celebration photos, this one was not taken in Victory Lane. It was taken on the track as Busch faced the crowd and raised his arms in triumph.

Monday night the Rams defeated the Patriots of George Mason to win the Colonial Athletic Association’s tournament at the Coliseum. The NCAAs await. Truly, March is mad.

. . . Two important rules should govern those seeking to mislead the public: (1) Don’t misrepresent anything that is checkable; and (2) everything is checkable.

Charles Shelton wants a full scholarship to play football at a Division I college. But in case that doesn’t work out, the second-team all-District defensive back and junior at Richmond’s John Marshall High School is exploring other options. This week, he learned that with his good grade-point average and early preparation, he’ll have them.

NFL playoffs. Paul Woody and Michael Phillips handicap this weekend’s matchups.

Arthur Utley staff writer previews the upcoming Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament being held Friday, Dec. 19 through Monday, Dec. 22.

Playoffs? Playoffs? Yes, it’s almost NFL playoff time and sports writers Paul Woody and Michael Phillips spend a few minutes of their weekly ProCast Web to discuss the pos-season possibilities. And what they have to say just might surprise you. Or not, if you know anything about these two guys.

The road to Powhatan County High School’s 16-0 record and Southside District volleyball championship was long. There were hours of practice and the competition. But there were also long hours of travel to and from competitions.

Former basketball guard Kelvin Johnson and former running back Erwin Matthews highlight the University of Richmond’s Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2009.

A.D. Vassallo and Victor Davila each scored 16 points, and Virginia Tech rallied to beat Elon 76-67 last night in Blacksburg. Malcolm Delaney added 15 points and Jeff Allen 12 for the Hokies, who led 34-27 at the half. Tech (4-2) fell behind after intermission before pulling out the nonconference victory. Brett James (19 points), Ola Atoyebi (18) and Adam Constantine (13) scored in double figures for Elon (1-3). James, a former Mills Godwin standout, added six rebounds.