1.   Both showed up with a big assist from their putters.

2.   But it is, and it casts a spell as Ripoll, with a big assist from Cruz, brings off her warm and sparklingly inventive romantic excursion.

3.   But the coach you rarely embrace earned a big assist in helping his team steal home-ice advantage from the Stanley Cup champions on Friday.

4.   Friday night, just like that, he got him, apparently with a big assist from the New York Yankees.

5.   Plus a big assist from the United States Marines, who mounted a spectacular rescue mission that borrowed a page from a Tom Clancy thriller.

6.   The cooling of health-care inflation also has been a big assist to the Fed.

7.   The Mets tied the score the next inning, with a big assist from Colbrunn.

8.   The Stars, with a big assist from the return of Sergei Zubov, cleared their own zone swiftly and took the Sharks out of their game.

9.   Credit Kimberly Roberts with a big assist for her husband Thursday in the second round of the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship at La Costa.

10.   Jesper Parnevik held on to win the Honda Classic, with a big assist from his pursuers.