1.   As the Huskers will tell you at the drop of a shoulder pad, they are perennial contenders.

2.   Benfica, once a perennial contender for the European club championship, has struggled on the field mostly because of chaotic administration recently.

3.   All it took was a single shift in the second period for Blake to illustrate why he is a perennial Norris Trophy contender.

4.   But for a team that looked washed-up halfway through the West Coast Conference season, there is no disgrace in losing to a perennial contender for the NCAA title.

5.   Does it mean Miami, a perennial contender in the national-championship polls, has become a team of the past and not of the future?

6.   Elway excelled for a perennial contender and will appear in his fourth Super Bowl on Sunday.

7.   Factor that with the fact that Lehman has been a perennial contender in the U.S. Open, and you think he might have a chance.

8.   Green Bay has been a perennial Super Bowl contender of late.

9.   He was a perennial lightweight contender in a day when there was only one champion.

10.   His experience was vastly different from that of former Indians coach Rich Dauer, who in Baltimore was accustomed to playing for perennial contenders.