Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
APNone of it happened. From the first time James set foot on a professional court, his only goal has been to be the best team player he can be, to be a winner. He’s done nothing wrong. Nothing.
There have been no fights, no speeding tickets, no string of offended women, no hangers-on with rap sheets longer than War and Peace, no squabbles with teammates. It’s his third season in the league, and he still hasn’t even made Whiner of the Week.
He went to Athens and found a spot on Larry Brown’s bench during the Olympics. Carmelo Anthony had the same experience, and Anthony whined and complained during the entire Olympic tournament. James just took his seat, listened to his coach, and tried to be better.
Like so many kids who grew up as he did, he fathered a child not long after he signed his first contract. Unlike so many of those kids, he didn’t wander off to father a few more, but took up housekeeping with his son LeBron Jr.’s mother, Savannah, and applied himself to being the father he never had. Unless the Cavaliers are on the road, he comes home to his son and his son’s mother every night.
He fired his agent last year, and that seemed like a bad sign, especially when he put three of his high-school pals in charge of his businesses. But so far, there have been no stories of wild parties, huge posses, absurd spending on shiny objects and money thrown away. Instead, he talks about earning more as a businessman than he does as a basketball player, and he seems on his way to doing that, too.
James is incredibly independent and sure of himself. Unlike most 18 year olds, he never went out in search of himself. He was right there all along.
He credits his mother, Gloria, with all of that, with teaching him to be strong and not to fear anyone or anything. I’ve never met her, but she must be one incredible woman.
But a strong mother and strong values aren’t enough to account for what James is. A lot of people have been raised in a similar way and haven’t come out as good.
It’s like his talent. The New York playgrounds are full of stories of kids like James who had more talent than God but never got off the streets, never turned it into cash, never survived the demons that lie in wait for us all.
The only way to explain someone like James is as the one person who gets all cherries on a cosmic slot machine. Every baby that’s born is a pull on the lever of that machine, another roll of millions of genetic tumblers. This is natural selection at work, chromosomes combining, genes mixing, the tumblers coming up differently on every roll.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
ProBasketballTalk tweets |
|
Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk. |
 | Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
 Knicks, Lin still streaking Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and point guard Jeremy Lin discuss the team and Lin's recent success. |
 | Slideshow |
 |
more photos |
Ask the NBA expert: Ira Winderman |
Do you have a burning NBA question? Submit it now, and then check back for our reader mailbag. |  |
 | Special feature |
 |
Who will be MVP? Interactive: Rank each player on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 = best player, 0 = barely worthy of consideration). NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 |
more photos |
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.