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.
AP
WASHINGTON - Connecticut did everything it could to give the game away with a season-high 26 turnovers, the final one coming with the Huskies clutching a two-point lead, seconds away from victory.
The top seed got away with it. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, a crazy sequence or two decided a game that was sometimes miserable to watch and occasionally downright laughable.
Connecticut rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit, got a break on an opponent’s silly foul and forced overtime on Rashad Anderson’s 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in regulation. Then the Huskies of the Big East held off the foul-depleted Huskies from the Pac-10 in the extra period for a 98-92 victory and a place in the NCAA’s round of eight.
“Of 1,100 basketball games I’ve been fortunate to be involved with, I’ve never been involved in anything like that,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.
And, to be sure, he hopes he never sees the likes of it again. Marcus Williams, who committed seven turnovers and got an earful from the coach during a first-half timeout, recovered to score a career-high 26 points as Connecticut advanced to regional finals for the sixth time in 12 years. UConn (30-3) will play for a spot in the Final Four on Sunday against 11th-seeded George Mason.
Calhoun warned on Thursday that his Huskies were “a team of lapses,” and was he ever prophetic. UConn committed nine turnovers during a miserable 5½-minute spell at the start of the second half, but Washington was unable to take full advantage.
“We probably made some of the most boneheaded plays we’ve made all season,” Williams said.
But the game hinged on two wild series of events. Washington led by 78-72 with 1:53 to play in regulation — and 80-76 with 21 seconds left — and obviously no longer wanted to foul, but Mike Jensen was whistled for contact on Williams on a layup with 11 seconds remaining. The shot went in, and Williams made the free throw for a three-point play that made it a one-point game.
“We did not want to foul him,” coach Lorenzo Romar said. “We wanted to try to keep him in front of us. Obviously that was a big play, and the game seemed like it was definitely going to go our way.”
Washington’s Brandon Roy was then fouled and made two free throws with 7.9 seconds remaining. That made it a three-point game, and there was time enough left for Anderson to launch the game-tying shot, a basket Calhoun called “miraculous” and “one of the best shots we’ve had in a very long time.”
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Then came the giveaway-giveaway finish in overtime. Rudy Gay, taking the ball out of bounds with UConn leading by two and 16 seconds remaining, committed his team’s 26th turnover when his inbounds pass was intercepted by Ryan Appleby. But Appleby passed to Joel Smith, who threw the ball right back to UConn. Williams picked off the pass, was fouled, and then made both free throws with 11.3 seconds to play.
“We made every possible bad play that we could, and that has a lot to do with Washington,” Calhoun said.
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.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 points and Evan Smotrycz added 13, helping No. 22 Michigan remain unbeaten at home with a 70-61 win over Illinois on Sunday.
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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.
