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.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
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.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has 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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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.
Trombetta made his choice between the Wood and the race that he won. He joked from the winner’s circle at Hawthorne, “After those two horses backed out of the Wood, P.J. Campo (NYRA racing secretary) called me to see how far along the van was. I told him we were already here and this is where we’re running.” Although Trombetta’s decision was difficult, it was prescient.
To understand how competitive the Wood can be, consider these statistics: Twenty of the 81 Wood Memorial winners have gone on to the Kentucky Derby, and 11 of them have triumphed. Seven horses that hit the board in the Wood became Derby winners also.
Nevertheless, trainer Bob Baffert, a three-time Kentucky Derby winner, was outspokenly dismissive of this year’s edition. He assured television analysts that Bob and John would find life on the Eastern tracks easy.
Baffert claimed that the speed on the West Coast was tough on a young horse like his — Bob and John was born May 17 and will be only two years old in actual age when running in the Derby. He said of this year’s Wood, “This isn’t a dress rehearsal.” And for his horse, at least, it proved not to be.
But if Sweetnorthernsaint’s finishing time is to be considered uninspiring, then Bob and John’s was downright dawdling. Granted, the Wood Memorial was contested on a sealed quagmire, but Bob and John’s time of 1:51.54 will produce a Beyer in need of aspirin.
By failing to get the nine furlongs of the Wood, third-place finisher Keyed Entry, a horse with breeding that suggests limitations, is probably off the Derby trail. It’s a shame because trainer Todd Pletcher was high on him. In typical fashion, Pletcher said that he’d wait several days to make this decision, but Edgar Prado was probably on the phone to trainer Michael Matz telling him he’d ride his undefeated Florida Derby winner, Barbaro, four weeks from now.
On the other hand, second place finisher Jazil, a well-bred son of a mud-loving dam by Deputy Minister, earned the purse money to become eligible. Trainer Kiaran McGlaughlin liked the way his horse finished in the Aqueduct glop, and there will be a strong pace in the Derby to run at.
As for Brother Derek – well, what is there to be said for a horse that scampered home in :36.82 for the last three furlongs of 1 1/8 mile race? Immediately after the Santa Anita Derby, odds-maker Mike Battaglia pronounced him the Kentucky Derby morning line favorite. Trainer Dan Hendricks said, “Can we add 12 and change to that?”
Yet, with four two-turn victories and five graded stakes on his resume, can Brother Derek’s best days be ahead of him? The Santa Anita Derby was a walk-over in concept compared to the cavalry charge that faces the bay colt by Benchmark in Louisville. Only three California-breds have won the Kentucky Derby before. Can Brother Derek be the fourth?
Point Determined from the Baffert barn raced well enough to write his ticket to Churchill. As for the others, it’s not easy seeing them in the Kentucky Derby starting gate unless their trainers, like Baffert, believe that the crop in California is far speedier than their Eastern counterparts.
There will be more questions raised when the next round of Kentucky Derby prep races are over. As for now, you can only surmise the following: The only reason they run on the first Saturday in May is to come up with an answer.
The first of three pools of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager begins its three-day run on Friday and the bet's opening scenario is very similar to each of its opening pools since the wager was created in 1999.
It's first time that Classic will be broadcast in primetime on Nov. 3.
 | INTERACTIVE |
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 | Slideshow |
 | Derby celebs Plenty of stars from the entertainment and sports world attend the 136th Kentucky Derby. more photos |
| INTERACTIVE |
 | Triple Crown winners The horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in the same year. |
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.
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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.