Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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.
ReutersMarquis struggled for the first time in four starts this season while facing Maddux, his old mentor from the Braves. He left after the first three batters reached in the seventh, one on his fielding error on Pierre’s sacrifice bunt and gave up seven runs — four earned, and seven hits.
“I don’t know if I struggled all day, I just got away from my game plan and left a few pitches up in the zone,” Marquis said. “Some days the mistakes are going be hit out and some days you get away with them.”
All four of Marquis’ career starts against the Cubs have come against Maddux. He’s 1-2 with a 3.90 ERA.
Pierre doubled to lead off the third, advanced on a sacrifice and scored on Walker’s infield hit to give the Cubs the lead and Jones’ homer in the fourth made it 2-0.
Pierre reached on second baseman Aaron Miles’ fielding error on a routine grounder to start the fifth, leading to Ramirez’ homer and a pair of unearned runs that put Chicago ahead 4-0.
The Cubs extended the lead to 7-0 in the seventh on Ronny Cedeno’s RBI double and Walker’s two-run single.
St. Louis got a run in the eighth on Hector Luna’s RBI double off Roberto Novoa.
Gary Bennett’s two-run double in the ninth ended Ryan Dempster’s run of 32 consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run. Dempster, who has converted 23 straight saves, last gave up an earned run on Aug. 12, 2005, at home against the Cardinals in a streak that lasted 31 1-3 innings.
Notes: Cardinals reliever Brad Thompson had to make a quick jump to his side to avoid getting hit by a bat when Michael Barrett lost his grip while striking out in the seventh. ... The Cardinals haven’t swept the Cubs at home since 2002. ... The Cardinals have sold out all nine games at new Busch Stadium, including paid attendance of 41,373 on Sunday.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
HBT: Prince Fielder is gone and Ryan Braun will likely miss a third of the season because of a failed PED test. Can Milwaukee stay in contention until he gets back?
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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.
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.
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.