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.
AP
NEW YORK - Chien-Ming Wang left the Oakland Athletics in the dust, making them hit pitch after pitch into the ground.
In their first game following Hideki Matsui’s injury, the New York Yankees didn’t need much offense, beating the Oakland Athletics 2-0 Friday night behind eight stifling innings by Wang and home runs by Alex Rodriguez and Bernie Williams.
“He threw the ball incredible,” Rodriguez said. “That’s the best he’s thrown all year.”
Matsui had surgery Friday to repair his left wrist, broken Thursday night when he tried for a diving catch against Boston. The left fielder will be sidelined for at least three months.
“We know we don’t have Matsui, but again, it’s not going to take away from our resolve and what we need to do,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “We’re going to have to pull together and get this thing accomplished and, hopefully, tonight was step one.”
Helped by four double plays, Wang (3-1) put together the best of his 25 career starts, never allowing a runner past first as he defeated Barry Zito (2-3). Mixing his fastball with sinkers and sliders, he gave up three singles, walked two and struck out none, getting 20 outs on grounders.
“He’s one of the toughest pitchers we’ve faced this year,” said Mark Ellis, who grounded out three times against Wang. “He’s got so much movement on his fastball. Tonight, he was locating his fastball real well.”
Wang was backed by some dandy defense. Second baseman Robinson Cano backhanded Adam Melhuse’s grounder near second leading off the eighth, and made a strong, leaping throw from the edge of the outfield grass for the out. Andy Phillips made several nice stops at first.
Torre said he would have left Wang in for the ninth with a four-run lead or perhaps even three. With a lesser margin, Mariano Rivera came in for the third straight night.
Pitching with a cold, he walked Marco Scutaro with one out, allowed a single to Ellis and fell behind in the count 2-0 to Nick Swisher, who took a big cut and missed. Swisher then ended the game by grounding into Oakland’s fifth double play, giving Rivera his seventh save in eight chances.
“I was 150 percent sure he was going to throw a cutter, and he did. The 2-1 moved a lot more than the 2-0 did,” Swisher said. “Second time I’ve faced him, great situation to be in, and he made me ground into a double play. His cutter, it’s a heat-seeker, and it aims for handles, aims at nothing but handles of bats.”
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Rodriguez, booed in his first two at-bats after striking out, pulled Zito’s changeup over the wall in left-center, near the 399-foot sign, leading off the sixth inning. Before the homer, Rodriguez was hitting .210 (13-for-62) in his career against Zito — including a grand slam in New York’s season-opening 15-2 win at Oakland.
“It was down and away. It was right where I wanted it to be,” Zito said. “It was more bad selection than a bad pitch.”
It was A-Rod’s second go-ahead homer in three nights.
“I’m taking a very aggressive approach,” he said. “My hands are coming alive.”
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.
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