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.
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.
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.
Austin has seen plenty of matches that seemed to turn on a bad call. Just two years ago at the Open, Serena Williams had a good call overruled by the chair umpire in a quarterfinal match against Jennifer Capriati and suffered a complete meltdown, eventually losing the match.
Then, there was no recourse except to yell and scream and stomp and pout and let the call destroy her game. This year, she and other players will be able to challenge the call.
If you’ve watched the Open on CBS in the past couple of years, you’ve seen the system at work. Using eight to 10 cameras, it captures with utter clarity and in super slow motion the exact spot a ball hits, leaving virtually no doubt as to whether it was in or out.
At the Open, players will have two challenges. If they’re right, they keep both challenges. If they’re wrong, they lose one, meaning no player can make more than two unsuccessful challenges of calls.
Once a challenge is made, the shot will be replayed on the video boards high above Arthur Ashe stadium and on a display at the umpire’s chair. Most challenges should be settled in as little as five seconds, and none will drag on like an NFL instant replay challenge.
“It won’t disrupt the flow of the match,” Austin said. She said at the NASDAQ in Florida, it provoked new levels of audience participation. Instead of whistling at calls that were perceived to be bad, fans urged the players to challenge it. In New York, the crowd urgings could take on epic proportions, she said: “They’re the most passionate fans anywhere.”
Because of the limited number of challenges, Austin sees players using them strategically, perhaps letting an early call go but using it in a 4-4 set that will decide the match. Martina Hingis used one of hers at the NASDAQ on the match point that beat her; she didn’t think it was a bad call, but figured she may as well be sure.
And that’s the whole idea — to be sure. Given the vast amounts of money available and the prestige of a major, it only makes sense to give a little help to linespersons who have to call serves coming in at 140 m.p.h. and ground strokes that exceed 100.
The system is pricey — $80,000-$100,000 per court. But the Australian Open will probably use it next year and other big tournaments are probably going to follow suit. It’s good for the players, says Austin, and good for the fans.
“We’re so averse to change in tennis,” she says. “But when change does come, we get used to it very quickly.”
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.
 | Slideshow |
 |
NBCSports.com |
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.
