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.
Reuters
LOS ANGELES - Brad Penny and the Los Angeles Dodgers are enjoying this stretch of their topsy-turvy season.
Penny became the NL’s first 13-game winner, recently acquired Wilson Betemit hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, and the Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 Saturday.
Rookie James Loney tripled, doubled and scored twice for NL West-leading Los Angeles, which has won 14 of 15 after a 1-13 slide coming out of the All-Star break.
“Everybody was quiet and down before, and now everybody’s having fun,” Penny said. “We’re out there playing like we all thought we could play. You go out there every day expecting to win, and your whole attitude changes.
“This is a huge stretch right here. After we play the Marlins we’ve got the Giants again and then San Diego and Arizona. So I couldn’t think of a better time to start playing this good.”
Moises Alou and Omar Vizquel each drove in two runs for San Francisco, which has lost four straight. The last-place Giants are 6½ games behind Los Angeles after falling a season-worst eight games under .500.
Penny (13-5) won his third straight start, allowing four runs — three earned — and seven hits over six innings. The right-hander struck out seven and did not walk a batter for the second consecutive outing.
The Giants closed to 6-5 in the seventh with doubles by pinch-hitter Todd Linden and Vizquel against Giovanni Carrara. Lefty Joe Beimel came in and walked Ray Durham before retiring Barry Bonds on an inning-ending grounder with runners at the corners. The play was made by shortstop Rafael Furcal with the Dodgers playing a three-man shift on the right side of the infield.
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“I’ll take that anytime,” the 29-year-old reliever said with a grin. “I knew Durham was hitting pretty well off left-handers this year, and I didn’t want to give in to him.
“Barry’s one of the greatest hitters of all time — but at the same time, he’s not having the kind of year he’s had in the past.”
Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect eighth inning and Takashi Saito worked the ninth for his 13th save in 14 attempts. Steve Finley flied out to the warning track for the second straight time with a runner on base, and then Saito retired Vizquel on a groundout to first base to end it.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
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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.
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.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.
