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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
AP
OAKLAND, Calif. - When Ozzie Guillen learned that alcohol is banned after games in the Coliseum clubhouses these days, the Chicago White Sox manager responded with profanity and anger.
His club couldn’t muster nearly that much passion during the actual game — and the Oakland Athletics beat Jon Garland to give another boost to their playoff chase.
Esteban Loaiza outpitched Garland with seven innings of three-hit ball, and the A’s opened a key homestand with a 4-2 victory over the White Sox on Friday night.
Marco Scutaro had a career-high four hits and Mark Kotsay hit a run-scoring triple as the first-place A’s produced just enough offense to back Loaiza’s fourth straight outstanding start at the Coliseum. Oakland also maintained its five-game lead over Los Angeles in the AL West despite going 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
Oakland was forced to generate its runs with smarts and resourcefulness, and manager Ken Macha’s team showed plenty of both.
“There is a lot on the line in this series,” Macha said. “I’m sure they looked up there and saw Detroit won and Minnesota lost, and we paid attention to the Angels winning. That’s what the end of September does.”
The White Sox remained two games behind Minnesota in the wild-card race, but dropped four games behind Detroit in the AL Central chase.
Chicago had plenty of frustration after the game, and not just because its hitters couldn’t solve Loaiza. Guillen was stunned by the A’s postgame beer ban, which has been in place since midseason following Loaiza’s arrest on suspicion of drunk driving.
“He doesn’t run my club. I run my club,” the mercurial manager said of A’s general manager Billy Beane while complaining loudly within earshot of reporters.
Garland (17-5) lost for just the second time in 18 starts, yielding nine hits and three runs in 5 2-3 rocky innings — his shortest start since July 29. Guillen touted Garland’s candidacy for the AL Cy Young Award before the game, but his ace right-hander, who was 13-1 since June 8, never got comfortable in chilly Oakland.
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Loaiza (10-8) was outstanding in his first start against the White Sox since leaving the club after the 2004 season. He retired 16 of Chicago’s first 17 batters, yielding only Rob Mackowiak’s solo homer in the third, and escaped his only jam in the sixth with just one run allowed.
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Joe Kennedy and Justin Duchscherer struck out the side in the eighth, and Huston Street pitched the ninth for his 33rd save in 41 chances.
Nick Swisher and Mark Ellis hit consecutive sacrifice flies in the fourth inning for the A’s, who finish the season with 17 games in 17 days, including this 10-game homestand.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
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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.
