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.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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.
APThe baseball Hall of Fame voters respected Fingers’ workhorse ability by making him the only pure reliever to get in on the first ballot. But it took Sutter 13 years of eligibility before he got in this year, and Gossage enters his sixth year of waiting.
Perhaps Hoffman and his accomplishments would be a bigger deal had he performed well in the playoffs, a pressure situation no matter when you come in. (Note that Hoyt Wilhelm, the first closer, is the only reliever in the Hall of Fame that never was on a World Series-winning team.) That’s why Rivera, who has broken the 400-save barrier, if it has yet been established as a 300-win, 3,000-hit barrier, will be a surefire Hall of Famer, and why Hoffman might have to wait a few years before enshrinement.
This isn’t East Coast bias talking, not with this article being edited by people in Seattle. This is because Rivera, despite a few notable blown saves such as the final game of the 2001 World Series, is the all-time leader in playoff saves and has established a reputation as a pressure pitcher.
Meanwhile, Hoffman has barely registered in the postseason, even by the standards of a team that has barely registered in the postseason.
In 1996, Hoffman gave up the series-winning home run in the ninth inning of the Padres’ divisional series against St. Louis. Hoffman gave up at least one run, including two game-losing hits, in four of his seven appearances during the 1998 postseason. Last year, Hoffman got only one appearance, a mop-up job at the end of the third and final game as St. Louis again swept San Diego in a divisional series. With San Diego on track to make the postseason again this year, Hoffman needs to perform well every chance he gets to make the move from guy-who-gets-a-lot-of-saves to certified baseball legend.
Ultimately, the problem with getting ultimate respect as a closer is that his job is not to win the game, what with his team usually already ahead when he comes in. His job, like a kicker’s, is not to screw up.
Hence, why few kickers are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and why few fans could tell you who holds the record for most field goals (I’ll save you some time: 538 by Gary Anderson). And hence, why few relievers are in baseball’s Hall of Fame, and why few fans this time next year probably could tell you who holds the saves record.
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.
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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.