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.
Getty ImagesThe bigger picture is his PGA Tour winning streak.
Even though Woods lost in the first round of the World Match Play Championship two weeks ago on the European Tour, a victory at the American Express would be his sixth in a row on the PGA Tour, inching closer to the record 11 straight won by Byron Nelson, whose funeral was Friday in Texas.
For some reason the winning streak inspires Cink.
“Every streak has to come to an end, right?” he said as he walked onto the practice range to hone his swing in the fading light north of London. “At some point, he’s not going to win. That’s why it’s called a streak. Because if it never ended, it wouldn’t be called a streak. It would be like a beginning and a continuance.”
The top three names on the leaderboard were Americans who scored the most points for their losing Ryder Cup team (Scott Verplank also earned two points, and he was at 4-under 138), although Cink tried not to read anything into that.
“All that does is prompt more questions,” he said, referring to the notion that Americans are better off playing for themselves.
Holding up Europe’s end were Howell (66) and Harrington (69).
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Howell went head-to-head to beat Woods in China last year at the HSBC Champions event, although he wasn’t facing a five-shot deficit. He is motivated by trying to overtake Paul Casey for the lead in the Order of Merit race in Europe. It helps to find himself in a tie for second, especially coming off an emotional week like the Ryder Cup.
Casey, meanwhile, is in 59th place out of 60 players still remaining.
A small field looked even more exclusive after Woods opened with a 63-64.
Ernie Els, who lives 30 minutes away and played The Grove twice last week, was one shot off the lead early in the round until he stalled, and a birdie on the last hole gave him a 70. He was in the group at 7-under 135, eight shots behind Woods.
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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.
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.
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