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.
Getty ImagesA-Rod isn’t the only problem. As the Tigers proved, it’s good to have pitching that isn’t overpriced and underachieving. Construction of the staff is the bailiwick of general manager Brian Cashman. But whatever Piniella is saddled with, it’s a sure bet he’ll bring his prickly personality to the mound when he visits a struggling hurler. He once famously wrestled with Rob Dibble in the Cincinnati clubhouse. He won’t be afraid to plant a burr in Randy Johnson’s behind. And if Carl Pavano shows up with injuries sustained in another car accident that he fails to inform the club about, he’ll discover that a collision with Piniella will cause even more bodily harm.
The main problem with the Yankees is a lack of cohesion. Chemistry is often a misunderstood term. It’s not about liking each other. It’s about pulling together for a common cause.
It’s hard to achieve camaraderie when you and your teammates are taking separate limos to the ballpark. The primary focus of these Yankees is for each individual to justify his salary and his place in the lineup, not for all of them to put aside personal interests for the good of the whole. When you have A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, Mike Mussina and The Big Unit in the same clubhouse, it’s more like executives meeting over a proposed corporate merger than it is a group of guys playing ball.
Torre has done his best, but the nature of the New York Yankees eventually has rendered him ineffective. Steinbrenner is mostly at fault for ordering a cobbling together of rich prima donnas for marquee value instead of assembling a collection of stars mixed with scrappers, role players and competitors. These Yankees are in their present form because of their ability to attract a wide cable television audience, not because they’re an ideal blend.
Piniella would have little to do with rewriting the recipe. But he could at least make it more palatable. He would have brought energy and passion to a team that has only read about such qualities in books, or has witnessed them from the opposing dugout.
Steinbrenner’s axe may be rusty, but it still needs to fall.
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.