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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
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.
SPORTS TRAGEDIES |
Active athletes, coaches, officials who have died in plane crashes |
| Date | Person, team, place |
| Oct. 11, 2006 | Cory Lidle, New York Yankees pitcher, in New York. |
| Sept. 29, 2001 | Michael Cervi Jr., a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Marshfield, Wis. |
| Sept. 11, 2001 | Mari Rae Sopper, a gymnastics coach at UC Santa Barbara, was one of the passengers aboard American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into the Pentagon in Washington. |
| Sept. 11, 2001 | Garnet “Ace” Bailey, director of pro scouting for the Los Angeles Kings and Mark Bavis, an amateur scout for the Kings, were aboard United Airlines Flight 175 — the second plane to hit the World Trade Center in New York. |
| Jan. 27, 2001 | Oklahoma State basketball players Dan Lawson and Nate Fleming, and six team staffers and broadcasters, in Byers, Colo. |
| Oct. 25, 1999 | Payne Stewart, winner of the 1989 PGA Championship and a two-time U.S. Open winner, two miles west of Mina, S.D. |
| May 11, 1996 | Rodney Culver, San Diego Chargers running back, in Florida Everglades. |
| April 18, 1996 | Brook Berringer, Nebraska quarterback, two days before the NFL draft, when the small plane he was piloting crashed in Raymond, Neb. |
| July 13, 1993 | Davey Allison, NASCAR driver, the day after a helicopter he was piloting crashed on the infield at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. |
| April 28, 1993 | Zambia’s national soccer team, 18 players and five team officials, in Libreville, Gabon. |
| April 1, 1993 | Alan Kulwicki, NASCAR’s 1992 champion, in Blountville, Tenn.July 19, 1989 |
| Sept. 30, 1988 | Al Holbert, six-time IMSA champion, near Columbus Ohio. |
| Dec. 8, 1987 | 17 players of the Alianza Peruvian first-division soccer team in Lima, Peru. |
| Aug. 16, 1987 | Nick Vanos, Phoenix Suns center, in Romulus, Mich. |
| Nov. 25, 1985 | Six members of the Iowa State women’s cross country team in Des Moines, Iowa. |
| Dec. 12, 1983 | Rex Dockery, Memphis State football coach, with offensive coordinator Chris Faros and defensive back Charles Greenhill, Lawrenceburg, Tenn. |
| March 14, 1980 | 14 members of the U.S. amateur boxing team in Warsaw, Poland. |
| Jan. 11, 1980 | Bo Rein, LSU football coach, in the Atlantic Ocean. |
| Aug. 2, 1979 | Thurman Munson, New York Yankees catcher, in Canton, Ohio. |
| Dec. 13, 1977 | 14 University of Evansville basketball players and coach Bobby Watson in Evansville, Ind. |
| June 24, 1975 — Wendell Ladner, New York Nets forward, in New York. | Tony Lema, 1964 British Open champion, in Munster, Ind. |
| Dec. 31, 1972 | Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder, from San Juan, Puerto Rico en route to Nicaragua to aid earthquake victims. |
| Oct. 11, 1972 | 30 members of a Uruguayan rugby club, in Chile. |
| Nov. 14, 1970 | 36 Marshall University football players, in Huntington, W.Va. |
| Oct. 2, 1970 | 14 Wichita State football players, in Colorado. |
| Sept. 26, 1969 | 25 members of Bolivian soccer team “The Strongest”, in the Andes. |
| Aug. 31, 1969 — Rocky Marciano, world heavyweight champion, in Newton, Iowa. | 16 members of the Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo football team, in Toledo, Ohio. |
| June 4, 1969 — Rafael Osuna, 1963 U.S. Open Tennis Champion, in Mexico. | Joaquin Blume, Spain’s European gymnastics champion, in Madrid. |
| April 28, 1968 | Six members of the Lamar Tech track team, in Beaumont, Texas. |
| July 24, 1966 | Tony Lema, 1964 British Open champion, in Munster, Ind. |
| Feb. 15, 1964 | Ken Hubbs, 22, Chicago Cub second baseman, in Utah. |
| April 12, 1962 | Ron Flockhart, Scottish racing driver, in Melbourne. |
| March 1, 1962 | Johnny Dieckman, world fly-casting champion, in Chicago. |
| April 3, 1961 | Green Cross, a first-division Chilean soccer team, in the Las Lastimas Mountains. |
| Feb. 16, 1961 | 18 members of the U.S. figure skating team, in Belgium. |
| Oct. 10, 1960 | 16 members of the Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo football team, in Toledo, Ohio. |
| April 29, 1959 | Joaquin Blume, Spain’s European gymnastics champion, in Madrid. |
| Oct. 30, 1958 | Philip Scrutton, British Walker Cup golfer. |
| Aug. 14, 1958 | Six members of the Egyptian fencing team, in the Atlantic Ocean. |
| Feb. 6, 1958 | Eight members of the English soccer champion Manchester United, in Munich. |
| Nov. 27, 1956 | Charlie Peete, St. Louis Cardinal outfielder, in Venezuela. |
| Sept. 20, 1956 | Tom Gastall, Baltimore Oriole catcher, in Maryland. |
| Oct. 30, 1954 | Wilbur Shaw, President of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in Decatur, Ind. |
| July 1, 1954 | John McBride, Alabama halfback, killed in ROTC training flight in Texas. |
| Oct. 27, 1949 | Marcel Cerdan, former world middleweight champion, en route to fight Jake LaMotta in Spain. |
| May 4, 1949 | 22 members of Torino, the Italian soccer champions, in Turin, Italy. |
| June 2, 1943 | Nile Kinnick, 1939 Heisman Trophy winner, in the Gulf of Paria. |
| March 31, 1931 | Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach, in Kansas. |
| Oct. 18, 1925 | Marvin Goodwin, Cincinnati Reds pitcher, in Houston. |
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.
 | Slide show |
 | Remembering Lidle's career A look back at the baseball career of Cory Lidle, who was killed in a small plane crash in New York City. |
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.