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.
APLooking for new leaders
I like many of the components of Detroit's team, but when it comes to crunch time there is no longer a Steve Yzerman, a Brendan Shanahan or a Brett Hull to count on. So while I like a lot of the Red Wings' pieces, there are some definite voids to be filled leadership-wise.
A coach can't say to a player that he wants him to take charge of the locker room. That sort of attempt at leadership would be a disaster because it is forced.
Leaders like Yzerman come along once every couple of decades so Detroit realizes it doesn't have another Yzerman waiting in the wings. But the Red Wings do have some proud athletes who can help glue the team together, and Lidstrom tops that list.
Lidstrom is soft spoken, but he is so highly respected that his teammates listen closely when he does speak. Kris Draper and Chris Chelios are also looked upon for leadership.
The toughest thing for Chelios is to be a leader off the ice when he can at age 44 no longer be a leader by his play on the ice. But when Chelios speaks, his teammates listen.
A postseason of a different sort?
In addition to its predominantly veteran blue line, the Red Wings have a new generation of players up front that have to get it done in the playoffs.
Especially key will be the performances of center Pavel Datsyuk and right wing Henrik Zetterberg. Neither player has been as good in the playoffs as he has been in the regular season.
In the playoff series against Edmonton last season, both Datsyuk and Zetterberg showed flashes of brilliance, but when it's really on the line, the question is can these two get it done?
This may be the year where winning the Central Division is more important than it has ever been to Detroit given the team's collective age. If the Red Wings can do so they would be a higher seed in the playoffs, and ideally open the postseason with a favorable first-round matchup.
That would help them hold up physically since by the time it's all over there is not going to be any easy road out of the Western Conference.
Detroit's a long shot to get back to playing for a Stanley Cup this season, but there in may lie an advantage for the Red Wings: no huge playoff expectations for the first time in as long as I can remember.
Without a lot expected of them, perhaps the Red Wings will get into a mindset of it’s their team against the world, and there is a certain edge in a team being able to band together and go out to try and surprise everyone.
But just remember when it comes to Detroit in the playoffs, there will be many old hands and old legs that are trying to defy Father Time.
These veterans know eventually they will lose the battle to Father Time, but for at least this season they will be trying to delay that loss, and to again be a playoff surprise, but this time in a positive sense.
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.
Check out highlights from the Rangers 3-2 win over the Capitals.
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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.