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.
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.
AP
NEW ORLEANS - Brady Quinn has one more college game to impress the NFL scouts, one more chance to show he’s worthy of being the top pick in the draft.
That’s not exactly what he’s focused on, though.
Notre Dame’s star quarterback merely wants a win in Wednesday night’s Sugar Bowl, not another batch of eye-catching stats. If he throws three interceptions and the Fighting Irish still come out on top, that’s fine with him.
The draft? That’s for another day. The head-to-head matchup with LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell? Let the media have fun with that one.
“I just want to play a good game for my team,” Quinn said. “I’m not worried about putting up numbers and silly little things like that. If he has a better game than me and we win, that’s fine, that’s great, that’s all that matters.”
Besides, Quinn already has put up enough numbers to show the NFL what he’s capable of doing in a pro-style offense. Over the past two seasons, he’s thrown for nearly 7,200 yards, with an astonishing touchdown-to-interception ratio (67 TDs, only 12 picks).
More important to Quinn, he’s been a major part of helping Notre Dame reclaim its status as a college football powerhouse. While the No. 11 Fighting Irish (10-2) fell a bit short of expectations this season, they still earned a spot in the Sugar Bowl against No. 4 LSU (10-2).
“A win in this game would be a great way to cap off the career for me and the rest of the seniors,” Quinn said. “We overcame a lot of tough times.”
When he signed with Notre Dame in 2003, the Irish were coming off a 10-win season in Tyrone Willingham’s coaching debut. The program seemed back on track after the mediocrity of the Bob Davie era. Quinn had every reason to expect more of the same.
“I came in here with high hopes,” he said. “I mean, they were 10-3 the year before. I’m thinking, ’Hey, we’ll be winning a national championship in the next year or so.”’
Of course, it didn’t work out that way. With Quinn starting nine games as a freshman, Notre Dame slumped to 5-7. The Irish were humiliated at Michigan 38-0. They were blown out at home by Southern Cal (45-14) and Florida State (37-0).
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By the end of the season, Quinn’s stat sheet was in line with the overwhelmed freshman he was: a 47 percent completion rate, with 15 interceptions and only nine touchdowns.
Quinn improved as a sophomore, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Fighting Irish from another disappointing season. After going 6-6 and getting wiped out by Oregon State in the Insight Bowl, Willingham was fired.
Enter Charlie Weis, who groomed Tom Brady into a Super Bowl-winning quarterback at New England.
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He sure did it with Quinn, who thrived in Weis’ offensive system. The quarterback finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting as a junior, throwing for a school-record 3,919 yards with 32 touchdowns.
It took a while for the light bulb to go on, but when it did, Jonas Gray finally showed the talent many had expected from the blue-chip prospect from Detroit. In a recent interview, Gray, who is rehabbing an ACL injury to get ready for the NFL Scouting Combine, expressed the confidence and support he has for head coach Brian Kelly.
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 | Notre Dame 2011 schedule See when all the big matchups will take place with Notre Dame's 2011 schedule. NBCSports.com |
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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.
