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.
AP
CALDWELL, N.J. - Tom Coughlin was given a one-year reprieve to turn the New York Giants into a legitimate contender.
While the team’s owners didn’t give him an ultimatum, their message was clear.
“I think he knows we need to do better, that our expectations are much higher,” co-owner John Mara said in a conference call Wednesday. “I think we have enough talent on this roster to do better.”
Mara and co-owner Jonathan Tisch gave the 60-year-old coach a one-year contract extension through 2008, an agreement reached just days after the Giants were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season.
It was a disappointing finish for a team that won the NFC East in 2005 with an 11-5 mark and thought it had a Super Bowl shot coming into this season. A 6-2 first-half fueled those expectations.
However, injuries to seven-time Pro Bowler Michael Strahan and leading receiver Amani Toomer, dumb mistakes and a sub-par second half by quarterback Eli Manning led to a 2-7 finish that caused fan unrest and put Coughlin’s job in jeopardy after New York’s 23-20 playoff loss to the Eagles in Philadelphia on Sunday.
In the two days that followed, Tisch and Mara talked football and future plans with Coughlin, and he convinced them he could make Manning better and the team a winner.
“He has a vision and he understands how that vision can now move forward,” Tisch said. “He did not have to save his job. He did not have to talk us into anything.”
The owners didn’t ask Coughlin to make any changes and they said they were satisfied he was the right man to lead the Giants.
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Hopefully is the key word, though. If there is another disappointment, the Giants might be knocking on the door of former Steelers coach Bill Cowher or Notre Dame boss Charlie Weis.
“When I become convinced that somebody in this organization is not capable of doing the job any longer then we are not going to hesitate to take action,” Mara said. “That is not the case here. I believe that Tom is an excellent coach and I believe that we will win with him.”
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Coughlin, who was to earn $3 million in 2007, appreciated the decision but said he wasn’t surprised.
“I did not have any feeling I wasn’t going to be retained,” Coughlin said in a separate conference call.
Terms of the one-year extension weren’t immediately available.
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.
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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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.
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.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.
