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.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
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 fileLike Myers, Meltzer believes some of WWE’s audience is gravitating to the UFC.
“It’s a pay-per-view rivalry,” Meltzer said. “I’m not saying it’s huge but it exists. Right now, UFC is definitely hot.”
Meltzer added that WWE needs to find a new superstar like “The Rock,” a crowd favorite who drew hordes of viewers.
“What UFC is doing that WWE and boxing haven’t done as well is create new stars,” he said.
HBO, for instance, has continued to rely on Oscar De la Hoya while a true heavyweight champion emerges, one with star power like Mike Tyson — who drew nearly 2 million buys twice in his heyday.
“The heavyweight champ of the world has always been the mythical strongest man in the planet. It’s important for the sport,” said Mark Taffet, HBO’s senior vice president of sports operation and pay-per-view. HBO hopes a new champion will surface from heavyweight unification matches that could take place this year.
Rochester, of the WWE, said the company is incubating new stars.
“We have the next Rock in John Cena,” he said, referring to one of WWE’s most popular wrestlers.
UFC managed to grow despite the lack of a heavyweight star, but the company recently inked a deal with the burly Croatian Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic. He’s fighting in Manchester in April.
Most fans don’t know Cro Cop but he has glimmers of being the UFC’s Mike Tyson.
“He’s the most spectacular knockout artist of any weight,” said Meltzer, the editor of the newsletter. “American fans love knockout artists.”
Taffet said he isn’t worried about UFC’s rise. The two companies are negotiating over HBO possibly airing a UFC fight. However, there are questions about which company will produce the fight and who will call it — along with some hard feelings. One of HBO’s most well-known ringside announcers is Jim Lampley, who has bashed the sport of mixed martial arts and the UFC.
Taffet said HBO is counting on strong business in 2007 when De La Hoya fights Floyd Mayweather on May 5 in Las Vegas. HBO hopes the match will take its place among the biggest pay-per-view-boxing events of all time — or at least break De La Hoya’s 1999 record of 1.4 million buys fighting Felix Trinidad.
As for WWE, Rochester said it’s not ready to concede the PPV title yet. While UFC had one good year, he said, WWE has generated more than $2 billion in total PPV buys over a 22-year stretch.
In this smackdown, WWE has plenty of fight left in it.
“We are not worried about UFC,” he said.
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.
NEW YORK (AP) - As the glow fades from the Giants' Super Bowl triumph, some New York sports fans are tuning in to basketball and hockey, with the Rangers in first place and the Knicks' overnight sensation, Jeremy Lin, sparking "Lin-sanity.''
Robins: This year, six new breeds will be making their debut on the green carpet for the Westminster Dog Show, which begins Monday.
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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.