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
JUPITER, Fla. - For Adam Wainwright, spring training is off to a nice start.
The World Series closer, bidding for a place in the St. Louis Cardinals’ rebuilt rotation, pitched three hitless innings Wednesday to help beat the Florida Marlins 6-3 in the exhibition opener for both teams.
Wainwright, who earned the win, walked one and fell behind several other batters. But he still needed only 30 pitches — 15 strikes — to get through the first three innings, facing 10 batters.
“I did some things well to get some first-pitch outs, but I did a lot of things I’ll need to improve on,” he said. “All in all it was a good first time.”
Manager Tony La Russa agreed.
“I thought he was great,” La Russa said. “He was impressive, just the way he has been since the first day he started throwing down here. I mean, he wants that job.”
Wainwright will likely be a starter this season, unless closer Jason Isringhausen suffers a setback in his rehabilitation from hip surgery. Wainwright filled in for an injured Isringhausen last October, allowed no earned run in 9 2-3 postseason innings and saved the clinching games against the New York Mets in the NL championship series and the Detroit Tigers in the World Series.
“It feels like three days away,” Wainwright said. “No offseason — I spent a lot of time with these guys. But at the same time, my thinking was it was a million years away. I’m really trying to forget about that.
“I feel I haven’t proved anything yet. I have to prove myself all over again as a starter. Hopefully I can persuade some of these guys I’m going to do all right.”
Former Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel, bidding for spot on the roster as an outfielder, went 2-for-2 with a two-run single but was thrown out at the plate twice.
Florida starter Scott Olsen took the loss, allowing one run and four hits in 1 2-3 innings.
“Not bad for the first time,” Olsen said. “Any time you get a major-league team in that box, you’ve got to turn it up a notch. Seeing those guys is definitely a motivator, especially with them coming off the World Series.”
Ricky Nolasco pitched two scoreless innings for the Marlins.
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.
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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.