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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
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.
PHOENIX - Michael Barrett isn’t known for his speed, but the Chicago Cubs’ catcher made quite an impression Saturday on manager Lou Piniella.
Barrett doubled and turned a deep fly ball into an inside-the-park home run during the Cubs’ 5-5 tie with the Oakland Athletics in 10 innings.
“This kid here motored around the bases pretty good,” Piniella said. “Barrett’s an athlete.”
Ronny Cedeno homered off Oakland starter Dan Haren and went 2-for-5 for the Cubs, who have yet to win this spring. Chicago led 5-3 but couldn’t hold off the A’s, who scored twice in the seventh to tie it.
Mike Piazza continued his strong start to the Cactus League season. The A’s designated hitter had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run.
The game featured the spring training debut of Chicago rookie Jeff Samardzija, the former Notre Dame standout wide receiver who spurned a possible future in the NFL to join the Cubs. The 22-year-old right-hander retired the A’s in order in the sixth, setting down Eric Chavez, Mark Ellis and Travis Buck, then left to a standing ovation from hundreds of Cubs fans who attended the game.
“That was impressive,” Piniella said. “You can tell he’s played before 80,000 fans before.”
But while Piniella was pleased with his catcher and young pitcher, Chicago’s inability to hold on for the win after leading late in the game was disappointing to him.
“You don’t win ballgames with a two-run lead in the seventh by hitting people and walking people,” Piniella said. “That’s just a fact. These are things we have to work on. We have talent here. We just have to get it to mesh.”
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The Cubs tied the game in the fifth, then took the lead when Barrett drilled a pitch from Marcus McBeth over the head of Oakland center fielder Charles Thomas. The ball bounced off the wall and by the time Thomas came up with it, Barrett was nearing third base and heading for home.
Tomas Perez added a sacrifice fly to put Chicago up 5-3.
A’s right fielder Nick Swisher hit a two-run single in the seventh to tie the score. Oakland had a chance to win in the 10th, but Les Walrond struck out Ryan Goleski with two outs and runners on first and second.
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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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.
