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.
Getty ImagesHeading into Las Vegas, Mark Martin and his new Ginn Racing team have two top-five results and are on top in points. Martin should continue to run well at Las Vegas, but I don't look for him to change his mind on running just 22 Cup races this season.
My darkhorse is Elliott Sadler, who likes the style of track Las Vegas has become. In January's Cup testing at Las Vegas, Sadler had the fastest lap (188.772 mph).
Keys to success at Las Vegas
Las Vegas is nowhere near the track it used to be as the whole place has undergone a facelift. And adding to the intrigue of this makeover will be the mystery of it to the Cup drivers, who will be racing at the rebuilt venue for the first time.
This 1.5-mile formerly flat speedway has added banking and put down a new surface. The banking on the frontstretch and backstretch is nine degrees, and the banking in the corners is 20 degrees.
Expect speeds to climb and the track to be faster as the banking should help the cars carry extra speed entering the corners. The racing should improve significantly, and look for side-by-side racing to increase.
I ran a Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas last fall -- the first event held at the track after the banking was added and the resurfacing completed -- and there was more side-by-side racing.
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With the length of the Cup race (400 miles) even though the surface is new there will develop multiple grooves to run in. I saw that happen to some degree in the truck race, and I certainly look for it on Sunday.
For the benefit of the fans pit road has been moved much closer to the stands so this will be unique not only for the fans but for the drivers as well.
What they didn't change about pit road is how tough it is to enter it under a green flag. It's quite challenging as a sharp turn is needed to get off the track and into the pits. And with the banking that's been added, the speed of the cars will be faster and so that only increases the difficulty of pitting under green.
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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.
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