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"At least there weren't any sharks,'' Patten said.
The 10k took on added significance because it will be part of the swimming program in Beijing, where open water makes its Olympic debut next year.
"It has become more important, especially in the coaches' eyes,'' Patten said. "They see it's an Olympic event, so they're pushing their swimmers into open water more than they did before.''
Brookes-Peterson picked up her second bronze of the meet - she also finished third in the 5k - despite being up most of the previous night with food poisoning or some sort of stomach bug.
"I just put it all behind me,'' she said. "This sets me up great for Beijing.''
But Maurer was bitter about the aggressive tactics of some swimmers. This sport can resemble a wet version of roller derby when they're battling for position in the great, big ocean.
"Everyone was just beating each other up,'' Maurer said. "I have never experienced such a race before. It was horrible.''
Elsewhere Tuesday, China's divers put on another dominating performance, leading the preliminaries of both men's 1-meter springboard and women's 10-meter platform.
Luo Yutong upstaged his No. 1-ranked teammate He Chong by a big margin - 466.50 points to 423.30 - on the board. American Chris Colwill was fourth.
Chen Ruolin blew away the platform field, while defending world champion Laura Wilkinson had a major scare. The 29-year-old American botched three straight dives but pulled it out with her final attempt, a back 2 1/2 somersault with 1 1/2 twists.
She scored high enough to leap from 22nd to 16th, good enough to advance.
"Don't ever, ever give up until it's over,'' said Wilkinson, who has a history of rallying on her final dive.
The semifinals and finals of both diving events will be held Wednesday. The other American woman, 14-year-old Haley Ishimatsu, failed to advance after finishing 29th out of 32 divers.
It was another good day for the Russians.
In addition to Ilchenko's second gold, the country remained perfect in synchronized swimming with its third straight title. The Anastasias - Davydova and Ermakova - won the technical duet with a program of exceptional height, rapid leg movements and complex turns.
The three-time world champs won with a score of 98.333. The Spanish team of Gemma Mengual Civil and Paola Tirados Sanchez claimed the silver (97.500) and Japan's Saho Harada and Emiko Suzuki took the bronze (97.167).
The Americans, Christina Jones and Annabelle Orme, were fifth.
The U.S. men got off to a good start in water polo, routing host Australia 9-3. But the Americans have only one medal - a bronze in synchronized swimming - through the first four days of the meet.
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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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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