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.
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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.
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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.
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Reuters
Punches have been a part of hockey every bit as long as pucks.
With the NHL facing an ongoing image problem, the debate rages as to what role fighting plays. To the die-hards and purists, the act of dropping the gloves is not only popular, but a necessary part of policing the game. There is even a Web site dedicated to charting bouts.
To others in the mainstream sports scene, it is an antiquated act of foolishness — merely a sideshow that caters to the same group of people who watch auto racing with the hopes of seeing a fiery crash.
New York Rangers enforcer Colton Orr — yes, hockey is the one sport in which such a title is given — flattened Philadelphia counterpart Todd Fedoruk with a straight right hand during a fight 21 seconds into a 5-0 victory Wednesday night.
“It’s probably time that the general managers ask the question, 'Where are we at with this?”’ NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell told The Associated Press. “I am not saying that it should be abolished, but I think we always should ask questions. Cultures change, times change, players change.
“If a player is going to get damaged to the point it’s going to affect him in a severe way, it’s incumbent upon us all to ask questions.”
Fighting is outlawed in the Olympics and quite rare in the playoffs. A bigger problem is Orr-Fedoruk came on the heels of other highly publicized acts of violence by Chris Simon and Jordin Tootoo that marred NHL games.
“There’s not a lot of fights comparatively if you look to 10 years or 20 years ago,” said Campbell, a former Rangers coach and frequent fighter during his playing career. “A lot of people have complained that fighting has its place in the game and that we don’t have enough of it. Things like the Simon thing and other things happen because they say they don’t have a release valve in any other sort of manner.”
Having players knocked out and hospitalized gives the league a black eye, but traditional fighting isn’t comparable to the vicious stick attack by New York Islanders forward Simon against Orr’s teammate Ryan Hollweg, or the gloved punch by Nashville’s Tootoo that decked Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas as he came to defend Stars teammate Mike Modano.
“We play 1,500 games a year,” Campbell said. “Incidents like this happen, unfortunately. Not every season, but they happen. Because they’ve happened close together people tend to draw a quick conclusion.”
Simon’s act drew a suspension of at least 25 games. Tootoo’s intent and the injury he inflicted cost him five games, Campbell said.
“Guys are taking a little bit of liberties, whereas a couple years ago you had to be held accountable,” Atlanta’s Keith Tkachuk said. “You want to do something but you can’t because you’re worried about the consequences. Guys have to be more careful and have a little more respect for each other.”
Right or wrong, there is great pride in this line of work. Fighting carries a sense of importance and even has its own code of ethics to which the most powerful of brawlers adhere. Third-man in and bench-clearing scenes are long gone.
“It was just a fair fight,” said Orr, who has 27 bouts on his resume. “He is going to hit you so you want to hit him. The same thing could’ve happened to me. It is part of the game.”
Although it is sure to be lumped in with other rough acts, there really is no comparison. While fighting is allowed — carrying only a five-minute penalty — stick fouls, unprovoked attacks, and instigating is not.
“The image doesn’t bother me,” Campbell said of fighting. “There are images in all sports: cars crashing, boxers going down, baseball brawls. I think people in hockey are OK with it. It’s the injuries that scare you.”
Ryan Callahan scored three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
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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.