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 ImagesIn that game, Chicago’s Ronny Cedeno ran from first on a 3-2 pitch as teammate Jacque Jones drew a walk. But in what would be called a typical Cubs play, Cedeno overslid the second base bag and was tagged out, a call that was made after the umpires conferred. And a right one, according to Piniella.
Piniella has been tinkering with different lineups throughout the first month, looking for the right combination to get the offense going. Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, Nos. 3 and 4 in the batting order, have been consistent.
Alfonso Soriano, who signed a $136 million, eight-year deal in the offseason, hurt his hamstring while playing center field and was switched back to left when he returned to the starting lineup Monday. The move was made to take some of the strain off Soriano’s leg, but it could also been a way of trying to get his bat going, as well.
Soriano has no homers, one RBI and one steal in his first 14 games and seemed satisfied with the position switch.
Rich Hill and newcomers Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis have pitched well in the starting rotation, but Zambrano has not. He and the team had hoped to work out a multiyear contract extension when the season opened three weeks ago, but then the Tribune Co. announced the Cubs would be put up for sale after the season.
Since then, a new deal for Zambrano appears to have been put on hold, and it’s not clear whether that has distracted the big right-hander, who’s been known for his temperamental antics on the mound.
The offseason was a busy one. Ramirez re-signed for five years and $75 million; Lilly got $40 million for four years; Marquis $21 million for three years; DeRosa $13 million for three years; and outfielder Cliff Floyd $3 million for one. Zambrano got a $12.4 million, one-year deal just before a scheduled arbitration hearing.
Making Piniella’s new adventure even more intriguing so far has been his experience at Wrigley Field, the second oldest ballpark in the majors. The 63-year-old manager said it was “neat” to watch people sitting on the rooftops across the street taking in the game. But playing the elements can be difficult.
The dimensions of the park, with its ivy-covered walls, narrow foul lines and fickle winds that blow in one day and out the next, are all factors for a manager to consider when he puts his team on the field.
“It makes you play baseball. It really does. The better your team is put together to play baseball, the more games you’re gonna win,” Piniella said. “You need balance here. ... You’ve got to make the plays defensively. It’s baseball. It really is baseball here. ... It puts a premium on how your roster’s set up.”
All of this is part of Piniella’s introduction to Cubs baseball. So far — as he acknowledged earlier — he can see so what’s made winning so elusive for so many years. He’s vowed to fix that. Whether he can is still to be determined.
“Whatever our record is, it could be above by a lot,” he said.
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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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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.