Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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
RALEIGH, N.C. - After showing initial support for the lacrosse team amid rape allegations against three players, Duke University officials caved to pressure, the team’s former coach says in a book that goes on sale next month.
Mike Pressler resigned under fire last spring on the same day university President Richard Brodhead canceled the season — a move the book contends helped harden public opinion that the woman’s allegations were true.
“It’s Not About the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Case and the Lives It Shattered,” goes on sale June 12. It’s written by former Sports Illustrated reporter Don Yaeger with Pressler getting partial credit.
Remaining charges against three former lacrosse players were dropped last month by Attorney General Roy Cooper, whose office took over the lacrosse investigation from embattled Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong.
But Pressler, now the lacrosse coach at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., complains in the book that his name will always be associated with the Duke rape allegations that were dismissed as unreliable nearly a year later.
Pressler also questioned actions by Duke University officials, recalling an April 5, 2006, morning meeting with athletics director Joe Alleva in which Pressler finds out the team’s season will be canceled.
“’Joe, you told the players and the parents you believed their story, you believed in them, you believed that they were telling the truth,”’ Pressler, in the book, recalls saying.
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Pressler says he pleaded with Alleva to wait for DNA results on his players, but a violently worded e-mail from player Ryan McFadyen about strippers came out later that afternoon. Alleva then told Pressler that Brodhead planned a news conference to announce Pressler’s resignation and the suspension of the season, according to the book.
Duke spokesman John Burness told The News and Observer newspaper in Raleigh, N.C., that university officials did not succumb to pressure and made decisions at the time based on what they believed was in the best interests of everyone involved.
“We were relying on the legal system to ultimately get to the truth, and that’s what ultimately happened with the attorney general’s actions,” Burness said.
Pressler’s book is one of two about the Duke lacrosse case slated for release June 12. A third is scheduled for release in September.
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.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.
