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.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has 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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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.
APBut the Dodgers have stranded a NL-high 338 runners, so even though they’ve overachieved in some offensive categories, their long-range prognosis at the plate is guarded at best. And so is their tenure atop the NL West. They also happen to lead the NL in errors with 36, an ominous sign for a pitching-dependent squad.
General manager Ned Colletti concentrated on pitching in the offseason, bringing in Schmidt and Randy Wolf. Penny was almost an afterthought. He might be the most overlooked top starter in the league. That might be because of his 2006 second-half fade and his injury issues in the past (an elbow problem limited him to three starts in 2004, his initial season with the Dodgers after coming over in a trade with the Florida Marlins).
Penny is the awesome hurler in which many are reluctant to put their faith. He is the hefty, powerful, fastball-centric stud who should have more impressive career marks than 78-63 and 3.98 ERA. He is the mild disappointment who still hints at greatness every time he takes the hill.
That was almost the case against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday when Penny had six runners get into scoring position, but kept all of them from scoring in a 5-1 win.
Penny, Derek Lowe, Wolf and Tomko represent a respectable rotation, even as Schmidt rehabs to regain arm strength after a mysterious lack of pop carried over from spring training to the season; Schmidt took a positive step forward Sunday, however, as he threw a strong 100-pitch simulated game. Then there’s Mark Hendrickson, who has turned around his career this season, although he had a small setback Saturday night in a loss to the Angels.
With a bullpen that contains Chad Billingsley (currently riding a scoreless streak of 10.2 innings over seven appearances), Jonathan Broxton, Chin-hui Tsao and closer Saito, the Dodgers’ lifeblood is once again flowing from their pitching.
That would make the ticker Brad Penny. In theory, he should keep pumping out success. But with him, you never know.
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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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.
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.
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