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?
LIVE VIDEO: NBCSports.com shows Washington-New York, with alternate camera angles, HD views and more.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Golf's dream pairing - Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson - are on the course in the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
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.
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) -England defender Joleon Lescott preserved Manchester City's two-point lead in the Premier League by scoring a second-half winner in a 1-0 victory at Aston Villa on Sunday.
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
MILWAUKEE - Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella’s suspension was set at four games Monday by Major League Baseball for his weekend dirt-kicking tantrum against an umpire.
“I will serve it and I will learn from this experience,” Piniella said before Monday night’s game at Milwaukee. “These things won’t happen again.”
The commissioner’s office originally planned to suspend Piniella for five games. The penalty was reduced by one game after Piniella spoke with John McHale Jr., MLB’s executive vice president for administration.
Piniella said he was suspended for making contact with umpire Mark Wegner — which the Cubs first-year manager denied — and for “exciting the crowd, which is not hard to do in Chicago.”
Piniella started serving the penalty Sunday, when baseball said he was being suspended indefinitely pending his talk with McHale. Piniella said he planned to watch Monday’s game with Cubs general manager Jim Hendry from a suite at Miller Park.
Bench coach Alan Trammell managed the Cubs in their 10-1 win over Atlanta on Sunday. He will continue running the team in Piniella’s absence.
“I was very pleased to see the team play well yesterday and hopefully they will do well in Milwaukee,” Piniella said.
Piniella was ejected in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field after Angel Pagan was thrown out trying to steal third.
Piniella ran onto the field and kicked dirt as he argued and tossed his cap. After seeing a replay following the game, Piniella said Wegner’s call was correct.
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“I didn’t think he got it right from my vantage point in the dugout,” he said. “There were frustrations involved also. I have to go out there and defend my team.
“At the same time, there was no need for all the extracurricular stuff, too. I apologize to the umpire for that. I really do. I respect these guys. It’s over and it’s time to move on.”
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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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.
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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.
