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.
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The Car of Tomorrow competes on a road course for the first time on Sunday when the Nextel Cup Series makes a stop at Infineon (Calif.) Raceway, where Jeff Gordon should be a force to reckoned with given his past success at the 1.99-mile layout and the success of Hendrick Motorsports with the COT.
Under normal circumstances Gordon would be my favorite, but he will start 42nd in the 43-car lineup, and his teammate, Jimmie Johnson, will start 41st after their cars failed to pass inspection because of illegal front fenders.
After the teams altered their fenders, the cars went back through inspection and passed. But Gordon now faces the steep challenge of trying to drive to the front on the treacherous road circuit
Working in Gordon's favor
Gordon, who leads in points, tops the Cup career road-course wins list with nine. Five of those victories have come at Infineon -- a track record as are the five poles he's captured. Gordon's 14 Cup starts at Infineon also include nine top-fives and 10 top-10s. Another tremendously impressive Gordon accomplishment is his having led for 437 laps -- nearly one third of the laps he has competed in at this 10-turn course.
After qualifying 11th Gordon won this event last year leading for 44 of 110 laps. It was one of his memorable moments at Infineon since he also got engaged on the weekend of the race. And Gordon has always considered competing at Infineon to be special since he grew up in nearby Vallejo, Calif.
The vast resources of Hendrick Motorsports, where Gordon has raced a full-time Cup schedule since 1993, are paying huge dividends this season. With 10 wins in the first 15 Cup races, Hendrick Motorsports is showing how valuable its intense testing program is -- and intense is the perfect word for how this organization approaches testing. For instance it recently brought five cars to a road-course test while at least one other top organization showed up with just one car. That made the issue of illegal fenders even more surprising.
Gordon became a father Wednesday when his wife, model Ingrid Vandebosch, gave birth to a girl. So he won't have to miss the Infineon race as he bids for his fifth win of the season.
Other drivers to watch
If it's not Gordon in Victory Lane, the next best bet to pull of that feat is Tony Stewart, who will be making his 300th Cup start. Gordon and Stewart have combined to win the last three races at Infineon and four of the last six events at Watkins Glen International -- the other road course on the Nextel Cup schedule.
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Stewart, who hasn't yet won this season but has six top-10 results in his last seven starts, is a great road-course racer. He's won five road-course events (two at Infineon), tying him for sixth place among active and retired Cup drivers. At Infineon, to go along with his two victories Stewart has a pole, three top-fives, and four top-10s.
Johnson will be running for just the sixth time at Infineon, where he has crossed the checkers with top-10s in two of his last three outings. Overall at the California road-course he has a top-five and two top-10s.
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Anyone who thought that Denny Hamlin's finish of third in points last season was a fluke should think again. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is second in points and in only his third Cup start on a road course he could come away with a win. Hamlin, who has a road-course win in the Busch Series, will be helped a great deal by the experience his crew chief Mike Ford provides. He'll also have the benefit of having run well so far in COT races.
Kevin Harvick won last year at Watkins Glen, and his combined results at the two road courses run by Cup drivers show that besides his trip to Victory Lane in upstate New York he also has three top-fives, and five top-10s. Harvick's a solid road-course racer who should run strong although maybe not strong enough to make a serious bid to win.
No preview of Infineon would be complete without a mention to keep an eye on some of the top road-course specialists. For Robby Gordon this race is his best opportunity to bring a highlight to a season with only one top-10 result. In his nine Cup starts at Infineon Gordon has a win (2003), two top-fives, and three top-10s.
If he qualifies, Boris Said in the No. 60 Ford could turn in a very formidable run. Said's Cup resume at Infineon shows one pole, and three top-10s in seven starts. When it comes to road courses Cup drivers can easily slip up, but Said is a road warrior and he might well show that again on Sunday.
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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.
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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.
