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.
APHunter homered, Jason Kubel hit a grand slam, and the Twins handed Chicago’s Jon Garland one of the worst beatings of his career in the opener.
It was the most runs for the Twins since they scored 23 against Cleveland on June 4, 2002. The White Sox had not surrendered 20 since April 2, 1998, against Texas.
Garland (6-6) tied a career-high by allowing 12 runs, 11 of them earned. He gave up 11 hits, tying a season-high, walked three and did not strike out a batter.
He did all that in just 3 1-3 innings, his earliest exit since lasting 2 2-3 innings against Detroit on Aug. 19, 2004. But that was enough time for his ERA to leap from 3.15 to 3.92.
Garland’s day ended when Kubel hit the second grand slam of his career to make it 12-4 — even though things had gotten ugly long before that.
“The result was absolutely terrible,” Garland said. “I’m embarrassed by it.”
Scott Baker (3-3) got the win despite allowing seven runs and nine hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked one.
Chicago set season highs for runs and hits (18). It was the most runs for the White Sox since scoring 20 against St. Louis on June 20, 2006.
“I didn’t know we were going to play a football game,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Kubel drove in a career-high seven runs for the Twins. Mauer had four hits and tied a career-high with five RBIs. Hunter, Luis Castillo, Jason Bartlett and Morneau each had three hits, and Minnesota banged out 21 in all — one shy of their season-high.
Notes: The Twins’ previous season-high was 16 runs against Detroit on May 13. ... Hunter delivered a highlight reel play in the third inning of the first game when the center fielder raced into the gap to snag Juan Uribe’s drive to left-center. He leaped as he backhanded the ball, avoiding a collision with Kubel. ... The White Sox placed reliever Mike MacDougal on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation and activated right-hander Dewon Day (sore back).
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
HBT: Prince Fielder is gone and Ryan Braun will likely miss a third of the season because of a failed PED test. Can Milwaukee stay in contention until he gets back?
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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.
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.
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.