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.
World Series of Poker commissioner Jeffrey Pollack says his event isn’t about the stars, but about the dream. And as far as what captures the attention of the public, he is right.
The average sports fan can’t just walk onto an NBA court and play against the Lakers. But the average poker fan can sit down at a poker table and match wits against the best players in the world.
That dream, plus the potential for winning a life-changing amount of money, is what attracts people to the game, and in particular, to the WSOP main event.
Bret Forsberg is one of those players. An electrician from the tiny town of Hadlock, Wash., he said he hopes to soon be known as a poker player who used to be an electrician.
Forsberg rides a motorcycle, and looks the part with his long hair, shaggy goatee and leather bandana. He earned his seat at the main event by winning a tournament at the Tulalip Casino in Marysville, Wash.
He’s had success in smaller buy-in tournaments in Washington, but came to Las Vegas eager to prove himself on a much bigger scale.
Forsberg and his wife Michelle were gracious enough to allow me to follow him on Friday as he played in the main event for the first time.
BREAKFAST: 9 a.m.
We settle into our seats with full plates from the buffet at Harrah's, where the Forsbergs are staying. Forsberg tells me he learned to play poker from his father, Bob, a retired marine who is still a mentor to him in the game.
“I grew up in the marine corp,” he says. “When you’re a little kid in the marine corp and it’s raining out, you can’t go outside and play. So you can do one of two things. You can either hang out with the women in the kitchen, and they’re going to put you to work. Or you go hang out with the men. Which means you’re either going to be watching organized sports on TV and fetching beer, or you’re going to be hanging out around a poker table fetching beer.
“So when all of my friends were learning go fish and rummy, I already knew three of a kind beat two pair.”
Forsberg explained that when he earned his seat to the WSOP he received plenty of advice from friends and well-wishers, but his dad’s words carried the most weight.
“The best advice I got is from my father. He told me ‘play your game.’ He said ‘your game is effective. Don’t change anything.’”
During breakfast, Forsberg goes heavy on the orange juice, explaining that a friend once told him it helps you stay sharp. “The sugar and the acids and stuff clean out your system,” he explains.
He admits he’s a little nervous for the tournament, which begins in less than three hours.
“I’ve got my head where I want it right now,” Forsberg says. “The only part about being nervous for me, like I’ve told people, it’s kinda like a kid before Christmas, the closer you get the more excited you get. But as soon as you get all your presents in front of you, you’re fine.
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I ask Forsberg about his playing style, and if he has a plan. He starts to answer, but stops short when he notices a man nearby seems to be eavesdropping.
“Are you playing in the poker tournament?” he asks. When the man says yes, Forsberg replies with a hearty laugh. “Then don’t pay any attention to what I was saying.”
The man identifies himself as Jens from Denmark. Jens pretends to take notes of everything Forsberg says, and the two share a laugh and wish each other luck. Jens isn’t playing until the second Day 1 on Saturday, so both players would have to survive for at least 14 hours of play to potentially meet up.
As breakfast winds down, I ask Forsberg if he'll be disappointed if he doesn’t make it past the first day. He says no, explaining that it’s like the team that loses the Super Bowl. No one remembers them, but “there’re about 40 guys sitting around saying ‘I was there. I may have lost, but I was there.’
“I’m doing something that most people never get closer to than their TV. And I’ll be back again. Win or lose, I’ll be back.”
He’ll begin play at noon.
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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.
