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.
Ciaran 'Big C' O'Leary (photo courtesy IMPDI)
They’re a crew of veteran professional poker players, well-known at Bay Area casinos and respected by their peers. They scratch and claw in their chosen profession, and all of them crave the spotlight and financial boon that would come with a victory in the main event of the World Series of Poker.
They invited me inside their world as they seek fame and fortune in the world’s biggest tournament.
Here is their story.
LATE EVENING
The blinds are up to $300-$600 with $75 antes, making an unraised pot worth $1,650. Ciaran raises with pocket aces, and gets no callers, picking up a small pot. This is the dilemma for a player with a tight image, when you do play a hand, you often scare others off.
It’s about midnight, and Ciaran has just lost more than $7,000 on a hand as his opponent made a tough call of his bet on the river. He’s down to about $12,000, he’s been playing for 12 hours and is looking a bit weary.
“This is where the head starts to get a little heavy.”
A half hour later, Ciaran is all in with his $12,000 before the flop. Then everyone folds around to the Internet mogul, who thinks for a couple minutes before calling. Ciaran turns over ace-3, and finds himself up against jack-10. He gets up and walks away from the table, unable to watch. The flop comes queen-9-2, giving Internet mogul an open-ended straight draw. Any king, jack, 10 or 8 will eliminate Ciaran. But the final two cards are 7-3, and he not only stays alive, but doubles up to more than $24,000.
Suddenly, he has a bounce back in his step.
AND ON INTO TUESDAY MORNING …
Just before the final break of the day, Ciaran has to rush to the restroom. He has to take care of business now because ESPN wants to do an interview during the break. The cameras have been on him frequently throughout the day, and now that it looks like he’ll survive the day, their interest increases.
And he does hang on despite his shortening chip stack, surviving the day with $13,800. After a starting field of more than 1,700, only 681 advance. Ciaran is in 646th place.
“As card dead as I was,” he says, “it’s like going 10 rounds with Mike Tyson, and he has a baseball bat. That’s basically what it is. It sucks every bit of energy out of you. Your reads have to be so accurate, as there is so little room for error. It was very rewarding for me to make it through.”
After the day ended with a couple more interviews, he got to sleep at 6:30 a.m., rising again at 10:30. He feels confident, feels good, and is looking forward to Wednesday, when he’ll play on the second of two Day 2s.
“I know I’m the underdog by saying this,” he says, “but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I’m sitting at the end of the day with $200,000.”
Cooper, who has $43,400 and advanced in a far more comfortable manner, agrees. “If you don’t think you can do it there’s no point in showing the hell up. You may as well stay in your room.”
The two give updates on their other friends.
Bryan bounced back nicely after he was eliminated from the main event, making the final table at a tournament at the Venetian. And it turns out Dennis will play in the main event after all. Ciaran and Cooper come up with $4,000 for their friend, who scrounges together the remaining $6,000 for the entry fee. Cash in hand, the Silver Bullet flies off toward the tournament arena.
Inside NBCSports.com |
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.
