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.
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.
AP file
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Commissioners.
In fact, a group therapy session consisting of the NFL’s Roger Goodell, the NBA’s David Stern and MLB’s Bud Selig might be extremely fruitful. The three could commiserate about the burdens they share, the pressures they face, and the tolls that their responsibilities exact.
That isn’t to suggest they would skip individual sessions on the couch. After all, there’s a lot to talk about these days.
In fact, there may not be another time in sports history in which three commissioners have had to deal with such absurdly large dilemmas simultaneously.
For Goodell — who, incidentally, has only occupied the big chair for less than one year — there is the Michael Vick disaster. Vick was indicted on charges that he ran a dogfighting ring on his property in Virginia. Goodell now has to tiptoe among the various interests in the case — Vick, the Atlanta Falcons, the league, the media, the fans, the Players Association, the feds — in order to seek a solution.
What he’s dealing with is a public relations nightmare.
Stern would be justified in saying to Goodell, “Oh yeah? You think you got troubles?” For a commissioner of a major sports league, with billions of dollars at stake, there is probably nothing worse than a gambling scandal. It’s the flesh-eating virus of sports. Stern has to preside over a situation in which one of his referees may have bet on games, may have bet on games he officiated, and may have been in debt to the mob.
Stern not only could use extra time on the couch, he could use a brand new couch, one that is extra comfy and covered by a material resistant to moisture from weeping eyes.
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When the three commissioners gather for group, and the therapist says, “Bud, how was your week?” you can understand if the others said, “Oh, shut up, Bud! Your problems are nothing compared to ours.” The therapist naturally will reply, “Now guys, Bud is obviously very upset. Go ahead, Bud. What’s bothering you?”
Then Selig can talk about this Barry Bonds thing, and how it’s been a source of sleepless nights for him. It isn’t just that Bonds is about to break a hallowed record, and that Selig isn’t sure if he should be on hand or not for the big moment.
It’s more about what Bonds represents. For Selig, Bonds is a symbol for all his failures. Bonds is the biggest star of the biggest scandal to hit baseball since the cocaine frenzy of the ‘70s. Before that you’d have to go back to the 1919 Black Sox.
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Now Selig awaits the executioner’s axe, or in this case, Bonds’ bat. People are bombarding him with questions about Bonds’ feat, and Selig is near-catatonic in reply.
What he’s dealing with is a public relations nightmare.
But the issues for the three men are different.
For Goodell, it’s “Why me?” He had been the golden boy, working behind the scenes for the NFL while Paul Tagliabue served as the front man. Actually, Tags wasn’t much of a front man, either. He hid most of the time, which presents a whole different set of issues that he’ll have to deal with on his own now that he’s no longer commissioner.
On Sept. 1, Goodell will mark one year on the job. Yet he probably wonders aloud what he did to deserve this Vick situation. “I’m a good guy,” he probably says. “I paid my dues. I don’t deserve this.”
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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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
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.
