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.
APRafael Furcal hit a two-run homer in the fifth, his fourth of the season, and Nomar Garciaparra drove in two runs with a single in the fourth. Juan Pierre added two singles and stole his 42nd base of the season.
Rodrigo Lopez (5-4) went 6 2-3 innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs. He was taken out after striking out Matt Kemp in the seventh because of tightness in his right forearm.
“My forearm muscles stiffened,” Lopez said. “I think I’ll be all right.”
Brad Hawpe finished 2-for-4 and drove in three runs. He had a two-out, broken-bat single up the middle with the bases loaded, which infuriated Penny because it went under his glove.
“(That) could’ve been right at someone,” Penny said of the grounder. “A lot of times it is right at someone.”
Penny is hitting .293 this season, which is higher than his ERA of 2.51. He’s trying to become the first Dodgers pitcher to have a higher batting average than ERA since Fernando Valenzuela batted .250 with a 2.48 ERA in 1981.
But Little needs Penny the pitcher more than Penny the hitter. After seeing Penny hunched over at first, Little was a little concerned.
“We’re just glad it’s not serious,” Little said. “With either person (Penny or Lowe), it could be much, much worse that it was.”
Notes: LHP Brian Fuentes threw Thursday and a decision on his rehab schedule will be made in the next few days. He’s on the disabled list because of a mild back strain. ... INF Jeff Kent wasn’t in the starting lineup. ... 1B James Loney went 0-for-4, ending his 30-game streak of reaching base safely. It was the second longest streak in the majors this year behind Kent’s 36-game streak. ... Troy Tulowitzki was back at shortstop for Colorado after missing the last two games with food poisoning. He learned a valuable lesson though: never cook up raw chicken left in the refrigerator after a long road trip. Tulowitzki went 0-for-4 on Thursday.
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.