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.
AP
LOS ANGELES - Move over, New Orleans. In the eyes of Louisiana State coach Les Miles, the Pac-10 is the real Big Easy.
Miles recently told a gathering of LSU fans that Southern California has a “much easier road to travel” than LSU to the BCS title game in the Superdome next January.
When Pac-10 coaches, players and officials gathered for the conference’s annual pep rally — otherwise known as football media day — the reaction was a mix of disbelief and dismay.
“I believe you should be very, very careful about talking about other people in everything you do, and particularly comparing teams,” commissioner Tom Hansen said.
The episode underscored a reality of life in the Pac-10. No matter how much the conference achieves on the field, it still battles for national recognition, especially in places where root-hog-or-die football is a way of life.
“If anything, it just draws attention to the fact that this conference needs to continue to keep a mind-set of improving our reputation,” UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said.
Hansen said he would like to see a Southeastern Conference team visit Pullman, Wash., in late November. That’s unlikely. But many in the Pac-10 would be happy to see USC play LSU for the national title in New Orleans in January.
Miles seemed to project that matchup in his remarks to LSU fans.
“They’re going to play real knockdown, drag-outs with UCLA and Washington, Cal-Berkeley, Stanford — some real juggernauts,” Miles said of the Trojans. “And they’re going to end up, it would be my guess, in some position so if they win a game or two, that they’ll end up in the title (game). I would like that path for us.”
It’s fair to wonder if the Trojans’ road would be much tougher if they played in, say, the SEC West, home to Miles’ Tigers.
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A year earlier, it was USC 70, Hogs 17.
And in 2003, the Trojans went into Auburn and crushed the Tigers 23-0 in quarterback Matt Leinart’s first college start.
But to some critics — including Miles, perhaps — those results only support the perception that the Pac-10 has become USC and the Little Nine. The Trojans have won or shared four straight conference titles.
The perception is, so to speak, miles away from reality. Most of USC’s recent trouble has come in its own backyard.
Four of USC’s last five losses, dating to October 2002, have come against Pac-10 rivals.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
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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.
