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.
Getty ImagesBefore you get too excited about your own team that’s climbed back into a race, though, there’s another trend that’s been fairly steady over the past several years. That is that no matter how tight the races get, the teams that have playoff spots at this stage of the season usually keep them. For that matter, of the six teams that led their divisions on June 1, five still either still have the lead, or in Cleveland’s case, share it.
Last year, at least 17 teams were still in contention on Aug. 13. But by season’s end, four of the six division leaders still held their leads and every one of them made the playoffs. Only Detroit fell out of first place, finishing a game behind the Twins in the AL Central. But the Tigers got to the World Series as the AL wild card. In the National League, the Dodgers ended up tied with San Diego for first place at the end of the year and wound up with the wild card based on head-to-head records.
The same thing happened in 2005 — five of six division leaders on Aug. 13 ended the season that way, with only the Yankees trading positions with the Red Sox. Boston, like Detroit last year, still made the playoffs.
In 2004, it was more of the same. On Aug. 13, the division leaders were the Yankees, Twins, A’s, Braves, Cards and Dodgers, which is exactly how the standings stood when the season ended. That year, 13 teams were within 6 1/2 games of a division lead and another — the San Francisco Giants — was 7 1/2 out. A 15th team, the Red Sox, were more than 10 games behind the Yankees, but Boston overtook the Los Angeles Angels down the stretch to snare the wild card — and the World Series.
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SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
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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.
