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
BOSTON - Mike Lowell got a souvenir of his best season and drove the Red Sox closer to another memorable achievement — their first division title in 12 years.
With Boston’s magic number down to two, that could come Thursday night for a team that is improving its hitting and health at just the right time.
“We were happy being in the playoffs with the wild card,” David Ortiz said after Lowell drove in five runs in an 11-6 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday. “But we played good all year. We wanted to see if we could win the division. It hasn’t been done in a while.”
Lowell led a 17-hit attack with three singles and kept the ball that gave him the team record for RBIs by a third baseman on a two-run single in the third. He finished the night with 116 RBIs, surpassing Butch Hobson’s 112 in 1977.
“I take a lot of pride in it,” Lowell said. “I just didn’t know about it until about two weeks ago when I got close. There’s been a lot of good players that have played third base in this organization. I’ll treasure it.”
The Red Sox increased their AL East lead to three games over the New York Yankees, who clinched a playoff spot by winning at Tampa Bay. Boston won for the fourth time in five games after a four-game losing streak in which it struggled at the plate, scoring just eight runs and allowing its lead to shrink to 1½ games.
Boston begins a four-game series against Minnesota at home Thursday night that ends the regular season.
Lowell increased his batting average to a career-best .326 and has avoided his usual second-half slump. He’s done an outstanding job filling in for Manny Ramirez as cleanup hitter. Ramirez missed 24 games with a strained muscle in his left side before batting second Tuesday and Wednesday and going 4-for-5.
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“He’s been great all year,” Dustin Pedroia, one of four Red Sox with three hits, said of Lowell. “We’ve counted on him all year. Manny gets hurt and Mike steps up.”
Now Ramirez is back. So is first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who missed seven games with a bruised right wrist before pinch-hitting in Tuesday night’s 7-3 win over Oakland and going 1-for-3 Wednesday.
“They got a few guys back and they’re gaining momentum into the postseason,” Oakland manager Bob Geren said, “just what they need to do.”
The Red Sox will play the Los Angeles Angels or Cleveland Indians in the AL division series.
Ramirez went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs one day after going 1-for-2. He went to right field with two of his hits and to center field with the other two.
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.
