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.
Like Tiger in golf, everyone is gunning for A-Rod. And he, like Tiger, knows it.
The reason we are infatuated with Tiger is that he, time and again, faces down immense pressure. We’d all love to know what’s inside his head when he faces a putt to win the U.S. Open. We’d all love to know if he has a mantra, a good-luck charm, just what it is that allows him to flow when the situation exudes with tension.
This is what draws us to the great ones. They find the ability to laugh internally at pressure. Pete Rose was drawn to pressure.
In 1980, in the middle of an eighth-inning comeback against Nolan Ryan in the decisive Game 5 of the NLCS, Pete yelled at Ryan, “you ain’t getting me out, either.”
I heard it, I was there and Pete worked a walk. No way on God’s green earth would I have done that. Yelling at the pitcher is just not done. Imagine doubling, tripling the pressure of that moment. The great ones want more pressure for some reason. The great ones have no fear of failing.
Much of my career I feared failure. I believe A-Rod did, too.
I’ve studied this because I wanted to be Rose or Derek Jeter, that kind of player. We all do.
I concluded that an athletes that was extremely gifted physically was better off with a blase or indifferent attitude concerning the public perception of him. Rose? Reggie? Gary Sheffield? Manny Ramirez? There are many more.
It helps to place little, if any, credence on what people think of you or what writers or the media are writing about you. To be impervious to pressure, you either have to be borderline ignorant, or totally secure with yourself as a person. You must have a plan of attack to combat the demons of pressure.
Alex Rodriguez wants to be liked. He cares about his image, the public’s perception of him, and he wants to add adjectives like “clutch” and “winner” to his resume.
He wants to be perceived in the same way as Jeter, but he knows he has to earn it. You can’t fault him for that. However, the correct approach is to let it evolve, let it come to you.
Derek Jeter didn’t plan or force his quest for Mr. October status. He worked efficiently on each at bat, each ground ball, and made his presence known by doing the small things.
Keeping your focus on the little things allows the big ones to find you. This is great advice for all postseason combatants — especially one named A-Rod, who has one final hurdle.
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.
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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.