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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
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.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
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.
On November 2, 1963, amid the chaotic escalation of civil war, South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated. A world away on that same date, Navy -- a top team filled with players who would soon serve their country in Vietnam -- played a football game in South Bend, Ind.
Middies 35, Irish 14.
"I still remember it vividly," says the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback of that team, a man named Roger Staubach. "I think we all do."
Forty-four years later, it remains the last victory for Navy in what has become sports' most one-sided series since Globetrotters-Generals. Only no one is laughing; there are no buckets of confetti when a football factory squashes a service academy an NCAA-record 43 times in a row.
"I am tired of people saying it's the longest losing streak," Staubach says. "I just hear it all the time."
Roger that. The time has come, then, to put it to rest once and for all.
On Saturday afternoon, 4-4 Navy will have its best chance since '63 to win a football game in South Bend. Perhaps it wouldn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. But if wackos from Gainesville to Eugene get to live and breathe this stuff 365 days a year, then I am going to root like hell for the Middies for three hours. Feel free to join me.
Roll up the score, Navy. Anchors Aweigh!
Poor Joe Bellino. The 1960 Heisman winner beat Notre Dame, too, but he had a prior engagement the last time Navy beat the Irish. "I was in Vietnam during Roger's junior year," says Bellino, 69. "I think this might be the year. Wouldn't it be a wonderful experience for those kids? I know I scored quite a few touchdowns against other teams, but I can remember with minute details the times I scored against Notre Dame."
Notre Dame was a bad team in 1960, the last time -- until 2007 -- it started a season 1-7. But don't feel bad for the Irish, who have gotten all ( OK, and made some of) the breaks against Navy. Like in 2003, when they won on a field goal at the final gun. And in 2002, when Navy lost an 8-point lead with 5 minutes to play.
The worst of them all was in 1999, as Notre Dame, down 24-21, was driving for the winning touchdown. On fourth-and-10 with just over a minute to play, the Irish picked up, oh, 9 yards. First down, Irish! Huh?
"A leprechaun came out and measured that play," Staubach says. "Unbelievable to this day. We had that thing won."
Ah, well. All of that just melts away if the Middies can take care of business on Saturday. What would a 65-year-old Pro Football Hall of Famer with two Super Bowl rings tell them if he could stand in that locker room before the game? "My heroes are military guys. I love the Navy, and I love Navy football," Staubach says. "This Notre Dame thing has kind of haunted us through the years. I would ask every one of them to give that little extra to win this game."
You can get behind that, can't you?
It took a while for the light bulb to go on, but when it did, Jonas Gray finally showed the talent many had expected from the blue-chip prospect from Detroit. In a recent interview, Gray, who is rehabbing an ACL injury to get ready for the NFL Scouting Combine, expressed the confidence and support he has for head coach Brian Kelly.
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 | Notre Dame 2011 schedule See when all the big matchups will take place with Notre Dame's 2011 schedule. NBCSports.com |
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The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.
