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 file
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Dennis Franchione dodged questions about his future as Texas A&M coach Tuesday and said reports he was negotiating a contract buyout were untrue.
“I am not going to get into the rumor game with you guys,” Franchione said during his weekly news conference. “There are no facts to that and I’m not into it. I’m sorry that you guys have to deal with it.”
Several media outlets reported Monday the school was to get rid of Franchione after five years as coach. Franchione’s contract pays him $2 million per year and runs through 2012.
The Aggies play at Missouri on Saturday and Franchione refused to talk about anything but that game.
“I know you have your work to do and your questions to ask, but I’m a non-participant in this,” Franchione said.
Franchione bristled when he was asked if he expected to be A&M’s coach next season.
“You want to talk about Missouri, you want to talk about the games, I’m willing to sit here with you,” he said. “You guys go ahead and speculate on all the other things. That is not my concern at this point in time.”
Franchione, 56, has faced growing discontent with A&M’s fan base as the Aggies have fallen behind the Big 12’s elite teams and slipped out of the national spotlight. Under Franchione, A&M is 2-12 against Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
The criticism intensified a month ago, when Franchione was caught giving inside information to boosters who paid $1,200 to get it. The e-mailed newsletters, dubbed “The VIP Connection,” contained news about players’ injuries, their academic standing and Franchione’s blunt assessments of their skills.
Athletics director Bill Byrne was not aware of the e-mails and Franchione apparently violated his contract by not reporting the income the newsletters generated.
Byrne admonished Franchione for the newsletter and ordered him to shut down his personal Web site. The school launched an internal investigation and sent the findings to the NCAA, acknowledging some secondary violations. Byrne said last month he would consider the e-mail scandal when he evaluated Franchione at the end of the season.
Amid Monday’s reports about Franchione’s status, the school released a statement that said Byrne planned to wait until the season ended before evaluating Franchione. The statement said there were “false rumors” circulating about the program.
The Aggies didn’t practice Monday, but the players spent the day wondering about Franchione, too. None of them heard from the coach but assumed the reports weren’t true.
“We would’ve been the first to know,” senior guard Kirk Elder said Tuesday. “There would’ve been some kind of notification to the players.”
Tight end Martellus Bennett wasn’t surprised by the reports.
“We all knew what was ahead anyway,” Bennett said. “Anybody could see it.
“Everything that’s been going on, the position Coach has been in and all the attention that’s been brought to it, it’s a business. It’s like if you’re at work and all your co-workers come around and tell you, ’Hey man, the boss is not happy with you. You get your pink slip. You better watch out.’
“It’s like, you can kind of see what’s happening, but you really don’t know.”
Speculation has swirled around Franchione’s future since the Aggies’ 34-17 loss to Miami on Sept. 20. The news of the per-pay e-mails broke a week later and the players have faced weekly questions about him since.
A few days after the e-mails became public, the Aggies filled an auditorium and applauded Franchione as he stepped to a podium. They were still supporting him Tuesday.
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“He’s our coach and he’s our man and we’re going to fight our tail off for him,” said junior quarterback Stephen McGee. “I love Coach to death and none of that is ever going to change.”
The Aggies admit the uncertainty has become a distraction that’s been impossible to ignore.
“Coming out of that Miami game, that’s when it started,” said senior defensive end Chris Harrington. “That’s no time to start talking about coaching changes, and I’m really disappointed at whoever was saying those things.”
Harrington said there’s not much point worrying about Franchione’s future.
“What does it matter what we think or thinking about it or worrying about it?” he said. “It doesn’t. You just try to get away in your head and focus on what you can deal with, what you can control and handle.”
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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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.
