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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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
STANFORD, Calif. - As soon as the final whistle blew, the Notre Dame players gathered in the end zone to salute their fans and savor a season-ending victory.
The celebration continued in the locker room with multiple renditions of the school’s fight song and pictures for the departing seniors. The Fighting Irish managed to put a positive finish on the worst season ever for college football’s most storied team.
Robert Hughes ran for 136 yards and the go-ahead 6-yard touchdown with 6:06 remaining to help the Irish end the season with consecutive wins for the first time in 15 years by beating Stanford 21-14 Saturday.
“When we were singing in there — and the last two games we didn’t even worry about our record, just that we were winning those games,” senior safety Tom Zbikowski said. “It feels good to get that feeling back of winning games.”
But the Irish (3-9) know that the season-ending wins over Duke and Stanford can’t erase all that went wrong earlier this season as the team set a school record for losses in Charlie Weis’ third season at the school.
“It’s still 3-9. Let’s not kid ourselves,” Weis said. “But at least it’s 3-9 with two wins at the end of the year. Now all of a sudden, you’re going into the offseason winning the last game at home and then we go on the road and win our last game there. Let’s start moving forward now.”
This was a mistake-filled game by all parties involved, with six turnovers, five missed field goals, four plays overturned by instant replay and a number of personal foul penalties.
After Derek Belch missed his fourth field goal of the game for Stanford (3-8), a 49-yarder following an interception by Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame drove for the winning score. Hughes broke off a 44-yard run down to the Cardinal 8 and scored two plays later to make it 21-14.
Hughes, whose 45-yard run on the first play was the longest for the Irish all season, ran for 246 yards in the final two games of his freshman season after gaining just 48 in Notre Dame’s first 10 games.
“He played awesome,” receiver David Grimes said. “He runs hard. He’s huge. I wouldn’t want to tackle him.”
|
Doug Baldwin returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards to the Stanford 48. T.C. Ostrander, who replaced an injured Tavita Pritchard earlier in the half, drove the Cardinal down to the 7.
But Evan Moore could not hold onto a pass in the end zone on third down and Ostrander couldn’t connect with Richard Sherman on fourth down in the final minute to end Stanford’s comeback attempt.
“It was a great pass. I didn’t make the play when it mattered,” Moore said. “It’s disappointing but I’ll bounce back. It was right in my hands. It was a good pass and I dropped it.”
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.
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
 | Timeline |
 | Notre Dame 2011 schedule See when all the big matchups will take place with Notre Dame's 2011 schedule. NBCSports.com |
 | Slideshow |
 |
| Slideshow |
 |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
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.
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.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings
