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.
AP1979-80 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Backstory
After winning Stanley Cups in 1973-74 and 1974-75, the Flyers had been unable to win another title, but they did have a minimum of 95 points each regular season and finished no lower than second in their division despite the loss of coach Fred Shero to the New York Rangers.
The postseason
In its second regular-season game, Philadelphia got stomped 9-2 by the mediocre Atlanta Flames. That would be the Flyers’ last loss for two months. From Oct. 14, 1979, to Jan. 6, 1980, the Flyers were unbeaten in 35 straight games (25 wins, 10 ties) — the longest unbeaten streak in North American major pro sports history. The Flyers beat or tied every team but Washington, only because they didn‘t play the Capitals. The Flyers started the season 26-1-10, and finished it 22-11-10 to sport an overall 48-12-20 record, leading the NHL with 116 points.
Not every game was a thing of beauty, a given with a team that still led the NHL in penalty minutes. On Oct. 21, the Flyers blew a 6-2 lead to four-time defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal and settled for a 6-6 tie. An Oct. 27 game at Pittsburgh was canceled because of a custodians’ strike.
But the most controversial game was No. 28, which tied the record for the longest unbeaten string. A Philadelphia player appeared to have illegally kicked the puck in the net with seconds remaining against Pittsburgh, but the goal was allowed, salvaging a 1-1 tie and giving all of Pittsburgh the feeling that karma owed the Flyers one.
The playoffs
Philadelphia swept Edmonton in the first round, tossed out their old coach Shero and the Rangers 4-1 in round two, took out Minnesota (which had upset Montreal) 4-1 in the third round, and faced the New York Islanders for the Stanley Cup. And that’s where karma caught up with the Flyers. Despite outscoring New York 26-25, Philadelphia lost the series 4-2. Karma particularly showed its ugly side in the final game, lost in overtime, as one Islanders goal was allowed despite the team clearly being offside.
Postscript
The Pittsburgh Penguins, buoyed by Mario Lemiuex’s return from Hodgkin’s Disease — cancer of the lymphatic system — won the last 17 games of the 1992-93 season, an NHL-record winning streak. (The Flyers’ longest win streak in their unbeaten run was nine.) But the two-time defending champion Penguins were bounced in the second round by, wouldn’t you know it, the New York Islanders.
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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.
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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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.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.