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 swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
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.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
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.
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MELBOURNE, Australia - Roger Federer, recovering from a stomach virus and out of competition since November, landed in the same half of the Australian Open draw as No. 3 Novak Djokovic and four former finalists Friday.
The Grand Slam event will start Monday at Melbourne Park.
Bidding for a third consecutive Australian title and 13th Grand Slam victory, Federer will open against Argentina’s Diego Hartfield and could meet veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, in his 62nd major, in the second round.
James Blake and Tomas Berdych are in Federer’s quarter and, if seeded players progress on rankings, Federer will meet No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez in the quarterfinals — a rematch of last year’s Australian Open final.
Djokovic looms in the semis if he can get past a tough quarter that includes former Australian Open champions Marat Safin and Thomas Johansson, both unseeded, and former finalists Marcos Baghdatis (2006) and Lleyton Hewitt (2005).
David Nalbandian, who beat both Federer and Nadal in the same tournament twice in October en route to titles in Madrid and Paris, is in Djokovic’s quarter along with David Ferrer of Spain and former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Three-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal, the only player to beat Federer in the last 10 Grand Slam events, will have to get past fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya en route to a potential quarterfinal match against former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick.
If he makes the semifinals, second-ranked Nadal could face the likes of No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 8 Richard Gasquet or No. 9 Andy Murray, who has a difficult opening match against young Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
On the women’s side, No. 1 Justine Henin won’t face a Top 10 player until a potential quarterfinal match against No. 5 Maria Sharapova, who lost last year’s final to Serena Williams.
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Williams has a relatively easy path to the quarterfinals with wild-card entry Jarmila Gajdosova in the first round and the prospect of two qualifiers after that.
No. 3 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia or 2006 Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo figure to be her likely quarterfinal rivals.
On the other half, No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova cannot meet a Top 10 player until a quarterfinal against fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze, who is seeded sixth. In the semis, she could meet No. 8 Venus Williams, the Wimbledon champion, or No. 4 Ana Ivanovic.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
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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.
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.
