Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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
WENGEN, Switzerland - Bode Miller always wanted to be the best American skier ever. With one more win, he will.
Miller matched Phil Mahre’s U.S. record of 27 World Cup victories by winning the Lauberhorn downhill for the second year in a row, charging through the lower part of the course to win in 2 minutes, 30.40 seconds.
With two straight downhill victories — he also won in Bormio, Italy, on Dec. 29 — and a sudden rediscovery of his slalom form, the 30-year-old American is a good bet to pass Mahre before the season ends.
“I remember when I was young it was one of my goals. I wanted to be the best American skier ever,” Miller said. “I think that’s what I am. It’s nice to have the numbers to back that up.”
Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark won a record 86 World Cup races during his career.
Didier Cuche of Switzerland was second, 0.65 seconds back, and Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Canada was third, 1.33 behind Miller.
Miller’s win also thrust him back into the race for the overall World Cup title. In 2005, Miller became the first American to win the large crystal globe since Mahre did it more than two decades earlier. But Miller finished third and fourth the last two years amid a miserable loss of form in the slalom, once a preferred event.
Miller completed a slalom run Friday to finish third in a super-combi. He then was fifth in the slalom Saturday — his best finish since winning in Sestriere, Italy, on Dec. 13, 2004, the season he won the overall title.
“If I go out and ski 100 percent and don’t make any mistakes, I have a good chance to win,” said Miller, appearing more relaxed and laughing more often than the skier who often clashed with journalists, coaches and officials in recent years.
“If I ski well, I can win in all four events.”
Miller, who broke away from the U.S. ski team to compete on his own this season, has 611 points and trails only Benjamin Raich of Austria in the overall standings. He is also only a point behind Cuche in the race for the downhill title.
“January doesn’t matter so much,” said Miller, who followed his win on the Lauberhorn last year with five disqualifications and only one top-three finish in his final 15 races. “It’s March that matters.”
In recent seasons, Miller and U.S. skiing officials appeared worn out amid endless confrontations over rules such as those that didn’t allow him to sleep in his motor home at races. This season, Miller not only has his RV, he also hired a bus to house and transport his personal coaches, made up mostly of former U.S. staff members.
Miller has named his breakaway squad “Team America.” He still wears a U.S. uniform when he races to conform with World Cup rules, but puts on his red “Team America” jacket as soon as he takes his skis off.
Miller said the greater control over his training regimen has helped him feel fresher this year and, hopefully, avoid the midseason burnout he has often experienced.
“I’m in better shape now than I was last year,” he said. “My fitness is good enough that I can go out from the start and give 100 percent the whole way.”
The historic downhill course on the Lauberhorn varies widely, featuring both the fastest and slowest stretches on the men’s tour. The straight Hanegg section pushes racers to speeds up to 94 mph and a narrow passage over a bridge in a curve forces them to slow to 44 mph.
At 2.8 miles, the Lauberhorn is also the longest course.
Miller trailed Osborne-Paradis at the first split, and failed to match Cuche’s speed under the water station tunnel where skiers duck under the Jungfrau region’s famed cog railway midway down the course.
|
“He’s really able to carve super clean turns in different situations better than anyone in the world,” U.S. coach Phil McNichol said. “That’s his gift.”
Perfect weather and course preparation took some of the bite out of the Lauberhorn, which has been the site of gruesome accidents over the years.
In 1991, Austrian rookie Gernot Reinstadler died from massive internal injuries after crashing on the final “S” turn before the finish line. Adrien Duvillard of France suffered serious head trauma in 1997 after hitting the fencing at more than 55 mph.
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.
NEW YORK (AP) - As the glow fades from the Giants' Super Bowl triumph, some New York sports fans are tuning in to basketball and hockey, with the Rangers in first place and the Knicks' overnight sensation, Jeremy Lin, sparking "Lin-sanity.''
Robins: This year, six new breeds will be making their debut on the green carpet for the Westminster Dog Show, which begins Monday.
 | Slide show |
 | The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | Who's hot on Twitter? Check out which of your favorite athletes have the best pages and most followers! NBCSports.com |
 | Special feature |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | Presidential candidates and sports How do President Obama and his Republican rivals stack up when it comes to their sports backgrounds? |
Inside 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.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.
