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.
Getty ImagesGoaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has been out since Dec. 6 with the same high ankle sprain that’s shelved Crosby. He was projected to be gone for 6-8 weeks as well, but as of right now there’s no timetable for Fleury’s return.
Even when he was playing, Fleury’s efforts were inconsistent and the Pens were criticized for not arming themselves with a more seasoned back-up netminder to play behind the youngster.
Veteran presence Gary Roberts is out with a broken fibula. Mark Eaton, the club’s top defensive defenseman, is done for the year following knee surgery.
That makes Crosby’s absence even more difficult to stomach for everyone involved.
Including, most of all, him.
“Especially with the adversity our team has,” Crosby said. “We have a lot of injuries right now and guys are battling through it."
There are other concerns beyond health for the Penguins.
Jordan Staal, a 29-goal scorer last season as a rookie, is the epitome of the sophomore jinx, with a meager five red lamps lit so far during the 2007-08 campaign.
There’s also talk that the team’s youth-based roster has grown weary of the ranting of coach Michel Therrien, who wore out his welcome quickly in Montreal, his only previous NHL stop.
Add Crosby to that list of woes and in a tight and hotly-contested Atlantic Division race, where teams go from first to last place in less than a week, the long-term absence of Crosby could prove to be the fatal blow for the Penguins.
“We'll see how fast I heal,” Crosby said.
At best, he’s likely looking at mid-March.
He’s not a grunt who goes up and down his wing, bangs into people and gets the puck to the people who should have it. Crosby is a high-end skill player in need of all of his faculties at 100 percent to make his magic, so expect him to come back somewhat closer to eight weeks than six.
By then, it might be too late for Pittsburgh’s postseason hopes.
|
It sounds like the title of one of those old movies that another Crosby with ties to Pittsburgh, Bing, used to star in alongside Bob Hope.
In this case, without Crosby, there’s no hope.
Only a road to ruin.
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.
Check out highlights from the Rangers 3-2 win over the Capitals.
 | Video |
 |
Hard for Crosby to sit and wait Penguins star Crosby says it will be tough to be sidelined for nearly two months. |
ProHockeyTalk headlines |
 | Video: NHL from NBC Sports |
 NHLI via Getty Images |
 | Slideshow |
 | NHL All-Stars Take a look at the players who competed in Team Chara's 12-9 victory over Team Alfredsson. more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
| Slideshow |
 |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
 | Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
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
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.
