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 fileSTEP FOUR
The fourth step is following up on the fall admissions. It’s one thing to look into the cameras and say I was wrong. It’s another to really follow up and do something of substance about it. Weis’ imminent visit to his old coaching tree in New England can’t be the end-all solution. As dominant as the Patriots are, the blueprint doesn’t work in South Bend -- only limited elements of it will.
STEP FIVE
The fifth step is reconnecting with the Ara Parseghian Era. Weis did a great job in his first year or so inviting ex-players who had been long ignored by previous regimes back into the Notre Dame family. But there seems to be a developing gap between Weis and some of the players, assistants and administrators from the Parseghian Era. You can’t make everyone happy, but showing respect and reverence to that era is a great place to start mending fences.
STEP SIX
The sixth step is keeping some of the edge. Weis burst upon the college scene, he didn’t amble into it. He didn’t test the water with a toe, then an ankle. He dove into the deep end with a triple somersault and a half twist. He thinks and lives out of the box. And some of that is what gives him a chance to turn his dream job into a dream for everyone else. But there’s a balance with that. There are fine points and details. And the players, first and foremost, will be watching to see how he handles it.
So far, they like what they see -- including the recruits.
“The players are what sold me on the program,” Newman said. “And that comes from the head coach. They just wanted to go out and practice and improve the way they were doing things. They wanted to get out there and get better. And it was good to see that those guys didn't kind of dwell on it and let the last game bleed into the next game.
“That's the type of people we're going to be joining. That's the type of people who are already there. That's the type of players that we are, we want to get there and do the exact same thing. So it's kind of good to see we're all in the same boat.”
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.
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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.
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.