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.
APIt’s given Toyota executives hope that its teams will reach Victory Lane this season, and there’s no reason to believe a Gibbs driver won’t challenge for the title. Tony Stewart is a two-time series champion, Denny Hamlin made his first Chase last season and newcomer Kyle Busch is determined to show Hendrick how wrong he was for dumping Busch to make room for Earnhardt.
Close attention will be paid this season to the infusion of open-wheel and foreign drivers. Four others have followed Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya’s successful switch to NASCAR, and Sam Hornish Jr. is the only American in the group.
The addition of Scotland’s Dario Franchitti, and French Canadians Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier has opened NASCAR to a wider audience at a time when the sport is struggling to grow its existing fan base. These new open-wheelers can attract international attention and potentially draw in foreign sponsorship that could diffuse the effect of the weak American economy.
But these four open-wheelers may struggle far worse than Montoya ever did. Considered a rare, exceptional talent with tremendous car control, Montoya’s team owner fully expects him to make the Chase for the championship this season.
The others should be satisfied with simply making all 36 races this season. With 50-some cars expected to fight for 43 spots on most weekends, the NASCAR newcomers might find their transition into stock cars won’t be quite as smooth as Montoya’s was.
It will all play out on the race track, which is where NASCAR wants attention focused after several seasons of tinkering left many longtime fans longing for the good ol’ days. Between the France-designed Chase, two name changes to its title series, and a series of small but altering tweaks, much has changed as NASCAR heads into its 50th running of the Daytona 500.
So France minimized changes this season, hoping to get fans to remember the action, excitement and personalities that make up NASCAR.
“We’re getting back to the basics, we’re going to try to minimize the change going forward as best we can and focus on what we’ve always focused on — which is the best product in the world,” he said.
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NASCAR Media Day Feb. 7: Jeff Gordon talks about Dale Earnhardt Jr's offseason move, Dario Franchitti talks about his switch to NASCAR, and more. |
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 | Earning a trip to victory lane Take a look at every NASCAR driver who has claimed a checkered flag this racing season. NBCSports.com |
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 | Revved up for racing Take a look at how some NASCAR fans express their dedication to the drivers and to the sport. NBCSports.com |
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 | NBCSports.com |
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 | INTERACTIVE |
 | NASCAR wives and girlfriends They're fixtures in pit row, but they don't drive on the track or work on the cars. Take a look at some notable NASCAR wives and girlfriends. |
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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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.