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 fileOff the field, equally important events. Two popes celebrated Mass, the Rev. Billy Graham greeted worshippers and Nelson Mandela spoke to thousands.
The Yankees will mark the long goodbye with commemorative baseballs for every home game. They feature a logo of the stadium’s original entrance, and the Yankees will wear a patch with the same emblem on their left sleeves.
Over in Queens, the New York Mets will do a similar thing at Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964 and will close after this season.
The ready-made souvenirs will get put into play at Yankee Stadium on Monday against Toronto and be used through the finale Sept. 21 versus Baltimore. Tickets for that last game are selling for $15,000 and up on StubHub.com.
New Yankees manager Joe Girardi is eager for the final opening day.
“I don’t think you ever know how you’re going to react,” he said Friday. “I think I reacted a lot different when I walked out for the first time at Yankee Stadium than I thought I would. I think I was like, ’Wow, this really awesome.’ As a Midwestern boy, not growing up in that area, you didn’t really understand the greatness of it until you walk in there.”
Properly, Major League Baseball will throw a party at the park with the All-Star game in July. And perhaps the last game won’t be on grass at all, but ice instead. The NHL wants to play there outdoors on New Year’s Day.
Yet baseball will forever be its unmistakable signature.
Late-inning comebacks. Wide-eyed rookies. Frank Sinatra singing “New York, New York.”
Roger Maris’ 61st home run, Tom Seaver earning his 300th win on Phil Rizzuto Day. Casey Stengel’s inside-the-park homer in the 1923 Series, the first one the Yankees won. The ball the Mick nearly hit completely out of the stadium — no one has ever done it, but outfielder Jesse Barfield once got upset and lobbed a ball onto the subway tracks.
“There are so many great things about Yankee Stadium. The history, the nostalgia,” said David Cone, who pitched a perfect game on that mound. “To me, it was the fans. They anticipated the flow better than anyone. Runner on second base, no out, they’re already anticipating moving him over.”
To Yogi Berra, his teammates made the park special. Remember this: When he showed up as a stubby catcher in 1946, many of the monuments were still alive.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
HBT: Prince Fielder is gone and Ryan Braun will likely miss a third of the season because of a failed PED test. Can Milwaukee stay in contention until he gets back?
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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.
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