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.
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 fileFor the first time since 1986, home run king Barry Bonds is not on a major league roster. That will change, however. Look for Bonds to show up mid-summer playing for an American League contender.
A federal judge's recent order that prosecutors re-structure indictments of Bonds, who is facing charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, cleared the way. It means the case will drag on well beyond this season, giving a contender that needs one more bat the opening it needs to pursue Bonds.
Despite Bonds' baggage and surly personality, he appeals to baseball-first decision makers. For the second consecutive offseason, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa pushed his general manager and owner to consider Bonds. The Tampa Bay Rays had serious internal conversations about the possibility.
It makes sense. Even at the advanced age of 43, Bonds remains an offensive force.
With the San Francisco Giants last season, Bonds led National Leaguers with at least 300 at-bats in on-base percentage at .480 and on-base plus slugging percentage at 1.045, and he placed eighth in slugging percentage. Only four other NL players had an OPS of 1.000-plus: the Atlanta Braves' Chipper Jones, the Milwaukee Brewers' Prince Fielder, the Colorado Rockies' Matt Holliday and the Brewers' Ryan Braun.
According to agent Jeff Borris, Bonds is working out regularly in the Los Angeles area and is doing everything necessary to play other than facing live pitching. Hitters usually need about three weeks of spring-training prep before a season.
There is no chance of Bonds rejoining San Francisco, his club for the previous 15 seasons. For years, the Giants marketed themselves as Bonds' team, splashing his likeness throughout AT&T Park. Now, it is as if Bonds never played for the team. The Giants are so glad to be out from under his prickly presence that they have erased all in-park traces of Bonds.
That said, opponents still respect Bonds. His absence from the Giants' lineup already is notable.
"Knowing he's not in the lineup, it's a different mentality because that bat, the challenges that come with it," Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "If you're going to pitch to him, what kind of plan do you set up to pitch to him? If you're not going to pitch to him, you want to make sure everybody's on the same page.
"So those (decisions) aren't there anymore. That's not a bad thing."
A narrow subset of teams qualifies as potential landing spots for Bonds.
It makes no sense for a non-contender such as Tampa Bay to add Bonds for one season. He likely wouldn't consider that route unless it was the only way to get the 65 hits needed for 3,000 in his career.
A National League contender would have to be in dire straits. Bonds clogs the bases and is a defensive liability in left field. Contenders cannot afford to give away outs and bases through poor defense.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
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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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
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.
