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.
Reuters
CLEVELAND - An April win with all the texture of one in October was quickly chilled for the New York Yankees.
Moments after beating the Cleveland Indians 1-0, the Yankees lost a shocker: Jorge Posada is headed to the disabled list for the first time.
“It’s very disappointing,” said New York’s dependable catcher, bothered by a sore shoulder for weeks. “It’s probably the most disappointing thing in my career.”
The troubling news on Posada came after Chien-Ming Wang shut down Cleveland for seven innings and outpitched C.C. Sabathia, who gave up a home run to Melky Cabrera as the Yankees snapped a three-game losing streak.
Wang (5-0) allowed four hits, struck out a season-high nine and became the AL’s only five-game winner. Only one Cleveland runner reached third against the right-hander, who made 113 pitches and got the Yankees back to .500.
But Wang’s fine outing was overshadowed by Posada, who has started more games than any AL catcher in the past eight seasons. He has caught at least 137 regular-season games each year since 2000 and appeared in 78 postseason games in the span.
“It’s hard to lose a guy like Jorge,” said closer Mariano Rivera, who worked the ninth for his 450th career save. “You can’t replace him. You just hope he gets healthy and comes back strong as soon as he can.”
Posada was a late scratch from the starting lineup. He first complained about a tired arm on April 8 and didn’t catch for two weeks, hoping the rest would strengthen his shoulder. He caught the series opener on Friday and the last four innings on Saturday after he hit a tying, three-run pinch triple.
Posada said he felt pain in his shoulder after a throw on Saturday, and when he came to the ballpark on Sunday he couldn’t even have a game of catch.
“We have to be smart about it,” he said. “It’s not getting any better. The MRI shows a strained muscle, but I think it’s more than that. I want to really find out what it is.”
Posada is expected to visit famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews.
One of the Yankees’ leaders, Posada apologized for not being able to play and live up to the four-year, $52 million contract he signed in November.
“You want to play,” he said. “You put your uniform on and you take a lot of pride in playing. We have to find out what it is and then go on.”
Posada said playing anywhere but behind the plate is not an option.
“I’m not playing first base,” he said. “I’m a catcher. We’ve got seven first basemen.”
Wang got help from reliever Joba Chamberlain, who pitched a perfect eighth in his first appearance in Cleveland since Game 2 of last year’s playoffs when tiny insects called midges swarmed him and the Yankees in the late innings.
Rivera worked a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two for his seventh save to join Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith as the only closers to reach the 450 milestone. After Wang gave up a leadoff single in the fifth, the Indians didn’t manage another hit.
The trio of Wang, Chamberlain and Rivera combined for New York’s other shutout, 2-0 over Tampa Bay on April 6. Wang improved to 17-1 in 23 career starts against AL Central teams.
Sabathia (1-4) dropped to 1-8 in regular-season games against the Yankees. The defending AL Cy Young winner pitched eight strong innings, giving up just four hits — one of them a one-out homer in the fifth inning to Cabrera, who pulled a first-pitch changeup.
“He put a good swing on it and hit it out of the park,” Sabathia said with a shrug.
Like the Yankees, the Indians played without their most durable player.
Center fielder Grady Sizemore sat because of a sore right ankle, ending the majors’ longest consecutive games streak at 382. Sizemore called his injury a “mild sprain” and manager Eric Wedge doesn’t think the All-Star will go on the DL.
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.
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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.