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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
APNowitzki gave mixed reviews to the Kidd trade, which cost the Mavericks young point guard Devin Harris, a former first-round draft choice.
“Honestly, things didn’t look great before the trade. It would have been a struggle to get into the playoffs either way, so we just went for it,” Nowitzki said. “Sometimes you have to take some risks in this business. We went for one of the best point guards ever to play this game. ... For some reason, we never got clicking the way we wanted to.”
Johnson didn’t say anything about his future with the team, other than to say he expects to be in meetings soon concerning how to improve the squad.
The Hornets shot nearly 54 percent in the first half and took their first double-digit lead in the first quarter at 24-13.
Dallas battled back to tie it at 32 when Stackhouse hit an acrobatic fast-break layup as he was being pulled to the floor on a hard foul by Pargo, but the Mavs never took the lead and the Hornets began to pull away again when Pargo hit a 3.
Pargo’s jumper several possessions later ignited a 17-3 run to close the second quarter and the Hornets led 54-39 at halftime.
The Hornets’ victory closed the latest happy chapter for a team that won only 18 games in the last full season it played in New Orleans before a two-year displacement to Oklahoma City because of Hurricane Katrina.
Yet, shortly after the game ended, so did the brief celebrations by Hornets players, who said they expected to get at least past the first round after a 56-26 regular season than earned them a Southwest Division crown and the second seed in the tough Western Conference.
“We’re not going to pop champagne bottles or anything like that,” Paul said. “We’re trying to set a new standard here with our organization. This isn’t like a fairy tale for us. This is something that we’re trying to keep going.”
Notes: Shortly before tip-off, the Hornets presented Scott with the Red Auerbach trophy so fans could honor the first-time NBA coach of the year. The voting totals were released earlier in the day. ... Saints running back Reggie Bush was in a courtside seat and persuaded by the Hornets’ mascot into signing a football and throwing it into the crowd. ... Paul had one triple-double and three double-doubles in this series. ... Attendance was 18,260. The Hornets sold out all three home playoff games in the series. ... Bass hit his first 21 free throws of the series before missing one with 8:56 left in the game. ... The Mavs are 8-6 all time in first-round playoff series.
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
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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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