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.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
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.
AP fileCoyotes left winger Daniel Carcillo — 5-11, 203 pounds with a crazy-high 324 penalty minutes in his first full season — is learning the hard way that competitiveness and chaos can be tough to tell apart. Here are his 10 tips for surviving and thriving as a middleweight fighter, as told to SN's Steve Greenberg.
1. You have to want to do it
Unless you're 6-8, 250 pounds, you should never let a coach force you to fight. I'm a pretty mellow guy off the ice; a lot of people who get to know me say I'm totally different than the guy they see at the arena. But I'll tell you something my coach, Wayne Gretzky, and my teammates already know: I like to fight. It's not about size; it's about your willingness to do it. There are a lot of big guys out there who don't like fighting. Do I enjoy fighting a big guy who doesn't like to fight? Damn right I do.
2. Sometimes, though, discretion really is the better part of valor
I fought Raitis Ivanans in L.A. even though I really didn't want to. I'd scored a nice goal and was kind of revved up and skating around being an idiot. Wayne told me, "If he comes out, I want you to come right off the ice." Sure enough, on my last shift, Ivanans came out looking for me. He's a pretty scary guy: 6-3, 263 and incredibly strong. But I didn't listen to Wayne because I thought it would be cowardly to back down. We traded punches, he hit me on the forehead and I went down. It was quick, but it was one of the worst beatings I've taken in hockey.
3. Even a bleeder has to have thick skin
I know hockey fights supposedly are about showing up — not who wins and who loses — but when you get beat up, it's pretty tough to swallow. It's embarrassing, especially when it happens in front of 18,000 people and the 40 guys on both benches. Bouncing back is the biggest thing. It's like being a closer in baseball.
4. Make the guys who really deserve it pay when you have the chance
I had a lot of fun beating up Vancouver's Alex Burrows this season in Phoenix. He's just a little rat; he goes around starting trouble but doesn't back up what he does on the ice with his fists too often. So when he decided to drop the gloves with me, it was good. I grabbed him at center ice and he didn't have anywhere to go. It was kind of like a caveman beating; he was on his knees and I was whaling away.
5. Just throw 'em
Everybody fights differently -- and most of it is instinct anyway -- but the best middleweights try to grab the center of the other guy's jersey and just throw and throw. Hitting them anywhere in the face is good, but the chin area is where if you connect with a good shot, they go good night.
6. But work the body, too
I mean your own body. Summers are tough; everyone assumes we just play golf, but that's nuts. I took three weeks off after the season ended and then I was back in the gym training, with special focus on my legs and my core. I work out in Toronto, where I'm from, with guys like Rick Nash (Blue Jackets) and Patrick O'Sullivan (Kings). We don't mess around. We get after it.
7. Don't leave all the ice at the rink
I live by myself, so I have to take care of myself when I get home after a rough fight. My method of treatment pretty much consists of ice and maybe a Tylenol PM. The good thing is the ice is usually on my hand, not my head. I didn't lose too many fights this season. I had 19. I'd say I won probably 15 of them. I lost only two of them for sure, to Ivanans and to Nashville's Darcy Hordichuk.
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.
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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.
