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.
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - New York Mets ace Pedro Martinez pitched six sharp innings in a Class A start Wednesday night, staying on track to return to the majors next week.
The three-time Cy Young winner strained his left hamstring in his only start for New York on April 1 against Florida and has been on the disabled list since. The Mets hope he can rejoin the rotation next week at San Francisco.
“I am really excited,” Martinez said. “I would love to be there. I know the team really needs a little bit of a pat on the back, and I hope my presence will make a difference for them.”
Pitching for St. Lucie in the advanced Florida State League, Martinez gave up two runs and four hits. He threw 82 pitches, striking out six and walking none.
Martinez took the loss as Vero Beach beat St. Lucie 2-0. David Price, the overall No. 1 pick in last year’s draft, pitched six impressive innings for the Tampa Bay affiliate.
“I felt good,” Martinez said. “Nothing bothered me, so I’m hoping to get an opportunity up there. By pitching, everything was going to just sharpen up a little bit more.”
The 36-year-old Martinez did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, when Vero Beach bunched its four hits and scored twice.
“Those kids, they just don’t hesitate. They keep swinging and swinging and swinging. They don’t let you really work out a pattern. So you just go out there, do whatever you can, come out of it healthy and hopefully put it in play the next time out,” he said.
Martinez made just five starts last year while recovering from surgery on his right rotator cuff. The Mets are below .500 this season, and their slow start led to speculation that manager Willie Randolph’s job was in jeopardy.
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“It’s not only Willie,” Martinez said. “It carries over to the whole team. When you struggle, everything seems to come at the wrong time, and right now the team is struggling, so everything just shows up.”
“But I’m pretty sure that this team can bounce back and we’ll be able to get everything straightened out,” he said.
The hard-throwing Price looked even better than he did in his professional debut last week. He has now started his career with 11 straight shutout innings.
Price gave up two hits against St. Lucie, striking out nine without a walk. A day before the game, the 22-year-old lefty found out he would be facing Martinez.
“You always have butterflies,” he said. “You’re throwing against a former Cy Young winner. It’s fun. It’s a challenge. It makes you want to compete a little more. You know you can’t give up one or two runs and get the win because he’s that good.”
“I want him to go home and one day tell his grandchildren about me. That’s the impression I want to leave on everyone,” he said.
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.
