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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.
Getty ImagesThey swept a Denver Nuggets team that played no D but had enough talent that it should have at least been interesting. Then they halted the Jazz in six, winning the clincher inside Utah’s brutal pressure cooker. And now they dispatched the Spurs, winning Game 1 after being behind by 20, crushing them in Game 2 by 30, and rallying again Thursday in Game 6 after being in arrears by 17 in the second quarter.
They did all this first and foremost with the leadership of Kobe Bryant, playing his best basketball ever. He is not only putting up statistical nights like he did again in Thursday’s closeout game — 39 points on 16-of-30 shooting — but his attitude and refusal to lose seems to be rubbing off on his less experienced teammates.
Some of that may be the Jerry West influence on him.
“He said something to me that was really interesting,” Bryant remembered of West. “He said when the game is on the line, he feels like the shots are actually easier to make. It was just interesting to hear him say that and to try to understand how he views those clutch situations and how I can learn from that and try to be that way.”
Try? Whenever the Spurs made any kind of move in the series — or, for that matter, the Nuggets and Jazz in previous series — Bryant was there to knock down crucial shots.
That resolve has spread to the rest of the Lakers. Besides more seasoned vets like Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom, the Lakers are getting important contributions from Sasha Vujacic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf. The Lakers right now have so many weapons that they’re a nightmare for even the best of defensive teams like the Spurs.
“He (Bryant) has a great group around him,” said San Antonio’s Bruce Bowen. “Not to take anything away from what he does on his own one-on-one, but now you add other aspects into the mix to create something difficult.”
A Lakers team with superstar leadership and loaded with talent. Just like old times.
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.
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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