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.
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.
Beyond Bryant, Los Angeles’ acquisition of center Pau Gasol in a midseason trade with Memphis changed the course of its season. The Lakers went 23-5 with the All-Star in their lineup and certainly could have used him in two regular-season losses to the Celtics, who won 107-94 in Boston on Nov. 23 and 110-91 in Los Angeles on Dec. 30.
Jackson isn’t putting much stock in those matchups.
“We had Thanksgiving Thursday here, played on Friday. We were full of turkey,” cracked Jackson, 9-1 in the finals. “The game in late December was much more reflective of the team. However, we wore those short shorts that night and lost our attitude early. I think the guys got a little tight.”
Boston’s lack of experience in the finals — none of its starters have played in one previously — could be a factor. But Garnett, who led the Celtics to 66 regular-season wins and an Eastern Conference title in his first season with them, isn’t worried about his teammates becoming rattled in their first trip to the big stage.
“At the end of the day, it’s just basketball,” he said. “You play the way you know. You bring what you bring, play with your heart and soul and play together, play as a team.”
The Celtics’ Big Three have waited their entire careers for their first shot at history. Bryant knows that to keep them from raising a 17th banner to Boston’s rafters, the Lakers will need to be the quicker team, the smarter team, the better team.
“From my experience, you have to execute,” he said. “You can want it worse than anybody on the planet, but if you don’t have a group of guys or a team that executes well enough to win, you’re not going to win.”
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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