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.
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.
AFP/Getty ImagesHe’s led by resilient example in these playoffs. And that’s a turnaround. Celtics fans can easily recall the 2003 Eastern Conference Finals against the Nets when, trailing 74-53 after three quarters, Pierce was brooding on the bench when then-teammate Antoine Walker got loud in the Celtics huddle and sparked a record-setting fourth quarter comeback. Pierce was brilliant in that final quarter but he’d appeared to have mentally checked out before Walker’s rant.
The year before that, Pierce was on the U.S. team in the FIBA World Championships held in Indiana. The dysfunctional American stars finished sixth in the tournament and Pierce was reportedly very unpopular with his teammates and hasn’t played for a U.S. squad since.
Mercurial, moody and a chronic complainer, Pierce was hard to like then. He got even harder to like when he acted out bizarrely in a 2005 playoff game with the Pacers, got ejected, then showed up at the postgame press conference with a giant wrap around his head.
At the start of the 2006 season, Pierce changed. He grew up. After delivering an impassioned speech to the Celtics crowd before the first regular season game that season, he began playing like a leader.
Not that anyone noticed. The Celtics were so far off the national radar screen that Pierce and his 40-point games against the Wizards in February barely registered. But under head coach Doc Rivers, Pierce acted more like a professional and took the lead in trying to lead an exceptionally young and clueless Boston team.
It was time served in purgatory for Pierce. Now, on the brink of an NBA title, he’s nearing hoops heaven.
“I always leave it on the court,” Pierce said Tuesday. “That's just something I owe to my ballclub, my franchise, every time I step on the court. And I have plenty in the tank. It's not over. I've got to suck it up for two more games, if that. It'll all be worth it in the end.”
For Pierce, it won’t be complete until he cradles the golden Finals trophy. But what he’s done in these playoffs and The Finals in particular has changed the perception of Paul Pierce. For the good and for good.
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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