Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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.
Inactive, but paying attention
Boston Celtics guard Gabe Pruitt, who played in just 15 games in the regular season and none so far in the playoffs, said he’s trying to pick up anything he can from the experience so he’ll be ready if called upon.
“I’m just learning a lot,” he said before Game 6 of the NBA finals. “I’m fortunate to be on a team that’s one game away from a world championship.”
Pruitt, a second-round draft choice in his first year in the league, scored 32 points in 95 minutes this season. He also played in the developmental league.
“It’s hard to sit here and not play, but I realize I need to wait my turn,” he said. “There are a lot of older guys ahead of me.”
Tall, and to the point
Lakers coach Phil Jackson stopped by the interview room for the obligatory pregame media availability.
And he didn’t dally.
Asked just three questions, Jackson stuck around for about two minutes before splitting. He gave little insight.
Asked about the Celtics injuries, Jackson said he was more concerned about his team. Asked about his team, he alluded to hockey injury reports that are notoriously uninformative, with descriptions like “upper body.”
“Upper body is good,” Jackson said. “Legs are sustaining.”
End of interview.
Bank shots
Sunday’s Game 5 in Los Angeles drew a 12.1 overnight rating, the highest overnight rating in prime time on network television since the May 21 season finale of American Idol. That was 42 percent higher than the 8.5 overnight rating the U.S. Open drew from 3 p.m.-9 p.m. ... Paul Pierce (Games 1 and 4) and Kobe Bryant (Games 3 and 5) were both voted the NBA finals player of the game, presented by T-Mobile, twice in the series. Fans voted for their choice, either by text message or on NBA.com, starting in the second half. Kevin Garnett won for the Game 6 clincher and the Celtics’ Leon Powe was the other winner, after Game 2.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.
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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.
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.
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.