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.
APGavin Floyd (8-3) won his fourth straight decision, giving up six hits and seven runs — one earned — in 5 2-3 innings.
“The way we’ve swung the bats the last couple of days I thought we were still in the game,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I talked to Gavin and said, ‘Just keep us there, we will come back.”’
Dye’s grand slam came off reliever John Grabow and followed a single by A.J. Pierzynski and back-to-back walks. Jim Thome’s RBI single gave the White Sox an 8-7 lead in the fifth and Cabrera added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 9-7.
Dye hit a solo homer to put Chicago ahead 7-6 in the third before Sanchez’s RBI single tied it in the fourth.
Thome opened Chicago’s six-run second with a double, Dye doubled him home and, after a single by Swisher, Alexei Ramirez and Pablo Ozuna delivered RBI singles before Cabrera hit his sixth homer, connecting off Phil Dumatrait.
Dumatrait (3-4), a rookie lefty, worked five-plus inning, yielding 11 hits and nine runs.
A walk and two singles loaded the bases for the Pirates with two outs in the second and Floyd appeared to be out of the inning when Raul Chavez hit an easy bouncer to third baseman Ozuna. But Ozuna pulled second baseman Ramirez off the bag with a high throw for an error as the first run scored.
McLouth followed with a three-run double into the right-field corner and Sanchez gave the Pirates a 6-0 cushion with his fourth homer.
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“All six of our runs were unearned. We took advantage of an error there. But for them to come back and drop six on us was tough because we had a ton of momentum after the top half of that inning,” McLouth said.
Notes: Dye has seven career grand slams. His six RBIs tied a career high. ... The Pirates have homered in nine straight games. ... Pittsburgh is 1-8 this season in Chicago. The Bucs are also 1-5 against the Cubs at Wrigley. The Pirates are 3-9 overall against the Cubs. ... Pierzynski has a 13-game hitting streak. ... Pirates 1B Doug Mientkiewicz made a nice catch of Brian Anderson’s foul pop to end the seventh, reaching over a railing and then falling over it but holding onto the ball. ... Swisher will play at Wrigley Field for the first time and he’s bringing his dad, former Cubs catcher Steve Swisher, to Friday’s opener.
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.
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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.
