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.
APAnd the Cubs figure to deal for a starting pitcher before the trade deadline, as they already were looking into doing so before Zambrano’s injury. The list begins with C.C. Sabathia, and A.J. Burnett figures to be very high on it as well, as the Cubs may not have enough to win the anticipated Sabathia bidding war.
White Sox
In a sweep of the Pirates leading into the Cubs series, the White Sox won by 16-8, 8-2 and 13-8 margins. So much for concern that sprung from a punchless 1-5 stretch against Detroit and Colorado that preceded Pittsburgh’s arrival on the South Side.
And as the weather has warmed at U.S. Cellular, so has a White Sox offense that was the target of one of manager Ozzie Guillen’s rants a few weeks back. This month, they are averaging 7.2 runs per game, and have reached double figures five times, and it doesn’t seem to matter that Paul Konerko is at .215 and on the disabled list with an oblique strain. An added bonus is that in Konerko’s absence, Nick Swisher has gotten out of center field — where he didn’t belong — and moved back to first base.
Jim Thome and Swisher modestly have raised their averages from around .200 to around .230, and Cuban defector Alexei Ramirez has caught fire since becoming a regular second baseman in mid-May. As a result, the Sox have risen from near the bottom to fifth in the league in runs, first in home runs.
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Still, more doubts remain about the Sox’s chances of staying on top than about the Cubs’. Maybe that’s because the preseason AL Central favorite Detroit Tigers finally have broken from an early season funk, and are within reach of .500 and a serious challenge with just more than half a season remaining.
But first will come two showdown weekends for some closer-to-home bragging rights.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
HBT: Prince Fielder is gone and Ryan Braun will likely miss a third of the season because of a failed PED test. Can Milwaukee stay in contention until he gets back?
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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.
