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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
APSean Gallagher pitched six strong innings for the Cubs, allowing an unearned run and four hits before the bullpen let the game get away. Mike Fontenot hit an RBI double off Shields, and run-scoring singles by Kosuke Fukudome and Ryan Theriot put Chicago ahead 3-1.
Shields, returning from a six-game suspension for his role in a bench-clearing brawl at Boston on June 5, allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. He walked two and matched a season high with nine strikeouts.
The Rays’ opening day starter has not won since beating the Angels with a one-hitter on May 9. He’s 0-3 in seven starts since, including a 6-1 complete-game road loss to the Angels in the only other start he’s made since the fight.
The Rays scored an unearned run in the second when Willy Aybar grounded into a double play. Gallagher kept Chicago close by not allowing any more damage in the inning, then wiggling out of bases-loaded jam by getting Crawford to ground out to end the fifth.
The Cubs broke through in the seventh, when Micah Hoffpauir had a leadoff double and Mark DeRosa walked. After Henry Blanco failed to get a sacrifice bunt down, Fontenot’s ground-rule double bounced over the wall in left-center, tying the game 1-all and finishing Shields.
Fukudome’s bloop single off Trever Miller drove in the second run of the inning, and Theriot’s RBI single off Balfour put the Cubs up 3-1.
Notes: The Rays signed high school SS Tim Beckham, the No. 1 pick in this month’s baseball draft, to a minor league deal that included a $6.15 million signing bonus. The 18-year-old from Griffin, Ga., took batting practice before the game and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Cubs RHP Carlos Zambrano, who left Wednesday night’s loss because of discomfort in his right shoulder, will miss his next scheduled start Tuesday against Baltimore. He was initially set to have an MRI exam Thursday, but the Cubs decided to instead schedule an MRI arthrogram, a test in which dye is injected into the problem area to provide a more detailed look. ... Rays SS Jason Bartlett fouled a pitch off his left foot during batting practice and was scratched from the lineup. Rookie 3B Longoria made his first major league start at shortstop.
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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
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.