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.
Having signed goaltender Cristobal Huet and building a crowd on defense, the Chicago Blackhawks find themselves in the middle of rumors regarding a potential three-team blockbuster trade.
Reports from Canadian news sources suggest the Ottawa Senators are chasing a deal in which they would acquire Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. The swap also might include the Los Angeles Kings and see as many as a half-dozen players change teams.
According to the Ottawa Sun, the Senators are seeking Khabibulin to bolster their goaltending and would get a young Blackhawks defenseman — Brent Seabrook and Cam Barker are mentioned.
The deal gets bigger in the report, with Kings star center Anze Kopitar going to Chicago and goalie Martin Gerber and defenseman Andrej Meszaros leaving the Senators for the Kings.
Khabibulin would leaving, taking a big contract with him, while Kopitar would arrived to strength the Blackhawks forward corps.
Huet signed a four-year, $22.54 million deal with the Blackhawks after finishing last season with the Washington Capitals. 'Hawks brass see him as a more stable and consistent performer than Khabibulin, who won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 but is notoriously inconsistent. Unless he's on top of his game, Khabibulin is a .500 goaltender.
Still, Khabibulin is a four-time All-Star and could be an upgrade over Gerber, who became the Senators' top goalie last season after a meltdown by Ray Emery.
The Blackhawks secured a top defenseman in free-agent Brian Campbell to head their blue-line corps. The team has the depth to deal Seabrook and/or Barker.
The move also would give the Blackhawks cap relief. They are about $2 million over the salary cap now, and Khabibulin is due $6.75 million next season, the final year of his contract.
The key could be Kopitar. The Kings are in full rebuilding mode, having eschewed pricey free agents this month. They need a big return for Kopitar, and whether Gerber and Meszaros would be enough is unclear.
But the Blackhawks would love to add the talented Kopitar to a maturing group of forward headed by Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
Khabibulin, 35, was 23-20-6 last season with two shutouts, a 2.63 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage in 50 games.
Kopitar, 20, led the Kings in scoring with 77 points last season. He has all-star talent and scores at just under a point-a-game level. Letting him play with Kane, Toews and/or Martin Havlat would further the Blackhawks' efforts to build a team capable of challenging the Detroit Red Wings.
Another key to the deal is Meszaros, who is a restricted free agent. At 22, his was a first-round pick in 2004 and was growing as a player for the Senators. The Kings would need to get Meszaros signed to make the deal.
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.
Check out highlights from the Rangers 3-2 win over the Capitals.
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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.
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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