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.
APTo make matters worse, the Angels — tepid rivals on the field, but serious ones in the marketing world — are running away with the AL West and have the best record in the majors at 62-39. And Torii Hunter, their big free-agent signing last offseason, is hitting .272 with 44 RBIs and 13 homers, comparable with his career numbers at this point in the season.
The Angels paid for Hunter based on a reasonable expectation that he would continue producing at the rate that he had been — and he has done that. Conversely, the Dodgers blew $36 million on a guy who hit .222 last year, although he did have 26 homers and 94 RBIs.
The Dodgers made a half-hearted attempt to get CC Sabathia before he went to Milwaukee. They need a shortstop to replace Furcal and a third baseman. Rumors continue to circulate that they have interest in Pittsburgh shortstop Jack Wilson, but that deal is unlikely to happen if the asking price continues to be Matt Kemp. It also appears unlikely the Dodgers will acquire Baltimore closer George Sherrill to fill in for the injured Takashi Saito.
What is likely to happen is that the Dodgers will do nothing. They’ll battle in the remaining weeks with the Diamondbacks for the division title. They’ll probably come up short, but even if they prevail, they’ll make merely a token appearance. They haven’t won a playoff series since they won the World Series in 1988, and there is nothing about their starting rotation or their lineup to suggest that trend will end.
That means the Dodgers will look to retool for 2009. Whether Colletti is involved in that process is an issue that looms larger than Andruw Jones’ waistline.
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.