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.
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Exciting times in L.A. July 25: Bruins' Rick Neuheisel and Trojans' Pete Carroll highlight changes they are seeing from their teams. |
LOS ANGELES - Big news, people.
Southern California is really stinkin' good.
Who knows? Maybe even good enough to win the Pac-10 for the hundredth year in a row.
A four-hour gathering on Thursday of coaches, top players and media who cover the league revolved around an all-too-predictable theme: The Trojans rule.
Not that they haven't earned it. Of course they've earned it. All those conference titles (OK, it's only six straight), the run of six consecutive BCS games. Southern California is -- undeniably -- the nation's No. 1 superpower.
"They're that elephant in the living room," said first-year UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, who lives in closer quarters with that elephant than anybody. "You can't be the head football coach at UCLA and not find a way to compete successfully with USC.
"But the good news is when we catch them, and I say when ..."
Whoa, Nelly. So there it is: The Pac-10's other storyline of the preseason. The one that is only half about Southern California.
Out west, or certainly in Los Angeles, anyway, this preseason and ones to follow will be about the Bruins' efforts, led by a coach who can stand nose-to-nose with Pete Carroll in terms of personality, to climb the same mountain USC scaled long ago.
And, of course, stay there.
"I told Pete," Neuheisel said, "that I hope one day we're not just playing for first place in Los Angeles, we're playing for first place in the country."
Anybody else home?
The UCLA-USC supremacy battle, assuming it ever materializes, might even tantalize the East Coast-biased masses that Oregon coach Mike Bellotti referred to — yet again — on Thursday.
To be sure, there is an L.A. bias in Pac-10 country. But the funny thing about that is the Bruins aren't any closer to catching Southern California than Oregon, Arizona State and maybe even a couple of others are.
The Trojans are by far the biggest favorite in any of the BCS leagues, but fall camps are right around the corner so it must be asked: Who, aside from the Trojans, has the best chance to win the Pac-10?
"We have a chance," Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter said. "The best chance."
And there's what just might wind up being the biggest Pac-10 story, after all things Trojans, this season. The Sun Devils, winners of 10 games in 2007, have crept a long way up that mountain.
Neuheisel comes naturally by some of the same rock-star qualities that Carroll has, but ask yourself this: What has Neuheisel done in his coaching career that Dennis Erickson hasn't outdone?
You could take that a few different ways, but we're talking about the good stuff. Namely, we're talking about winning big.
Erickson, no rock star, believes his Arizona State program can meet Southern California on its high ground faster than the rest.
"Without question. There's no question in my mind," he said. "That's what we're going to do. USC, what they are right now, that doesn't mean others, and not just the Sun Devils, aren't going to get there. Oregon beat them last year. Stanford beat them last year."
No one on the Sun Devils has beaten the Trojans yet. But that's what they're gunning for. That's the kind of noise that would echo around L.A. awhile.
"We definitely have that itch," Carpenter said.
"Besides, I'm kind of tired of hearing about them."
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
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The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
TERRIFIC TROJANS Since 2002, USC has finished in the top 4 in every final AP poll. No other school has finished in the top 12 every year. In fact, USC, Ohio St., Oklahoma and Texas are the only schools to end each of the last seven seasons in the Top 25. |
| Season | AP | Coaches |
| 2008 | 3 | 2 |
| 2007 | 3 | 2 |
| 2006 | 4 | 4 |
| 2005 | 2 | 2 |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 |
| 2003 | 1 | 2 |
| 2002 | 4 | 4 |
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.
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.
