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.
AP file 
MIAMI - The Florida Marlins bolstered their bullpen Thursday by acquiring left-hander Arthur Rhodes from the Seattle Mariners for minor league right-hander Gaby Hernandez.
Florida, in the thick of the NL East and wild-card races, made the deal a few hours before baseball’s 4 p.m. EDT trade deadline.
The 38-year-old Rhodes is 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 22 innings. He has a lifetime record of 77-61 with a 4.28 ERA in 689 games.
“We wanted to add some depth to the bullpen, some experience,” Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said. “It’s a deal we started talking about last weekend, and it came together this morning.”
Rhodes’ career appeared in jeopardy when he underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2007. But he came back ahead of schedule this year, returned to the Mariners in mid-April and pitched effectively.
Rhodes was the Mariners’ main lefty setup man after they traded George Sherrill to Baltimore in an offseason deal for Erik Bedard. But Seattle’s season quickly fell apart and with so few save opportunities for the bullpen, Rhodes wound up as a situational lefty.
Mariners vice president and general manager Lee Pelekoudas said the opportunity to trade a veteran for a prospect was the right move as his team points toward next season.
“We felt the opportunity to acquire a young pitcher made sense as we look toward 2009 and beyond,” Pelekoudas said. “Pedro Grifol, our minor league field coordinator, has known Gaby for several years and believes he has a chance to help us in the future.”
The 21-year-old Hernandez went a combined 5-8 this season with a 6.47 ERA in 17 starts for Triple-A Albuquerque and Double-A Carolina.
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.