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.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has 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.
ReutersSuch anonymity certainly won’t be the case this season. The Bulldogs are expected to win, and the Georgia faithful are ready to explode. They truly believe this is the year for their beloved Dawgs. As a result, the peanuts won’t be the only thing coming to a full boil in Georgia this fall, and the players are well aware of the situation.
“We can’t avoid it,” wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi said. “Anywhere you go in Athens, anywhere you go in Georgia, people are talking about it. There’s red and black all over the state. Everyone’s expecting us to do great things. We know that.”
Players and coaches at Florida, USC, Ohio State and Oklahoma have experienced expectations of this extent. For Georgia, it is still relatively new, and the Bulldogs might not be able to handle it.
Florida is too good, and too angry
Lost in the rush to coronate the Bulldogs is the fact that Florida has a championship-caliber team as well. Led by 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow at quarterback, the Gators are considered by many to be every bit as talented as Georgia, if not more so (as evident by the number of players named to the all-conference team).
In addition, Florida won the national title just two years ago, so pressure and expectations shouldn’t be a problem. And the Gators’ schedule is much more manageable than Georgia’s, especially near the end of the season. After playing the Bulldogs on Nov. 1, Florida closes with Vanderbilt on the road, South Carolina and The Citadel at home and a beatable Florida State team in Tallahassee.
And then there is the revenge factor. The entire Georgia team infamously ran onto the field following the Bulldogs’ first touchdown against Florida last year, sparking what became a 42-30 Georgia victory. In a recently released book, Meyer is quoted as saying that celebration “will forever be in the mind of Urban Meyer and in the mind of our football team. … So we’ll handle it. And it’s going to be a big deal.”
A draining schedule, intense pressure and a fired-up, talented rival. Add it all together, and it could be that these Dawgs have a bark that is worse than their bite.
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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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.
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.
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