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.
A top-five class again? Probably not. A class better than 90 percent of the schools in the country? Probably.
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis is again piecing together a highly regarded recruiting class, although this one probably won’t earn the No. 2 ranking accorded last year’s group. The 2009 class, which now includes 14 verbally committed players, will likely finish somewhere in the nation’s top 15, perhaps in the bottom half of the top 10.
While last year’s class was one loaded with defensive standouts, long a need since Weis arrived in 2005, the group that will sign in 2009 has a little bit of everything.
Topping the list is all-everything running back Cierre Wood of Oxnard, Calif. Wood, considered one of the nation’s top three backs, picked the Irish on the day of their April spring game, and for an ND running game that finished statistically among the nation’s worst in 2007, Wood’s commitment was an early shot in the arm.
"I just feel comfortable," Wood said, "and felt like I needed to be there."
The flashy Wood will grab plenty of accolades this fall, but perhaps just as important to the class is the commitment of Glen Ellyn, Ill., offensive guard Chris Watt. Watt, who has been ranked as high as the No. 2 offensive lineman in the country, picked ND over Ohio State and endeared himself to Irish fans when he used a Weis catchphrase upon committing.
"I really have a nasty attitude on the field," Watt said, "and I think that’s what separates me."
One of the surprise announcements of the class came when California cornerback Marlon Pollard, a longtime UCLA commitment, flipped to Notre Dame over the summer. Pollard had been in Chicago at a camp and decided to make the 90-minute drive to South Bend to check out the campus. Pollard’s commitment continues a string of solid cornerback commitments Weis has garnered in his time at ND.
"I’m done," Pollard said. "I’m a hundred percent (committed)."
Wood, Watt and Pollard are ranked among the top 100 players in the country.
Perhaps the most innovative commitment came from Verona, N.J., linebacker Carlo Calabrese, who days before telling his family he had picked ND, told Weis, who was set to leave for the Middle East on a goodwill tour.
Calabrese waited to tell his family until a few days later in order to surprise his mother on her birthday. But instead of just blurting out his decision, Calabrese lugged into the kitchen a new golf bag as his mother was doing dishes. The golf bag just happened to be adorned in blue and gold.
"And I go, 'Does this tell you anything?'" Calabrese said. "She’s like, 'Notre Dame?'"
With 14 commitments in the bag, Notre Dame could sign around 11 more to reach the NCAA one-year maximum of 25 players after inking 23 last year.
Conventional wisdom says that many of the blue-chippers Weis and his staff are pursuing are waiting to see how the Irish perform on the field after last year’s 3-9 disaster. And there are some blue-chippers to be had.
In what is considered a weak year nationally for offensive linemen, ND remains in play with one of the nation’s best in Fayetteville, N.C., standout Xavier Nixon. Nixon projects as a left tackle and, coupled with Watt, would give ND an outstanding haul on the line.
Notre Dame also continues to pursue Chandler, Ariz., defensive end Devon Kennard, who would be a huge catch considering ND’s needs at the position. Also considering the Irish are two of the nation’s best linebackers — Mant’i Teo of Honolulu and Jelani Jenkins of Wheaton, Md.
NCAA recruiting rules prohibit college coaches from publicly commenting on a prospect until the player has signed a national letter-of-intent. Signing day is Feb. 4.
It took a while for the light bulb to go on, but when it did, Jonas Gray finally showed the talent many had expected from the blue-chip prospect from Detroit. In a recent interview, Gray, who is rehabbing an ACL injury to get ready for the NFL Scouting Combine, expressed the confidence and support he has for head coach Brian Kelly.
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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.
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.