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.
AP
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Grab a cap and a clipboard, Brett. It appears you’ll be sitting this one out.
Jets coach Eric Mangini said Tuesday that he’s leaning toward not playing quarterback Brett Favre in the team’s preseason finale at Philadelphia.
“If I had to tilt one way or the other like an airplane, I’d tilt that way,” Mangini said.
Favre repeatedly said he’d like to play Thursday night, but also wouldn’t be too disappointed if Mangini decided otherwise.
“I would assume that he’ll probably say no, and if that’s the case, so be it,” Favre said Monday. “I’ll get some practice today and tomorrow. We’ll be OK. I don’t know if three or six plays, although I would like to do that, I don’t know what you get out of that, really.”
Favre spoke to Mangini on Monday, but the coach said they didn’t talk about the quarterback’s desire to play. Favre was given the day off from speaking to the media.
“We talked about a range of stuff,” Mangini said. “He didn’t come see me specifically for that reason.”
Mangini said he hadn’t finalized his decision, but when again asked to clarify if he’s thinking of not having Favre play, the coach responded: “It would be safe to say that I’m leaning toward that.”
Favre went 9-of-12 for 96 yards in the Jets’ 10-7 win over the Giants last Saturday, and is 14-of-18 for 144 yards overall with a touchdown and no interceptions in two preseason games. If he does sit against Philadelphia, he’ll go 14 days without playing in a game before the regular-season opener at Miami.
“The most important thing to me is us getting ready as a group and getting ready for Miami,” Mangini said. “The more work he does with our guys in the group, the better.”
Most coaches rest their starters in the final preseason game, using it to evaluate rookie free agents and others competing for a spot on the 53-man roster. Mangini has typically rested his starters in that game in his previous two preseasons with the Jets.
Mangini said Kellen Clemens, who was competing with Chad Pennington for the starting job before the Jets acquired Favre, will play against the Eagles, as will Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge.
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“It’s the last preseason game and you want to go out and have a good showing, but you want to do that whether it’s the first preseason game or the last,” Clemens said. “Obviously, you want to leave a taste not only in the fans’ mouths, but also for your teammates and coaches as well.”
Clemens started eight games last season, taking the job from Pennington midway through the season, but he’ll be relegated to backup status this year. That’s a tough job to have, considering Favre has played in 253 consecutive regular-season games.
“If you look at it historically, his backups haven’t gotten a lot of time,” Clemens said. “It’s a testament to how tough he is, both mentally and physically. If things go well, I’m not going to see the field too much more after Thursday night.”
Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
Rotoworld: Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill among the 10 players who will slip down draft boards, but probably shouldn't.
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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.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.
