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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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"We knew early on that he was a cut above, obviously,'' said Warren DeSantis, Riley's best friend from Schenectady. "He had this nasty competitive streak, every day. There were no easy workouts with Pat. Everything was serious. When he went to Kentucky, we said he'd be an All-American, and sure enough, he was. We said he'd play for a national title, sure enough, he did. We said he'd be drafted in the first round, and sure enough, he did that, too.''
But who could have known one of the best coaches in any sport? All the fame and fortune and books and celebrity and success, all punctuated by a spot in the Hall of Fame that Riley says he considers religious ground?
Like Riley said that night eight years ago at his high school induction, who would have believed it?
"Did we think he'd be here? Probably not,'' DeSantis said. "Are we surprised? No.''
There are many who play Riley as the villain, a man who's impossible to deal with, is overbearing and obnoxious and pompous. Those who have been around him the longest, though, insist that isn't close to the truth, and point to the fact that most people in the Heat basketball operations department - those who interact with Riley the most - never seem to leave the organization.
Maybe that's the best tribute to Riley's life in basketball.
"I'm fiercely loyal and I think these people are back at me,'' Riley said.
When all Heat employees were forced to take a 10 percent pay cut to get the organization's finances in line six years ago, Riley knew it would hit hard, especially those who weren't making much money to begin with. So after that season, when Miami made the second round of the NBA playoffs, Riley decreed that everyone in basketball operations would get a full playoff share, roughly a $20,000 bonus.
Some who opened those checks thought it was a joke. Quite the contrary, and Riley made it happen.
His role as president of the Heat is to rebuild a roster and try to restore what was a championship team in 2006. He wants to write another book, and also wants to commit time to a program he calls HomeStrong, which honors returning veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"It's going to be a forever thing,'' Riley said.
So will his title: Basketball Hall of Famer.
"I feel like I've contributed something to the overall game of basketball, either with my persona or how I coached or the players that I produced, the organizations that I've been part of have all been, I think, very first-class organizations,'' Riley said. "So, yeah, it's an honor to have that link to your name. It is.''
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
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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.
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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.