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.
API really became a Murray fan after he defeated Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5. He has a tremendous backhand and a very good serve. He changes speed as smooth as a good driver changes gears in a race car and he’s very clever.
Nadal and Murray played a tiring three hours and 30 minutes. Of the 275 points contested, Murray earned 149. He had 11 more winners than unforced errors. He made Nadal very un-Nadal-like, forcing him to commit eight more unforced errors than winners. Even more remarkable, Murray had 21 aces against one of the game’s best returners, and only three double faults.
He kept Nadal off balance varying the pace, returning serve from almost the baseline fence and he made Nadal, whose game is running, cover more of the court than normal by using the width and depth as if he was teaching a class in geometry.
It seems that Federer has grown resentful, and he’s a very classy guy, over what has had been written this year about his not having mononucleosis. I think in Australia it played a factor in his loss to Djokovic in the semifinals. He is now 7-2 in his career against Djokovic and I think he wanted to prove a point.
For the second year in a row, all four U.S. Open semifinalists were from Europe, and it was the first time since 1992 that the top three seeds reached the semis. Federer, who has 36 career hard court titles that ties him with Pete Sampras, was the only one in the group who hadn’t won a tournament on the surface this year. Murray has won three and both Djokovic and Nadal two each.
The U.S. Open has been Murray’s favorite tournament since he won the Boys’ championship as a 17-year-old in 2004. He has become a factor in the men’s game, and I think that is wonderful for Britain. He will be on all the front pages Monday morning and admits that, in the past, he didn’t deal well with the press.
This is not surprising since the tabloids would kill anyone who isn’t Christ. Still, his career record is 2-1 against Federer, having defeated him in Dubai this year 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 and at Cincinnati two years ago.
Federer is chasing Sampras, who won a record 14 majors. He has 12 now, and 34 straight wins in New York. (Bill Tilden holds the tournament record with 42.) He is looking to put a sunny look on what has been a drab year.
Murray is much more subtle than Djokovic, and I think he will give Federer trouble. He has a real shot, and though he will not have as much rest as the defending champion, with the match starting tomorrow night at 5 p.m., I don’t think this will be a problem. It’s his first major, but he has proved he can compete.
I’m not very good at picking winners, but I’m picking Murray.
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.
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The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
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.
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.
