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.
Getty ImagesHow is Brett Favre playing this season? Former New York Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason pulled no punches in voicing his opinion.
How about "horrendous?" Or "maddening?"
"Brett's performance the last three weeks has just really been horrendous," Esiason told Boston radio station WEEI this week. "He has been maddening. . . . A couple of the interceptions he's thrown the last couple of weeks, I can't explain. People ask me, 'Why is he doing this? Why is he doing that?' There's no answer for it other than the fact that he's completely just throwing the ball up and hoping somebody on his team will come down with it."
Esiason told the New York Daily News that he has nothing against Favre, and praised his resilience in the wild fourth quarter Sunday against the Chiefs. But he elaborated on his remakes made on the radio.
"I've been saying since the day he got here this isn't going to be easy for him," Esiason told the Daily News. "He's trying to make every big play, which is a bad thing. He has thrown horrendous interceptions, and no team can afford turnovers.
"It's a weird dynamic, having a future Hall of Famer who's older than the coach," Esiason continued. (Favre is 38, coach Eric Mangini is 37.
"Knowing Mangini and (general manager Mike) Tannenbaum, and how organized they are and how they run it like a dictatorship, how do they approach Brett Favre and say, 'You have to knock this off'? If this were any other quarterback, do you think he'd be playing?"
Favre has completed 68.5 percent of his passes this year for 1,611 yards, throwing 15 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. The Jets are 4-3.
Favre has gotten used to defending himself lately, and through it all, the veteran quarterback has maintained he’s been unfazed. He spoke Wednesday about criticism in general, without mentioning Esiason's remarks.
“It hasn’t lingered, hasn’t distracted me,” said Favre, who acknowledged this season has been perhaps his toughest challenge. “I hate to say I’m used to it and, kind of like positive stories or things being said about you, how you handle those to me are equally as important. If you start believing all the hype, good or bad, I think you’re on your way out.”
Favre’s focus has come into question lately because he’s thrown seven interceptions in the past three games while taking some hard shots on and off the field. He spent most of his news conference last week acknowledging a report he spoke to then-Lions president Matt Millen last month, but denying he gave him game planning information for the Lions to use against his former Green Bay teammates.
“To me, I am probably less affected by those stories than my family,” Favre said. “Understandably so.”
Favre’s wife, Deanna, wrote on the family’s blog Friday that the past few weeks have been tough and taken a “daily toll” on her husband.
“My heart has been very heavy,” Deanna Favre wrote. “I have stood by ... silently ... watching the media continually attack my husband. Certainly, having been in public life for 18 years, this is not new to us. However, this latest round of media scrutiny has been harder, more disheartening and seemingly unending.”
“Not all stories are positive and families are families,” the quarterback said. “You stick up for one another, and regardless of what situation you’re in. Obviously, this is a unique situation being a pro football player and doing it for a long time, and because of that, you’re in the public eye and things happen, things are said.
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“But, you know, once again, families are families and I would stick up for my wife as well.”
Favre said things between him and Millen are fine, despite the attention the story got.
“I don’t think he owes me an apology,” Favre said. “I don’t think anything was done wrong. I talked to Matt last week or whatever after all that came out and nothing was wrong. He doesn’t have to apologize to me.”
Favre said he’s focused only on preparing for the Jets’ next game at Buffalo. And, there’s plenty to work on. After an impressive start, Favre has been prone to making bad gambles in key spots.
“You just stress, don’t hit on 20,” Mangini said. “Sometimes it’s OK to stay and see what the dealer has. You’re not trying to reel them in and not trying to coach them out of being a good player. You’re just trying to reinforce that everything needs to be calculated risk.”
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.
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.
