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.
AP
DENVER - Chauncey Billups’ vertical has diminished and his speed in the open court slowed.
That’s fine with the Denver Nuggets — they just like him for his winning touch.
The Mile High City native led the Detroit Pistons to six straight Eastern Conference finals with his impeccable decision-making abilities and clutch shooting.
That’s why the Nuggets acquired Billups, along with Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb, from Detroit this week for Allen Iverson.
They like his no-nonsense attitude when it comes to winning.
“I’m coming to work, I’m coming to win,” Billups said Thursday. “If guys want to win, they’re going to fall in line. That’s all I play for — that’s the only reason I play — is to win.”
While Billups is on board, McDyess may soon be bought out of his contract. His agent, Andy Miller, called his chances of returning for a third stint with Denver “very low to zero.”
“I don’t think it has to do with a destination or a city right now,” Miller said. “I think it has more to do with his ability to pick and choose his destination ... He really had difficulty with the whole thing.”
Not so with Billups.
He’s a celebrity around Denver, a high school prodigy who went on to play at the University of Colorado. Billups couldn’t wait to get back for a second stint in Denver.
After all, Billups’ first time in town didn’t go as he expected — he was forced to play shooting guard with Nick Van Exel already running the show and later dislocated his left shoulder, requiring season-ending surgery.
“When I first came back here, I was like the hometown kid coming back,” Billups said. “Now I’m a man. I’m not the same, as far as my game goes.”
Billups has blossomed into a pure point guard, something coach George Karl has been pining for since the team dealt away Andre Miller to acquire Iverson nearly two years ago.
“His challenge is to help the team and me balance out our offense right now,” Karl said.
As soon as he gets up to speed, that is.
Billups was lost in a tidal wave of terms and tactics Thursday at practice, with Karl frequently halting action to discuss a play with him.
It wasn’t so much a nuisance as needed, an opportunity to give a refresher course to his entire team.
“Everybody needed a review of the offense, because we haven’t been doing very good offensively,” Karl said.
Although Denver is one of the top-scoring teams in the league, Karl hasn’t been happy with the turnovers and shot selection.
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“I think it’s the beginning of a new, refreshing experiment of having a point guard,” said Karl, whose team is off to a 1-3 start.
Before he arrived in town, Billups had a big decision to make — what number to wear?
Two of his favorite numbers were already taken — No. 4 already belonged to Kenyon Martin and No. 1 to J.R. Smith.
As Billups packed up his belongings in Detroit, it suddenly hit him.
Why not go with No. 7 in honor of John Elway?
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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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.
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