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.
APBaseball awards season serves as a reminder that the Cleveland Indians can get back to contender status in a hurry.
Left-hander Cliff Lee won the AL Cy Young Award on Thursday. And Grady Sizemore already received his second Gold Glove, giving the Indians a top-flight center fielder who had a slugging percentage of better than .500 this season.
Lee and Sizemore headline a core of talent that can lift the Indians from this season's lackluster .500 performance — if that core is given the necessary help.
A year ago at this time, Indians general manager Mark Shapiro made a significant strategic error by deciding not to tinker with a club that fell one win short of reaching the World Series. The Indians' 2008 showing served as a reminder to every general manager that if you are just standing still with your club, others are shooting past you.
It will take more than the firing of bullpen coach Luis Isaac, who had been with the franchise for 44 years, to get the Indians back into the playoffs.
Shapiro did not ask for it, but here's a handy to-do list for the Indians this offseason:
Get faster
Cleveland executives cling to the notion that speed is overrated. They are in the minority on that.
The World Series clubs — Philadelphia and Tampa Bay — had a high amount of speed. So did the other teams — Boston and the L.A. Dodgers — that reached their respective League Championship Series.
All four of those clubs ran the bases aggressively and could create runs, a skill the Indians lacked. Cleveland ranked 12th in the AL in stolen bases with 77 and went 23-42 in games in which it didn't homer.
The Indians need more speed for their defense, too. In the opinion of several scouts, Cleveland ranked among the worst defensive teams in the majors because it also was among the slowest teams in the majors.
Balls that should have been caught went through the gaps. Sizemore earned his Gold Glove the hard way, by having to range nearly from foul line to foul line.
Fix the bullpen
Philadelphia rode the NL's best bullpen from start to finish. Tampa Bay made its leap from worst to first because its bullpen dramatically improved.
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That the Indians finished with a .500 record hints at what this team could do with just a workmanlike bullpen. Cleveland relievers were 19-25 with that shoddy 5.11 ERA. By comparison, Tampa Bay's bullpen went 31-17 and cut its ERA by more than two runs to 3.55 (Rays relievers had an AL-worst 6.16 ERA in 2007).
The first step for Cleveland is to settle on a true closer. The position was unsettled all season, and the Indians had an AL-low 31 saves to go with 20 blown saves. The answer cannot be righ-thander Rafael Betancourt, who mysteriously lost the sink on his fastball. The Indians must ease him back into pressure spots.
Add contact hitters
As previously mentioned, the Indians were slow. On top of that, they didn't make much contact. That is a bad combination.
Cleveland had the AL's third-highest strikeout total with 7.49 Ks per game. They had three players among the AL's top 12 in strikeouts: catcher Kelly Shoppach (133), Sizemore (130) and shortstop Jhonny Peralta (126).
Those wasted outs made this an inconsistent offense. The Indians could explode at times but then go silent for an extended stretch. They scored more than 10 runs in a game 18 times, but ranked sixth in the AL with 4.97 runs per game.
Other issues to address
The Indians must decide whether to play Peralta at shortstop or at third base, and whether to play Victor Martinez at catcher or first base. And they cannot allow themselves to be held hostage again by designated hitter Travis Hafner's lingering and mysterious shoulder problems.
There are enough good pieces already in place for Shapiro and Co. to make something of this team next season.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
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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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
