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
North Carolina started the season without injured starters Tyler Hansbrough and Marcus Ginyard and stayed a unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press' college basketball poll Monday.
The Tar Heels (1-0) didn't have Hansbrough (shin) or Ginyard (foot surgery) in their season-opening 86-71 win over Pennsylvania last weekend, but strong play from freshmen big men Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis were enough to draw all 72 first-place votes from the national media panel.
No teams from the preseason poll lost in the first week. That left all 25 teams from the first regular-season poll in the latest rankings, with just a couple of schools moving a place or two.
Connecticut, Louisville and UCLA stayed second through fourth. Michigan State, which beat Idaho 100-62 in its opener, and Pittsburgh, which opened with an 86-63 win over Fairleigh Dickinson, switched places to fifth and sixth, respectively.
Texas held seventh and Notre Dame and Gonzaga each moved up one spot to eight and ninth. Duke dropped from No. 8 to 10. The Blue Devils beat Presbyterian and Georgia Southern by an average of 37 points before rallying to squeak by Rhode Island 82-79 on Sunday night.
Purdue again was No. 11, followed by Oklahoma, Memphis, Tennessee, Arizona State, Marquette, Miami, Florida, Southern California and Wake Forest. The last five ranked teams were Davidson, Georgetown, Villanova, Kansas and Wisconsin.
All the teams started their seasons last week except for Louisville and Georgetown. Louisville opens against Morehead State on Saturday in the first round of the Billy Minardi Classic. Georgetown was to host Jacksonville on Monday night.
Hansbrough, the reigning national player of the year, missed the first game of his college career because of the leg injury and the timetable for his return has not been set. Coach Roy Williams said last week the team is being conservative with his recovery. Ginyard, the Tar Heels' best defender, is out until December.
North Carolina hosts Kentucky on Tuesday and is at Cal-Santa Barbara on Friday, then will play in the EA Sports Maui Invitational next week in a field that also features Texas and Notre Dame.
The season's first matchup of top 10 teams could take place Friday in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in New York if Duke beats Southern Illinois in one semifinal and UCLA defeats Michigan in the other.
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.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 points and Evan Smotrycz added 13, helping No. 22 Michigan remain unbeaten at home with a 70-61 win over Illinois on Sunday.
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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.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.