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.
Getty ImagesWith under 30 seconds to go, the Colts appeared to have converted a third-down play at midfield by just inches. A review, however, went San Diego's way. That made it fourth down.
It is a measure of the composure of the Dungy way that, during the extended break during which the referees were reviewing the video evidence, he, Manning and the rest were calmly reviewing their options.
It is also a measure of the Colts' emotional fortitude that when the call didn't go their way, the response on the Indianapolis sideline was to shrug and say, OK, let's go line it up.
Instead of a fourth-down plunge into the line, the Colts went for yards, isolating Marvin Harrison on the left side of the field. The pass went for 14 yards, to the San Diego 34.
Now the Colts let the clock run, all the way down to 15 seconds. Why bleed so much time? Because no way a Dungy-led team would allow for the possibility, no matter how remote, that a bizarre mistake might afford an opponent a chance.
With everyone expecting pass, the Colts called a run play, Joseph Addai up the middle, to the 33.
The clock, of course, kept running. Would Indianapolis now have enough time to get set so Manning could spike the ball? Saturday, the Colts' standout center, was long gone from the game, replaced by Jamey Richard.
No problem.
The Manning spike came with but two seconds to go.
On came Vinatieri, who last year here missed what could have been a game-winning kick.
Given the chance Sunday night for redemption, he nailed it.
"Making that kick," Vinatieri said, "was pretty sweet."
There's a lot going on right with the Indianapolis Colts right now. Don't ever forget -- it's by design.
"We talked about it last night," Dungy was saying late Sunday, recalling the team meeting here Saturday.
"This game would tell us a lot about where we are in our preparation for the playoffs. Because we're going to play a team that had to win, a team that is very talented, in a tough environment.
"So for our young guys and how our team in general, how would we respond? It was going to be close. It'd be a game where you'd have to make plays in the fourth quarter. And they did.
"They stayed composed. A lot of momentum shifts but we made the plays that counted in the fourth quarter."
He also said, referring now to the course of the season with an eye toward what lies ahead, "We've been tested. And we're passing the tests."
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.
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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.