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 ImagesBut it’s worth noting that Cassel is throwing to the most physically gifted wide receiver to play the position, Randy Moss, and one of the finest slot receivers of his era, Wes Welker. When half the secondary is keeping dibs on Moss on every snap, other guys are going to get pretty wide open. And Cassel — to his credit — is hitting them and making use of his own smarts and athletic ability to boot. But Cassel’s also working behind an offensive line with three Pro Bowlers (Matt Light, Logan Mankins and Dan Koppen). And the defense — while nowhere near as potent as Patriots defenses in years past — still has remarkable talent along its defensive line with Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren and a rookie linebacker who’s the best first year defender in the league, Jerod Mayo.
Short of winning the Super Bowl, nothing will trump the job done by Belichick in 2001. They won the Super Bowl with a kid taken 199th in the previous draft playing quarterback. They won the Super Bowl with Troy Brown, David Patten and Charles Johnson as their main wide receivers and tight ends Jermaine Wiggins and Rod Rutledge. Their offensive line was Matt Light (a rookie), Mike Compton, Damien Woody, Joe Andruzzi and Greg Robinson-Randall. Their running backs were Antowain Smith, Marc Edwards and Kevin Faulk. They started the year 0-2 and went 14-3 the rest of the way beating the Raiders, Steelers and Rams in the playoffs and they were underdogs in every one of those games. That’s the coaching standard by which all future coaching efforts should be measured.
Love him or hate him — and there are plenty in the latter camp — Bill Belichick is the best head coach in football. By a lot. Is he the best there’s ever been? Well, there’s no doubt a case could be made for guys like Lombardi, Noll, Walsh, Landry, Paul Brown and George Halas. But they never had to deal with free agency, roster turnover and players making three times as much as they did. Put it this way, he might not be the best but it’s hard to say there’s ever been anyone better.
So if people want to celebrate the guy for his team being 7-4 and — at this point — on the outside of the playoff picture, have at it. Lord knows he’s spent enough time getting ripped when he should have been lauded.
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.
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