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 fileSan Jose also doesn’t seem to be lacking grit, as the Sharks showed in early season tussles with Pacific Division rivals Anaheim and Dallas. In their biggest overall test to date, the Sharks beat Detroit 4-2 on Oct. 30 in the early chapter of a rivalry that could be revisited in the spring.
Even the champs left impressed.
“I thought we got Winged tonight,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said after that loss. “I thought they did everything exactly like we try to do. They just did it better.”
That’s exactly what general manager Doug Wilson hoped would happen when he decided not to scrap his entire roster after another playoff flameout last spring. After dropping Ron Wilson and hiring McLellan, who campaigned for the job with a 6 a.m. phone call a few hours after the Red Wings won the Cup, the Sharks concentrated on the blue line in their few offseason moves, trading for Boyle and Lukowich and signing Blake.
Just like that, a club that always lacked proven defensemen had three with Stanley Cup rings and a burning desire to improve. Boyle felt disrespected by Tampa Bay, while Blake was eager to avoid another losing season with the Los Angeles Kings.
“I think we’ve been able to add some things to this club from the blue line, things it maybe didn’t have last year,” said Blake, who will turn 39 next month. “(McLellan) has a really good idea what he wants to see out there, and we’re trying to do what he wants. It’s working.”
McLellan makes it work by keeping in close contact with the pulse of his locker room. At 41, the softly graying coach is only a bit older than several of his players — old enough to command respect, but young enough to relate to 20-somethings Christian Ehrhoff, Ryane Clowe and Setoguchi, who have all taken significant steps forward under his leadership.
When the Sharks played just one game in a recent eight-day stretch, McLellan gave them a handful of days off, but he also held a team meeting in which players could give feedback on how the coach’s big ideas are working.
“We’ve treated it a bit like training camp, and we picked a couple of areas to polish up,” McLellan said. “There’s always work you can do, especially this early in a season. We know it’s still early.”
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.
Check out highlights from the Rangers 3-2 win over the Capitals.
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The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
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.