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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
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
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Todd Reesing could barely lift his arm above his shoulder early in the week, forced to watch backup Kerry Meier take snaps because he was in so much pain.
He got hit so hard during the game that his eyes rolled up in his head, making his coach think he had been knocked out. He spent the postgame in the training room getting stitches for a gash in his hand.
Didn’t matter. Reesing wasn’t about to give up and neither were the rest of his injured teammates.
Reesing threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Meier with 27 seconds left, helping Kansas rally twice in the fourth quarter to beat No. 12 Missouri on Saturday.
The Jayhawks (7-5, 4-4 Big 12) led by 16 early in the third quarter, let Missouri back in it, then traded touchdowns with the Tigers in the fourth quarter before Reesing hit Meier on fourth-and-7.
Not bad for a team that spent almost as much time in the training room as the practice field last week.
“Our injury list, a roll of toilet paper wouldn’t be enough,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “We’ve got guys that played today that could barely walk a week ago. It’s the guttiest performance I’ve ever been associated with as a coach. Our kids heard all week long we didn’t have a chance. Never tell KU they don’t have a chance.”
Missouri (9-3, 5-3) figured to have it easy against its border rival. The Tigers already secured a return trip to Arrowhead Stadium for next week’s Big 12 Championship game and were facing a team that had lost four of its previous five.
The Jayhawks just wouldn’t let Missouri coast into the postseason, dominating most of the first half, answering every score in a back-and-forth fourth quarter.
Seven days from playing from a conference title, the Tigers have no choice but to bounce back.
“This hurts right now, especially because it is Kansas, especially because it is a rivalry game, but we’ve got redemption next week,” Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel said. “We’re in the championship game, not Kansas, not Kansas State, not Baylor.”
Missouri found its rhythm in the second half, getting within a field goal after a pair of touchdown passes by Daniel.
Then the fireworks started.
Daniel hit Chase Coffman for his second touchdown, a 6-yarder with just under 7 minutes left that put Missouri up 30-26. Reesing answered 3½ minutes later with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Meier to put the Jayhawks back on top.
Missouri got the ball back, then quickly marched down the field for a 6-yard touchdown run by Derrick Washington that made it 37-33. The Tigers left too much time on the clock, though. Kansas got the ball with 1:50 and moved 67 yards for the 26-yard touchdown from Reesing to Meier.
Missouri still wasn’t done, moving to Kansas’ 36 in three plays set up a 54-yard field goal attempt. Kicker Jeff Wolfert made good contact, but Kansas safety Phillip Strozier partially blocked it and the ball fell harmlessly to the turf, finally ending one of the wildest games in the 117-game history of the Border Showdown.
“Just to know the stage we were on, and to know the team and the odds we were going up against — it’s one of the guttiest wins for this team,” said KU safety Darrell Stuckey, who had two interceptions, a forced fumble and recovered a fumble.
Reesing had a lot to do with it.
Playing through a variety of injuries, the junior quarterback finished 37-for-51 for 375 yards, with four touchdowns and two interceptions. He threw two touchdown passes to Meier, who had a school-record 14 catches for 106 yards.
Reesing also broke four school records — completions (302), attempts (460), total yards (3,683) and yards passing (3,575) in a season.
“His play was phenomenal,” Mangino said. “I get this feeling when I watch him that you can almost see this competitive spirit radiate from him.”
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The senior threw two interceptions, lost a fumble and was sacked for a safety, but still put the Tigers in position to win. He had 391 total yards and threw for four touchdowns, including two to Coffman.
“We played as well as we have all season in the second half,” Daniel said. “We just ran out of chances to win.”
Last year’s game was one of the biggest of the college football season: No. 2 Kansas against No. 4 Missouri, winner earns a spot in the Big 12 Championship game, national-title and Heisman hopes on the line.
This year’s Border Showdown didn’t have the same kind of juice, but turned out to be even more exciting at the end.
Missouri needed 16½ minutes to get a first down and Daniel started 0-for-6, throwing an interception on his third pass. He also fumbled at the end of a 54-yard run and was sacked in the end zone by Jake Laptad for a safety that put the Jayhawks up 12-7.
Kansas wasn’t much better, settling for Jacob Branstetter’s 34-yard field goal after starting its first drive on Missouri’s 20, and Reesing threw a bad interception in the end zone.
It all changed in the second half, turning a dud into one of the best games in the nation’s second-longest rivalry.
“It’s the Border War, what else can you say?” Reesing said. “To win it like we did and have everyone play well from top to bottom like they did, it was huge.”
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.
