Super Bowl XLVI
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.
Buried on the bench a little more than a week ago, the Knicks' Jeremy Lin is now the toast of New York.
Arc: After heartbreaking loss, Tyler Zeller and No. 5 North Carolina made an impressive statement with a 70-52 win over No. 19 Virginia.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Tiger Woods moved within four shots of the lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Saturday with a 5-under 67.
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.
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis will make his third trip this year to Hawaii. He’s bringing his team with him this time — and he’ll spend the night, too.
The Fighting Irish (6-6) on Sunday accepted an invitation to play in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve against the hometown Warriors (7-6).
The Irish will be out to end their NCAA-record nine-game bowl losing streak.
Weis made two quick recruiting trips earlier this year to Hawaii without ever spending the night. The first was back in mid-October, during Notre Dame’s bye week, and the second was last week, while waiting to see if athletic director Jack Swarbrick would bring him back for a fifth season as Irish coach.
Both trips were to try to recruit linebacker Manti Te’o, one of the nation’s top-rated recruits. Te’o attends Punahou School, the same school where Barack Obama attended junior high and high school.
Notre Dame planned to hold a news conference Monday about the bowl selection, but Weis released a statement Sunday night saying the team was excited about playing in the Hawaii Bowl.
“This is a great opportunity for our team to face a quality opponent in their backyard and we’ll need to be ready,” he said. “I know the extra practices this month will really benefit our team and we look forward to ending this season on a good note.”
After the Irish started the season 4-1, they won just two of their last seven games, and lost their last two. The finish, especially the embarrassing 24-23 loss to Syracuse and a 38-3 loss to USC, sparked speculation that Weis might not return despite having seven years left on his 10-year contract. Swarbrick met with Weis last Tuesday in San Jose, Calif., and the two agreed some changes need to be made, but neither would specify what they were.
The Irish have played in Hawaii three times before. The Irish played in the 1984 Aloha Bowl, losing 27-20 to SMU. The Irish also traveled to Hawaii to play the Warriors twice, beating them 48-42 in 1991 and 23-22 in 1997.
The Hawaii Bowl was cleared to invite the Irish after Arizona beat Arizona State 31-10 on Saturday, leaving the Sun Devils ineligible for a bowl berth and the Pac-10 unable to fill all its bowl affiliations.
David Matlin, the Hawaii Bowl executive director, said the bowl is “thrilled” to have Notre Dame.
“Notre Dame is a storied football tradition and we are honored to have both them and the University of Hawaii in our 2008 game,” he said.
It took a while for the light bulb to go on, but when it did, Jonas Gray finally showed the talent many had expected from the blue-chip prospect from Detroit. In a recent interview, Gray, who is rehabbing an ACL injury to get ready for the NFL Scouting Combine, expressed the confidence and support he has for head coach Brian Kelly.
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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.
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.