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.
APIRVING, Texas - The Dallas Cowboys sure would like to close Texas Stadium the way they opened it in 1971.
Not just by winning the last game.
By winning the Super Bowl, too.
The Cowboys began playing under the hole in the roof in October 1971 and won their first championship at the end of that season. Four more Super Bowl titles and 37 seasons later, Dallas will play its 313th and final game there Saturday night, taking on the only team that’s never visited, the Baltimore Ravens.
“I know the fans will be excited, I know the players are excited,” quarterback Tony Romo said. “We’d like to send it out on the right note.”
The Cowboys (9-5) also need a win to get closer to the playoffs. There are even three scenarios in which Dallas could lock up a wild card this weekend, but all require a victory over the Ravens, who are among three 9-5 teams fighting for the AFC’s lone remaining wild card.
While players and coaches will be focused on what’s at stake, the farewell act of this pro sports landmark will be the theme of the evening for everyone else.
In fact, the game is merely the opening act for Saturday night’s farewell show.
Soon after players head to the locker rooms, a postgame ceremony will commence featuring some of the guys who turned the Cowboys into “America’s Team” and evoked the notion the roof was left open so God could watch his team play.
Although the exact guest list is being kept secret, expect Roger Staubach, Bob Lilly, Tony Dorsett, Randy White, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin to be among the headliners. Probably Deion Sanders, too, since he’ll be analyzing the game for the NFL Network. (Programming note for Cowboys lovers — or haters — who get the NFL Network: Cowboys-oriented programming will run from 6 a.m. ET all the way to kickoff.)
During the postgame ceremony, roughly 100 former Cowboys players and coaches who spent at least five years at Texas Stadium will make one last stroll across the midfield star. Current players are expected to take part, too. It’s only logical that the team’s world-famous cheerleaders also will be involved.
It’s worth noting that George Teague was with the Cowboys for exactly five seasons, so he and Terrell Owens could once again meet at the star — like they did in 2000, when T.O., then playing for San Francisco, celebrated two touchdowns on the logo and Teague made him pay for the second one.
During breaks in the Ravens game, the Cowboys will reveal the five most memorable moments at Texas Stadium based on an online vote by fans. Clint Longley’s Thanksgiving 1974 performance against the Washington Redskins has to be among them; will Teague “defending the star” make it, too?
The Cowboys are 213-99 at home, counting the playoffs, since moving from the Cotton Bowl into this state-of-the-art building in the suburb of Irving in October 1971. Most of the $35 million cost was paid for through seat option bonds, a first of its kind concept that’s evolved into seat licenses. The building also featured 176 luxury suites, more — and fancier — than any stadium up to that point.
Next season, Dallas is moving into another sports Taj Mahal, a $1.1 billion, 100,000-seat stadium. Just this week, builders installed the support for the video boards; billed as the biggest high-def screens ever made, they’re high above each sideline and stretch between the 20-yard-lines.
As nice as the new place in Arlington will be, Texas Stadium will retain special memories, from the Super Bowl teams to Smith passing Walter Payton for the NFL’s career rushing lead in 2002. Millions of Americans who aren’t Cowboys fans, maybe not even football fans, can’t remember a Thanksgiving that didn’t include a game from Texas Stadium as part of their family gathering.
“It’s kind of neat to sit back and think about and reflect on some of the things you were able to watch, how many big games, or how many great players have been in a situation in there,” Romo said. “It makes you proud of the organization.”
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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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.