Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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.
ATLANTA - Braves manager Bobby Cox said Saturday night he hopes the club will sign Japanese star Kenshin Kawakami to shore up its depleted rotation.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other media outlets reported Saturday the Braves had reached a preliminary agreement with the 33-year-old right-hander. Cox said he couldn’t confirm the deal, but said the team is interested.
“We’ve had some guys watch him the last couple of years, and they like him,” Cox said.
Cox said he has watched Kawakami on film “and he looked very good. He was able to throw the ball right where he wanted to with three or four pitches.”
Kawakami’s agent, former Dodgers general manager Dan Evans, declined comment Saturday. Braves GM Frank Wren did not respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press, and assistant general manager Bruce Manno said he had no comment on Kawakami.
Kawakami, the 2004 Central League MVP, has a 112-82 career record with a 3.22 ERA in 11 seasons in Japan. He was 9-5 with a 2.30 ERA for the Chunichi Dragons in 2008, despite missing several weeks with a back strain.
The 5-foot-10 righty would be an important addition to a Braves rotation that will be without John Smoltz, who has reached a preliminary agreement with the Red Sox on a $5.5 million, one-year contract.
Atlanta also lost free agent Mike Hampton to the Houston Astros and is preparing to be without ace Tim Hudson for the season as Hudson recovers from elbow ligament-replacement surgery. The team is monitoring the progress of Tom Glavine as he recovers from elbow surgery.
Free agent Derek Lowe, a 14-game winner for the Dodgers last season, met with Braves officials in Atlanta on Thursday.
In their only major pitching move since the end of the season, the Braves acquired right-hander Javier Vazquez from the White Sox for a package of minor leaguers.
Wren was frustrated in trade talks for San Diego ace Jake Peavy, and free-agent pitcher A.J. Burnett spurned the Braves to sign with the New York Yankees.
Cox said he hopes more pitching help is coming.
“We need some, that’s for sure,” he said.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
HBT: Prince Fielder is gone and Ryan Braun will likely miss a third of the season because of a failed PED test. Can Milwaukee stay in contention until he gets back?
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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.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.