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'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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods both greeted Sunday with unbridled optimism. But the day would end happily only for Mickelson.
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.
APBut here’s one that you could have etched in titanium two months ago: Nobody wants to play the Ravens. That’s as true in Pittsburgh as it is anywhere in the league.
Baltimore doesn’t scare anybody with its offense. The Ravens failed to crack 300 total yards in either of their two playoff wins, and on Saturday against the Titans, Baltimore gained just 211 yards and made just nine first downs. Tennessee nearly doubled that on Saturday, piling up 391 yards. Tennessee’s problem wasn’t moving the ball, it was hanging on to it.
Baltimore intercepted Kerry Collins once and forced five fumbles, recovering two. The Ravens didn’t turn the ball over themselves and didn’t allow quarterback Joe Flacco to be sacked. That’s how they play the game — let the other guys make the mistakes and take advantage of them when they do.
A week earlier against Miami, the Ravens intercepted Chad Pennington four times and recovered one Dolphin fumble while turning it over just once themselves. Again, Flacco wasn’t sacked once, but Pennington went down three times.
The Ravens will commit penalties; they had eight against the Titans and seven against Miami. But they don’t make a lot of mistakes handling the ball.
The reason I think they’ll lose is their offense. Flacco is a rookie, and no rookie had ever won two playoff games before he came along. It’s not likely he’ll win three.
Flacco reminds you of Roethlisberger when he led the Steelers to a 15-1 regular-season record as a rookie and then to a Super Bowl win as a sophomore. He’s big and strong and his team doesn’t ask him to do much. But when the call comes, he answers.
His problem is going to be that he’s going to be asked to do more than he can. Pittsburgh, like Baltimore, doesn’t turn it over often. Both teams play it tight, and in those kinds of games, the experienced quarterback — and the better running back — are going to make the difference.
So until further notice, the Steelers are the team to beat, in the AFC Championship Game and in the Super Bowl.
Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
Rotoworld: Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill among the 10 players who will slip down draft boards, but probably shouldn't.
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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.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.