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 for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
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.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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.
ASSOCIATED PRESSThe Braves were confident about his health after the 5-foot-10 right-hander passed a physical on Monday, and they spoke with numerous Japanese people in the community to make sure he would feel comfortable in his new home.
“One of the things we found at dinner last night was Kenshin speaks a little more English than we originally thought,” Wren said.
Though many Atlanta fans were outraged over the loss of Smoltz, Wren and his staff moved quickly to shore up the beleaguered rotation.
The deals brightened what had been a disappointing offseason. The Braves failed to work out a trade for San Diego ace Jake Peavy and was rebuffed by free agents A.J. Burnett and Rafael Furcal. Injury plagued left-hander Mike Hampton also turned down a chance to return to the team, signing instead with Houston.
Then came the biggest blow of all: the loss of Smoltz, who had spent his entire big league career with the Braves but was coming off major shoulder surgery.
“There’s a lot of teams involved, especially when it comes to the free agents,” Cox said. “There’s always six or seven teams going to be disappointed when they don’t land the guy. That’s what happened up with Burnett and Furcal.”
With Kawakami and Lowe, the Braves have the makings of a solid rotation. They previously acquired Javier Vazquez to join holdover Jair Jurrjens, the team’s top starter last season as a rookie with a 13-10 record and 3.68 ERA. Another rookie, Jorge Campillo, was 8-7 with a 3.91 ERA.
Vazquez was acquired from the Chicago White Sox for a package of minor leaguers after going 12-16 with a 4.67 ERA.
Kawakami is not overpowering, but he has good control, an effective cutter and a slow, sweeping curve that reminds the Braves of Roy Oswalt’s signature pitch.
“It’s not like my fastball is going to blow anybody away,” he said, according to his translator. “It’s makes it that much more important how I use my slow curve. It’s a pitch I need courage to throw because if I make a mistake, they’re going to take it out.”
More on Derek Lowe | Braves
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
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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.
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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.