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.
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.
Dad is an extremely private person. In his mind, if a problem arose, you kept quiet about it and sooner or later the problem would just go away. Psychiatrists earn handsome livings from said suppressed philosophy. Mark would later become a national disappointment for living my father's example of being such a private person. Mark even took it a step further by sticking his head in the sand at the Congressional Hearings while addressing steroid use in Major League Baseball.
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My high coincided with Mark's low. Injuries began to derail his career with back, ankle, and knee injuries. Plantar fasciitis served as the primary culprit. He only played in twenty-seven games in 1993 and forty-seven in 1994. When you get hurt like that, you start questioning whether you can come back. The negatives flooded him. He even thought about retirement. The idea of retirement made him more open to the idea of steroids. He'd been known as a home run hitter his whole life; he was making a good living, people knew who he was—one of the Bash Brothers—only he was hurt and his career was suffering. Nothing is worse than an athlete who's hurt. He knows he's better than anybody on the field, but he can't play. It's really frustrating. The fans are expecting you to go out there, but you just aren't able to go.
Seeing my older brother in a fix made me want to help.
Steroids promote muscle growth and healing, just what Mark needed. So I began selling the idea to Mark that steroids would boost his career. Major League Baseball did not have testing back then, and using the right combination of drugs would add muscle and aid his recovery power from the many dings and bruises of being a professional athlete. Clearly the use of steroids would allow him to avoid the injuries while adding the right amount of strength. I went to him and I said, "Mark, you have to do something about this."
I wasn't thinking about altering baseball history; I only wanted to help my brother. I told him, "Mark, it's no problem to get the stuff. All you need is some cash and I'll get it for you."
He definitely wanted to look into it.
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I put the idea of steroids into his head and educated him about their use. Jose (Canseco) really had nothing to do with it. So it does not make any sense that a guy like Mark would go in a bathroom stall and shoot steroids with a guy like Jose; Mark never trusted him and his character. Mark has told me that in so many words throughout the years. Mark has always acted the same when dealing with issues with his family, friends, or girlfriends, and even with Jose: if there is no trust, or if there's hurt, he cuts you off.
We advised him to take low dosages. You don't want to just go and take a bunch of steroids and get huge, because it's going to affect your swing. There were a lot of elements to it. He gradually grew. He didn't become the Hulk overnight. He was educated about steroids.
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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
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.