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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
APSome players, including Barcelona forward Samuel Eto’o, have threatened to walk off the field after being racially taunted. Yet others, such as Arsenal defender William Gallas, who is black, says making such a move is a complex decision.
So are other measures, such as taking points away from a team in league standings.
“You have to hit harder. With points, yes. But unfortunately ... taking points away from a team punishes the team” and not just the fans who support the team, Gallas said. “It might not be the team that’s racist, it’s the people in the stadium.”
In the end though, Gallas said, there’s a point when enough is enough.
“If UEFA or FIFA do nothing, yes, leave the pitch” because “it’s tough to be insulted when you’re not able to react.”
Some nations are better than others in prosecuting racist fans.
The situation in England has improved since the 1980s, thanks in part to aggressive anti-racism advertising campaigns and coverage of the problem by the British press.
So after Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell, who is black, was abused last September by Tottenham supporters — whose insults included the image of Campbell “hanging from a tree” — four fans involved were banned from attending soccer matches for three years after pleading guilty to indecent chanting.
Still, it hasn’t stopped such incidents from happening. Egyptian forward Mido played for Middlesbrough against Newcastle in November, he was subjected to Islamophobic chanting.
Opoku was attacked while he was on trial with the Serbian club Borac Cacak last year.
“I turned ’round to see a few Borac fans screaming they did not want blacks,” Opoku told the Ghana Football Association. “They hit me a few times but I ran, scaled a wall.”
Opoku left Borac shortly afterward, and four of the attackers wound up sentenced to prison for a total of four-and-a-half years. It wasn’t the first case involving Serbian fans and non-white players.
Three years ago, police arrested more than 30 Borac fans for abusing Zimbabwean striker Mike Temwanjira. A year later, UEFA fined the Serbian FA after England’s black players were abused during an under-21 match played in the Netherlands.
If it’s hard to protect players at the top level of game from racism, what hope is there for the likes of Opoku?
“We can worry about the lesser-known players,” Diouf said. “They could actually be killed on a street corner ... that is why it’s time for the international authorities to tackle this problem full on.”
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.
Alex Morgan's 2 goals, including the winner in stoppage time, lift the U.S. past New Zealand 2-1.
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The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
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.