Super Bowl XLVI
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.
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.
Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi scored shootout goals to give Detroit a 2-1 win over Anaheim on Friday. The victory was the Red Wings' 19th consecutive at home, one shy of the NHL record.
Jeremy Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Kobe Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85 on Friday night.
Arc's weekend preview: The way you beat Kentucky is by getting physical with their big guys, and the Wildcats don’t have much depth up front.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Despite an injury scare and a few missed opportunities at Monterey Peninsula CC, Tiger Woods remains in contention at the AT&T.
John Isner jolted Roger Federer with his big serve and booming groundstrokes Friday, winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to give the United States a 2-0 lead against Switzerland in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Manchester City will find at least three highly motivated players in its way Sunday when it tries to improve upon its flagging away form in the Premier League at Aston Villa.
All that stuff about the Olympic ideal, how it's all about taking part, not winning, can often seem like so much hot air, rendered hopelessly quaint and outdated by the ultra-competitive and mercenary world of modern sport. Until, that is, you speak to Kieran Behan.
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.
AP
WASHINGTON - Caron Butler implored the officials not to start the game until a certain special spectator reached his front-row seat.
And when President Barack Obama finally arrived Friday night, delaying the tipoff by a few minutes, Butler and the rest of the Washington Wizards set out to send a message to the First Fan by beating his Chicago Bulls.
“He truly is a die-hard Bulls fan,” Butler said. “Hopefully we can convert him a little bit.”
With the Hoopster-in-Chief at courtside — the first president in nearly a decade to make the mile-or-so jaunt over from the White House to attend an NBA game — and buoyed by a louder-than-usual crowd in a fuller-than-usual arena, Butler and his last-place Wizards embarrassed Obama’s team with a 113-90 victory over the Bulls.
“I didn’t want the ball to be thrown up until he walked in, either, because I didn’t want to miss that,” said Butler, one of eight Wizards to score at least 10 points, the most players in double-digits in one game for the franchise since Feb. 5, 1993.
“I was telling the refs, like, ’Man, let’s warm up some more, then. Let’s stall. You all want to play tic-tac-toe or something just to kill time?’ I was truly nervous for the first time in my career just to have the president over there,” Butler said.
Then he paused a bit, before adding: “And I’m glad we got the ’W.”’
Wins have been few and far between for the Wizards, who are 14-44, the worst record in the Eastern Conference. It’s the Bulls who are supposed to be in the playoff picture, having started the day just a game out of the East’s last postseason berth.
But with Antawn Jamison leading the way with 27 points and 11 rebounds, Washington led by as many as 15 in the first quarter and — after the Bulls closed within 49-45 at halftime — by 25 in the fourth period to the delight of most of the 18,114 in attendance.
“I’m speechless right now. To come in here and lose to the Wizards by 23 points, it’s inexcusable,” said Ben Gordon, who shot 3-for-14 and scored only 11 points. “I don’t know what to say. We didn’t do anything well tonight.”
John Salmons scored 25 for the Bulls, who shot under 40 percent and were outrebounded 53-37.
“We weren’t aggressive. We took poor shots. We were out of sync,” Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said.
The Wizards, meanwhile, were having a great ol’ time.
“Clearly, having the president here, having the buzz from the crowd, it all kind of led into a good feeling,” Washington interim coach Ed Tapscott said. “And you feed on that.”
Butler pumped his fist in Obama’s direction after one 3-polinter by teammate Nick Young. JaVale McGee rose high above the rim to slam in Butler’s alley-oop pass, then raised his hand to his forehead and saluted Obama.
“We were thinking about it before the game — something to do — and I just came up with that,” McGee said.
When Obama got up to leave with just under 4½ minutes left, Washington was ahead 103-86. Seconds later, Butler’s 3-pointer made it a 20-point margin.
Jeremy Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Kobe Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85 on Friday night.
Chandler: Even in eighth grade, Jeremy Lin stood out as a singular talent. So his success with the Knicks is no surprise.
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Jeremy Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Kobe Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85 on Friday night.
Plenty of people are telling the Jeremy Lin story, because it's just a good story. The underdog, the unexpected and the first player since LeBron James nearly a decade ago to put up at least 20 points and eight assists in his first two NBA starts.
Chris Paul had 24 points, including the game-winning 17-footer with 3.2 seconds left, Blake Griffin added 16 points and 11 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 78-77 on Friday.