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ideal, how it's all about taking part, not winning, can often seem like so much hot air, rendered hopelessly quaint and outdated by the ultra-competitive and mercenary world of modern sport.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.
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ARE, Sweden - Benjamin Raich of Austria won the last men's World Cup giant slalom Friday to move within two points of the overall leader, and Didier Cuche of Switzerland clinched the discipline title for the first time.
Raich had a two-run total of 2 minutes, 18.95 seconds down the Olympia course. Ted Ligety of the United States, last season's GS champion, was 0.13 behind in second place. Cuche finished third, 0.71 behind.
Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, skiing despite a cold, wound up 19th and finished out of the points. He leads Raich by only two points going into Saturday's slalom, the final race of the season. That bodes well for Raich who is a gate specialist, whereas Svindal has failed to get a single point in the discipline this season.
"Now it's close ... only two points," Raich said. "I have a good chance for tomorrow, but it's always tough to get in the points.
"You have to push. For some guys it looks like it's easy. But it's not easy to get into the top 15, but that's what I have to do tomorrow."
To win the overall was one of Raich's big goals this season.
"If not, it's also OK because I won a lot of races, and I was second in GS," he said.
The first run was held under sunny skies in near-perfect racing conditions. The second took place in heavy snowfall and visibility was poor, especially for the late finishers.
"The visibility was very bad, it was crazy, but I did very well," Raich said. "I took my third GS victory this season and I'm very happy."
Cuche clocked the third-fastest time in the opening run, 0.86 behind Raich, despite dropping one of his poles at the top of the course.
"I had to manage 40 gates with just one pole, it wasn't easy," Cuche said. "But I think I did a good job. I couldn't believe that I lost the pole right away. But I started to focus really hard on being solid, not working with my arms and not moving with my arms. It worked really well."
Cuche dominated the downhill during the last two seasons, and has steadily improved his gate racing.
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The 2007 overall champion, Svindal has 1,009 points atop the standings. Raich, the 2006 overall champion, moved to 1,007. Cuche is third with 919.
"I skied so bad in the first run, it was hard to recharge for the second run," Svindal said.
Cuche topped the final GS standings with 474 points. Raich was second with 462 and Ligety third with 421.
Ligety, who moved to ninth overall, said he was pleased with his season.
"GS wise I was really happy with the skiing," he said. "I'm definitely happy with today's result. It's always good when you end up top three in a discipline. And being able to fight for a discipline title is all you can really ask for."
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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.
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.
