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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
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.
Two weeks ago, on the eve of the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs, I warned our readers that the end of the regular season normally meant an end to the sort of hockey fisticuffs that we normally see during the regular season, and, truth be told, enjoy so much.
Well, two weeks later, I'm happy to report that for at least this postseason, I've been blessedly wrong. Though we're just about done with the first round, we've already seen 10 fights this postseason , that's compared to just seven bouts over the course of the entire tournament just one year ago .
When it comes to entertainment, it would be hard to beat Patrice Bergeron's beat down of Josh Gorges in the Boston-Montreal series. Then there was the all-Ivy League tussle between George Parros and Doug Murray in the Anaheim-San Jose series. But in terms of the most important fight, it's hard to top the battle between Max Talbot and Dan Carcillo in Saturday's Penguins-Flyers game.
During that clip, NBC's Ed Olcyzk made it pretty clear that he thought Carcillo made a critical mistake in accepting Talbot's challenge, saying that there was no reason to give the Penguins, down 3-0 at the time, any reason to be roused from their slumber.
And after the game, Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury told NBC's Darren Pang that Talbot's run at Carcillo got his team's energy flowing and led directly to them scoring five straight unanswered goals on their way to a 5-3 series clinching win.
But do fights like this really make a difference? Writing in today's Toronto Star, Chris Zelkovich took exception to that conceit, pointing out that Calgary's Adam Pardy undertook a similar "suicide mission" against Chicago's Ben Eager just a few hours later with his team down to Chicago 5-1, yet it didn't make a bit of difference.
Zelkovich may well be right, but the perception remains -- as demonstrated by Olcyzk's reaction on NBC -- that there are some fights that are better left alone. One thing is for sure: Talbot earned himself some more fans for life in Pittsburgh for standing up to Carcillo, just another reason why players like him continue to endear themselves to the game's hardcore fans.
Ryan Callahan scored three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
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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 |
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.