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.
The Magic’s season hasn’t been without its share of turmoil. Jameer Nelson sustained a season-ending shoulder injury in early February, a setback that at the time seemed as if it would prevent Orlando from doing anything this year.
But general manager Otis Smith acquired guard Rafer Alston from Houston. Alston, a former playground legend, fit in perfectly. In the opening round against Philadelphia, the Magic lost the opener before rebounding and winning a close-out Game 6 on the road.
Then, following Game 5 of the Boston series, Howard called out Van Gundy for not getting him the ball enough and challenged his substitution patterns. The Magic shook off that spat, too, winning two straight, including Game 7 on Boston’s parquet.
In the conference finals, they beat Cleveland with a devastating mix of inside power and outside firepower.
“This team has fought really, really hard,” Van Gundy said. “Our reward is you get to go from preparing for LeBron to preparing for Kobe. I’m not doing that tonight.”
This was supposed to be the Cavs’ season. But there will be no title, and once again Cleveland fans will feel nothing but heartache as they wait for one of their city’s teams to end a 45-year championship drought.
In the first half, the Cavaliers couldn’t stop Howard and the shoot-first-ask-questions-later Magic took turns launching 3s while building an 18-point halftime lead.
“When they get it going, they are really tough,” Ben Wallace said.
On Cleveland’s last possession before the half, James missed a short runner while being knocked to the floor. He sat there in disbelief, looking for a call, looking for help, looking lost.
Cleveland’s coaching staff barked at the officials and Brown was assessed a technical.
When the Cavs came back out after halftime, Howard was practicing free throws. As he walked toward Cleveland’s bench, injured forward Lorenzen Wright, dressed in a suit, jumped up and grabbed the net and tried to knock out one of Howard’s shots.
It dropped in anyway, another symbolic moment.
A little more Magic.
Notes: Woods, who shares a Dec. 30 birthday with James, was back after missing Game 4. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was also in the house. ... James expects he and Howard — Olympic teammates — meeting in the postseason could become an annual event. “It’s not the first time we’ll see each other on this platform,” he said.
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
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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.
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.
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