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.
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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.
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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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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.
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AP
BRUSSELS - U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu is suing an Anderlecht player over an alleged racial insult, hoping the case will help eradicate on-field racist abuse in European soccer.
Onyewu, who plays for Standard Liege, says Anderlecht's Jelle Van Damme called him a "dirty monkey'' during the Belgian league playoffs. Van Damme has denied the allegations and said he is not a racist.
Onyewu's lawyer, Jean-Louis Dupont, lodged a complaint with a Brussels court Tuesday.
"He was convinced it was his duty to lodge the complaint,'' Dupont said. "It is not a question whether Van Damme is racist. The issue is that these slurs are still used on the pitch, and are being used because they know it hurts.''
Onyewu completed five days of training in Miami on Sunday with the U.S. soccer team. He is preparing for the June 14-28 Confederations Cup in South Africa and two World Cup qualifiers.
Onyewu is one of the top defenders in the Belgian league and has made 40 international appearances for the U.S., starting in all three games of the 2006 World Cup.
The incidents occurred during the opener of a two-game playoff series between Standard Liege and Anderlecht to decide the Belgian league on May 21.
In three separate incidents during the tense 1-1 draw, Onyewu claims Van Damme called him a "monkey.'' Onyewu alerted the referee but the match was not interrupted. At one point, Onyewu threatened to leave the field but "the teammates convinced him to stay,'' his court complaint said.
Standard Liege beat Anderlecht 1-0 in the return leg, giving the 27-year-old Onyewu his second league title in as many years.
Beyond seeking personal reparation, Onyewu "wants to contribute to eradicate such behavior in football,'' his court papers said.
"A great many lesser-known African players don't have the stature to publicly denounce the insult they suffer on the pitch,'' Dupont said. "With Oguchi, it is different.''
Anderlecht said it had yet to be informed of the court case. The team said Van Damme had told the referee at the playoff game he made no such comments.
Unlike the racist chants that cascade from the stands in some European nations, the racist taunts on the field are often whispered in a player's ear when referees are out of earshot.
Racism from the stands has been going for years, with fans making money chants and throwing bananas at black players. Soccer officials have long condemned it and fined clubs.
Although not racist, the most famous case of onfield taunting came at the 2006 World Cup final. Italian defender Marco Materazzi got under Zinedine Zidane's skin and the Frenchman headbutted him. Zidane was sent off and Italy went on to win the cup.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Alex Morgan's 2 goals, including the winner in stoppage time, lift the U.S. past New Zealand 2-1.
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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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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.