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 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.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
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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ANAHEIM, Calif. - Torii Hunter compared himself to Kobe Bryant after hitting three home runs in a game for the first time in his big league career.
“It’s like you’re in a zone. And when you’re in a zone, a lot of good things can happen,” said Hunter, whose three consecutive solo shots helped power the Los Angeles Angels to a 9-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night.
“Tonight I felt like Kobe. When Kobe’s in a zone, he’s hitting everything. And now I know how it feels. That was a lot of fun.”
Joe Saunders (7-4) came within two outs of his third career complete game and second this season. The left-hander allowed a run and eight hits, striking out five before manager Mike Scioscia lifted him after a season-high 113 pitches with two runners on base.
Kendry Morales and Jeff Mathis also went deep for the Angels — but this night belonged to Hunter, who leads the club with 16 homers and 49 RBIs. He was left on deck when Bobby Abreu struck out to end the bottom of the eighth inning, costing him a chance at tying the big league record for home runs in a game.
“I was thinking, maybe I can get one more at-bat,” said the two-time All-Star, who lined out in his first at-bat of the night. “Bobby’s a guy who can get on base, and he was trying to work him and do his best to get on.
“I was cheering for him. I was like: “Come on, baby! Get a hit. Stay in there. Foul him off.’ I was screaming at him, and he was looking back at me like: ‘I’m trying!’ But it just didn’t work out for me.”
Hunter became the 12th player in Angels history to homer three times in a game, and the first to do it since Garret Anderson in 2003 against the Montreal Expos in Puerto Rico.
“A player has to be locked in to hit three in one game,” said Padres second baseman David Eckstein, a former Angels shortstop who was in the other dugout when Adam Kennedy hit three in ALCS clincher against Minnesota in 2002. “When Torii gets hot, he can do that. He was able to sit on his pitch tonight and get it the first two times. The third time he had to battle a little bit before he got a pitch he could handle.”
Hunter, who homered his first time up in Friday night’s 11-6 win, put the Angels ahead 4-0 when he led off the third with a drive over the left-field fence. He made it 5-0 in the fifth with a two-out drive. Center fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. made a valiant leaping attempt to pull it back, but the ball cleared his glove.
“When he went up and I saw the ball disappear, I thought he caught it and my heart just dropped,” Hunter said. “But then he slapped his glove and I said, ‘Aw, he didn’t get it.’ After I touched home play and came back to the dugout, I was telling somebody: ‘Only ME can rob me.’ But he scared me right there. That was a good effort by Tony. He really put the chills in me.”
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
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.
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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.
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.
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.