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.
Getty ImagesIf Jackson does leave, the Lakers likely will poke around for a marquee name, but eventually keep the choice in-house. If it isn’t Rambis, it probably will be either Brian Shaw or Jim Cleamons, who are also trusted assistants. Any of those three would get the all-important stamp of approval from Bryant as well as the support of the rest of these current Lakers.
But no matter who is tabbed, he could not reproduce the aura of calm and wisdom that Jackson brings, not to mention the klieg-light glare of the bling.
One of the keys to this mystery may be Kobe Bryant himself. Bryant is the central figure in most Laker dramas anyway. The Lakers are his team, even if his name isn’t at the top of the company masthead. When the bubbly goes flat and the Laker flags are folded up until next season, Bryant will surely have a chat with Jackson — a man who once called him “uncoachable” in a book — and lay out his vision of the future.
Much of the talk leading up to this year’s championship was Bryant’s desire to win a title without Shaquille O’Neal. But now that that is done, he has another target: Michael Jordan. The former Bulls star is considered the greatest player ever, and always will be, at least until somebody matches him in rings. Bryant now has four. Two more and it will be very difficult to keep saying Jordan is the greatest ever with the same amount of certainty.
That’s getting ahead of ourselves. It’s incredibly difficult to win a championship. Next year the Lakers will face challenges from teams in the West like Denver, Houston and Portland, and in the East like Orlando, Boston and Cleveland. There is no guarantee the Lakers will even get to the 2010 Finals, let alone win No. 11 for Phil and No. 5 for Kobe.
But after a championship is the ideal time for big dreams. It’s the opportunity for successful men who have reached the pinnacle to fire up a couple of cigars, pour glasses of excellent wine and discuss the wondrous possibilities of “What if?”
In Phil Jackson’s case, he already has a perfect 10. Why not make it even more perfect with No. 11?
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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