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.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has 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.
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.
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.
APThe most remarkable thing about the Chase thus far isn't Jimmie Johnson's two wins, Mark Martin's age-defying performance, or Juan Pablo Montoya's ability to rewrite his personal statistics; it is the combined dominance of all three. I don't ever remember a stretch of races like the first four Chase events of 2009, at which three guys so consistently vied for the win.
Finishing averages over the four race span, Loudon – Fontana, 2009:
Jimmie Johnson: 3.75
Mark Martin: 3.5
Juan Pablo Montoya: 3.5
Combined finishing average of all three: 3.58
If you look at the same statistics for the top three drivers after Chase Race No. 4 from past years, no other combination even comes close:
2008
Jimmie Johnson: 4.25
Carl Edwards: 9.25
Greg Biffle: 7.25
Combined: 6.91
2007:
Jeff Gordon: 4.75
Jimmie Johnson: 6.25
Clint Bowyer: 6.5
Combined: 5.83
2006:
Jeff Burton: 10.0
Matt Kenseth: 11.75
Mark Martin: 9.0
Combined: 10.25
2005
Tony Stewart: 6.5
Ryan Newman: 8.25
Greg Biffle: 11.5
Combined: 8.75
Now, Talladega was part of the four-race combo in each previous year, and one would think that race wreaked havoc with driver averages. In 2005, however, Smoke finished second and still ended up with a 6.5 four-race average. Newman finished fourth in that same race, but his average was 8.25. In 2007, none other than Jimmie Johnson finished second at 'Dega, but he still managed just a 6.25 four-race average.
The run of the Nos. 5, 42 and 48 is even more remarkable when you look at the varied track types on which they've had to perform. Loudon is a relatively flat mile-long track. Dover is a highly banked, concrete mile-long track. Kansas is a tri-oval downforce track a mile-and-a-half in length. Fontana is also a downforce track, but a little more of a d-shaped oval and two miles in length.
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If these three drivers continue to perform like they have thus far, it's going to come down to luck and/or wins. Which one of them can avoid getting caught up in someone else's mess at Talladega or Martinsville? Can Jimmie keep racking up wins even if Mark and JP record top fives? My hope is that heading into Homestead-Miami, all three are within 20 points of one another. The way they're going, it could actually happen.
Buzz Cutler is a co-host of Rowdy.com. For the best NASCAR community on the internet go to Rowdy.com.
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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.
