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.
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.
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The previous time Scott was fired, he was coming off a 49-33 season with the Nets. Midway through the next season, he was replaced as coach by Lawrence Frank.
Thursday, Scott found himself booted again, this time as coach of the Hornets, after, you guessed it, coming off a 49-33 season.
The resume undoubtedly will get Scott back on the sideline again. But next time don't be surprised if Scott is a bit fussier when it comes to picking his employer.
New Jersey has been a well-chronicled ownership mess for years, only now with a cash infusion on the way to potentially create stability.
New Orleans is just cash poor, concern about the luxury tax leaving the offseason's only significant move as the lateral swap of Tyson Chandler for Emeka Okafor.
Should the Hornets be winning bigger, be avoiding encores of last season's 121-63 playoff debacle against the Nuggets? Absolutely.
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Paul might yet push hard enough to get the Hornets back to the playoffs. But in the Western Conference and especially in the Southwest Division, New Orleans' upside is limited.
At times, it appeared as if Scott had had enough. The body language even during Wednesday's blowout loss in Phoenix was a sign that he had reached his breaking point.
The difference in New Orleans is that Paul, unlike Cleveland's LeBron James or Miami's Dwyane Wade, is not an impending free agent.
He can huff and puff about change, but he isn't going anywhere with a contract that runs through 2012-13. That also is when Okafor's contract expires. And the deals of James Posey and West don't expire until 2011-12.
So stuck with the players, the Hornets did the only thing they could:
They fired the coach who dared win only 49 games last season.
Ira Winderman writes regularly for NBCSports.com and covers the Heat and the NBA for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
