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SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
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.
AP
AMES, Iowa - Roy Williams remembers times when he had a good feeling that a recruit would sign to play for him only to see the player go elsewhere.
His vibe about the much sought-after Harrison Barnes turned out well for North Carolina.
Barnes, a 6-foot-7 swingman widely regarded as the nation’s top recruit, signed with Williams’ Tar Heels program Friday. Barnes choose the defending national champion from six schools that included national powers Kansas and UCLA, along with rival Duke. It ended a 16-month pursuit for Williams, who said he recruited Barnes probably harder than anyone in his career.
“I said right up to the very end I would not have been surprised with any of the six choices, and I really wouldn’t have been,” Williams said Saturday during halftime of the Miami-North Carolina football game at Kenan Stadium. “We worked extremely hard and we’ve got a good product to promote, there’s no question about that. I’d like to think that we’re always going to try to outwork everybody else, but I wouldn’t have been surprised” had he gone elsewhere.
Barnes announced his decision by contacting Williams through an internet video conference call on a nationally televised broadcast. Williams said assistant coach Steve Robinson and video coordinator Eric Hoots set up the call after request from the Barnes family, but Williams said he didn’t know Barnes’ decision until the call came.
“You have a good feeling when they start talking about the Skype and setting it up, but they could have been doing that for every school,” Williams said. “When he said, ’I’m going to go over and Skype the coach,’ and then his face showed up on our computer, that’s a pretty good feeling.”
Barnes joins point guard Kendall Marshall and shooting guard Reggie Bullock in the Tar Heels’ recruiting class for next season, which already ranked among the nation’s best even before Barnes’ announcement. The trio should help address a couple of the Tar Heels’ apparent weaknesses: depth at point guard and unproven outside shooting.
As for beating out Duke in the recruiting of Barnes, Williams wouldn’t dwell on it.
“Duke’s going to get good players,” he said. “I don’t worry about Duke and I’m sure that they don’t worry about us. They’re hard to recruit against because they’re so good. ... They’re all really good schools. You just want him to say your name, your school and then whoever you beat doesn’t make any difference.”
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
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.
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