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.
AP
MELBOURNE, Australia - Venus Williams is a much better doubles partner for her sister Serena than she is a keeper of the score.
The Williams sisters won their fourth Australian Open doubles title on Friday, beating Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-4, 6-3 in the final at Rod Laver Arena.
At the end, Venus couldn’t figure out why Serena was so excited about what she thought was a game point. And Serena was perplexed why Venus was so subdued on match point.
The problem: Venus had lost track of the score.
The sisters, sitting in front of their newly won silverware in a news conference, couldn’t contain their laughter when asked about the comical finish to the match.
“I actually didn’t know the score, I thought that it was 5-2,” Venus said. “I really don’t know how I lost track. So I was confused, but I guess that’s just focus.
“I thought, she’s really happy about this break. I thought, ’Wow, I’ve never seen her this happy’. But I’ll go with it.”
Serena was happy, and confused.
“Yeah, I thought, ’OK, this is exciting. We defended our title’ and she was like, ’What’s going on?’ I’m like, ’The match is over. We’re done now.’ It was funny.”
Venus said not knowing they were one game away from clinching the match might have helped.
“I guess it’s easier to hold at 3-2 instead of 4-3. I thought it was break point,” she said. “I didn’t know it was match. I need to play all my matches like this without knowing the score. I think it would help.”
The sisters broke Huber’s service to open the second set and won the match when they again broke Huber, clinching it on a winning reflex volley by Serena. They high-fived each other at the side of the court after the win.
The Williams sisters won the Australian title for the first time in 2001 and added championships in 2003 and last year. Black, of Zimbabwe, and Huber, a South African-born American citizen, won the Australian Open doubles title in 2007 and were the top-seeded team in the tournament this year.
“I have to congratulate Venus and Serena for a great tournament — you guys are too good,” Black said.
It was the 11th time the Williams sisters have combined for a Grand Slam doubles title.
Serena has 11 singles majors, also, and is hoping for a 12th in the Australian Open final on Saturday against Justine Henin.
Venus Williams has also won a mixed doubles title at the Australian Open — in 1998 with fellow American Jason Gimelstob. Serena Williams was a losing finalist in mixed doubles here with Max Mirnyi of Belarus in 1999.
Black is still in this year’s mixed doubles tournament. She and partner Leander Paes of India, the top-seeded pairing, will play Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Jaroslav Levinsky of Czech Republic in Sunday’s final.
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.
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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.
