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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.
AP
CARAVACA DE LA CRUZ, Spain - Lance Armstrong is feeling the physical demands of his second year back in cycling.
The 38-year-old Armstrong said on Thursday he "suffered a little bit" at the start of the Vuelta of Murcia, his first race in five weeks. Nerves even came into play.
"It's just the tempo," he said. "It was a windy day, it's nervous and at the end we're doing 60-70 kilometers (35-45 miles) an hour, and you can't simulate that in training. So you're a little bit out of your element."
Team RadioShack boss Johan Bruyneel said Armstrong, who moved up to 32nd from 46th after two stages, was "still a long way off from being in good shape right now."
"He's a bit better than last year, but he's different," Bruyneel said. "Last year everything was new, we had lost all of the references. The whole time we lived with doubt - doubt whether he would reach a certain level, how would that level be, what do we have to do. Now we know he can reach a competitive level."
Armstrong said memories of last year's crash in the first stage of the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon did not resurface even if it was his first trip back to Spain since the accident, which led to surgery on a broken collarbone.
"The key there is don't be in the back," the seven-time Tour de France champion said. "I was at the back and you get caught behind the crashes and stupid stuff happens."
Bruyneel attributed the crash to qualities one never would have associated with the American: "Uncertainty, doubts, not having the same reflexes as before - he had lost everything."
Armstrong is making up for lost training time in Murcia, where Saturday's 22-kilometer (13.7-mile) time trial will provide a big boost for his hopes of winning the Tour. Robert Hunter of Garmin-Transitions leads with an overall time of 8 hours, 35 minutes, 52 seconds. Armstrong is five seconds back.
"We didn't have time to focus on specific things," Bruyneel said. "Last year was more general training without an idea of where it would go."
RadioShack was coming together well and that was key to Armstrong's chase for the Tour title, which used to be a guarantee.
"Until 2005 we knew that if things went well - the preparation, if there were no crashes, no one got sick, no mechanical problems on the course and if the team worked well - we had certain guarantees to win the Tour," Bruyneel said. "Now, that's not the case."
Former teammate Alberto Contador won last year's cycling classic when the two riders were at Astana, and the drop from favorite to front-runner was helping Armstrong, who finished third.
"He tries to win but it's not like in 2005 when it started to become an obligation. There was a lot more distractions and negatives and now we're trying to cut all the negative and to enjoy what we do," Bruyneel said.
"It feels like 2004-05. There's super ambiance, everyone enjoys what they're doing. It's a little bit better than last year."
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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Robins: This year, six new breeds will be making their debut on the green carpet for the Westminster Dog Show, which begins Monday.
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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.
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