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' national 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.
Getty ImagesI was all set to write a blog comparing the relative fortunes of the No. 5 versus the No. 88. I was going to talk about the failure of Hendrick Motorsports’ strategy of symbiosis and the ironic fact that resource sharing between the two teams has helped the No. 88 yet hurt the No. 5. Then I looked at the numbers.
There is no doubt that Dale Earhnardt Jr. is in better shape this season than he was at this point last season. After the first 18 races of 2009 he was ranked 21st. Currently, he is ranked 11th.
Mark Martin, on the other hand, is currently ranked 13th just like he was after 18 races in 2009. Granted, at this point in 2009 he had already visited Victory Lane three times, but his relative position in the standings is actually stronger now. He’s 39 points out of 12th as opposed to the 65-point deficit he was facing at this time last year.
Alan Gustafson, crew chief for the No. 5, talked about the team’s inability to adjust to the spoiler in a timely manner. The spoiler was implemented in race six. Mark Martin’s average finish in the middle third of the season, however, is 11.8. Compare that with the other six-race segments of 2010 and it’s substantially stronger.
Mark Martin, average finishes:
Races 1 – 6, 18.1
Races 7 – 12, 11.8
Races 13 – 18, 18.6
Dale Earnhardt Jr., average finishes:
Races 1 – 6, 14.5
Races 7 – 12, 18.8
Races 13 – 18, 11.8
If you look at the two drivers’ average finishes over the last 12 races – the spoiler races – they are virtually identical.
Junior’s overall average is slightly better than Martin’s; 15.1 compared to 16.2.
No, as much as I would like to say that the revamped relationship between the two teams caused them to meet in the middle, the numbers tell a different story. They’re actually running about the same.
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There are eight races until the Chase field is set. As of now, neither team looks like a shoe-in and neither looks like they’re going to start challenging for wins. If they’re not hurting one another by watering down the resources available, let’s hope they can help each other find berths in the Chase.
Bass Masters and Buzz Cutler are co-hosts of Rowdy.com. For the best NASCAR community on the internet go to Rowdy.com.
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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.
