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.
AP
PHILADELPHIA - Jimmy Rollins is at his best in the biggest games.
Rollins hit a three-run homer, Joe Blanton pitched neatly into the seventh and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants 8-2 on Wednesday night.
The two-time NL champions have won 20 of 25 and moved two games ahead of the Giants in the wild-card race. The Phillies remained 2½ games behind Atlanta in the East.
"When there's a lot of focus on our team, Jimmy rises," manager Charlie Manuel said. "This is when Jimmy likes to play, or it seems that way."
Andres Torres and Pat Burrell homered for the Giants, who have lost three straight.
Blanton (5-6) allowed two runs and eight hits, striking out seven in 6 1-3 innings.
Rollins singled, tripled and homered off Matt Cain (9-10). He flied out against Jeremy Affeldt in the seventh and grounded out against Guillermo Mota in the eighth.
The Phillies have had just two players hit for the cycle in the last 47 years — Gregg Jefferies (1995) and David Bell (2004).
"The last couple of days, I felt better," said Rollins, who missed 54 games this season with a calf injury. "My hitting area is starting to come to me. It doesn't feel like the plate is in the other batter's box."
Pinch-hitter Domonic Brown blasted a solo homer into the second deck in right with two outs in the eighth, earning the rookie a curtain call from the sellout crowd. It also gave Rollins another chance to go for a double, but he grounded to first.
Cain gave up five runs — two earned — and seven hits in six innings. Giants starters are 0-9 with a 5.73 ERA in the last 14 games.
"We just have to think of the positives and get something going," Cain said.
Carlos Ruiz put the Phillies ahead 2-1 with an RBI single during a four-run fourth. He has 21 RBIs in his last 19 games.
Before Ruiz's hit, second baseman Mike Fontenot booted Ross Gload's one-out grounder. The error proved costly when Rollins came up with two runners on and two outs. Rollins drove one deep into the seats in right to make it 5-1. His shot ended a string of 49 straight innings without a homer for Philadelphia.
Burrell cut it to 5-2 in the sixth with his 12th homer in 58 games with the Giants. He has homered in his first two games back at Citizens Bank Park since helping the Phillies win the 2008 World Series.
"We're not scoring a lot of runs," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We've got to get our offense going. There's a lot of baseball left. This team's been resilient. We'll bounce back."
Raul Ibanez hit an RBI triple and Jayson Werth followed with a double to extend Philadelphia's lead to 7-2 in the seventh.
Torres crushed his 12th homer into the second deck in right field leading off the game.
Blanton allowed just one run in the first after giving up two or more in five of his eight previous starts. Overall, he's allowed 19 first-inning runs in 20 starts this season.
Notes: Rollins stole his major league-best 28th and 29th straight bases, including 14 this year. ... Philadelphia 2B Chase Utley got his first hit since returning from thumb surgery, breaking an 0-for-7 slide with a swinging-bunt single. ... A crowd of 44,410 was the 99th straight sellout at Citizens Bank Park. ... The Phillies are 17-2 at home since July 8. ... The Giants are just 12-13 when Cain starts, but he has a 3.11 ERA. ... Phillies 1B Ryan Howard said he's hoping to return Monday from an ankle injury. The Phillies are 12-3 without the All-Star slugger.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
DeMarco: Plug in a well-heeled ownership group and negotiate one of those mega-bucks TV deals that are going around, and the Dodgers could become the west coast version of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
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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.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.