Super Bowl XLVI
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
NEW YORK - Venus Williams arrived at this U.S. Open with a bum knee. She hadn't played a match in more than two months. She hadn't reached the semifinals at any Grand Slam tournament in more than a year.
And now? Williams is two victories away from her first U.S. Open title since 2001.
The No. 3-seeded Williams overcame nine double-faults and a total of 33 unforced errors to beat reigning French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the quarterfinals Tuesday night.
"I want to be in the final, because then obviously it's just one more step," the 30-year-old Williams said. "But I'm just focused on the semis, and I don't get too excited unless the tournament is over."
Next up for Williams is a semifinal against defending champion Kim Clijsters, who ran her U.S. Open winning streak to 19 matches by eliminating French Open runner-up Sam Stosur 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. Clijsters and Williams have split their 12 previous meetings, but the Belgian won the most recent four, including in the fourth round in New York in 2009.
"Venus is a great competitor. She's been playing some really great tennis these last few matches," Clijsters said. "I look forward to it. It's a challenge."
Williams is the only American singles player left in the 2010 tournament, because the last of the country's 15 men in the field, 20th-seeded Sam Querrey, lost 7-6 (9), 6-7 (5), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 to No. 25 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland earlier Tuesday.
Asked whether she sensed any responsibility to carry American hopes, Williams smiled and replied: "If I felt like that, I don't think I'd be able to even raise my arms. Thankfully, I don't feel that way. I think my expectations are enough to deal with, so I'm just going to hopefully temper that."
Her own expectations are based, of course, on a lengthy list of successes, including seven Grand Slam singles titles. Two came at the U.S. Open, in 2000 and 2001. But she last made the semifinals at Flushing Meadows in 2007, and she hasn't played in the title match since losing to her sister Serena in 2002.
"I feel really comfortable here," Williams said, "and it's great to come back to a place where I have won, and a place where I've played well."
Querrey-Wawrinka lasted nearly 4 1/2 hours, meaning Williams-Schiavone didn't start on the same Arthur Ashe Stadium court until after 6 p.m.
But Williams didn't mind the delay one bit.
"I'm a pro at waiting for my match: Singles, doubles, you name it, I've waited. I've waited for rain delays. That's a part of tennis," said Williams, whose other five major singles championships came at Wimbledon. "I'm a pretty laid-back person, so I don't get too tight waiting."
She and the sixth-seeded Schiavone both found it tough to play the way they wanted, thanks to swirling wind that Williams said made it impossible to practice serves during the warmup time, because her ball tosses kept going astray.
Still, she handled the conditions better in the end, improving to 8-0 against Schiavone.
The key was the tiebreaker, when Williams went ahead 4-0 with a backhand passing winner on the run. She moved well all evening, showing not a shred of a sign that there is anything wrong with her left knee. Williams sprained that kneecap in early August, which kept her from playing any hard-court tuneup events before heading to New York.
Schiavone, though, took the next four points to even things. Then she made it 5-all by winning a 12-stroke exchange with a volley, celebrating by skipping and pumping her fist - the sort of excellence at the net and general exuberance she showed en route to the title in Paris, where she became Italy's first female Grand Slam champion.
But then came two shots Schiavone would come to regret. First she pushed a backhand long to give Williams a set point at 6-5. Then she sailed a forehand long to end the set.
"I'm so angry," Schiavone would say afterward. "Instead of attacking and going for the lines, I should have played a little safer and put the ball in."
Here is why that set was so crucial: Williams entered Tuesday with a 51-1 record at the U.S. Open when winning the first set - the only loss was 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to eventual champion Clijsters in the 2005 quarterfinals.
So while Schiavone could insist, as she did, that, "When you lose the first set, you still have every chance to win the match," Williams is now 52-1 in New York when the opening set is hers.
"I feel like when the stakes were higher," Williams said, "I was able to raise my game."
Now comes the time to do that in the U.S. Open semifinals. And, if Williams gets her way, in the final, too.
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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Adreian Payne scored 15 points, Draymond Green added 12 and defense-minded No. 11 Michigan State beat No. 3 Ohio State 58-48 Saturday night, ending the Buckeyes' 39-game home winning streak.
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.
Trae Golden scored 17 points, Jeronne Maymon added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Tennessee upset No. 8 Florida 75-70 Saturday, ending the Gators' home-winning streak at 19.
