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 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.
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The big news in the spring and summer involved the rumored formations of humongous pigskin conglomerates that would divvy up the BCS booty while eating the weak. This didn’t happen, although there was a modest amount of realignment.
Yet there was more movement in the balance of power that came about in the traditional fashion, which raises the question for 2010: Which conference in college football is the finest?
I will have to go with the Pacific 10. And please have the decency to hold your fire until the end.
Some of my belief on this was formed by watching Florida on Saturday against Miami of Ohio. I notice that the Denver Broncos have a bye in Week 9, which might be an opportune time for Tim Tebow to make a humanitarian mission to Gainesville.
The Gators will be fine eventually, but that’s the point:
Don’t draw conclusions about which conference is the best based on one weekend. Don’t count how many teams from one league are ranked high in the AP poll, and how many are ranked low, or not at all. Look at the totality of the conference and project ahead to the entire season, as daunting as such a task can be.
The wide-open Pac-10 was arguably the fashionable pick going into the 2010 college football season, yet most of those who said so took a powder after Oregon State slipped up against TCU 30-21 and after USC’s defense acted as if it had been sanctioned by the NCAA to give up points and yardage against Hawaii.
It’s one game, people. It was one game for Florida, it was one game for Oregon State, it was one game for Oklahoma against Utah State (a harrowing 31-24 win by the Sooners in Norman).
There are two individuals on any team who have more to do with success than any others: the head coach, and the quarterback. Obviously, it’s important to have stout defenses, superior offensive lines, dynamic receivers, etc. Surely special teams are vital.
But the head coach is the CEO, and the quarterback is the hands-on manager. Without those two elements, the whole program sags into a gelatinous tub of mediocrity.
The Pac-10 is brimming with outstanding coaching talent. Chip Kelly has created an offensive Godzilla in Oregon. Mike Riley of Oregon State is one of the sharpest minds in all of football. Jim Harbaugh is a badass at Stanford. Jeff Tedford at Cal and Mike Stoops at Arizona both have created highly competitive programs. Steve Sarkisian of Washington and Lane Kiffin at USC are promising wonderboys. And the combo of Rick Neuheisel and offensive coordinator Norm Chow at UCLA show faint signs of giant-killer ability, as long as they can keep a quarterback healthy. Dennis Erickson has been a disappointment at Arizona State, but he did win two national championships at Miami.
There is no conference in America that has three quarterbacks with the talent and ability of Jake Locker of Washington, Matt Barkley of USC and Andrew Luck of Stanford.
Coaching begets recruiting. If you buy into the notion that a conference is only as formidable as its head coaches, then the Pac-10 is in the driver’s seat for stockpiling talent. Of course the SEC remains an elite destination for high school kids, and it always will be. But the Pac-10’s status in that department improves each year, as recruits gravitate toward celebrity coaches, sunny locales and especially pro-style offenses that will prepare them for the NFL.
That last element is something the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and Big East just can’t compete with.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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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.
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.
Paul Pierce has been around long enough to know what Rajon Rondo's performance can mean for the aging Boston Celtics.
