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.
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
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - Andy Roddick avenged his Australian Open loss to Marat Safin, and two-time defending champion Lleyton Hewitt was eliminated by Juan Ignacio Chela in Monday’s third round of the Pacific Life Open.
The 21-year-old Roddick beat Safin for the first time in their three matches, taking a 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory on a scorching afternoon when temperatures reached 102 degrees for the second day in a row.
“It only felt like 101,” Roddick quipped.
Chela, an Argentine ranked No. 34, defeated the ninth-ranked Hewitt 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
Andre Agassi, who turns 34 next month, looked as sharp as ever in a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Dominik Hrbaty in their night match. The fifth-ranked Agassi, the Indian Wells champion in 2001, peppered the lines with his groundstrokes, keeping his Slovakian opponent on the defensive most of the match.
On the women’s side of the tournament, top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne got out of the heat in a hurry, needing only 58 minutes to defeat Marta Marrero 6-1, 6-2 in their third-round match.
Safin outlasted Roddick in a five-set quarterfinals marathon in Australia earlier this year. Safin lost the final to Roger Federer.
Roddick fell behind the 24-year-old Russian 0-3 at Indian Wells, then trailed 3-1 in the tiebreaker before his serve-and-volley game won it for him.
He took command in the second set and, when Safin netted a forehand to end the match, Roddick raised his racket and tapped it with his palm to applaud the fans.
“He played amazing in Australia,” said Roddick, ranked No. 3 after finishing 2003 at No. 1. “He definitely didn’t play as well today as he did in Australia. I think I came in a little bit more, keeping him guessing, maybe not being too predictable.”
Chela beat Hewitt at his own game: chasing everything down, keeping the ball in play and waiting patiently for the opponent to make a mistake.
“Even when I felt like I had him on a stretch a couple of times, he came up with good defensive shots,” said Hewitt, whose 13-match winning streak ended. “I didn’t feel like I played too badly, but I felt like he didn’t miss a lot of shots.”
Hewitt did — making 42 unforced errors to Chela’s 15.
Hewitt’s fiancee, Kim Clijsters, also won’t repeat as champion at Indian Wells, where they received matching his and hers trophies a year ago.
Clijsters withdrew on Saturday after she hurt her left wrist a night earlier during a two-set win over Angelika Roesch.
The top-ranked Federer made quick work of Fernando Gonzalez in their third-round match, taking a 6-3, 6-2 win in 1:02.
Tommy Haas continued his comeback from 2002 shoulder surgery with a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3 victory over Albert Costa. Haas missed all of last year so the shoulder could heal.
Sesil Karatancheva, the brash 14-year-old from Bulgaria, was unable to back up her boast that she would beat Maria Sharapova.
Karatancheva won the first set, but her Russian opponent, just 16, came back to take a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Their match on a side court drew several thousand fans, as many or more than the Hewitt-Chela match going on at the same time in the main stadium.
“Hey, she played unbelievable. I have to give her credit,” Karatancheva said. “I did everything I could. I could have played better, but you know what, that’s my first big tournament.
“I’m 14. I probably have 30 years more in front of me. We’ll play again someday and I hope I’ll do better then.”
Sharapova was gracious in victory.
“She’s definitely a great young player. She has a great future ahead of her, no doubt about it,” Sharapova said.
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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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.
