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.
Reuters
CHICAGO - On his return to Wrigley Field as a Chicago Cub, Greg Maddux had trouble finding a familiar spot — the plate.
Wild and ineffective, Maddux’s homecoming was upstaged on a cold and windy Monday by Kris Benson and the Pittsburgh Pirates, who rolled to a 13-2 victory in Chicago’s home opener
“When you don’t throw the ball where you want to throw it, it kind of takes the fun out of the game,” said Maddux, who walked five, hit a batter and gave up eight hits and six runs in 3 2-3 innings.
“I made some good pitches that got hit and I made some bad pitches that got hit harder. I didn’t throw the ball the way I wanted to. At the same time, you feel like you let a lot of people down,” Maddux added.
“The frustrating part was that I felt good. I really did.”
But so did Benson, who allowed just one hit in six superb innings to get his first victory since May 27, 2003.
“It’s almost been a year, so it feels really good,” said Benson, whose season a year ago was cut short by shoulder problems. “They made it easy on me getting out there and scoring a bunch of runs early.”
Pittsburgh had 17 hits in Chicago’s first home game since losing in the NLCS.
Chicago was five outs from its first World Series appearance since 1945 before blowing leads in Games 6 and 7 against Florida, which went on to win the title. In an effort to reach the World Series, the Cubs brought back Maddux, their ace more than a decade ago.
Making his first appearance at Wrigley in a Cubs uniform since Sept. 30, 1992, Maddux (0-2) got a rousing ovation when he was introduced as he was warming up in the bullpen.
Maddux left the Cubs in 1992 after winning the first of four straight Cy Young Awards, then helped the Atlanta Braves to 10 straight first-place finishes and the 1995 World Series championship.
His decision to return to Chicago had Cubs’ fans ecstatic. But he’s yet to win in two starts.
“Mechanically I felt good. Mentally I felt good. It just didn’t go where I was aiming it,” he said.
Maddux didn’t blame the cold — game-time temperature of 41 degrees and a wind blowing in off Lake Michigan at 15 to 24 mph — for his struggles against a team he’s dominated in recent starts.
In his four previous games against the Pirates, Maddux had held them to one earned run in 33 innings.
“Everyone was excited to face the guy,” said the Pirates’ Jack Wilson, who was 3-for-7 and now has hit in all seven of Pittsburgh’s games.
“He’s a Hall of Famer and you have that extra energy. When he got the ball up, we took advantage of it and hit the ball hard.”
Benson (1-0) gave up a first-inning infield single to Sammy Sosa that went off third baseman Chris Stynes’ glove and a pair of unearned runs before leaving for a pinch-hitter in the seventh. The Cubs had only two more hits.
The Pirates loaded the bases against Maddux in the second, third and fourth innings.
“He’s human,” Chicago manager Dusty Baker said. “Everybody wants to get off to a good start. I’m not worried about Greg. He’ll figure it out and be the Maddux we know and expect.”
In the second, Craig Wilson reached on an infield hit to third, Jose Castillo singled and then Maddux walked Benson to load the bases.
Jack Wilson doubled in a run and Jason Kendall hit a two-run single as boos could be heard at Wrigley Field. And when Kendall stole second and then came all the way home on catcher Paul Bako’s errant throw, it looked like the Cubs of old.
Chicago got two back in the second when the Pirates played with cold hands. After a walk, Jack Wilson made back-to-back errors at short and then Castillo made an errant throw to first on Maddux’s double-play grounder, helping the Cubs cut the lead to 5-2.
But Maddux’s struggles continued in the fourth when he walked Craig Wilson with the bases loaded to make it 6-2 and then was removed. It was the first time since May 15, 1993 that Maddux walked in a run. That’s the kind of day he had.
Notes: It was Maddux’s shortest outing since last Sept. 11 when he went 3 2-3 innings against the Phillies, allowing 12 hits and seven runs. ...Maddux threw 77 pitches in his short outing and in the most telling stat of all, only 39 were for strikes. ... Comedian/actor Bill Murray threw out the first pitch, a high floater over the backstop that may have been an omen — Cubs pitchers walked 11. Murray later led the seventh inning stretch singing. ... Announced attendance: 40,483. ... Cubs CF Corey Patterson was a late scratch with a groin strain and was replaced by Tom Goodwin. 2B Mark Grudzielanek missed his third straight game with a sore right Achilles tendon and will have an MRI on Tuesday.
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.
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.