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.
BOSTON - Manny Ramirez led his Red Sox teammates out of the dugout Tuesday night, waving a small American flag on his first full day of U.S. citizenship.
With the flag rippling in the wind, he ran to left field as fans cheered, then went to the seats along the foul line and handed it to a fan.
“I’m very proud to be an American citizen,” he said with a big smile before Boston’s game against Cleveland.
Ramirez, 31, moved from his native Dominican Republic to New York City when he was 13. His parents and sisters are citizens.
“I was the last one to do it and they were always telling me, ‘Hey, you’ve got to do this,”’ he said. “So I just went ahead and did it.”
Ramirez had played in all 31 of his team’s games before missing Monday night’s 8-4 loss to Cleveland to attend a two-hour ceremony in Miami during which he became a citizen. General manager Theo Epstein said it was an excused absence.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Ramirez said. “There were probably like 2,000 people there (from) all over the world, Costa Rica, Colombia ... Jamaica, so everything went fine.”
His first at-bat as a U.S. citizen wasn’t as pleasant. He struck out against C.C. Sabathia leading off the second. After the top of the inning, “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood was played over the sound system. As Ramirez walked into the batter’s box, “America” by Neil Diamond was played.
Ramirez finished 0-for-3 but the Red Sox beat the Indians 5-3.
“I was so proud of Manny,” said Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, a fellow native of the Dominican Republic. “We all know what America represents to us and the opportunity we got in America. To actually let us be citizens of this country is a great honor.”
Ramirez said he took the required citizenship test about six months ago and learned the date of the ceremony during spring training.
“It’s going to be good that I took a day off,” he said. The Red Sox are in a stretch of games in 16 straight days.
Ramirez, who has dual citizenship in the Dominican Republic and the United States, is registered to vote in Florida.
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.
HardballTalk headlines |
 | Interactive |
 |
 | Slideshow |
 | Unbreakable records in baseball A look at the most unbreakable records in baseball including Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters. |
| Slideshow |
 | The top tools of baseball You hear a lot about the tools of baseball, but who are the best hitters, fielders and pitchers? We break it down. more photos |
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.