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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.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has 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.
TORONTO - The Toronto Raptors hired Rob Babcock on Monday to be the team’s general manager, a month after they declined to give him the job.
The Raptors have been looking for a general manager since firing Glen Grunwald on April 1. He was replaced on an interim basis by Jack McCloskey, who favored Babcock from the start.
Babcock interviewed twice for the job several weeks ago, but the Raptors didn’t reach a decision until last Friday.
“Rob was on our list from Day 1, and then we brought him in and he quickly went to the top of that list,” team president Richard Peddie said. “I went back to Rob and said ’Rob, this is such a critical hire for us. I want to make sure you are the right guy. I’m going to do that by doing more homework on you, but I’m also going to look at what else is out there.”’
Babcock spent the last two seasons as the top assistant to Minnesota Timberwolves’ general manager Kevin McHale, serving as the team’s vice president of player personnel.
Peddie also interviewed Julius Erving, who Raptors star Vince Carter backed for the job. The Raptors met with Erving last Thursday, even after McCloskey publicly said Erving was out of the mix earlier in the week.
“It was a communication breakdown and that was my fault,” Peddie said. “He said he was out of the picture, but I had yet to see him.”
McCloskey threatened to quit after being embarrassed.
“He was frustrated,” Peddie said.
A few days later the Raptors decided to give Babcock, who also served as Minnesota’s director of player personnel, a four-year contract with a team option for a fifth.
Babcock said it didn’t bother him that Carter wanted Erving.
“Vince doesn’t know me. I wouldn’t expect him to be overly excited about Rob Babcock,” Babcock said. “I’m not a household name.”
Babcock said he thinks he can build around Carter, though he stopped short of calling the Raptors a playoff team.
“Within two years we’re going to be a very good basketball team,” Babcock said. “I’m not really worried about how many wins we get right away, or whether we make the playoffs within the first year or two. Our goal is to establish our philosophy.”
Hall of Famers Wayne Embry and Alex English will assist Babcock in Toronto.
Embry, who in 1971 became the first black general manager in professional sports when he was hired by the Milwaukee Bucks and later was the GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was hired as the special adviser to the general manager. English, 11th on the NBA’s career scoring list with 25,613 points in 15 seasons, will serve as the director of player development and scouting.
The Raptors are also looking for a coach to replace Kevin O’Neill, who was fired after Toronto (33-49) missed the playoffs for a second straight year.
Babcock said he has some people in mind, but declined to identify any potential candidates.
Babcock’s brother, Pete, is a former general manager of the Atlanta Hawks.
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
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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.
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.
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