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.
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.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
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
ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Cardinals reliever Julian Tavarez keeps running into trouble with his grimy, dirt-smudged cap. For the first time this season, it got him ejected.
Tavarez lasted one out in a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a day-night doubleheader Friday. Umpire crew chief Joe West conducted a lengthy inspection of the cap before the eighth inning before tossing Tavarez, who made a flamboyant exit.
First, Tavarez put his arm around home plate umpire Ron Kulpa and suggested the two get a beer after the game. Then he flipped his cap to a fan in the stands behind the dugout on his way off the field.
“He asked me if it was pine tar and it was like ‘No, it’s just a dirty hat,”’ Tavarez said. “Every pitch I throw I touch my hat, just like a lot of guys.
“I asked him if I could wear another hat and he said ‘No, you’re out of the game.”’
West said he was enforcing Rule 802.b, which prohibits foreign substances on uniforms and caps. He also said Tavarez and manager Tony La Russa “as much admitted” it was pine tar on his cap.
“I said, ‘Well, Tony, you know he can’t have pine tar on his hat, it can’t be anywhere on him,”’ West said. “By rule, I have to kick him out of the game.
“Do you like kicking a guy out of a game because he had pine tar on his hat? No. If he was using it to cheat, he should be kicked out of the game.”
The Cardinals are the sixth team in six years for Tavarez, who played for the Pirates last season. He was disappointed that manager Lloyd McClendon would use such a tactic, and deposited a handful of his clean caps on McClendon’s desk after being ejected.
Tavarez also disapproved of the Pirates checking his hat in a game Pittsburgh had trailed 4-1.
“If the game was tied, let’s mess with his head,” Tavarez said. “It’s 4-1, you’re 35 games out, you ain’t going nowhere, what are you doing? I got a little sad and I just took my hats over there.”
McClendon confirmed he was the source of the inspection.
“It was brought to my attention on my bench,” McClendon said. “It looked as if there was something on his hat and we just asked the umpire to check.
“We didn’t know what it was or anything and we still don’t know what it was.”
It’s the third time this season that Tavarez’ cap has come under scrutiny, with the Braves and Phillies also complaining. He started the second game of the doubleheader with a spotless version.
“It will be clean as long as I’m not playing,” Tavarez said. “Once I start warming up, it’s going to get dirty.
“This is the way it is.”
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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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.
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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.