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
NEW YORK - A drug overdose killed former NL MVP Ken Caminiti, who admitted using steroids during his playing days and tested positive for cocaine in the days before he died.
Coronary artery disease and an enlarged heart were listed as contributing factors in the death of Caminiti, Grace Brugess, spokeswoman for the New York City Medical Examiner, said Monday. She said the death had been ruled an accident.
The 15-year major league veteran, who won the NL MVP award in 1996, admitted in a Houston court just days before he died that he had tested positive for cocaine. Caminiti, 41, died Oct. 10 in the Bronx.
Tissue and toxicology tests confirmed Caminiti’s cause of death as “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates,” Brugess said. She said those drugs had weakened his heart.
Opiates are drugs that tend to have a sedative effect on the body — as opposed to cocaine, which is marked by rapid heart race and other accelerated effects.
In 2002, Caminiti told Sports Illustrated that he used steroids during his 1996 MVP season, when he hit .326 with 40 home runs and 130 RBIs. He estimated about half of major league players also were using them at the time.
Early in his career, he admitted to abusing alcohol and painkillers. On Oct. 5, Caminiti admitted to a judge that he violated his probation by testing positive for cocaine in September. It was his fourth failed drug test since he was put on three years’ probation for cocaine possession in March 2002.
He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but was quickly freed because he received credit for time served in jail or for treatment.
“There’s nothing in the report that changes the enormous amount of love that Ken had in his heart for his family, his friends and his teammates,” Rick Licht, who was Caminiti’s agent and lawyer, said Monday.
He said he could not comment on any past opiate use by Caminiti.
Caminiti retired in 2001 after a career that included two stints with the Houston Astros, four years with the Padres and brief tours with the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves.
He returned to baseball this year as a spring training instructor with the Padres. His lawyer said after his death that Caminiti had hoped eventually to mentor young players about avoiding the mistakes he made.
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.