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.
LONDON - The U.S. Olympic Committee is contesting an international ruling which could cost Michael Johnson and the rest of the U.S. 1,600-meter relay team their gold medals from the Sydney Olympics.
The USOC has filed an appeal to sports' highest court challenging a recommendation by track and field's world governing body to disqualify the entire squad for a doping scandal involving team member Jerome Young.
The petition was lodged with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the USOC and five team members _ Johnson, twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison, Antonio Pettigrew and Jerome Taylor.
Young is not covered by the appeal.
"They think only Jerome Young should be stripped of the gold medal and not the rest of the team," CAS general secretary Matthieu Reeb told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The appeal is directed against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the International Olympic Committee. A hearing date hasn't been set.
Young tested positive for the steroid nandrolone in 1999, but was exonerated by a U.S. appeals panel in July 2000, avoiding a two-year ban.
He ran in the opening and semifinal rounds of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, but not in the final. Johnson ran the anchor leg in the final for the fifth and last Olympic gold medal of his career. All six members of the relay squad received gold medals.
USA Track & Field never gave the IAAF specifics about the Young case, citing confidentiality rules in place at the time. Young's name became public only last year.
The IAAF ruled in July that the entire team should lose the medals because Jones should have been ineligible to compete.
Stripping of the medals is up to the IOC, which put off a decision in August pending resolution of all appeals.
"If CAS upholds the decision of the IAAF, then of course the medals will be removed," IOC president Jacques Rogge told the AP.
IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said the federation had no immediate comment.
"We definitely want to protect the medals for the rest of the relay team," USOC chief executive Jim Scherr said during the Athens Olympics. "Jerome ran in a preliminary, the contest was not decided in that preliminary race. We think they earned those medals in the final."
If the U.S. team loses its case, Nigeria will be upgraded to gold, Jamaica to silver and the Bahamas to bronze.
Young, the world 400-meter champion in 2003, tested positive for the endurance-boosting drug EPO in July at a meet in Paris. He faces a possible lifetime ban if found guilty of the second doping offense. That case is being handled by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Both Harrison brothers have also been involved in doping cases.
On Tuesday, two-time Olympic gold medalist Alvin Harrison accepted a four-year suspension from the USADA for drug violations uncovered in the BALCO case.
Calvin Harrison drew a two-year suspension after a positive test last year for modafinil, his second doping offense.
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.
NEW YORK (AP) - As the glow fades from the Giants' Super Bowl triumph, some New York sports fans are tuning in to basketball and hockey, with the Rangers in first place and the Knicks' overnight sensation, Jeremy Lin, sparking "Lin-sanity.''
Robins: This year, six new breeds will be making their debut on the green carpet for the Westminster Dog Show, which begins Monday.
 | Slide show |
 | The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | Who's hot on Twitter? Check out which of your favorite athletes have the best pages and most followers! NBCSports.com |
 | Special feature |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | Presidential candidates and sports How do President Obama and his Republican rivals stack up when it comes to their sports backgrounds? |
Inside NBCSports.com |
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.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings
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.