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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
APNEW YORK - It turns out the other teams courting Carl Pavano didn’t have much of a chance.
“My heart was always with this team,” he said Wednesday after signing his $39.95 million, four-year contract with the Yankees. “Who doesn’t want to play for the Yankees? Everyone dreams one day to play for the New York Yankees.”
Pavano, who turns 29 on Jan. 8, was among the most sought-after free-agent pitchers, courted by Anaheim, Boston, Baltimore, Detroit and Seattle in addition to Florida, his team the past 2½ seasons. He told his agent, Scott Shapiro, on Dec. 11 to work out a contract with the Yankees, the team Pavano rooted for as a child in Connecticut.
Pavano remembered imitating the hitting stance of Don Mattingly, now New York’s hitting coach, and imagined batting against Roger Clemens.
“I’ve playing baseball since I was 7 years old, and I always dreamed of playing for the Yankees,” he said.
Pavano was 18-8 with a 3.00 ERA for Florida last season. He has a 57-58 career record with a 4.21 ERA in seven seasons with Montreal and the Marlins.
On Tuesday night, the Yankees took him to a Broadway show and he met actor Billy Crystal, who told him stories about Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson. When Pavano visited the Yankees before the winter meetings, New York took him to the hit musical “Mamma Mia!”
“I like just the fact that he’s standing here not making any promises to anybody other than he feels his that best years are ahead of him without trying to spell it out chapter and verse and trying to convince anybody,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “Usually, when you’re trying to convince other people, you’re basically trying to convince yourself.”
With the pitcher’s family looking on, Torre helped Pavano put on a pinstriped jersey with No. 45 on the back. Pavano joins holdovers Mike Mussina and Kevin Brown on a rebuilt Yankees rotation. New York also has a preliminary $21 million, three-year agreement with free agent Jaret Wright and is trying to acquire Randy Johnson from Arizona in a trade that likely would send Javier Vazquez to the Diamondbacks or another team.
Pavano, who is 6-foot-5, is impressed with the 6-foot-10 Big Unit.
“He’s probably one of the few guys in the league I have to look up to, in more ways than one,” Pavano joked. “I think he’d be a great addition to the ballclub. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a staff with one of the most dominating left-handers, if not the most dominating left-hander to play the game?”
Pavano was a teammate of Vazquez’s in Montreal.
“I’d be sad to see him go,” he said. “I played with Javy for four years and I know what Javy’s capable of doing. I thought he pitched great last year. He was a first-time All-Star last year, he pitched deep into a lot of ballgames, he has a track record of being a horse.”
Pavano told Torre he is looking forward to pitching in front of the frequently loud fans at Yankee Stadium. He’s looking forward to the energy of New York.
“I’m used to playing in front of 5,000 or 6,000, and it’s tough to get up for games,” Pavano said.
Notes: New York’s preliminary agreement with RHP Tanyon Sturtze calls for him to be guaranteed $1 million. He would get $850,000 next season and the Yankees would have a $1.5 million option for 2006 with a $150,000 buyout. ... The Yankees sold 234,717 tickets Tuesday, their first day of individual-game sales. That was up from 137,989 on the first day tickets were sold for the 2004 season, when New York drew a team record 3.78 million at home.
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.