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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
APThere’s a series of rivalries that flared recently like Duke-Maryland, Florida-Kentucky and UCLA-Arizona.
And geography and burning desire makes up for the up-and-down fortunes of these schools’ rivalries: Iowa-Iowa State, Michigan-Michigan State, Stanford-California, Penn-Princeton and Oklahoma-Oklahoma State.
Philadelphia’s Big 5 — first formed in 1954 — is a rivalry unto itself and one of the most entertaining. It has renewed its round-robin series that was halted for several years because of conference affiliations and NCAA rules that caused scheduling gridlock, so recognition should be given to Villanova, Temple, St. Joseph’s, Penn and LaSalle.
Fans and players don’t really hate each other, but the level of play in their games has thrusted this to the forefront. Last year’s Big East title game, which the Huskies won, 61-58 after the Panthers took the regular-season title, is a great example.
With star Emeka Okafor hobbled by back spasms, guard Ben Gordon hit the game-winner and set the Big East Tournament scoring record in the process. Oh yeah, it was the third straight time they’d played for the title. It was the fourth straight final for the Panthers and the eighth in 10 years for Connecticut.
More impressive?
Pitt joined Connecticut (1994-96) as the only team to win or share a Big East regular-season title in three straight seasons. The Big East played in divisions from 1995-98 and 2001-03 and thus didn’t have a single champion those seasons.
Add in this season's 76-66 win by Pittsburgh, which featured 29 points from Chevon Troutman and a 17-point comeback by the Panthers, and you've got a rivalry that's on the way up.
NEXT: Vote for your favorite rivalry
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.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 points and Evan Smotrycz added 13, helping No. 22 Michigan remain unbeaten at home with a 70-61 win over Illinois on Sunday.
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 Getty Images Highlights: No. 14 UNLV 65, No. 13 SDSU 63 Mike Moser scored 19 points, and UNLV forced three turnovers in the final 42 seconds to win. |
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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.
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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