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.
AP fileHe was solid in 2003, a .287 hitter who knocked in 106 runs and had 42 doubles and 16 home runs. Last year, as a sophomore, he brought his average up to .298, his homers to 31, knocked in 108 and scored 109; he had a .522 slugging percentage and a .390 on base average.
This spring, he’s already leading the Yankees in home runs and ribbies. At the plate, he looks perfect, quiet, compact, patient. His balance is extraordinary and a short, quick stroke lashes line drives to every part of the field. That’s what Mattingly used to do. It’s what no Yankee has done since.
But what is about to set Matsui apart from everyone else on the Yankees is his ability to out-think pitchers. Mattingly in his day and Jeter now were see-the-ball, hit-the-ball batters. Both will take a ball that isn’t in the strike zone and drive it somewhere if they think they can get decent wood on it.
Matsui anticipates, and Joe Torre has said he’s seldom seen anyone as good at figuring out which pitch to look for. And as he’s gotten his reps in against American League pitchers, his internal data base has grown to the point where he knows what a pitcher is throwing before the catcher flashes a sign.
Especially in his first year and less so last year, he wore down toward the end of the year, his body accustomed to the 140-game Japanese season. But when the Yankees needed help the most, he rose to the occasion.
In the playoffs, the Red Sox have recently admitted that they didn’t have a clue how to get Matsui out. In the ALCS, while most Yankee bats were fading, Matsui hit .412 with 14 hits in seven games, nine for extra bases. He drove in 10 runs with those 14 hits.
There’s no better proof of talent that performance under pressure. And Matsui has consistently been as tough an out as there is with the game on the line.
Now, finally, he’s fully acclimated to the American game and the long season. He knows the pitchers, and they still don’t know him. He’s comfortable and confident, and he doesn’t have to worry about the pressure of the New York media – A-Rod and Jason Giambi soak up so much ink there’s not much left for the quiet man who looks perfect in pinstripes.
But this year, with or without an interpreter, you’re going to hear plenty from Matsui. Not in the interview room and not on the gossip pages, but at the plate.
Not since Mattingly have the Yankees have a hitter like him. He’s won three MVPs in Japan. This year, he’ll add the American version.
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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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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.