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.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
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.
APMost Improved Player
I'm going with Bobby Simmons of the Clippers.
Simmons has become a legitimate NBA player on a team that seems to always be on the outside looking in as far as the playoffs are concerned.
It's not only maturity that has made him better, but also more of an opportunity to play.
Offensively he's averaging over 16 points per game -- more than double his career scoring average.
Defensively he shows great energy and is very physical.
Whether he is guarding the other team's small forward or big guard, Simmons will take on the challenge and he doesn't need double-team help.
Simmons is a tough defender, and he'll make his opponent work for everything he gets.
He's a no-nonsense guy whose statistics point to his improvement over a year ago.
The DePaul product is one of those guys you can put on an NBA court for anywhere from 36 to 45 minutes and you don't worry about him.
Simmons is going to do his job and do it well.
Defensive Player of the Year
Ben Wallace would normally be the easy choice, but I don't know if he's been as good defensively as he has in past seasons.
My pick is Larry Hughes of the Washington Wizards.
Hughes is leading the league in steals.
Often times that can be a misleading stat as some players gamble to get steals, neglecting their defensive assignment in the process.
But that's not the case with Hughes.
Coming into this season Hughes did not have a reputation of being an outstanding defender, but he's certainly done his part to change the way his game is looked upon.
I've seen Hughes enough this season to know he gets after opponents.
He puts pressure on the ball and has fabulous fundamentals.
I'm impressed by his stance, his movement, and the way he pesters the opponent he is matched against.
And once the man Hughes is guarding gives up the ball, he becomes all about team defense, getting into the passing lanes and doing a real nice job.
There a few key reasons why the Wizards have been able to turn things around this season, and the play of Larry Hughes is one of them.
Sixth Man of the Year
Ben Gordon of the Bulls gets my vote as he's played a major part in Chicago's success this season.
Gordon also has a good shot to win Rookie of the Year.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder has confidence, and he's responded extremely well to coming off the bench, especially in fourth quarters.
At the start of the season, Gordon couldn't get a lot of minutes because Bulls coach Scott Skiles thought he wasn't tough enough defensively.
Other questions about Gordon centered on the shape he was in and whether he had the mental toughness to become a good defender in the NBA.
Those questions lit a fire under Gordon, and he has responded in superb fashion.
He is fitting right in with teammates Kirk Hinrich and Chris Duhon, both of whom are tough individual defenders.
Gordon isn't yet as good defensively as Hinrich and Duhon, but he's come a long way since the start of the season.
When Gordon comes into the game he becomes the man offensively for the Bulls.
Gordon's teammates look for his scoring and look to play off of him.
Gordon can get his own points and he's answered the Bulls glaring need for a player who can create his own shot.
He can get to a spot on the court very quickly, get a defender off balance or up in the air, and then shoot those short, in-between shots very well.
Gordon's ability to do this makes him a very valuable commodity in fourth quarters and also when the shot-clock is winding down.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
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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.