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 three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
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
WASHINGTON - It was an all-day party amid cheers, chants and popping flashbulbs, highlighted by President Bush’s zinger of a first pitch and old-timers yielding the field to Washington’s new team.
Major league baseball returned Thursday to a city that had gone 12,250 days — since the Senators left in 1971 — without hosting a regular-season game. The Washington Nationals’ home opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks was a joyous exclamation point for celebrations that began 6½ months ago with the announcement that the Montreal Expos were heading south.
“Baseball is back, and happy days are here again!” proclaimed 77-year-old former Senators public address announcer Charlie Brotman, who returned to preside over one more home opener.
Even the result was a happy one, a 5-3 victory that moved the Nationals into sole possession of first place in the NL East. The stands literally shook as fans cheered a three-run rally in the fourth inning.
Washington baseball fans waited 34 years for baseball to return, and Bush restored a 95-year-old tradition of presidents throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the local team’s first home game. He was cheered as he waved to the crowd and to players while walking to the mound, then he toed the rubber and quickly fired a pitch over the plate — slightly high, perhaps — to Nationals catcher Brian Schneider.
Many who had tough-to-get tickets for the game missed the moment because security lines for the metal detectors, installed just for the president’s visit, were still 20 deep when the game started. Anyone watching on television also missed the president’s pitch because it came during a commercial break — even though the timeline for the ceremonies had been available well in advance.
Then a lineup of Senators took positions — slugger Frank Howard, in left field, got the biggest ovation as he tipped his cap — and handed gloves to the Nationals players when the modern-day lineup ran onto the field.
“I’m numb. I’m raking it all in,” said two-time batting champion Mickey Vernon, who turns 87 next week and was stationed at first base. “It’s been a long while coming, but for those with patience, something good comes along.”
Flashbulbs sparkled when Washington’s Livan Hernandez threw the first real pitch, a strike to Craig Counsell. The ball was immediately taken out of play to be preserved for posterity.
The fun started seven hours before game time, when players were serenaded with chants of “Lets go, Nats!” at a $1,500-per-table VIP luncheon hosted by NBC’s Tim Russert. The Nationals players, travel-weary after arriving the night before following a nine-game road trip, chuckled and otherwise tolerated endless photo-ops with big-name sponsors before being led into the hall by a high school marching band to the cheers of 1,000 of the city’s top businessmen and political figures.
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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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.