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 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.
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.
APIf you have a soft spot for an attractive human interest story, and an affinity for a talented thoroughbred, then Afleet Alex should be your choice for the upcoming Kentucky Derby.
Much like Funny Cide in 2003, the colt is owned by a group of guys that grew up together in Philadelphia. Led by Joe Lerro and Chuck Zacney, the high school chums pooled $100,000 and bought Alex at a 2-year-old sale for $75,000 under the direction of trainer Tim Ritchie.
Regardless of how the horse runs in the Kentucky Derby, The owners have already hit a financial grand slam. The horse was a superb 2-year-old and could have even won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Lone Star if not for a wide trip that clearly cost him that race, and the boys from Philly about a $500,000. But they had even bigger fish to fry – the Kentucky Derby.
Owners optimistic
After his smashing performance in the Arkansas Derby on Saturday, the boys from Philly have to believe they have an excellent shot.
I would agree.
All season, this reporter has preached about the similar running pattern of the vast majority of legitimate Derby contenders -- the fast early, slow late style that has become typical of the modern breed. Two strong candidates to wear the roses -- High Fly and Bandini -- are perfect examples of my point. Both possess excellent early speed and good stamina but tend to stagger down the stretch -- a certain death knell for the grueling stretch run of the Kentucky Derby.
Bandini took :13.40 to run the last eighth of a mile in the Blue Grass Stakes last Saturday at Keeneland in his six-length romp.
High Fly took 13.36 seconds to run his last eighth on April 2 in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, when he beat Noble Causeway by almost two lengths.
But at Oaklawn in the Arkansas Derby, Afleet Alex exploded to the finish line in an eye-popping :11.74, precisely the kind of finish you want to see in a thoroughbred capable of getting the classic distance of 1 ¼ miles.
Granted, the early pace at Oaklawn was soft compared to those in the races of Bandini or High Fly, but in some ways that makes his race even more impressive.
Extra credit for late swoop
When a horse can inhale a field from behind an easy pace, he deserves extra credit. Conversely, when horses in the back of the pack cannot fire late off a fast pace (hello Sun King and Consolidator in the Blue Grass), that is a bad sign. One could argue, I suppose, that both those horses should have been closer to the early pace at Keeneland and that their respective jocks Edgar Prado and Rafael Bejerano took them out of their basic running style.
I don’t buy it.
Can Afleet Alex beat Bellamy Road on Derby day?
Absolutely, although with less than three weeks to go, the Wood Memorial winner has to be rated the no. 1 contender. His advantage over Afleet Alex is also an extra week in recovery time after the giant effort at Aqueduct -- seven extra days that may diminish the obvious chance of the dreaded “bounce” on Derby day
With the unfortunate scratch of Blues and Royals from the Godolphin Stable due to a respiratory problem, my top five is clear-cut:
Readers of this space may also recollect the countless times I have pointed out the amazing success of the Mr. Prospector- Raise a Native breeding sire line in the Kentucky Derby.
Raise a Native bloodlines
While the first line of the pedigree of Afleet Alex may not be dazzling, look deeper.
His sire, Northern Afleet, is a son of Afleet. Afleet is a son of Mr. Prospector. Mr. Prospector is a son of Raise a Native.
When added together, there is plenty to like about Afleet Alex on Derby day. It will be interesting to see if the “low-profile connections” stick with rookie jockey Jeremy Rose or will they go “big-time” with the likes of Corey Nakatani, Alex Solis, or Pat Valenzuela.
Personally, I hope they give Rose the shot. He did lead the meet at Oaklawn Park.
Plus, it would make the story warmer and fuzzier than it is already, making Afleet Alex a horse lots of folks could root for.
The first of three pools of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager begins its three-day run on Friday and the bet's opening scenario is very similar to each of its opening pools since the wager was created in 1999.
It's first time that Classic will be broadcast in primetime on Nov. 3.
 | INTERACTIVE |
 |
 | Slideshow |
 | Derby celebs Plenty of stars from the entertainment and sports world attend the 136th Kentucky Derby. more photos |
| INTERACTIVE |
 | Triple Crown winners The horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in the same year. |
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.