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.
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.
Reuters“You do whatever you can to get them off stride,” Smoltz said.
The Braves barely held on after closer Dan Kolb allowed two runs in the ninth. Jose Reyes’ second double of the game and pinch-hitter Mike Piazza’s single pulled the Mets within 4-3, and a single by Carlos Beltran put runners on first and third and knocked Kolb out of the game. John Foster came in and got Cliff Floyd to pop out for his first career save.
“That’s what I love about this team,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said. “We keep coming back. We kept playing.”
The game was a rematch of the classic duel 16 days ago, when Smoltz struck out 15 and Martinez pitched a two-hitter. This one failed to match that game’s intensity, with both pitchers giving up early runs.
“He still looked good to me but I didn’t really expect him to come out and strike out 15,” Randolph said.
The Braves bunched four hits for three runs in the first inning against Martinez (2-1).
“We got a lot of groundball hits and a blooper or two and all of a sudden, we’ve got four runs,” Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. “Sometimes, you’ve got to have some luck.”
Pete Orr, who had a pinch-hit home run Monday and was rewarded with a start at third base, started the rally with a single and moved up on a hit by Marcus Giles. After Adam LaRoche forced Giles, Brian Jordan delivered a two-out single, scoring Orr. Estrada dropped a double in short right field for two more runs.
The Mets got a run back in the second when Floyd singled and scored on a double into the left-field corner by David Wright.
In the third, Estrada’s second double scored LaRoche, who had walked, restoring the three-run lead.
Smoltz struck out four and walked three. He pitched out of a sixth-inning jam, ending the inning by striking out Ramon Castro after Floyd and Wright had singled. When he gave up two more hits in the seventh, Chris Reitsma relieved and retired Beltran on a fly ball to end the inning.
It was Beltran’s two-run homer that turned the first Smoltz-Martinez match for the Mets on April 10.
Martinez, leading the majors with 38 strikeouts going into the game, added eight, walked two and allowed just one hit after the second inning, Estrada’s second double. Smoltz, accustomed to minimal support, didn’t need more than that.
Notes: With three singles and a double, the Braves had twice as many hits in the first inning against Martinez as they had in nine innings against him on April 10. They also managed only two hits in seven innings against Aaron Heilman on Monday. ... Floyd extended his hitting streak to 13 games with two singles.
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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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.