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?
LIVE VIDEO: NBCSports.com shows Washington-New York, with alternate camera angles, HD views and more.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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.
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) -England defender Joleon Lescott preserved Manchester City's two-point lead in the Premier League by scoring a second-half winner in a 1-0 victory at Aston Villa on Sunday.
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.
APAfterward, Baltimore manager Lee Mazzilli decided to cancel batting practice Tuesday and ordered the players to show up just 95 minutes before the scheduled 7:05 p.m. start.
“We’re going to lay off the pregame hitting. These are hot days, and I think we’re trying a little bit too hard,” he said. “Sometimes you just go and strap it on and get 15 hits in a game,” he said.
Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera (8-8) pitched five innings, giving up three runs, three hits and a career-high seven walks.
After Benoit left, Gibbons hit his 15th homer on the second pitch from Ron Mahay, and Larry Bigbie added a run-scoring groundout to bring the Orioles to 3-2 in the sixth.
But that was the extent of the Baltimore offense, which failed to benefit from the return of catcher Javy Lopez, who spent two months on the disabled list with a broken hand. Lopez went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
The Rangers made it 4-2 in the eighth when Soriano singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Adrian Gonzalez.
“We lost five games in a row, so I think the game tonight is very important for us,” said Soriano, who scored twice.
Texas went up 1-0 in the third, thanks to Cabrera’s wildness — and a mental lapse by the right-hander. After Gary Matthews walked and was caught stealing, Cabrera walked three straight to load the bases. Mark Teixeira followed with a grounder to first, and Cabrera was late covering the base on the back end of a potential double play, allowing a run to score.
“That’s a mental mistake,” Mazzilli said. “That can’t happen.”
Soriano hit his 25th homer leading off the fourth, and Baltimore left the bases loaded in the bottom half.
The Rangers made it 3-0 in the fifth. Cabrera issued a pair of two-out walks before Soriano blooped an RBI single to right.
That proved to be enough to lift the Rangers back to .500 (49-49).
“A winning streak can start tonight,” Texas manager Buck Showalter said. “We’ll see tomorrow.”
Notes: Texas’ David Dellucci was given the night off after going 1-for-15 in his previous five games. ... Sammy Sosa’s eight-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-3 night.
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.
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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