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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
APSo 6-4 in the Mediocre League was good enough to pick up a game on three of the four teams in front of the Mets — Houston, Washington and Florida — and to keep pace with the Phillies.
What I’m saying is that it doesn’t take a lot to climb the standings in the NL. Just .600 ball the rest of the way in could wrap up that last playoff spot. And the Mets are as capable as any of the teams hunting the wild card of doing that.
The safe call in the race is to give it to the Astros, who, with Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens, have the best pitching, their team ERA a nifty 3.58. The Mets are fourth among the five wild card contenders with a 3.92 ERA.
If pitching alone wins championships, that would be the end of it. But as the Astros learn all too frequently, a team has to score a few runs, too.
And here’s the surprise in the Mets season. When it began, they had as much trouble scoring runs as President Bush has appointing judges. But the offense that wasn’t when the season began has become the second most productive among the five principal wild card contenders. At 4.56 runs per game, the Mets are just a 10th of a run behind the Phillies.
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They don’t have any great hitters. But third baseman David Wright is developing into the superior hitter the Mets felt he would become, Cliff Floyd provides some power, and Jose Reyes at the top of the lineup has 41 stolen bases. If Beltran, who has just 59 RBI so far, can get hot, the Mets can be dangerous.
It may not yet be time to believe, but for Mets fans, it’s time to hope.
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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
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.
