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.
Getty Images fileThe economic realities demand that franchises throw some serious cash at the feet of their players, something the White Sox didn’t do. With a $74 million payroll, they ranked 13th among the 30 major league teams and seventh among the eight that made it into the postseason.
Chicago offset that, though, by getting career years from the majority of its pitching staff — coach Don Cooper put at least six of his pupils in that category on the eve of Game 3 — and a few key regulars up and down the lineup. And there was no denying the White Sox led both leagues in intangibles.
They started strong and, except for a three-week run late in the season, kept on winning often enough that the team’s “chemistry” was never seriously tested. And through it all, Guillen displayed an uncanny knack for keeping the pressure of all those expectations off his players.
He talked about retiring if the White Sox won it all and took the blame every time any of his unconventional moves failed.
“I throw my players under the bus a lot of times,” he said as Wednesday night’s celebration spilled over into Thursday, “but I do it at the right times.”
Did he ever.
Guillen made Bobby Jenks his closer, turning over the most crucial role to a raw, untested talent with a 100 mph fastball and a reputation for inconsistency and immaturity. Then, as he did with just about everybody else in the clubhouse, Guillen smoothed over the rough edges.
He convinced his hitters to be patient, his pitchers to work quickly, and all of them not to try and do too much.
“They took pitches four inches off the plate, 2-2 counts with runners in scoring position and didn’t even flinch at them,” Houston manager Phil Garner marveled. “They did it all up and down the lineup.
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The rest of baseball now knows the White Sox well. Next season, they’ll face the top of every rotation and have to ward off every opponent’s best shot. They’ll have to bust their budget to keep Paul Konerko off the free-agent market. Most worrisome, perhaps, they’ll have an organization on the other side of town with a curse and a drought and the hunger to get even in a hurry.
“People are looking for theories,” White Sox manager Ken Williams said. “We have 25 hard-working, grind-it-out type guys. We asked them one thing when we started spring training, and that was each and every day you go out there and leave it on the field. They did that.”
They had better enjoy it while they can.
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.
