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.
APBefore news broke that Seattle Seahawks fullback Owen Schmitt was arrested last weekend on charges of suspicion of DUI in Washington, the "Days Without An Arrest" meter at my primary online hangout was a few hours from getting to 30 for only the second time in the two-plus years we've been tracking all arrests.
It was an amazing feat, since players tend to get in more trouble when their teams have the lowest amount of access to them.
Despite Schmitt's decision to drink and drive in the same week that Browns receiver Donte Stallworth pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and promptly found himself indefinitely suspended by the league, there's evidence that the ongoing problem of NFL players running afoul of the law might be improving.
Nearly a year ago to the day, I considered in this space the question of whether the Personal Conduct Policy is working.
At the time, it looked like it wasn't.
In 2007, from the day after the Super Bowl through the end of June, NFL players had 33 arrests and other incidents. During that same period in 2008, the number increased to 37.
The situation was far from encouraging for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who successfully had increased attention on the issue of off-field misconduct without solving it.
But things might be changing. This year, from the Monday after Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes capped a season in which he had been cited for marijuana possession with a Super Bowl-winning touchdown catch, NFL players have been involved in only 23 incidents.
Though it could be an aberration, the drop is significant. And with players like Stallworth, Plaxico Burress and Mike Vick in line for potentially significant suspensions, players who might be inclined to engage in conduct that falls on the wrong side of the rules of society could be getting the message.
Maybe, in the end, the only thing needed was time. (Back in the early '70s, for example, it took me a couple of years to figure out the connection between running my mouth and getting smacked in it.)
The critical time continues to be the down time for the league's players, when youth and testosterone and money and, in plenty of cases, alcohol combine to form a potentially toxic stew that results in mugshots and fingerprints.
The active ingredient continues to be alcohol. And Goodell recently has taken aim against this specific problem, warning teams to get their players and employees in line when it comes to consuming booze and then getting behind the wheel.
Though the specific efforts of each team to keep employees from drinking and driving aren't clear, it's obvious teams aren't doing enough to prevent it from happening. Most clubs make car services available to players who have had too much to drink. Before taking advantage of these measures, however, an inebriated player needs to be able to exercise the very judgment that has been impaired by his alcohol consumption.
So players need to make better decisions before they lift their first bottle or can or glass (shot or otherwise) containing an alcohol beverage. They need to be sure that, once their blood alcohol content has moved past 0.08 percent, they won't have to get into a car to get to the place they'll spend the night — or they know they'll get there without having to drive.
Still, plenty of other allegations arise from incidents not involving alcohol. And it appears that, at least for now, more and more NFL players are realizing they need to take seriously Goodell's desire that they stay out of trouble when not in the workplace.
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.
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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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.
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.