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.
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Wes Johnson wasn’t so selfish for a change, and Gonzaga paid dearly.
The Big East player of the year, who often defers to his teammates despite his considerable all-around talent, scored a career-high 31 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as top-seeded Syracuse hit a dozen 3-pointers to stun the Zags 87-65 on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
“Really, my mind-set was to be aggressive on defense, so I think that carried over to the offensive end,” said Johnson, who is finally healed from an injury to his right (shooting) hand in February against Connecticut. “My shot was falling.”
Was it ever.
Johnson was 11 of 16 from the field, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, and he wasn’t alone. Andy Rautins hit 7 of 13 shots for 24 points and freshman Brandon Triche had his second straight solid game, finishing with 13 points.
“When they shoot the ball like that, they’re hard to handle,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “They’re an impressive group.”
Syracuse’s storybook season — the Orange were unranked before the season and made it to No. 1 for the final week before losing to Georgetown in the Big East tournament — continues on Thursday. The Orange (30-4) will play fifth-seeded Butler (30-4) in Salt Lake City in the Wewst Regional.
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Gonzaga (27-7) was trying to become the second team from the West Coast Conference to shock the Big East — WCC tournament champ Saint Mary’s stunned second-seeded Villanova on Saturday — but they were no match for the Orange.
Syracuse, which made the round of 16 for the second straight year, again played without 6-foot-9, 260-pound senior center Arinze Onuaku, who’s recovering from a knee injury. Even without Onuaku, the Orange stifled Vermont in the first round, holding the Catamounts to 5 of 22 on 3-point attempts, and continued their surge against Gonzaga.
The Zags made just 3 of 21 from beyond the arc against Syracuse’s aggressive zone defense and shot 41.7 percent for the game, well below their season average of nearly 50 percent. Syracuse, which leads in nation in field goal percentage, shot 60.7 percent in the first half when it took control and 54.7 percent for the game.
Rautins hit three 3s in the first 3 minutes of the second half to extend the lead to 24 points.
“Try to stay aggressive and set the tone for the second half,” Rautins said. “When Wes and I are hitting our shots, we’re a tough team to beat.”
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Elias Harris led Gonzaga with 24 points and Robert Sacre had 17 points and eight rebounds. Senior Matt Bouldin, the team’s leading scorer at 16 points a game, was 3 of 13 from the field, missing all six shots he took from beyond the arc. He had eight points, all in the second half.
“It’s been a great ride,” Bouldin said. “It hurts. I’m sad, but I’m happy in some ways. Four best years of my life so far.”
Gonzaga dropped to 0-5 against top seeds in the tournament.
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.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 points and Evan Smotrycz added 13, helping No. 22 Michigan remain unbeaten at home with a 70-61 win over Illinois on Sunday.
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Five up, five down from college hoops’ huge day16 hr 16 min ago Michigan State sure shook up Big Ten by beating Buckeyes17 hr 1 min ago UNLV’s thrilling win vs. SDSU adds spice to MWC race21 hr 29 min ago |
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 Getty Images Highlights: No. 14 UNLV 65, No. 13 SDSU 63 Mike Moser scored 19 points, and UNLV forced three turnovers in the final 42 seconds to win. |
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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.
