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.
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer was putting together one of the best recruiting classes in the nation before word of him stepping down leaked out Monday morning.
So, what do Tennessee’s commitments do? Several say they’re sticking with Tennessee. Others say they’re taking a wait-and-see approach.
Four-star quarterback Tajh Boyd of Hampton (Va.) Phoebus, who committed to the Vols this past weekend, said the news was disappointing. But he said he plans to honor his commitment.
“I hate that Coach Fulmer is gone, but I know they will bring in someone that’s good,” Boyd told Volquest.com. “Coach Fulmer is a good coach. I just hate he won’t be there. I’m going to be keeping up with it. I’m anxious to see who they bring in.”
The nation’s top all-purpose back, David Oku of Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert, also said he plans on sticking with the Vols. However, Oku said he will look hard at the system the new coach will install.
“If they keep a similar style of offense and I like the new coach, then I will still go to Tennessee,” Oku said. “I don’t see any reason to change my mind when I like everything about the school and the city. But I don’t like the spread, though. That’s my only thing. If they don’t go with a guy that’s going to run the spread, then I will be happy. I just don’t like all the hurry-up style of offense.”
Jarvis Giles, a four-star running back from Tampa (Fla.) Gaither, said he is going to start scrambling for a plan B because he is a midterm graduate. But he said there is one thing the new coach can do that would ensure his commitment.
“I know for a fact that I will stay at Tennessee if the new coach decides to keep (running backs) coach (Stan) Drayton,” Giles said. “But I’m pretty upset because I only have a month left because I’m an early grad. … I’m not going to rush into anything, but I’m going to be keeping up with what’s going on at Tennessee. Time is not on my side, but I have to check all my options.”
Doing due diligence
When Fernley (Nev.) High offensive lineman Kevin Hart fabricated his recruitment by California last recruiting season, many lessons were learned. The biggest lesson Rivals.com’s analysts came away with was you must do as much due diligence as you can before you rank a prospect among the nation’s best.
Enter Chicago Clark Academy 2010 athlete Earlzo Singleton.
Don’t bother looking him up because you won’t find Singleton — a 5-foot-7, 152-pounder — in the Rivals.com database. But he is ranked among the nation’s top 150 juniors in the country by another service, an independent Web site that covers Notre Dame calls him among the top 10 players in Illinois and another service has written three stories about him having scholarship offers from schools such as Louisville, Boise State, Oklahoma State and Southern Miss.
But Rivals.com has been able to confirm that Clark does not have scholarship offers from three of those four schools, and further research indicates most of the schools supposedly “recruiting” him have him on mailing lists that include thousands of prospects. Southern Miss, for example, sends out brochures to advertise its camp and has Clark on a mailing list that includes more than 3,800 prospects.
“My first red flag was that I remembered the kid from when he came to one of our events this past spring and he wasn’t very big and wasn’t very thick,” Rivals.com Illinois recruiting analyst Tim O’Halloran said. “Seeing him in person, there was no way I would have thought he would be a national recruit. Red flag No. 2 is that he has never sent out any video. If you have that much to show, you’d want your video everywhere.
“And red flag No. 3 is that he plays in a lower level of competition in the Chicago Public League. I went out and watched him play a few weeks back against Harlan. He is not a Division I player, simple as that. If I thought the kid had a chance, I’d tell you. But he doesn’t look like a Division I player.”
To further compound the situation is the avalanche of e-mails and posts on messages boards about Singleton. Somebody close to Singleton believes the best way to earn a scholarship is to get yourself on as many early lists as possible. But as Hart’s situation showed, doing homework on prospects is vital.
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.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
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The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
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.