Coach Dan Bylsma, who has the Pittsburgh Penguins in contention for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference without stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, has agreed to a three-year contract extension through 2013-14. Bylsma, 40, who led the Penguins to a Stanley Cup in 2009, has Pittsburgh just two points behind Philadelphia (88) [...]

The NFL’s lead labor negotiator says the league offered to give the players’ union financial information that the league doesn’t even give its 32 clubs. On his way into Wednesday’s mediation session, NFL general counsel Jeff Pash said the issue of financial transparency — a key sticking point in labor talks this week — “really [...]

Erik Spoelstra vowed to keep the Miami Heat fighting. Chris Bosh acknowledged he needs to do more and lobbied to get more opportunities. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade insisted their confidence remains high. The Heat script hasn’t changed much lately. Nor have the results, as Miami’s freefall continues. Read more

Villanova began to resemble the Final Four contender many people expected it to be in the first half Tuesday night. The Wildcats looked more like the team that had lost four straight in the second half. Anthony Crater scored on a driving layup with 5.1 seconds remaining, and a last-ditch shot by Maalik Wayns at [...]

The NFL Players Association retained an international investment bank to help it decide whether the league’s offer to reveal more financial information during negotiations will be enough to satisfy the union’s call for full disclosure. Zeroing in on the crux of the labor dispute — how to split $9 billion in revenues — one NFLPA [...]