09-05-2016, 08:42 AM
Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss standout moments from the NHL and NBA Drafts, the Coyotes speaking frankly and FIFAs famous foam. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star: My thumb is up to the NBA. Heres why. The NBA draft is a show about possibilities, and thats fun. Then, Thursday night, midway through the first round, Adam Silver stopped the proceedings to tell a story about a prospect named Isaiah Austin, whose career ended last week after he was diagnosed with a disease called Marfan Syndrome. Then Silver stepped up to make Austin a ceremonial pick on behalf of the entire Association. They took a moment about the cruel end of possibility, and the NBA made it beautiful. Best moment in draft history, hands down. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is up to Don Maloney, general manager of the newly named Arizona Coyotes - and yeah, that sounds weird - for his unusual honesty in explaining why the club has chosen to buy out top-line centre, Mike Ribeiro. Normally youd get a little “blah blah blah” from an NHL GM on why a player was being let go. But Maloney was more than clear here: he said the team didnt want to put up with Ribeiros behavioral issues, could not tolerate them going forward and could not have him part of the team anymore. The Coyotes, who couldnt afford lunch a year or two ago let alone buying someone out, will be paying Ribeiro $2 million a year for the next six years just to go away. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is up to one of the great sporting advances of the past decade. Baseballs expanded replay? Advanced stats? Heck, no. Im talking about the so-called felony foam world cup referees have been spraying on the field to mark the spot for free kicks and, more importantly, delineate where defenders can set their wall. This low-tech marvel, which looks like shaving cream and dissipates in a minute, eliminates time wasting and the inevitable cheating by defenders who try to creep closer to the spot. While baseball needed a replay room in New York, FIFA found an inexpensive way to literally lay down the law. The gimmick belongs in the sports hall of foam. Sorry. Dave Naylor, TSN: My thumb is up to the sons of athletes who chose their own path to make a name for themselves. Im refering to the selection of Elfrid Payton Jr. in this weeks NBA Draft, going 10th overall to the Philadelphia 76ers. Payton is the son of CFL Hall-of-Famer Elfrid Payton - better known as SWAC to some - who played for five CFL teams including Baltimore, Montreal and Winnipeg. Like recent NHL draft picks Darnell Nurse and Seth Jones - whose fathers played in the CFL and NBA respectively - Payton put his good athletic genes to use in another sport. Its always a nice story to see a young athlete follow in his fathers footsteps. But its a little more interesting to see them go their own way. Green Monday Ugg Boots Sale . Even though Jose Mourinho downplays Chelseas title prospects, his team remain in the mix with a relatively undemanding run-in, apart from a trip to Liverpool. And its Liverpool that can ensure Chelseas stay at the top this weekend is short-lived by winning Sunday at West Ham. Ugg Boots Green Monday Sale . -- League scoring leader Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists to lead the Val-dOr Foreurs over the Blainville-Boisbriand Phoenix 6-3 on Wednesay in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play on Wednesday. http://www.greenmondayshoesboots.com/ . Germany was held to an entertaining 2-2 draw by Ghana on Saturday and needed Kloses second-half equalizer to avoid another second-game letdown that has plagued the team in recent tournaments. Ugg Boots Green Monday .com) - Northern Iowa running back David Johnson has made a career of playing his best games in the biggest games. Ugg Boots For Womens On Sale .com) - Marian Hossa scored two goals and the Chicago Blackhawks ended the Nashville Predators seven-game home winning streak with a 3-1 win on Saturday.MILWAUKEE -- Giannis Antetokounmpo is the rookie who gets most of the attention for Milwaukee. It was another first-year player who made the biggest shot Tuesday night to give the Bucks a rare victory. Nate Wolters hit a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left to give Milwaukee the lead for good in a 104-100 win over the Orlando Magic. With an NBA-worst 10-43 record, Bucks coach Larry Drew is giving plenty of minutes to young players. Antetokounmpo and Wolters made key contributions both offensively and defensively in the final minutes against Orlando. "They hit a dagger, that shot Nate hit," Magic guard ETwaun Moore said. Wolters missed 26 of his first 29 attempts from 3-point range this season but is 5 for 11 in the teams last four games. "Im feeling a lot better from 3. Im going to shoot with confidence, and hopefully I can keep it up," he said. "Ive been playing so many minutes. Coach is giving me the opportunity, so I have to knock some shots down." His 27-foot jumper with 6 seconds left on the shot clock helped Milwaukee snap a four-game losing streak. "I didnt have much time so I just decided to pull up and shoot it," Wolters said. "Sometimes those are the easiest ones, when you know you have to shoot it. Its nice to get a win." After Wolters gave the Bucks the lead, Antetokounmpo stole the ball from Arron Afflalo and was fouled, making one free throw for a 100-97 advantage. "I was focused tonight," Antetokounmpo said. "For a rookie that means a lot to be focused down the stretch, especially being a little bit panicked." Brandon Knight overcame a bizarre foot injury for the Bucks, scoring 18 points and making two free throws with 5.5 seconds left to seal the victory. He played 34 minutes despite slicing his foot open on a baseboard while stepping out of his bathroom shower Tuesday afternoon. Knight, unavailable for comment after the game, missed 10 of 13 shots from the field but hit all 12 of his free throws. Before the game, he said he was unsure whether he could pplay.dddddddddddd. He started anyway. The Bucks made 22 of 30 free throws, while the Magic went 9 of 16. "The free throws were the big thing," Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn said. "Their ability to get in the bonus and get downhill and get into the lane was a big part of them winning." Orlando fell to 3-24 on the road. Despite snapping their four-game skid, the Bucks have lost 19 of 22 overall. Afflalo scored 21 points and Nikola Vucevic added 19 for Orlando. After Antetokounmpo made the free throw that gave Milwaukee a 100-97 lead, Afflalo missed a 3-pointer. Ersan Ilyasova hit a pair of free throws for a 102-97 advantage. Jameer Nelson made a 3 with 6 seconds to go to make it 102-100. Knight was fouled and made both free throws to clinch it. Caron Butler, returning after missing four games with a sprained ankle, led the Bucks with 21 points on seven 3-pointers but didnt score in the fourth quarter. Afflalo shot 9 of 15 to snap a mini-slump. The Magic guard had made only 15 of 44 shots in his past four games. Vucevic took a pass from Nelson and made a 14-foot jumper to give Orlando (16-39) a 97-96 advantage with 50 seconds left, its first lead since 4 minutes remained in the third quarter. Antetokounmpo capped Milwaukees 8-2 run to open the fourth. He blocked a layup attempt by Kyle OQuinn and hit John Henson for a dunk, giving the Bucks an 89-81 lead with 8:57 to go. Orlando scored the next seven points to pull to 89-88 on Maurice Harkless 3-pointer with 6:44 left. Butler made six 3s and the Bucks led 53-47 at halftime. It was only the 10th time in 53 games that Milwaukee has led at halftime. NOTES: Milwaukee F Khris Middleton left in the first quarter after twisting his ankle, but returned in the second. ... O.J. Mayo, who had missed nine consecutive games with what the Bucks termed "illness/conditioning," was expected to play limited minutes but remained on the bench the entire game. Drew said he had hoped to play Mayo, but was unable to due to game circumstances. ' ' ' nfl jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic cheap nfl jerseys nfl shop wholesale jerseys