Olympic Exhibition: USA vs. Argentina

	Olympic Exhibition: USA vs. Argentina Kevin Durant scores a game-high 27 points as the US Men's National Team holds on to defeat Argentina 86-80 in a highly competitive exhibition matchup leading up to the Olympic games.	From: NBA Views: 340874 1169 ratings
	Time: 02:33	More in Sports

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsS4xA6pbQk&feature=youtube_gdata

Los Angeles Clippers Boston Celtics

Fish, Gasquet move on at Rogers Cup

Mardy Fish and Richard Gasquet won their third round matches Friday before rain disrupted play at the Rogers Cup.

Fish rallied to beat Juan Monaco 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, and Gasquet advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 upset of fourth-seed Tomas Berdych.

Janko Tipsarevic defeated Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4, and Novak Djokovic led Sam Querrey 6-4, 4-3 when the rains came.

All singles matches were called off Thursday because of constant drizzle at the Rexall Center in Toronto.

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/tennis/article_external/fish_gasquet_move_on_at_rogers_cup/11427235

Dallas Mavericks New York Jets

Dougie Hamilton, Malcolm Subban Both Impressive in Opening Game of Canada-Russia Challenge

While most hockey talk these days centers around the NHL's ongoing labor issues, Bruins fans can at least take solace in the fact that a couple of key prospects are showing off their talent. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton and goaltender Malcolm Subban are representing the Canadian National Junior Team in the Canada-Russia Challenge, and they each came up big in the series' opening game. Hamilton, who was selected ninth overall by the B's in 2011, gave Canada a 3-1 lead Thursday with a power-play goal late in the second period. That's music to the ears of Bruins fans who have seen...

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/nhl/article_external/dougie_hamilton_malcolm_subban_both_impressive_in_opening_game_of_canada_russia_challenge/11424292

San Francisco 49ers Dallas Mavericks

Blockbuster trade opens up opportunity for Evan Turner

Evan Turner has spent time sitting behind Andre Igoudala since the Philadelphia 76ers drafted him second overall two season ago. Igoudala made his first All Star team last season too, so despite Turner's overall improvement, his role was not really expected to change too much. That is until the Sixers dealt Andre to Denver last night, bringing back Bynum, and thrusting Turner into the starting line-up. A job he is expected to have all season now in Philly.

I spent time talking with Evan Turner back in July, and we spoke about his increased role during these past Playoffs. He said then, "I feel like I’m always ready, and whenever somebody puts that trust in me, that’s the most important thing they can give me."
While this move was obviously a huge coup for Philly in the sense that they landed Andrew Bynum during the prime of his career, for one season at least, it also represents an organizational trust in Turner as well. With good reason.
During 18 reg...

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/nba/article_external/blockbuster_trade_opens_up_opportunity_for_evan_turner/11424898

Washington Wizards New Jersey Nets

2013 NHL Predictions: Expectations for a Nash-Less Columbus Blue Jackets

One of the biggest stories of the NHL off-season has been the trade between the New York Rangers and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets received forwards Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov, defenseman Tim Erixon, a first-round draft pick in 2013, minor league defenseman Steve Delisle, and a conditional third-round pick all in exchange for Rick Nash.

Thus far, many hockey fans have focused on the expectations of the New York Rangers now that they just added one of the most talented wingers in the game to their roster.

Rick Nash without a doubt makes the Rangers the Stanley Cup favorite on paper, but nobody has taken the time to look at this trade from the other side. What does this trade mean for Columbus, and what are their expectations for the upcoming season?

If you look at the entire history of the Blue Jackets ever since they came into the NHL in 2000 as an expansion team, you won't find many success stories. They made the playoffs for the first and only time in 2009, where they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings.

If you look at their short term history, it isn't any more impressive. They have finished dead last in the Central Division three years in a row, and are coming off of a 29-46-7 season. Their 65 points last season were the fewest since they went 25-45-8-4 in 2003-04.

So what are fair expectations for the Blue Jackets in 2013?

The only true thing that Columbus needs to prove in order for Blue Jackets fans to be excited about the future is promise. Promise that Dubinsky and Anisimov accept the fact that they are out of the Stanley Cup picture and take on the challenge at hand.

They both need to step up and be leaders and set their goal to be what Rick Nash couldn't do, take the Blue Jackets to the playoffs and win a game. They should both take offense that they were a part of a package deal to acquire Nash, and take that motive onto the ice every time they lace up the skates.

Steve Mason needs to show some promise that he can become the goaltender many thought he would already be after winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year in 2009.

In camp, Curtis Sanford will compete for the starting job, but Mason needs to take charge and have a great off-season in order for the Blue Jackets to have any hope of being successful.

Mason has shown that he can be a solid goaltender. In his Calder Trophy winning season, he went 33-20-7 with a .916 save percentage and 2.29 goals against average.

Since then however, Mason has a record of 60-73-19 in three seasons and has had a goals against average of over 3.0 in each of the last three years.

Another guy that really needs to step up is Jack Johnson, who had to have had the roughest post-season of anyone else in the NHL. While he was on the golf course, the Los Angeles Kings, who traded him to Columbus for Jeff Carter at last year's trade deadline, were hoisting the Stanley Cup.

He is the most talented guy left on that roster, and he needs to use that power to be the vocal leader in the locker room, as well as on the ice.

So, what can you expect out of the Blue Jackets?

The best way to put it is this, if someone in the NHL finishes with a worst record than the Columbus Blue Jackets, that is a successful season.

Sorry Jackets fans, but your time will come, you just have to be patient.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1293166-2013-nhl-predictions-expectations-for-a-nash-less-columbus-blue-jackets

Tennessee Titans Miami Dolphins

Tom Izzo: Recruiting involves cheating

Everyone knows that cheating goes on in the world of college athletics, they just don’t know to what extent. There are some who will tell you everyone does it. Others believe there’s no way their favorite coach could possibly stoop to that level. Whatever the case, the NCAA claims it is aiming to clean up college football and basketball — particularly the influence of sports agents on recruits. According to Tom Izzo, that’s going to require cleaning up about one-fifth of the game.
“I am not saying that cheating is 80% of the game,” Izzo told USA TODAY. “It’s probably 20%. But it’s probably 70% of the top 20% (of player recruitments). College basketball is a business. This (recruiting) is a business now because it leads to ours.”
In other words, most of the highly-sought after recruits wind up where then wind up because of some form of cheating. At least, that’s what Izzo thinks. If you don’t believe that then ...

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/article_external/tom_izzo_estimates_that_20_of_college_basketball_recruiting_involves_cheating/11358952

Chicago Bears Portland Trail Blazers

Gordon finally gets break, title move

All it took was one weekend, one race and one turn for Jeff Gordon to put himself back into contention for a possible eighth NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup berth.

On the Lap-91 restart, race leader Jimmie Johnson's car became loose as a left rear tire went flat and collected then second-place Matt Kenseth entering the first turn. The miscue among the lead cars provided an opening for Gordon to assume the point -- and the win -- once the Pennsylvania 400 was called for rain seven laps later.

Gordon said he "never expected to come off Turn 1 with the lead after starting sixth, with teammate Kasey Kahne alongside him in fifth, but that's what happened when the leaders brought out the caution.

"Jeff got a great restart," said crew chief Alan Gustafson. "He basically put us in position, I think, by clearing Kasey, that was the key. He got Kasey cleared into (Turn) 1 there and then the seas parted.

"We didn't have the fastest car, I don't think, but I think we had a good enough car to drive from 27th to top five. Fortunately we got a break."

While good fortune is something the No. 24 team has been short on this season, Lady Luck smiled on Gordon when it counted. Not only did Gordon pick up a series-best sixth victory at Pocono Raceway, his 86th-career win vaulted the driver into the second wild-card position with five races remaining before the Chase.

In the last six races, Gordon has moved from 22nd to 13th in the points standings, finishing sixth or better in five of those. He trails points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 133 markers but becomes the fourth Hendrick Motorsports driver to enter the Chase Zone.

Still, Gordon told the media on Sunday, "don't get ahead of yourselves" when prognosticating the final Chase lineup.

"All I will say is we've been on a nice streak of finishes," Gordon said. "Even though they haven't been wins, they've been really solid finishes, top fives, top 10s that have gotten us further up in the points. That is something to build on, 'cause this year, the way things have gone, we haven't had a lot to build on. The last several weeks, we've had something to build on.

"When you do that, you do a better job of getting yourself in position for something like what happened today to happen. We knew how badly we needed a win, and we got it. But that's just half the battle."

And he's right. Gordon is tied with Ryan Newman with 611 points in the traditional points standings. While Gordon currently holds the second wild-card position on tie-breakers (Kahne holds the first with two wins), Ryan Newman kept it close by finishing eighth.

Kyle Busch took the biggest hit in the wild-card standings when he blew out the rear brake rotors 19 laps into the race. Busch finished 33rd and lost four positions in the points standings. He now trails Gordon and Newman by 12 points. For Busch, Newman and Gordon, a win would offer a distinct advantage over the other two competitors.

"This only puts more pressure on us over these next several weeks, but we're ready for the challenge," Gordon said. "I think with all we've been through this year, I said this also, if we can get to Victory Lane and get some things to go our way, this team, because of what we've been through, that we've stayed together, haven't pointed fingers, it will make you stronger.

"This is a great moment for our team because I think we're really fired up for next week's race, and the coming weeks, to legitimately have a come-from-behind season and get ourselves in there, live up to the pressure of our boss (Rick Hendrick)."

And from Gordon, who has 18 career wins among the final five races before the Chase begins, a final message for his competitors and the pundits that believed the No. 24 team was finished: "Don't count us out".

Game on Jeff Gordon wasn't the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to bring the heat on Sunday.

With Kasey Kahne's second-place finish, the No. 5 Chevrolet jumped two positions in the points standings to 11th.

Kahne overcame a problem with his right front tire when the air hose was caught underneath it during a pit stop on Lap 78. Kahne was fifth for the final restart on Lap 91 and was able to follow Gordon to safety through the melee ahead in Turn 1.

"Well, I wasn't really expecting it, the guys up front," Kahne said. "It's tough. You know, Turn 1 at Pocono, you go for that corner pretty hard. I actually got a pretty decent start. Shot in there pretty good, was just lucky I was on the bottom or I would have been in that whole mess.

"It worked out good for us. Passed those five cars, came out of the corner in second spot, ended up there. It was good. The timing was perfect."

Until four laps later, when Kahne warned the crew he had a flat tire.

"It must have been the next time around, ran over some debris, so my tire was flat," Kahne added. "I was just hoping for the rain. When the green flag came out, I would have ducked into the pits, got tires. We would have been in the 22nd spot."

Kahne holds the first wild-card transfer spot with two wins this season. Although Kahne remains outside of the Chase Zone, he cut his deficit from 64 points to 57 outside of the top 10 with five races before NASCAR'S playoffs.

Numbers game 1: Top 10 finish by Regan Smith in 2012 following his eighth-place Pocono finish.

7: Wins by Hendrick Motorsports -- all four drivers have visited Victory Lane in 2012.

27: Positions gained by Brad Keselowski, who finished fourth in the Pennsylvania 400.

31: Races since Jeff Gordon's last win (Atlanta Motor Speedway)

Say what? After qualifying 28th on Saturday, Tony Stewart salvaged a fifth-place finish on Sunday at Pocono and jumped from eighth to sixth in the points standings.

"We didn't necessarily throw a Hail Mary at it, but we kind of went back to where we started yesterday and worked from that," Stewart said. "We only spent about a quarter of the two practices on the setup that we ended up racing. I'm really proud of (crew chief Steve Addington) for taking all afternoon and evening last night and finding the package that we ran today it was a much better race car."

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/gordon_finally_gets_break_title_move/11384113

Green Bay Packers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar