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4) Speaking of which, if you invested time in the Cleveland Browns-Washington game, it is time to vote on the most interesting thing you saw. Was it Johnny Manziel "flipping off" the Washington bench, or the five holding penalties called against the Browns defence….in the first quarter?5) You will notice that I didnt mention the name of the Washington team. CBS analyst Phil Simms says he might do the same, while his play-by-play partner Jim Nantz feels it is not his place to "take a stance" on the controversy that will not go away. Whos right? I will only say that Nantz is, indeed, "taking a stance" by using the "R" name--hes saying he has no problem with it.6) Milos Raonics steady rise in the world tennis rankings is worthy of praise, but wheres the breakthrough victory that will signal the dawn of true greatness? The two views of Raonic are that it is inevitable, and that it will never come.7) It is time to tell MLB commissioner Rob Manfred how to save time and make games shorter. Are you with me in admitting that the appeal of the "sport without a clock" has waned?8) So lets begin with the toughest question--Should baseball actually use a clock to make the pitcher deliver the ball to home plate within 12 seconds of receiving it in his glove? The answer here is "yes", because the "discretion of the umpire" is a phrase that doesnt serve baseball well in any application.9) For instance, umpires can be encouraged to call more strikes, which usually means theyre supposed to call "high strikes", but they dont. Isnt it time for strict adherence to one strike zone, never mind the idea that umpires have their own strike zones? And, that strike zone, should you need a reminder, is between the top of the knees and the mid-point between the batters pants and the top of his shoulders, as he is about to swing.10) Batters arent supposed to step out of the batters box with both feet. So why are they allowed to do that for just about any reason, or for no reason? Stop them with called strikes.11) Mound conferences. The manager or pitching coach is allowed one trip, after which the pitcher must be changed. Whats wrong with applying the same restriction to catchers and infielders?12) Intentional walks. Why not save the time it takes to deliver four wide pitches and just wave the batter to first base?13) Video review. Baseball has lost its way with the introduction of challenges to umpires calls. Their number must be limited, and so too, the length of time they consume. Did it not occur to MLB that the only valid criticism of this innovation would be if the umps wore the headsets for more than, say, 90 seconds?14) And now it is time to offend the purists (I used to be one myself), or have I done that already? If the reason for this overhaul is to shorten games, there must be something done when an extra-inning game stretches to the ridiculous length of five or six hours. Draw the line where you think it belongs--Ill pick 12 innings--and for all innings beyond that, softballs international tie-breaker applies. (Each half-inning begins with a runner at second base).15) Kudos to the Montreal Alouettes for battling the Saskatchewan Roughriders to the very end of last Saturdays game, won 16-11 by the defending Grey Cup champs. But is there anyone not named Tom Higgins who would have done what the Montreal coach did after cutting Saskatchewans lead to two points with just over three minutes to play? What Higgins did was to order a one-point convert following the Als lone touchdown, when a successful two-point try would have evened the score. Ah, but what if the two-point play failed? Well, Montreal would have trailed by two, needing a field goal to win, which basically was what Montreal needed if the deficit was a single point. In summary, there was much to gain and little or nothing to lose by trying for two, and Higgins didnt.16) How good are the Calgary Stampeders? Well, if youre not willing to answer by saying "Theyre the best team in the CFL", try this: "Theyre good enough to be 6-1 without the services of the leagues top player in 2013, Jon Cornish". And wont it be good to see Cornish in action again on Sunday in Ottawa? (Ya, okay, perhaps not if youre Ottawa).17) Do you want the latest reason why its so frustrating being a Chicago Cubs fan? In their recently-completed four-game series against the Mets, the Cubs managed to hold the Mets to 16 hits, exactly four per game. And they split the series.18) Heres a stat that baseball needs to adjust--the "hold", which is awarded to a relief pitcher if he takes the mound with his team leading by three runs or less and departs without surrendering the lead. On Sunday, St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal walked three batters and was responsible for two of them crossing the plate, but because that still left the Cardinals in front for a one-run victory, Rosenthal, blown save and all, got his first "hold" of the season. What he got that he deserved was "the hook".19) If there must be a hockey question in August, here it is--what is the name of the Carolina Hurricanes head coach? (I had to look it up. Why dont you do the same, because the point of this exercise is lost if his name appears here. Or maybe you know it, which puts you ahead of me, unless you can name the NHLs five rookie general managers. It took me a couple of minutes, but hey, its August).20) Will the Los Angeles Clippers continue to employ cheerleaders, or would owner Steve Ballmer suffice? Cheap Adidas Shoes Online . Reyes, 26, was traded from Atlanta to Toronto in July 2010 and spent the remainder of the season in the minors. He began 2011 in the majors and made 20 starts with the Blue Jays, going 5-8 with a 5.40 earned run average before he was waived on Aug. Adidas Shoes Online Sale . Luke Wileman and I stood in the corridor outside of the Vancouver Whitecaps dressing room at BC Place in Vancouver. http://www.cheapadidassale.com/ .2 million deal for the upcoming season with right-hander Garrett Richards.The person spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because the announcement hadnt been made. Cheap Wholesale Adidas Shoes . This is an exercise I have undertaken a few times, starting in 2009, and hope that Ive refined my approach a little bit in that time to help paint a better picture. Adidas Shoes Cheap Sale . Inter Milan ended its five-match winless streak in all competitions by beating 10-man Bologna 3-1 on new manager Claudio Ranieris debut, while injury-plagued AC Milan edged Cesena 1-0 with an early goal from Clarence Seedorf.CLEVELAND -- The Raptors arent officially in the NBA playoffs. They dont look ready for them, either. Dion Waiters scored 24 points, Luol Deng added 19 and the Cleveland Cavaliers prevented Toronto from getting closer to a post-season spot with a 102-100 win over the sloppy Raptors on Tuesday night. Toronto fell behind by 21 points in the third quarter, and then battled back to take a 95-94 lead. But the Raptors fell apart in the final minutes. With their fourth loss in six games, the Raptors dropped one-half game behind Chicago for the No. 3 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "We gotta get back to who we are," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said in disgust. "Its easy to get up for OKC, Miami and Indiana, but the other teams are playing for something too, which is pride. That can be even more dangerous." Despite playing without All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, who missed his fifth straight game with a strained biceps tendon, the Cavs were able to hold on and snap a five-game losing streak at home. "It was a good win by our guys," coach Mike Brown said. "Thats a playoff team. They were playing good basketball. In a game like that, maybe earlier in the season we might have lost, especially coming down the stretch when a team makes a run against us. Our guys found a way to win." Kyle Lowry scored 22 and Terrence Ross had 16 for the Raptors, who had a chance to tie it in the final seconds but guard Greivis Vasquez lost his footing and committed a turnover with 1.9 seconds left. "I was trying to spin and I lost my balance," Vasquez said. "It was just a bad play for me. It was me going to my weak hand and I lost my balance, stepped kind of weird. I turned the ball over. Ill take responsibility. Im not going to run away. Im a man. I wish I could be in that position again so we have another opportunity tomorrow (at Boston)." Toronto took a 95-94 lead on Vasquezs 3-pointer with 6:45 remaining, but the Raptors went just 1 of 9 from the floor and scored five points the rest of the way. Tristan Thompson added 15 points and 13 rebounds and Jarret Jack had 13 points for Cleveland, which kept its faint playoff hopes alive. The Cavs trail idle Atlanta by 4 1/2 games foor the No.dddddddddddd 8 playoff slot. The Raptors may be closing in on their first post-season appearance since 2008, but the Atlantic Division leaders looked out of sorts at both ends. They fought back from a big deficit, but fell apart with the game on the line. Toronto missed three free throws in the final 4:26, but still had a chance to force overtime or possibly steal their 40th win after forcing a Cleveland turnover on an errant inbounds pass with 7.8 seconds to go. But Vasquez, who finished with 16 points, drove the left side and slipped about 10 feet from the basket. As he fell, Vasquez flung the ball in desperation and it was intercepted on the right side by Deng. Vasquez remained on the floor for a few seconds grabbing his ankle before he limped off the court. "It was a handoff to Greivis to turn the corner," Casey said. "I thought he turned it pretty well and his ankle went out on him. But one play was not when we lost that game. The game was decided with the way we played in the first quarter." However, Toronto didnt execute when it needed to and lost to a Cleveland team playing for nothing more than pride. At least the Cavs overcame their own mistakes, something theyve rarely done during this disappointing season. "We just stayed with it," Waiters said. "We didnt get rattled and made plays when we needed to." Clevelands offence was clicking early on. The Cavs recorded assists on eight of their first 10 buckets, opened a 14-point lead in the first quarter and pushed their advantage to 18 in the second. Toronto made three 3-pointers -- the Raptors had eight 3s in the first half -- in a span of 1:27 to climb within 49-40, but Cleveland regrouped and led 59-45 at halftime. NOTES: The Cavs are 12-11 since Feb. 7. ... Toronto was just 16 of 26 from the line. ... Irving rode a stationary bike on the side as the Cavs went through their morning shootaround. Afterward, Irving looked good doing some shooting drills. Brown said Irving is "closer" to returning, but its not guaranteed the third-year pro will play again this season. ... Raptors F Patrick Patterson (right ulnar collateral sprain) missed his 10th consecutive game. He was cleared to resume contact practices Monday. 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