Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss the surprising Indianapolis Colts, uncertainty surrounding Olympic hockey in 2014, the notion of Vince Carter returning to the Raptors and baseballs GM meetings. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to the Indianapolis Colts and their head coach in absentia Chuck Pagano, whose team won again this week, four days after he paid them a visit. Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia before the season began, and the Colts were coming off a two-win season, and it felt like there were darker times ahead. Well, the Colts are 6-3, and they won that sixth game after shaving their heads in solidarity with Pagano, whose post-game visit after win #5 was the stuff of goose bumps. My vision that Im living, he said, is to see two more daughters getting married, dance at their wedding, and then hoist that Lombardi several times. The NFL, and sports, is a cynical business. The Colts, right now, are anything but. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to all the uncertainty regarding the hockey tournament at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. It isnt Sochis fault that the NHL and NHLPA dont have a deal and that the parameters for the Olympic tournament remain guesswork at this time. Normally, with the Olympics little more than a year away, this would be the time for speculation on who might play, or who should play or will play for Team Canada. Instead, general manager Steve Yzerman doesnt even know whether NHL players will be cleared to play, whether the lost time this year will translate to no lost time next year. Or whether Olympic hockey will revert to what it was pre-1998. The thing is, nobody knows. And once again, fans are left to only guess. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: Because you really cant go home again, my thumb is down to the notion of Vince Carter returning to the Raptors. Now in his basketball dotage in Dallas, the 35-year-old said he would be happy to return to Toronto for one last shot. Once he was the brightest sports star in the city, bigger than any Leaf or Blue Jay at the time, but retracing steps is rarely a wise career path. Carter might be wistful because his Raptor years were the best of a notable career that, nevertheless, feels vaguely disappointing. But no one can soar when burdened with the baggage that Carter, loved and loathed, accumulated in Toronto. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is up to the sensible consideration of three items by baseball general managers at their meetings in California. They are studying a broader use of instant replay. As broad as possible would be my suggestion. They are being urged to amend the September call-up rule that allows as many as 40 players on a big-league roster - some teams use it, others dont, and there should be standardization. And there are talks designed to better protect pitchers heads with some sort of helmet or cap liner. Makes for a good agenda, especially if it results in quick action, and not more talking next year.
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cheap jerseys from china. -- Wesley Matthews was kind of taken aback when he was told that Portlands last three-game winning streak came in the Trail Blazers first three games of last season.WARSAW, Poland -- Nicklas Bendtner paid a heavy price for his underpants on Monday. The Denmark forward was banned for one 2014 World Cup qualifying match for revealing an unofficial sponsors name on his underwear while celebrating a goal at the European Championship. UEFA said its disciplinary panel found the 24-year-old Bendtner guilty of "improper conduct," and also fined him C100,000 ($126,000). The punishment rules him out of the Danes opening World Cup qualifier, at home to the Czech Republic on Sept. 8. "We will appeal the decision and take it from there," Bendtner told Denmarks TV2 News as the team returned to Copenhagen after exiting Euro 2012 on Sunday. Bendtners financial penalty is the second highest imposed by UEFA at Euro 2012. The Russian football association was fined C120,000 ($151,000) after its fans attacked stadium stewards in Wroclaw following the teams group game against the Czech Republic. Bendtner raised his shirt and lowered the top of his shorts slightly, revealing the name of a betting firm across the top of his underpants, after scoring his second goal in a 3-2 loss against Portugal last Wednesday. The laws of football managed by FIFA relating to players equipment also state that players "must not reveal undergarrments showing slogans or advertising.dddddddddddd" UEFA tournament rules also bar ambush marketing by unofficial sponsors or advertising on players kit. European Championship matches typically get average worldwide ratings of 150 million television viewers, who are counted if they watch at least 30 minutes of a game. The Irish gambling firm Paddy Power, which based a marketing campaign around the "lucky pants" later worn by Bendtner, said it would support his appeal. "This is a hysterical and deeply cynical move by UEFA dictated by pure commercialism and is a far greater penalty than recent UEFA fines for far more serious incidents," the company said in a statement on its website. At Euro 2008, UEFA fined the Croatian football association 20,000 Swiss francs (then $17,900, C12,570) for fans "displaying a racist banner and showing racist conduct" toward Turkish fans during a quarterfinal match. Bendtner was also separately disciplined by the Danish Football Association for flouting team policy. The association has official ties to a rival gambling company. Denmark was eliminated from Euro 2012 after losing to Germany 2-1. ------ Associated Press writer Karl Ritter in Kolobrzeg, Poland, contributed to this report. ' ' '
