percent inn the following five and 61 percent in the last five.

Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss legislation from John McCain, the Jays handling of Ricky Romero, the career of Sir Alex Ferguson and bizarre outing of Rays pitcher Alex Cobb. Dave Naylor, TSN Radio 1050: My thumb is up to Arizona senator John McCain, who has introduced legislation to say that if an NFL team gets taxpayer funding for its stadium, it shouldnt be allowed to black out games. McCain may be on the wrong side of the issue when it comes to the Phoenix Coyotes, but I believe hes on the right side with this one. There are two downsides to taxpayer funding: its a bad investment but its also insulting when, after picking the pockets of taxpayers, you say they cant even watch the games if they dont buy tickets. I dont often line up with Republican senators but with this one, I am with John McCain. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to the Toronto Blue Jays for their handling of Ricky Romero. A year ago this time, this was the No. 1 starter on the Blue Jays. Last year, rather than send him to the minors or the bullpen, they kept pitching him. He lost his confidence, he lost his way and it hasnt come back since. After a disastrous spring and an attempt to rebuild him, they brought him back for one start and it didnt work. Saturday night in Buffalo, Romero pitched 3.2 innings and gave up 10 hits and six runs. We dont know if well ever see Ricky Romero in the Major Leagues again. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is up to Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United, who closed his career at Old Trafford on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Swansea. What a career. In 26 years at Man U, he won 13 Premier League titles, two in the Champions League, five FA Cups and, of course, the treble in 1999. Maybe there has never been a greater coach of any sport at any time than Sir Alex. Scotty Bowman was smart enough to adapt to the times. Sir Alex was someone who bent the times to his own will. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is up to Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Alex Cobb for giving us one of those great "how could it happen" baseball teasers. Its all part of Cobbs bizarre Friday night outing against San Diego in which he recorded 13 strikeouts and didnt make it out of the 5th inning… because his pitch count was so high. The 3rd inning was the crazy one - Cobb struck out 4 Padres - a wild pitch third strike put a runner on first, and that runner stole second and third and then scored on a balk. Thats how a pitcher gives up a run despite striking out the side, plus one, and not allowing a hit or a walk, and without an error being committed. So now you know… Vapormax Danmark Online .Y. - General manager Billy King says the Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a big man and confirmed the team worked out centre Jason Collins, who would become the first openly gay active NBA player if signed. Nike Vapormax Outlet . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. http://www.vapormaxdanmark.com/vapormax-herre-sko-danmark.html . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. Vapormax Herre Danmark . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Vapormax Dame Ebay Danmark . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. TORONTO -- To help Auston Matthews through the first slump of his rookie season, Toronto coach Mike Babcock has turned to Sidney Crosby and Henrik Zetterberg.Matthews piled up six goals and 10 points in his first six games, including a historic four-goal outing in his NHL debut. The 19-year-old Matthews was still tied for second Tuesday among all rookies in scoring (12 points), four points behind Patrik Laine.But Matthews has no goals and two assists in the past nine games and Babcock is using video of Crosby and Zetterberg to do some tweaking with his young star.In one-on-one sessions, Babcock showed Matthews how Zetterberg, the long-time Red Wings star, gets the puck back just by standing in the right places defensively. He showed Matthews how when Crosby got the puck, he lured the defense out of position and then didnt hesitate to make a play.Babcock has seen subtle adjustments from Matthews over the past couple weeks, particularly in the faceoff circle. The Arizona native won 43 percent of the draws in the opening five games, 53 percent inn the following five and 61 percent in the last five.ddddddddddddWhat hes telling you already is he likes having the puck, Babcock said. Hes sick and tired of chasing it already. So then the next thing hes going to figure out if he stops in the right places on defense and puts his stick in the right place, the offensive players are going to keep giving it back to him and then his skill-set is going to come out.But the hardest part for a kid when you come in the National Hockey League is you never get the puck.Matthews said he believes hes grown stronger defensively in recent weeks. He also leads Toronto with 58 shots, though he last scored Oct. 25 against Tampa, a string of nine games.In our situation we need him to be a dominant, dominant center for us, Babcock said. We think hes going to be by Christmas time. We think hes a very good player already. But we think he can be lights out both with and without the puck. ' ' '