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Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss the Philadelphia 76ers, Gregg Popovich, Royal and Ancient Golf Club and Bill Belichick. Bruce Arthur, National Post My thumb is up to the Philadelphia 76ers, proud possessors of a win streak for the first time since two weeks before the Olympics began. Any task worth doing is worth doing with commitment, and while you can argue whether tanking to get a good draft pick should be worth doing, thats the system, and the Sixers have been crafting a masterpiece. Before Saturday night they had lost 26 in a row, 29 of 30, and 36 of 39, and 27 straight losses would have a set a new record for consecutive defeats. But Saturday in Philly, the Sixers pulled one out, blowing out the hapless Detroit Pistons by 25 and getting a standing ovation. It was a raft in an ocean, a blip in the sky. But now, no matter what, they can say this: it could have been worse. Steve Simmons, Sun Media My thumb is up to Gregg Popovich, who just might be the greatest coach in the history of professional sport. And I dont say that lightly with terrific respect for the work done by Scotty Bowman and Phil Jackson and Bill Belichick, and yeah, certainly Vince Lombardi. Put your championships aside for a moment - this is the 15th straight season in which Popovichs San Antonio Spurs have won between 50 and 63 games in the NBA. To put that into perspective, thats the same number of 50-win seasons combined over that time that the Knicks, Celtics, Bulls, Warriors, Nets, Wizards, Pacers, 76ers, Bobcats, Hawks, and Raptors have won. Having Tim Duncan helps. But Duncan at 37 is slowing down. Heading to another 60 win season, Gregg Popovich doesnt seem to be. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is up to the R&A, for finally entering a new century. The 20th. The Royal and Ancient is urging its membership to allow women to become members of the venerable St. Andrews golf club in Scotland when it votes in September. This is a mere 260 years after the home of golf was founded, which qualifies as progress. Two other courses in the Open Championship rotation, Muirfield and Royal St. Georges, have yet to tiptoe down this perilous path to equality. By comparison, the nice gentlemen at Augusta National, which started accepting female members in 2012 - hello, Condoleeza Rice! - look like wild-eyed progressives. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is up to New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, for making me seem less crazy than others think I am. I have been saying for years that the complexities of video review are confusing and unnecessary, and that a better system would be a very simple system that allows anything to be challenged. And no less an authority than Belichick is leading a push in this direction in the NFL. Never mind "this can be challenged under certain circumstances, but not that under any circumstances"--as Belichick says, "if a coach thinks his team has been victimized by a bad call, he should be able to question it, and its up to him to use the limited number of challenge flags with that in mind." As I say, "challenges might actually be fewer--same with wrong calls--and replay rules would be simpler. You can challenge those assumptions, but Bill Belichick wont. Zapatillas Nike Baratas Online . For Sweed, a second round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008, this will be his second go around in the CFL after previously having spent time with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Zapatillas Nike Baratas Outlet . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing. http://www.zapatillasbaratasnike.es/ . -- Alex Anthopoulos spoke volumes with what he didnt say on right-hander Ervin Santana. Comprar Zapatillas Nike Baratas Online . Summers has seen scant playing time with the Coyotes since being selected 29th overall by the club in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, having played in 47 career NHL games. Comprar Zapatillas Nike Rebajas .J. -- Fabian Johnson scored his first international goal and Clint Dempsey doubled the lead after a defensive lapse as the United States beat Turkey 2-1 Sunday in the second of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Americans before they head to Brazil.SAN ANTONIO - Too big. Too strong. Too fast. Baylor was too much of just about everything for Creighton and Doug McDermott to handle. And because of it, the sixth-seeded Bears are rolling out of Texas toward California and the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 after an impressive 85-55 win Sunday night in the West Regional. Isaiah Austin and Canadian Brady Heslip each scored 17 points and Baylor used suffocating defence to shut down McDermott, ending the career of one of college basketballs most prolific scorers. "We did a good job making it tough on him," Bears coach Scott Drew said. McDermott, who averaged 27 points this season, finished with 15 but had just three in the first half as Baylor built a 20-point lead. McDermott ranks fifth on the NCAA career scoring list with 3,150 points. Baylor (26-11) had five players score in double figures and shot 64 per cent in one of the dominant performances of the tournament. The rest of the West bracket may want to pay attention to this one. A team that looked like a wreck six weeks ago with a 2-8 start in the Big 12 is brimming with confidence to match all that muscle in the lineup. "We take pride in people hating on us, and we love proving people wrong," Austin said. "Everybody has bought into the one goal that we have in mind and that is winning a national championship." Baylor plays No. 2 seed Wisconsin on Thursday in Anaheim. In Baylors two previous trips to the Sweet 16, it fell one game short of the Final Four. McDermott carried the Bluejays back to the round of 32 for the third year in a row, and had done it in spectacular style, leading the nation in scoring with a sublime shooting touch and uncanny knack to slither his way through defenders for layups and putback baskets. McDermott spurned the chance to turn pro after last season, and this was the year the Bluejays and their senior-laden lineup were expected to drive Creighton farther into the NCAA tournament than any Bluejays team before them. But Baylors defence gave him nothing: neither space to shoot nor even chances for his teammates to pass him the ball. And for all the talk about Creightons maturity and bonding, Baylor made the Bluejays look small and slow. "This is the worst weve played all season, and it just stinks that its the last one.dddddddddddd But that doesnt take away from all my memories here. Its tough to go out this way," McDermott said. Baylor came out blazing from long range, knocking down five 3-pointers in the first 7 minutes. Kenny Chery of Montreal made three and when Heslip, who was 0 for 6 in Fridays win over Nebraska, swished his first against Creighton, he mockingly shook the fingers on both hands as he loped back down the court. "We were just expecting it to be a fight, to be honest," said Heslip, whos from Burlington, Ont. McDermott, meanwhile, struggled to find any kind of space inside or out against Baylors zone defence and badly misfired on his first attempt, a baseline shot that missed everything. This rout was just beginning. The Bears flexed their muscle early and often with a lineup built for the rigours of the Big 12. Austin is 7-foot-1 and he teamed with 6-10 forward Cory Jefferson in the frontcourt. When Creighton missed a shot, the typical result was three Bears under the basket with no Bluejays around. Baylors bench was just as intimidating. When reserve forward Rico Gathers pushed his 6-foot-8, 270-pound frame through the lane for a layup, two Creighton defenders were powerless to stop him. By the time Baylor had built a 20-point halftime lead, McDermott had taken only three shots, made one and had two fouls. "We knew we had them on their heels," Austin said. "We wanted to step on their throat." Even when Creighton got a spark — Ethan Wragge made two 3-pointers early in the second half — Baylor simply matched basket for basket, denying any hopes of a rally. Soon it was showtime as Baylors lead kept growing. Jefferson slammed down an alley-oop dunk for a 58-34 lead with just more than 12 minutes to play. Gathers added another rim-rattler a few minutes later, his broad shoulders soaring to the basket to punctuate the night. When McDermott left the game with 2:31 to play, he hugged his father, Creighton coach Greg McDermott, before retreating to the bench and burying his face in a towel. "Im not sure it was Baylor being that good or us being that bad," Greg McDermott said. "Over the course of the season youre going to have a few clunkers. We had one at the wrong time." ' ' '