Savage » nto has gotten much better defensively only allowing 97.

Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss the departure of Donald Sterling, the scheduling of the Rogers Cup, the value of Commonwealth Games and the mastery of Clayton Kershaw. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star My thumb is up to the impending departure of Donald Sterling from the NBA, pending appeals. A California judge ruled this week that Sterlings wife Shelley could indeed sell the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion, which means its almost time to say goodbye to Donald Sterling, only 33 years too late. Donald Sterling: ex-Clippers owner, denier of cancer treatment benefits, architect of a franchise that finished over .500 five times during his tenure, settler of the biggest federal housing discrimination suit in American history, and of course, racist. It will be sad that hes getting richer, yes. But the glory of the punishment is this: the Clippers are finally good. They could win a title, they really could. And if they do, Donald Sterling will finally be the one whos been evicted from the building. Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun My thumb is down to the Rogers Cups, yeah, both of them, the best tennis tournaments in Canada, for not having the ability or the opportunity to exist separately. For years they did, quite nicely. One week, the men played in Toronto or Montreal, the next week, the women played in the other city. It was perfect, in a tennis kind of way. Since then Canada has changed. There is a breakout star in Genie Bouchard, who set all kinds of national records, television and otherwise from Wimbledon. There is a hard serving, knocking on the door breakout star in Milos Raonic. Forgive me if I want to watch both of them separately. We deserve that, they deserve that. Its time somebody stood up to the tennis world and got this right. Cathal Kelly, The Globe and Mail My thumb is up to all games in their proper place. Weve just come through two weeks of the Commonwealth variety, which gave us another chance to wring our hands about why no one cares. Odds are you tuned in for the delightfully kitschy opening ceremonies and then tuned right back out. A British paper reported that Usain Bolt declared the competition "a bit (crap)," though he apparently used another word. Hes right. Its a second-rate event. The Pan-Am games in Toronto next summer will also be minor league, and thats okay. There can only be one Olympics. Its past time we stopped thinking of sport as something that must be force-fed to the masses for their own good. People will watch what they want. There will always be an audience for something that features the spirit of the Olympics without the stars. Because without the warm-up act, we wouldnt be able to properly appreciate the uniqueness of the really big show. Dave Hodge, TSN Not that he needs me or anybody else to remind the baseball world how good he is, but "thumbs up" anyway to LA Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, the left-handed ace who didnt get traded on Thursday. All the attention paid to Jon Lester and David Price was fully warranted, but later that night, Kershaw was running his record to 13-2 and lowering his MLB-best ERA to 1.71. The Dodgers are unbeaten in his last 11 starts, 10 of them wins for Kershaw personally and this latest victory, 2-1 over the Atlanta Braves, was his second straight complete game. It also saw him come within an out of a second straight shutout. The Dodgers being the Dodgers, they looked at Lester and Price, but they have prospects they werent willing to touch and they have Clayton Kershaw. Julian Edelman Patriots Jersey . Heck, we might just miss the BCS. Maybe? It sort of worked out this season. Top-ranked Florida State (13-0) was the only team to get through the regular season unbeaten, and the Seminoles did it in dominating fashion. Stephon Gilmore Youth Jersey .S. President Barack Obama saluted the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks at the White House on Monday -- a rare moment for a president hungry to see more victorious teams from his hometown. http://www.patriotsjerseysauthentic.com/John-Hannah-Super-Bowl-Jersey/ .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. Tom Brady Patriots Jersey . The former central defender calmly nodded it down and quietly went about celebrating a win with his staff. For a man who has had a lot on his shoulders this season, it was an appropriate moment. Tom Brady Jersey . Cammalleri suffered a concussion in the Flames 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The 31-year-old forward did not travel with the team to Carolina.The Toronto Raptors are having one of the best seasons in franchise history - in a year when nobody expected it. Many believed sneaking into the final playoff spot would be a success for the Raptors this season, but even that wasnt guaranteed. But with only 11 games remaining in the regular season, Toronto (40-31) sits in third place in the Eastern Conference, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for tops in the Atlantic Division and a postseason spot all but official. This will be the first time since 2008 that the Raptors will play in the NBAs second season. With all of the good fortunes the Dinos have seen this year, who has been most integral to the teams success? DeMar DeRozan is the face of the franchise and is one of the longest tenured members of the Raptors. The 24-year-old made his first All-Star Game this season and is leading the team in points scoring 22.7 per game. This is DeRozans fifth year in the Association and he signed a four-year deal last season to stay north of the border for the foreseeable future. Will the team only go as far as DeMar will take them? Kyle Lowry has quickly become a fan favourite in only his second season in Raptors colours. The rugged point guard has shown bulldog-like toughness on a nightly basis, playing considerable minutes and being the man the team has looked to when they are in need of a spark. Analysts and fans alike thought the 28-year-old should have been in New Orleans for the All-Star Game. Averaging 17.6 PPG (scoring over 20 points in eight consecutive games) along with 7.7 assists per game makes a good case for that argument. His future is uncertain in Toronto with Lowry hitting the free agent market this summer, but the Raptors are glad to have him for the time being.dddddddddddd Is he the one to thank? Then theres Amir Johnson. At only 26, he can be considered a veteran, already playing in his ninth NBA season and is an important part of the Raps front court. He averages 11.1 PPG, 6.9 rebounds per game and is a strong force on the defensive side of the ball. Maybe the key success is coming from the sidelines. Head coach Dwane Casey is in his second year in charge of the Raptors and seems to have finally gotten through to his players. Toronto has gotten much better defensively only allowing 97.6 PPG, good enough for fifth in the NBA. Is the coachs defence-first mindset the reason the Raptors are headed to the post-season? The success could be attributed to General Manager Masai Ujiri. The Nigerian hasnt brought in a lot of highly touted talent since he took the job last off-season. Instead hes used the method of addition by subtraction to improve on the court. First, he shipped the much-maligned Andrea Bargnani off to the New York Knicks followed by sending Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings during the season. Toronto is 34-19 since Gay was traded out west. With the offence no longer going through Gay, the Raptors have been able to score more efficiently. Not to mention the players coming back to Toronto - namely Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez – have helped the Raptors to get where they are today. Do we have to look to the front office for the reason behind the sudden improvement? So, who do you think is the most integral to the Raptors success this season? As always, its Your! Call. ' ' '