Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. Saints Jerseys 2020 . This week they discuss the National Football League, the great Ichiro Suzuki and a fans complaint about the Rogers Centre. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is down to ESPN for pulling out of a partnership with PBS on a deeply researched documentary on the NFLs questionable handling of concussions after - wait, this cant be right - a lunch meeting in midtown Manhattan with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Both sides denied NFL pressure was the cause, which means they must believe the public has collectively suffered serious head trauma. The league is looking more and more like a cigarette company every day, facing litigation from a third of its living former players, and everybody knows it. But ESPN - which airs Monday Night Football - has so many great journalists, on this issue and others, and it did them a deep disservice in succumbing to business interests over journalism. The only positive? At least they decided where they stand. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to the National Football League for its rather weak suspension of Houston defensive end Antonio Smith. Smith has been suspended for two pre-season games and one regular season game for one of the most dangerous acts on a football field Ive ever seen. Smith somehow manipulated the helmet off Miamis often dirty Richie Incognito and violently swung the helmet in the direction of Incognitos head. Had it connected we might be talking about something other than suspension today. And at a time when the NFL is doing almost everything to protect its players, especially the head, this time it didnt do enough. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is up to Ichiro Suzuki, who passed the 4,000 hit mark this week against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Of course 1,278 of those hits came in the Japanese league to which I say … so? The Japanese League isnt exactly single A. And suppose Ichiro simply had materialized in Seattle at age 27 and began a career that produced a rookie of the year, an MVP, 10 Gold Gloves, more than 2,700 hits, 10 straight 200-plus hit season and a record 262 hits. Hall of Famer? Yeah. Anyway, that little museum in Cooperstown is the national baseball hall of fame, not the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Dave Hodge, TSN: On a list of complaints by fans of the Blue Jays, this wouldnt rank near the top, but Im with the fan who said "thumbs down" to this bit of nonsense encountered at the Rogers Centre beer concession. Fan wanted to buy one beer and he wanted to share it with his wife, so he asked for an empty cup to go with the overpriced can of beer. Sorry, thats not allowed. You can have beer in a can, minus a cup, or you can have beer in a cup, minus the can. But you cant walk away with half a can and half a cup of beer. Not even that way can the Jays and their fans enjoy a .500 season. New Orleans Saints Gear . Sources tell TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger that the team is quietly gauging interest on the Senators captain, though Spezza has a limited no-trade clause and carries a large contract. New Orleans Saints Store . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. https://www.saintsjerseyssale.com/ . Rudy Gay made the tying basket in regulation and a 3-pointer in overtime that gave Sacramento the lead for good, and Fredette scored a career-high 24 points to help the Kings beat the Knicks 106-101 on Wednesday night.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Clippers hope to put Tuesdays season- opening loss to the Lakers behind them Thursday night when they host the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers, a trendy NBA championship pick by some after Doc Rivers left the Boston Celtics to become the head coach, lost to their fellow Staples Center tenants 116-103 in what was technically a road game. "The game just didnt look right to me throughout the game. I just didnt feel good about it. You could sense it," Rivers said on Wednesday. "I thought we came with the right intentions. We just didnt do them very well. I thought we broke down a lot. All of the things that weve worked on that we do in a drill and when the lights came on, we didnt do them." Rivers preached defense as a way for the Clippers, last seasons Pacific Division champs, to make a leap in the postseason. On Tuesday, the Lakers, without Kobe Bryant, scored 41 points in the fourth quarter, and shot 48 percent from behind the 3-point line. Blake Griffin led the Clippers against the Lakers with 19 points, but shot 3- for-10 from the foul line. Chris Paul, who re-signed with the Clips in the offseason, had a double-double with 15 points and 11 assists. DeAndre Jordan (17), Jamal Crawford (15) and J.J. Redick (13) all scored in double figures for L.A. The Warriors clobbered those same Lakers in their season debut Wednesday night att Oracle Arena. Saints Jerseys 2021. Golden State routed the Lakers 125-94 thanks to an awesome performance from Klay Thompson. The shooting guard was sensational with 38 points, including 27 at the half on 10-for-12 shooting. For the night, Thompson went 15-for-19 from the floor and 5-for-7 from the 3-point line. "After like my third three; I just knew I was getting open looks," said Thompson. "I was locked in before the game, too. Actually, I knew in the pre-game, I was hitting everything." David Lee, an All-Star last season, enjoyed a great game with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists. The Warriors were up 33 points to start the fourth quarter, so Thompson was the only Golden State player to go more than 30 minutes. Steph Curry only had 10 points and Toney Douglas notched 13 off the bench. Andre Iguodalas Warriors debut was pedestrian with seven points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. "It was a lot of fun. This is my 10th one, you kind of get tired of opening night and the theatrics, youre just ready to go play." said Iguodala. "I think it was done well and it kind of gave us a boost of energy coming out. So weve got to let that energy carry us throughout the first month of the season, keep it going and just stay focused." The Warriors won three of the four meetings last season, but are 5-13 in the last 18 road matchups. ' ' '