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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 Tour de France selfies, Adam Linds mom, Louis van Gaal embarrassing himself, and self-serve beer machines. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star My thumb is down to idiots, which is a general statement, so lets specify: my thumb is down to the idiots who have decided to take selfies, to use the infantilizing term for photos you take of yourself, during the Tour de France. On the side of the road. With the riders whizzing by. Fans are often uncomfortably close to the cyclists during the Tour, which is part of the old-world charm, but at least are usually facing the race, so they can see the men flying towards them at high speeds. Taking selfies has now caused several harmless but dangerous crashes, and a high number of near-misses. Look, its bad enough that we call them selfies. Its a real accomplishment to make taking them dumber than the name. Steve Simmons, Sun Media My thumb is up to Adam Linds mom, for doing what moms do best. For giving helpful and thoughtful advice to one of her children. Lind complained not long ago that the foot he injured with a foul ball on June 14 didnt seem to be getting better. You can tell your mom that. You cant always tell your trainers or doctors. Lind had all the tests. Still, it didnt seem right. His mom, not a doctor, was clear: get an MRI. And so he asked for one. The imaging was done and it was determined he had a fracture in his foot. The Jays then sent him to North Carolina to see a foot specialist. The diagnosis now is that Lind will be out two weeks after this weeks All-Star Game. And there is no talk of adding Linds mom to the Jays medical or training staff. Maybe there should be. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is down to coach Louis van Gaal and the Netherlands, whose color is orange but whose liver is lilly. van Gaal said he asked two players to take the first penalty kick in the shootout against Argentina and was rebuffed twice. If those unnamed players indeed did decline, it represents turtling of the first order. But van Gaal also deserves blame. He asked players to take the kick. He didnt tell them. Since when did sports - especially the World Cup - become a democracy? Penalty kicks in the semifinal shouldnt be a show-of-hands thing. Brazil was humiliated by Germany, but the Netherlands embarrassed itself without any help. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is down to a new idea that proves that all new ideas arent good ideas. At the MLB All-Star game in Minnesota, beer can be purchased at self-serve machines. I want you to imagine that youre thirsty and at the back of the line while the person at the front of the line is first undergoing, via the beer machine, an ID check for proof of age. Then the purchase of a money card that will allow access to the machine, so the brand of beer can be selected, and the quantity of beer, by the ounce, can be determined, followed of course by the pouring of the beer, spillage would seem unavoidable. Meanwhile at the back of the line, if a vendor walked by, with a can of beer in his hand, can you think of any reason to wait until you get to the front of the line, except to take a selfie...you and the beer machine? Tramon Williams Packers Jersey . Before that, Rousey needed a total 23 minutes and 26 seconds to take care of her last eight opponents - and one of those fights lasted 10 minutes and 58 seconds. Jimmy Graham Packers Jersey . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Jaire-Alexander-Jersey/ . He reps the 4-1-6The insecurity of Canadian basketball fans is not what it once was with the home grown talent making its way to the big leagues, but it is still nice to see the local kids remembering where they come from once they make their way south. JMon Moore Jersey . Blatter, a 75-year-old Swiss executive who has been in office since 1998, was handed a final four-year term as head of footballs governing body in a vote at FIFAs congress. He won 186 votes out of 203 ballots. Marquez Valdes-Scantling Jersey . The Toronto Maple Leafs forward and Nashville Predators goaltender highlighted Mondays waiver transactions, with Calgarys Chuck Kobasew and Edmontons Philip Larsen also being placed on waivers.NEW YORK -- New York Islanders coach Jack Capuano asked for more than just offence from his top line when they took on the rival New York Rangers. John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Nash scored twice in the first period, but the Islanders erased a two-goal deficit for the second straight day and beat the Rangers 5-3 on Tuesday night. "There was a time during the first period that I was going to probably break that line up," Capuano said, "but I wanted to see how they handled it. I thought they responded as the game went on and did a good job." Nash didnt do any more damage, Vanek scored the tiebreaking power-play goal with 4:38 left, Tavares had three assists, and Okposo added two as the Islanders won for the ninth time in 11 road games. The Islanders have won two of the first three meetings with the Rangers. The teams will play twice more in the next 10 days, including outdoors at Yankee Stadium. "Division games are huge this time of year. Its nice to beat these guys," Tavares said. "They got those two early goals, but I think for the most part we were the better team. We did a good job ... and finished off the game. Big win. Character win." Vanek capped the comeback as the Rangers were trying to kill a penalty for too many men. Colin McDonald and defenceman Thomas Hickey scored in the second period to get the Islanders even. Matt Martin scored a rare goal in the first, and Frans Nielsen added an empty-netter. Kevin Poulin made 30 saves in front of a nearly full crowd on a snowy night in New York. "The secondary guys came up big," Capuano said. "Our top line struggled a little bit in the first, but they came around. Your best players have got to be your best players. We were fortunate with that break with the too many men, but we were able to capitalize." Nash posted his second straight multigoal game, and Chris Kreider added a goal for the Rangers, who had won three in a row. Cam Talbot made 32 saves while subbing for Henrik Lundqvist, who missed the game due to illness. It was the first time in eight games the Rangers allowed more than two goals. "We wanted the two points, and we put ourselves in a ggood position to get them," Nash said.dddddddddddd "We didnt get the job done." The Rangers pressed hard in the final minute after Talbot was pulled for an extra skater, but couldnt tie it. Unlike Monday in a 4-3 shootout win at home over Philadelphia, the Islanders didnt wait until the third period to tie it. "It was a good win," Capuano said, "but weve got a stretch coming up where weve got to make sure that were focused and were committed and doing the right things." After Kreider restored the Rangers two-goal lead at 9:34 of the second with a power-play goal, Hickey began the comeback with his fourth of the season off a perfect feed from Okposo with 6:38 left in the period. Just 3:14 later, McDonald got to a rebound off a hard shot by Tavares and fired a drive that beat Talbot for his fourth of the season to tie it. "Youre up 3-1 and you think maybe you can get through the period and play a good solid third, but we didnt," forward Brad Richards said. "We made some mistakes. Some nights other teams will capitalize, and some nights you get away with it. We didnt get away with it." For the second straight game, Nash struck quickly and gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Nash took a pass from behind the net from Kreider and wristed a shot past Poulin at 1:02 -- 8 seconds faster than Sunday when he put New York in front against Washington. The Islanders put lots of pressure on the Rangers in their end, but couldnt get a shot past Talbot. When Okposo failed to cleanly handle a pass near the right circle, Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi spotted Nash alone at centre ice and sent a pass to him. Nash received the puck with his back to the Islanders net, and quickly turned up ice and came in on a breakaway. Nash shifted the puck several times on his stick before sliding a shot in at 11:07 for his 16th of the season, fifth in three games, and ninth in nine games. The Islanders got one back with 2:38 left in the first when Martin took a pass in the slot from Tavares and scored his third of the season. NOTES: Martin went 38 games without a goal, dating to Nov. 1 at Ottawa. Hickey netted his first in 12 games, dating to Dec. 29 at Minnesota. ... Nash netted the winning goal in the previous four games in which he scored. ... The Rangers signed G David Leneveu to back up Talbot. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '