rough patch," Thompson said. "A couple breakdowns there at

Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss the Americas Cup, a Canadian Tennis leader, Glen Grunwalds unceremonious exit and Tigers big year-end bonus. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to Team Oracle, which retained the Americas Cup by winning eight consecutive must-win races in San Francisco Bay. After falling behind 8-1, they repeatedly out-sailed New Zealand, and the glory is theirs. All it took was 11 victories in a best-of-17, since Oracle had been penalized two races for being caught in the biggest cheating scandal in the events 162-year history; one dead sailor, who perished back in May when one of the insane 130-foot-high catamarans that Oracle CEO Larry Ellision decreed be used for this version of the race tipped over; and boats so mind-bogglingly expensive that only four teams could afford to enter. But Americas win-at-all-cost billionaires beat New Zealands, and thats the bottom line. Congratulations, everyone. Well, not everyone. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to James Dolan and the New York Knicks for the unceremonious and unnecessary firing of general manager Glen Grunwald. The removal of Grunwald comes after a season in which the Knicks won more games - 54 - than they have in the past 16 years. And then they went two rounds in the playoffs, something they hadnt done in 12 years. Grunwald operated the franchise with an un-New York-like calm, hiring Mike Woodson to coach, finding a certain peace between Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudamire, trading away Jeremy Lin. Rather than fire him, Dolan should done the opposite and given Grunwald a contract extension. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is up to Michael Downey, the Tennis Canada CEO who is leaving to run the Lawn Tennis Association in Great Britain. Think of him as Mark Carney - the Canadian who heads the Bank of England - only with a chair umpire. This is a significant loss for Canadian tennis, which benefitted from Downeys organizational skills. Of course Id be a little more worried for the immediate future of the sport in this country if Milos Raonic bolted with Downey - like Greg Rusedski did 18 years ago. There are dozens of talented sports administrators. There are far fewer people who can thump a 135 mile-per-hour serve. This morning, Raonic won the Thailand Open, beating top seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is up to the PGA Tour for making Tiger Woods its Player of the Year when nobody - maybe not even Tiger Woods - would have objected strenuously if the choice had been Adam Scott. Because so much emphasis is placed on major titles, and Tigers the biggest reason for that, it might seem strange that Scott wasnt chosen for his masters win and two other top-five finishes at majors, and that tiger was chosen in a year that saw him shut out at majors - again, for the fifth straight time. But Tiger won five other tournaments, he won the most money and he is – officially - the Number One player in the world. He had the best year… he just didnt have it in the best places. Drew Forbes Jersey .C. - Alberta prop Andrew Tiedemann will captain Canada against Uruguay on Friday, the opening day of competition at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship. Derrick Willies Jersey . -- Stanley Johnson scored all 18 of his points in the second half, T. http://www.cheapbrownsjerseysauthentic.c...robinson-jersey. He liked what he saw on Tuesday night. Not only did his team post a comeback 3-2 victory in a shootout over the Montreal Canadiens, but the rival Washington Capitals were beaten 5-1 in Buffalo. Trevon Coley Jersey . The 24-year-old right winger has one assist in nine games this season with the Sabres. In his career, he has three goals and six assists in 43 NHL games. Sione Takitaki Jersey . The Raptors had an early deadline Sunday, a dreaded afternoon game, and they left the bulk of their work until the last minute, as theyve done so many times before.DENVER - Patrick Roy returned to the Colorado Avalanche to restore the glory years he helped forge, and hes enjoying the ride with a young team playing at a high level. Nick Holden scored two goals, Ryan OReilly had a goal and an assist and the Avalanche rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 on Sunday night. Semyon Varlamov stopped 31 shots and Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie also scored for the Avalanche, who have won two straight. Roy helped lead Colorado to two Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001 as the goaltender with a dynamic offence in front of him. Now as the coach, hes bringing back memories of that era. "You ask me what reminds me of the Avalanche of the past, thats the type of hockey we were playing," he said. "And thats the way were playing right now." Those championship teams also featured goal-scoring defencemen, something lacking from last years squad. Colorados blue-liners had just five goals in 48 games a year ago. The Avalanche got four goals from its defence Sunday, including Johnsons first in his return from a two-game suspension for a slash on New York Islanders centre Frans Nielsen three weeks ago. "Its tough sitting out, and to be able to come back and contribute and help the team win is fun," he said. Johnson scored the go-ahead goal at 16:05 of the third when he pinched in to steal the puck and then sent a low shot past 6-foot-7 goalie Ben Bishop from along the boards. "I know (Bishop) from St. Louis, and I shot at him a lot," Johnson said. "Hes obviously a big guy and he doesnt give you a lot of room. Sometimes, big guys like that, you throw it at their feet and they dont see it." Nate Thompson had two goals, Tom Pyatt also scored and Bishop finished with 29 saves for the Lightning, who had four penalties in the last 21:28 of the game. "The penalties killed us," centre Alex Killorn said. "Six minutes where we didnt play in their zone." Holden tied it wiith a power-play goal at 5:12 of the third.ddddddddddddIt was Colorados sixth power-play goal in the past three games. Holden notched his second two-goal game when he scored into an empty net with 53 seconds remaining. Paul Stastny added another with 6.3 seconds left. "This is a tough one," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Tied game with under five minutes to go. I thought we were getting points from this one. We let them slip out of our hands." Thompson has eight goals, and four of them have come in a pair of two-goal games. He got his first one Sunday when he beat Varlamov on the short side 6:40 into the second period to tie it at 2. Later in the period, he sent a wrister at Varlamov that settled in the crease, and then he skated through to knock it in at 17:37. The Lightning missed an opportunity to move into second place in the Atlantic Division and third in the Eastern Conference after Colorados late-game eruption. "I think were going through a little bit of a rough patch," Thompson said. "A couple breakdowns there at the end and they end up in the back of the net, unfortunately." Colorado stayed within three points of St. Louis in the Central Division with the win. The Blues beat Phoenix on Sunday. The game was scoreless for most of the first period despite plenty of chances. Lightning centre Vladislav Namestnikov had two of them and Colorado centre Matt Duchene was stopped on a breakaway. Tampa Bay finally cashed in when Pyatt scored at 16:49 of the first. Barrie tied it 30 seconds later with a shot between Bishops legs, and OReilly gave Colorado a 2-1 lead with his 23rd of the season 1:42 later. NOTES: Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon finished with two assists. ... Tampa Bay C Valtteri Filppula missed his fourth straight game with a non-displaced fracture in his right ankle. ... MacKinnon extended his points streak to 11 games. Its the longest streak by a rookie since Stastny had one of 20 games during the 2006-07 season.