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. Washington Nationals Shirts . Scrivens stopped 48 shots and captain Andrew Ference scored in overtime as the Oilers pulled off a 4-3 upset of the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. Tres Barrera Nationals Jersey .Tatjana Haenni, FIFAs head of womens competitions, told a FIFA Live Your Goals Tour news conference Friday that the artificial turf is being tested to make sure it meets standards. https://www.cheapnationals.com/1107r-hun...ationals.html.S. Olympic hockey management team have been making what he called "ghost rosters" since August. Jeremy Hellickson Nationals Jersey .com)LeBron clearly likes his Italian sports cars, and thats ok with me, so up next up is the 458 Spider. Patrick Corbin Jersey . Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the Houston Texans No. 1 pick in the draft, was on the field Tuesday for the first time with former NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.PITTSBURGH -- The San Diego Padres are nowhere near a pennant race. Not by a long shot. Too bad. They have apparently gotten the hang of playoff baseball. Logan Forsythe and Rene Rivera delivered consecutive RBI singles in the ninth inning off Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon and the Padres rallied for a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night for their third straight win. "What a game," San Diego manager Bud Black said. "Pitch to pitch, every pitch counted. Just a great, great game." Forsythes single to right scored pinch-runner Andrew Cashner to tie the game and Riveras blooper brought home Chris Denorfia as the Padres dealt Pittsburghs NL Central title hopes another blow as the Pirates fell two games behind first-place St. Louis, which beat Colorado 4-3. Dale Thayer (3-5) picked up the win in relief. Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth for his 33rd save as San Diego improved to 31-10 at PNC Park since it opened in 2001. "There is no rhythm or reason to it," Black said. "If we knew why, we would try to bottle it and take it with us wherever we go. I wish I could try to explain it." The Pirates would certainly like one. Melancon (2-2), who inherited the closers role when All-Star Jason Grilli went out with a forearm injury in July, blew his third save of the season. "Just got to tip your hat, they put the ball in play and found some holes," Melancon said. "They did a good job. Sometimes it happens that way." Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer in the seventh to give the Pirates the lead but Pittsburgh fell to 74-3 when leading after eight when Melancon faltered. Melancon has been nearly automatic since taking over for Grilli before running into trouble in the ninth. Jedd Gyorko led off with a single before Melancon settled down to retire the next two batters. Denorfia singled to put runners on the corners and Forsythe and Rivera followed with well-placed, if not exactly well-struck, hits to right field as San Diego improved to 11-4 in its last 15 games. "It was something special," Rivera said. "We battled all game and we came through." The rally spoiled McCutchens latest heroics. Pittsburgh was handcuffed by San Diego starter Tyson Ross for 6 1-3 innings when Neil Walker reached on a wild pittch with one out in the seventh.dddddddddddd McCutchen followed by turning on a 3-0 fastball, sending it into the seats in right-centre for his 20th homer of the season. The Pirates lit up Ross for five runs in 6 1-3 innings in San Diego a month ago but came in having scored just two runs in the first two games of the series, losses that dropped Pittsburgh behind the Cardinals as they pursue their first division title in 21 years. Justin Morneau singled leading off the second before being erased on a double play. Ross spent the next 90 minutes toying with the Pirates. Pittsburgh only managed to get three balls to the outfield through six innings. Ross retired Starling Marte to start the seventh and Walker swung and missed at strike three. The ball skittered away from Rivera and rolled to the backstop, allowing Walker to reach. Ross threw wide on three straight pitches to McCutchen, and the National League MVP candidate mashed a fastball over the heart of the plate well over the wall. It was the only mistake on an otherwise brilliant night by Ross, who allowed two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts. "Tyson pitched a great game and he certainly didnt deserve to lose," Black said. "He was more efficient in the strike zone, he was aggressive in the strike zone, he was throwing more strikes and he got in better counts. When you do those things and you have good stuff then you have games like this." Tyson got a good look as McCutchen trotted around the bases then came out for a curtain call as the suddenly energized crowd of over 27,000 roared. He managed to get through the seventh without further damage, ending a duel with Pittsburghs Charlie Morton. Mixing his sinker with an improved curveball in his comeback from Tommy John surgery last year, Morton tied a career-high with nine strikeouts, allowing only one run and two hits. It wasnt quite enough as Pittsburghs playoff push hit another roadblock. NOTES: Pittsburgh sat C Russell Martin on Wednesday and will do so again on Thursday. Manager Clint Hurdle said he wants Martin to be well rested when the Pirates open a pivotal three-game series with Cincinnati on Friday. ... The series wraps up Thursday. Gerrit Cole (8-7, 3.33 ERA) starts for the Pirates against Ian Kennedy (6-9, 4.85). ' ' '