Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss the ongoing Redskins name debate, a truly dominant pitching performance, the bargain basement standards of the LPGA and MLBs latest fine import. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star: My thumb is down to the Washington Redskins name debate, and not just because theres any debate at all over the most clearly racist name in sports. No, its because the debates getting dumber by the second, as it ratchets up. A sitting U.S. Congressman - low bar, I know - compared Barack Obama to Kim Jong-Il, or -Un, after a federal trademark case declared the name derogatory. A Fox News host - low bar, I know - compared the name to the New York Giants offending tall people. This happens often, and its always, always stupid, people. Its like the Yankees, or the Lakers, or the Dallas Cowboys of stupid. Calling Dallas the Cowboys, of course, should only be offensive to competent and/or humble cowboys, one and all. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is up to Clayton Kershaw, superstar pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who brought the no-hitter back into vogue with a performance for the ages Wednesday night at Coors Field. And I know what youre thinking: another no-hitter, big deal. Theres been so many of them in recent seasons that weve all grown a little bored of pitchers we didnt know or care about throwing another no-no. But it was different against the Colorado Rockies. This is a big name - Kershaw - striking out 15 batters, walking no one, in total command, only reaching the count of three balls on one batter and had it not been for an error by Hanley Ramirez, were talking perfect game here. Add Vin Scully broadcasting to the occasion and baseball doesnt get any better than that. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is down not to 11-year-old Lucy Li, who qualified for the U.S. Open, but to womens professional golf, whose thimble-deep talent pool made it possible for an 11-year old to qualify. The sixth-grader, who looked like she should be entered in a hopscotch tournament and not slugging it out on Pinehurst no. 2, shot a pair of credible 78s, a score that matched marquee names Natalie Gulbis and Laura Davies but left her far off the cut. Nice two-day story. But rather than celebrate the presence of a sprite in the event, shouldnt the USGA, and by extension the LPGA, be mortified a novice qualified? The kid is precocious, but she isnt exactly Mozart. Dave Naylor, TSN: And my thumb is up to Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees for proving that sometimes a player really is worth all the hype. You may remember how Tanakas transfer from Japan was the major story of the MLB off-season. You may also remember that when the first Major Leage hitter he faced in Melky Cabrera took him deep … some were wondering if the Yankees had just uncovered the next “Dice-K” Matsuzaka. Well right now Tanaka leads the American League in wins and ERA and is among the leaders in innings-pitched, as well as strikeouts and walks per nine innings. And hes looking like a good bet to win both the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year honours. Coming off a perfect 24-0 record in Japan last season, experts cautioned not to expect the same thing from Tanaka in the major leagues. And they were right. After all, on May 20th against the Cubs he did something he never did all of last season in japan. He took the loss. Custom Nike Miami Marlins Jerseys .Y. -- In a span of three days, Shabazz Napier and Connecticut knocked out both Philadelphia schools in the NCAA tournament. Custom Nike Colorado Rockies Jerseys . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.co...te-sox-jerseys/. In the other Group A game, the Czech Republic stunned Canada, 5-4 in a shootout. Dominik Simon scored the deciding goal in the tiebreaker. The United States scored its first three goals on power plays. "Overall, I love to see the power-play goals we were able to get tonight," said U. Custom Nike Seattle Mariners Jerseys . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Marc-Andre Fleury, Penguins (3) - Surrendered a tough first goal against on a deflection through the body short side. Custom Nike Kansas City Royals Jerseys . A-Rod is also disqualified from any post-season play. So at the tender age of 38, he will miss all of next season. As a result of missing the coming season, hes also out $25 million (which coincidentally is my hourly rate).EDMONTON -- Scott Feser scored three goals, including his third 1:59 into extra time, as the Red Deer Rebels edged the host Edmonton Oil Kings 3-2 on Friday in Western Hockey League action. Patrik Bartosak turned away 50-of-52 shots for the Rebels (28-26-4), who halted their losing streak at seven games. Trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes of play, Feser forced overtime with his second goal of the game at 5:35 of the third period. Dysin Mayo and Edgars Kulda scored for the Oil Kings (40-14-2) and Mads Eller assisted on each of his clubs goals. Edmontons Mitchell Moroz was ejected 42 seconds into the second period after receiving a major for charging. Tristan Jarry made 20 saves in a losing cause. --- PATS 5 RAIDERS 4 (SO) PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. -- Boston Leier had a goal and an assist along with the shootout winner as Regina slipped past the Raiders. Chandler Stephenson, Patrick DAmico and Dryden Hunt also scored for the Pats (30-22-5). Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist for Prince Albert (26-27-4), Collin Valcourt and Calder Brooks each scored once and Sawyer Lange tacked on three assists. Reginas Daniel Wapple made 33 saves for the win as Cole Cheveldave stopped 35 shots for the Raiders. --- TIGERS 7 BRONCOS 3 SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. -- Curtis Valk scored twice and Cole Sanford had a goal and two assists as Medicine Hat downed the Broncos. Ty Stanton, Miles Koules, Blake Penner and Jocab Doty also scored for the Tigers (35-20-3), who won their third game in a row. Julius Honka, Nathan Burns and Jake DeBrusk scored for Swift Current (28-22-8). Medicine Hats Marek Langhamer made 30 saves for the win. Eetu Laurikainen started in net for the Broncos but was relieved after allowing four goals on 25 shots. Landon Bow stopped 12-of-15 shots in 28 minutes of relief. --- ICE 3 WHEAT KINGS 2 (SO) BRANDON -- Matt Alfaro scored the winner as Kootenay handed the Wheat Kings their fourth straight defeat. Sam Reinhart and Tim Bozon each had a goal and an assist for the Ice (32-22-4). Brett Kitt scored both goals for Brandon (28-22-8). Mackenzie Skapski made 32 saves for Kootenay while Jordan Papirny turned away 33-of-35 shots for the Wheat Kings. --- HITMEN 6 BLADES 5 (OT) CALGARY -- Alex Roach scored twice, including 11 seconds into overtime, as the Hitmen extended their win streak to five games by defeating Saskatoon. Greg Chase had a goal and two assists for Calgary (37-15-6) while Pavel Padakin, Cal Babych and Chase Lang had the others. David Nemecek, Cameron Hebig, Dylan Busenius Chase Clayton and Nikita Scherbak replied for the Blades (15-39-5). Mack Shields made 19 saves for the Hitmen. Saskatoons Troy Trombley stopped 43-of-49 shots in defeat..dddddddddddd --- WARRIORS 4 HURRICANES 2 LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -- Zach Sawchenko stopped 27 shots as Moose Jaw doubled up the Hurricanes. Torrin White and Jack Rodewald each had a goal and an assist for the Warriors (15-33-8) and Ben Duperreault and Bryson Gore added single goals. Riley Sheen and Reid Duke scored for Lethbridge (12-42-5), which is 3-7-0 in its last 10 games. Teagan Sacher turned away 30-of-33 shots for the Hurricanes. --- WINTERHAWKS 7 BLAZERS 4 KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- Taylor Leier had two goals and two assists and Dominic Turgeon had a pair of goals as Portland handed the Blazers their 11th loss in a row. Nicolas Petan and Brendan Leipsic each had a goal and two assists for the Winterhawks (41-12-5), who improved to 16-0-1 in their last 17 games, while Alex Schoenborn chipped in a single goal. Cole Ully scored twice for Kamloops (11-42-5) and Joe Kornelsen and Matt Bellerive had the others. Portlands Corbin Boes made 23 saves for the win as Bolton Pouliot kicked out 42-of-49 shots for the Blazers. --- ROCKETS 4 COUGARS 2 KELOWNA, B.C. -- Rourke Chartier scored the winner at 19:35 of the third, and then added an insurance goal 15 seconds later as the Rockets doubled up Prince George. Nick Merkley and Carter Rigby also scored for Kelowna (46-8-4), which trailed 2-0 midway through the second period before reeling off four unanswered goals. Marc McNulty and Todd Fiddler scored for the Cougars (24-29-7), who are winless in three contests. Jordon Cooke made 26 saves for the Rockets. Adam Beukeboom stopped 38-of-41 shots for Prince George. --- SILVERTIPS 2 GIANTS 1 (OT) EVERETT, Wash. -- Kevin Davis scored his first-career WHL goal 2:32 into overtime as the Silvertips edged Vancouver. Dawson Leedhal also scored for Everett (28-21-8), which has won back-to-back contests. Joel Hamilton scored for the Giants (27-22-10), who are on a four-game slide. Austin Lotz made 26 saves for the Silvertips as Jared Rathjen stopped 29 shots for Vancouver. --- THUNDERBIRDS 4 AMERICANS 3 KENT, Wash. -- Russell Maxwell broke a 3-3 deadlock at 19:34 of the third period as Seattle held off Tri-City. Ethan Bear, Keegan Kolesar and Justin Hickman also scored for the Thunderbirds (36-17-5), who led 3-0 midway through the third, while Shea Theodore tacked on three assists. Beau McCue, Lucas Nickles and Parker Bowles scored late for the Americans (27-25-6). Taran Kozun made 37 saves for Seattle as Tri-Citys Eric Comrie turned aside 21-of-25 shots in defeat. There were 151 minutes in penalties handed out to the two clubs, which included 11 fighting majors and four game misconducts. Seattles Evan Wardley led all skaters with 30 penalty minutes. ' ' '