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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 Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling. Bruce Arthur, National Post My thumb is down to Russias national mens hockey program, which is still making reverberations a week after Sochi. After falling in the quarter-finals for the second straight Olympics, Russias NHL stars came back angry. As Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin were unhappy for many reasons, but most of all resented the programs bias towards KHL players, which greatly distorted playing time, pairings, strategy, and felt like a punishment to Russian stars who dont play at home. Russia was one of the worlds great hockey powers, and a worthy rival to Canada; now its a mess, riven by petty rivalries. Its a shame, really. The Russians havent won a best-on-best tournament since the 1981 Canada Cup, and somehow they feel further away than ever. Steve Simmons, SUN Media My thumb is down to the International Olympic Committee for the mess it made of the Nicklas Backstrom gold medal game allergy pill fiasco. As a member of Swedens hockey delegation said, the IOC destroyed one of the greatest days in Olympic hockey history for the country. Backstrom, who did test positive for pseudo-ephedrine, didnt disagree with that assessment. The IOC first tested Backstrom last Wednesday. In the three days that followed, they never did do a second test. The Swedish team was not informed of Backstroms status until two hours before game time. Now dont get me wrong, the Swedes could have had Nicklas Backstrom, Ralph Backstrom, and all the Backstroms you can name available for the gold medal game and the result wouldnt have been different. What they didnt need was an unnecessary disruption, born of IOC ineptitude. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is down to John Tortorella, not for his most recent apology but for the continual need to apologize. This time, the Canucks coach launched into a mea culpa after saying he favored Sweden in the Sochi final because he wanted his Swedish Olympians - Daniel Sedin and Alex Edler - to return with smiles on their faces. Tortorella wears blinders. Professionally, he sees the small picture, nothing beyond his team. Belatedly, of course, he grasped context - Vancouver … Canada. So four weeks after apologizing for losing his mind between periods against Calgary, he again was at a microphone wearing a hair shirt and a tight expression. Thats Tortorella, the never-ending sorry. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is up to the excellence shown by Canadas Gold-medalists in curling - Jennifer Jones and her rink from Winnipeg and Brad Jacobs and his rink from Sault Ste. Marie. We used to take for granted Canadas worldwide dominance in curling, and then we didnt, because as good as the Canadians continued to be, several other countries showed they were capable of winning world titles. Not that Jones and Jacobs allow Canada to rest on its laurels, but the Sochi results were very impressive, and hows this for proof of Canadas wealth of curling talent - the Brier is underway in Kamloops and the field is strong with Jeff Stoughton, Kevin Koe, John Morris, and Brad Gushue. And imagine talking about a strong field that doesnt include Jacobs, Glenn Howard and Kevin Martin. Cheap Jerseys .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday. China Jerseys . -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released veteran guard Davin Joseph, a mainstay on their offensive line over the past eight seasons. http://www.cheapjerseysdiscount.com/ .A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul. Discount Jerseys . The star receiver certainly isnt celebrating it with the Texans mired in a franchise-record 13-game skid. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . LUCIE, Fla.HOUSTON -- Mike Moustakas homered in the 11th inning to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 6-4 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night. Moustakas has been off to a tough start this season and was hitting .098 before his solo shot to the seats in right field off Jerome Williams (0-1) to lead off the 11th. A small group of Royals fans stood and yelled Moooooose as he rounded the bases after his first homer this year. Jarrod Dyson singled and added an insurance run on a fielders choice. Danny Duffy (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win and Greg Holland allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless 11th for his fifth save. Jason Castro and Marc Krauss both had two-run home runs for the Astros. Heralded Houston prospect George Springer made his major league debut, batting second and playing right field. The 24-year-old, who hit 37 homers combined in Double-A and Triple-A last season, singled and walked, but struck out with one out and a runner on first in the 11th. Danny Valencia had a solo homer in the second and Salvador Perez tied it up in the seventh with a two-run single. The Astros went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base. Eric Hosmer had two hits for his fourth multi-hit game. He led the American League last season with 60 such games. Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar singled with one out in the seventh inning and Hosmer walked with two outs to load the bases. A sharp groundball single by Perez off Matt Albers rolled just out of reach of a diving Marwin Gonzalez and into left field to score two and tie it at 4-4. The homer by Krausss put Houston up 4-2 in the sixth inning.dddddddddddd Alex Gordon drew a one-out walk in the fourth inning before a single by Valencia. Dallas Keuchel plunked Justin Maxwell on the right hand to load the bases and Gordon scored on a groundout by Cain to tie it at 2-2. Springer got his first major league hit on a dribbler that travelled just a few feet down the third base line with one out in the third inning. His parents were sitting behind home plate and his mother stood up and waved her hands in the air when he reached first base. Castros opposite field homer to left field followed to put Houston up 2-1. Valencias shot to the Crawford Boxes in left field gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Springer drew a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, but was caught stealing in a rundown later in the inning. Hosmer made a nifty play on a grounder Matt Dominguez hit off the end of his bat for the second out in the eighth inning. He grabbed it on the run backhanded and flipped it to pitcher Kelvin Herrera, who was covering first. NOTES: Cain was initially credited with a single to start the ninth inning, but Houston manager Bo Porter challenged the call and officials found he didnt beat the throw. ... Right-hander Brad Peacock will take Lucas Harrells spot in the Astros rotation. Harrell was designated for assignment on Wednesday after starting the season 0-3. ... LHP Bruce Chen has been scratched from Thursdays start for Kansas City because of a sore back. RHP James Shields will start in his place in the finale against Scott Feldman. Chen should be able to start on Saturday. ' ' '