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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 Chris Froomes victory at the Tour de France, Mariano Riveras final appearance at the All-Star Game, Nick Faldos criticism of Rory McIlroy and the retractable roof at Rogers Centre. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to Chris Froome for winning the Tour de France in unbelievable fashion, or maybe too believable. He made it look so easy. Hes going to have the biggest winning margin since Lance Armstrong in 2004. Hes going to have the most stage wins for a champion since Lance Armstrong in 2004. He climbed the hard part of Mont Ventoux, the really gut-busting stuff, faster than anyone in history except for Lance Armstrong in 2002. He looked a lot like Lance Armstrong, which of course means that thats not very good. Lance Armstrong doesnt exist as far as the Tour de France is concerned anymore. All those accomplishments have been wiped from history. Chris Froome has won the Tour de France, which means now we wait. So its a thumbs up until proven otherwise. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is up to Mariano Rivera, who not only saved the MLB All-Star Game without registering a save but he brought us a view of something we otherwise wouldnt have seen. There wasnt much reason to watch the game on Tuesday, frankly theres little reason anymore to do so, but the story was Rivera in his 13th and final All-Star Game. When was he going to pitch, how was he going to pitch, how was manager Jim Leyland going to use him. And all eyes, fans, media, ball players were on him the entire game. When he pitched his scoreless inning in the eighth and was named Most Valuable Player, even though he was only one of 13 pitchers to pitch one scoreless inning in the All-Star Game, no one questioned the choice. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is down to Sir Nick Faldo for scolding the British Open and climbing all over Rory McIlroy for his work ethic. Its unfortunate because McIlroy is having a tough year, no doubt, and Faldo was right when he said McIlroy shouldnt have changed a winning game, shouldnt have changed clubs, switching to Nike, but McIlroy puts in the work. In his criticism, Faldo sounded like the old man yelling a kids to get off his lawn. And in this case, the lawn was storied Muirfield. Dave Hodge, TSN: Every once in a while, theres a reason to praise Rogers Centre, specifically for its retractable roof. Friday was one of those times. A mammoth storm hit southern Ontario and the Rogers roof allowed a baseball game to be played and baseball fans to be dry and safe, albeit with a stadium evacuation plan ready if needed and displayed on the Rogers Jumbotron. Circumstances forced me to leave the Blue Jays and the Tampa Rays in the early innings to deal with matters at home. It was a wild night, but pretty normal inside the Rogers Centre. Insert a line here if you want about the Blue Jays 8-5 loss adding to the normalcy. Josh Brown Jersey . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Bob Kudelski Jersey . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. https://www.panthersjerseycheap.com/1308f-brett-connolly-jersey-panthers.html . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Kenndal McArdle Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Sandis Ozolins Jersey . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. CINCINNATI -- After skipping his previous turn in the rotation, Miami Marlins right-hander Jose Fernandez continues his pursuit of the National League strikeout crown Thursday night when he faces the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.Fernandez (12-6, 2.81 ERA) has 198 Ks in 137 1/3 innings, second in the league behind Washington Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer, who has 211 strikeouts.However, Miami manager Don Mattingly wants his hard-throwing 24-year old to learn how to put batters away earlier in the count, thus limiting his pitches and extending outings.We dont talk a lot about his strikeouts, Mattingly said. We talk about him learning to pitch more. Keep himself in games. Keep his pitch count down. Pitch to contact. Part of that is to get early outs.Mattingly referenced Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, whom he managed in Los Angeles. While Kershaws strikeout totals were high, so were his innings totals.Theres a way to do it, Mattingly said. It cant be 3-2 strikeouts. You cant be missing 1-2, missing 3-2, then you get a strikeout. Thats putting an extra one to two pitches on every batter.Fernandez will be facing Cincinnati for the fifth time in his career. He is 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 25 innings vs. the Reds.The Marlins skipped his last start in an effort to limit his innings. Ideally, Fernandez will be kept around the 180-inning mark.Fernandezs fastball is common knowledge. However, his breaking ball is something hitters still are adjusting to, according to Mattingly.Joses got a knack for knowing how to use his breaking ball, the manager said. Hes got a great breaking ball. He throws in the upper 90s, so you have to get going. That puts you in danger against anything that breaks late and breaks big. Hes added the (changeup), which works well with his fastball.Cincinnati is batting .269 since thee All-Star break, led by first baseman Joey Vottos torrid .dddddddddddd.451 clip.The Reds will send one of their more dependable starters to the mound on Thursday, right-hander Dan Straily (8-6, 3.75 ERA).Straily will be making his 26th appearance of the season and 23rd start. Opponents are hitting just .215 against him, the ninth-best mark in the NL. He hasnt walked a batter in his last 16 2/3 innings and hasnt issued a free pass to a right-hander hitter since July 22.Straily has produced quality starts in seven of his past eight starts.Cincinnati (50-69) hopes to have all hands on deck against Fernandez on Thursday after a series of minor injuries caused regulars to miss games during the four-game series against Miami.Center fielder Billy Hamilton missed two starts since leaving Mondays game after a pair of collisions with the outfield wall.Left fielder Adam Duvall fouled a pitch off his left foot on Monday and was in a boot on Wednesday. It is doubtful Duvall will be back in time for the Thursday game.There is no fracture, manager Bryan Price said of Duvall. He was hit on one of those spots that you dont want to be hit. We decided immobilizing it was the way to go. We think hell be out a couple days.Second baseman Brandon Phillips had a knee contusion but returned to the Reds lineup on Wednesday in a big way with a pair of doubles, one of which drove in the tying and go-ahead runs, and two sensational defensive plays in a 6-3 Cincinnati win.Miami (62-58) is looking to keep pace in the NL wild-card race. After dropping two of the first three against the Reds, the Marlins are two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals and one game back of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the chase for the second wild card. ' ' '