Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. Daniel Descalso Jersey . This week, they discuss sports off-day, the MLB All-Star game, Canadas field lacrosse team and Huston Streets comments upon being traded. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star My thumb is up to Wednesday of this past week. Now, you probably read and heard a lot of sympathetically depressed moaning about how it was the slowest sports day of the year - no baseball, no hockey, no basketball, no football, and nothing to entertain those in search of sports except... Well, Major League Soccer, the Tour de France, and the ESPYs, featuring Drake. Thats hardly nothing, the semi-vacancy of the ESPYs aside, but you know what? Good. We could use some time with less sports. The days are packed with sports. Christmas day is basically a basketball tournament now. We could use some time to breathe, take a walk, reconnect with family, learn to make a bookshelf. Sports are fun, no question. But how can we miss them when they wont go away? Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun My thumb is down to major league baseball, the Minnesota Twins and broadcasters of the All-Star game for failing to appropriately recognize the passing of Tony Gwynn just one month ago. Its not like Gwynn was just another player. He was a 15-time All-Star, perhaps the most beloved figure in a game with not enough beloved figures, and yet somehow there was no tribute to Gwynn throughout the three hour Derek Jeter infomercial that we endured. And I have nothing but regard for Derek Jeter, who has had a storied career; but there should have been something for Gwynn. For the fans. For baseball. A moment of silence. Some words of tribute. Something. At least Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles had it right. He wrote in marker on his baseball cap the initials TG with the number 19. He had the sense of moment baseball didnt have. Gary Lawless, TSN Radio My thumb is up to Canadas national mens field lacrosse team for winning the world championship last night. Canada defeated the U.S., handing the Americans just their third loss in tournament history dating back to 1967. All three of those U.S. losses have come to Canada and all three in championship games, 1978, 2006 and now 2014. Lacrosse is our national sport but its box lacrosse most Canadians play, not field. In fact, Canada has never lost a box lacrosse game at the worlds. Winning the field championship doesnt qualify as a shock but more of a nice surprise. Congrats to Team Canada, who just so happened to be one of the youngest teams weve ever sent to the worlds, and will be a very serious threat to repeat in 2018. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is up to the refreshing comments of relief pitcher/closer Huston Street as he departed the bottom-feeding San Diego Padres for the playoff-bound Los Angeles Angels. There would be lots to say about the horrible state of the Padres franchise, but street said this; "I believe in the ownership--they want to win--theyre not satisfied with the status quo. I blame the players for what has happened here." Well, even though theres plenty of blame to go around and it does extend to the front office and to ownership - the Padres field a lineup that is not of big-league quality - Street is quite right, as a player, to let others find fault with others and to say that, of all the reasons teams lose, the biggest reason is always that players perform badly. Kris Bryant Jersey . And once again, Team Homan emerged as the victor with the reigning national champions defeating Team Sweeting at the Pintys All-Star Curling Skins Game Friday night in the tournaments opening draw at The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in beautiful Banff National Park. Keith Moreland Cubs Jersey . He scored two highlight-reel goals in a three-minute span -- the second on a sideways bicycle kick in the 78th minute -- to give the Whitecaps a 2-2 draw with the Portland Timbers before a crowd of 20,303 at B. https://www.cheapcubs.com/2440t-jody-davis-jersey-cubs.html . The 31-year-old Russian dominated the No. 3-ranked Ferrer throughout, breaking the defending champion and local favourite four times on the indoor hard court.MADRID, Spain -- Luis Aragones, the former Spain coach who shaped the teams rise from perennial underachiever to global powerhouse with a long-awaited title at the 2008 European Championship, has died. He was 75. The Spanish football federation announced the death early Saturday, saying Aragones died at a Madrid hospital. He had been battling leukemia. Federation president Angel Maria Villar said Aragones would be remembered as "very special" -- both for his contributions to Spanish football and as a person. "With him we have lived the beginning of an extraordinary phase in football as well as for Spanish society," Villar said. "This has been a painful dawn for our football." Aragones had a successful playing career as a sharpshooting international forward who earned 11 caps for Spain, and then spent the rest of his life as a much-travelled coach. However, he will mostly be remembered for what happened on June 29, 2008, when his team beat Germany 1-0 in Vienna to claim its first major title in 44 years. "Luis Aragones changed the history of Spanish football," Spain captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas said. "And for that we will always be thankful." The Euro 2008 triumph was the culmination of Aragones four-year reign as Spain coach, having taken over a team that for the last 20 years had earned a reputation for always coming up short in major tournaments. But Aragones instilled a new sense of belief in his players, even after losing to France in the second round of the 2006 World Cup. He also made the team adopt the quick-passing "tiki-taka" style of football made famous by Barcelona, and which his players came close to perfecting at Euro 2008. Led by Barcelona midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta -- and the goalscoring of David Villa -- Spain went undefeated through the tournament, but needed a penalty shootout against Italy to advance from the quarterfinals. While Aragones stepped down after the tournament, the team went on to win its first World Cup two years later and then added an unprecedented third straight major title at Euro 2012 under his successor Vicente del Bosque. "Without a doubt, our current run of success is a result of his legacy," Del Bosque said on Saturday, after paying his respects to Aragones family. "He had a long history of coaching experience and he had a special appreciation for the game." But Aragones time in charge wasnt without controversy. He made a racist slur about France striker Thierry Henry -- who is black -- during a training session in October, 2004, and followed that remark with an outburst about Englands colonial past. Addison Russell Jersey. His comments were believed to have prompted ugly racist chants directed at Englands black players during a friendly against Spain in Madrid. The Spanish Football Federation refused to bow to pressure to fire Aragones, although it fined him 3,000 euros, a punishment which many felt was too lenient. Denying he was a racist, Aragones explained that his comment about Henry was an attempt to motivate forward Jose Antonio Reyes, and he received important backing from several black players he had coached previously. In February, 2007, Aragones won a legal appeal against the Spanish Committee for Sporting Disciplines ruling that his behaviour could have fostered "violent, racist or xenophobic acts." Spanish media also often complained about his grouchy demeanour and had regularly called for his dismissal during the two years before the teams triumph. There was another uproar toward the end of 2006 when he dropped the national teams all-time leading scorer and captain, Real Madrids Raul Gonzalez, arguing that he was past his prime. It proved a masterstroke. The team embarked on a 22-game unbeaten run which culminated with the 2008 title, making Aragones the oldest coach to win a European Championship title. Despite the victory, the Spanish federation made no attempt to persuade him to extend his contract and five days later he moved abroad for the first time to take charge of Turkish club Fenerbahce, a couple of weeks before his 70th birthday. "Im leaving because there wasnt more done for me to stay," Aragones said at the time. His playing career began 43 years earlier, when Aragones joined Atletico Madrid. He scored 123 times in 265 games for the team -- the second highest in its history -- and helped the club win three Spanish league titles and two Copa del Reys. It also reached the 1974 European Cup final, where it lost to Bayern Munich in a replay. Aragones, nicknamed "The Sage of Hortaleza" in reference to the Madrid suburb of his birth, was then appointed as Atletico coach and led the team to the 1975 World Club Championship, the 1976 Copa del Rey and the 1977 league title. He coached Atletico on a total of five occasions and he had two spells each at Mallorca and Real Betis. He was also in charge of Barcelona, Espanyol, Sevilla, Valencia and Oviedo in a career total of 757 games, a Spanish league record. Aragones is survived by his wife Pepa, five children and 11 grandchildren. ' ' '