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FIVE QUICK NBA HOOPS THOUGHTS Happy Holidays to all. May each of you have a wonderful Holiday Season. Lets chat some hoops. 1. JOSE CALDERON (Mavericks): Loved what I saw from him last Friday night in Dallas. Tremendous confidence right now in his shooting which sets the table for his screen and roll game. Playing in the back court with Monta Ellis has opened up his game and having a future Hall of Famer in Dirk Nowitzki to attract double teams is ideal for him. Good landing spot for him. 2. MARCO BELINELLI (Spurs): Another former Raptor. Boy, the Bulls could sure use him now with their offensive woes. Terrific pickup for his new team. Hes got three-point shooting ability and nifty creativity off the bounce. Good competitor that fits the best System team in the league. Isnt it amazing? The Spurs always find a way to add a guy who makes sense for their team. They know what theyre doing. 3. JOHN SALMONS (Raptors): Its funny how guys grow on you when you see them at work each day. I have a better appreciation of his game up close. Always respected his scoring punch yet never appreciated how smart a player he is. He is a sound defender and can create scoring chances for teammates. Heady and capable player. 4. ARRON AFFLALO (Magic): His name gets tossed around in trade talks yet he produces. A steady combo guard who has good versatility in his game. Like him. Energetic guy who can put pressure on defences. If youre looking to add a third guard on a very good team hes an ideal guy to target. 5. JEREMY LAMB (Thunder): Scott Brooks now has more firepower off his bench with Reggie Jackson and this guy. Shooting right around 40 per cent from three-point range and is getting more confident in playing in the lane with physical contact. Uses screens well and moves without the ball with a purpose. Big part of the James Harden trade for GM Sam Presti. Hes slowing his game down, reading situations better and becoming more efficient. Hes going to be an important piece to their success as this season progresses. Mike Remmers Jersey . Napoli hit two home runs, Jonny Gomes and prized rookie Xander Bogaerts also connected, and the Red Sox kept up their dizzying scoring spree at Yankee Stadium by bashing New York 13-9 Saturday for a fifth straight win. Mike Remmers Vikings Jersey .5 million, two-year contract that runs through 2015. Venable, the son of former big leaguer Max Venable, will make $4. http://www.vikingsnflfansclub.net/ .C. -- Unable to get much lift off his sore right ankle, Bobcats centre Al Jefferson figured it was time to make an adjustment. Mike Hughes Jersey . Thaddeus Young scored seven of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, Evan Turner added 22 points, and the 76ers hung on for their first road win since Nov. 1, beating the depleted Los Angeles Lakers 111-104 on Sunday night. Custom Minnesota Vikings Jerseys .Stanton suffered fractures in his face and other injuries when he was hit by a pitch Sept. 11. The Marlins are confident hell fully recover and be ready for spring training, and they hope to reach a long-term agreement with him.KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- At any age, Jeff Gordon sure knows how to win. Nearly two decades after he burst onto the scene with his first victory, Gordon keeps taking checkered flags, storming to the lead in the final laps at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night for his first victory of the season and 89th overall in NASCARs top series. The 42-year-old Gordon held off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick on the final lap to move into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field. Gordon won for the first time since October at Martinsville and became the ninth driver to win in the first 11 races this season. He entered the race with the points lead, but exclaimed a weight was lifted off his shoulders as he crossed the finish line for his third Kansas victory. "Im just so proud of (the 24 team). They have been giving me the best race cars all year long," Gordon said. "I have been having so much fun. Im going to be 43 this year and I feel like Im 25 again. That is the way they make me feel." Kasey Kahne was third, followed by Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Danica Patrick was seventh for her best career Cup finish. Gordon built his points lead on the strength of four top-fives and seven top-10s in the first 10 races -- including second-place finishes at Texas and Richmond -- but he knew how much one win would ease pressure on his Hendrick Motorsports team. He got it under the lights at Kansas. "This is so sweet," he said. "What a huge weight lifted off this teams shoulders. We needed to get to Victory Lane." Gordon is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his first career Cup victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the prestigious Coca-Cola 600. He will go for his fourth Coca-Cola 600 victory May 25. At Daytona this year, Gordon insisted he was serious about considering retirement with a fifth championship. He looks every bit a title contender -- but said he feels like he could race until 50 if his cars are this stout. "The whole retirement thing I think is thrown out too much," he said. "I know Im somewhat to blame for that." After the start of the race was delayed 35 minutes by rain, the first Sprint Cup night race at Kansas soon left drivers in the dark after the lights went out on the backstretch. NASCAR polled drivers if they wanted to continue and they were good to go, with Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards among the many who said thhe track was bright enough to race.dddddddddddd Harvick led the final 36 laps in his October win and led the first 41 on Saturday before briefly falling into the middle of the pack. Harvick worked his way to the front in the No. 4 Chevrolet and opened a commanding lead over Gordon and Logano. He led a race-high 119 laps in the 400-mile race -- small consolation once Gordon grabbed the lead with eight to go. With two wins already, Harvick has been a force in his first season at Stewart-Haas Racing, but his dominant Chevrolet ran out of gas on his last pit stop and lost time that he couldnt recover. "I should have been paying attention to my pit road lights and should have got off pit road better," he said. "I made a mistake at the end and it cost us a chance to stay out in front of the 24." Patrick had her best run of the season, spending most of the race nestled inside the top 10, and brought a needed jolt of electricity when she passed teammate Tony Stewart and Earnhardt to move into third with 95 laps left. Patrick hadnt finished better this season than 14th at Fontana and her lone top-10 in the Cup series was an eighth-place finish in the 2013 Daytona 500. She was shuffled back on a restart, costing her a top five. Patrick beamed in the garage after the kind of finish shed been striving for since her dazzling performance at Daytona more than a year ago. Crew chief Tony Gibson told her, "Chicks rule, huh?" "I know that we havent had the best of times, but we work hard for it," Patrick said. "This is the kind of stuff that materializes in wins. Weve just got to keep hanging around and doing what were doing. Im just proud of everyone for working really hard and believing in me." Sara Christians fifth-place finish in a 1949 race remains the best for a female driver in NASCARs top series. Jamie McMurray and David Gilliland both had their cars erupt in flames in separate accidents. Gilliland was slow to exit his No. 38 Ford and gingerly walked away from the smouldering wreckage. He was checked out and released from the infield care centre. "It was the hardest hit Ive had in a long time," he said. McMurray had a solid run derailed when he smacked the wall and the back of his No. 1 Chevrolet caught fire. "I heard a small pop, and then just lost all the steering and got into the fence," he said. ' ' '