Bewerbungen » to be extraordinary and perfect.?If you do

RIO DE JANEIRO -- There was a calm, relaxed atmosphere at the final practice for the United States womens basketball team.Maybe its because injured guard Sue Bird was able to participate. Or maybe because many of the players have been in this position before -- a win away from another Olympic title.I understand its a gold-medal game; weve approached it like any other game, said Bird, who has helped the U.S. win the past three golds at the Olympics. At the start of this entire month, every single practice and game we approached it like it was a gold-medal game. Todays no different.The Americans will play Spain on Saturday in search of a sixth consecutive gold. Spain is already guaranteed its first Olympic medal in womens basketball.It looks like the U.S. will have Bird back for the title game. She missed the semifinal win over France while she was recovering from a sprained right knee capsule. She said she felt much better Friday and it showed. After taking part in practice, Bird went through a hard workout to test the right knee.She stopped short of saying she definitely would play Saturday.I cant give you an answer for tomorrow, Bird said, smiling. I can be happy with the way things have been going. Long term is great, short term is getting better.Bird said the pain is down to about a one or two out of 10. But she isnt going to push it if she doesnt feel comfortable and has the utmost confidence in her teammates if she cant play.Im not going to be dumb about it. Our team isnt built around one person, its built around 12, she said. As they showed yesterday, it doesnt matter whos out there; we have a really good team. Im not going to do anything stupid.Coach Geno Auriemma, who has worked with Bird for four years at UConn and now eight with USA Basketball, said the decision is up to Bird whether she plays.Shell wake up tomorrow morning and tell us how she feels and well go with that, he said.The U.S. dominated Spain in the preliminary round, winning by 40 points. The Americans also beat Spain in the 2014 world championship title game. Still, the U.S. isnt taking anything for granted.They are really, really good, Diana Taurasi said. Its going to be a hard-fought battle and they have been playing really well since we beat them.The test for Spain will be to do what no team has been able to do in Rio: put together a full game against the U.S. France trailed by four at the half on Thursday and still lost by 19.The Americans have won 48 consecutive games, a streak that started in 1996. Theyve won the seven games in Rio by an average of nearly 40 points and are putting up 102.3 points a contest -- just a hair behind the record set by the 96 squad.Saturdays contest will be the last Olympic game for Tamika Catchings, who is retiring at the end of the WNBA season next month. Bird and Diana Taurasi have also hinted this will probably be their Olympic finale as well.Thats the elephant in the room that no one is talking about, Taurasi said. Were really focused on the game at hand and not what lies ahead after that. Johnny Evers Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Minnie Minoso Jersey . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No. https://www.cheapwhitesox.com/ . 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And her stiff-legged walk into the dressing room Friday, after her third-round match was halted by rain just before her second match point, sure looked like one of discomfort.But for Venus Williams, who emerged 72 minutes later and closed out the match at 6-7(7), 6-2, 10-8 over No. 29 Daria Kasatkina to complete seven hours of tennis in about a 24-hour period, her motivation remains resolute.Bring it, said Williams, who will be back at it Saturday in doubles with sister Serena, who also prevailed in three sets Friday.?Of course, I want to win, but Ive got to beat some people before then. So let me try.?Let me try.Dealing with a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes extreme fatigue as well as pain and stiffness in the joints and muscles --?as if being 36 years old isnt challenging enough -- Williams continues to amaze current and former players with her endurance and spirit in her 22nd year on tour.But only a select few can relate to what makes a Grand Slam champion continue to play eight years after winning her last major title, or what she tells herself when its raining sideways and the ache wont go away and the draw isnt as seemingly kind as it is turning out to be here.With the loss of French Open champ Garbine Muguruza on Thursday, Williams became the highest-ranked player remaining in her quarter, giving her legitimate reason to think she can reach her first Grand Slam final since the Wimbledon title match?in 2009.Its not impossible, said John McEnroe.McEnroe, a fellow seven-time Slam champion, also went eight years after winning Wimbledon in 1984 until he retired from the game. While he won two more Slam doubles titles after that, Williams has won six, plus a gold medal with partner Serena at the 2012 London Olympics.Sustaining McEnroe was his return to the Wimbledon final again in 1985 and reaching three more major semifinals, including Wimbledon in 1992, his final year.Williams also reached the Wimbledon final the year after her last title, and she got to the semifinals of the US Open the year after that. But it has been a bit of a drought since then, with two quarterfinals last year capping off a slow uphill climb since her Sjogrens Syndrome diagnosis in 2011.With Williams No. 8 in the world, it is certainly a significant improvement since ending 2011 ranked No. 133, and even in 2014, when she was No. 19. But there is a difference between thinking you can win another Slam and learning to be content as a top-10 player.Shes at that point to me where shes accepted it, McEnroe said. I sort of accepted it. I didnt like the fact that I accepted it, but I was trying to juggle kids and a marriage and I thought, in a way, What else am I going to do? Its still pretty good, all in all, even though deep down in my deepest soul, feeling like probably itts not going to happen.ddddddddddddut this is where Williams still takes exception. She has played half of her career without a Slam year. But while she may be content playing a game that has awarded her $33 million in prize money alone, she left no doubt from her comments Friday that she is not satisfied if she is not contending for majors.Well, of course its nicer to be in the top 10 than not, she said.?So, yeah, thats good. I want to keep going.?I dont just want to be in the top 10 or the top eight.?Id like to continue and Id like to win majors.But theres a lot of people ahead of me, seven girls ahead of me and thousands behind me that want the same thing.?So every day is, like, focus.Jim Courier, a Hall of Famer who won four Slams in his 12-year career, and retired at 29, went without a title the last six years of his career, fighting injury and failing to get past the fourth round in his last 11 Grand Slam tournaments.But he said until the end, he always thought he had a shot.When I didnt is when I stopped, he said.When it was suggested that all champions know when it is time to retire, Courier smiled.Youd be surprised how strong denial exists within the minds of great players, he said. Venus is part and parcel of not recognizing reality when youre in battle.Facing a 20-year-old qualifier in Maria Sakkari in her second-round match Thursday, and a 19-year-old in Kasatkina on Friday, Williams had moments in both matches where she lost her rhythm, spraying groundstrokes wide on both sides, her knees unbending.But just as quickly, there was the old familiar long-limbed stretch forehand from the five-time Wimbledon champ, and her fastest second serve of the day at 90 mph in the 13th game of the third set.Sometimes its not perfect.?I wish I could be perfect every time, Williams said. I just want to get better.? When youre an athlete, great is still not enough.?You want to be extraordinary and perfect.?If you dont reach that, youre not happy.?I think every athlete here would say that -- the serious ones, at least.Courier said the fact that Williams continues to battle despite her illness is what impresses him most.For someone who has had such a legendary career, she could have very, very comfortably retired and moved onto her design business and anything else she desires because shes obviously bright and interested in a lot of things, he said. But she continues to have the passion to suffer. And thats a very admirable quality. Shes willing to suffer for her craft. And shes suffering more than most for longer than most because of what shes doing. Its something I definitely admire about her.Just let her try.When I walk out there, Im betting on myself every single time, Williams said. Thats what I have to do. ' ' '