Die Macht » an important game.Sports are a power

MONTREAL -- Sixth-seeded Venus Williams tumbled out of the Rogers Cup in the third round Thursday night, falling 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3 to 10th-seeded Madison Keys in an all-American match.Playing her last tournament match before the Rio Olympics, the 36-year-old Williams lost seven straight games before holding serve in the third game of the second set. After Williams rallied to tie the match, Keys found her serve in the third set, ending the match with her 12th ace.The 21-year-old Keys won the Wimbledon tuneup event in Birmingham, England, this year for her second WTA Tour title, then reached the fourth round at Wimbledon. Shell face 16th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in the quarterfinals.Williams beat Barbora Strycova -- the Czech player whom Keys topped in the Birmingham final -- on Wednesday in her first match since losing to Britains Johanna Konta on Sunday in the Bank of the West Classic final. Against Keys, Williams struggled with her serve.Her first serve was definitely slower than normal, Keys said. But it was funny, her second serve was a lot slower, but because of the court, it was bouncing a lot higher than normal. So while her first serve was a little easier to return, her second serve was really tough.Pavlyuchenkova beat fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.Its going to be a tough match, Keys said about Pavlyuchenkova. Shes always tricky because she definitely fights till the end, and shes going to hit a lot of winners.Pavlyuchenkova let two match points slip away while leading 5-4 in the second set and then lost the game on a double fault. She rebounded in the third set to extend her longest run at the hardcourt event.I think Im still recovering from the second set, Pavlyuchenkova said. Basically, I thought I had the match in my pocket and lost it, so Im happy with the mental side.Radwanska won in 2014 in Montreal.The 15th-seeded Konta beat American Varvara Lepchenko 6-3, 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal against Slovakias Kristina Kucova, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner over Canadas Eugenie Bouchard in the late match.Bouchard was penalized a point for racket abuse in the third set, when she struggled to hit the lines to the disappointment of what had been a festive center-court crowd at Uniprix Stadium.I played some high-quality tennis this week -- I cant forget those two matches -- but two matches is not a whole tournament, Bouchard said. I need to learn how to keep it going and deal with the pressure. I just felt I maybe panicked a little bit, tried to finish the points too soon.Second-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany beat Ukraines Elina Svitolina 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4.Im still improving to playing better tennis, being more aggressive and just going for it, Kerber said. I think today I was a little bit too excited to going for it. This is sometimes, I think, the problem.Kerber will face Russias Daria Kasatkina, a 7-5, 6-3 winner over seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy.Fifth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania, a finalist last year in Toronto, beat 14th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3. Pliskova, the WTA Tour ace leader, had only five in the match.I knew that its going to be tough because I dont get rhythm from her, Halep said. You never know what to expect for the next point, so theres a bit of tension. I just had to stay patient for every ball and to keep fighting because I knew that if I stay there for every ball, she can miss more than me.Halep will face ninth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, a 7-6 (2), 6-3 winner over 12th-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.Nike Vapormax Scontate Uomo . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. Vapormax Uomo 2020 . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. http://www.vapormaxscontateoutlet.it/ . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. Vapormax Uomo Saldi . The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Lions have not announced the hiring, which was first reported by ESPN. Lombardi, the grandson of former Green Bay Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, has been an offensive assistant on Sean Paytons New Orleans staff since 2007. Vapormax Off White Nere . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team.Are you a sports fan?Its an innocuous question, one that usually prompts a benign response. For author and comedian Sara Benincasa, considering the roots of her admittedly limited fandom brought on tears.Id invited Benincasa on my Thats What She Said podcast after reading her hilarious, viral piece Why Am I So Fat? Her interest in sports was immaterial to the invite, but I was curious -- even more so when the topic churned up such emotion.I was raised on sports metaphors; you know? she said. For somebody who doesnt follow sports that closely I feel weirdly comfortable in a sports-related environment. My dad was a Yankees fan, which was a great thing to be when I was growing up. And he was a Jets fan, which has never been a great thing to be, except maybe in 1969.Ill cry if I talk about my dad, she continued, doing that sort of half-laughing, half-crying thing a person does when theyre surprised by their own emotions. I talk to my friend Peggy OLeary, who will laugh at this, because she comes from an Eagles family. And we talk about the value of losing and, like, growing up with loss. It teaches you something that sports is about. Sorry Im crying! Oh my God!Yeah, why are you crying? I asked.Im also laughing, like a hysterical person, said Benincasa. I think its about my dad. I love my dad a lot.Is he still with us?He is! Hes super not dead! I think I just appreciate the value of somebody loving losers. Just knowing theyre going to break your heart. Theyre always going to break your heart. Its always going to happen...And he still does it.It turns out, even if youre not really a sports fan -- even if you give zero you-know-whats -- the Jets can still make you cry.They just did it again on Sunday. AA one-point loss to the Bengals accomplished via a missed extra point, a late interception and a surrendered field goal with seconds to play -- so Jets.ddddddddddddThe New Jersey-based team with the New York name once again flexed its masochistic muscle, reminding fans that the Jets can make even a Week 1 loss hurt like hell.For Benincasa, choosing to suffer that inevitable Jets heartbreak over and over is so endearing it elicits tears. Those of us with closets full of numbered clothes and vacations planned around away games understand how mood-altering a teams effort can be, and our friends and family feel it, too. It can be difficult to get inside someone elses appreciation for a great movie, song or piece of art, but somehow it seems we can feel their anguish or joy after an important game.Sports are a powerful mess of civic pride, childhood memories, nostalgia and hero worship. For some families, game day means a rare safe space to share. Political differences are put aside, arguments are shelved and the TV remote briefly loses its status as a catalyst for a wrestling match.Families bond over matching jerseys, the creation of a new tailgate snack or the backstory of a popular player. Parents teach their kids which team to root for, how to throw a spiral, what a rub route looks like and how to balance a helmet full of a nachos and a giant soda while walking up a steep flight of 400-level stairs.A bond is formed, even for folks who share sports from the periphery, like Benincasa. For her, football means getting to see her fathers heart through his love for the Jets. ' ' '