The Spurs dispatched the Suns with a 92-87 Game 5 victory Tuesday in what has become almost a postseason ritual for the defending champions.

The veteran team moves on to the Western Conference semifinals against the No. 2 seed Hornets, led by playoff rookie Chris Paul, in a series that begins Saturday in New Orleans.

The Suns go home again, falling to enter the next round for the second straight year and the fourth time in five playoff appearances. Although five Suns players scored in double figures and they outshot the Spurs from the field, yet they had a number of costly turnovers down the stretch which result in their final lose.

China marked the start of the 100-day countdown to the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday with songs, a mass run and even prayers.
“The 100 days ahead will bring mounting excitement and energy to Beijing,” the International Olympic Committee said. “Citizens and visitors will see the city continue to transform itself, as it welcomes athletes, the media and spectators for the final test events, as well as for the Games themselves.”
Beijing is preparing a celebration on Wednesday night to countdown the 100-day to the opening of the Olympic games.
“The Beijing Organising Committee has put a tremendous amount of effort into putting on a great Games for the athletes,” the IOC said in a statement.

Something remarkable happened in a college softball game last Saturday in Ellensburg, Wash.At least, I think it was remarkable, since it involved an act of sportsmanship, with two players helping an injured opponent complete the home run she had just slugged.

After Sara hit a fly ball over the fence which she never made before, she turned back to touch the bag and suddenly her right knee buckled, and she went down crying and crawling back to first base. The umpires ruled that if Sara Tucholsky could not make it around the bases, two runs would score but she would be credited with only a single.
Then Mallory Holtman, the powerful first baseman for Central Washington, and the Central Washington shortstop, Liz Wallace, lifted Tucholsky, hands crossed under her, and carried her to second base, and gently lowered her so she could touch the base. Then Holtman and Wallace started to giggle, and so did Tucholsky, through her tears, and the three of them continued this odd procession to third base and home to a standing ovation.

So maybe sportsmanship is universal and needing to be cultivated.

Arielle Martin and her husband, Michael Verhaaren, left their Utah home on separate missions. She traveled to train for the Beijing Olympics. He went to Afghanistan for a year deployment.
Now, this couple is separated by thousands of miles, but leading parallel patriotic lives: a wife who wants more than anything to represent her country, and a husband fighting to protect it.
Arielle inherits a love to BMX racing from her father and adventurous spirit from her mother, she tried hard to realize her dream even broken up with the one she loved and fortunately they reunited later.
His husband has a dream to join the army and fight for his country, this couple hold their own dreams and are going to realize it this year.

World-record holder Asafa Powell won’t race for the next two months because of a chest injury. His manager says that the sprinter will be able to run at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Powell who broke the 100-meter mark last year, injured recently. He ran 9.74 seconds at last race and won the gold medal, he is said to be the “fly man”. Nowadays he pulled a pectoral muscle and suffered the injury lifting weights in Jamaica last week, was due to compete in a 4×100 relay at the meeting. His next scheduled competition is suppose to be a 100 metres at Doha on May 9.

He will rest for about two months which means he is not able to compete in IAAF meets in Doha, Qatar; Oslo, Norway; and Eugene, Ore. But his manager said that Powell will compete at Jamaica’s national championships at the end of June.

North Korea mobilized tens of thousands of citizens on Monday to celebrate the Olympic torch relay in Pyongyang, the flame’s first visit to the authoritarian nation. Men in their best suits and women wearing traditional high-waisted dresses waved flags and paper flowers in the capital, greeting the torch like a visiting head of state.
China is North Korea’s main ally and a key provider of aid, and the torch relay was used to harden their ties. North Korea has condemned disruptions of the torch relay elsewhere, and supported Beijing in its crackdown on violent protests in Tibet.
An attentive and peaceful crowd watched the start of the relay, some waving Chinese and Olympic flags.
The Olympic flame arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, late Monday for the final international leg of the relay before the torch goes to China.

Lakers beat the Nuggets 122-107 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Kobe Bryant lead the team to won the game and he did really well finished with 49 points and 10 assists Games 3 and 4 will be in Denver on Saturday and Monday night.

Nuggets star Allen Iverson, who wasn’t bad himself, getting 31 points and six assists said “Tonight, the way he was going, we probably could have put 10 people on the court and probably wouldn’t have been able to stop him.”

We know that Bryant is a player who can lead the team to victory but also lose, it depends what his condition would be. He is a superstar, he is a scoring machine. No one would forget the 81 scores he got before, and that is why he is the hero in many people’s heart.

China coach admits Brazil are favourites to win the men’s Olympic football gold medal but feels his side has an excellent chance of joining them in the knockout rounds.
Brazil, who are expected to field superstars Kaka and Alexandre Pato, and China were drawn in the same group on Sunday
Hosts China open their Group C account against New Zealand on August 7 and play their final match against Brazil.
Group B comprises three-time bronze-medalists The Netherlands, the United States, Nigeria and Asian stalwarts Japan, while Italy take on South Korea, Cameroon and Honduras in Group D.

Any boycott of the Beijing Games by politicians would only hurt athletes, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said on Friday.
“Public opinion around the world does not want any boycotts. The Olympic Games is about the athletes themselves and the athletes are innocent.
Since the torch relay began there was some boycotts and attacks, the Olympic Games is only a sport celebration related with athletes has nothing to do with politics, it is neither a place for them to express their views nor a place for them to behave atrociously. And Dalai Lama should realize that he is also Chinese, what he is doing is just bring Tibet into a dangerous situation.

art Aragon, a famous contender in lightweight and welterweight boxing and was well-known as Golden Boy not only for boxing but also the love for the Hollywood life. He died Tuesday in Northridge, Calif, with age 80.
Aragon was a native of New Mexico who moved to Los Angeles as a youngster. when he twice stopped the popular Mexican boxer Enrique Bolanos in 1950 bouts at Olympic Auditorium, he
became a villain to the fans from Mexico. Aragon won 89 fights (61 by knockout), lost 20 and had 6 draws, fighting until 1960, according to the International Boxing Research Organization.
After retiring from boxing, Aragon acted in Hollywood films including “Off Limits,” “To Hell and Back,” and “Fat City”, etc.