Thumbs down to the fact Sidney Crosby will not play for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Tuesday nights game against the Winnipeg Jets, which happens to be Sidney Crosby Bobblehead Night. Im not sure if its thumbs down to Crosby or thumbs down to the NHL, but either way, it is not right that Crosby will sit out on Tuesday, suspended by the NHL, as it were. The reasoning goes that if Crosby could start and finish Wednesdays game against Chicago, he should suit up for Team Toews or Team Foligno in Sundays All-Star Game and, by not doing so, he disrespects the NHL and Team Pittsburgh, which needs him in the lineup against the Jets. On the other hand, there is room to accuse the league of disrespecting Crosby and of carrying its annoyance with All-Star no-shows too far by applying an ill-conceived rule. How important is it for Crosby to play in Columbus today? Obviously, contrary to NHL thinking, its not as important as it is for him to play in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Both he and the league should realize that, and its too bad they wouldnt or couldnt do something about it. -- Some might say thumbs down to the World Cup of Hockey because its not the Olympics. I will say thumbs up to the World Cup of Hockey, if it winds up replacing the Olympics. Confused? Lets start with the widely-held view, among fans and players alike, that the place for the worlds biggest international hockey event is the Olympic Games. It is hoped that NHL participation in the Olympic hockey tournament will continue in South Korea in 2018. If it does, and if this is determined between now and the start of the 2016 World Cup, the event in Toronto will be viewed accordingly. Itll be interesting, potentially exciting, quite gimmicky with the inclusion of two teams that wont be representing single nations, and it will obviously be well attended. But it wont be the Olympics. Conversely, if the NHL and the NHLPA decide to skip the next Olympics, and maybe others to follow, the World Cup becomes the best and only place to watch the top players in an international setting and a World Cup win will amount to international hockey supremacy. In saying that, it is necessary to react to the possibility, slim, though it may be, of a World Cup win by a team of European or young North American all-stars. That would satisfy no one apart from the members of the championship team if the 2018 Olympics were off the NHL calendar. It would be more acceptable, once the surprise wore off, if the bigger and more important event were to follow at the Olympics two years later. Thus, I reserve final judgment on the full worth of the World Cup until a decision is reached on future NHL Olympic involvement. Mike Mitchell Jersey .A. Happ. The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to improve the starting rotation ahead of next season and pitchers like Happ have a chance to show they belong as the disastrous 2013 campaign draws to a close. Mason Rudolph Jersey . Top-ranked Rafael Nadal was also taken to three sets but emerged with a 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3 win over Tobias Kamke of Germany, while second-seeded David Ferrer joined Murray in making an early exit after a 6-4, 7-5 loss to Daniel Brands of Germany. http://www.officialpittsburghsteelersfoo...r-jersey-womens. Solomon Elimimian did not make the trip with the team after suffering what appeared to be a right leg injury in the teams regular season finale against the Calgary Stampeders. Tyson Alualu Jersey . So they rushed to re-sign the first baseman who general manager Ben Cherington described Friday as "a unique player." The World Series champions finalized a $32 million, two-year agreement Thursday with the slugging former catcher who turned into a surprisingly good defender. JuJu Smith-Schuster Jersey . The same for both the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Kole Calhoun is embracing his role leading off for the Los Angeles Angels. And hes doing it well. Calhoun opened the game with a single and added a double before his tiebreaking, three-run homer that put the Angels ahead to stay in a 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night, when Garrett Richards worked into the eighth inning for his 13th win. "I want to be a catalyst for the offence, get on base, score some runs," Calhoun said by phone after initially making a quick exit from the clubhouse after the game. "I want so bad to get on base. ... Im having fun right there." Calhoun, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, was also hit by a pitch. He had multiple hits for the fifth time in his last six games. "He kind of flies under the radar, but I dont know if there are too many leadoff men as dynamic as Kole has been," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. Richards (13-4), who struck out seven without a walk in 7 1-3 innings, has won all four of his starts this season against Texas. The right-hander allowed two runs while scattering seven hits. "Hes been the same every time," said Adrian Beltre, who got three of his four hits off Richards. Angels catcher Chris Iannetta said Richards is "coming into his own." "Were just seeing him mature," Iannetta said. "Hes got great stuff, and hes starting to command it more." The Angels led for good after Calhouns 412-foot shot off Nick Martinez (2-9) into the second deck of seats in right field made it 4-1 in the fifth. Another run scored when Calhoun grounded into a double play in the seventh. Huston Street worked a perfect ninth for his eighth save in as many chances since the Angels acquired him. He has 11 scoreless innings in 11 games since the July 18 trade from San Diego, where he had 24 saves. Martinez struck out six while allowing four runs and six hits in six innings. "Just one unexecuted pitch, the one to Calhoun. He wanted to go down and away, and ended up pulling it across the middle of the plate," Texas manager Ron Washington said.dddddddddddd "Other than that, I thought he did a swell job." STRIKE THREE -- TIMES FOUR Josh Hamilton was 1 for 5 with four strikeouts, the hit an opposite-field bloop single off a pitcher making his major league debut. Hamilton is 5 for 38 (.132) over his last 10 games, and without an RBI in his last nine. "Were not seeing the aggressive Josh Hamilton that we saw when he played for Texas. Were not seeing that," Scioscia said. "Theres a lot of things that hes trying. Josh is working very hard, and nobody feels worse than Josh. We need him in the middle of our lineup doing what he can do." PRODUCTIVE BOTTOM David Freese and Iannetta, the bottom two batters in the Angels lineup, were a combined 5 for 7 with four runs. Calhouns 13th homer came after Freese and Iannetta started the fifth with consecutive singles. Freese has an 11-game hitting streak. ONE BAD NIGHT Angels reliever Kevin Jepsen has been spectacular lately, allowing only two earned runs over 39 innings in his previous 44 games. But the right-hander gave up two runs while getting only one out after relieving Richards in the eighth. Jepsen leads the majors with 54 scoreless appearances. TRAINERS ROOM Angels: Rookie RHP Mike Morin is expected to be activated from the 15-day disabled list Saturday, the first day the reliever is eligible to come back after missing 13 games with a cut on his left foot. Morin threw a scoreless inning for Class A Inland Empire on Thursday night before joining the team in Texas. He is 3-3 with a 2.36 ERA in 41 games. Rangers: Alex Rios was back in RF for the first time since Sunday, when he re-aggravated a right ankle sprain on a slide. After being the DH the previous two games, he did some early work in the field before starting in the outfield. UP NEXT Los Angeles goes for its ninth consecutive win against the Rangers, which would match its longest streak in the series, a mark set from 1985-86. Matt Shoemaker tries to become the Angels third 11-game winner in the middle game of the weekend set. Colby Lewis (8-9) starts for Texas. 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