Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. Chad Henne Chiefs Jersey . This week they discuss toughing it out, David Stern, A-Rod and, yet again, Lance Armstrong. Bruce Arthur, Globe and Mail: My thumb is up to Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins. After Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final he stood in the Bruins dressing room and enumerated his injuries: broken rib, torn rib cartilage, torn muscles around his ribs and – by the way – hed separated his shoulder at the beginning of the game. One thing he didnt tell us was that hed been having a little bit of trouble breathing and went to the hospital and he had a small hole in his lung, either from the rib or from – and this is what worries me – the painkilling needle that allowed him to play. Now, well never know whether or not Bergeron would have gotten on a plane after Game 6 to play Game 7 had Boston held on, We dont know if he would have had a collapsed lung. Were not even talking about the fact that Jonathan Toews played through a concussion. Playing through injuries is amazing. Its incredible, its laudable, but theres a line. Bergeron came very close to crossing it. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is up to David Stern, for the manner in which he handled his 30th and final NBA Draft. Stern smiled that comfortable, warm smile of his – the anti-Bettman – as he was booed incessantly by fans in Brooklyn and he seemed to take it all in and enjoy it. One time he even said “I cant hear you.” Stern handled himself so well that when it came time for him to introduce the last pick, he got a standing ovation. At an NBA Draft that was supposed to have no stars, to be a weak draft, the star of the night turned out to be the out-going Commissioner. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is down to Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees for the on-going saga. This one started on Twitter – the worlds most dangerous form of communication – on Tuesday when Rodriguez said: ‘great, Im coming back. Brian Cashman – the general manager said ‘shut up, or words to that effect. Brian Cashman does work blue. The problem with Alex Rodriguez is not Alex Rodriguez, right now its that the Yankees are terrible and they need Rodriguez and at some point this thing needs to get settled and he needs to get back to the Bronx and get healthy. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is down, yet again, to Lance Armstrong, and yet again to cycling and its glamour event, the Tour de France. Armstrong rained on the tours 100th parade this week by saying hes still the greatest of all time. Never mind the doping that allowed him to win seven titles, the doping that he considered "part of the sport, part of the job." Oprah was enough. Who wants to hear him give the same interview time and again? Not the Tour de France. But it and cyclings governing body should refrain from blasting Armstrong, as if he continues to ruin the reputation of a sport that deserves better. Dont Armstrong and cycling need to stop blaming each other and start blaming themselves? Or better still, they need to just keep quiet. Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys . After rookie right-hander Alex Colome excelled in a 5-2 victory in the opener, the Rays fell to Chris Tillman and the Orioles 4-1 on Friday night. Armani Watts Chiefs Jersey . So heres what I do when I want to get into the baseball mood—I delve into "The Baseball Project". http://www.chiefsstoreauthentic.com/authentic-dorian-odaniel-chiefs-jersey/ . "If we only consider this season," Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini said, "there is just one club in Manchester -- and its ours.TORONTO -- Already exhausted following a long road trip and playing the second half of back-to-back games, the last thing the Toronto Maple Leafs was another emotional pitfall. Coach Randy Carlyle had already caused a stir in Detroit a night earlier by calling James Reimers play in a loss "just OK," and then the goaltender gave up a goal on the first shot he faced Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Unfortunately for the Leafs, that was just the beginning of a long game as defenceman Paul Ranger was injured and Steven Stamkos rang up a hat trick to hand them a 5-3 loss at Air Canada Centre, their third in a row. Even after the club released an update saying Ranger was "stable, conscious and alert" after his head hit the glass on a hit from Alex Killorn and he was taken to a local hospital, there were plenty of worried teammates in the home locker-room after a defeat that dropped the Leafs three points behind the Lightning in the Atlantic Division. With that came a notion of missing an opportunity to make something out of the impossibly difficult situation of seeing Ranger go down. "You try to use that as motivation to go out there and give yourself the best opportunity to get a chance and try to use the player, Range, get it for him," Carlyle said. "And we fell short, for sure." Against the Lightning (38-24-7), falling short meant starting terribly with a goal against 59 seconds in, taking too many penalties and giving Stamkos far too much room to operate. But Killorns hit on Ranger understandably took the lions share of the attention. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper called it "probably the turning point in the game" as his team killed off the five-minute major, while the Leafs (36-27-8) just struggled to pick their game up after watching him get wheeled off the ice on a stretcher. "We say our jobs to get ready and prepare for the next period, but thats scary," winger Joffrey Lupul said. "He obviously didnt look great when he was leaving the ice. So youre trying to clear your head and focus on the next period. But you cant lie -- obviously part of you is wondering whats going on with him." When Ranger went down, the Leafs were trailing 3-2 after Radko Gudas beat Reimer in the games first minute with a seemingly innocent shot from just inside the blue-line. Reimer didnt see the shot, and long after his Leafs came back to take the lead on goals by Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin, Carlyle didnt blame his goalie for that one. "The first goals kind of (a) fluke," Carlyle said. "What do you do? Its a seeing-eye shot, theres a screen, it hits a post and goes in. So you cant get too unravelled by that." Reimer, who gave up five goals on 30 shots, didnt unravel, but a lack of discipline and the Leafs defence was to blame for Stamkos scoring twice in the first period and then completing the hat trick early in the second. An interference penalty on David Clarkson led to the first goal, and there were missed assignments on all three. For Stamkos, who was playing in just his seventh game since returning from a four-month absence after breaking his right leg, called getting the natural hat trick in front of family and friends the highlight of his season. "I was a little disappointed there was no hats on the ice," the Markham, Ont., native said. "I guess Ill take it anyway." Though he couldnt be blamed for any of the three goals Stamkos scored, Reimer couldnt take many positives out of his performance. Because Jonathan Bernier remains out with a groin injury, Reimer became the first Toronto goalie to start on back-to-back days this season, and this wasnt the result he wanted when thrust into that situation. "I just want to come out and play well and kind of be a difference-maker, and unfortunately it wasnt the case," Reimer said. Dorian ODaniel Jersey. "I thought I made some good saves, but it definitely wasnt the performance I was looking for. I wanted to come out and be big and keep your team in it, and that didnt happen tonight." Reimers failings, notably on the first goal, paled in comparison to the other drama and blunders that tormented the Leafs against the Lightning. Six minor penalties led to two power-play goals by the Lightning -- the first by Stamkos and the second one in the third from linemate Tyler Johnson -- which wound up being enough to make the difference. "A lot of things come down to special teams," Cooper said. "Weve had our ups and downs all year. For us to kill off all those penalties, especially the five minutes and then get two power-play goals. Thats how youre going to win. Thats how youre going to win down the stretch and get into the playoffs." With the victory, the Lightning, who got 36 saves on 39 shots from Vezina Trophy candidate Ben Bishop, moved ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for second place in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs, who at 71 games have played the most of any team in the Eastern Conference, held onto the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference but lost a major opportunity to pick up points. Reimer lamented not doing that more than being unable to cover up the fire storm that surrounded him. "It doesnt really matter how you play or how people talk about how you play as long as you get points," he said. "As tough as things go or as good as things go, you can play a great game and still lose. The big thing is points, so as far as statement games or whatnot, I think really at this time of year its just about your team and about getting your team points, not necessarily about you making a statement." Stamkos, who scored his three goals on his only three shots of the night, made a statement that hes back and capable of carrying the Lightning. Cooper was looking forward to seeing how the 24-year-old would fare in his "backyard," and he didnt disappoint. "Theres special players out there that find a way, they have that innate ability to rise to the occasion," Cooper said. "For Stammer to come back in here to his hometown and do what he did tonight, basically put the team on his shoulders, I cant say enough about (him)." And the Leafs couldnt say enough about how things went wrong, especially when it came to not containing one of the leagues best in Stamkos. "We were getting exposed," Lupul said. "There were times today where we were good, other times we made some errors getting the puck out of our zone, once by me and then a couple times we let their best player get the puck in an area where we cant do that." And then there was a lack of desperation early on that only came in the second half of the game and showed up when Jake Gardiner cut the deficit to one with 12:40 left. Giving half of what was necessary was not enough. "I felt that our desperation level went up for the last 30 minutes of the game," Carlyle said. "Weve got to do a better job than that." NOTES -- Kessels goal was his 35th of the season, two short of his career high. ... Gardiners goal was his fifth in the past seven games and 10th of the season. ... Killorn was given a game misconduct along with the five-minute major for boarding Ranger, whom the Leafs said was taken to a hospital for a "precautionary assessment." ... Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier skated Wednesday morning for the first time since suffering a groin injury almost a week earlier in Los Angeles. Carlyle said Bernier was "coming along" and he expected the injured netminder to take shots during practice Friday. 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