Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. Bennie Logan Jersey . This week, they discuss the womens World Cup being played on turf, McMaster Universitys surprising hiring of Glen Grunwald, the Spurs hiring of Becky Hammon, and Tom Watsons performance at the PGA Championship. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star My thumb is down to the storm around Canadas 2015 womens World Cup of soccer, which now features about 40 prominent players, from Abby Wambach to Alex Morgan, threatening a lawsuit with high-powered lawyers because the tournament is the first World Cup to be played on artificial turf. They claim thats discrimination. Now, the way the threat was delivered seems silly on the surface, sure. But the fact that a World Cup will take place on turf for the first time is ridiculous, too. Just like, say, playing the mens World Cup in Qatar in the summer of 2022, or in Russia in 2018. Its almost like theres a mess almost every time now. Maybe FIFA, when it comes to venues, isnt discriminating enough. Steve Simmons, SUN Media My thumb is up to McMaster University for the surprising hiring of Glen Grunwald as athletic director. We dont tend to think much about CIS sports, about who runs university sport across Canada, but in bringing in Grunwald, former general manager of the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks, former US national champion at Indiana University, McMaster is turning its program over to someone who thinks larger than CIS thinks, who dreams bigger, who might supply original thought to university sport in Canada, which has had a tendency of tripping over itself year after year. Ill be honest, I dont know too many athletic directors in Canada, but I know Grunwald and Im excited about what he might be able to accomplish at McMaster and by extension across this country. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is up to the hiring of Becky Hammon as an assistant coach by the best organization in professional sports, the San Antonio Spurs. If Gregg Popovich thinks she can coach, she can coach. Full stop. Like Hammon, Popovich is one of a kind. There is no other coach or executive who has earned the latitude to deviate from industry norms, which Popovich did by hiring the first full-time female assistant. This is not about a shattered glass ceiling. This is about Popovich thinking creatively, stretching boundaries. Now it is up to a mature team to take guidance from a former WNBA player in the way it would from any other spurs assistant. Dave Hodge, TSN If this isnt a ball sitting on a tee staring up at me, I dont know what an obvious thumb is. As the oldest in this group, I am obliged and very happy to say "thumbs up" to 64-year-old Tom Watson. Not to make Tiger Woods or his fans any more miserable, but lets consider again the scenario at Valhalla on Thursday. Woods was trying his best to win the PGA and extend his season so that Ryder Cup captain Watson could consider him a candidate for one of the last spots on the United States team. Based on their 36-hole scores, Watson had more reason to pick himself than to bow to Tigers past greatness - three over par for Watson, six over for Woods. Admittedly, Tiger had a problem with his back. Not until the course played considerably longer on Friday did Watson admit to a problem with his age. Such a problem that every other 64-year-old golfer in the world would love to have. Luke Stocker Jersey . An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. Dion Lewis Jersey . Al Horford said all he had to do was make the catch near the basket and then shoot a soft jumper. http://www.authenticfootballshoptitans.com/authentic-blaine-gabbert-titans-jersey/ . The game got off to a less-than-ideal start for the Jets as Oliver Ekman-Larsson found a wide open net from the slot and opened the scoring for the Coyotes a lead in the first period, but Olli Jokinen answered back just over half a minute later.CLEMSON, S.C. -- Tajh Boyd wasnt going to a let some bumps and bruises spoil his final season, no matter how sore his shoulder might be come morning. Boyd threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns to break Philip Rivers Atlantic Coast Conference career record in No. 8 Clemsons 55-31 victory over Georgia Tech on Thursday night. Boyd threw a major scare into Tigers coaches, teammates and the 75,324 fans at Death Valley when he remained on the turf in pain at the end of the third quarter with what the school said was a left collarbone injury. But Boyd had X-rays done and no breaks were discovered. He bounded out of the locker room, grabbed a ball and even pestered offensive co-ordinator Chad Morris to go back in. Boyd didnt have to, though, with Clemson (9-1, 7-1 ACC) ahead 41-24 and cruising to a third straight victory since losing to No. 2 Florida State last month. "If it was a dire situation I felt like I needed to play I felt like I couldve," Boyd said. "But we were in a situation where it wasnt needed." Will he slow down at all with FCS opponent Citadel up next for Clemson on Nov. 23? "No, man, Im not going to miss my last game in the valley," he said. "Ill throw a pad in there and Ill be fine." Thats been Boyds attitude for much of his record-setting career. "Hes a competitor," Morris said. "My gosh, look at the records this guy has broken in the ACC. Wow. And in just three years." Boyd has 97 touchdown passes, two more than Rivers -- now with the San Diego Chargers -- had at North Carolina State from 2000-03. Georgia Tech (6-4, 5-3) had feint hopes of winning the ACC Coastal Division, but fell behind 20-0 early in the second quarter and could not catch up. Sammy Watkins had touchdowns catches of 41 and 44 yards for the Tigers. The stadium went silent when Boyd was down on the field. The mood lightened up when he returned to the sideline and loosed up his arm. Hell need to be healthy in two weeks when the Tigers look to break a four-game losing streak to rival South Carolina. Receiver Martavis Bryant said the players were worried when they saw Boyd in pain, but things lightened up once he return as the same ol, smiling Tajh. "It felt good," Bryant said. "We need him." Bryant finished with five catches for a career high 176 yards receiving, including a 76-yard TD pass from Boyd. Watkins finished with 104 yards, his seventh game over the century mark this season. He also moved past 1,000 yards on the season It was Clemsons first time out in Death Valley since a 51-14 loss to No. 2 Florida State on Oct. 19. Boyd and the Tigers made sure theyy gave the fans plenty to cheer about. Harold Landry Titans Jersey. Not that anyone will totally forget the Seminoles game, particularly because its the second consecutive year the Tigers will miss the ACC title game because of a loss to Florida State. Still, the Clemson hoped to close the season strongly in its first Thursday night home game in 11 years. But thats usually tricky for Clemson when it comes to Georgia Tech, which had won four of the past six games in the series and befuddled the Tigers for years with coach Paul Johnsons highly effective triple-option attack. This time, though, the Tigers defence was off and running from the start. The group forced three straight three-and-outs and didnt give up a first down until the second quarter. Clemson had its struggles early on offence, too, twice driving into Tech territory yet settling for Chandler Catanzaros two field goals. Catanzaros second kick was a career-long 51-yarder and gave him the school mark for field goals of 40 yards or longer at 24. He broke the mark of 23 set by former Tigers and NFL punter Chris Gardocki. The Tigers cranked things up in the second quarter. Boyd dropped a perfect pass to Watkins for a 41-yard TD to go up 13-0. On Clemsons next series, Boyd had a 47-yard strike to Bryant to the 4 and lofted a scoring pass to the left corner to freshman receiver Mike Williams. After Georgia Tech broke through on David Sims 1-yard touchdown run, Clemson quickly answered back with Boyds 76-yard touchdown throw to Bryant that broke Rivers ACC record. Boyd also had his 17th career 300-yard passing game, leaving him one behind Rivers ACC record in that category. Georgia Tech came in with an ACC-best 311 rushing yards a game, yet was held to 72 in the opening half as Clemsons defensive front chased down quarterback Vad Lee. The Yellow Jackets cut the score to 27-17 on Robert Godhighs 65-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, but Clemson scored on its next two possessions to take control for good. "Once we did that, we started feeling good about ourselves," Godhigh said. "But then we started kicking ourself in the foot again." Lee threw 23 times against the Tigers -- he combined for just 18 throws in Georgia Techs three-game win streak -- and the Yellow Jackets were held to 72 rushing in the opening half and 248 for the game. Tailback Robert Godhigh ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns. He also had five catches for 103 yards. It was the most points Clemson scored on Georgia Tech since winning 73-0 in 1903 when John Heisman -- yes, that John Heisman -- coached the Tigers. Heisman left the next season to coach the Yellow Jackets. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '