his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings

When Kevin Martin decided to retire this year, he thought hed have plenty of company. The dean of Canadian curlers -- with four national titles, a world championship, both a gold and silver at the Olympics and a record 18 Grand Slams on the World Curling Tour -- looked around and saw plenty his age or older holding brooms. "I thought this year there would be a lot of guys retiring," Martin, 47, said Tuesday. "I thought I would just be one of the many. As it turns out, Im the only one. Theres nobody else, Im the only guy!" Instead of retiring, other senior skips have played a game of musical chairs as teams have reformed and players have moved about the country. And Martin says the desire to secure that all-important Olympic berth is the reason. "The shuffling I think is completely because of the Olympics and that curling has become a four-year sport," he said. Younger teams are looking at skips at or near 50-plus and wondering whether they have what it takes to compete, not just next season but also down the road. And those skips who have never won that Olympic berth (as Martin did three times, failing to earn a medal in 1992) are reluctant to give up while they think theres still a chance. Manitobas Jeff Stoughton, 50, who has parted ways with his former team and formed a new one and Ontarios Glenn Howard, 51, who has seen his squad fragment as well, are cases in point. "Its hard I think for young guys to be with a 50, 51, 52 or whatever age guy and think four years down the road," Martin said. "Thats not easy. "Jeff and Glenn still play brilliantly but will they in four years? I dont think they can answer that." The result has been a lot of movement. "Its really exciting. Its probably the most excitement Ive seen in our sport in a long time," said Martin. "I think the young guys that are coming up are dealing with it really well by doing all of these shakeups and trying to figure out how they can get the very, very best team." The latest move was Kevin Koes former Alberta team, which is the reigning national champion, picking up former B.C. skip John Morris on Tuesday to take them into key events next season, including a return trip to the Tim Hortons Brier. Its the first time the current mens champion will get an automatic ticket without having to win a provincial title. Two younger teams at the elite level remain intact: Olympic gold-medallist Brad Jacobs, 28, and his team from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and Mike McEwen, 33, from Winnipeg. Former Olympic champ Brad Gushue, 33, from Newfoundland and Labrador has made only one move, returning former teammate Mark Nichols, who had been curling with Stoughton. After finishing out of the medals at the world championships, Koe, 39, announced a new team that includes Marc Kennedy at third, Ben Hebert at lead and Brent Laing at second. Kennedy and Hebert won Olympic gold with Martin and Laing was a two-time world champion with Howard. "Those are your top four I think going forward," said Martin of those four teams. After watching all the moves, though, does Martin have any second thoughts about his decision to quit the game? "I am so ready. To be honest with you, I think I was ready after Vancouver," he insists. But Martin recognizes that had he pulled the plug then, at the age of 43, he might have come out of retirement. Theres no chance of that now. "Im in a real good spot, Im busy outside the ice," he said. "Theres tons of stuff going on." First, hes got a new job as a broadcaster and curling ambassador with Rogers Sportsnet. Then theres his curling store in Edmonton, part interest in a golf-course development in Phoenix and his curling academies to run. For Martin, the icing on the cake this year was going out a winner after being disappointed at the Olympic curling trials. He beat Jacobs 4-3 in the mens final Sunday to win the Players Championship in the final tournament of his career, his 18th Grand Slam win on the professional tour he played a role in developing. "To have the 18th Slam work out . . . it makes it all that much easier," he said. As for the only thing he regrets in a lifetime of curling, it was that failure to medal in 1992, when curling was still an Olympic demonstration sport. He knew he wasnt good enough to win gold that year. "But then we played the U.S. in the bronze game and thats a game I think we should have won," Martin said. For one thing, it would have given him one of each medal. "The one game . . . over all the years that Id like to have back is that bronze game in 1992," he added. Chidobe Awuzie Cowboys Jersey . The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. Connor Williams Jersey . Now the Minnesota Vikings have set their sights on soccer. http://www.cowboysproshopauthentic.com/Womens-Terrell-Owens-Authentic-Jersey/ . The Miami Heat star tops the leagues global list of top-selling jerseys for the 2012-13 season, edging Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and James Heat teammate Dwyane Wade for the No. Michael Gallup Cowboys Jersey . Bradley is one of eight players selected to the team who also played in this years World Cup in Brazil. The MLS all-stars will compete against German giants Bayern Munich in Portland on Aug. Deonte Thompson Jersey .Y. -- Dwane Casey admitted hed been concerned about his young Raptors team who had zero experience playing in close-out games -- what awaited them with the vastly-experienced Brooklyn Nets, and how theyd react. MILWAUKEE -- The Washington Wizards hope they learned their lesson after almost blowing a 28-point lead Saturday night. Thankfully for the Wizards, they were playing the leagues worst team. Bradley Beal scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Wizards hold off the Milwaukee Bucks 114-107. "We made this game a lot harder than it should have been," said Washingtons John Wall, who scored only nine points and missed 10 of 14 shots. The Wizards opened a 71-43 lead in the second quarter against Milwaukee (12-50), the NBAs first team to lose 50 games. But the Bucks cut the deficit to 104-101 on a pair of free throws by Ersan Ilyasova with 2:13 to go. "Its unfortunate that we have to learn a lesson from this game," said Martell Webster, who scored 15 points after missing two games with a sore back. "No disrespect to that team thats over there. Milwaukees just is in a dysfunctional state," he said. "These are games that we know were supposed to win by a large margin. In this league, you have to kick them when theyre down." After Ilyasova pulled the Bucks within three points, Beal then scored on a driving layup and hit a baseline 3-pointer to give the Wizards a 109-101 lead with 2:01 left. "That kind of stemmed the tide a little bit," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "Those were big baskets." Washington won for the eighth time in nine games. Wall, Washingtons leading scorer at 19.9 points per game, had 13 assists and seven turnovers. Trevor Ariza scored 17 of his 26 points in the first quarter as the Wizards built a big lead. "They werent really missing (shots), and we didnt really help ourselves because of a lack of hustle," said Milwaukees Brandon Knight, who scored 25 points. After dominating the first half, the Wizards missed 13 of 17 shots in the third quarter. Washington scored only 10 points and had seven turnovers in the period. "We took shortcuts defensivelyy, we just stopped playing," Wittman said.dddddddddddd Washington made 29 of 43 shots in the first half and took its 71-43 lead on Beals 3-pointer with 2:24 left in the second quarter. The Wizards led 75-53 at halftime, a season high in points for the first half. Milwaukee scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to pull within 75-65, but Ariza scored on a driving layup with 4:57 left to snap the Wizards scoring drought. Washington scored the final four points of the first quarter and then outscored Milwaukee 30-12 to open the second quarter, opening a 66-39 lead on Arizas 3-pointer with 4:14 to go in the half. But the Wizards missed their first nine shots of the second half to let Milwaukee back into the game. "We kept cutting into the deficit but leads like that are just very, very hard to overcome," Milwaukee coach Larry Drew said. Ilyasova returned from a one-game suspension for punching Sacramentos Reggie Evans on Wednesday night and scored 13 points in 27 minutes. His teammate, O.J. Mayo, missed the game after being given a one-game suspension for punching New Orleans Greg Stiemsma on Friday night. Ariza made six of eight shots in the first quarter to score 17 points and give Washington a 36-27 lead. Trevor Booker made one of two free throws to give the Wizards the lead for good, 16-15, with 5:33 left in the first quarter. The game marked the return to Milwaukee of forward Drew Gooden, who signed a second 10-day contract with the Wizards on Saturday. Gooden, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract with the Bucks in 2010 but was released on an amnesty provision before this season, scored 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench. Notes: Ariza went to the court hard with 6:16 left in the first quarter. He stayed on the ground for about a minute before rising and walking to the bench. . The Wizards previous first-half high was 74 points against Philadelphia on March 1. . The Wizards have won 14 of their last 20 road games. 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