Allgemein » disproportionate amount of attention."

MELBOURNE, Australia - Andy Murray now has another burden to bear, and its not in Britain.The 27-year-old Scottish player earned the dubious distinction Sunday of becoming the only man in the Open Era to lose the Australian Open final four times.For years, Murray lived under the pressure of intense expectations in Britain until he finally won Wimbledon in 2013 and ended a 77-year drought for British men. He had to beat Novak Djokovic to clinch that title.Djokovic is now making Murrays life very difficult in Australia.On Sunday, the No. 1-ranked Djokovic beat Murray 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0 to win his fifth Australian Open title and once again relegated Murray to the role of runner-up. Murray lost twice before to Djokovic at Melbourne Park in 2011 and 2013, and to Roger Federer in 2010.Murray stood stone-faced at the trophy ceremony beside an exuberant Djokovic inside Rod Laver Arena, with the 76-year-old Rod Laver himself sitting in the stands, and again hoisted the runner-ups silver plate.Ill try and come back next year and hopefully have a slightly different outcome in the final, Murray told the crowd, which had spent much of the match jumping to its feet and exploding in cheers at the end of intensely athletic rallies.On a bright note for Murray, who entered the tournament ranked sixth, he will return to the No. 4 ranking and rejoin the so-called Big Four of mens tennis alongside Djokovic, No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 3 Rafael Nadal.His performance showed that he is in excellent physical shape, as was Djokovic — most of the time.The reason I lost the match was not a physical thing, Murray said.At times in the first half of the match, Djokovic stumbled on the court and appeared to be limping. He also received treatment on his right thumb. In the third set, Djokovic appeared to be cramping, Murray said.The third set was frustrating because I got a bit distracted when he, like fell on the ground after a couple of shots, Murray said.After struggling with apparent injury, Djokovic came back to win 12 of the last 13 games.He was moving unbelievable at the end of the third set, sliding and chasing everything down, Murray said. If someone is cramping in the final of a Slam, with such a long way to go, youre feeling pretty good about yourself. Maybe I dropped off for 10, 15 minutes there, and he got back into it.At Murrays post-match news conference, he was repeatedly asked if he thought his opponents stumbling was a deliberate tactic.I dont know, Murray paused. I dont know... I would hope that wouldnt be the case.Djokovic later said he wasnt cramping but went through a roughly 20-minute crisis after too many long, exhausting rallies.I was just weak. I went through a physical crisis, Djokovic said, finding himself on the defensive after winning his fifth Australian Open title.Djokovic shrugged when asked about Murrays loss of focus. In a match like this a lot of emotions go through, a lot of tension. Its not easy to keep the concentration 100 per cent all the way through.Despite the loss, Murray said he felt upbeat about his physical condition and a new level of confidence and calm during matches.Obviously I would have liked to have won today, but you cant win all of them, unfortunately, Murray said. Novak has won five times here now. Theres no disgrace obviously in losing to him. So yeah, a lot of positives for me to take from it. Custom San Francisco Giants Jerseys .A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul. Orlando Cepeda Jersey . Wheeler scored at 4:58 of overtime, with Scheifele getting an assist, and the Jets beat the slumping Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Sunday night. http://www.sfgiantsrookiestore.com/Giants-Jeff-Samardzija-Kids-Jersey/ . -- Slugger Jose Abreu, All-Star left-hander Chris Sale and closer Matt Lindstrom are on the disabled list. Will Clark Jersey .com) - The Dallas Mavericks had a five-game winning streak snapped last time out, but theyll try to get back into the winners circle Sunday evening when the Milwaukee Bucks pay a visit to American Airlines Center. Juan Marichal Jersey . You can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal or on TSN.ca/Montreal. Also, TSN.ca features live streaming of the post-game news conferences from the Bell Centre. The Rangers grabbed a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final after Sundays 3-2 overtime victory against the visiting Habs.TORONTO -- When Gary Bettman approached Ray Emery during the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup celebration at the White House, everyone around wondered what was going to happen. The Philadelphia Flyers goaltender had drawn league-wide attention just a few days earlier for skating the length of the ice to fight an unwilling combatant in Braden Holtby. Naturally, that came up. "I said: Oh, Ray. Its good to see you. Ive been thinking about you. We had a nice chat," the commissioner said. "And I said, So just hypothetically, if there was a rule that said if you cross the red line to get into a fight with the other goaltender and you get a 10-game suspension, would you have done it? He goes, What? Are you crazy?" It might not be a 10-game suspension, but NHL general managers will discuss potential changes to fighting rules Tuesday at their annual meeting following Hall of Fame induction weekend. Bettman acknowledged that incidents like George Parros being concussed after falling during a fight with Colton Orr and what Emery did sparked plenty of debate, but he made it clear its just one of many topics on the agenda. "I think the level of dialogue gets sparked by an occasional incident, and an incident of this nature when you look at everything else that is going on in the season was really a small pebble relative to a beach full of sand, which is seeing an incredibly entertaining season," Bettman said Monday. "I think sometimes an incident, as rare as it might be, tends to get focused on disproportionately." During his remarks at the Prime Time Sports Management conference in Toronto, Bettman called fighting a "thermostat" in hockey that helps cool things down when tensions run high. "When Vinny Lecavalier was in a fight with (Jarome) Iginla ... they got mad at each other," he said during his question-and-answer session. "Id rather them be punching each other than swinging sticks at each other." One of the arguments against the abolition of fighting, or even making the punishment a game misconduct or suspension, is that it would cause more high-sticks and cheap shots. Bettman did not overtly reveal his opinion one way or the other but said that feelings on both sides of the fighting debate are "really dug in." "To say youre getting rid of fighting, Im not even sure what that means because you can change the penalty and make it more severe," he said. "That doesnt mean if somebodys sufficiently motivated, theyre not going to fight. So well take the hypothetical. You get thrown out of the game if you fight. OK, I think guys will still fight if they feel the need." A 2011 poll conducted by the NHLPA and CBC found that 98 per cent of players would not support the total elimination of fighting. Bettman wants to take the pulse of GMs at Tuesdays meeting. That includes feelings about goaltenders fighting and other topics. Emery was not suspended for pummelling Holtby because there is nothing in the rule book to use as precedent. Bettman expects a "general discussion" but does not think any rule changes will come about just yet. Bettman said the current rules, which include a five-minute major for fighting and extra penalties stemming from the instigator and third-man-in rules, represeent the consensus among GMs.dddddddddddd "If somebody wants to change it, there needs to be a new consensus," he said. "Thats why the discussions ongoing. Having said that, it continues to evolve as the game does. Four years ago a shoulder hit to the head was not penalized. Now itll get you suspended. Were going to continue to look at what we can do to keep the game physical but safe as possible." Senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan, whos being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame Monday night, is expected to address the GMs and give his usual update. Hybrid icing will also be on the docket, as Bettman said the adjustment is ongoing for players and officials. While the Parros and Emery incidents stoked the fire about fightings place in the NHL, Bettman doesnt want them to overshadow other things that are going on, like the Colorado Avalanches hot start, strong television ratings and arenas being filled to 95 per cent of capacity. "We probably wouldnt even be having the fighting discussion right now if there wasnt a freak play with George Parros losing his balance and falling," Bettman said. "Like the Emery-Holtby incident, those things dont define the season were having. Theyre important, we look at them, we discuss them, but they get more attention than they probably warrant in any particular case because were constantly monitoring the game." Bettman said the NHL does fan research on a constant basis and not specifically when incidents are in the news. Hes also aware of the opinions expressed by league executives, like when Brian Burke wrote an editorial for USA Today in support of fighting. Tuesday provides a chance for "to see if anybody has an appetite for pursuing" any rule changes, Bettman said. "Ultimately if theres going to be a change, there needs to be a new consensus (among) all parties who have to make a decision," he said. "We try to do whats in the best interest of the game, and that includes our fans, that includes our clubs and that includes our players. There are lots of views on lots of subjects. This happens to be one which probably gets a disproportionate amount of attention." Another topic that has gotten a lot of attention is NHL expansion, especially considering unbalanced divisions created by realignment. Having 32 teams would even out the divisions, but Bettman said there were no formal plans to expand. "I dont envision right now going through a formal expansion process," Bettman said in an interview after speaking at the conference. "We get expressions of interest all the time. Those are informal conversations that we have, but in terms of a formal bid process, Im not focused on doing anything like that right now." The league and NHLPA have discussed reviving the World Cup of Hockey, which Bettman said hed prefer over the Olympics, but the commissioner did not provide an update on those talks. He did confirm that NHL Premiere games in Europe that happened from 2007 through 2011 will not come back at the start of the 2014-15 season. "Thats something that we and the Players Association have agreed on," Bettman said. "We think its too late, all of us. We had a meeting a month ago and we jointly reached that conclusion." ' ' '