Stars in at least four straight years, which is unprecede

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The proud man looked over the heads of the gathered reporters and then wistfully at the exit. He spoke slowly.Pau Gasol sounded tired. You would, too, after pushing a rock up the hill four times and then helplessly watching it roll back down to the bottom. This time, which marked the end of Spains dream of Olympic gold at the hands of Team USA yet again, the semifinal ended by a not-as-close-as-it-sounds 82-76.Our hearts are bleeding, said Sergio Scariolo, who coaches Spain but whose penchant for drama marks him as indelibly Italian.Beating Team USA in Fridays Olympic semifinal was always going to be a heavy lift for Spain, let alone for the 36-year-old Gasol. He was already forced to take on more responsibility to cover for the absence of his injured younger brother and fellow NBA All-Star star, Marc. Then Nikola Mirotic, Spains only other legitimate inside threat, picked up his fourth foul before halftime.What made it more frustrating still is that he was convinced the Americans looked more beatable than in any of the four Olympic tournaments in which theyve knocked him and Spain out.Thats just the way I felt, Gasol said. They are not playing as well as other times theyve played, but they are still a very talented team individually.If we had been a little sharper with our shots, if we would have moved the ball a little better, if we would have boxed out more, and make it a two- or three-possession game, then youre talking about a whole different story.Thats three very big ifs if youre keeping score at home. And even if somehow all three of those wishes were granted, it might not have made much difference.Team USA had hold of this game from the start and the last time Spain had a real chance to make it competitive came with two minutes left, down 61-55. But Sergio Rodriguez missed a 3-point shot and Kevin Durant made his on the other end, imposing order once more on what had been a herky-jerky game because of all the chippy fouls and technicals.Its the most different game Ive coached internationally. It was just a real different game today, said U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski.He was loathe to say more about the referees, though he credited the crew with bringing the coaches and captains together at the start of the second half and telling them, `Lets just play basketball.Like Gasol, his coach cited a few could-have-beens that might have changed the outcome. Scariolo ticked off rebounding, blocked shots and intimidation.The first two were easy enough to quantify: the Americans had a 53-41 edge in rebounds and 7-1 in blocks; the intimidation factor is hard to measure, but easy to see. Like Gasol, a handful of his Spanish teammates have played in the NBA for several years. Unlike him, however, they took most of their chances from distance, rarely challenging the longer, quicker U.S. defenders one on one in the paint.Hes got back-to-the basket game and a face-up game and he can shoot the long ball, said DeAndre Jordan, the toughest U.S. defender in the post. Anything I could do to make his catches tough, play with length and physicality, I was just trying to make it as tough on him as possible.I tried to push him off the block and just play him with length, he added. I just wanted to make everything tough on him.Gasol scored a game-high 23, leading Spain as he has in nearly every climactic battle with the Americans. In 2004, he left Athens empty-handed and settled for silver both in 2008 and 2012. The best the Spanish can manage this time around will be bronze.Its been a tough tournament for aging international stars. Already, Argentinas Manu Ginobili and Frances Tony Parker announced the end of their Olympic careers and Gasol will be 40 when the next Tokyo Games convene in 2020.Asked about the possibility of his retirement from international play, Gasol only promised to assess his situation year by year.But at the end of this game, after exchanging handshakes and hugs with the friends and rivals he made over 16 seasons, he sauntered over to the USA bench and did the same with Coach K and assistants Jim Boeheim and Tom Thibodeau.Then Gasol stopped and looked into the crowd for a few long seconds, like a man drinking in a scene one final time.Paus a great player, Krzyzewski said. No one is going to stop him.But as Gasol answered his final question and began the long, slow walk down the hallway toward Spains gloomy locker room, there was a better-than-even chance he was wondering where hed find the strength after Sunday to climb back onto the international stage again.---Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and http://www.Twitter.com/JimLitke . Deion Sanders Youth Jersey . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. Jason Witten Cowboys Jersey . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. http://www.shoptheofficialcowboys.com/Elite-Tony-Dorsett-Cowboys-Jersey/ . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Custom Dallas Cowboys Jerseys . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Demarcus Lawrence Cowboys Jersey . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. SAN DIEGO -- Goose Gossage keeps a bottle of Weibel Vineyards champagne with Cubs on the label perched on a shelf in his pantry, a reminder of when Chicago arrived in San Diego needing one win to reach the 1984 World Series and wound up crushed yet again.This years All-Star Game is a mini-Cubs celebration, with seven players on the NL roster, including the entire starting infield, after a remarkable half-season. But a summer slump serves as a reminder: A good start is a long way from Chicago winning its first championship since 1908 or even bringing the World Series to Sheffield and Waveland Avenues for the first time since 1945.Everyone crowned us the World Series champion in December, which is unfair to the whole organization, first baseman Anthony Rizzo said Monday. Everyone put this high expectation on us, and we lived up to it.When Chris Sale of the South Sides White Sox throws the first pitch to the Cubs Ben Zobrist on Tuesday night, the All-Star Game will be back in San Diego for the first time since 1992 at Jack Murphy Stadium, where Ken Griffey Jr. batted seventh for the AL between another pair of juniors -- Cal Ripken and Sandy Alomar. Griffey was the MVP, going 3 for 3 and falling a triple short of the cycle. Tony Gwynn -- the Padres Hall of Famer who would die of salivary gland cancer in 2014 -- had a pair of assists in right field.A new generation has taken over, led by Washingtons Bryce Harper, the Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout and Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant -- who is happy to see his old friends from University of San Diego days. The Nationals Stephen Strasburg also is having reunion; he played for San Diego State.He probably did more at San Diego State than I did for USD, Bryant said.Chicago has become a favorite second team, longtime losers trying to win the North Sides first championship in 108 years.The Cubs are like the Cowboys. Wherever you go in the country, theres fans there, reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta said about his team. You go as far as you can west and as far as you can east, theres Cubs fans, and anywhere in-between.Boston also has its supporters around the world.The Red Sox, who ended an 86-year title drought in 2004 and have added two more, put six players on the AL team and four of them are starters. Designated hitter David Ortiz is retiring at the end of the season and will be making his 10th and final All-Star appearance, Steven Wright, a 31-year-old knuckleballer, could follow the flame-throwers to the mound in the middle-to-late innings.I feel like 95 is the new 90, Wright said of their mph velocity. Everybody is coming in throwing 98, 100, and then you got somebody coming in throwing 75, and Ill drop it down to 60.San Franciscos Johnny Cueto starts for the NL, which has lost three in a row and 10 of 13 since the All-Star winner determined home-field advantage for the World Series. That served Cueto well last fall, when he pitched a two-hitter for host Kansas Cityy in Game 2 for a 2-0 lead of New York Mets, who never recovered.dddddddddddd.San Diego may not have won the World Series during its 48-year existence, but the Padres are a team of distinction: The only one not to have thrown a no-hitter, and famous for their golden yellow and brown color scheme in the 1970s under owner Ray Kroc, who also headed McDonalds. Players wore jerseys in the vintage Padres mustard-and-mud style for Mondays Home Run Derby.Of course, San Diego has been cruel to the Cubs. Back in 1984, they left Wrigley Field to the sound of Van Halens Jump and headed west convinced they would play Detroit or Kansas City for the title. Cubs fans were giddy with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five NL Championship Series.There was at least 100 brooms around our bus, recalled Gossage, the future Hall of Famer who got a six-out save in the Game 5 finale.But current players try to think only about the game in front of them. History is for the fans.Thats something we dont really discuss very often, Arrieta said.Chicago got off to a 25-6 start and was 39-15 in early June. But the Cubs skidded into the break by losing 15 of their last 21 games.Weve got to play better than we have recently, Zobrist said.With Rizzo, Zobrist, shortstop Addison Russell and Bryant, the Cubs joined the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals as the only teams to start all four infielders in an All-Star Game -- a fifth Chicago player, Dexter Fowler, was voted to the starting lineup but will miss out due to a hamstring injury.Rizzo led NL players with 3.2 million votes.Its crazy to me, just because of all the superstars in this game, and I do not classify myself as one of them, he said. When that first voting came out, I was like, `Is this a fluke? Was there a glitch?The NL is hosting the All-Stars in at least four straight years, which is unprecedented, starting with Cincinnati last season and continuing with Miami next year and Washington in 2018. Because the game is used to determine Series home-field advantage, the All-Star home team is alternating -- meaning the AL wears white uniforms and bats last this time.Because of that, Wil Myers and Drew Pomeranz of the Padres had to vacate their own clubhouse and move to the visitors locker room on the third-base side of Petco Park.The clubhouse doesnt really play a factor, but just being able to come out there and being in front of the home crowd is going to be awesome, said Myers, the NLs starting DH. Its something Ive always looked forward to.Game notes Miamis Giancarlo Stanton, who is not an All-Star, won the Home Run Derby by defeating defending champion Todd Frazier 20-13 in the final round, hitting two drives off the third level of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building brick warehouse in the left-field corner. Stanton hit a record 61 homers over three rounds, including a 497-foot drive. ' ' '