1. Ryder Cup talkThere was a time when a U.S. Ryder Cup team was decided only on points, with no captains picks. As recently as two years ago, the core of the team was determined following the PGA Championship, with the picks coming a few weeks later.Now, with the help of a task force, the United States has pushed back the eight who automatically qualify to following this weeks Barclays -- or two weeks after the PGA Championship is played. And then captain Davis Love III has another two weeks to pick three players after the BMW Championship. Two weeks after that, following the Tour Championship, he will make the last selection.What does it all mean?Not much.Certainly pushing back the selection of the team and the captains picks closer to the actual playing of the Ryder Cup is a good idea. It was always silly to have the entire team decided six weeks prior to the competition, when form has much time to change.Love can only hope that some of the players on the bubble such as Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar at least show some spark during the first three playoff events to make the selections an easy call.Kuchar won the bronze medal at the Olympic golf tournament and played some solid golf to even make the field, but he hasnt won this year. Watson and Fowler have done little in the past six months.Neither has Zach Johnson, who is in good shape to make the team on his own, based mostly on last year, including winning The Open.And then there is Jim Furyk, who has played well recently, but has the most losses in U.S. Ryder Cup history.Furyk is really the only player outside of the top 8 automatics who has distinguished himself of late, shooting 58 at the Travelers Championship and posting some high finishes.2. Why does last year count?When the U.S. Ryder Cup Task Force was formed following the 2014 disaster at Gleneagles, it came up with Love as the captain and instituted change in the points structure. It eliminated points for the fall PGA Tour events that start the new season -- a move that caught PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem by surprise -- but still gave them for the major championships.Zach Johnson is basically on the team because of his Open win at St. Andrews more than a year ago. Justin Thomas is not because his win at the CIMB Classic didnt count.The PGA of America prefers points be given out to keep the Ryder Cup out front as much as possible. But wouldnt it make more sense to start the process six months out? Or even at the beginning of the year? If the idea is to get players who are most in form, counting anything from the previous year makes little sense.3. The case for FurykFuryk, 46, the newly-crowned Mr. 58, will be a polarizing decision. Hes already a vice captain, so hes part of the team regardless. That makes the decision even tougher for Love, who knows Furyk will be there anyway. He has played in nine Ryder Cups and hes in good form, so those are positives. But he is 10-20-4 and has lost the most matches in U.S. Ryder Cup history, including his past three in singles.One of those losses was the blown 1-up lead with two holes to go against Sergio Garcia in 2012 -- losing to two pars for a point that was crucial. Some of Furyks poor record can be attributed to multiple partners during the years. And hes had a nearly reverse record in the Presidents Cup. You can argue for or against him and not be wrong.4. And the European team is set ... save for the picksWith one week to go, the European Ryder Cup team is set: Rory McIlroy, Danny Willett, Henrik Stenson, Chris Wood, Sergio Garcia, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Justin Rose, Andy Sullivan and Matthew Fitzpatrick. With five rookies, it is understood that captain Darren Clarke is leaning toward veterans in his three remaining picks, which will be made Tuesday. Conventional wisdom has him taking Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer.But then things get interesting. Does he take Scotlands Russell Knox, who would have made the team on points had he been a member of the European Tour when he won last year in China? What about long-hitting Thomas Pieters, who nearly defended his title last week at the Czech Open? Clarkes decisions wont be easy.5. Padraigs Olympic sojournNot only did Padraig Harrington play for Ireland in the mens Olympic tournament, he stuck around with his family for the second week, never touched his clubs and seemingly enjoyed the experience immensely.6. A year without TigerTuesday marked the one-year anniversary of Tiger Woods last competitive round. He shot 70 at the Wyndham Championship to tie for 10th after contending for most of the event. At the time, it was seen as a positive step after what had been his worst year as a pro.Of course, it turned out to be nothing to build on. A few weeks later he had the first of two back surgeries. His agent, Mark Steinberg, said he continues to make progress but there is no timetable for a return. In retrospect, this story from a year ago had a lot more meaning.7. Making his first Ryder Cup teamFitzpatrick did it Sunday with a top-5 finish at the Czech Masters.8. No excusesOne of the benefits to the Olympic golf tournament standing between the PGA Championship and the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs is it offered a three-week break to those who did not go to Rio. The likes of Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Rory Mcilroy and Jordan Spieth have had far more time off at this point in the season than has ever been the case in the FedEx Cup era.It should cut down a good bit of the malaise that typically affects the playoffs, as the long season takes its toll. Not even a huge pot of money can shake some guys out of a funk if their golf game is off. A three-week run of playoff events begins Thursday at the Barclays before another week off prior to the Tour Championship. It will be interesting to see the level of play.9. The ageless Gary PlayerAt age 80, Gary Player was everywhere in Rio. Watching other sports. Serving as team leader for both the men and women golfers from South Africa. Even hitting balls on the range one day to keep his game in shape. Its hard to think of anyone who served as a more positive influence on golf in the Olympics. Jason Castro Jersey . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Jose Berrios Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. http://www.baseballtwinsprostore.com/twins-tony-oliva-jersey/ . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Miguel Sano Jersey .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. Bert Blyleven Jersey . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs remember not-so-fondly the way they started last season, dropping five of their first six games and spending the rest of the year digging out of the hole.This year, theyd rather start the way they finished.Andy Reid and Co. carry an NFL-leading 10-game regular-season winning streak into Sundays opener against the San Diego Chargers. In fact, the only loss theyve had since October came in the AFC playoffs, when they lost on the road to the New England Patriots.We played some good teams, Im not going to short-change the teams we were playing, Reid said this week, but we settled down as it went and we all did better.So much better that Kansas City went 11-5 and won its first playoff game since January 1994.The sudden about-face came despite losing star running back Jamaal Charles to a torn ACL in his right knee, and with a series of injuries hobbling star pass rusher Justin Houston.And it proved instructive to a team that largely returns intact this year.You have to start fast, Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin said. If we started fast, we wouldnt have been in the position we were in for the playoffs.The Chargers would love to be in any playoff position.After winning their opener against the Lions, and beating the Browns in Week 4, they went on to lose six straight games and missed the postseason for the second straight year.Lack of production from first-round draft pick Melvin Gordon and the rest of the ground game contributed to their downfall, along with a series of razor-thin losses. But perhaps most troubling was the play of the Chargers porous defense, which they hope to have shored up by signing nose tackle Brandon Mebane and drafting defensive end Joey Bosa third overall.Even though there is some uncertainty whether Bosa will play Sunday , the Chargers still think their defense -- and by extension the entire team -- is better than the 4-12 finish a year ago.The record sticks with you forever, said Chargers coach Mike McCoy, now in his fourth year, but weve got a good football team and now we have to go do it.Like last season, the Chiefs could still be without Charles and Houston on Sunday.Charles has been slow in coming back from surgery following his Week 5 injury last year, and Reid called it a stretch that he will be on the field against San Diego. Houston is out for the foreseeable future following surgery to repair his own ACL in February.Not that Houstons absence, or the fact All-Pro safety Eric Berry missed the entire preseason due to a contract dispute, is making the Chargers feel any better about faccing what was one of the leagues premier defenses a year ago.ddddddddddddWhat did we score, shoot, six points against them last year? Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said, reflecting on a 33-3 rout in San Diego and a 10-3 in Kansas City. I believe in our defense, but I think it is going to take more than a field goal this time.As the AFC West rivals prepare to kick off the season, here are some things to know:DIVISION DOLDRUMS: The Chargers have lost eight straight games against AFC West foes, and their only two wins in two years have come against winless Raiders teams.I think it has a chance to be one of the more salty, tough divisions in the league, I really do, said Rivers, who is starting his 13th year in it. Four or five years ago it was regarded by many to be a weak division. And now, shoot, its arguably one of the best.BURSTING BACKFIELD: Even without Charles, the Chiefs have a trio of capable running backs in Charcandrick West, Spencer Ware and Knile Davis. West and Ware in particular proved to be a solid one-two punch in Charles absence during the second half of last season.SOLID O-LINE: The Chargers offensive front was a mess last season. Tackle King Dunlap was sidelined by injuries and most of the rest were ineffective. But now that theyre healthy, and with the inking of center Matt Slauson, expectations are once again high for the San Diego offense.HALI, WAIT AND SEE: Pass rusher Tamba Hali skipped most of training camp and all of the Chiefs preseason games to protect his knees, which underwent surgery in the offseason. The veteran will be counted on to pressure Rivers with Houston and fellow linebacker Josh Mauga out with injuries.I think our approach to 91 is going to be the 91 weve seen the last decade, Rivers said. Maybe he wont be, but you have to expect that.SPEAKING OF OFFENSE: Both teams have new coordinators. The Chargers brought back Ken Whisenhunt after 23 unsuccessful games coaching the Titans, while the Chiefs turned their attack over to Brad Childress and Matt Nagy following Doug Pedersons departure for Philadelphia.In both instances, the transition has been relatively seamless.Obviously we had a good start in 13, got our way into the postseason, won a playoff game, Rivers said. We built and did some things in the two years (Whisenhunt) was gone that we liked and we kept, and he brought back some of his own ideas and meshed things together.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL NFL Jerseys From China Stitched Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China Jerseys From China Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '