Team Usa

U-S-A! U-S-A! Mr. Flip will lead those cheers for the American team in the World Baseball Classic, not just because he's a patriotic fan, but also because he doesn't want to be damned for all eternity. Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, speaking at a media event from the observation deck of the Empire State Building last week, said this about Team USA: "We cannot allow those clubs to beat us. It's our game," Lasorda said, according to the Associated Press. "Remember one thing: In your hearts, you better pull for the USA or you may not get into heaven."

NAGANO, Japan -- Judy Whyte was all set to wear a replica of her daughter's Team USA jersey to the women's ice hockey final.But being the mother of Sandra Whyte, the suddenly controversial Sandra Whyte, she reconsidered."

NAGANO, Japan -- Before the NBA Dream Team's first-ever Olympic game, Charles Barkley said, "I don't know anything about Angola. But Angola's in trouble."Well, the U.S. men's ice hockey team knew about Sweden.And the United States was in trouble."I wish we could have played Jamaica or something," Mike Modano said after Team USA lost its Olympic opener, 4-2.This isn't 1992, or even 1996.The American NBA stars had no competition.The American NHL stars have almost too much."I think that's what a lot of people who aren't familiar with the game of hockey are truly unaware of," U.S. goaltender Mike Richter said.

NAGANO, Japan -- The team needed to be saved. The coach got his head shaved.Ron Wilson turned into a bald eagle, and now he is extinct.Please, no more Washington coaches in the Olympics.John Thompson blew it with the '88 men's basketball team, Wilson with the '98 men's ice hockey team.Don't anyone let Bernie Bickerstaff near the next Dream Team, OK?"Our players are as focused as they can be," Wilson said on the eve of the quarterfinals. "Our team is going to show up. We're going to beat the Czech Republic, and then we'll go from there."

NAGANO, Japan -- Loser's talk. You know it when you hear it."We were much better than we have been in any game so far," said U.S. men's hockey coach Ron Wilson."

NAGANO, Japan -- So, after shutting down the season 16 days, lugging 125 of its top players thousands of miles and rolling the dice in a great gamble to sell the sport to the world, the NHL came up with this Final Four at the Winter Olympics:Czech Republic vs. Canada and Finland vs. Russia.But if NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is upset by the turn of events -- underscored by the embarrassing performance of Team USA -- he's not letting on."From all the empirical touch and feel data we've been accumulating, we believe this is a positive experience," Bettman said yesterday.

IN TWO weeks, the eyes of the world's lacrosse fans will be on Baltimore, the internationally recognized "mecca of lacrosse," the largest event in the history of the sport will be held at Johns Hopkins University's Homewood Field July 16-24.A paid attendance of 70,000 fans is expected to jam Hopkins' newly expanded grandstands for an eight-day tournament featuring teams from the 11 member nations of the International Lacrosse Federation. Joining the defending champion Team USA (boasting a large contingent of local talent)

NAGANO, Japan -- For a women's sport, there sure is a lot of testosterone flowing between the United States and Canada in ice hockey.If their supposedly meaningless first-round game proved anything, it's that someone should write a sequel to "Slap Shot," featuring the Hanson sisters.Yes, for a sport with no body checking, there sure was a lot of contact in Team USA's 7-4 victory, a lot of pushing and shoving, even a lot of post-game yapping.After this, the gold-medal game is bound to be a disappointment.

NAGANO, Japan -- Jeremy Roenick expects hockey hostility tonight (11: 45; Channel 13), when Canada and the United States skate into each other at the Big Hat.Blood, sweat and sneers."

NAGANO, Japan -- Maybe the U.S. Olympic women's ice hockey team will again thwart the red menace from Canada.The men sure couldn't.Out of sync on defense, unable to finish on offense, the U.S. men turned in another discouraging performance today, losing to the Canadians, 4-1.Keith Primeau scored two goals, Joe Sakic had a goal and two assists and goaltender Patrick Roy had 30 saves as the teams completed the round-robin phase of the Olympic tournament.The...

Before the U.S. women's lacrosse team began competition in the Federation of International Lacrosse World Cup, head coach Sue Heether said, her biggest worry was her players' lack of international experience. Watching the way 22-year-old Amber Falcone, one of the squad's youngest players, performed en route to being named the tournament's best defender put those concerns to rest as Team USA went on to take the gold medal in Prague. The team arrived at US Lacrosse headquarters in Baltimore on Wednesday to celebrate its victory.

Women's lacrosse Team USA holds off Australia, 8-7, to capture World Cup The United States defeated Australia, 8-7, in the final game of the 2009 Federation of International Lacrosse World Cup in Prague. Team USA goalie Devon Wills made seven saves and had three ground balls to earn Player of the Match honors. Caroline Cryer led the U.S. in scoring with three goals. This is the sixth time the U.S. has won the World Cup, and the fourth time it has defeated the Australians in the final.

Women's lacrosse Team USA beats Ireland, 22-5, will face England in semifinal Caroline Cryer had four goals, three assists and five draw controls, helping the United States rout Ireland, 22-5, in a Federation of International Lacrosse World Cup quarterfinal in Prague, Czech Republic. Team USA (5-0) will play England in a semifinal this morning. The Irish gave the Americans a brief scare when they took a 4-3 first-half lead on a goal by Krista Pellizzi (Maryland), but after a timeout the Americans scored the next 15 goals.

JUPITER, Fla. - Orioles manager Dave Trembley wanted to wait until after Friday's game against the Florida Marlins before naming Jeremy Guthrie his Opening Day starter. By the end of the first inning, it was easy to wonder whether Trembley would make the announcement at all. Guthrie allowed six runs in the first but steadied himself and retired 13 of the final 16 hitters he faced. After the 4 2/3 -inning outing, Trembley told Guthrie he would get the ball April 6 at Camden Yards when the Orioles open the season against the New York Yankees.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Jeremy Guthrie walked out of Dodger Stadium on Sunday night just after Mark DeRosa connected for a two-run double, the eighth-inning hit cutting Team USA's deficit against Japan to two runs and breathing life into its chances of making it to the final of the World Baseball Classic. At the time, Guthrie, an analytical thinker if there ever was one, was torn. The last thing he wanted was to leave an experience in Los Angeles that he said "can't be matched" one game short of his and his teammates' ultimate goal.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -With Jeremy Guthrie not expected to pitch this weekend for the United States in the final rounds of the World Baseball Classic, the Orioles have asked their No. 1 pitcher to rejoin the club and start preparing for his expected Opening Day start. "I thought it was time for him to come back and get on his regular turn here," said pitching coach Rick Kranitz, who watched Guthrie allow six runs (two earned) on seven hits in 1 2/3 innings in Team USA's loss to Venezuela at Dolphin Stadium on Wednesday.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -It hit Brian Roberts on Sunday, before he even had his first at-bat or experienced one of the highlights of his baseball career. "I take the national anthem seriously every day, but I was standing there, praying like I always do during the anthem, and then I opened my eyes and looked around and saw who was standing beside me and what uniform I had on," Roberts said of his indoctrination to Team USA and the World Baseball Classic. "I said to myself, 'Wow, this is for real.

David Wright sliced a two-run single that capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning last night, and the injury-riddled Team USA qualified for this weekend's World Baseball Classic semifinals with a 6-5 win over Puerto Rico in Miami. Wright's hit with one out eliminated Puerto Rico from the tournament. "That situation is what you dream about when you're a kid," he said. The Americans advanced to the next round in Los Angeles. It was an especially sweet victory after Saturday's embarrassment against Puerto Rico that triggered the mercy rule when the Americans fell 10 runs behind, ending the game in the seventh inning.

Baseball looked more like America's national pastime last night. Team USA avoided elimination from the World Baseball Classic, beating the Netherlands, 9-3, in Miami to ease the sting of a drubbing against Puerto Rico the night before. Jimmy Rollins drove in four runs with a homer, triple and sacrifice fly, and Team USA newcomer Brian Roberts went 3-for-3 with two walks, two runs and two RBIs. Roy Oswalt pitched four scoreless innings, then six relievers completed the 12-hitter. Roberts, the Orioles second baseman, finished a home run short of the cycle and sparked the offense only hours after joining the team as a replacement for Dustin Pedroia, sidelined by an abdominal injury.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Mark Hendrickson finally provided the Orioles with some good news on the pitching and injury front. The left-hander, who has been sidelined this spring with lower-back and hip pain, pitched three scoreless innings yesterday in an intrasquad game at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. Hendrickson, signed as a free agent this offseason to give manager Dave Trembley and pitching coach Rick Kranitz more flexibility, allowed two singles and hit a batter but walked none and threw 24 of his 38 pitches for strikes.