bout this game is we got to rest players that played two 90s. S

In the oversized pantheon of unexplainable things -- you know, Bigfoot, Stonehenge, why one sock always gets lost in the dryer -- the following doesnt offer much expansion to the whole mystery genre.But here goes nothing anyway: Theres been an extreme number of professional golfers in recent years who have lost their game and gotten it back again.No, thats not entirely correct. We can break it down even more.Theres been an extreme number of European professional golfers of the highest order who in recent years have unexplainably lost their game and perhaps just as bafflingly restored themselves to prominence.The latest to join this list -- one that already famously included Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and Paul Casey, among others -- is Padraig Harrington, who won the Portugal Masters on Sunday.You probably recall Harrington as the quirky Irishman who won three of six major championships less than a decade ago. He was easily one of the worlds best players then, a self-made superstar whod toiled on the games lower levels before climbing the ladder to success. In an era of Tiger Woods-imbued dominance, Harrington quickly became a standard for those who werent deemed prodigies and had to work a little harder to reach that next level.What you might not understand is all the work hed put into his game since the major triumphs -- and how not all of it had come to fruition so quickly. Before winning the Honda Classic on the PGA Tour last year, he was ranked 297th in the world. Before winning the Portugal Masters, he hadnt won a European Tour-sanctioned event since the last of those three majors, the 2008 PGA Championship.Three years ago, in the Waste Management Phoenix Open interview room after a third-round 63, Harrington was asked a relatively benign question: Did you change your golf swing?What followed was a 1,854-word explanation of everything hed tried and endured. For comparisons sake, Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg Address checked in at a mere 272 words.To make his long story short, Harrington provided insight not just into how hed gone about trying to regain his best stuff, but why. It was fascinating introspection, about still loving the game and still trying to uncover its deepest secrets.Hes hardly the only one to have voiced this type of contemplation.Westwood rose to No. 4 in the world before bottoming out in the 266th position, then reversing field and ascending all the way to No. 1. Stenson has suffered two roller-coaster rides in his career, navigating those ebbs and flows back to prominence each time.Casey is in the midst of enjoying a similar career resurgence. Ranked as low as 83rd in the world at one point early last year, hes now 13th, with his T-21 result at the CIMB Classic on Sunday breaking a string of four consecutive finishes in the top four on tournament leaderboards.I questioned not if I was going to play golf, but certainly to what level I would play golf, Casey explained recently. Sometimes I believed I could get back to a certain level, and other times I didnt see much hope. ... I was injured, and I was going through a divorce. It was very, very tough to focus on the golf. It was so much going on in my life, it was difficult to focus on the golf. That was probably the toughest point.Maybe its not so unexplainable after all. Maybe its just a coincidence that the rise and fall and rise again paths of these players have held so much in common, each being European and a former top-level competitor who endured golfs humbling nature only to rebound to significance again. Maybe it speaks more to the game itself, and how consistency is the rarest commodity.The biggest question surrounding the games highest level, in many circles, currently revolves around whether Woods, now 816th in the world, will ever enjoy a comeback that would make those of Westwood, Stenson, Casey and Harrington pale in comparison.If nothing else, these stories -- including the one which saw Harrington finally win again at age 45 this past weekend -- should provide insight into both the how and why such revivals happen, offering a glimmering shred of optimism for Woods and any other player who hopes the roller coaster will once again soar to the highest heights. Fake Jordan . 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. Cheap Jordans . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. https://www.fakejordanwholesale.com/ . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Wholesale Jordans From China . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Cheap Jordan From China . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday. MANAUS, Brazil -- The team that is headed home with no more games to play in these Olympics shared smiles and hugs in equal quantities on the field after the final whistle.The team that clinched first place in the group with the same result, claiming the best possible path to retain Olympic gold and bookend a World Cup title, wore flushed faces of frustration.Catalina Usme put it best, shortly after the Colombian player with the distinctive haircut that looked so sensible on a sweltering night, put two balls in the back of the net against the best team in the world to earn a 2-2 draw that will raise a whole host of eyebrows.There was a translation as she spoke in Spanish, but it wasnt necessary: This is football.Or if you prefer an American spin, courtesy of Carli Lloyd: Crap happens.Tuesday was a strange night in an unusual setting, at the edge of the rain forest and thousands of miles from the beaches of Rio de Janeiro and the rest of the Olympic hustle and bustle. It was an inspiring night, 42,000 fans in full voice as host Brazil kicked off against South Africa in the second game of the night at the Amazonia Arena. A nation that for so long turned a blind eye to womens soccer, when not actively elbowing it into the cultural shadows, partied as it watched a womens team that offers all of the good vibes, not to mention goals, the mens team lacks.It was a night to see progress on the scoreboard. Set to be eliminated without a win, and even then on the thinnest of ice, Colombia celebrated a draw against the United States earned when Usme put home her second goal off a corner kick in the dying seconds of the 90th minute.Colombia had never scored against the United States, let alone taken points. But the same team that, for all its organizational and financial issues, reached one milestone by beating France and advancing to the knockout round of the World Cup a year ago, won respect even as it was eliminated.Amid all of that, the Americans, so often the headliner, seemed like a team awkwardly trying to squeeze through the party to find the exit.They needed a draw, they needed to rest for what was ahead and they needed to get out of Manaus.They did all of that. They just didnt win the game, undone by one mistake from an unexpected source and some tired defending late.It has happened before. A scoreless draw against Sweden a year ago in the World Cup. A loss against Norway in the 2008 Olympics.I went around to everybody after the game and just said, Heads up, crap happens, Lloyd said. It is what it is, and Id rather two goals be let in like that in this game than in a quarterfinal, a semifinal or a final match. Do we all know that we can play a lot better? Of course. But we met our objective, and its important to just stay positive and take what we can out of these games.It wasnt an even game, to be sure. Had the measure of success been the same as in the gymnastics competition back in Rio, the United States would have been as home free as Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and the rest.The United States created enough chances to score half a dozen goals -- a Crystal Dunn header that bounced over the bar, a three-on-none that saw Christen Press too unselfish in playing Mallory Pugh offside, crosses rained into the Colombian box. All of it was undone by Usmes free kick that slipped underneath and between the legs of Hope Solo in the 26th minute, and the goal in the closing seconds off another direct kick surrendered when the U.S. women struggled to maintain possession and kill off the game.Solo made no excuses afterward.Ive been around the game long enough to know its part of the position, Solo said. Theyve happened to me before. You just hope that they happen few and far between.The same could be said of dropped points for the United States, that they are few and far between. Which is also why the Americans needed only tthe draw to secure the prize that mattered.dddddddddddd think for the night were annoyed, Megan Rapinoe said. Well be annoyed we gave up two goals on set pieces, and fouls we didnt need to commit in the first place. But overall, no [frustration], were first out of the group. Thats the most important.Second on the list might be that Rapinoe had reason to offer her perspective afterward. Out of action for the national team since suffering a torn ACL in December, Rapinoe started against Colombia. The plan all along was to limit her minutes, Pugh coming on for her after barely half an hour, but that was still time for Rapinoe to show all the skills that made her worth selecting even if she never plays more than 30 minutes in a game.For Megan, it was just important that shes ahead of schedule, see her out there, let her run around a little bit, U.S. coach Jill Ellis said. I was pleased. I thought she did great. Theres no residual from an injury. Shes out there playing, and she did well. Her set pieces, her crosses are massive for us, and she got to take those now instead of in training, in a live game, which hopefully bolsters her confidence.That it wasnt a night Solo will remember fondly is obvious. But that in its own way sums up the difficulty in assessing the evening. Solo suffered a howler, to be sure, on the opening goal.It always stings. If I ever have kids, they will not become a goalkeeper, Solo said. I think it is the most unforgiving position in all of sports.But of all the things that could be cause for worry, surely Solo repeating that moment ranks among the deepest recesses of the list. If the worst thing that happened Tuesday was that the same goalkeeper who was brilliant with no margin for error against France made a mistake with more breathing room, perhaps Lloyd was right.The United States shouldnt drop points to Colombia. It just shouldnt. And yet in looking at the lineup changes that gave four players their first starts in this tournament, mixed and matched combinations and left mainstays like Julie Johnston and Meghan Klingenberg on the bench, in considering the chances generated and the nature of two specific breakdowns that should be correctable, pushing the panic button seems unwise.Crap happens?I think what would be cause to worry is if we lost the game, U.S. co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn said. That would be cause to worry because then its kind of like who do we play, where are we going, things like that. This is kind of what happened at the World Cup. ... Ties are going to happen.But what was great about this game is we got to rest players that played two 90s. Some players played 45 and then other players that maybe havent gotten to play got a full 90. So people are played in, people are rested now. Its kind of the best of both worlds.The sport will be better off if a lot of people remember how Tuesday night felt. If Brazilians remember the fun of cheering on a team that waited so long to be embraced. And if Colombians remember a team that kept playing when it had little reason to do so.It was a good night for womens soccer in Manaus, maybe a great night.But it was also a sweltering night when the air sat heavy and any breeze was as precious as gold.It was a great night as a symbol. It was an uncomfortable night as a reality.Its so hot, Rapinoe said when asked about the conditions (her first comparison for the heat was less family-friendly). Theres no breeze. When youre running around, obviously youre hot. But the few times we had stoppages or corners or something, its just hot. Luckily we dont have any sun, at least its at night.Im happy were leaving. Its too hot here.She was smiling when she said the last bit. But it rang the truest of anything said all night. ' ' '