Federer lost, but he almost managed to snatch the match from

MINNEAPOLIS -- Candace Parker and the Sparks jumped with joy on the court, joined in celebration by a guy named Magic Johnson who once made basketball championships a habit in Los Angeles.Parkers old college coach, the late Pat Summitt, was there in spirit, too.Nneka Ogwumikes short jumper with 3.1 seconds left, off the rebound of her blocked shot, gave the Sparks a 77-76 victory over the defending champion Minnesota Lynx in the deciding Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Thursday night for the franchises first title in 14 years.Parker had 28 points and 12 rebounds to earn MVP honors of the Finals and her first WNBA title, capping a trying year marked by the death of the beloved Summitt, with whom she won two NCAA championships at Tennessee. Parker also was left off the U.S. Olympic team after helping them to a gold medal in the previous two Games.The journey to get here, I wouldnt have wanted to do it with anybody else, Parker said. Its amazing, when you surround yourself with good people, how fun it is.Sparks coach Brian Agler started his postgame news conference by playing a recording of the Tennessee fight song, Rocky Top, from a phone in front of him at the podium. Parker cried as she leaned over to hug her coach.Ive never been around somebody that has been critiqued so hard, Agler said, and Ive never been around anyone Im happy for than Candace.Said Ogwumike: Shes been through so much. Shes probably the most misunderstood person in the league. I told her I wanted her to get one.Parker said she heard Summitts voice in her head, recalling the time-worn advice to focus on defense and rebounding.You cant control if shots go in or shots dont, but what you can control is defense and rebounding, Parker said.Rebekkah Brunson made one of two free throws with 23.4 seconds left to give the Lynx a 74-73 lead. Parker answered with a layup on the other end that Maya Moore countered with a jumper. Then Ogwumike hustled her way over to the loose ball after Sylvia Fowles blocked her first attempt. She coolly swished it.Lindsay Whalens heave from just inside halfcourt bounced high off the backboard, setting off the celebration for the Sparks and silencing the sellout crowd of 19,423.Moore had 23 points and 11 assists for the Lynx, who fell short of matching the WNBA record of four championships. The Houston Comets won four straight titles from 1997-2000. The Lynx played in the finals for the fifth time in the last six years. They won three.The team that won this game deserved to win the game, Moore said, so its just hard to have it come that close.Chelsea Gray reeled off 11 consecutive points for the Sparks, capping that run with a smooth up-and-under layup to put them in front 60-59 early in the fourth quarter. Parkers putback with 3:06 left gave L.A. a 71-63 lead.But Moore seized the moment with a 3-pointer that brought Minnesota within four points, and Parker forced an off-balance 3 on the other end. Whalen stole the ball from Kristi Toliver and finished the fast break with a layup to tie the game at 71, setting up the final flurry.On the next play, Ogwumike hit a jumper that appeared to come after the shot clock expired. The officials signaled for a review but never looked at the basket. Los Angeles led 73-71 with just over a minute left. Seimone Augustus answered with a jumper, but those points proved to be critical.Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, making sure to credit the Sparks for their performance, was livid about the non-call afterward.Its not enough just to apologize and send out a memo that they got something wrong, OK? These players are so invested, and something must be done about the officiating in this league. Because it is not fair to these great players that we have, Reeve said.The WNBAs new postseason seeding format based on overall record regardless of conference worked well, leading to this classic matchup between the two teams that fought all summer for the top seed and featuring several of the leagues biggest stars.I hope that we gained a lot of fans from around the world and around this country, Augustus said.The game was remarkably close, with 24 lead changes, 11 ties and no team ever leading by double digits.CHAMPIONSHIP ATMOSPHEREThe sea of green T-shirts donned by almost everyone in the crowd produced a deafening soundtrack from start to finish, befitting a game for the WNBA trophy.Johnson, a part-owner of the Sparks, wore all black while sitting courtside to root for his team. The Hall of Famer gave the players a pep talk after their loss at home in Game 4 on Sunday. His presence was all the more impressive considering the Dodgers, the other pro club hes invested in, also played Thursday night in Los Angeles in Game 5 of their National League championship series.They had to believe they could do it on a tough home court. This team Minnesota is tremendous, Johnson said. We just beat the champions, so I give them a lot of credit, too.WOLF TRACKSThe Lynx had celebrity backing, too. Timberwolves players at the game included Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Ricky Rubio, Cole Aldrich and Nemanja Belica.---This story has corrected spelling to Fowles in 11th paragraph. Cheap Air Force 1 Ireland . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Cheap Air Force 1 Just Do It . The 27-year-old Scrivens will be joining his third NHL club since signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2010. The move also reunites with him with head coach Dallas Eakins from their time together with the American Hockey Leagues Toronto Marlies. http://www.airforce1shoesireland.com/air-force-1-white-wholesale-ireland.html . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Air Force 1 Womens Near Me .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Cheap Air Force 1 Mens Ireland . Tracey comes to the Blue Bombers after spending over a decade with Queens University. Most recently he was the schools assistant football coach. LONDON -- Milos Raonic played the best match of his life to end 34-year-old Roger Federers hopes of winning Wimbledon one more time and adding an 18th Grand Slam title to his collection.Federer started slowly but seemed to take control of the match after he won the second set. But Raonic finished the fourth set with a flurry of winners and thumping serves to force a fifth set.Federer, the No. 3 seed, faded in the deciding set as Raonic continued to power his way to history. The final score Friday: 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in 3 hours, 25 minutes.?Raonic becomes the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final, which will be played Sunday at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN and WatchESPN.It will have a big impact, but it will have a bigger one if I win, he said.Here are five takeaways from the match:1. Success finally matches big game: Raonic is still just 25. Hes a 6-foot-5 power server with lots of additional tools. They carried him to three Grand Slam semifinals. But in the past, hes had trouble capitalizing on his opportunities at the most critical moments. Raonic also has struggled to make his opponents feel his significant presence. Thats one reason he recently hired John McEnroe as his adviser and coach.It looked as though Raonic was heading down the same path after he double-faulted to hand Federer the critical mini-break in the second-set tiebreaker. He also wasted some good chances to break Federer in the fourth set, with the No. 3 seed leading two sets to one. But he stepped up late in the fourth set to break Federer from 40-love to force a fifth set.He found gear he probably didnt even know he had, McEnroe told British viewers.2. A champion breaks down: It was like a lightning strike or a two-car crash on a quiet street on a Sunday morning. Federer gained control of the match and seemed to be aiming for a four-set win when he went ahead 40-love on serve at 5-6. He then hit a pair of double faults. Inspired, Raonic wrested away thhe game.dddddddddddd It was the most un-Federer-like collapse weve seen and a sure sign of time and age taking its toll on a champions stamina and focus.?3. Its not all about the serve: Raonics serve is truly a fearsome thing. But it has been the overall gradual improvement in his ground game that won him this match. Raonic hit 75 winners to Federers 49. He won 42 percent of the baseline points, compared to just 45 percent by Federer. Raonic won 16 of his 19 serve-and-volley approaches, significantly better than Federers 11-of-16. It was a well-crafted, all-around solid performance.4. Patience pays: Sure, Federer lost, but he almost managed to snatch the match from Raonics hand despite spotting him a set. Federer looked slow, sleepy and error-prone from the start. He gave up an unforgivable break in just his second service game on a double fault. In the sixth game, Federer was arbitrarily denied an ace while serving at 0-30 because Hawkeye malfunctioned and couldnt verify his challenge. He still won the game.Raonic rode that early break to victory in the set, but Federer kept his cool. He remained patient, even after Raonic recovered from 0-40 to hold for 5-all in the second set. Patience paid off when Federer won the tiebreaker to hit the restart button on the match.5. The McEnroe effect: While McEnroe is still working on making Raonic a more assertive, imposing presence on the court, one place that his advice already has visibly paid off is in Raonics attacking game. Raonic is backing up that atomic serve with net play with greater frequency and verve. It won him his quarterfinal clash with Sam Querrey and it enabled him to keep Federer from dominating baseline rallies all day.At times, Raonic even takes the ball like vintage McEnroe, lightly holding the racket still, well out in front of his body.? ' ' '