Links » Fleury, laughing. "If you wanted to start a brawl, you did

WASHINGTON -- Tim Duncan scored a season-high 31 points Wednesday night before fouling out in the second overtime, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Washington Wizards for an NBA-high 16th time in a row, holding on for a 125-118 victory. Patty Mills scored 11 of his 23 points in the two overtimes for the Spurs, who havent lost to the Wizards since a 110-95 defeat on Nov. 12, 2005. The Spurs moved ahead of Miamis 15-game domination of Charlotte for the longest current team-vs.-team streak in the league. Duncan also had 11 rebounds, and Danny Green added 22 points for San Antonio, but Tony Parker left at halftime with tightness in his lower back and did not return. The Spurs, 2-0 in the early days of their nine-game rodeo road trip, were already without Manu Ginobili (tight left hamstring) and Kawhi Leonard (broken left hand). John Wall scored 29 points, and Bradley Beal had 19 for the Wizards, who were trying to shatter their second longstanding barrier in a week. On Monday, they beat the Portland Trail Blazers to move above .500 for the first time since 2009. Duncan fouled out with 4:13 remaining, but Green hit a 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 122-117 lead with 1:16 to go. The Wizards went 0 for 11 from the field in the second extra period. The Spurs blew a seven-point lead in the first overtime, when Wall scored six points in the final 10.2 seconds. Wall stole an inbounds pass and made a layup with 1.4 to go to force another five minutes of basketball. The Spurs trailed by 17 in the first half. Wall got off to a strong start, shooting 6 for 8 for 14 points in the opening period. San Antonio committed seven turnovers in the first quarter, six in the second. A steal by Wall turned into a fast-break dunk by Beal that gave the Wizards their biggest lead, 55-38, late in the half. The score was 62-48 at the break -- the most points allowed by the Spurs in the first half this season -- but Duncan took over in the third, scoring 14 of his teams first 21 points. San Antonio played a turnover-free quarter, and Cory Josephs jumper gave the Spurs their first lead since early in the first. Garrett Temples buzzer-beater put the Wizards ahead 83-82 headed into the fourth. Duncan tied it at 99 with 1:02 remaining, the final points of regulation. NOTES: As a student of Russian culture, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich offered some thoughts on the Winter Olympics in Sochi. "One would wonder with everything thats going on why it would be put in a dangerous spot, when you think about the Caucasus and that area and whats going on," he said. "At the time when the Olympics were won it wasnt maybe as much in the forefront in everybodys mind. Since that time a lot of things have happened, and you could almost make the case of Where is it not dangerous in the world?" ... Popovich said his wife will make him watch figure skating during the Olympics. "Very honestly when they fall I feel awful for them," he said. "Just like somebody missing two free throws at the end of a basketball game and they go home and want to jump off a building. ... I dont care what country it is, it just drives me crazy so I cant watch. I turn away like its a horror movie." Yoenis Cespedes Jersey . The win puts Arsenal four points clear of Everton in fourth place with two games to play in the Premier League, a position which would qualify the club for Europes top competition for the 17th straight year. David Price Jersey . Here is a look at all the moves through the first week of NHL Free Agency. The most significant deals will get the full Numbers Game column treatment, like these:Briere-for-Parenteau trade. http://www.officialredsoxfanstore.com/authentic-mookie-betts-red-sox-jersey/ . Altidore strained his left hamstring in the Americans opener against Ghana on June 16 and didnt play in their next two games. "We dont know how much because we need to see how hes going, but hes available," U. Craig Kimbrel Jersey .com) - Many people at Eastern Washington are waiting to see if star quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. Carl Yastrzemski Jersey .J. -- Freshman Eli Carter scored a career-high 31 points and hit the go-ahead basket in the second overtime as Rutgers rallied to stun No.The fly-by. Five guys skating by the bench for high fives after a goal. Ubiquitous in NHL arenas. When did it begin? I wanted to find out, so I called Darcy Tucker. Wed heard that Vancouver Giants head coach Don Hay has said he thinks the three-time Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers – his former team – may have started the trend in the early 90s. Tucker remembers doing the fly-by, but not starting it. Ryan Huska, a former Blazer teammate and current Kelowna Rockets head coach, said the same. Drew Bannister played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the 92 Memorial Cup final against Kamloops. He says the Hounds were already doing the fly-by themselves, as were other OHL teams. Square one. I turned to my colleagues. Ray Ferraro figured it was a thing by 2000, but not a thing he warmly embraced. "I hated it," he wrote in an email. I watched old tapes. The fly-by was definitely happening by 2000. I found examples as early as the 95/96 season, like this one: Saku Koivu in his rookie year. Young players were more likely to do it than old, which is consistent with the widely held belief that junior hockey players were doing the fly-by before NHLers. It trickled up. "It was totally a junior thing. I think it started close to my first year – 95," said Jeff ONeill, who shares Ferraros distaste for the fly-by. "I hate it." But he did give me my first solid lead. "I may be wrong, but I think the Peterborough Petes may have started it." I called Jeff Twohey. Twohey is the GM of the Oshawa Generals, but was with the Petes for 30 years. He started as a scout in 1980, and was general manager for 17 seasons. "I think we were the first team to ever do it," says Twohey. "My gut was that we started it. We had such a tight-knit group back in the early 80s." Definitely smoke. But fire? I asked around. "It was not done when I was in junior from 81-84," wrote Dave Reid in an email. "Late 80s is probably close." Andrew MacVicar played from 86-89 with the Petes. He remembers doing the fly-by, but only on big goals or in the playoffs. "It was supposed to be something really special," says MacVicar. MacVicars specific memory that teammate Billy Huard began doing the fly-by more often and earlier in games as a way to get under the skin of Petes opponents was a dead end, too. Huard has no recollection of doing it at all, let alone having a hand in its evolution. MacVicar thought Jamie Hicks (86-90) would remember. He doesnt. He also thought Mark Freer (85-88) might remember. Freer does, vaguely, but he named Kris King as the possible creator of the fly-by, and King has no memory of it. King then suggested that Twohey might have something to say on the matter. This is about the time I got dizzy. I called Corey Foster, who played in Peterborough from 86-89. He says the Petes were definitely doing the fly-by in his final year with the team, when they went to the Memorial Cup. I went back to the tape library. No Petes games. But we do have the final, and I found a fly-by. Scott Scissons, playing for the Saskatoon Blades. Its a beta version of the fly-by – instead of flying past the bench, the players sort of turn around and just stand there – but it counts. Thats the earliest video evidence we have. It seemed unlikely that the Scissons goal was the fly-bys big bang. I was getting nowhere, so we put the question to twitter. Curious theories poured in. One suggestion had it that the fly-by grew out of Brian Propps unique and unusual guffaw goal celebration. Propp says no. Others blamed Hollywood. I knew the Top Gun hypothesis was a joke, but I watched all of D2: Mighty Ducks and Slap Shot before I realized those were probably tongue-in-cheek suggestions, and references to the Flying V and Steve Hanson.dddddddddddd "Bring the kids. We got entertainment for the whole family." Plenty of people figure the fly-by started at the World Juniors, but we cant find any examples of it before 1991. In Red Deer in 1995, Team Canada was doing the fly-by in its current form: all five players skating by the bench. Before that, the video evidence is less compelling. There are solid signs of it at the 94 and 93 tournaments. In 92 and 91, we know that the goal-scorer on at least a few occasions did the fly-by, though in most cases we cant tell if his teammates joined in, and in some cases we know they did not. (As in this goal by Paul Kariya, for example). Did it start with the Montreal Canadiens? For a brief time, the Habs bench would empty for every goal: everyone celebrating on the ice together. When a rule was implemented to end that practice, the theory goes, the team began the fly-by. Mark Napier, a Canadien from 1978-84, said no. Did it start with the Edmonton Oilers in the mid-80s? Napier (84-86 with the Oilers) said no again. As did Paul Coffey, adamantly. "Why do (the fly-by)? Whats the point? Just celebrate with the guys on the ice, and go line up." That sounds suspiciously like Jester talking to Maverick: "Get your butts above the hard deck and return to base immediately." Maybe I should revisit the Top Gun theory. At this point, I got a tip that the fly-by started in Moose Jaw in the mid-to-late 80s. Lorne Molleken – an assistant coach in his first season with Moose Jaw in 89 – remembers it. He thinks. "What sticks out in my mind is moreso the players high-fiving the fans," said Molleken. The Moose Jaw Civic Centre – or the Crushed Can – had unusually low glass beside the benches, says Molleken, and at some point players got the fans involved in goal celebrations. "We came out of our end and there were piles of kids hanging over the glass," recalled Scott Reid, who played in Moose Jaw from 88-90. "No one else was doing it at the time that I can remember." "Wed do our whole bench and fans from the bench to the hash mark," said Jerome Bechard, a Warrior from 85-90. "We probably skated 20 or 25 feet." But not everyone shares that memory. "I dont remember that," said Theo Fleury, who played four seasons in Moose Jaw. "You just didnt do that," said Fleury, laughing. "If you wanted to start a brawl, you did it." Fleurys last season with the Warriors was 87/88, which means the earliest the fly-by was a thing in Moose Jaw is the following season, 88/89: the same time it was probably happening in Peterborough, and the same time it definitely sort-of happened by seasons end in the Memorial Cup final. Clear as mud. Which brings us to the oddest and most intriguing theory of all: the fly-by was born on a French Canadian television drama about a fictional Quebec City hockey team. Lance et Compte (which roughly translates as He shoots, he scores) aired from 1986 to 1989 in its first incarnation, and, sure enough, theres the fly-by in Season 1, Episode 5, albeit with just the one skater and not the full team. "I remember that the director at the time wanted that shot because it was easy to shoot," says Rejean Tremblay, who wrote on the show. "One camera, five guys skating in front of the beach, you could make it in less than ten minutes." Is it possible that the origin of the fly-by was the brainchild of a cost-conscious French Canadian director? It seems unlikely, but really, its about as likely as anything else. ' ' '