Infos und News... » We need to have a sense of urge

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Preparations for the IndyCar Series opener began with a silly spat between the two top organizations over a perceived slight made by the president of Team Penske. The dig -- Tim Cindric compared Penske to the New York Yankees and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing to the Miami Marlins -- irritated the Ganassi camp and created some drama heading into the race Sunday. When the checkered flag waived, it was Penske driver Will Power in the winners circle. With teammate Helio Castroneves finishing third, Team Penske drivers claimed two spots on the podium and fired the opening salvo in the rivalry. "Ive only heard a little bit of that story, so I havent paid much attention," Power said. "Are the Marlins good? Do they win?" Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon, the defending series champion, finished fourth and Tony Kanaan was sixth in his debut for the team. So with Verizon-sponsored driver Power on top of the podium in the first race with Verizon on board as the series sponsor, and Castroneves on the podium with him, round one easily went to Team Penske. "We dont want to give an inch this year," said Castroneves, who lost the championship to Dixon last season. "We dont want to give any opportunity. We want to give the championship to Roger no matter what it takes." Ganassi has won five of the last six championships, and Penske last won in 2006. It was fitting that the win went to Power, who picked up right where he left off last season. He won three of the final five IndyCar races last season -- including the last two -- and his Sunday win at St. Pete gives the Australian four out of the last six victories. Power passed pole-sitter Takuma Sato for the lead with an outside move headed into the second turn on Lap 31, and was never really challenged again. He had to beat Castroneves off pit lane during stops under caution, and the only hiccup was on the first restart of the race. He was the leader and was slow to restart the field with 28 laps remaining. It caused traffic to stack-up behind him and led to a crash involving rookie Jack Hawksworth and Marco Andretti. Andretti got out of his car with a limp and was favouring his wrist following the accident. "Its hard to see because I was pretty far back, but Will just stopped. Once you go, you gotta go," he said. "It looked like an accordion effect. I had a good restart going, but we were junk all day, so what are you going to do?" Hawksworth blamed the accident on the leaders stopping at the front of the field. "We went when they said green, and all of a sudden the leaders stopped. I dont know what was going on at the front," the rookie said. Power said he never braked and was confused because the field went green earlier than it should. "They actually threw the green before I was even in the (restart) zone, so it was confusing to me," Power said. Castroneves didnt buy Powers version and said he was fooled by his teammate. "Will and I know each other for a long time. He knows my tricks," Castroneves said. "I didnt quite know that trick from him, and he got me." IndyCar said the restart in question was acceptable, but race control did review Powers second restart and issued him a warning for going too early. He was not penalized, but IndyCar said he will be if he does it again. Juan Pablo Montoya finished 15th in his return to IndyCar for the first time since he left for Formula One following his Indianapolis 500 win in 2000. He spent almost five seasons in F1 and seven in NASCAR before returning to open-wheel with Roger Penske. "I think it went pretty good," he said. "We will learn and pass some people and some people passed us. There are a few things we have to do better, but I didnt feel my pace was too bad there at the end. Its going to be a lot of work but I am very excited." Abby Dahlkemper Jersey . Or take a relaxing vacation somewhere warm. Brayden Schenn and Scott Hartnell scored, Ray Emery stopped 32 shots and the Flyers beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory. Sydney Leroux Jersey .com) - Rick Nash scored twice and Derek Stepan chipped in a goal with one assist as the New York Rangers claimed a 5-2 decision over Calgary at the Saddledome. http://www.uswntproshop.com/c-5-allie-long-usa-jersey.aspx. Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Abby Smith Jersey .J. - New York Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara left Monday nights game against the Indianapolis Colts with a torn biceps. Julie Ertz Jersey . Among the teams moves was trading one of the teams two third round picks, no. 83 overall, to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Bollig, a six-foot-two, 223-pound left-winger who had seven goals, seven assists, and 92 penalty minutes in 82 games last season. LOS ANGELES -- From Jodie Meeks big day to the final result, this was definitely a surprise. Meeks scored 24 of his career-high 42 points in the second half, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Oklahoma City 114-110 on Sunday despite a triple-double by Thunder star Kevin Durant. Pau Gasol added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the injury-ravaged Lakers, who had lost 29 of their previous 37 games. Meeks was 11 of 18 from the field and 14 for 14 at the line while becoming the third player to reach the 30-point mark this season for last-place Los Angeles (22-42). "The most important thing is that we keep going out there and fighting and not giving up," Meeks said. "The season isnt going the way that we planned, but we still have 18 games left. So well play them hard and see what happens." Meeks is averaging 19.2 points in 11 games since returning from a sprained right ankle. Before the injury, he was averaging 14.4. "He got on fire," coach Mike DAntoni said. "He has really improved his game. Defensively, he was out of sight on Russell Westbrook the whole time. He put out a lot of energy in this game, but he has been doing that on a pretty consistent basis. Jodie has been our most consistent performer. Its really fun to watch someone get better." Durant had 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his third triple-double this season. Serge Ibaka had 21 points and 15 boards for Oklahoma City. The Thunder (46-17) began the day in a three-way tie with San Antonio and Indiana for the NBAs best record. The Pacers played at Dallas on Sunday night and the Spurs were idle. "We lost. In some games, someone will have 40 points on you that is not supposed to have 40," Durant said. "We pressure hard so high out on the pick-and-roll that it opened everything up, and they exploited it. They were hitting the pocket passes and going through the lane to get the ball to their shooters. But that is how we play, so we have to figure out how to make second and third efforts." After giving up an average of 136 points over their previous three games while losing to New Orleans, the Clippers and Denver, the Lakers trailed the Thunder by as many as 18 in the second quarter before taking their first lead on a pair of free throws by Meeks that made it 71-70 with 4:35 left in the third. "I was trying to get my teammates involved, and they did a great job finding me in transition and in some set plays.dddddddddddd So I give credit to those guys for helping me out with a big game," Meeks said. "Being in a rhythm like that is fun, but getting a win is also fun. That was most important thing. We were down 18, so I was trying to do anything I could to help the team get back in the game." The Thunder are 3-5 since beating the Lakers 107-103 at Staples Center on Feb. 13 behind 43 points by Durant, who is vying for his fourth scoring title in five seasons. The Lakers took a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter and increased it to 95-77 on Jordan Farmars 3-pointer with 9:42 remaining. Durant then fueled a 20-7 run with 10 points and former Laker Derek Fisher capper the rally with back-to-back 3s 24 seconds apart, pulling the Thunder to 102-97 with 4:36 to play. Russell Westbrook, who had 20 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder, narrowed the gap to 110-107 on a driving dunk with 57.3 seconds on the clock. But he missed everything on another 3-point try 24 seconds later and newly acquired Kent Bazemore helped put it away with a driving layup -- two of his seven points in the final 2:02. Westbrook finished 7 for 23 from the field and tied a season worst with eight turnovers. "We need to have a sense of urgency, knowing that teams are coming at us every night," Westbrook said. "I missed some shots, but I do not think the game is all about shooting." NOTES: Nick Young had 31 points for Los Angeles in an overtime loss at Chicago on Jan. 20, and Farmar scored a career-high 30 on Feb. 28 in a home win against Sacramento. ... Durant has scored 25 or more points in 28 consecutive games -- one shy of his career-best streak, which occurred in 2009-10. No other NBA player has had a longer streak of 25-point games in the last 25 years. ... Fisher, second on the Lakers career list for 3-pointers behind Kobe Bryant, shot 51.3 per cent (39 for 76) from behind the arc in his previous 22 games before going 2 for 4 Sunday. ... This was the first game of the Lakers home-and-home set against Oklahoma City, which will be followed by a home-and-home set against the Spurs. ... Lakers point guard Kendall Marshall played 27 scoreless minutes -- the fifth time in eight games that he has failed to score. ... The Lakers have trailed after three quarters in 47 of their 64 games. ' ' '