Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said his team has plans in place to allow Paul Pierce to retire as a member of the Boston Celtics if Pierce elects to end his playing days this summer.During an appearance on The Vertical podcast, Rivers said he believes Pierce hasnt made up his mind about his future.If Paul decides to retire, then were going to make sure that Boston picks him up for one day and he retires a Celtic, because thats what he should retire as, Rivers said during the podcast released Thursday. So we have all that in place. We just dont know what hes going to do.Added Rivers: I think Pauls going back and forth on it, and I want to give him room. I think he deserves it. From a team perspective, you would love that he made his decision eight weeks ago. I think there are certain guys that you just have to give time to, and Pauls one of them.Pierce, 38, played for Boston for 15 seasons before spending one season apiece with the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Clippers. He was the NBA Finals MVP in 2008 and is the second-leading scorer in Celtics history, behind John Havlicek.During an appearance on ESPNs The Jump last month, Pierce admitted hes 50/50 on whether to continue playing.Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan already retired this offseason, and Pierce and Kevin Garnett remain undecided on their futures. On The Vertical podcast, Rivers said, It may go down as the greatest retirement summer in NBA history.Addressing unsubstantiated rumors that the Celtics and Clippers have talked about a deal involving Blake Griffin, Rivers smothered the suggestion.[Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] and I have talked twice this summer. One [call] was about the British Open, and one was about another golf tournament. Thats about it, Rivers, who handles personnel decisions for the Clippers, told The Vertical podcast.Added Rivers: Its funny, you dont want to go out and send out a press release every time theres a rumor about Blake. We are hoping that Blake ends his career playing for the Clippers. Period. So when teams call, we say we have no interest. First of all, no teams calling right now because teams know we dont have any interest.It just tells you the different times. Things have changed. Everyone believes that theyre media now. ... Theres so many good, credible guys. And then theres some of the guys who are bloggers who have nothing to do with the sport.I helped my young son trace where this started -- the Blake rumor, the Boston rumor -- lets go there. ... My son traced it to, I think, it was a Boston radio talk show. And the guy didnt say that we had been talking, he said Blake would be one of the guys that the Celtics should go after. That started the next step, to the next step, to the next thing you know it blew up. And that stuff is tough. Cheap Vapormax Plus China . I cant pinpoint a date, but I do remember a player from my youth. Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games. Wholesale Vapormax 3 . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/cheap-vapormax-2019-clearance.html . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. Cheap Vapormax Flyknit . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. Vapormax 95 Clearance . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. The 2016 Summer Olympics came to an end Sunday night with a closing ceremony in Rio that had a little of everything: samba dancers, giant parrots, Simone Biles carrying the American flag, an encore from Tongas greased-up flag-bearer Pita Nikolas Taufatofua, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emerging from a huge green warp pipe dressed as Super Mario.Team USA marched with extra swagger, winning the medal count for the sixth straight Summer Games. The Americans not only led the way with 121 medals, they also led in every medal category -- gold, silver and bronze -- for the seventh time in Olympic history and first since 1948.Doing a great deal of the heavy lifting for America, once again, were the women, accounting for 61 of the countrys medals. The men won 55, and five were won in mixed events. That the American women out--earned the men for a second straight Games is particularly impressive considering that just 44 percent of the medals given out in Rio were in womens events.From Biles and Katie Ledecky to Claressa Shields and Kim Rhode, the U.S. women absolutely dominated. In fact, if Team USA were divided into separate mens and womens teams, the ladies 61 medals would be third overall at the Games, behind only the combined mens and womens efforts of Great Britain and China. Their 27 golds would be tied for first with Great Britain.The success of Americas female Olympians is due, in part, to the passing of Title IX in 1972. The law barred discrimination in education, greatly impacting athletic programs for women and girls from collegiate levels on down.Title IX paved the way and created so many opportunities for women in sport, nine--time Olympic medalist Allyson Felix told the United States Olympic Committee. I feel so proud and so inspired by the strong women on our team. Its such an amazing group to be a part of and I think about all the images of successful women reaching young girls back at home --- those are the things that last.Indeed, the Olympics are a rare time when viewers take in neaarly as many images of female athletes as male.dddddddddddd A time when the accomplishments of female athletes are given the same weight as those of their male counterparts. America seemed particularly enchanted with the achievements of the female gymnasts, swimmers and runners, who captured countless headlines and tons of airtime. And if fans wanted to watch events that might not make primetime --say, womens wrestling or weightlifting ?they could live stream them online. It was the most access viewers have had to Olympic events.With each medal won, the U.S. women demanded more and more of the spotlight. Yes, sometimes the coverage they received wasnt as winning as their athletic achievements, but even in those moments of misogyny, some progress could be found. Caitlin Kelly, managing editor of Vice Sports, spoke on my podcast about how the strong reaction to the sexist coverage is a win.One thing that was ... encouraging was seeing that people are pointing it out, Kelly said. I think more and more people have the language now to be able to point it out and to be able to discuss why its problematic and why portraying female athletes in the same way that male athletes have always been portrayed is so important.I think theres definitely progress being made, Kelly continued. People are more aware, maybe, of what we want our sports world to look like. And feel more empowered through social media and have a platform to say what we think people should be focusing on when they talk about women in sports.On Sunday night, in a sea of Olympians, Biles stood out, despite her 4-foot-9 frame. She was inundated with photo requests from American teammates and athletes from other countries, as well. In a stadium full of literal and figurative giants, a small but powerful female athlete was the star, and the respect her fellow competitors showed her should be an example for fans and media. ' ' '