Aktuelles » ld point to the teen-aged Murray who

ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech senior point guard Josh Heath has been suspended for the first four games of the season for an undisclosed violation of team rules.The suspension covers Georgia Techs two exhibition games.Heath started in 21 games last season and averaged 2.7 points and 2.8 assists. He is competing for a starting job under new coach Josh Pastner and will be eligible to play Nov. 26 against Tulane. He will miss games against Tennessee Tech, Southern, Ohio and Sam Houston State. Francisco Cervelli Braves Jersey . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player. Huascar Ynoa Jersey . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. https://www.cheapbraves.com/1643o-joe-torre-jersey-braves.html . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Braves Jerseys 2020 . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Billy Hamilton Braves Jersey . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. PARIS -- For each top athlete, a word. For Usain Bolt, it would have to be speed. For footballs Lionel Messi: balance. For swimmer Michael Phelps: buoyant. But for the new king of mens tennis, Andy Murray, a quality both mental and physical springs to mind: fortitude.Meanies would argue that Murray has taken over the No.1 ranking this week -- the first Briton to reach the summit -- only because the three players who were better than him for so long finally vacated it, a tennis equivalent of John, Paul and George giving Ringo a rare turn at the mic. And there is a modicum of truth in that.Roger Federer, the 17-time major champion who this week dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since October 2002, long had the measure of Murray, beating him in three Grand Slam finals, but is now a largely spent force at age 35.Rafael Nadals creaky body is paying the bill for his brand of nitro-power tennis that won him 14 major titles and the top ranking for a total of 141 weeks to July 2014. The 30-year-old hasnt won a major since then, or even made a semifinal, and has had injuries to both wrists. But his career Grand Slam record against Murray is unequivocal: seven wins in nine encounters, with the last defeat way back at the 2010 Australian Open.And the top dog Murray toppled, the now second-ranked Novak Djokovic, won five of his 12 major titles by beating the Scot in the final. If Djokovic can now regroup, rethink and re-motivate himself with new targets having completed his career Grand Slam this year and then suffering a dip, leaving the door ajar for Murray, then the reign of the new No. 1 could be short.The top ranking, then, doesnt change the fact that Murray is still only, a word that seems uncharitable in the circumstances, the fourth-best player in what has been modern tennis toughest era. But Murray may well be the most stubborn, the eras paragon of perseverance. Being the fourth member of the Big Four for so long could have broken players with less heart. He first got to the No. 2 ranking more than seven years ago and spent a total of 76 weeks there. Thats a long time to be waiting in the wings.But, in the end, Murray outlasted all-comers. He is the sailor who soldiered through storms that chased others back to harbor, the boxer repeatedly floored but never knocked out.dddddddddddd He used the beatings he suffered from Federer, Nadal and Djokovic -- losing 20 of the 25 times he played them at the majors -- as reasons to keep improving himself. He could have cursed his luck, been led astray by the mirage that in any other decade, hed have won more than two Wimbledon titles and the U.S. Open by now. But instead Murray just worked even harder, took better care of himself and made sure that when the opportunity finally came, he was ready to seize it.It would be tempting to delve into Murrays past for signposts that explain his ascent to the top.One could argue that cutting his tennis teeth in inhospitable Scottish weather more suited to golf, rugby or football maybe toughened him up. As kids, he and brother Jamie would hit a balloon back and forth over rope hung from a radiator at home.One could also fall into psycho-babble and hazard a guess that surviving the slaughter of 16 children and their teacher by a gunman at his Dunblane Primary School in 1996 helped teach Murray about deep emotional pain and how to rebound from it.Or one could point to the teen-aged Murray who badgered his parents to send him to a tennis academy in Spain as evidence that hes never lacked drive and the willingness to make sacrifices.But more simply, the top ranking is reward for his journey. A long journey, with multiple crossroads where Murray could have turned back and convinced himself that Mounts Federer, Nadal and Djokovic were simply too steep.Instead, he kept climbing.Not the most eloquent of speakers, at least not in public, one phrase of Murrays stands out, delivered after he lost to Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon final.Im going to try this, and its not going to be easy, Murray said, fighting back tears.Specifically, he was talking about how difficult it was to deliver his losers speech to the supportive Center Court crowd.But that philosophy -- not easy and try -- is Murray in a nutshell.---John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester(at)ap.org or follow him at http://twitter.com/johnleicester ' ' '