n Bryant losing possession.At the time he lands

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MONACO -- With Mercedes looking certain to run away with the Formula One constructors championship, the promising battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg should provide an intriguing backdrop for the rest of the season. Rosberg is only three points behind Hamilton, the championship leader, who has won the past four races. The two go back a long way, to their days karting together. But with so little separating them in the title race, their friendship looks set to be tested. Hamilton has even questioned Rosbergs desire to win. "I come from a not-great place in Stevenage and lived on a couch in my dads apartment, and Nico grew up in Monaco with jets and hotels and boats and all these kind of things," Hamilton said. "So the hunger is different ... if I were to come here believing that Nico is hungrier than me then I might as well go home." Those comments give the first indication that Hamilton, the Formula One champion in 2008, is applying pressure on Rosberg, who is far more inexperienced with four career wins compared to Hamiltons 26. Hamilton dismissed any notion of diplomacy when he was asked his ideal result at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, replying "(me) finishing first, Fernando (Alonso) finishing second and Sebastian (Vettel) finishing third. That would be it for me. The dream result for the team would be the Mercedes cars finishing 1-2." Four-time defending champion Vettel is already 55 points behind Hamilton in fourth place, and two-time champion Alonso is in third, 51 behind Hamilton. They have one third-place finish each so far and dont look like closing the gap, so it looks like being Hamilton vs. Rosberg for the rest of the campaign. Before he joined Mercedes last season, Hamiltons final season with McLaren proved a tense one. Relations with Jenson Button were strained and he was reprimanded by the team for posting confidential information on social media about McLarens telemetry in September 2012. Button said he was "disappointed" in him, but it also showed Hamilton has a ruthless streak. Even though Hamilton has won the past four races after Rosberg clinched the season-opener in Australia, he wants to dominate Rosberg more. "Even if we are a dominating team, I dont beat my teammate by 40 seconds," the 29-year-old Hamilton said. "Take the last race, it was six-tenths (of a second) between us." Hamilton has beaten Rosberg 4-1 in qualifying -- Mercedes has all the pole positions so far -- but Rosberg argues that it could swing back in his favour heading into the midseason. "Three of those qualifyings were in the wet; in the dry its 1-1 and its supposed to be dry on Saturday (in Monaco) so Im confident I can make it happen," said the 28-year-old Rosberg, who is the son of 1982 F1 champion Keke Rosberg. "Its been a tough battle up until now and I expect it to continue like that," Rosberg said. "Of course now hes had the result in a couple of races but its been very close. I just need a tiny bit to turn it around." It seems unlikely their relationship will ever become as intense as the one between Vettel and Mark Webber at Red Bull, who were known to ignore team orders when asked to let the other driver pass. "We will always have the years in karting, that kind of foundation of a long time ago," Hamilton said. "For example, I have been storing my safe in his house for several months and just took it back now, and that could always be the other way around." .Y. - The New York Yankees made it official Saturday, announcing the completion of a seven-year deal with free-agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and a one-year contract for returning starter Hiroki Kuroda. . Reimer told TSNs Mark Masters on Tuesday that he doesnt know if he will be moved leading up to the March 5 trade deadline but added he wasnt interested in discussing it. "Who knows whats going to happen on the horizon here and right now I dont know if I want to talk about it too much. http://www.wholesalejerseyssports.us.co ... os-jersey/. However, Therrien added that Galchenyuks status for next Wednesdays game against the Detroit Red Wings is questionable. Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand. .ca. Hi Kerry, Love reading your column and loved watching your analysis on the TSN broadcasts!And were now in Round 2! Bruins! Canadiens! We know all about the great games of the past from the players, the broadcasters and the writers. . You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 3pm et/Noon pt. The Thunder reclaimed the home-court advantage LA took with a Game 1 win on Friday night with a 118-112 road win in Game 3.For a league that already has The Catch and The Drive, this incomplete pass may go down as The Reversal.The Cowboys Dez Bryant appeared to make a spectacular 31-yard catch on fourth down to give Dallas the ball a yard away from the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes of their 26-21 playoff loss at Green Bay on Sunday.Replays showed Bryant bobbled the ball as he rolled into the end zone, with part of it touching the field. After reviewing the play, officials overturned the call, saying Bryant didnt maintain control all the way to the ground.The rule states:If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.Bryant said there was never a doubt in his mind that he caught the ball.I had possession of the ball coming down. Thats possession, right? One, two, reach, Bryant said. Bam, thats possession.Hours after the game, Bryant tweeted: as I went to the ground I rolled over and I tipped the ball to gain better control. We lost and I accept it but please change that rule.Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said he thought Bryant got his feet down, then made a move common to the game.Dez reached out to the goal line like hes done so many times, Garrett said. Its a signaturre play for him.dddddddddddd He maintained possession of it throughout, in my opinion.Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields said the call was a relief on a play that could have been a touchdown at a critical point.These playoff games come down to the inches. A good call on the refs. He went up for the ball and made a good catch, Shields said.Referee Gene Steratore said a couple camera angles showed the ball hitting the ground, then Bryant losing possession.At the time he lands and the ball hits the ground, it comes loose as it hits the ground, which would make that incomplete, Steratore said. Although he repossesses it, it does contact the ground when he reaches, so the repossession is irrelevant.Athletes, celebrities and others quickly weighed in on the ruling.Odell Beckham Jr., the receiver for the rival Giants who made his share of dazzling catches as a rookie, tweeted: I by no means cheer for Dallas but I have no idea what or how thts not called a catch . Thts a joke.The Detroit Lions also chimed in. Their star receiver, Calvin Johnson, had a similar catch reversed in 2010, and they also were stung last week in the wild-card round against the Cowboys when the officials picked up a flag that would have given them a critical fourth-quarter first down.They tweeted: Sorry @dallascowboys. We know the feeling, with a link to the Megatron play and the hashtag CompletingTheProcess.The NFL has used the Johnson play in explaining the rule to coaches and players.___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '