Gäste » ed the pickup of Kosta Koufas from Denver in the off-seaso

LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland -- Marcel Hirscher clinched his third straight overall World Cup title on Saturday but couldnt prevent Ted Ligety from winning his fifth season-long giant slalom trophy. A race that came down to a few hundredths of a second saw Hirscher finish fourth, giving him enough points to clinch the sports biggest prize. Ligety won the race and thereby tied the Austrian on points in the season-long discipline standings, giving the American the GS title on a tiebreaker as he had more race victories. "Its an unbelievable happy day," said Hirscher, content to concede the discipline to the American dubbed "Mr. GS" by race announcers. "My big goal was the overall World Cup title and I got it and Im so happy," said the 25-year-old Hirscher, the first man to win three in a row since American Phil Mahre completed the feat in 1983. Hirscher needed 19 points to overtake Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who led the standings going into the race but skied out in the first run. Fourth place gave the Austrian 50 points. Hirscher completed Austrias first overall title double since 2002, after Anna Fenninger clinched her first womens title this week. They both come from villages near Salzburg and raced each other as juniors. Ligety earned his victory in a crowd-pleasing race by just 0.03 seconds ahead of runner-up Alexis Pinturault of France, in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 15.63 seconds. "Im super-thrilled. That was by the skin of my teeth today," Ligety said. He still relied on a big assist from first-run leader Felix Neureuther of Germany to make clinch the discipline title as the narrow margins all fell Ligetys way. Ligety, the Olympic champion in GS, was second-fastest in the morning and had time in the start house to absorb the second-leg target set by Hirscher. Hirscher finished outside provisional leader Pinturaults time, leaving Ligety an opening. The 29-year-old American came down barely faster than Pinturault, drawing applause from Hirscher who was in the finish area already knowing he was overall champion. Ligety then needed his good friend Neureuther to finish second or third in the narrow time gap between himself and Hirscher. Neureuther did it in the tightest way possible, finishing 0.01 ahead of Hirscher, who was relegated to fourth. With 10 fewer points awarded for fourth than third, he fell into a tie with Ligety on 560 over the eight-race season. Ligety got the tiebreaker with five World Cup race wins against Hirschers two. "Felix, I owe a lot of beers," Ligety said. Hirscher was smiling later, after watching Ligety and Neureuther roll around the finish-area snow in celebration. "He is not allowed to travel to Austria. It is over. Just kidding," Hirscher said of Neureuthers intervention. They will renew their rivalry Sunday for the season-long slalom title. "He is very mad about me so its going to be very close," said Neureuther, who leads Hirscher by five points in the slalom standings. Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway is also in contention. Svindal faded again, extending his disappointing series of results since leaving the Sochi Olympics early, affected by allergies and without a medal. He is not competing in Sundays slalom. "It was a good season but it could have been fantastic," said Svindal, who won the World Cup titles in downhill and super-G though all but conceded the overall title to Hirscher earlier in the week. "That was too bad, because I had a really good opportunity to win the biggest thing a ski racer can win," said Svindal, a two-time former overall champion. Ligety completed a race double for the U.S. team Saturday, with Mikaela Shiffrin earlier winning her fifth World Cup slalom this season. The American anthem played four times in quick succession for a crowd of 10,500 at the Swiss venue -- twice each for Ligety and Shiffrins race and season title victories. The Austrian anthem will dominate Sunday, when Hirscher and Fenninger get their giant crystal globes. Eddie Rosario Twins Jersey . It was the first game back in Columbus for Rangers star Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets franchise leader in goals, assists and games. He was given a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period, but was booed loud and long after a second-period, two-handed shove up high on Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Gary Gaetti Twins Jersey . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . https://www.cheaptwins.com/832t-terry-steinbach-jersey-twins.html . Kalish got his first hit since Sept. 11, 2012, when he rapped an RBI triple in the first inning Sunday in the Chicago Cubs 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Jorge Polanco Jersey .Y. - OK, it is done. Michael Pineda Twins Jersey .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday.FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS 1. DERRICK ROSE (Bulls): Had a major knot in my stomach when I heard about his knee injury. Feel awful for him. Hes one of my favourite players to watch. Its a significant blow to him and his team. There is no doubt that the Bulls, based upon their remaining players, outstanding coaching and the winning atmosphere in their organization, will still be a Playoff team. There will be some big discussions for GM Gar Forman to have with president John Paxson and the Reinsdorf family as to which direction to take this thing. Without Rose, theyre not a championship contender. With the pending contractual free agency issues on the horizon with Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng it will be fascinating to see if they buy, hold or sell. High stakes are involved here and lots will happen there in the Summer of 2014. This injury sets off a potential chain reaction that will send some competitive ripples around the Eastern Conference. 2. WESLEY MATTHEWS (Blazers): Portland is red hot and hes been outstanding at the off guard spot. He is shooting the lights out from behind the arc at 52 per cent and is an excellent finisher off the bounce and in transition. The former second-round pick was a bold free agent signing a few years back and hes paid huge dividends. Forget where guys are picked. Can they play and do they have a winning vibe about them? Hes got both. Good get. 3. DJ AUGUSTIN (Raptors): Has had a tough start to his run with the Raptors but it was great to see how prepared he was when Dwane Casey inserted him in the second half vs. Washington on Friday night. A pro all the way. Two huge assists and a dagger three-pointerr.dddddddddddd He made huge plays that swung the game in his teams favour. I see lots of guys pout and hang their heads and act like babies when things dont go their way - its nice to see a guy who keeps an even keel and in spite of the challenges he was having is not going to let it get him down. Im quite impressed by that. The Raptors backup point guard situation needs stability. Maybe those limited minutes against the Wizards will get him on track and give his confidence a boost. The Raps need it. 4. MARC GASOL (Grizzlies): Hes out indefinitely with a knee injury. Loved the pickup of Kosta Koufas from Denver in the off-season. Nice opportunity for him to play big minutes alongside Zach Randolph. Former Raptor Ed Davis will get some run as well - its a defining time for him since the Grizzlies didnt pick up his contract option. With all due respect to both of these guys, Gasol is the much better player yet at this time of year if you can get guys like this to fill in and produce then you become a stronger team later in the year when youre at full strength. Theyll miss the high-low action that he brings to their team along with his physical/tough play. 5. RAPTORS HOME STAND: Toronto has three more games this week at the ACC before heading out west. Brooklyn will be desperate for a W, the Heat are a tough match-up for the Raps and then Denver will bring its up-tempo act into town. Can I sign up for a 2-1 week and an 8-8 mark as they head west? I would take that right now if I could. Build the momentum and confidence early in the season and it carries over over the long haul. Lay the groundwork and foundation now. ' ' '