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CALGARY - Latvian pilot Oskars Melbardis made the race for the two-man bobsled World Cup crown a tight one early this season.Melbardis and brakeman Daumants Dreiskens won Friday at Canada Olympic Park in a two-run time of one minute 49.60 seconds.The Latvians moved into a tie atop the overall standings with Francesco Friedrich and Martin Grothkopp of Germany, who were second and just three-hundredths of a second behind the winners.First run there were some mistakes, but we focused on the second run, Melbardis said. It was a great run I think. We need to work on a better push, but its good and well see what happens in Europe.Olympic silver medallists Beat Hefti and Alex Baumann of Switzerland were third in 1:49.66. Melbardis and Dreiskens were second behind the Germans in last weeks season-opener in Lake Placid, N.Y.Justin Kripps of Kelowna, B.C., and Bryan Barnett of Edmonton were the top Canadians in ninth.I had a pretty rough week in training, Kripps said. Not driving super well, but I put together my two best runs in the race. Thats all I could do this week. Its better than last year.I was 13th here last year so at least Im moving in the right direction. I never find the speed on the home track. I have a love-hate relationship with this track.Calgarys Chris Spring and Lascelles Brown were 12th. Spring was Jesse Lumsdens brakeman when they won bronze last year in Calgary.Brown and driver Pierre Lueders won Olympic silver in 2006 and Brown was also part of Lyndon Rushs crew that won four-man bronze in 2010.So Spring, an Australian who earned his Canadian citizenship in 2013, was frustrated with their result Friday.I had full intentions of winning a medal here today and its just a terrible result for me, Spring said. That second run was terrible by my standards. Were well back from winning a medal here.Nick Poloniato of Hannon, Ont., and Alexander Kopacz of London, Ont., didnt qualify for the second run.Olympic womens champion Kaillie Humphries will race the two-woman sled Saturday and then make her World Cup debut as a four-man pilot with an all-male crew.Kripps will also pilot a Canadian sled. He and crew Barnett, Tim Randall of Burlington, Ont., and Reginas Ben Coakwell were fourth in Lake Placid. Browns will join Krippss crew Saturday because Randall injured his hamstring racing in Lake Placid. Martin Maldonado Astros Jersey . Kadri was dressed in a green jersey at Thursdays practice and skated as an extra forward on the teams fourth line as the Leafs. Larry Dierker Astros Jersey . - Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard has signed with WME-IMG, saying the sports management powerhouse will help maximize the value of my brand. https://www.cheapastros.com/2423o-j-r-richard-jersey-astros.html . According to a report from ESPN, the veteran safety has signed another one-year deal with the team Raiders, the team that drafted him, and who he returned to last year after a long stint with the Green Bay Packers. Wade Miley Astros Jersey . The lightning strike was in the parking lot of Crew Stadium on Saturday night, but its not known if the off-duty lieutenant was struck directly, Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said. The firefighter, identified as Lt. Jose Cruz Jersey . This is not some token job for a prominent, popular former player. All of those areas need a lot of work, so Molitor is going to be busy. "Hes certainly got a history and knowledge and a high baseball IQ," general manager Terry Ryan said.NEW ORLEANS -- Tyreke Evans sore right knee -- and long-term contract -- gave him every reason to sit out the final two games of a losing season with the Pelicans. Yet even as coaches and trainers encouraged him to rest, Evans was having none of it. Instead, he played some of his most relentless, productive and crowd-pleasing basketball of the season. He capped it off with 25 points and 10 assists on Wednesday night, and New Orleans closed out a difficult, injury riddled season with a 105-100 victory over the playoff-bound Houston Rockets. "I just want to have fun, man," Evans said. "It was my last game this year. ... I was hurt. I could have easily sat out, taken the back seat, but coach talked to us about finishing strong and thats what I wanted to do." Two nights earlier, Evans scored a career-high 41 points in a stunning victory over Oklahoma City. Against Houston, he enlivened the crowd with end-to-end drives, high razzle-dazzle dribbles and an array of midair contortions in order to get off shots in traffic near the basket. "He drove me crazy with some of his uh-oh plays, but these last two games, I hope he gets player of the week," coach Monty Williams said. "We needed these two games to go into the summer. He stepped up big-time and carried the team." The Rockets, who had already locked up the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, rested James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin. Still, the game was competitive as a number of role players sought to make the most of extended action. Troy Daniels, a rookie guard out of VCU whod scored only 20 points in 31 minutes all season, hit 6 3s and finished with a career-high 22 points. "I was ready to get out there," Daniels said. "It shows the coach has a lot of faith in me. Obviously I have a lot of work to do and a lot of progress to make, but it was a good start for me to get my confidence up." Evans gave New Orleans the lead for good with a driving layup with 2:35 left, then sealed it with a powerful move in which he wedged his way between Jordan Hamilton and Josh Poweell for a running, right-handed hook from the lane.dddddddddddd "It wasnt just about, We aint making the playoffs; lets pack it up," said guard Anthony Morrow, nodding at Evans. "When a guy who signs a long-term deal still plays the last two games of the season the way he did, it says a lot about him." Austin Rivers added 18 points and Morrow 15 for the Pelicans, who shot 52.4 per cent. Neither team led by more than single digits. New Orleans had the largest lead at 90-81, but Houston responded with a late 11-4 run that included 3s by Hamilton and Daniels, then took a brief 100-99 lead when Hamilton stole the ball and converted a fast-break lay-in with 2:51 left. Regular Houston starters Terrence Jones, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Patrick Beverly, who had 14 points, also played as if it mattered. Hamilton hit four 3s on his way to 14 points and Donatas Motiejunas had 11 points and 10 rebounds. "We werent going to change in the standings, so we played a bunch of guys that we hadnt played before," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "Its time to get some guys comfortable." Dwight Howard was among a minority of players who looked like as if he was merely going through the motions. He was 1 of 5 shooting, including a missed 3 after which he allowed a smirk, and grabbed four rebounds while turning the ball over three times. But Howard had more important things to think about with the fourth-seeded Rockets, who won 54 games this season, starting a playoff series against Portland on Sunday. Notes: After missing the past two games with a left ankle injury, Pelicans guard Brian Roberts played 4 minutes, long enough to make three free throws. That got him to 125 made foul shots this season, qualifying him for the official NBA lead in free throw shooting percentage at 93.9 per cent. "To have that, thats something thats special and something Ill never forget," Roberts said. ... Pelicans rookie C Jeff Withey tied a career high with five blocks. ... The loss was Houstons first against the Pelicans in four meetings this season. ' ' '