disappointed, but its one of those things that you talk about as a ba

When you compete in something as long as I have -- remember, I swam in my first Olympics before I was old enough to drive -- you see just about everything. The aging superstar chasing one more Olympic gold, the teenage record holder who everyone believes is the next big thing. Some succeed. Most fail. Maybe theyre not good enough, dont want to put in the work, or dont care about winning enough to truly push their body to its limit.And then theres Katie Ledecky. It was two years before the 2012 London Games when I first started paying attention to her. Every time she got in the water, it didnt matter what time of year it was, how rested she was, where she was swimming, who she was swimming against -- she was cranking best times, national records. It was incredible. I remember thinking, this girl might be the real deal.But I wanted to see it on the big, big stage. Could she do it in the Olympics?In London, Katie was just 15 years old -- the same age I was at my first Olympics in Sydney. She was quiet, kind of kept to herself. But on the final day of competition, in the 800 freestyle, she won gold by more than four seconds. I won gold in the 100 fly earlier that night and had just received my medal when Katies event began. As I was walking through the interview area, reporters began asking me questions that I didnt even answer. Instead, I pointed to the monitor where Katie was crushing it.This past summer in Rio, she backed it up with four more golds. Right now, shes untouchable. There are swimmers who might push her, but no one is going to beat her. I remember what that feeling was like; its a great place to be. You know that if you put in the work, the reward is going to be there at the end. The challenge becomes longevity. How long can you keep it up?But no one is better prepared for this than Katie. Shes that much better than everybody else. When I watch her swim, its like an art. Its beautiful. She maximizes her distance per stroke. Its just something you dont see in swimming. Beyond that, shes one of the hardest-working people Ive ever seen in training camp. She will swim with the guys and make them look like theyre standing still. I did a set with her once in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the Olympic Training Center. We were supposed to go together, but I was thrilled when she decided to lead a lane because I didnt want to get my ass whipped. Shes just special.And beyond that, mentally, she never lets up. She goes all out the entire race. Her mentality is, Im going to crush this field as much as I possibly can. In the first 100 meters, the race is over. Hell, in the first 50 its over. She makes the statement and then backs it up. Its just so remarkable.Yet away from the pool, with her teammates, shes as laid back as anyone. Shes talking, laughing, messing around. Then she gives a few high-fives, goes out and absolutely destroys the rest of the world. Its amazing to watch. You just dont see people like her in the sport. I know. And for me to have shared part of my career with someone so dominant and dedicated, and yet still so determined, is an honor. I mean it. Im a fan of this sport as much as anyone. And I cant wait to see what she does next.More on Katie Ledecky? What makes Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky remarkable Story ?? On this night, appropriately, Ledecky eclipses Phelps?Story ?? Katie Ledecky: Road to Rio training regimen?Story ?? How to be Katie Ledecky?Video ?The IMPACT25 is espnWs annual list of the 25 athletes and influencers who have made the greatest difference for women in sports. Explore the 2016 list and more content at espnW.com/IMPACT25. Nike Shoes On Sale Canada . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Cheap Nike Shoes Clearance . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. http://www.wholesalenikeshoescanada.com/ . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. Wholesale Nike Shoes Canada . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Nike Shoes Canada .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. ESPNs Buster Olney is on vacation this week, but hes still compiling roundups. View Wednesdays roundup here.Baseball is the greatest game in the world. If you need proof, look no further than the fact that baseball, like no other sport, has an amazing capacity to spark genuine and even heated debate. Baseball fans and media like nothing more than to talk about what is good and bad about the game. The designated hitter rule has been with us since 1973. Forty-three years later, fans regularly and passionately weigh in on whether the rule is good: Should it be expanded or eliminated? I have stacks of fan mail on both sides of the issue, and I can always count on a DH question to energize a news conference.Buster Olney recently co-hosted Mike & Mike with Mike Greenberg, and they devoted the better part of two shows to a discussion of what should be changed in baseball. When they asked me to participate, I gladly accepted. Those of you who listened to the program know that I was not supportive of some of the suggestions put forward but was receptive to many others, such as rule adjustments regarding relievers and alterations to the All-Star Game. I hope I left the impression that I am open-minded to the possibility of making changes to the national pastime.I believe there is a clear distinction between giving thoughtful consideration to an idea and deciding to move forward with it. Its good to have a healthy conversation about baseball and the way it is played today. But that conversation should take place against the backdrop of three fundamental points.First, a major part of baseballs appeal is its history and tradition. While adjustments can be made to protect and improve the game, we must always give due respect to history and tradition. Each July, I go to Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. A visit to the great Hall of Fame Museum and the opportunity to spend time with the greatest living legends of our game serve as an annual reminder of the importance of the history and tradition of the game.Second, baseball is a healthy sport. Each year more than 73 million people attend major league games, and another 41 million go to minor league parks. Our in-park experience remains the best in professional sports. MLB.com is widely regarded as the best digital offering in sports. And while we are continuing our efforts to increase youth participation, more kids age 12 and under play baseball and softball than any oother sport, and of the estimated 58.dddddddddddd1 million children in the U.S. between the ages of 5 and 17, 45 million (78 percent) have played baseball/softball in some form at some point in their lives. While baseball can be improved, it certainly does not need to be fixed.Third, some traditionalists talk about changing the game as if the alternative is to maintain some static, pure form of play. The fact is that the game has changed and is continuing to change -- in my view, at an accelerating rate. Games have become longer. In 1975, the average game was 2 hours and 30 minutes. Now the average game is three hours. In 1988, 272 pitches were thrown in an average game. Today, the strategy of working counts and taking pitches means that it takes an additional 22 pitches to complete that same game. Back in 1988, the average major league club used 17 pitchers over the course of the season. In 2015, the average club used 27 pitchers. We are seeing less of our star starting pitchers, more delays for pitching changes, and less action at exciting points late in the game.Today, major league players are hitting home runs at a record pace, but the number of balls put in play is at a historic low. There have been more strikeouts this season than in any other season in baseball history since 1871. Offensive strategies like situational hitting and stealing bases, which often create exciting moments for fans, are less prevalent today than at any point since the Year of the Pitcher in 1968. These changes have occurred not due to new rules but almost exclusively because of decisions made by creative general managers and managers in an effort to win as many games as possible.So the question is not whether there should be change -- the game is going to change and evolve no matter what. The question is whether to let the change happen or, instead, to manage the change. For me, the answer is easy: Those of us charged with the PHOENIX -- With two of the Arizona Diamondbacks best options at closer dealt at the trading deadline, rookie Jake Barrett has been handed the job. Hes having a rough time adjusting to it.Manager Chip Hale said hell look forward to getting Barrett back on the mound as soon as Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers, but more outings like Wednesdays could change Barretts role again.Barrett was charged with four runs in two-thirds of an inning as the Washington turned a one-run game into another convincing victory, 8-3 over the Diamondbacks, to complete a three-game sweep.We put him in to keep that one-run deficit, Hale said of Barrett. Felt good about coming back in the ninth. Just couldnt get that third out. Got the first two and then that third one ... The walks hurt him. Tough luck, but weve got to turn it around.Barrett didnt have much to say after walking in a run and with one of the three free passes he issued, plus two hits.I was just going out there trying to make my pitches. It just wasnt happening, he said.Arizona lost its fourth straight and sixth in seven games. The Diamondbacks are winless in nine Wednesday games at home this season.The Diamondbacks battled against All-Star Max Scherzer, who struck out 11 in eight innings. Scherzer also delivered a two-run single to help his cause.Scherzer (12-6) allowed three runs on four hits, giving up two homers, and walked one. He is 3-0 in four starts against his former team, which drafted the four-time All-Star and former Cy Young Award winner No. 11 overall in 2006.Daniel Murphys sixth-inning solo home run broke a 1-1 tie before Scherzer bounced a single up the middle with the bases loaded and two outs, driving in Anthony Rendon and Danny Espinosa.Any time you can do something at the plate to help your team, it really puts a smile on everybodys face, Scherzer said.I didnt make a pitch. I threw a cutter that just ran in like a fastball and he put a good swing on it and got it back up the middle and got a hit. Tip your hat to him. He put a good at-bat together, Diamondbacks starter Zack Godley said of Scherzer.Godley (3-2) allowed four runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts and a walk in six innings.Scherzer held the Diamondbacks hitless for four innings, but David Peralta led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to left field. Peralta advanced to third on a wild pitch, and with one out, scored when Bryce Harper dropped a sliding catch of Brandon Drurys shallow fly ball to right.That tied the game at 1, after Trea Turners second career home run and first of 2016 came with one out in the top of the third.The Nationals went ahead 4-1 in the sixth before Jake Lambs solo shot in the bottom of the inning. It was Lambs second homer in as many days.Yasmany Tomas cut the Nationals lead to one with a home run in the seventh, the first time in his career hes gone deep in consecutive games.The Nationals scored the four runs in the ninth off Barrett, on Espinosas RBI ground-rule double, a walk and Clint Robinsons two-run pinch-hit single.The guys that are throwing the pitches are good enough, they just need to execute better, Hale said. Locate better, pitch selection better, which the catchers and the pitchers are both responsible. I hate to make a blanket statement. I think the guys throwing the pitches when were struggling are good enough to get people out, we just need to keep working with them to make them better.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: Harper returned to the lineup after missing Tuesdays game because of illness. ... IF Ryan Zimmerman remained out with a wrist injury; he hasnt played since July 31 at San Francisco.UP NEXTNationals: The club had yet to name a starting pitcher for Friday at home against San Francisco after Thursdays day off.Diamondbacks: RHP Braden Shipley (1-1) is set for his third major league start Friday against Milwaukee, after making his major league debut July 25 against the Brewers on the road. Hes coming off six scoreless innings at Los Angeles on July 30. New Balance Shoes Canada . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. New Balance Shoes Clearance Canada . 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CINCINNATI -- Billy Hamilton and Dee Gordon first met as prospects in the Arizona Fall League on their way to the majors. The two speedsters, who are now vital batters at the top of their respective lineups, will have a reunion over the next four days in Cincinnati.Hamiltons Reds host Gordon and the Miami Marlins for the first contest of a four-game series Monday night at Great American Ball Park. Left-hander Brandon Finnegan (7-8, 4.45 ERA) is due to pitch for the Reds, while right-hander David Phelps (5-6, 2.40) makes his third start for the Marlins since being moved into the rotation on Aug. 5.Gordon and Hamilton didnt see each other when the Marlins swept a three-game series in Miami leading into the All-Star break. Gordon was serving an 80-game suspension for violating Major League Baseballs performance-enhancing drug program. In the 15 games since his return, Gordon is hitting .321 with seven stolen bases.Hamilton leads the majors with 51 steals. He is the first player in the major leagues since Michael Bourn (2009-11) to have at least 50 stolen bases in three consecutive seasons, and hes the first Reds player to accomplish the feat since Joe Morgan did it five straight seasons (1972-76).Hamiltons giving himself the opportunities for those steals by getting on base at the highest rate in his career. His OBP is up to .318 after going 3-for-4 against Milwaukee on Sunday, marking his 22nd multi-hit game of the season.Since the All-Star break, Hamilton is hitting .324 with 21 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, three RBI, 29 steals and 12 walks. The Reds (48-68) have gone 16-11 in that span, winning seven of the nine series theyve played.Its not as much the stolen bases as it is just how he affects everything else during the game, Brewers manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com about Hamilton. Does he affect the pitcher? Thats a big part of what we believe in with the running game, is, Can we affect the pitcher?? Can we change his delivery? Can we affect his stuff to the hitter?Miami (61-56) ended a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 win against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.dddddddddddd The Marlins are still 8 1/2 games behind Washington in the NL East but are in the thick of the NL wild card race, seeking the franchises first playoff appearance since 2003.Staying in the race with St. Louis, Pittsburgh and the New York Mets got tougher on Sunday when the team placed right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (groin) and pitcher Adam Conley (finger tendonitis) on the 15-day disabled list. An MRI revealed Stanton has a Grade 3 groin strain, putting the rest of the season in jeopardy for him.The best-case scenario is a six-week return, Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said Sunday. Theres still an opportunity to get (Stanton) back before the end of the season, but it was a significant injury.Stanton has 25 home runs, 70 RBI and a slugging percentage of .497 this season.Youre disappointed, but its one of those things that you talk about as a ballclub from spring training forward, said Marlins manager Don Mattingly. Nothing can get in our way. Youve just got to move forward.Phelps had 50 relief appearances before starting at Colorado on Aug. 5.Finnegan will be making his 24th start of the season. In his last three starts, hes allowed 12 hits and just three runs in 18 innings. Finnegan has thrown 129 1/3 innings this season, and the Reds are keeping an eye on that total as the end of their season approaches.We could use off days and extra starters in September to give guys longer breaks and allow them to stay in the rotation, Reds manager Bryan Price said. If we stayed with a five-man rotation, at some point the innings will accumulate where he would finish the season in the bullpen. ' ' 'enormous responsibility of protecting the great game of baseball have an obligation to manage change so that the beauty of our game is preserved in a way that future generations continue to embrace the sport. We will confront difficult choices in discharging this responsibility, and we will make the right choices because our guiding principle will always be the best interests of the fans. ' ' '