after missing two games because of back tightness. [

NEW YORK -- In the past they always could hold on to the idea that there might be another tomorrow for the three of them to be together again -- back in the gym, back chasing another big title of some sort and reveling in the wisecracking, blunt, demanding relationship theyve had since they were all at the University of Connecticut and coach Geno Auriemma was the unquestioned boss.But point guard Sue Bird is 35 now and contemplating retirement. Diana Taurasi is 34, and she skipped the 2015 WNBA season to recover from the burnout of playing year-round in the U.S. and overseas. They agree the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are surely the last time theyll play for Auriemma, who is 62. And all three of them are determined to give this last ride together the reverence -- and irreverence -- it deserves.He likes to talk a lot -- dont pay attention to what he says, Bird needled earlier this summer at a pre-Olympic event in New York City that she and Auriemma attended.The common trait that all three of us share is none of us ever thinks were wrong -- but Sue is the most passive-aggressive, Auriemma countered.Hes right -- see there, I agreed with you. Which technically makes him wrong, Bird said with a laugh.Told that Taurasi had recently claimed that every team shes ever played on, including Auriemmas, has been dysfunctional, Auriemma smirked and said, Sometimes theyre dysfunctional because shes on the team. Thats the common denominator, right?Then he laughed again.Dee and I had a conversation on the phone just the other day about this being our last time together, Auriemma added, using Taurasis nickname. And it was a moment where we both kind of told each other, I wouldnt be where I am without you.Its going to be sweet and bittersweet, Taurasi said of this Olympic run during a recent phone interview.If the measure is winning, Auriemma, Bird and Taurasi are unmatched as a trio in womens basketball history.Bird is in the conversation for best point guard who ever lived alongside Dawn Staley, Theresa Edwards and Nancy Lieberman.Taurasi, even now, is still considered one of the best players in the world. Auriemma said what her brash exterior hides is that shes the best teammate that ever lived. And I say that knowing she and Sue are 1 and 1A.Since turning pro in 2004, Taurasi has won three Olympic gold medals with Bird and the U.S. team, three WNBA titles with the Phoenix Mercury, and six international titles in the EuroLeague. Three of those were with Bird, as well.Bird, also a four-time Olympian, has won two WNBA titles with the Seattle Storm since turning pro in 2002 and played seven years with Taurasi in Russia.At UConn, Auriemma won four of his record 11 NCAA titles with Bird and/or Taurasi in the backcourt. Some folks still argue the Huskies undefeated 2002 title team was the most talented squad ever assembled.So when Auriemma reunited with his former stars for the 2012 Olympics after a long break as their head coach, it seemed like bonus time. Taurasi cried on the podium in London after the American team won its fifth straight gold medal. Bird admitted she was unsure shed be back to the Summer Games. Auriemma (who had also been an assistant for the 2008 Olympics) was convinced he was done as a national team coach.The top job was, he said back then, the most pressure-packed situation hed ever found himself in.If you lose at Connecticut, everybody at Connecticut has a heart attack, Auriemma said. If you lose with the U.S. national team, the whole country that follows womens basketball wants to kill me.Their relationship has changed a lot since Auriemma regularly rode Bird in practices and games, telling her that as his point guard she was responsible for everything that happened on the court, even when it was a UConn teammate who made the wrong cut or threw the wrong pass. On a trip back to UConn this spring, Bird said it was the best and worst advice she got from Auriemma because she saw, in time, that he wasnt gratuitously picking on her. (Im easy to play for -- just do everything I say, Auriemma cracked.) Rather, Bird said Auriemmas prodding forced her to concentrate even more on running the team, anticipating and navigating situations, thinking on the fly, and controlling every aspect of the game.Asked now for an anecdote that might illustrate what those formative days were like, Bird said, Is it OK if its not G-rated? You know he cant be miked for TV games, right? He swears too much.Bird wondered if UConn was the right place for her when Auriemma gave scholarships to two other guards the same year she was recruited out of Christ the King High School in New York City. She said when she discussed her concerns with him, his response was, Follow your heart.Follow your heart? Thats it?Actually, it was the best advice he couldve given me, she insisted. UConn is different. He doesnt beg anyone to come. Saying that made me ask myself if I was the kind of person who could accept the challenge.Taurasi and Auriemmas relationship has a different tenor. Theyre so much alike -- both the children of immigrant Italian fathers, both stubborn, opinionated, cocky and insatiably driven to win/dominate/succeed -- and their clashes were often like an irresistible force hitting immovable object. Which only made them love each other more, of course.Just not at first.Taurasi was the nations No. 1 recruit in 2000, but she said she truly believed she wasnt going to survive her first year at UConn. She dreaded going to practice. An incident where Auriemma stopped a scrimmage and accused her of refusing to take a charge was typical. Taurasi essentially said, Did not! Auriemma countered, Did so!So he stopped practice and lined up the full team -- Shea Ralph, Svetlana Abrosimova, Sue Bird, everybody -- and told them to just go at me, Taurasi said. But I wouldnt fall. I took about 30 blocks or collisions and I still wouldnt fall down. Then he threw me out of the gym.Auriemma said his mission with Taurasi was the same as it is with every player: I didnt want her to cheat her talent.Taurasi said, Hopefully Im a lot more mature now.When Taurasi or Bird talk now, Geno-isms routinely leak into their conversations. Birds take on how the U.S. again isnt necessarily taking the 12 most talented American players to the Olympics, but the players who will hopefully meld into the best team, is a line straight out of Auriemmas playbook. So was Taurasis response when asked before the London Olympics if the American teams dominance had become boring.Her retort: I dont give a s---. Im trying to win a gold medal. Which sounded like something Auriemma would say.Bird has since said of Taurasi, Whether its deaths in the families or winning championships -- and, of course, heartbreaking losses as well -- weve experienced it together. When its all said and done, the majority of my fond basketball memories will involve her. Absolutely.Taurasi said she and Bird have been together so long, We can almost finish each others sentences. Shes the best point guard Ive ever played with. Shes also one of my best friends.When Auriemma was waffling after the London Games about returning for a second stint as head coach of the U.S. Olympic team, Bird and Taurasi double-teamed him and worked on him until he agreed to return for Rio. Bird lobbied him over the phone. Taurasi -- who said she typically speaks to Auriemma three times a week, whether shes overseas or in the States -- called, texted and met with Auriemma to pitch why he should join them for another gold-medal chase.The two of them have come a long way from when Taurasi left UConn for the WNBA in 2004 and Auriemma banned her from campus until she finished her degree.Not long ago, Taurasi divulged in a podcast that she played one of her UConn championship seasons at 185 pounds (or about 30 more pounds than she s carrying now), which later prompted Auriemma to crack, Yeah, I know. I remember telling her the best thing that happened to her before her freshman year here was she got food poisoning and lost about 10 pounds.And they are back to needling each other again.One thing Bird, Taurasi and Auriemma independently mention about their Olympic runs is the noticeable role reversal that has happened over the years. Auriemma said that since taking over as national team coach he has routinely sought out both players and asked, Am I going down the right path here?The partnership worked like a dream in London. And the U.S. is a heavy favorite to defend its gold medal in Rio.If this is indeed the UConn trios last ride together, it has been a remarkable, sport-changing run. In the 16 years since they first played together, Bird and Taurasi have gone from being girls to women to basketball legends. And Auriemma is the womens basketballs equivalent of John Wooden. Best. Coach. Ever.Sometimes I look and I cant believe everything hes accomplished, Bird said.Without him, Taurasi affirmed, I definitely wouldnt be in the position Im in, in basketball or life.For me, its a very conscious thing that for us its coming to an end, Auriemma admitted. I think about it a lot.Auriemma said that among the things hes valued the most over the years is how he, Bird and Taurasi have stuck together, and the affection they share.Like, I remember one time they Skyped me from Russia, Auriemma said. It was real late wherever they were, and Dee just went off and said this, that and whatever, and I was just like, pffttt, and I hung up.You hung up?I hung up, Auriemma repeated. I said, I cant listen to this. I just cant do it. At least Sue gets a little bit embarrassed when they do something dumb like that. Dee? Zero.When he is told that right about here Taurasi might remind him theyre grown-ass women, Auriemma nodded and laughed again.You know how when your kids move away from home and whatever theyre doing, you dont really want to know? he asked.With them, I really dont want to know.Then his smile suggested its the biggest lie hes ever told in his life. Cheap Matt Albers Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Cheap Travis Shaw Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. http://www.cheapbrewersjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-dan-jennings-jersey . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Cheap Paul Molitor Jersey . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. Cheap Junior Guerra Jersey . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford.Gary Cahill admits losing John Terry would be a blow as the defenders career at Chelsea seemingly draws to a close. Terry has been at Stamford Bridge for his entire career, winning four league titles and a Champions League, and revealed in January that his contract would not be renewed at the club.He has since expressed his desire to stay at Chelsea, but with new manager Antonio Conte not arriving until after Euro 2016, his future still remains uncertain. Gary Cahill was appearing at an SSE Next Generation event at Surrey Sports Park His team-mate Cahill doubts anyone will achieve what Terry has during his 18-year spell at the club, and insists replacing him would be difficult.Cahill exclusively told Sky Sports: It is [difficult to imagine the dressing room without him]. I suppose there was always going to be a time when that happened, but for me it was always going to be a blow.No player is going to play on forever, and there comes a time where you have to move on, or retire, or move clubs, or whatever it is going to be.But to replace someone like him is going to be difficult, not only as a player but as a character too, in the dressing room. But like I said, there is a time where that happens, and that is natural. You see that with the likes of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, these players are very hard to replace. Terrys time at Chelsea looks to be coming to an end To achieve what he has achieved at this football club, and to achieve what he has achieved in his career, is phenomenal.Will anyone achieve what he has achieved as a captain at Chelsea Football Club? Probably not. Its something remarkable. Of course in all the fans eyes he will be thought of for many years and obviously never be forgotten.Terry is suspended for the visit of champions Leicester on the final day of the season, meaning he may have already played his final minutes for the club.But Cahill insists there will still be celebrations for the 35-year-old, adding: I am sure there will be celebrations in that respect from the players, fans, management staff. Chelsea fans display a banner in support of Terry during their 1-1 draw at Liverpool For mee hes been one of the best centre-backs the Premier League has seen.dddddddddddd He has consistently performed season after season, which is difficult at a club like Chelsea, to fight off that competition year after year. Of course hes hugely popular.Chelsea were crowned Premier League champions under Jose Mourinho this time last year, but currently sit mid-table after a poor campaign which saw the Portuguese manager sacked in December.Cahill insists he does not want to experience this feeling of underachievement again, and hopes it is a learning curve towards future success at Stamford Bridge.Its been disappointing, its been one not to remember. Not too many positives this year, which is quite obvious. We are used to challenging and used to winning trophies. Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink thinks Terry is fit enough to continue playing at the highest level There have been times when we look like were going to do something, and then slip back down. We know more than anyone its all about consistency, and consistency individually.For us thats not been the case this season. Were looking to try and finish positively, its difficult when youre not playing for anything, but were always playing for pride and you have a professional responsibility.We definitely dont want this feeling next year, so if weve learned anything its that.[Sunday] is not going to be a celebration day for us. Its like a time where we are handing the trophy over.Gary Cahill was appearing at an SSE Next Generation event at Surrey Sports Park. Also See: Hazard will regain best form Mersons predictions WATCH: Hazards stunning solo goal Hiddink hopeful over Terry deal ' ' '