Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss the American support of the World Cup, the passivity of NHL GMs, the clubhouse issues of Bryce Harper, and the career of the retired Alex Kovalev. Bruce Arthur, Toronto Star: My thumb is up to American soccer fans, who have been much maligned over the years. Americans dont like soccer, people say - the same people, of course, year after year. Too little scoring, too much diving, too many ties, blah blah blah. Americans, the laziest critics have said for years, are too good for soccer. That typically mindless braying resurfaced during this World Cup, but a funny thing happened: it was overwhelmed by a tidal wave of support, of enjoyment, of commitment to a U.S. team that didnt have the most talent, but that rewarded its fans with everything it had. TV ratings? Through the roof. Online support? Inescapable. Americans embraced soccer, and it was so much fun. If they cant accept the metric system, they can at least love this. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to the passivity of NHL general managers, who are sometimes too polite for their own good. The GMs missed out on the opportunity to make an offer to restricted free agent PK Subban and now that Subban has filed for arbitration, his rights are protected by Montreal for the coming season. But if Im a GM, I would have made a monstrous offer to Subban, more than $10 million a year, and not just because he was the only game changing player available. I look at this two ways. If I throw huge money at Subban, I have a shot to get him - albeit its a long shot. And if Montreal matches, which is usually the way these things go, then Im messing up their payroll. Either way, I have nothing to lose. Even if the GMs dont agree. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is down to Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, for more unwelcome Washington punditry. After missing 57 games following thumb surgery, the uber-talented 21-year-old returned this week full of enthusiasm and suggestions. He critiqued the batting order - he was hitting sixth - and, more tellingly, the personnel. Harper was in left field, not his preferred position of centre, implying that Denard Span, the Nats centre fielder, should have been on the bench. Great for clubhouse chemistry. In publicly slagging first-year manager Matt Williams lineup, the prodigy wasnt breaking one of baseballs murky unwritten rules. He was violating basic workplace etiquette. Everyone has bosses and co-workers, even Harper, the young and the restless. Dave Hodge, TSN: And my thumb is sideways - thats right sideways - to the hockey career of Alex Kovalev, who announced his retirement this week at age 41 after playing last season in Switzerland. Why is my thumb sideways? Well, because like a lot of people, I cant decide whether Kovalev had a great career or is one of the great underachievers in the sport of hockey. The term enigma is thrown around too loosely in sports, especially at Russian hockey players. But how else to describe a player would could appear to be the most talented of any in one game, and then invisible the next, a pattern that existed throughout his career. Fans and even Kovalevs teammates used to debate how hard he was trying on any given night. Which, more than anything he accomplished on the ice … seems destined to be what we remember about him most. Wholesale Football Jerseys Throwback . -- Manager Bob Melvin shuffled the Athletics batting order and got the type of production he was looking for from the top of the lineup. Custom Football Jerseys Throwback . The 49ers announced the deal Thursday. San Francisco selected Kilgore in the fifth round of the 2011 draft out of Appalachian State. He has played in 33 regular-season games, plus all six playoff games the last two seasons. http://www.cheapfootballthrowback.com/ . Power had a two-lap average of 218.896 mph in qualifying Friday at the high-banked, high-speed 1 1/2-mile track for his 34th career pole. Cheap Football Jerseys Throwback China . Expensive. The NFL fined Tomlin $100,000 on Wednesday for interfering with Baltimores Jacoby Jones on a kickoff return in the third quarter of a 22-20 loss to the Ravens on Thanksgiving night. Clearance Football Jerseys Throwback . -- John Senden never imagined it would take more than seven years to win again.PHILADELPHIA -- Strong defence makes St. Johns a tough opponent, even if the Red Storm dont get a win to show for it. Darrun Hilliard scored 18 points, Ryan Arcidiacono had 12 and No. 9 Villanova beat St. Johns 57-54 on Saturday. It was the second straight win for Villanova (24-3, 12-2 Big East) since its second loss of the season to No. 11 Creighton. "That was old-school, Big East basketball," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Ugly. Great defence. Physical. You had to be physically and mentally tough to play that game. It was the Big East. Im glad to see our conference at that level. It was just the kind of game in the 80s when I was an assistant here." DAngelo Harrison had 15 points for St. Johns (18-10, 8-7), Rysheed Jordan scored 13 and JaKarr Sampson had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Red Storms six-game winning streak ended. "It was a Big East battle right to the end," Red Storm coach Steve Lavin said. "We punched and counter-punched right until the end in a hostile environment." Though moral victories dont show up in the standings, games like this increase St. Johns NCAA tournament chances. "If you know basketball, our team is coming together," Lavin said. "Now its up to us how we play the last two weeks." Wright thinks the Red Storm should get an invitation to the field of 68. "I think we can get five teams in on a year when our conference is down," Wright said. "Rivalries are getting interesting. Im getting excited about this league." Arcidiacono banked a three-pointer from the top of the circle to give Villanova a 53-50 lead with 3:43 left. After the Red Storm missed a shot, JayVaughn Pinkston grabbed two key offensive rebounds for the Wildcats and Hilliard made a free throw. St. Johns went 3:36 without a point before Sampsons free throw with 1:14 remainingg.dddddddddddd Arcidiacono then threw away the inbound pass following a timeout, and Harrison made a driving layup to cut it to 54-53. Daniel Ochefu made one of two free throws to give Villanova a two-point lead with 34 seconds left. With a chance to tie or give the Red Storm a lead, Phil Greene IV was called for travelling with 14 seconds to go. Arcidiaconos free throw made it 56-53. But the Red Storm couldnt get a three-point shot off and Harrison was fouled going for a layup with 1.5 seconds left. He made the first free throw and purposely missed the second, but a lane violation gave the ball to Villanova. "We were trying to get a three, but just couldnt do it," Harrison said. Josh Hart made one free throw and the Red Storm missed a desperation three-point shot at the buzzer. "Its frustrating," Sampson said. "We knew it was a big game. We just have to look forward to the next one." St. Johns came in allowing the second-fewest points in the nation (68.0). They also had the top field goal percentage defence and three-point percentage defence. It showed as the Red Storm forced 15 turnovers and held the Wildcats 23 points below their average (80.7). The Wildcats tied for the fewest points they have scored in a win this season. James Bell hit a three-pointer to give Villanova its biggest lead, 44-38, in the second half. But the Red Storm answered with a 9-3 run capped by SirDominic Pointers driving layup that tied it at 47. After both teams traded misses and turnovers for two minutes, Bell drained another three for a 50-47 with 5:52 left. Villanova, which beat St. Johns 74-67 at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 11, jumped to an 8-0 lead behind two threes by Hilliard. The Red Storm scored the next nine points and the teams played a tight, defensive first half that ended with Villanova leading 28-27. ' ' '