After a bit of a slow start at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, the United States is right up there in the overall medal standings. Eduardo Salvio Jersey . Seven days into the competition, the U.S. began the day with four gold, two silver and six bronze medals. They are ranked fifth and have the second largest total amount of medals (12) behind Norway. Team USA has produced medals in alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, figure skating, luge and snowboarding. The glaring omission: long track speed skating. Coming into these Games, the U.S. was third in the all-time long track speed skating standings with 67 total medals and they lead in overall gold with 29. Its been 30 years since the U.S. didnt win at least one speed skating medal at the Olympics. In Sochi, Americans Brittany Bowe and Heather Richardson were the undisputed gold medal favourites in the womens 1,000 meters. Between the two, they won every World Cup race this season but in Russia they finished seventh and eighth. Shani Davis was expected to complete his historic three-peat in the 1000m and yet he finished eighth. No American has finished better than seventh place so far. In a sport where races are decided by hundredths of a second, the talk in Sochi has been about the new Under Armour suits U.S. skaters are wearing. Developed in secrecy in corporation with Lockheed Martin, the Mach 39 as it is known even looks uncomfortable to the untrained eye. A ventilation panel on the back is possibly to blame for taking in air, which hinders skaters from achieving the deep squatted stands required to deliver the ultimate stride. Then there is the U.S. training facility. American skaters have been preparing for Sochi in a building that hosts the fastest ice on the planet in Salt Lake City. The oval is on altitude which ensures fast conditions. However, the Adler Arena in Sochi is on sea level and its properties are completely different. The ice is considered slow where skaters need to rely less on technique and finesse and more on stamina and sheer determination. Team Canada trains on altitude in Calgary and perhaps it is not a coincidence that Denny Morrisons memorable silver moment is the only Canadian medal in Sochi so far. Time is running out for the U.S. long track team - and for Canadas - with only six medal events left at these Games. Both countries have slim medal hopes in the mens 10,000m and the womens 5,000m. The 1,500m - often considered the crown jewel of long track - is wide open but other than that, medaling at the team pursuit is needed to prevent historic lows. Willy Caballero Jersey . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Gabriel Mercado Jersey .com) - Longtime Senators star Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa on Thursday to officially announce his retirement. http://www.argentinasoccerauthentic.com/Cristian-Ansaldi-Copa-America-Jersey/ .com) - The Toronto Raptors are paying Rudy Gay a visit on Wednesday night when they head into the Sleep Train Arena to take on the Sacramento Kings.Despite deep political and ideological differences over the years, Cuba and the United States always have shared a love of baseball.From the Negro Leagues to the current crop of Cuban stars, the communist island and the U.S. are linked by century-old baseball ties. It was during spring training in 1947 in Havana that the Brooklyn Dodgers got an extended look at Montreal Royals star Jackie Robinson, who later that year became broke the major league colour barrier.Major league teams regularly held spring training camps in Cuba and played exhibition games there, and the Cincinnati Reds even had a Triple-A affiliate in Havana before Fidel Castro banned professional sports.Cuban Hall of Famers Jose Mendez, Martin Dihigo and Cristobal Torriente were some of the biggest stars in the Negro Leagues in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and eventual Satchel Paige and Roy Campanella played in Cuba in the 1930s and 40s as parts of careers that led to Hall of Fame induction.President Barack Obamas announcement Wednesday that the U.S. is restoring diplomatic ties with the island nation could usher in a new era in U.S.-Cuba baseball relations, which were strained after the Fidel Castro-led revolution and the U.S. economic embargo. If Congress lifts the trade embargo, American-owned teams might one day return to Cuban soil, and Cuban players could sign with major league teams without defecting.Some key moments in the history of U.S.-Cuba baseball ties:—1864: Baseball is introduced in Cuba by Cuban students returning home from the U.S.—May 1, 1871: Cuban Esteban Steve Bellan becomes the first Latin American player in U.S. baseball, making his debut with the Troy Haymakers of the National Association.—Dec. 29, 1878: First official baseball game in Cuba, between Habana and Almendares. Bellan coached the Habana team, which won 21-20.—1937: New York Giants hold spring training camp iin Havana. Paulo Dybala Jersey. —1941-42, 1947: Brooklyn Dodgers hold spring training camps in Havana.—1953: Pittsburgh Pirates hold spring training camps in Havana.—1954-60: The Havana Sugar Kings, a Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, play in the U.S. minor leagues. The team was born in 1946 as the Havana Cubans in Class C.—March 21, 1959: Less than three months after Castros revolution, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds play what would be the last game between major league teams in Cuba for the next four decades.—Jan. 14, 1962: Castro bans professional sports in Cuba.—September 1995: Pitcher Livan Hernandez leaves the Cuban national team during a training camp in Monterrey, Mexico, one of the first in a series of high-profile players to defect and sign multimillion dollar contracts with MLB teams.—March 28-May 3, 1999: Baltimore Orioles and the Cuban national team play a two-game series in Havana and Baltimore. Game 1 in the Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana was the first time a major league team played in Cuba in 40 years. It was attended by Castro, and Baltimore won 3-2 in 11 innings. Cuba won the second game 12-6 at Camden Yards, led by future Yankees starter Jose Contreras.—Sept. 27, 2000: The U.S. beats favoured Cuba 4-0 in the gold medal game at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.—2012: For the first time since 1996, a Cuban national team and U.S. college players meet in an exhibition series in Cuba.—Nov. 11, 2013: Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is voted the NL Rookie of the Year, the first Cuban to win the award in either league since Jose Canseco in 1986. Jose Abreu wins the AL Rookie of the Year in 2014.—Aug. 23, 2014: Rusney Castillo signs a $72.5 million, seven-year contract with the Boston Red Sox, the largest baseball agreement for a Cuban defector.—Dec. 17, 2014: President Barack Obama announces plans to restore U.S.-Cuba diplomatic ties. ' ' '