.3.?Anton Stralman, Sweden: Such an underrated player. The L

For the first time in more than three-and-a-half years, the top-ranked player in womens tennis is not named Serena Williams. The long-standing No. 1, who held that ranking for 186 weeks, hampered by a knee injury, lost in the US Open semifinals Thursday night to 10th-ranked Karolina Pliskova. And with it, she also lost her shot to break Steffi Grafs record for consecutive weeks atop the rankings.Until we get the opportunity to watch Williams play in another major -- which wont be until the Australian Open in January 2017 -- all conversation around her will invariably involve some sort of assessment of her career and legacy, attempting to put into historical context one of the greatest athletes weve ever seen.The key word there is athlete, not womens tennis player. As Williams herself said after her third-round victory last Saturday, Im a female, and Im an athlete. And Im an athlete first.Too often the coverage of Williams qualifies her as one of, if not the greatest, female athletes of all time -- something were?just as guilty of here at espnW. Its certainly important to acknowledge Williamss womanhood. Her femininity has constantly been denied due to that toxic mix of sexism and racism known as misogynoir -- her hair, her body, her demeanor and even her sartorial choices are endlessly scrutinized, while both her strength and her sexuality have been used against her.But the focus on Williamss gender when evaluating her athletic career usually isnt about humanizing or empowering her. Most likely, its said with a wink and a nod to separate her from the men.The subtext is, Yeah, shes the GOAT, but at a girls game. Framing it in this way does more than merely undermine her success. It spares people from needing to consider her among legendary male athletes without comparing her to them.A common tactic in disparaging womens sports is to argue that female players wouldnt be able to beat men in one-on-one competition. This, of course, entirely misses the point: Williams is in the category of all-time greats who similarly dominated their field. Nobodys going around asking if Mariano Rivera would beat Muhammad Ali in the ring.?The need to uphold male athletes as the standard-bearers is often excused away by some lazy argument about quality of competition, but its really about the inability to see sports as something other than just for men. In a column for VICE, Rick Paulas argues that those looking for a woman to beat a man within the same sports are overlooking the fact that most of the major sports were designed to suit male skill sets:I tend to cringe when ascribing such specific attributes to broad gender groups, and I disagree with the implication that if women cant run or swim or serve as fast (Williams can, by the way), that makes womens sports inherently less worthy. But the idea that sports were designed exclusively with men in mind continues to segregate sports as a space thats not meant for women.And the tactic used to justify that is the straw man of direct comparison. A male athlete is simply an athlete, the natural order of things, while a female athlete is an anomaly -- and a supposedly inferior one, at that. Its this thinking that continues to stand in the way of equal pay for women players while holding back the confidence, support and investment needed to help womens sports continue to grow.It doesnt help that those covering sports, including tennis, continue to be overwhelmingly men. According to FiveThirtyEights Carl Bialik, men comprise 73 percent of journalists covering the US Open this year. Thats how you get a reporter telling Andy Murray hes the first tennis player to win two Olympic gold medals, and Murray having to remind him that Venus and Serena have won four each.While this might be an extreme example, it goes to show how separating men and women athletes in our minds can serve to erase female players entirely from our consciousness.But women athletes arent going away, and its up to those of us in the media to continue to nag people into acknowledging their existence and worth. It might be a blatantly self-serving move, but Nikes new campaign declaring Williams the greatest athlete ever is meaningful for both contextual and material reasons. The hesitance of major companies to see marketing value in female players has been a major barrier to the growth of womens sports, and here you have one of the biggest sponsors in sports declaring the supremacy of an athlete who happens to be a woman.At the end of the day, if youve somehow managed to forget one of the greatest athletic careers weve ever seen, the only person who missed out is you. Rio and Flushing notwithstanding, Serenas numbers speak for themselves, and the utter electricity with which she lights up the court is undeniable. And she hasnt just been an incredible boon to the profile of womens sports; she has managed to keep tennis relevant in the U.S. during years of futility by American men. Its not a far cry to imagine a young boy at the Williams sisters Los Angeles tennis academy dreaming of one day becoming Serena. We should all be so lucky.Buy Shoes Nz . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. Wholesale Shoes Nz . PAUL, Minn. http://www.cheapnzshoes.com/ . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. Shoes Clearance Nz . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Wholesale Shoes Online . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete.TORONTO -- One of hockeys most intense rivalries played itself out in a chess match Tuesday as Sweden edged Finland 2-0 in the World Cup of Hockey.The Swedes improved to a perfect 2-0-0 while Finland dropped to 0-2-0. The Finns only chance to reach the semifinals now is if theres a three-way tie in their group -- at 1-2-0 -- with Russia and the North America youngsters. Finland also likely would need to beat the Russians by a wide margin.On Tuesday, both Sweden and Finland played a calculated, defense-first game at Air Canada Centre, each waiting for the other team to make mistakes. You could feel the tension between the rivals, and it certainly was a physical affair, with offensive chances few and far between.The Sedin twins helped produce the games first goal midway through the second period. From the corner, Daniel Sedin fed the puck over to brother Henrik Sedin behind the net. Henrik then deftly fed an oncoming Anton Stralman in front. The Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman put it behind Finland goalie?Tuukka Rask for the 1-0 lead.?Loui Eriksson?would add an empty-net goal to make it 2-0, but Stralmans score was all the defending Olympic silver medalists needed behind Henrik Lundqvist.The veteran New York Rangers star was terrific in goal for Sweden, making 36 saves in his first tournament appearance after missing the opener because of the flu.One off his better saves was a flashing of the glove on a blast from Finnish phenom Patrik Laine in the middle period.ddddddddddddThese two teams dont like each other, and it showed in some post-whistle scrums and a few big hits, most notably Finlands Sami Lepisto crushing Mikael Backlund in the third period. The Swedish forward had his head down as he carried the puck out of his zone.Finland has won back-to-back Olympic bronze medals, but in this tournament its lacking the offensive depth to play at that same level. The Finns power play was predictable again Tuesday, way too easy to defend.Meanwhile, Sweden, a team most likely to rival Canada for the World Cup title, has played a pair of defensive gems, limiting Russia to one goal in the opener before shutting out Finland on Tuesday.Three Stars1. Henrik Sedin, Sweden: Just a superb feed for the goal. The Vancouver Canucks captain, like his brother, has been dynamite through two games.2. Henrik Lundqvist, Sweden: What flu bug? King Henrik looked like his old self Tuesday -- which was a relief for Sweden after he got lit up in exhibition play.3.?Anton Stralman, Sweden: Such an underrated player. The Lightning veteran made such a smart read in deciding to pinch in for that goal. ' ' '