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SAN DIEGO -- Goose Gossage keeps a bottle of Weibel Vineyards champagne with Cubs on the label perched on a shelf in his pantry, a reminder of when Chicago arrived in San Diego needing one win to reach the 1984 World Series and wound up crushed yet again.This years All-Star Game is a mini-Cubs celebration, with seven players on the NL roster, including the entire starting infield, after a remarkable half-season. But a summer slump serves as a reminder: A good start is a long way from Chicago winning its first championship since 1908 or even bringing the World Series to Sheffield and Waveland Avenues for the first time since 1945.Everyone crowned us the World Series champion in December, which is unfair to the whole organization, first baseman Anthony Rizzo said Monday. Everyone put this high expectation on us, and we lived up to it.When Chris Sale of the South Sides White Sox throws the first pitch to the Cubs Ben Zobrist on Tuesday night, the All-Star Game will be back in San Diego for the first time since 1992 at Jack Murphy Stadium, where Ken Griffey Jr. batted seventh for the AL between another pair of juniors -- Cal Ripken and Sandy Alomar. Griffey was the MVP, going 3 for 3 and falling a triple short of the cycle. Tony Gwynn -- the Padres Hall of Famer who would die of salivary gland cancer in 2014 -- had a pair of assists in right field.A new generation has taken over, led by Washingtons Bryce Harper, the Los Angeles Angels Mike Trout and Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant -- who is happy to see his old friends from University of San Diego days. The Nationals Stephen Strasburg also is having reunion; he played for San Diego State.He probably did more at San Diego State than I did for USD, Bryant said.Chicago has become a favorite second team, longtime losers trying to win the North Sides first championship in 108 years.The Cubs are like the Cowboys. Wherever you go in the country, theres fans there, reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta said about his team. You go as far as you can west and as far as you can east, theres Cubs fans, and anywhere in-between.Boston also has its supporters around the world.The Red Sox, who ended an 86-year title drought in 2004 and have added two more, put six players on the AL team and four of them are starters. Designated hitter David Ortiz is retiring at the end of the season and will be making his 10th and final All-Star appearance, Steven Wright, a 31-year-old knuckleballer, could follow the flame-throwers to the mound in the middle-to-late innings.I feel like 95 is the new 90, Wright said of their mph velocity. Everybody is coming in throwing 98, 100, and then you got somebody coming in throwing 75, and Ill drop it down to 60.San Franciscos Johnny Cueto starts for the NL, which has lost three in a row and 10 of 13 since the All-Star winner determined home-field advantage for the World Series. That served Cueto well last fall, when he pitched a two-hitter for host Kansas City in Game 2 for a 2-0 lead of New York Mets, who never recovered.San Diego may not have won the World Series during its 48-year existence, but the Padres are a team of distinction: The only one not to have thrown a no-hitter, and famous for their golden yellow and brown color scheme in the 1970s under owner Ray Kroc, who also headed McDonalds. Players wore jerseys in the vintage Padres mustard-and-mud style for Mondays Home Run Derby.Of course, San Diego has been cruel to the Cubs. Back in 1984, they left Wrigley Field to the sound of Van Halens Jump and headed west convinced they would play Detroit or Kansas City for the title. Cubs fans were giddy with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five NL Championship Series.There was at least 100 brooms around our bus, recalled Gossage, the future Hall of Famer who got a six-out save in the Game 5 finale.But current players try to think only about the game in front of them. History is for the fans.Thats something we dont really discuss very often, Arrieta said.Chicago got off to a 25-6 start and was 39-15 in early June. But the Cubs skidded into the break by losing 15 of their last 21 games.Weve got to play better than we have recently, Zobrist said.With Rizzo, Zobrist, shortstop Addison Russell and Bryant, the Cubs joined the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals as the only teams to start all four infielders in an All-Star Game -- a fifth Chicago player, Dexter Fowler, was voted to the starting lineup but will miss out due to a hamstring injury.Rizzo led NL players with 3.2 million votes.Its crazy to me, just because of all the superstars in this game, and I do not classify myself as one of them, he said. When that first voting came out, I was like, `Is this a fluke? Was there a glitch?The NL is hosting the All-Stars in at least four straight years, which is unprecedented, starting with Cincinnati last season and continuing with Miami next year and Washington in 2018. Because the game is used to determine Series home-field advantage, the All-Star home team is alternating -- meaning the AL wears white uniforms and bats last this time.Because of that, Wil Myers and Drew Pomeranz of the Padres had to vacate their own clubhouse and move to the visitors locker room on the third-base side of Petco Park.The clubhouse doesnt really play a factor, but just being able to come out there and being in front of the home crowd is going to be awesome, said Myers, the NLs starting DH. Its something Ive always looked forward to.Game notesMiamis Giancarlo Stanton, who is not an All-Star, won the Home Run Derby by defeating defending champion Todd Frazier 20-13 in the final round, hitting two drives off the third level of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building brick warehouse in the left-field corner. Stanton hit a record 61 homers over three rounds, including a 497-foot drive.Lazar Markovic Jersey . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.liverpoolgear.us/Authentic-Rafael-Camacho-Liverpool-Jersey/ . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Liverpool Jersey Alberto Moreno Jersey . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds.In terms of filming a legitimate video part, no other Real BMX rider has more experience than Van Homan. Since the late 1990s, Homan has filmed some of the most influential video parts in the history of BMX videos, including Little Devils Seek and Destroy and Criminal Mischief, both of which put Homan on the map in terms of BMX coverage. In the time since, Homan has matured into one of the most well-rounded and influential BMX riders of all time, and continues to film some of the most groundbreaking sections in BMX. In fact, prior to Real BMX, Homans latest video part in Holy Fit earned him the 2014 NORA Cup Video Part of The Year. And at age 36, hes not slowing down anytime soon. Here are five fast facts about the elder statesman of Real BMX, Van Homan.1. Van Homan entered his first X Games in San Diego, California in 1998. He placed tenth in BMX Dirt. On the same trip, Homan scored his first street riding photo in Ride BMX Magazine, shot not far from the venue. In the same year, Homan got sponsored by Schwinn Bicycles and released his first seminal video part for Little Devils Seek and Destroy video. He was 19.2. John Van Homan lll descends from a long line of boat racers, including his father, John Van Homan Jr., and his grandfather, John Van Homan Sr. Thheir childhood was water and boats, mine was dirt and bikes, says Homan.dddddddddddd And when I got into racing BMX, my father really understood that racing culture and got behind it.3. In 2010, during BMX Street practice at X Games, Homan fractured his skull and suffered hemorrhaging on his frontal lobe. He spent a week in the hospital and took nearly four months to fully recover. Following the injury, he decided to wear a helmet full-time while riding. He now endorses Bell Helmets.4. Homan was inducted into Salem County, New Jerseys Sports Hall of Fame in Jan. 2009. The induction ceremony was conducted in the same building that he had climbed on top of years before, filming a roof-to-roof transfer gap that appeared in the Little Devil video Criminal Mischief, which is still widely regarded as one of the best video parts of all time.5. In 2014, Van Homan won NORA Cup Video Part of The Year for his section in Holy Fit. And hes not done yet. Homan has ridden for Fit Bike Co. since its inception in 2001 and has a signature complete bike in the 2017 line.Real BMX presented by Hot Pockets voting is still open. Vote for Van Homan here. ' ' '