guys. And then you play France, who will probably have eight

TORONTO -- I have two sons. The first one, Charley, is 10 years old and a nerd. He loves books. The second one, Sam, is 8 years old and a jock. I dont think he can read.Charley has autism. Im not sure if all kids with autism are the same (probably not, because no two kids with autism are the same), but Charley doesnt understand sports. I mean, he understands that in soccer, for instance, the object of the game is to put the ball in the other teams net. But Charley doesnt understand why anyone would play sports, and he really doesnt understand why anybody would bother watching other people play them.Im always a little flummoxed when he asks me to explain it. There isnt much of an answer except: Its fun. Sports are fun, Charley, I say, and he looks at me with pity and hands me another book to read him as though he has to show me what Ive been missing.Sam knows that Charley is a little different, but he thinks Charley has something called optimism, and Ive never had the heart to correct him. Sam doesnt just understand sports. Sam was born believing in sports the way Charley believes in books and everything in them. Charley believes in dragons and ghosts and fairies. Sam believes in keeping score.The only toy I can remember him playing with, at least with any regularity, was a ball. I have pictures of us playing soccer together when he wasnt yet 2. (He sucked. I crushed him.) Golf entered the picture, then baseball, then hockey, then basketball. Im pretty relieved that he doesnt seem to like football, but I expect thats just a matter of time. I caught him watching darts the other day.He is a natural athlete, and when he isnt playing sports, he wants to watch them or talk about them or, worst comes to worst, think about them. He has an enormous head, both literally and egotistically, and I swear its because there are so many sports and he cant stop thinking about them all and how great he is at whichever one he decides to play in that moment.That has led to a different strain of parental flummoxing.Because I love sports, too, and its so easy to play catch with your kid or coach his soccer team or take him to the driving range and pretend youre the father of the year. Sports parenting is the cheapest kind of parenting, because its not really parenting at all. Its like being a kid again and your best friend is this other kid who you love more than anything. Its perfection.But there is so much more to life than sports. I know that. Charley knows that. The trouble is, those other things arent dragons and ghosts and fairies. They are hard and complicated and sad and real. More and more the world seems like a place that isnt much fun anymore, and its especially not much fun for grownups.So here is what Ive decided to do, as the flummoxed father of simple sons. Im going to read books to Charley, as many as I can. And Im going to watch sports with Sam, as many as I can.On Saturday, we woke up and turned on the TV to watch Liverpool, Sams team, dismantle Hull in the English Premier League. Then we drove into Toronto with some friends, and I took him to his first professional soccer game: Toronto FC against the Philadelphia Union.It was, to be kind, some garbage football, but Sam was open-mouthed most of the time. He couldnt get over the thrill of the grass, or the view from our seats of the lake, or how far the goalies could kick the ball in real life. Toronto scored a nice goal semi-late to tie it, and Sam jumped up so high that he missed the ground on his way back down and fell into the seat in front of him.Then, because this life is just the purest sort of blessing and still works out beautifully sometimes if we let it, we caught a train one minute after that game ended that took us back downtown, where Canada was playing Russia in the World Cup of Hockey at the Air Canada Centre. It was Sams first hockey game, too.We were in our seats seconds after the opening faceoff, and the first hockey goal Sam ever saw in the flesh was Sidney Crosbys steal and finish to give Canada the lead, 1-0. It happened less than 100 feet in front of his wide eyes, and his arms shot up as though hed been electrocuted. Then we ate popcorn and watched Canada go on to win.This is the funnest day ever, Sam said toward the end of it, and it was everything I could do to keep my chest from caving in.Now Im sitting in the dark, listening to him snore in the hotel bed beside me. His head barely fits on the pillow. Charley is at home with his mother, dreaming under the pile of books that he uses as a blanket.I used to think it was my job as a parent to show my boys the world, to introduce them to every last one of its wonders, to make the planet and its possibilities seem as big as possible. Ive come to think its up to them to find that out on their own. My job, when they find something they love, is to tell them that their love is wise and justified, and I love those things, too, and Id love to do those things with them for as long as they will let me.Not every day can be the funnest day ever. But today might still be pretty great, if we spend time with the people we love doing the things they love. And the more we love them, and the more they love those things, whatever they are, the better all of our chances will be.Hirving Lozano Mexico Jersey .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. Hirving Lozano Jersey . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. http://www.nationalsoccermexico.com/guillermo-ochoa-mexico-jersey/ . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Rodolfo Pizarro Jersey . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. Paul Aguilar Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months.HOUSTON -- They have crisscrossed the country, delivering basketball blowouts from coast to coast.Now the U.S. Olympic teams can finally take the only flight they really want.They were to depart together Tuesday night for Brazil, a trip thats expected to lead to gold.This is the exciting part, knowing that were about to go to Rio, mens star Carmelo Anthony said. Were about to just lock in in just one location, and we can just really focus on playing basketball and getting better individually and as a group.Anthony, at 32 the old man of the U.S. team, wasnt a fan of the early morning flights that the Americans took during their exhibition tour, as evidenced by DeMar DeRozans Instagram video of a team singalong during one trip.Now the teams can drop anchor and stick around in one spot -- theyre staying on a cruise ship along one of Brazils beautiful beaches.Im excited to see (Kevin Durant), DeMarcus Cousins, all the guys. I like them all, and its a great group of guys, Angel McCoughtry of the womens team said following its final exhibition in New York. Im ready to get to know them better and continue to hang out with these girls and have a good time in Rio. This is the Olympics, its a positive thing and were ready to go in there and have some fun.The men finished off their exhibition tour here Monday with a 110-66 rout of Nigeria, a game attended by the womens team after it arrived earlier in the day. After unveiling their team in New York in late June, the men reported three weeks later to training camp in Las Vegas and also played exhibition games in Los Angeles, Oakland and Chicago.They went 5-0, averaged 102.8 points and overwhelmed their opponents by 43 per game. The road to Rio was easy, but coach Mike Krzyzewski insists the Olympics wont be.The competition is going to get better. I mean, really good, Krzyzewski said.We play two games against teams that weve beaten, but theyll be a little bit different, in China and Venezuela. And then we play Australia, who is very goood.dddddddddddd Theyll probably start five NBA players. And then you play Serbia, and we know them from the world championships, with (Milos) Teodosic and their big guys. And then you play France, who will probably have eight or nine NBA players. So it goes up. It goes up, and we have to react accordingly.The U.S. crushed China, the opponent in its opener Saturday, 106-57 and 107-57. The Americans beat Venezuela 80-45.The women played higher-caliber opponents during their tour, which started in Los Angeles before moving to the Northeast for victories over France, Canada and Australia. They are a heavy favorite to win a sixth consecutive gold medal in Rio and have won 41 consecutive Olympic contests, with the last loss coming in the 1992 semifinals.They gathered on July 23 and coach Geno Auriemma said Tuesday was the first real practice theyve had. He plans another Wednesday after they arrive in Rio.So were not as good as were going to be, and thats kind of the way its been for us at the Olympics, Auriemma said. We get better as the week goes on and thats certainly been the case since the 23rd.USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo visited the womens team at practice and addressed the players afterward, wishing them luck in Rio.Durant and Anthony are the only players on the mens team who have played in the Olympics, while the women have much more experience playing together -- some even as college teammates under Auriemma at Connecticut. But there was still plenty of learning to do on and off the court during the tour, with more still come when the games start to count.I think theres a level of comfort now that you can tell that we have from our first game to our last warmup game, Maya Moore said.---AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg in New York contributed to this report.---Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney ' ' '