ght dating to the Raiders loss to Kansas City in October. That matches Lance Johnstone for the longest streak in franchise history since sacks became offi

The New York Mets announcement that theyre signing Tim Tebow to a minor league contract elicited the predictable array of snark and sarcasm from the teams fans on social media. Goran Dragic Jersey . Typical Mets, said a few cynical Mets die-hards, who are apparently unaware that the team did reach the World Series in 2015.Amid the negativity and resistance to Tebows being handed a uniform and given an opportunity to take his shot, the natural question is: Why?Why is it such an affront to the baseball community for a team to take a flier on a 29-year-old mega-athlete who can run a 60-yard dash in 6.7 seconds and hit a baseball 450 feet (albeit in batting practice)?And whats so abhorrent about that pursuit generating interest in the game and selling some extra tickets in spring training or Tebows first minor league stop? Is Tebow fatigue so rampant and ingrained in the sporting consciousness that were not the least bit curious in seeing how this story plays out?I get it: The chances of Tebow ever making it to the majors are roughly equivalent to that of?Jose Bautista and Rougned Odor becoming Facebook friends.Tebow hasnt played organized ball since 2005, so hes 6,000 at-bats and hundreds of hours of backfield development time behind the curve. During his two-hour audition in Los Angeles last week, Tebow looked rigid and mechanical in the outfield and displayed a throwing arm that was surprisingly weak by former Heisman Trophy quarterback standards.Tebow looks imposing in a form-fitting T-shirt, but that 6-foot-3, 255-pound frame (with 7.3 percent body fat) isnt doing him any favors. Hes not busting through the line anymore in pursuit of the goal line, so he might want to pare back on the weightlifting.That said, I talked to several scouts at Dedeaux Field who found snippets of encouragement. One evaluator took note of Tebows weak arm but said the results were better when Tebow chased down balls on the run and came up throwing without obsessing over his mechanics. Former big league reliever David Aardsma, who threw live batting practice to Tebow, said after the workout that Tebow was gripping the bat too tightly and looks more natural on the back field when hes not trying to impress 40-something scouts.The Mets decision was a collaboration between chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon and general manager Sandy Alderson, who took the plunge despite minimal interaction with the teams scouting folks or baseball operations people. That helps fuel the perception of the Tebow signing as a circus, publicity stunt, dog-and-pony show and all the other derogatory terms that will be used to characterize it in the coming weeks and months.The flip side is that Sandy Alderson is an innovator with a Hall of Fame-caliber résumé. So is Atlanta Braves?vice chairman John Schuerholz, who acquired two-sport stars Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Brian Jordan earlier in his career and was on board with the teams pursuit of Tebow. While some clubs dispatched area scouts to Los Angeles to watch Tebow out of due diligence, the Braves sent special assistant Roy Clark and amateur scouting director Brian Bridges to the showcase and were serious from the outset. When Clark and Bridges delivered their scouting reports to the front office, there was a lot more discussion about Tebows bat speed than the potential impact on ticket sales with the Class A Carolina Mudcats.Baseball talent evaluators point out, correctly, that Michael Jordan failed in his brief fling with the game. But Jordan did hit .202 with 30 stolen bases for the Double-A Birmingham Barons, and Tebows swing is infinitely better than Jordans. After last weeks workout, USA Today quoted a scout who said Tebow looked like an actor trying to play baseball. Other than Robert Redford in The Natural, how many actors do you know who can hit a baseball farther than 400 feet?Could Tebow possibly block a young outfielder in the Mets system? Sure. But thats their problem, not ours. Could he generate a frenzy of attention in spring training at the expense of the other players? Yes. But thats a problem that ace PR man Jay Horwitz will have to address, not us.In the 2008, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed two pitchers out of a reality TV show in India. They both washed out in the minor leagues, but the 2014 movie Million Dollar Arm grossed $39.2 million on a $25 million budget and garnered 63 percent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. If a publicity stunt is fun because it involves two scrappy, anonymous underdogs, why cant it be fun with a former Heisman Trophy winner whos a fish out of water?If this venture ends the way most people expect it to, Tebow will get discouraged by the bus trips and the failure in the minors and go back to his TV work with ESPN. If that happens, baseball purists can nod their heads in agreement and say, See, we told you this game is a lot harder than everybody thinks.Or maybe Tebow is less of a joke and sticks around for more than a season. Either way, he gets to see his quest through to fruition with no what ifs.For me, you pursue what you love regardless of what else happens, Tebow said last week in Los Angeles. If you fail or fall flat on your face, and thats the worst thing that can happen, its OK.In a roundabout way, that same thinking applies to his new employers, the Mets. Their partnership with Tebow might end with a big, fat oh-fer. But at least theyll know they tried. Raja Bell Jersey . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. Aron Baynes Jersey . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. https://www.cheapsunsonline.com/369z-den...ersey-suns.html . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tyreek Hill didnt know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.Just give them what they want, I guess, Hill thought to himself.So he did, the rookie speedster taking the punt back 78-yards for a game-changing touchdown. It followed shortly after he had hauled in a 36-yard touchdown grab, spurring Kansas City to a 21-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders on a frosty Thursday night and into control of the AFC West.It gave me chills on the sideline, said Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, who had 261 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception. The whole stadium is chanting his name and he answers -- that was one of the coolest things Ive seen, for sure.The Chiefs (10-3) and Raiders (10-3), longtime and bitter rivals, are now tied atop the division, but Kansas City has the tiebreaker by virtue of two head-to-head wins this season.This was as big as it gets for a regular-season game, Smith said. We dont get caught up in all the must-win stuff, thats not how we operate, but we knew the stakes for sure.Charcandrick West added a touchdown run and Travis Kelce had five catches for 101 yards as the Chiefs returned from a back-to-back road wins to beat Oakland for the seventh time in eight meetings.It came at a big cost, though: The Chiefs lost Derrick Johnson for the rest of the season after the star linebacker ruptured his left Achilles just before halftime.I felt a little bit of a letdown when it happened, Chiefs coach Andy Reid acknowledged, but the last thing D.J. would have wanted was a letdown.Derek Carr was just 17 of 41 for 117 yards passing for Oakland, but the ugly line wasnt entirely his fault. Seth Roberts dropped just about everything thrown at him, Amari Cooper couldnt adjust to a long throw for a would-be touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and several more passes were dropped to the rock-hard turf of Arrowhead Stadium on a night when wind chills approached single digits.Latavius Murry led the Raiders with 103 yards rushing and a touchdown.I liked our effort, just didnt like the execution, said Jack Del Rio, who remained winless in four tries against Kansas City as the Raiders coach. In all three phases we came up a little short.That includes the way they defended Hill, one of the games bright young stars.He scorched the Raiders for a 36-yard TD reception before bringing his punt back, in the process becoming the first rookie since Gale Sayers in 1965 with touchdowns on the ground, through the air and on punt and kickoff returns in a single season.I didnt knoww that, he said. Cheap Suns Jerseys. I mean, thats great, but Im not the only one on that field doing it. Without those guys blocking for me, and Alex throwing me the rock, none of that stuff would happen.It was still 21-3 when Johnson went down, and his injury seemed to briefly deflate the Kansas City defense. Oakland proceeded to march 92 yards for its lone touchdown just before halftime.But the Raiders kept coming up empty with their chances in the second half.Smith threw a pick on the second play of the third quarter, but Oakland had to settle for a field goal. And when Smith was strip-sacked by Khalil Mack on the next play, the Raiders again had to try a field goal -- only this time, holder Marquette King couldnt get the snap down.The Raiders last chance came with about two minutes left, when a questionable pass interference penalty and a fourth-and-4 conversion got them deep into Kansas City territory. But after a false start on fourth-and-1, Carrs pass toward the end zone was batted incomplete.The Chiefs went on to pick up the first down they needed to put the game away.It was definitely a bad night. Theres no getting around that, Carr said. I hate to have the bad night come on this one, right? Out of all the games that weve had. Obviously, we didnt do enough.CATCHING KELCEKelce has had at least 100 yards receiving in four straight games, matching the franchise record set by Tony Gonzalez. The only tight end with such a streak is Jimmy Graham, who has done it twice.MACK DADDYMack had a strip-sack for the third straight game, and a sack in his eighth straight dating to the Raiders loss to Kansas City in October. That matches Lance Johnstone for the longest streak in franchise history since sacks became official in 1982.INJURIESJohnson appeared to know he had ruptured his Achilles the moment he went down. He ruptured his other Achilles in 2014 and missed the remainder of that season. ... Defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches left with back spasms and did not return.Raiders offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele was a late scratch with an illness that sent him to the hospital, though Del Rio said hell be able to travel home with the team. Safety Karl Joseph was inactive with a toe injury and defensive tackle Stacy McGee was sidelined by an ankle injury.UP NEXTOakland remains in the AFC West when it heads to slumping San Diego on Dec. 18.Kansas City continues its three-game homestand Dec. 18 against Tennessee.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '