APPLE VALLEY, Minn. The dolphin exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo is closing despite a recent wave of state money to help maintain it.

The Pioneer Press reports that the Apple Valley zoo will move its resident dolphins, Allie and Semo, to other facilities while repairs are made to the tank. But zoo officials say the tank won’t house dolphins once the upgrades are done.

Zoo officials say dolphins aren’t readily available and that the zoo has other pressing development projects. The zoo is looking into other aquatic animals that could be housed at the exhibit.

Five dolphins have died at the bottlenose exhibit since 2006, including Allie and Semo’s young calf in February.

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In the first matchup between the teams since World Peace struck James Harden with an elbow on April 22 to draw a seven-game suspension, the Thunder hit back to take a 1-0 series lead.

Russell Westbrook had 27 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in limited playing time, Kevin Durant added 25 as a rested Oklahoma City team ran circles around the visitors.

“I just tried to come out aggressive, we hadn’t played in a while and I had some good legs underneath me,” Westbrook told reporters.

The Thunder swept their first-round series and had more than a week off while the Lakers just wrapped up a tough seven-game series two days ago.

Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum both had 20 points, but the Lakers fell behind by 15 at halftime and the deficit ballooned to 30 in the third as the visitors struggled to cope with Oklahoma City’s foot speed and athleticism.

A hostile home crowd booed World Peace throughout the night but Harden said he did not let the elbowing incident interfere with his focus.

” put that stuff behind me and out there to make plays for my team,” said Harden, who had 17 points to World Peace’s 12.

In the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia avoided a repeat of their Game One flop and earned an 82-81 road triumph over Boston, outdueling the Celtics late to tie their second round playoff series.

After blowing a 10-point advantage in the fourth quarter to lose the series opener on Saturday, the youthful 76ers again saw a late lead disappear but this time they refused to buckle and tied the best-of-seven series 1-1.

Jrue Holiday scored a team-high 18 points while Evan Turner made a go-ahead scoop shot with 40 seconds left and added two key free throws during a rugged struggle that heated up in the final quarter.

Ray Allen had 17 and Kevin Garnett added 15 and 12 rebounds and made a three-pointer as time expired to shave the final deficit.

Game Three is on Wednesday in Philadelphia.

But Vygaudas Usackas is not talking about security threats facing golfers in a war zone — he’s talking about the course.

It is one big hazard, with unfair fairways of rock and thistles, sand-and-oil greens and the chance of falling into a ditch making even the most wicked of traditional sand traps and water hazards seem benign.

But in a country where guns far outnumber golf clubs and diplomats live in compounds set deep behind blast walls and razor wire, Usackas revels in the chance to get out and get some fresh air.

The air at Afghanistan’s only golf course — a half-hour drive out of Kabul — is certainly easier to breathe than the dust and pollution of the chaotic capital, but golfers accustomed to the eye-soothing sight of immaculate lawns would be in for a shock.

And they can leave the fancy two-tone spiked shoes behind, being well-advised to don army style boots to cope with the terrain.

As for clubs, forget about the state-of-the-art Titanium driver that cost a few hundred dollars and choose, like anybody else, from a dusty collection of bags containing ancient woods and irons in the spartan, single-room clubhouse.

Then, equipped with two caddies, one to carry the bag, the other to stake out the likely landing area of your — perfect — shot so that he can maybe see the ball ricochet off a rock into a pile of rubble, you are ready to play.

The fore-caddy will also warn picnickers and cricketers and the riders of passing donkeys that balls may soon be coming their way.

They tend to be most accommodating, shifting temporarily from the direct line of fire and applauding any good shot in this bizarre game, in which Usackas and his party of one reporter and Afghanistan’s only golf pro were the sole players one recent Friday.

The pro, Mohammad Afzal Abdul, 52, has been the manager and coach at the Club for 35 years — apart from war-forced closures and a couple of stints in jail under Soviet invaders and hardline Taliban Islamists for associating with foreigners.

A photograph of him with Tiger Woods in Dubai recently takes pride of place on the walls of the club’s office.

I invited Tiger to visit Kabul.

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The 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass transcends golf. It’s the only hole in the world that casual sports fans can instantly see in their mind’s eye. In a game where controlling your misses is the key to victory, on this hole there is nowhere to miss.

Hit long … dead.

Hit short … dead.

Hit left … dead.

Hit right … well, you get the idea.

Without the water, the 137-yard par three would be the easiest hole on the PGA Tour. At that yardage, tour players are hitting sand wedges into the green. But the signature hole at this week’s Players Championship tests the player’s most fragile equipment: His mind. Add some wind a

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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Cordero walks off the field as the Oakland Athletics celebrate Brandon Inge’s walk off grand slam home run off in the ninth inning of their game in Oakland, Calif., on May 8, 2012.

Jeff Chiu/AP

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Francisco Cordero walked off the mound with his head down as the Oakland Athletics celebrated behind him. A

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Welcome to the second part of a four-part series that will break down the upcoming Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Heavyweight Championship.

We will take a look at each participant and analyze what the match style, title and story could mean for each of the four participants. I’ve covered the current champion Sheamus in my first article—the link is at the end of this article. For our second part we will discuss Alberto Del Rio.

Alberto Rodriguez, or as we know him here in the WWE Universe, Alberto Del Rio, is like Sheamus, a former two-time WWE Champion. That championship, however, is the only one Del Rio has held here in the WWE. O

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Jason Demers also scored for the Sharks, who rebounded from back-to-back losses at Anaheim and Phoenix to close within one point of Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles and Phoenix with three games remaining.

The Stars were thoroughly outplayed for a second straight night and have gone from leading the Pacific Division heading into Friday’s 5-2 loss at Vancouver to being out of the playoff picture one night later. D

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The Bostn Celtics won their eighth straight game at home and fifth overall Sunday, blowing out the Miami Heat, 91-72. Rajon Rondo shined on the national stage, picking up his NBA-leading fifth triple-double of the year with 16 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds.

Rondo helped hand the Heat their worst loss of the season. The Heat fell to just 3-7 on the road in their last 10 games.

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While the 76th US Masters edged ever closer, Rory McIlroy appeared set to become the first Irishman to start favourite for the opening Major of the season. Then all was changed, changed utterly by dramatic happenings at Bay Hill, which have given promise of the most exciting staging in recent history, starting on Thursday at Augusta National.

“Watch out boys,” Johnny Miller warned preening rivals. “Tiger is back.”

Indeed he is, as a late 7/2 favourite with Paddy Power to win a fifth green jacket in a setting which has always inspired him.

This is also a hugely significant Masters from an Irish perspective, with the presence of two reigning Major champions.

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Kentucky took a bold step toward winning its eighth championship by defeating bitter intrastate rival Louisville 69-61, while Kansas knocked off Ohio State, 64-62.

“We got a game closer to our dreams, our goal,” said Kentucky freshman forward Anthony Davis, who led the Wildcats with 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.

“We have to come out here Monday night and perform. We can’t come out lackadaisical.

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Australian Andrew Martin went into the final round at The Hills with a one-stroke lead over compatriot Brody Ninyette, with Hendry a shot further back in third.

The New Zealander started the final round with five successive birdies and despite a bogey on the par-four eighth, looked well in control and had built a three-shot lead over Martin with four holes to play

But Hendry’s quadruple bogey on the par three 16th let Martin right back into contention, and the Victorian held a one-shot lead with two holes to play.

Hendry showed excellent focus to birdie the 17th, then putted out for par on the 18th leaving Martin, who bogeyed the 17th, needing a birdie on the last to force a playoff.

He couldn’t manage it, falling short with another bogey to finish on even par 72 in a tie for second with first-round leader Mark Brown of New Zealand.

Auckland rookie pro Ryan Fox shot four-under 68 to finish a clear fourth with 275.

SENDAI, Japan — It was one of those games — one of those really big games — that just didn’t sit right for U.S. women’s soccer coach Pia Sundhage.

As far as she is concerned, her team outplayed Japan in last year’s World Cup final. She still thinks they should have won.

Now, she is looking ahead to the Olympics and Japan is once again on her mind.

“We have something to prove every time we play Japan,” Sundhage said Saturday ahead of a matchup between the rivals at the Kirin Challenge Cup on Japan’s home turf.

The exhibition tournament features the top four teams in the world. The U.S. is ranked No. 1 just ahead of Germany, while Japan is No. 3 and Brazil is No. 4.

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It’s been a long road to WrestleMania 28. There have been a lot of memorable moments this past year with the WWE.

All of the surprises, amusement and epic pass/fail moments have given the Bleacher Report community loads to speak on. Let’s re-live the past months in World Wrestling Entertainment that have brought us to the main event this coming Sunday.

Feel free to add you own favorite moments!

What started as a few mouthy moments for John Cena at random house shows escalated to a whole new level, when The Rock responded to Cena’s rants about his absence in the WWE by becoming the host of WrestleMania 27.

After costing Cena his WWE championship match against the Miz with a Rock Bottom, it was on.

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Ervin “Magic” Johnson, former Los Angeles Lakers, NBA player, seen in 2006.

Amy E. Powers/Associated Press

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A group that includes former basketball star Magic Johnson and longtime baseball executive Stan Kasten agreed Tuesday night to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers from Frank McCourt for a record $2-billion.

The price would shatter the mark for a sports franchise.

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Who are we talking about?

Don Draper, of course.

There were two great stories on Sunday. First there was the return of Tiger Woods with his first PGA Tour victory in 924 days, then a few hours later there was the return of Don Draper when AMCs Mad Men aired a new episode for the first time in 526 days.

If you dont watch Mad Men I apologize for this column and promise once I arrive in Augusta next week it will be strictly golf.

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