RIO DE JANEIRO -- Competing against the United States womens basketball team at the Olympics is like trying to outswim Michael Phelps while wearing work boots and a tool belt and towing a keg of beer.At the beginning, its scary, Spains Laia Palau said. You know you will have to have a really good game to stay with them. They do everything pretty well. Its hard to scout them. But I think we were really motivated to play this game. Its a chance to improve and get better. I take it as a positive.Mind you, Palau said that after Spain lost 103-63 to the U.S. on Monday. That she took a 40-point loss as a positive just goes to show you how challenging it is to take the basketball court against the American women. Hey, Senegal lost to the U.S. by 65 points in the Olympic opener Saturday.Mondays victory was the 43rd consecutive for the U.S. women at the Olympics, where they havent lost since 1992 in Barcelona. That was so long ago that 35-year-old team captain and four-time Olympian Sue Bird says she doesnt even remember it.During that 43-win span, the U.S. has defeated 22 nations, ranging from A (Australia) to Z (Zaire), outscoring them by 1,277 combined points for an average victory margin of 30 points. China probably has suffered the most at the hands of America -- losing three times by an average deficit of 45 points.What must it be like to face such a dominating opponent?We dont talk about that as coaches because were always fixated on what theyre going to do, U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said. How are we going to stop them? How are we going to guard them? Were obsessed with that. And then when somebody brings up [how the other team feels], you kind of step back and say, Yeah, well, how are they going to guard us? They have to handle us.Were not easy to deal with, obviously.Can anyone ever beat the American women? Maybe. After all, the U.S. men lost three times at the 2004 Olympics, even with LeBron James and Tim Duncan on the roster. The beauty of sport is you never know what will happen.I think its possible, Spains Laura Nicholls said. OK, its really, really difficult, but in one game you can do it. Maybe our team could have more options because physically we are not on that level. One day our shooting percentage would have to be 75 percent on 3-pointers and everything else. Because they score a lot. Every second is difficult to get to them. But its not impossible.Right. It could happen. After all, the Cubs could win the World Series.You go to the games thinking, Maybe today could be the day you can beat them, because its not impossible, Nicholls said. You just have to have a wonderful game on your side and they have to be, I dont know, maybe a little sick. One day it could happen. Maybe one day they will be in trouble. Im not saying Spain. Maybe France.While the American women havent lost in the Olympics in 24 years, they lost the FIBA world championship to Russia in 2006.That memory motivates us, propels us. We never want to relive [that] again, Bird said. Its probably the best thing that could happen to us, to be honest. Look at how we played in 2008. We were all business in that tournament. And we are here, too.In other words, that loss just made it more difficult to beat the U.S.Having played at UConn and having won three gold medals in the Olympics and two WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm, Bird hasnt played on a lot of underdog teams in her career apart from some recent WNBA seasons when her team has struggled.So I do have an awareness of what its like to feel that no matter what you do, you dont have a chance. Its not a good feeling, Bird said. But on the other hand, there is that opportunity to upset, that opportunity to make history that Im sure is in the back of all their minds. And thats what were guarding against.Would I want to be in their shoes? Probably not, but theyre trying to make history by beating us.Just dont expect anyone to make that history anytime soon. Cheap Real Jordans Free Shipping . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Wholesale Authentic Jordans .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. http://www.realjordanshoescheap.com/ . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Cheap Jordan Shoes Free Shipping .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Cheap Real Jordans . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. LOUDON, N.H. -- Carl Edwards has mastered the art of starting first at New Hampshire.Its winning the race that has caused him fits.Edwards turned a lap of 135.453 mph to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He took the top spot Friday for the third time in the past four New Hampshire races, winning his sixth pole of the season.We need to turn that into a race win, Edwards said.The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has failed to win in 24 career starts at New Hampshire. Edwards finished seventh and fifth off his two poles last season. Edwards would advance to the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a win on Sunday.Hed rather take the checkered flag in the No. 19 Toyota and not have to worry about taking care of business next week at Dover.If we have a bad day here, Im going to be real upset about it for about three or four days, and then if you have a bad day at Dover, youre going to be upset for the rest of the year, he said.Edwards led the way in qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship drivers. Martin Truex Jr. followed his Chase win at Chicagoland Speedway with a solid run to join Edwards on the front row.Ryan Newman will start third, followed by Chase drivers Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth.Chase drivers Chris Buescher and Austin Dillon failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying. Fellow Chase drivers Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart failed to get out of the second round.Edwards won his 22nd career pole. He had never won more than three poles in a season.The cars are great, but its not just that, Edwards said.Its Toyota. Its crew chief Dave Rogers. Its the support of having three stellar teammates in Kenseth, Hamlin and Kyle Busch (who starts 12th).Kenseth has won the past two New Hampshire racess for JGR.ddddddddddddI became a lot better, certainly, when I started driving there. Its funny how that works, he said.Here are some other items of note from Friday at New Hampshire:DELAY OF GAME: Inspection issues delayed several cars from taking the track in the first round of qualifying. Nearly a dozen cars were in line at the inspection station once qualifying started. Clint Bowyer spun during his lap to bring out the red flag and buy time for the rest of the cars to complete inspection.TOUGH BREAK: Buescher (28th) and Dillon (29th) have the worst starting spots among Chase drivers. Dillon qualified in a backup car following an accident in practice.Its not the exact same car -- its a little older car, but same type of car we ran here the first time and we ran pretty solid in that race, Dillon said. We will just go out there and drive it hard and see what it gives me.Buescher realized that just making the Chase because of a rain-shortened win at Pocono will stand as the highlight of his season.Were playing our own game right now, he said. We know that if we come out of here and do the best we can, put in our maximum effort, thats all we can do.THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS: NASCAR drivers have found the violent protests in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the wake of the fatal shooting of a black man by police unsettling.The NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte had its exterior damaged this week during the protests.A lot of times when you see things like this happen its in a different city and you dont recognize where its at, but when you see the NASCAR building getting vandalized and you see areas of the city that you know very well with just crazy things happening, it makes you sick to your gut, Logano said. ' ' '