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While Maria Sharapovas drug suspension wasnt reduced as much as she would have liked in the Court for Arbitration of Sport appeal ruling that was issued Tuesday, CAS decision to cut her ban was a qualified win for the tennis star, her legacy and her hopes of adding to her total of five Grand Slam victories before she retires.That said, the decision to reduce her suspension from the two years she was originally given by the International Tennis Federation to 15 months because she was not an intentional doper should still provoke some soul-searching in tennis on a bigger scale. Like the recent ban of two officials for electronically relaying information to bettors during live matches -- and a poll earlier this summer showing that 22.5 percent of 31 players polled believe they know a fellow player who uses performance-enhancing drugs -- Sharapovas positive test will do little to disabuse critics of the notion that there is more going on behind the curtain in tennis than anyone -- especially tennis -- would like to admit.The sport has tried to make better efforts to police itself against banned substances and match-fixing and the like; but as this ESPN investigative report Monday also showed, the sports drug-testing efforts are woefully below state-of-the-art and unlikely to catch people who dabble in stronger illegal aids than the 29-year-old Sharapova took. Even when the ITF does catch someone, it has trouble making its disciplinary rulings stick before CAS, a court of last resort for the worlds athletes.Sharapova pounced on the opportunity to note that Tuesday. In a statement posted on her Facebook page, she said: I have learned from this, and I hope the ITF has as well. CAS concluded that the Panel has determined it does not agree with many of the conclusions of the [ITF] Tribunal ...Sharapova added: Ive gone from one of the toughest days of my career last March when I learned about my suspension to now, one of my happiest days, as I found out I can return to tennis in April. In so many ways, I feel like something I love was taken away from me and it will feel really good to have it back.Sharapova was the top-ranked woman on Forbes list of the worlds highest-earning athletes in 2015 at No. 26 overall. She has fallen to No. 88 in 2016 since her suspension was announced.She had asked CAS to reinstate her immediately, hoping to limit her suspension to the nine months she has already served since first testing positive for meldonium in January at this years Australian Open rather than serve the two-year suspension she was given by an ITF Tribunal in June.While that didnt happen, Sharapova can now justifiably point to how she took responsibility up front at a news conference in March and served her punishment for making a costly mistake -- but was cleared of any nefarious motives beyond that by two different governing bodies: first, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and now the CAS. She remains suspended because both panels did find fault with aspects of her behavior, such as not listing her use of meldonium on doping control forms and not applying for a therapeutic use exemption.Thats a win.CAS agreed in principle with the ITFs June ruling that Sharapova had taken meldonium -- which is also known by its brand name Mildronate -- to enhance her performance. But the panel did not believe she intended to cheat.That distinction is important.Worldwide and national doping agencies generally take the hard-line position that whatever goes into an athletes body is ultimately the athletes responsibility -- period, end of story; but teasing out intent is important to authorities like CAS when it comes to sentencing.In Sharapovas case, both CAS and ITF accepted her insistence that she had been taking meldonium since the age of 17 for therapeutic reasons on the advice of a doctor back in her native Russia, and that neither she nor her camp were aware it had moved to the banned list on Jan. 1 of this year.There was also no doubt Sharapova hoped meldonium would help her play better tennis. The ITFs 33-page decision cited old emails from Dr. Anatoly Skalny, the Russian doctor who treated Sharapova from 2004-12. He advised her to increase her dosage during games of special importance to 3-4 pills one hour before her matches. Sharapova listened. The ITF report said Sharapova used Mildronate six times in seven days at Wimbledon in 2015 -- and five times in seven days at the Australian Open.If Sharapova had been found to have deliberately violated anti-doping rules, she could have received the maximum four-year ban.Had CAS even upheld the ITFs original two-year suspension, she would have been 30 by the time she was eligible to return on Jan. 26, 2018 and missed seven Grand Slam events in addition to this years Rio Olympics, which she had hoped to play in for Russia.Instead, she now joins Richard Gasquet, Dimitar Kutrovsky, Marin Cilic, Viktor Troicki and, most recently, Varvara Lepchenko as tennis players whose drug suspensions have been reduced because of various extenuating circumstances.Tennis is also still dealing with the specter of Rafael Nadal suing a French official who publicly insisted that the Spanish star, long the target of PED rumors, benefited from one of the secret bans that tennis allegedly gives stars who test positive. That case raises echoes of how Andre Agassi revealed in his post-retirement autobiography that he failed a test in 1997 after taking crystal meth, then lied to ATP tennis authorities to escape punishment -- and the ATP believed him. The failed test remained a secret his entire playing career.Sharapova seems understandably eager to get on with her career.In recent days, she had been posting photos and video on Twitter of herself training on the court and in the gym. It might actually help that shes had experience coming back from long layoffs before due to injuries.Some people who read the full CAS or ITF reports or pay close attention to the worldwide anti-doping fight might continue to be skeptical that someone as famously detail-oriented and ambitious as Sharapova couldve made such a lazy mistake as not checking the new additions to the 2016 banned substance list.Sharapova is likely to experience little fallout going forward unless she stumbles again. The June ITF ruling alone was enough for Nike, one of Sharapovas many top-shelf sponsors along with Porsche, Evian, and Tag Heuer, to resume its endorsement deal with her. Others are likely to follow.Now that CAS has ruled, Sharapovas public image isnt likely to suffer much going forward.Sports fans, in particular, have long been a forgiving lot, especially if people they already find likeable are willing to apologize for their mistakes.Sharapova is probably never going to totally change the mind of cynics who continue to question her story, and how her use of meldonium dovetails with the systemic doping that led to the ban of many Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics and Paralympic Games. Even on a common-sense level, there are snags. As one skeptic wryly noted during the French Open, Why would Sharapova start a candy company if she was really taking meldonium because of her familys history of diabetes, as she said she was? Does someone afraid of diabetes do that?Sharapova doesnt have to acknowledge those questions anymore.Shes cleared of being an intentional doper. That will be enough.Fake Yeezy Online . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. Clearance Yeezy For Sale .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. https://www.yeezychina.us/ . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Yeezy China . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. Discount Yeezy Store . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up.BERN, Switzerland -- As the Tour de France heads toward the Alps, Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde have only a few opportunities left to try and derail Chris Froomes bid for a third title in four years.The remaining three high-mountain stages and uphill time trial should be the ideal playground for the Movistar teammates, who need to abandon their conservative approach and take all risks to make up for the big chunk of time they have lost.Quintana, runner-up to Froome in 2013 and 2015, is in fourth place overall, 2 minutes, 59 seconds behind. Valverde is 18 more seconds behind his teammate.The gaps are significant, but Quintana, a pure climber from Colombia, managed to gain time on Froome in the Alps last year.His subdued performance at the Mont Ventoux and his unimpressive time trial last week have, however, raised doubts about his ability to make a comeback.Even his team manager, Eusebio Unzue, admits Quintana is not at his best.We did not see the Nairo we know at the Mont Ventoux. Hopefully, things will return to normal in the Alps, he said.Unzue has been vainly scratching his head to find the winning formula that will allow his riders to crack Team Skys supremacy. While many observers have been struggling to understand why Quintana and Valverde have not harassed Froome with relentless attacks in the Pyrenees and the Jura mountains, Unzue says his cautious approach was right.Attacking all the time would be good for the show. But its unrealistic and not a guarantee for success, Unzue said. We need to wait for the right time, for the moment that will allow us to be efficient when we make a move.Valverde agreed with his boss, saying Quintana has to try it when he considers he can hurt his competitors.Encouraging for Movisar is that Froome has not been as dominant on the mountains as he has on previous Tours.Froome would normally use the first mountaintop finish to assert his authority on the race, something he has not been able to do this year.dddddddddddd Instead, hes built his lead with an impressive showing against the clock combined with master tactical coups in the Peyresourde downhill and the crosswinds near Montpellier.I believe that Froome and his rivals are more or less on the same level in the mountains this year, Unzue said. In Andorra and at the Ventoux, he did not attack to create gaps, I believe that he is not as strong as he was before. The problem is more that he has a team capable of controlling the race in delicate situations.Despite claims in French newspapers that Froome has no rival this year, he is certain he will be given a hard challenge in the Alps, where he struggled with a chest infection and lost nearly two minutes to Quintana last year. As a result, he has slightly changed his preparation to be in a better shape in the final week of racing.I feel more ready for the third week than I have been previously, said Froome, who has a 1:47 lead over his closest rival, Dutch rider Bauke Mollema. Starting the season later helped, and I had a quieter run-in to the Tour. I said at the beginning of the race I wanted to be at my best in the third week and Im on track for that.Wednesdays first Alpine stage takes the peloton on a 184.5-kilometer ride to the ski resort of Finhaut-Emosson, and features a punishing 10-kilometer final climb to the finish. It will be followed by an uphill time trial and two more grueling stages in high altitude before the ceremonial finish on the Champs Elysees.I feel as if Ive been waiting for these four days, Froome said. Perhaps some other riders have, too. ' ' '