PARIS -- Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic squeezed his upper left arm with his right hand, looked straight ahead and spoke in a level tone about his father, who is also his coach -- and was banned from attending the French Open because of a pending assault case. Cris Carter Two Tone Jersey . "Hes here right now in Paris, so, you know, hes still working with me, hes still my dad, hes still my coach," the 20-year-old Tomic said Tuesday. "And, you know, I love him a lot." That was part of a 40-second opening statement Tomic delivered at his news conference after retiring from his first-round match at Roland Garros in the third set because of a torn right hamstring. Tomics father, John, is due in a Spanish court in October, accused of head-butting Bernards hitting partner in Madrid this month. The ATP and International Tennis Federation both barred John Tomic from receiving credentials for tournaments. The French tennis federation announced Monday it had told the ATP, Bernard Tomic and his agent that the father would not be allowed onto the grounds of the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, even as a paying spectator. "Nothings changed between my dad and I," Bernard said. "Its still the same." After the 61st-ranked Tomic stopped while trailing 7-5, 7-6 (8), 2-1 against Victor Hanescu of Romania, a reporter asked what it was like to not have a coach courtside Tuesday. "Its a little bit different, but, you know, my dads still my coach, and hell always be, because, you know, I grew up with him and he knows me better than everyone else," Tomic said, while also noting he is considering adding another person to help work with them. Tomic began playing tennis at age 7. In 2011, at only 18, he became the youngest quarterfinalist at Wimbledon since Boris Becker in the 1980s. Viewed as Australias most promising player, hes taken a step back, though, making only one fourth-round appearance in the seven Grand Slam tournaments since. And his nascent career has been marked by off-court issues. In November, he was fined and put on a 12-month good-behaviour bond after twice being stopped by Australian police for driving offences near his Gold Coast home. "I showed that I can play, but this is the problem at a young age -- youre up and down," he said. "So Ive got to just keep working hard, keep trying, because once I get there and get to where I want to be, then theres no stopping me." A moderator began Tomics post-match news conference by saying: "Before we start, Bernard has a few things to say, and we wont be taking questions after his comments, other than on the match, OK?" Tomic then began: "Hello, guys. I hope youre well. You know, Id like to say some things before you guys ask me about them -- obviously involving my father." He added: "Involving the incidents that happened, I dont want to talk about it a lot -- at all, if I should say. And its a very difficult thing for me, you know, to put my words into that. If you can respect all I have to say about this, you know, Im happy to talk about the match." John Tomic had not been seen at the Roland Garros complex Tuesday, French federation spokesman Christophe Proust said. "Weve taken maximum precautions not to let him in," Proust said, adding that the younger Tomic "was playing on Court No. 6, which is a small court, so its easy to see whos in the stands." The hitting partner that John Tomic is accused of injuring, Thomas Drouet, is now working with French player Marion Bartoli, who won in the first round at the French Open on Tuesday. "During training and during the match, he helped me a lot," Bartoli said. After only three games against Hanescu, Bernard Tomic called for a trainer to work on his right leg. After getting his hamstring massaged, Tomic continued to play but was limping. "Its very unlucky. I prepared very good to come play here, and the second point, I felt my leg sort of tear and didnt know what it was. It was very strange. I never felt this pain before," Tomic said. When he headed to the locker room during a rain delay, a doctor told him the muscle was torn. "Lucky its not huge. Its not eight weeks, its not six weeks; probably just a week or two. So Im going to try as much as I can to recover" in time for Wimbledon, Tomic said. Clearly, there is a lot on this college-age kids mind at the moment. By the end of his potentially awkward 10-minute session with reporters -- a son discussing his in-trouble father -- Tomic was making himself smile. When he was asked whether he felt a bit lost without support Tuesday, he replied with a chuckle: "No, I just didnt feel my leg at all. Thats all I didnt feel. So if I hadnt done what I did to my leg, maybe I would have thought about that. But considering that I couldnt feel my leg, thats all I was thinking about." Teddy Bridgewater Elite Jersey . Tambellini, who grew up in the Vancouver suburb of Port Moody, B.C., will replace Mason Raymond in the Canucks lineup after the winger suffered a vertebrae compression fracture in Game 6 against the Boston Bruins. Vikings Tarkenton Jersey . In hockey, there is no more rover and the players dont go without helmets and masks.The voting results for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced on January 8 in the new year. Unlike last year when nobody got in, there have been estimates of as many as five getting voted in this time around and as few as one, Greg Maddux. Going over the list of players already in Cooperstown, I found it interesting that four went by the nickname "Kid" or "The Kid". They would be former Expos and Mets star Gary Carter, the Brewers Robin Yount, the immortal Red Sox legend Ted Williams and one you may not be as familiar with, Charles "Kid" Nichols. "Kid" Nichols began his career in the Majors in 1890 and was through in 1906. But the numbers he put up were truly remarkable. Starting in 1890, with the Boston Beaneaters in the National League he went 27-19 with a 2.23 ERA. In seven of the next eight seasons he won 30 or more games. He finished his career with 361 victories against 208 losses and a 2.96 ERA. Not only that he started 562 games over his career and finished 532. In other words he pitched complete games in about 95 per cent of his outings. Granted it was a different era. In his first three seasons, 1890-92, the distance from the pitching mound to home plate was only 50 feet. Nevertheless Nichols was the main reason the Beaneaters won three consecutive pennants. After that though the mound was pushed back to its current distance of 60 6" but Nichols remained every bit as dominant. The funny thing is Nicholls wasnt physically imposing. It has been estimated he only weighed about 138 pounds when he broke in with Boston and looked like a teenager, hence the nickname "Kid". "Kid" Nichols threw straight over the top and threw few if any breaking pitches. He and others have credited this for his durability and good fortune in avoiding injuries. He had impeccable control, and an uncanny ability to change speeds on his fastball. Nichols was almost lost in the annals of baseball history and didnt get into the Hall of Fame until 1949 when he was selected by the Veterans Committee. One of the loudest voices in getting him elected was a charter member of the Hall of Fame was none other than Ty Cobb. The most amazing fact about "Kid Nichols" is that he won his 300th game when he was only 30 years old. Again, there is a bit of a caveat. During his career teams usually only carried five pitchers at most and depending on circumstance you could be pitching every second or third daay. Anthony Barr Purple Jersey. Still the numbers he put up and the career he had was amazing. Heres the thing Im wondering about. Its "Kid" Nichols Canadian connection. Baseball Reference.com claims he went to secondary school at Queen Elizabeth High School in Surrey, BC. If you click on the school name, Nichols name comes up along with another former Major Leaguer who attended the same school, Kevin Nicholson. Nichols was an American born in Wisconsin, who spent part of his youth in Kansas City. I can find no mention of how he wound up in a Canadian high school. Interesting to say the least. I also wanted to mention another "Kid" who is not in the Hall of Fame. You might remember the name "Kid" Gleason. He was the manager of the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox, of the "Black Sox" scandal infamy. Gleason played no part in throwing the series to the Cincinnati Reds, in fact he called out some of his own players for tanking after they played a brutal first game of the World Series. Well before that series, Gleason was a decent player in his own right. In 1890 for instance, he pitched 506 innings and completed 54 of the 55 games he started. Gleason was also a decent position player over part of his career in addition to being a manager. It was said he was every bit the fiery competitor Cobb was, if not more so. Bringing Back Banks It seems only fitting, when Disney is releasing the movie "Saving Mr. Banks" about the making of the "Mary Poppins" movie, the Blue Jays should be shooting out a lifeline to a Mr. Banks of their own. Theyve signed right-hander Josh Banks, a pitcher they originally drafted in the second round in 2003 to a minor league deal. Banks only pitched in three games for the Jays back in 2007, then bounced from San Diego to Houston and finally to the minor league systems of the Giants and Orioles. He was actually released by the Os on March 31, 2012. So why is he back? Well back in the day Banks could throw eight pitches including a knuckleball. Now at age 31 he has re-invented himself as a knuckleballer. The Jays are hoping theyve caught "Lightning in a Bottle" on this one. Altogether now, the Jays have three knuckleballers in their organization, R.A. Dickey, Tomo Ohka who is coming back as a knuckler at age 37, and now Josh Banks. If Banks makes it after three years out of the Majors maybe Disney will come calling about another movie. ' ' '
