RIO DE JANEIRO -- Bethanie Mattek-Sands figures shell retire the stars and stripes socks and frame them with her gold medal.In an all-American mixed doubles final Sunday, Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock won the title as first-time Olympians. And they did it against an opponent who has won as many medals -- and as many golds -- as any tennis player in history.Mattek-Sands and Sock beat Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram to deny Williams a record fifth gold. With the silver, Williams still tied the Olympic mark with her fifth medal: Kathleen McKane also won five (one gold) in the 1920s.Williams owns one singles gold and three in doubles with sister Serena, but she was upset in the first round in Rio de Janeiro in both tournaments while battling a virus. Her Olympics were seemingly over since she wasnt originally expected to compete in mixed doubles.Ram, meanwhile, wasnt even originally supposed to be in Rio. The 32-year-old was added to his first Olympic roster a few days before the opening ceremony when the 2012 mens doubles gold medalists, Bob and Mike Bryan, withdrew.Sock was also sick before arriving in Rio -- he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia shortly before departing. And he, too, was upset in the first round in singles, sounding afterward more like a tourist than a medal contender.I wanted to enjoy the experience, soak it all up, he recalled Sunday.He wound up soaking up two medal ceremonies, also winning bronze with Steve Johnson in mens doubles.For the 31-year-old Mattek-Sands, who like Sock has won major titles in both doubles and mixed doubles, colorful knee-high socks are a signature fashion statement. The American flag set she wore Sunday was not an Olympic original -- she debuted them at a past U.S. Open.It was kind of a last-minute pack, she said. I was like, `You know what? I think this is the moment. If Im going to go hard-core USA, its going to be at the Olympics. So I pulled them out for the match today.Her playing partner couldnt help but make the obvious pun -- shed be framing some socks alongside a medal she won with a guy named Sock.They laughed and high-fived, and Mattek-Sands said, Its too perfect to actually not do that.The two American teams split the finals two sets, then Mattek-Sands and Sock won the match tiebreaker 10-7. It could have been the last Olympic outing of Williams career, though she wouldnt rule out a sixth games as a 40-year-old in 2020.Its totally about whether I want to be there, whether I want to continue to work this hard, she said.The same question was posed to Martina Hingis, who turns 36 next month and also lost in a final Sunday -- in womens doubles with Swiss teammate Timea Bacsinszky to Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina by a score of 6-4, 6-4.Way back in 1997, Williams played in her first major final at the U.S. Open, defeated by Hingis. A year earlier, Hingis took part in the Atlanta Games -- and she hadnt been to another Olympics until now, two decades later.On Sunday, both Williams and Hingis won silver, the first career medal for the Swiss star -- a feat that takes on extra resonance after she repeatedly came out of retirement.When youre winning Grand Slams, No. 1 in the world, at 16, you think you have another 10 years at least at the top of the game, she said. Now I know its coming toward the end.How soon is the end? Hingis didnt want to talk about 2020 -- though Bacsinszky is trying to recruit her for the Tokyo Games.The Olympics were always a goal for Makarova and Vesnina, bigger than their two major titles together, they insisted. They took it so seriously that Makarova was crying when she didnt play well in practice.I just really wanted this medal and I was emotional: `Why am I not playing my best tennis right now? she recalled.They played their best tennis at the right time. Discount Air Max .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. Cheap Air Max 90 .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. http://www.airmaxwholesaleforsale.com/air-max-90-wholesale.html . LUCIE, Fla. Cheap Air Max 720 China .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Wholesale Air Max China . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Midway through a busy opening Saturday of the college football season, Las Vegas oddsmaker Ed Salmons couldnt help himself. He had to look.Wisconsin, a double-digit underdog, had just taken a 13-0 lead on LSU early in the second half. The public had pounded LSU. The point spread moved across the market, growing from -10 to as high as -13. Seemingly every parlay, every teaser was hooked to the Tigers.Salmons logged on to the Westgate SuperBooks what if screen, a computer program that calculates how much the book would win or lose if a game ends with a specific outcome, and plugged in the score: Wisconsin 13, LSU 0.I expected to see a certain result, and it came three and half times more than what I thought, Salmons said. It was probably the biggest college football winner weve ever had.And thats not even counting the implications to the books national championship futures market. More money was bet on LSU to win the national title than any other team in the offseason at the SuperBook.Bolstered by the Badgers 16-14 upset of LSU, Las Vegas sportsbooks cruised to a profitable opening weekend that sent a pair of Texas upstarts shooting up the odds board to win the national championship and left Clemson bettors scratching their heads.Two Texas contenders?Houston moved from 80-1 to 20-1 to win the national championship at the Westgate, after the Cougars impressive 33-23 win over Oklahoma. Houston has been an underdog four times under coach Tom Herman and won each game outright. The Cougars opened at 100-1 to win the championship back in January. Salmons said the SuperBook took 29 bets on Houston at that price, ranging from $5 to $300, Salmons said.This feels like Boise State from a few years ago, except Houston has more good will built up with its wins over Florida State and Oklahoma, Salmons said. I dont there will be anyone arguing against them if they go undefeated.Texas also made a significant leap up the odds board, moving from 100-1 to 20-1 at the Westgate, after the Longhorns win over Notre Dame on Sunday. The Texas-Notre Dame game on Sunday was the most heavily-bet game of the weekend at Las Vegas sportsbook operator C.G. Technology. The largest point spread bet William Hills Nevada sportsbook had taken heading into the week was $44,000 on Texas +4. The Longhorns beat the Irish 50-47 in double overtime.Texas A&Ms overtime win over UCLA didnt garner nearly the amount of respect that Houston and Texas received. The Aggies remained at 100-1 to win the national title at the SuperBook.Clemson-AuburnC.G. Technology vice president of race and sports Jason Simbal said his book couldnt buy an Auburn bet all week. Eight of every 10 bets had Clemson, and 80 percent of the total money wagered was on Dabo Swinneys Tigers, who closed as 8-point favorites at most sportsbooks.Leading 19-13 late in the fourth quarter, Clemson drove from its own 25-yard lline to Auburns 23.ddddddddddddThe Tigers faced a 3rd-and-10 with 50 seconds to play and were just looking to run out the clock. But running back Wayne Gallman ran out of bounds after a 6-yard gain, leaving Swinney with a decision on 4th-and-4.He elected not to risk kicking a field goal that would have put Clemson up by nine and instead went for it on fourth down, handing the ball again to Gallman, who failed to pick up the four yards.There was lots of grumbling at the end of Clemson-Auburn, of course, South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews joked. But I loved it.Auburn, with no timeouts, took over and moved into position to get a pair of Hail Mary attempts into the end zone. But Clemson survived for a 19-13 win.Everybody was on Clemson all day, and then a lot of people re-bet, parlays with Alabama-to-Clemson, Simbal said. Getting Auburn to cover there kind of capped off a good day.Not everyone was disappointed by Swinneys decision. A bettor at William Hills sportsbook at the Hyatt in Lake Tahoe staked $122,000 (ticket on left) on Clemson winning straight-up at -320. The bettor netted $38,125.Odds and ends? The Kent State-Penn State game attracted the only six-figure bet reported this weekend by MGMs sportsbook. A regular house player backed the Nittany Lions, who closed as 23.5-point favorites, but failed to cover in a 33-13 win. However, the MGM gave that six-figure victory back Monday night, when Florida State rallied from behind and covered the spread in a 45-34 win over Ole Miss.With the parlays that kicked in from this weekend, we need Mississippi a little more than usual, MGM assistant manager Jeff Stoneback said in the hours leading up to Monday nights game. We can lose close to six figures if Florida State covers the game with the parlays tied in.? William Hills sportsbook took a $40,000 moneyline bet on Tennessee (-1,300) to beat Appalachian State straight-up Thursday night. The bettor won $3,076.90 when the Volunteers, who trailed heading into the fourth quarter, prevailed in overtime.? Three off-the-radar games attracted the most action from respected players at the SuperBook. Salmons said sharps targeted Wyoming against Northern Illinois, Western Michigan against Northwestern and Southern Miss against Kentucky. All three underdogs won outright.? Nevada Gaming Control released revenue numbers for July last week. The states books won $11.8 million on baseball in July, making it the most profitable month ever for baseball, according to gaming control. Overall, the books netted an $11.1 million win in July, their 36th straight winning month.? Alabamas 52-6 rout of Southern Cal produced the biggest loss for Caesars sportsbooks. Ten times as much money was bet on the Crimson Tide than the Trojans. ' ' '