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. Wholesale Flames Jerseys . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. Calgary Flames Pro Shop . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. https://www.cheapflames.com/ . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Calgary Flames Gear . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Calgary Flames Store .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Marc Gasol made the winning free throws, but Tony Allens defense made the difference down the stretch.Thats his job, Gasol said. Thats what he does, and hes really good at it.Gasol scored 25 points, including a pair of free throws with 12.2 seconds remaining to give the Memphis Grizzlies a 95-94 victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday night.Gasols free throws completed a 14-point comeback in the fourth quarter as the short-handed Grizzlies snapped a two-game losing streak.Though Gasol carried the offense, both coaches pointed to Allens defense as the reason for a 13-0 Memphis run that brought the Grizzlies back into the game.He just took over that game defensively, Memphis coach David Fizdale said.Added Magic coach Frank Vogel: Credit his energy. He just made a lot of hustle plays that turned the game around.After Gasols free throws gave Memphis its first lead since early in the second half, Orlando still had a chance to win the game. But JaMychal Green stole the ball from Elfrid Payton near the top of the key. The ball ended up in Gasols hands as time ran out.Troy Daniels finished with 19 points for the short-handed Grizzlies, who dressed nine players due to injuries. Andrew Harrison had 11 points and eight assists.Evan Fournier led the Magic with 28 points, while Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jeff Green scored 12 of his 14 points early in the fourth as Orlando built its lead.JaMychal Greens steal from Payton was his second in the fourth quarter. Allen also had a pair and disrupted the Orlando offense.That one hurts. Hurts bad, Fournier said. They just played more aggressive than us in the final 5 minutes.And Fournier didnt leave out Allen as the reason either.Tony Allen changed the game by just being more aggressive, getting in the passing lane and getting more deflections, the Magic guard said.TIP-INSMagic: Payton, listed as questionable with a right ankle sprain, camee off the bench in the first quarter.dddddddddddd... Jodie Meeks remained out recovering from a right foot injury. ... Fournier hit all seven of his shots in the first half before ending the night 11 of 14, including 3 of 5 from outside the arc.Grizzlies: The game was the final one of a seven-game stretch against Eastern Conference teams. ... Gasol had a steal in the second quarter and flipped the ball backward over his head the length of the court for an assist on Troy Williams breakaway dunk. ... Memphis has won nine straight home games against Orlando. The Magic have not won at FedExForum since a 112-85 defeat on Jan. 23, 2008. ... Memphis is now 5-0 on the second night of back-to-backs.TRIAGE UNITThe Grizzlies remained short-handed based on injuries and personal leave. Memphis dressed only nine players as it did in Wednesday nights loss in Toronto. Among the injured: G Mike Conley, F Vince Carter, F James Ennis, F Chandler Parsons and F/C Brandan Wright. Also, F Zach Randolph is not with the team due to the death of his mother last week. Fizdale has begun calling the healthy group The Nasty Nine.STREAK STILL ALIVEFournier connected on a 3-pointer in the first quarter, making 757 straight games Orlando has made a shot from outside the arc. The last game without a 3-pointer was March 14, 2007.DOUBLE-DOUBLE, BUT NOT ENOUGHVucevic recorded his 10th double-double of the season and almost put a dagger in the Grizzlies comeback hopes. After JaMychal Greens 3-pointer cut the Magic lead to 94-93, Vucevic fired a 26-footer with 24 seconds left. The ball rattled in the rim before popping out, setting the stage for Gasols final free throws.UP NEXTMagic: Continue a five-game road trip on Friday night, playing the Sixers in Philadelphia.Grizzlies: Remain home to face the Lakers on Saturday. ' ' '