MINNEAPOLIS -- Candace Parker and the Sparks jumped with joy on the court, joined in celebration by a guy named Magic Johnson who once made basketball championships a habit in Los Angeles.Parkers old college coach, the late Pat Summitt, was there in spirit too.Nneka Ogwumikes short jumper with 3.1 seconds left, off the rebound of her blocked shot, gave the Sparks a 77-76 victory over the defending champion Minnesota Lynx in the deciding Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Thursday night for the franchises first title in 14 years.Parker had 28 points and 12 rebounds to earn MVP honors of the Finals and her first WNBA title, capping a trying year marked by the death of the beloved Summitt, with whom she won two NCAA championships at Tennessee.The journey to get here I wouldnt have wanted to do it with anybody else, Parker said. Its amazing when you surround yourself with good people how fun it is.Sparks coach Brian Agler started his postgame news conference by playing a recording of the Tennessee fight song, Rocky Top, from a phone in front of him at the podium. Parker cried as she leaned over to hug her coach.Ive never been around somebody that has been critiqued so hard, Agler said, and Ive never been around anyone Im happy for than Candace.Said Ogwumike: Shes been through so much. Shes probably the most misunderstood person in the league. I told her I wanted her to get one.Parker heard Summitts voice in her head, recalling the time-worn advice to focus on defense and rebounding.You cant control if shots go in or shots dont, but what you can control is defense and rebounding, Parker said.Rebekkah Brunson made one of two free throws with 23.4 seconds left to give the Lynx a 74-73 lead. Parker answered with a layup on the other end that Maya Moore countered with a jumper. Then Ogwumike hustled her way over to the loose ball after Sylvia Folwes blocked her first attempt. She coolly swished it.Lindsay Whalens heave from just inside halfcourt bounced high off the backboard, setting off the celebration for the Sparks and silencing the sellout crowd of 19,423.Moore had 23 points and 11 assists for the Lynx, who fell short of matching the WNBA record of four championships. The Houston Comets won four straight titles from 1997-2000. The Lynx played in the finals for the fifth time in the last six years. They won three.The team that won this game deserved to win the game, Moore said, so its just hard to have it come that close.Chelsea Gray reeled off 11 consecutive points for the Sparks, capping that run with a smooth up-and-under layup to put them in front 60-59 early in the fourth quarter. Parkers putback with 3:06 left gave L.A. a 71-63 lead, putting the Lynx in trouble.But Moore seized the moment with a 3-pointer that brought Minnesota within four points, and Parker forced an off-balance 3 on the other end. Whalen stole the ball from Kristi Toliver and finished the fast break with a layup to tie the game at 71, setting up the final flurry.On the next play, Ogwumike hit a jumper that appeared to come after the shot clock expired. The officials signaled for a review but never looked at the basket. Los Angeles led 73-71 with just over a minute left. Seimone Augustus answered with a jumper, but those points proved to be critical.Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, making sure to credit the Sparks for their performance was livid about the non-call afterward.Its not enough just to apologize and send out a memo that they got something wrong, OK? These players are so invested, and something must be done about the officiating in this league. Because it is not fair to these great players that we have, Reeve said.The WNBAs new postseason format with the field ordered by overall record regardless of conference sure worked well, leading to this classic matchup between the two teams that fought all summer for the top seed and featuring several of the leagues biggest stars.I hope that we gained a lot of fans from around the world and around this country, Augustus said.The game was remarkably close, with 24 lead changes and 11 ties with no team ever leading by double digits.CHAMPIONSHIP ATMOSPHEREThe sea of green T-shirts donned by almost everyone in the crowd produced a deafening soundtrack from start to finish befitting a game for the trophy.Even Johnson was there, wearing all black while sitting courtside to root for the Sparks team hes a part-owner of and spoke to after the loss at home in Game 4 on Sunday. His presence was all the more impressive considering the Dodgers, the other pro club hes invested in, were playing baseball in Los Angeles at the same time in Game 5 of their National League championship series.They had to believe they could do it on a tough home court. This team Minnesota is tremendous, Johnson said. We just beat the champions so I give them a lot of credit to.WOLF TRACKSThe Lynx had celebrity backing, too, with Timberwolves players including Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Ricky Rubio, Cole Aldrich and Nemanja Belica in the seats to support the women they share an arena with. Swell Bottle Canada .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Real Wood Water Bottle . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. http://www.swellbottlesaleclearance.com/swell-water-bottle-wood-wholesale.html . The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. Swell Bottle Black Canada .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Marble Water Bottle Cheap . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. A day after Alex Rodriguez played his final game for the New York Yankees, the team called up top prospect Aaron Judge, who made his major-league debut in Saturdays 8-4 win against the Tampa Bay Rays.The Yankees officially released Rodriguez on Saturday afternoon, ending his 12 years in pinstripes and perhaps his big league career after 22 seasons.Its strange, manager Joe Girardi said of Rodriguez no longer being on the team. I have a lineup card, and his name is not on there. And theres not another Rodriguez in our organization who is up in the big leagues who makes me think hes on there. I think about all the great players that have walked, not just through these doors but the doors that were across the street who eventually retired.Judge, who Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said will be the teams every-day right fielder going forward, hit eighth.Prospect Tyler Austin was also called up from Triple-A and made his MLB debut at first base.Austin and Judge launched their Yankees careers with back-to-back home runs in their first major league at-bats Saturday, hitting solo shots off Matt Andriese in the second inning, becoming the first pair of teammates in baseball history to hit consecutive home runs in their first career plate appearances.Judge, 24, was hitting .270 with 19 home runs and 65 RBIs in 93 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 6-foot-7 slugger was ranked 23rd overall in Keith Laws midseason MLB prospect rankings.Austin was hitting .323 with 13 homers and 49 RBIs in 56 games for the RailRiders.In other moves Saturday, the Yankees optioned right-hander Ben Heller to Triple-A and transfeerred right-hander Conor Mullee to the 60-day disabled list.ddddddddddddReleasing Rodriguez leaves the Yankees responsible for the $27,103,825 remaining on his $275 million, 10-year contract. He is owed $7,103,825 of his $20 million salary for the final 65 days of this season and $20 million next year.The 41-year-old designated hitter went 1-for-4 with an RBI double in his finale Friday night, a 6-3 win over Tampa Bay.Last night was a special night, Cashman said. [I] had a chance to talk to him before the game and had a chance to talk after the game. I think it was great for Alex, great for our fans and great for our win column. It was also nice that he helped impact us as well.The roster has been changing a lot, so today is a new day. Its been a new day quite often lately, to be honest. Weve had a lot of changes, some quality people weve said goodbye to and a lot of quality people weve been saying hello to. Its the nature of the beast.Rodriguez hit .200 with nine homers and 31 RBIs for the Yankees this season. He has 696 home runs, fourth on the career list behind Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).Rodriguezs career batting average is at .295. A 14-time All-Star and three-time AL MVP, Rodriguez has 3,115 hits, and his 2,086 RBIs are second to Aarons 2,297 since RBIs became an official statistic. Rodriguez was suspended for the 2014 season for violations of baseballs drug agreement and labor contract.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '