SAO PAULO - This time, Nico Rosberg wasnt going to let victory slip away.A week after seeing Lewis Hamilton overtake him to win the United States Grand Prix, Rosberg fended off another strong challenge by his Mercedes teammate to secure the victory at the Brazilian GP and close in on his rival in the Formula One title race.It was a great weekend all in all, Rosberg said. Just didnt do a good enough job in the race in Austin, today I managed to do that. I learned from Austin and did better, so thats a big step in the right direction. One race too late, (but) theres still all to play for.The German cut his points-deficit to 17 but Hamilton will keep the upper hand going into the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi, where the Briton can clinch his second title with another second-place finish. If Rosberg misses out on a podium spot, Hamilton can finish eighth or better and still lift the trophy.Hamilton has 334 points to 317 for Rosberg. The championship could not be decided at Interlagos because the race in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 23 will be worth double points.Now Im just hoping for (Abu Dhabi) and need to try and keep this going now, he said.Hamilton also started behind Rosberg in Texas but outpaced him during the race. Rosberg said it took too long for him to find his rhythm at the Circuit of Americas. It wasnt going to happen again this time.I always needed to make sure that the gap was always such that there was no chance of him to go for the overtake, unlike Austin, and managed to do that, so that was good.It was Rosbergs fifth win of the season and his first since the German GP in July. Hamilton was trying to win his sixth race in a row.Felipe Massa of Williams finished third in front of his home crowd, ahead of Jenson Button of McLaren and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Vettel, the winner last year in Brazil, was fifth, while Fernando Alonso of Ferrari finished sixth, ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen, the only front driver to use a two-stop strategy instead of a three-stop one.It was the 11th 1-2 finish for Mercedes, one more than the previous record set by McLaren in 1988. The teams 15th victory of the season also allowed it to match the record held by McLaren and Ferrari.We used to be always hunting and now were the hunted, and thats a big change, Rosberg said. Its great to see how the team has adapted and not slackened off, because that is always difficult, when you get to the front to then stay there. It seems that were really going strong and thats fantastic.Hamilton was quickly making up ground to Rosberg near the mid-point of the race but his chances of getting close enough to attempt a pass were hurt when he went off the track and nearly spun at the end of the back straight — a mistake that put him more than seven seconds behind Rosberg.I was much quicker at the point, Hamilton said. I locked the rears and it just spun me around. No ones fault but mine.Hamilton kept charging and got within a second in the final laps but was never able to make a move on Rosberg, who crossed the line 1.4 seconds in front.In the first stint I could see that I could control the gap and could just make sure that Lewis didnt come into the region where he could launch an attack, Rosberg said. Once I saw that, I was very confident that I could keep controlling the gap for the whole race.Massa, who started third and ran close to Mercedes all weekend, almost threw away his chance to finish on the podium at home after a five-second stop-and-go penalty for speeding on the pit lane during his first pit stop. He also lost some time by entering the wrong pit stall in his final stop.Im happy with the race, not happy with my mistakes, he said. I thought I could lose the podium.There were huge cheers from the crowd as Massa crossed the finish line in third place. The fans loudly chanted his name at the podium ceremony.Its really exciting to be here after everything that happened to me in this race, the Brazilian said. This crowd really deserved it. The whole energy that I had this weekend, its difficult to explain.There were only 18 cars on the grid for the second race in a row. Marussia was shut down on Friday, while Caterham has a crowdfunding project underway to try to return to the grid in Abu Dhabi.___Follow Tales Azzoni at http://twitter.com/tazzoni Steve Busby Jersey . -- The Los Angeles Clippers chose not to speak publicly about owner Donald Sterling before they faced the Golden State Warriors for Game 4 of their first-round series Sunday. Charlie Leibrandt Jersey . Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series. https://www.cheaproyals.com/. PETERSBURG, Florida – Heading into Thursday nights action, Dioner Navarro had caught 14 innings combined from starters Drew Hutchison and Mark Buehrle. Larry Gura Jersey . Walcott is available for Saturdays home match against Southampton as Arsenal looks to extend its two-point lead at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are currently the second highest scorers in the league but Wenger insists Walcott will add something extra to his team. Kansas City Royals Shirts . Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists in the Red Wings 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hey Kerry, I was watching the NBC coverage of Sundays Canadiens-Rangers game, and Mike Milbury and Ed Olczyk went off on the Canadiens for over-selling and embellishing to sell calls. In the third period, Carl Hagelin hit Alexei Emelin with a high stick and Emelin went down like a ton of bricks. Embellishment? Probably, but it didnt change the fact that it was a high stick. Did the sell by Emelin negate the high stick and the official basically said, "play on?" Or was this just a missed call? Morgan,New York, NY Morgan: I believe the play that you are referring to occurred with 8:24 remaining in the third period and the score tied at two. Carl Hagelin attempted a dump-in shot from the centre red line. Alexei Emelin lowered his posture to execute an active stick sweep check and contacted the puck as Hegelin was in the act of shooting. Emelin was legitimately struck in the mouth area with the blade of Haglins stick on the follow-through of an attempted shot. Emelins reaction to rotate his body away from the stick contact, then fall and grab his mouth was reasonable and not an effort to embellish and draw a foul. A player is permitted accidental contact on an opponent if committed in a normal windup or follow through of a shooting motion. No penalty was warranted to Hagelin on this play. I concur with Mike Milbury and Eddie Os analysis with regard to obvious embellishment committed by PK Subban and Tomas Plekanec in the second period of Sunday nights game. Even though the stick of Rick Nash did catch Subban in the face the upward launch with both legs was not a natural reaction or fall from being struck in that manner. Plekanecs theatrical performance was the absolute worst when he threw his head back and grabbed at his face after the flat blade of Brian Boyles stick slapped nothing but shoulder pad! Even though Boyles stick did not quite fit the criteria of a "high stick (above the height of the opponents shoulders) it was used in a careless manner and could certainly result in a slashing pennalty.dddddddddddd Plekanecs embellishment was also worthy of a penalty that should have resulted in an on-ice numerical strength of four aside. Given Plekanecs blatant overreaction it could even been deemed a stand alone embellishment penalty if the ref wanted to send a clear message but I doubt he would receive much support. Power plays and special teams can often be the difference in these games as we have seen. Once the referees are fooled into calling a penalty or fail to respond to efforts of embellishment on a play the floodgates can open up without so much as a splash on the frozen pond. In the first round of these current playoffs there were six diving/embellishment penalties assessed. None were a stand alone diving penalty but deemed to be embellishment that was committed following the initial infraction. The first two embellishment penalties were assessed in Game 2 against Mats Zuccarello and Derek Dorsett of the Rangers in their 4-2 loss to the Flyers. The Rangers management was not impressed with those penalty calls and expressed their displeasure to the series supervisor. I wonder if the Ranger brass is singing the same tune after Sunday night. Since joining TSN in January of 2011 I have stated on numerous occasions the need to clean up the unmanly act of diving. When uncalled, embellishment rewards cheaters. I am often asked how the ref can call both an initial penalty and a dive; isnt it one or the other? In reality, embellishment is most often committed after a player has been legitimately fouled. When that occurs both illegal acts should be penalized. Three years ago I suggested that a double minor penalty be assessed to the diver when he was legitimately fouled and the referee was calling a minor penalty. It would take some guts for the refs to impose a strict standard on a call like this but the game would be better for it. The referees also have to know their calls would receive the full support of management. Until players that embellish are penalized by the referees and held accountable by the League with published fines and suspensions as prescribed in rule 64.3, this illegal act will continue to plague the game. Its time for everyone involved to man-up. ' ' '