NEU » und.Franklin will return to Cal in the

Mitchell Starc, when on song, is no stranger to getting a batsman jumping. His younger brother Brandon, by contrast, prefers to do the jumping himself. Over the past few days, the Starc brothers have been plying their respective trades in sporting events half a world away from each other.In Colombo, Mitchell took his 24th wicket of the series on Tuesday to move past Richard Hadlee in bagging the highest wicket tally for an overseas pacer in a three-Test series in Asia. His team, however, were on the receiving end of a series whitewash.In Rio de Janeiro, Brandon qualified for the final of the high jump event at the Olympics. That final, though, proved to be too high a bar, at least for now. Brandon finished last among the 15 finalists.All the same, Mitchell, who had to wake up at 5.30am to watch the event, was full of praise and encouragement for his 22-year-old sibling. Olympic final is a huge effort, young fella, tweeted the older brother. Chin up, very proud...something not everyone can say they have been in. Fernando Valenzuela Jersey . 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. Justin Turner Dodgers Jersey . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. http://www.dodgerssale.com/dodgers-kenta-maeda-jersey/ . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Justin Turner Jersey .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. Jackie Robinson Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Dance parties. Dark chocolate. Calls to mom.All are helping Missy Franklin cope with an Olympics gone wrong.A huge star at the London Games four years ago, Franklin has been one of the biggest U.S. disappointments in Rio de Janeiro -- an inexplicable fall shes at a loss to explain.I really wish I could tell you, Franklin said Thursday after another lackluster swim. In my mind, I made the hardest sacrifices Ive ever had to make this year. Ive poured myself into this every single day for the whole year and the three years leading up to that. For whatever reason, it just not happening at this meet.As a high school senior-to-be, Franklin competed in a staggering seven events in 2012, winning four gold medals and a bronze. She became only the second American woman, after Amy Van Dyken, to capture four golds at a single Olympics.But, following two years swimming collegiately at California and then turning pro last summer, Franklin hasnt been able to recapture the form that made her one of the most-hyped -- and heavily sponsored -- U.S. athletes heading into the Rio Olympics.She struggled at the U.S. trials, qualifying for the team in only two individual events, both with runner-up finishes.In Rio, she failed to even qualify for the final of the 200-meter freestyle. After that showing, the coaches only picked her to swim the preliminary of the 4x200 free relay, a decision that would have seemed unfathomable just a few months ago but didnt meet with any protest from Franklin.I was absolutely fine with it, Franklin said. They 100 percent made the right decision.The 21-year-old still earned a gold medal -- the fifth of her career -- when a Katie Ledecky-led squad swept to victory in the relay final Wednesday night.That did little to ease the sting for Franklin. Shes ready to go home to Colorado.Being totally honest, Im doing better because its almost over, she said.Franklin has coped with her struggles by leaning heavily on her religious faith.My faith in God is really getting me through, she said. I know that hes going to make something beautiful out of this, hes going to transform me and my life into doing something from all of this. I have no clue what that is. I wish I could ask him what hes going to do.Her teammates are doing all they can to help.I just throw a couple of random dance parties. I take some really, really horrendouus Snapchats of her, Cierra Runge said.dddddddddddd. Whatever I can do to make her laugh.Those Dove chocolate candies with the inspirational message on the wrapper help, too.One of the verses really stuck with Franklin.Every day is an opportunity to change things for the better, she recounted. That was a good reminder that regardless of how things have been going, how Ive been feeling, every day is a new opportunity.And, of course, she can always turn to her family.Youre never too old to call your mom and cry and ask her for advice, Franklin said. She just told me that its going to be OK, and thats all I needed to hear. Yeah, its hard right now. Its probably the hardest thing Ive had to go through. But its going to be OK. Im loved. Im supported. When you put things in perspective, if a disappointing meet is the worst thing that happens in my life, then I have a pretty damn good life.Franklin was competing Thursday in her final event of the games, the 200 backstroke, an event she won at London. She gave little indication of turning things around in the preliminaries, managing only the 11th-best time at 2 minutes, 9.36 seconds.That was good enough to get her to the evening semifinals, but nearly 2 seconds slower than she went during the prelims in 2012. Her gold medal time was 2:04.06, a level she has seems to have accepted wont be attainable this time around.Franklin will return to Cal in the fall to resume her studies, but she made clear that her swimming career isnt over.It doesnt mean Im anywhere close to being done with this sport, she said. Ive got so much left to give to this sport, to my fans, to the people whove been supporting me.If theres a bright side, Franklin has learned just how much shes really loved.Yeah, its a disappointment. But the support Ive received has shown me so much more than I ever couldve expected, she said. Youre so much more than the number of medals you have, youre so much more than the time you spend in the pool, your value goes so beyond all of that. I dont think I ever wouldve come to that realization without going through something like this.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '