ut a room, allowing friends and family to gather for a low-key celebration.Then it was time for Phelps to turn his attention to a familiar foe.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.co

OMAHA, Neb. -- The rivalry between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte goes back more than a decade.Theyve raced more times than they can remember, always bringing out the best in each other.Now, theyre getting ready to do it one more time.In what will be their only real showdown of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, and likely one of their final races ever, Phelps and Lochte clash again Friday night in the final of the 200-meter individual medley.Side by side, mano a mano.I think its one of the greatest rivalries in sports, me and him, just for what weve both done in the sport of swimming, said Lochte, an 11-time Olympic medalist. Hes the toughest competitor out there.Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of them all, the winner of 18 golds and 22 medals overall.He would certainly rate Lochte among the toughest competitors hes ever faced.Never mind that Lochte is battling a groin injury and has yet to qualify for an individual Olympic event at these trials.Even if he is hurt, I dont think hes going to let anything be an excuse, Phelps said. Him and I together have had a pretty decent rivalry back and forth. Weve been able to really push each other and I would expect that (Friday).This one is especially significant for the 31-year-old Lochte, given its his only real shot at swimming a race of his own at the Olympics. He injured his groin on the first day of the meet and stunningly finished third in the 400 IM -- a race he won at the Olympics four years ago. Lochte followed up with a fourth-place showing in the 200 freestyle, which at least was good enough to put him on the team as a relay swimmer, and he dropped out of the 200 backstroke to concentrate fully on the 200 IM.He needs to finish in the top two to claim an individual event, but he really wants a win over Phelps before they head to the Olympics.Lochte was top qualifier in the semis at 1 minute, 56.71 seconds, while Phelps took the second spot in 1:57.61. That means theyll be right beside each other in the final, just as theyve been so many times during their dazzling careers.Lochte has been undergoing extensive treatment and even altered his breaststroke form to help deal with the groin problem.I took some painkillers to help me with the pain, just so my mind is off that pain, he said. The first part of the breaststroke felt good and then halfway through it started hurting more and more.Phelps has already qualified for Rio in the 200 fly, and hes eager to add two more individual races to his program. Hell be a big favorite in the 100 fly, a race that Lochte also entered but doesnt figure to be a major threat.This is their only fair fight in Omaha.Him and I have gone back and forth a number of times in this race, Phelps said. During the big meets, we have great races. Were right there with each other (Friday) in the middle of the pool, probably a couple of tenths apart. Were going to be out and probably step on the gas a little bit more than we have in the past and youll have an exciting race.The matchup comes one day after Phelps celebrated his 31st birthday.His mother rented out a room, allowing friends and family to gather for a low-key celebration.Then it was time for Phelps to turn his attention to a familiar foe.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . http://www.jetsrookiestore.com/Hats/ . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. http://www.jetsrookiestore.com/Jets-Jeremy-Kerley-Jersey/ . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. http://www.jetsrookiestore.com/Jets-Wesley-Johnson-Jersey/ . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. http://www.jetsrookiestore.com/ . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. http://www.jetsrookiestore.com/Jets-Will-Tye-Jersey/ . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. The hockey world is a tight community. Yet, its also a business. And with big money comes intense pressure to deliver. General managers, coaches and players are paid to win, and thus they come and go. They understand the realities of their jobs.But the firing of Gerard Gallant by the Florida Panthers?on Sunday night hit a collective nerve. Even tough hockey decisions normally meet a threshold of fairness, but it doesnt feel like this one did.The response I got to Gallants firing from team executives and coaches around the league was a universal shaking of the head. A coach who was nominated for the Jack Adams Award last season is gone just 22 games into the 2016-17 campaign -- while his team is over .500 and has battled key injuries since the get-go.The fact that photos surfaced of Gallant having to hail his own cab in Raleigh, North Carolina, after being told he was fired -- well, that just adds to the level of outrage for many.I suspect that Gallant knew he was on the clock from the moment former GM Dale Tallon was promoted to president of hockey operations last spring. Gallant had been Tallons coach. And now Tallon had been punted from the day-to-day hockey decision-making.You cant fire a coach right after he has been nominated for coach of the year, can you? But the Panthers canned Gallant. For no justifiable reason.Some of this has to do with a clash between the Panthers analytics group and old-school guys such as Tallon and Galllant.dddddddddddd And Im not here to fan the flames of that debate. I think you need to keep an open mind to both analytics and how best to use that information, within the context of understanding what makes a player useful just from knowing the game. Theres room for both schools of thought in hockey, and Im mighty tired of people trying to make you pick a side.The silver lining for Gallant is that he has two more years on his contract past this season. He has time to make his next coaching gig a good one. And he will get another opportunity, to be sure. Hes too good a coach not to get another look soon. As my colleagues Craig Custance and Joe McDonald suggested, perhaps Las Vegas GM George McPhee will consider Gallant as a candidate to be the first coach of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.What will be fascinating in Florida is how people assess credit/blame for the Panthers performance moving forward. Florida still has a great core, one that Tallon built and Gallant molded, players who love their former coach. If and when the Panthers achieve sustained success, will the narrative be about the new regime bringing the program to the next level or that the Tallon-Gallant partnership gave this team its true kick-start?There will be probably room for both. But what is clear is that Gallant deserved better. Jerseys NFL China NFL Jerseys Outlet China NFL Hoodies China Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys China NFL T-shirts From China Cheap Authentic Jerseys NFL Jerseys Outlet Cheap Authentic Jerseys Camo China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2020 Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys ' ' '