Washington, DC (SportsNetwork. Wholesale Salomon Shoes .com) - San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is well known to rest his aging players without consideration of the strength of his opponent or the size of the stage. So when the Spurs visited the White House on Monday to celebrate last years NBA title, President Barack Obama couldnt help opening with a joke. I was considering having the vice president cover these remarks so I could stay fresh for the State of the Union, Obama said to laughter. But I decided I actually wanted to meet them. Said Popovich later: What I want to remind the president about, if I might, with all due respect -- when I sit stars, I get fined. He doesnt. Obama poked fun at Popovichs reputation for being curt with the press, saying, I want the coach to know that he is not contractually obligated to take questions after the first quarter of my remarks. The president, a famous fan of the Chicago Bulls, said its never easy celebrating another team at the White House, but admitted its hard to dislike the Spurs. He poked fun of their age, singling out star Tim Duncans graying hair and saying theres a reason why the uniform is black and silver, and he praised their roster, calling them the U.N. of basketball teams. Obama said the Spurs -- who have won five titles in the past 16 years, all under Popovich -- always find a way to put together the best teams, finding players from all over the globe. They want everybody on the court, he said. They think everybody has worth. They find folks who didnt have a chance someplace else and suddenly they figure out a way to make them shine as part of a team. And in that sense, theyre a great metaphor for what America should be all about. The Spurs posed for pictures with the president and gave him a No. 1 jersey with POTUS (President of the United States) written on the back. They are in town to play the Wizards on Tuesday. Cheap Salomon Shoes Free Shipping . The (35-35-10) Jets have 80 points and are also playing .500 hockey on home ice this season with a 17-17-6 record. Michael Hutchinson will start his second straight game in goal. Sale Salomon Shoes . The International Ice Hockey Federation says Pavlovs avoided a two-year sanction because he acted "without significant negligence in failing to verify the safety of the supplements he was taking. http://www.salomoncheap.com/ . -- The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will forever be tied together for making the same spectacular misjudgment on budding NBA sensation Jeremy Lin. CHICAGO -- Players chanted "MVP! MVP!" as they doused Andrew McCutchen in the visitors clubhouse, two decades of futility finally washed away. The last time the Pirates made the playoffs, Barry Bonds was in the middle of the order. The average price of gas was $1.13 a gallon. Yes, it had been that long. The Pirates are going to the playoffs for the first time in 21 years, clinching at least a National League wild card Monday night when they beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 and the Washington Nationals lost to St. Louis. And they hope thats just the start, not the end. "Were definitely not done," McCutchen said. "Weve got some games left. We still could move farther." Now, they can turn their attention toward bigger goals, the kind that seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream through all those losing seasons. It will be Pittsburghs first trip to the post-season since Bonds, Jim Leyland and Co. won three straight NL East titles from 1990-92. Bonds then left for San Francisco as a free agent, and the small-budget Pirates piled up 20 consecutive losing records -- the longest streak in the four major professional sports. "For me, its not about the last 21 years," Russell Martin said. "For me, it was just about this year, and what we could do this year. They had a good season last year, lost some steam late in September, but I knew that if youre having a good season all the way into September, you know you have a good club." Starling Marte hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning at Wrigley Field, and the Pirates threw out a runner at the plate for the final out. The Pirates sprayed each other with bubbly and beer and sparkling cider in the visitors clubhouse once St. Louis 4-3 win over the Nationals became final. The Cincinnati Reds also clinched at least a wild-card berth, when they beat the New York Mets 3-2 in 10 innings. The Pirates and Reds, both 90-67, trail St. Louis by two games in the NL Central with five to go. Pittsburgh players sang Journeys "Dont Stop Believing." They took pictures and manager Clint Hurdle had them gather for a group photo in the middle of the cramped visitors clubhouse. "The people of Pittsburgh have been waiting a long time," said Neil Walker, who homered. The Pirates snapped a 1-all tie when Marte sent a drive off Kevin Gregg (2-6) with two outs in the ninth into the left field bleachers. In a fitting coincidence, they then preserved the victory on the final out in a play at the plate. McCutchen, the centre fielder, picked up Ryan Sweeneys bloop single after right fielder Marlon Byrdd failed in trying to scoop up the ball and threw to first baseman Justin Morneau, positioned just in front of the pitchers mound. Cheap Salomon Shoes. Morneau caught the throw on one hop and made the relay to catcher Russell Martin, who applied the tag on Nate Schierholtz trying to score from first base. Still on his knees, Martin held the ball over his head in jubilation. Then, he heaved the ball toward deep left field as the Pirates celebrated near the mound, and Jason Grilli grabbed him, having escaped with his 32nd save in 34 chances. "Twenty-one years since we popped champagne in a Pirates clubhouse -- and were acting like its been a long time," Hurdle said. "The hard work, the fun. Im just proud of each and every man in here, the fans they represent, ownership, general manager, president ... the scouts, players. This has been a group effort for a long time." The Pirates last trip to the playoffs ended with Atlantas Sid Bream sliding home with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1992 NL championship series. The Cubs tied it in the eighth off Mark Melancon (3-2). Martes 12th homer set off loud boos for Gregg (2-6), who was almost released last week after going on a rant to reporters when he thought he had lost the closers job to Pedro Strop. Walker homered against Jeff Samardzija in the first to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead, and Charlie Morton pitched three-hit ball over seven scoreless innings before the Cubs tied it against Melancon. Brian Bogusevic led off the eighth with a single, his second hit, and moved up on a groundout by Darwin Barney. Then, after a wild pitch, he scored the tying run on a single by pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy. That spoiled a terrific start for Morton, who struck out five and walked one. Samardzija was almost as good, allowing one run and five hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked four after going 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA in his previous four starts. Samardzijas only blemish in this one came when Walker drove a 1-1 pitch out to left-centre with one out in the first. With the long ball, Walker matched a career high of 14 set last season. He has four homers in the past five games. Samardzija settled down after that but got little support as the Cubs lost for the 10th time in 13 games. It was also the second straight day an opponent celebrated at Wrigley Field. Atlanta clinched the NL East on Sunday, and this time, it was the Pirates turn to party. "Thats what we need to do," Samardzija said. "I think were getting there, but we need to get some things ironed out." ' ' '