FOXBOROUGH, Mass. Nacho Monreal Jersey . - Donta Hightower has extra time to prepare for his top-seeded teams playoff game.Meanwhile, hell be rooting for another No. 1 seed.The New England Patriots linebacker plans to watch his college team, Alabama, face Ohio State in a College Football Playoff semifinal Thursday night.Im definitely going to catch that one, Hightower said Tuesday while wearing an Alabama pullover as he stood at his Patriots locker.He might even work out a small wager with safety Nate Ebner, the only Ohio State player with New England.Me and Nate have talked, he said. We havent set it yet. Im pretty sure that hell come up with something good.Running back LeGarrette Blount, safety Patrick Chung and rookie centre Bryan Stork also have a special interest in the college games. Blount and Chung attended Oregon, seeded second, while Stork snapped the ball last season to Jameis Winston, who leads third-seeded Florida State against the Ducks in the other semifinal Thursday.Oregons going to win, Blount declared before pulling his schools jacket from his locker.With a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs, the Patriots (12-4) have a lighter work week than usual. They cant concentrate on preparing for their opponent until they find out who it is.Hightower and Blount plan to watch both wild-card games in the conference: Baltimore at Pittsburgh on Saturday night and Cincinnati at Indianapolis on Sunday.A Baltimore win sends the Ravens to Gillette Stadium on Jan. 10. If the Ravens lose, the Patriots will host the winner of the Bengals-Colts contest.This week, the Patriots welcome having more time off than usual.Im one of the first ones to agree about that, Hightower said. Its good that weve got a slower pace and make sure that we understand things and let some guys get healed up. But were definitely taking advantage of it all the way around.Hightower was one of six starters inactive for last Sundays game against Buffalo that had no bearing on New Englands playoff position. The Bills won 17-9.Hightower and Blount, who played, were on the injury report for that game with shoulder problems.Im injured, but its football, Hightower said. Im going to play through it.He became the Patriots defensive signal-caller when Jerod Mayo suffered a season-ending right knee injury in the sixth game. Mayo also was limited to six games last season by a torn pectoral muscle.Ive got a lot of guys around me that help make me feel a lot more comfortable. So its been a lot easier this year, Hightower said. I was always one that talked, trying to be a nerd about things, and (linebacker coach) Pat Grahams really done a better job than what we did last year as far as just talking about situational things.Blount spent the first 11 games this season with Pittsburgh but was cut on Nov. 18, less than 24 hours after jogging off LP Field with the clock still running in a 27-24 win over Tennessee.The Steelers might have needed him now that running back LeVeon Bell is dealing with a hyperextended right knee that could keep him out of Saturdays game.Asked if he saw the play on which Bell was injured last Sunday against Cincinnati, Blount paused, then said, Man, Im just focused on the Patriots. Obviously, hes a friend of mine and I was concerned, but Im just focused on the Patriots.So much so that he claims he has no special interest in the Steelers wild-card game.Im going to watch them the same as I watch everybody else, he said. Im going to watch college, too.___Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Koke Jersey . 3. Trevor Ariza left them talkin about 40. Ariza made eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 40 points to help the Washington Wizards win their sixth straight game, 122-103 over Philadelphia on Saturday night. Dani Carvajal Jersey . It led to his downfall on Tuesday. The Major League Soccer club fired Rennie after a second straight up-and-down season that saw the Whitecaps start strong before limping across the finish line. http://www.spainsoccerpro.com/Pepe-Reina-Spain-Jersey/ .Y. - Lou Williams scored 21 points and the Toronto Raptors beat New York 81-76 on Monday night in the Knicks preseason home opener. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Royals had scored just eight runs during a four-game losing streak, and were preparing to face former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke and the power-packed Los Angeles Dodgers. Perfect time to end that slump, eh? Jeremy Guthrie pitched into the eighth inning, Jarrod Dyson drove in two runs off Greinke and the Royals held on to beat the Dodgers 5-3 on Monday night in their first meeting in nine years. "Dont ask me why we had success tonight," Royals manager Ned Yost said drily. Dyson, the Royals No. 9 hitter, went 3 for 3 and stole two bases. Salvador Perez hit a solo home run, and Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar -- two of the players acquired by the Royals in the trade that sent Greinke to Milwaukee in December 2010 -- drove in a run apiece. It was an offensive outburst considering the Royals had lost three of their last four games by 2-1 scores, squandering solid pitching performances by their starting rotation. "There was never any panic," said Guthrie, who gave up two runs and seven hits in 7 2-3 innings to win his third straight start. "We lost a couple of close games. We recognize a couple things go our way we would have won a couple of them." Greg Holland served up a homer to Adrian Gonzalez in the ninth before earning his 22nd save. Hanley Ramirez drove in the other two runs for the Dodgers, who are visiting Kansas City for the first time since they were swept in a three-game set in 2005. In his third start against his former team, Greinke (9-4) was battered for a season-high five runs and 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings. He had allowed two runs over 15 1-3 innings in his previous two starts against the Royals, one with the Brewers and the other with the Los Angeles Angels. "I thought he was OK," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "There were a few balls where you could see where he was trying to go one place and it didnt end up there. I know a couple of those were to Dyson. I think some of the balls were trying to get to a different part of the plate and didnt get there." The Royals pounded Greinke almost from the start, Perez belting the first pitcch of the second inning over the wall in left field for a 1-0 lead. Nacho Fernandez Jersey. Then with two outs, Escobar singled and went to second on a wild pitch before heading home when Dyson dumped a single into left field. Dyson made it 3-0 in the fifth when he scored on Cains single to right. The Royals finally knocked Greinke from the game in the fifth, this time after Perez started the inning with a double. Greinke fought back to get two outs, but Escobar hit a triple into the right-field corner and Dyson tacked on another RBI single to make it 5-0. That hit ended Greinkes night. As he departed the mound, fans showered him with a chorus of boos, clearly recalling how the right-hander once demanded to be traded from their team. "I was pretty rude on the way out. They have every right to be mad at me," Greinke said. "Its been awhile. Its been four years, so its been awhile. Theyve moved on by now and so have I. At least team-wise. The fans might be different." Meanwhile, those same fans were waiting to give Guthrie a standing ovation. The right-hander faced the minimum number of hitters through four innings, needing just four pitches in the second and five in the fourth. Gonzalez and Matt Kemp finally hit consecutive singles to start the fifth, but Guthrie calmly wiggled out of that jam. It wasnt until Miguel Rojas and Justin Turner hit singles and Ramirez one-hopped a double over the outfield wall to make it 5-2 in the eighth that Guthrie finally left the game. Wade Davis finished the inning, and Holland cleaned up the ninth to preserve the win. "Its a funny game. You go against a guy like Zack Greinke whos had so much success this year," Yost said. "We strung some hits together along with some outstanding pitching weve had the last five or six starts, its a big win for us tonight." NOTES: LHP Clayton Kershaw was the NL player of the week after his no-hitter against Colorado. He starts for Los Angeles on Tuesday against Royals LHP Danny Duffy. ... Kemp extended his hitting streak to 11 games. ... 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