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CHASKA, Minn. -- The Europeans were surging and a raucous crowd at Hazeltine National Golf Club had pretty much been silenced when a bald eagle circled over the tee box on the par-3 13th.Former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Ben Crenshaw was one of the few who noticed.Its an omen, Crenshaw said. Its got to be an omen.Turned out it wasnt, when Henrik Stenson made a tap-in for birdie a few moments later to all but clinch one match for the Europeans. Certainly wasnt a half-hour later when Thomas Pieters rolled in a 15-footer on the same green to do the same in another match.You couldnt blame Crenshaw for hoping for some kind of sign. Hes the guy, after all, who wagged a finger at the media and said he had a feeling it wasnt over the night before the U.S. stormed back from four points down to win the cup in 1999.But on an afternoon where the Americans could have blown this Ryder Cup wide open, the opposite happened. After losing all four morning foursomes matches, Europe rebounded to win three of the four afternoon four balls and suddenly the game was on.Worse yet, Rory McIlroy was taking bows at the end -- an image that surely wont be forgotten by the American team.Never has a 5-3 lead seemed so empty. Never has a day that begun with such promise ended so flat.Thousands of fans didnt even stick around to watch McIlroy take a couple of exaggerated bows to the grandstands after finishing off the final match of the day with an eagle putt on the 16th hole. They had seen enough, streaming for the exits after a long day that began with chants of USA! USA! and ended with European fans singing Ole, Ole, Ole.The team that captain Davis Love III called the greatest ever last week looked like it for about four hours, sweeping the morning matches for the first time in four decades. Maybe it was something they had for lunch, but they looked quite ordinary afterward.Giddy after the morning sweep, they had to search for something positive to take into dinner after not making it past the 16th hole in three of four afternoon matches.A lead is a lead, said Ryan Moore after he and J.B. Holmes were beaten by the Spanish pairing of Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello. Thats where you want to be. You want to be on the right side of it. We keep ourselves on the right side of it all week, well be in good shape.That may be true, but a look at the U.S.-European history in the Ryder Cup suggests otherwise. Love knows that well enough because he was the captain four years ago when the Americans led both days before collapsing in the Sunday singles for yet another loss to the Europeans.All the planning by Love and Phil Mickelson -- and all the cheerleading from the likes of Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson -- seemed to work in the morning in front of some 50,000 fans who cheered themselves hoarse as the American teams swept to easy wins in the alternate shot format.By the afternoon, though, the momentum was suddenly gone as Crenshaw looked for an omen. Fans who had little to cheer for on the American side were reduced for cheering when the Europeans missed putts or when McIlroy hit it in the water on 13.Love, meanwhile, was trying to say something positive about it all.I thought we came out and competed real well, he said. Even the guys that were kind of run over, buzz-sawed, still hung in there and kept making birdies and got these guys as far as they could.Left unsaid is that two of those teams that were buzz-sawed in the afternoon included Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, the players the U.S. needs to come through to win the Cup for the first time since 2008. Both were impressive in the morning, but both struggled badly in the better ball matches, where the U.S. traditionally has done best.Spieth and Patrick Reed pretty much gave away their match on the 12th hole when Spieth hit a pop-up out of a fairway bunker into the water and Reed was buried deep in the trees.Patrick, be safe. Im in the water, Spieth called out to Reed, who was trying to figure out a way to navigate through the trees.The two will be out again in the morning Saturday against Garcia and Cabrera Bello, while McIlroy and Pieters will lead off against Mickelson and Rickie Fowler.Those matches would be crucial on any Saturday in the Ryder Cup. They might be even more important in one where the momentum seems to have tilted in Europes favor.Honestly, McIlroy said, I think were going to go into the dressing room and overnight feeling a little bit better than they are.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlbergWholesale Jordans China . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Cheap Jordans For Sale . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. http://www.cheapairjordanfreeshipping.com/ . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. Cheap Authentic Air Jordan . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Wholesale Authentic Jordans . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer.TORONTO -- A pumped-up Dana White headed to the gym Monday morning and started planning Silva-Weidman 2. "It will be the biggest fight weve ever done in the UFC," the UFC president told The Canadian Press from Las Vegas. Biggest because Chris (The All-American) Weidman upset Anderson Silva on Saturday night in Las Vegas. And because of the manner in which the longtime middleweight champion and MMA icon was dethroned. The 38-year-old Silva, who had won all his of 16 previous UFC fights, clowned his way to a loss. As he had done in other recent bouts, he dropped his hands and egged his opponent to hit him. In the past, Silvas reflexes had kept him out of harms way. But this time he got clocked in the second round and went down. Referee Herb Dean stepped in after Weidman got in a flurry of blows on the champ as he lay on his back. The upset, while predicted by some including welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre of Montreal, drew instant response from those who missed the pay-per-view. "Who has a video of the ufc fight tonight? Send it to me," tweeted pop star Justin Bieber. White said plenty of others had the same thought. He called UFC 162 the most-pirated event in the organizations history. The post-fight news conference, available through the UFC and other websites, was also well watched. The 29-year-old Weidman (10-0) received a basic purse of US$24,000 plus a $24,000 win bonus, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. A $50,000 knockout of the night bonus increased that figure to $98,000. Expect the UFC, which does not like to talk money, to quietly top up Weidmans pay in spectacular fashion. Silva (33-5) collected a basic purse of $600,000, missing out on a $200,000 win bonus. The Brazilians pay cheque, however, will be in the millions once other bonuses and a cut of the pay-per-view revenue are factored in. Weidman, who fights out of Mineola, N.Y., improved to 6-0 in the UFC. A graduate of Hofstra University, with a bachelors degree in psychology and masters in physical education, Weidman is a former NCAA All-American wrestler. Most of those who believed Weidman could win thought so because of that wwrestling prowess.dddddddddddd But Silva survived being taken down in the first round. Silva, seen as one of the sports greatest strikers, lost on his feet for not taking his opponent seriously. The Brazilian has long been a mercurial character, both inside and outside the cage. White has taken him to the woodshed for showboating in the past, even moving him up a weight class in a bid to challenge him. Silva, a father of five, can alternate between being playful and disinterested at media events. But two days after Silva losing his title and tarnishing his reputation, White said he had no beef with the Brazilian star for the bizarre tactics that backfired. The UFC boss called him the sports greatest fighter ever, adding that Silva would have been hailed as a hero if he had gone on to win. Weidman, however, was less than pleased by Silvas fight antics. A clip of him in the cage after the stoppage seems to show the new champ calling Silva "a disrespectful piece of" -- well, you can fill in the blank. According to FightMetric, Silva connected on 14 of 24 significant strike attempts (58 per cent) Saturday night, compared to 16 of 34 (37 per cent) for Weidman, who was good on one of three takedowns. Silva connected on five of six significant strikes in the second round before he got tagged. The Brazilian leads the UFC with a career 67.5 per cent significant strike accuracy rate. Like most, White expects Silva to be all business next time. Its as if Saturdays first chapter was only half-written. Fans want to know what happens when both fighters show up for real. "All wins are not created equal," said White. "And all losses are not created equal." The UFC got good traction on the rematch between Silva and Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 after Sonnen dominated the champ before being submitted in the fifth round of their first fight at UFC 117. White expects this rematch to eclipse that one in terms of fan interest. As for Silva, he tweeted a picture Monday of himself getting a hug in what looked like a family reunion at an airport as his son looked on. "That is my prize," the ex-champ tweeted. ' ' '