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At the Lords Test this week I will renew an annual ritual. Every year, before the start of play on the first morning, as the crowd swells and the players warm up, I walk to the middle of the pitch and look around.Before the story, consider the stage. Since 1814 people have paid to watch cricket here; they have chosen to spend their time and money to celebrate the pleasure of cricket, to observe but also to engage. A match, a spectacle, a social event: each benefiting from the other two.Last week I sat on Centre Court at Wimbledon watching ten glorious sets of tennis during the mens quarter-finals. First, Roger Federer recovered from two sets down to beat a sparkling Marin Cilic. Then Andy Murray warded off the ebullient Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. During breaks between games, I found myself naturally falling into conversation with my neighbours in the stands. Sport was the social glue that helped us find other common ground. We warmed into the experience collectively, and by the end of the Federer triumph, the sense of ecstatic communality was complete. It was like church without God.The parallel is intended to be serious rather than sacrilegious. Modern sport is really an extension of Renaissance humanism. Sport invites us to visit social spaces, and there we watch and celebrate what human beings can do. Thats why, as I drank in the mood on Centre Court, my mind returned to the most memorable birthday of my life, four years ago this week, when I sat drinking coffee in the piazza of the small Italian town Urbino, doing nothing in particular - a tourist, a stranger and yet totally at home.Allow your sportswriter a brief architectural detour. Urbino was built mostly in the late 15th century as a new urban experiment - more comfortable, efficient and refined than anything that had come before. Urbino was the high point of a new concept of the ideal city. That is also the title of my favourite painting, depicting city life as it ought to be - ordered and elegant but also progressive and practical - that still hangs in Urbinos Ducal Palace today.Sport was at the centre of this new way of life. Renaissance courtiers perfected sprezzatura (the art of excellence allied with apparent effortlessness) while playing palla da maglio - literally hammerball, but from old paintings it seems remarkably close to cricket.Baldassare Castigliones The Book of the Courtier (1528), which is set on four different evenings at the court of Urbino, portrayed sporting aptitude as a central aspect of a life well lived. Sport, by training movement and poise, was bound up with civilised existence, just like conversation and music. Lorenzo de Medici, who took breaks from ruling Florence to play ball in the streets, introduced six balls into his coat of arms to underline the significance of games. The whole mental attitude of the Renaissance was one of play, concluded the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga. Play, we might add, allied to civility. A central departure from the Middle Ages was the beginnings of spectatorship, the enjoyment of watching sport as well as playing sport, the origins of recasting sport as a civic activity, a strand of civilised experience. And that is what I felt on Centre Court, watching Federer and Cilic. Weve built a handsome building as a stage for two protagonists to compete. Their behaviour, as friends and rivals, equalled their play; both were intensely engaged with their performance and yet open to the occasion. They let us in, and the crowd sensed it. For Cilic, this was especially admirable, as nearly everyone was supporting Federer. Instead of bridling at the injustice - for Cilic was equally superb - the Croatian embraced the atmosphere of celebration. He elevated the occasion but accepted its asymmetries.How can the mood be summarised? No one came to watch one player lose or suffer. It was sport without a villain, without hatred, without resentment. Everyone had a favourite but no one denied that virtue and virtuosity lay on both sides of the net. There was nothing tribal about the allegiances.The same description applies equally to the Test match I watched at Lords a year ago between England and New Zealand. Brendon McCullums team established the pattern of the series: bold, attacking cricket played with spirit but not rancour. Alastair Cooks men responded in kind, with expressiveness and openness, a habit they have retained ever since. An enduring Cook century underlined an established talent, a magical Ben Stokes hundred announced a new one. The game ended almost on the buzzer, so even time joined the chorus of cooperation. The crowd? Support was strong, appreciation stronger still.The stuff that surrounds sport - the occasion, its ambience - can seem trivial. It is easy to satirise and mock this as social pretension. But we should remember a wider meaning of sport: the coming together of people with shared interests, in safe places, to watch and celebrate virtuosity, competition and, with luck, courtesy - the story of the ascent of man told in brief.We are so used to it, so privileged in our access to sport, that we risk taking it for granted. Which takes me back to tennis and Italy for a final contrast. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Giorgio Bassanis fine novel set in the 1930s - and later an elegiac film by Vittorio di Sica - uses a tennis court inside a walled garden as a metaphor for lost freedoms in a time when fascism and religious intolerance swept across Italy. Play and sport, cosmopolitanism and free association, were shown to be all too fragile.Our generation shouldnt forget its - as yet - unbroken good fortune, to play and to watch. 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On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans are being careful to avoid a letdown Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are losers of eight straight, after their huge win at Indianapolis last week that left them in control of the AFC South.We keep it all in perspective no matter what their record is, Houston left tackle Duane Brown said. We know that theyre going to play us very tough. ... Were not overlooking them by any means and were not resting on our accomplishment from last week. So were all pretty focused on them and the challenges that they have.Houstons victory over the Colts last week extended the teams division winning streak to nine games and left the Texans tied with the Titans atop the AFC South standings at 7-6. But the Texans control their own destiny and hold the tiebreaker because of a 4-0 mark in the division .The Texans won last week, thanks to Lamar Millers running and a defense which forced three turnovers. Quarterback Brock Osweiler still hasnt morphed into the player many hoped he would be when he signed a $72 million contract to leave Denver for Houston this offseason. Under Osweilers direction, Houston is averaging just 190 yards passing a game, which ranks 30th in the NFL and he has thrown the same number of touchdowns (14) as interceptions.Osweiler believes he learned from being in a playoff race last season with the Broncos and is ready to lead the Texans in this important stretch.The most important thing this time of year is not looking too far ahead, he said. Its very easy to get into the playoff scenarios, the division scenarios ... I think the most important thing is just focus on your next opponent because if you look past an opponent, youre not going to end up with the results that you want.The Jaguars (2-11) know that upsetting the Texans could hurt their playoff chances. But instead of focusing on that, they want to use their last three games, which are all in the division, to try and improve and set a good tone for 2017.I dont think `spoiler is the right word to use, quarterback Blake Bortles said. I think you want to get the chance to say: `How are we against one of these playoff teams and (how do we) stack up? You really dont want to talk about it or think about it, but lets build something going into the offseason for next year.Some things to know about the Jaguars-Texans game:FOUR-PEAT?: Bortles cant posssibly throw another interception for a touchdown against Houston, can he?Bortles has had a pick returned for a score in three consecutive games against the Texans, tying an NFL record set by Peyton Manning.ddddddddddddIve got to be a better tackler, Bortles joked.If Bortles has another INT taken to the house Sunday, he would become the first player in NFL history to throw four pick-6s against the same team in four straight games. Manning had three returned for scores in three consecutive games against San Diego (2010-12). Thats something Ill try not to do, Bortles said.He might want to throw away from Houston cornerback Kareem Jackson after he has returned an interception for a touchdown in the Texans last two games against the Jaguars.THIS IS THE GUY WE DRAFTED: Houston defensive end Jadeveon Clowney had perhaps the best game of his career last week against Indianapolis.Andrew Luck threw an interception early in the third quarter under heavy pressure from Clowney and fumbled late in the quarter on a strip-sack by the top overall pick in the 2014 draft. Clowney, who was slowed by injuries in his first two seasons, returned last week after missing a game because of elbow and wrist injuries. He leads AFC defensive ends with 12 tackles for losses and needs one sack to surpass his career high of 4 1/2 set last season.CLOSE CALLS: Jacksonville had had plenty of chances to end its eight-game losing streak. The Jaguars have had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter in five of their last six games. In those 11 possessions, they have six punts, three turnovers on downs, an interception and a fumble. The only game where Jacksonville didnt have a chance late? Against Houston.MILLER TIME: Miller has been great in his first season in Houston after spending his first four years with the Dolphins. He ranks sixth in the NFL with 1,010 yards rushing and is just 90 yards away from surpassing his career high of 1,099 yards set in 2014.Miller hasnt missed a game this season despite dealing with numerous injuries, and Sunday will be his 67th straight start, which is the third-longest active streak among running backs.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '