HOUSTON -- The chemotherapy has diminished Craig Sagers once-lustrous chestnut hair to a few unruly strands, and on this day of hope, a simple green T-shirt and blue shorts adorn the man known by millions for his ostentatious wardrobe and easy rapport with the NBAs elite.He methodically extended a long, skinny arm to an IV pole holding the stem cells he is counting on to save his life. There was silence as he cradled the tube, watching the crimson liquid drip, drip, drip in a perfect cadence into the cannula feeding it into his cancer-stricken body.TNTs beloved basketball broadcaster received a rare third bone marrow transplant on Wednesday as an aggressive form of leukemia continues to take its toll. Sager, 65, has battled acute myeloid leukemia since 2014 and announced in March that he was no longer in remission.Sager knows the odds are against him. Yet, he is unfazed.I like to gamble, he told The Associated Press. I like to bet on horses, I like to bet on dogs. I like to bet on a lot of things. Ive bet on a lot of things with a lot higher odds than this.Two other times, Sager received a bone marrow transplant with stem cells, and in both instances, it put him into remission for several months. His son, Craig Sager II, was the donor then. This time, the anonymous 20-year-old donor was considered a perfect match.Sager has been hospitalized for a month and has another monthlong stay ahead. He hasnt thought a lot about the man whose bone marrow could change everything for him. But when he learned of the donors age, he expressed a possibly only half-serious concern.My only thing was, I was afraid that when he signed up to be the donor, he may have been in some drunk fraternity house, trying to impress his date, Sager said with a smile. And they call him up the next day and say, Want to come down to the hospital? and hes like, What?His fears turned out to be unfounded.He came through, Sager said.It is the latest of close to 100 procedures Sager has endured in his well-publicized fight, and it was performed at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Sager began the transplant at about 11:30 a.m. CT, and it wasnt complete until more than 10 hours later.Craig Sager II tweeted Wednesday as his father was undergoing the procedure.Dr. Muzaffar Qazilbash, Sagers stem cell transplantation physician, researched thousands of such transplants at MD Anderson over the past 15 years to illustrate just how uncommon Sagers procedure was.Its less than 1 percent of the total number of transplants, Qazilbash said. Its very rare to have three transplants.As Sager said moments after the process began, OK, third times the charm.Sager, who has worked for TNT for more than three decades, calls himself coachable and said he is open to trying anything doctors believe might help.Ive had every chemo in the alphabet, most of them more than once, he said. Some of them that arent even in the alphabet, theyre just numbers -- clinical trials. But I bet if you added all those up, it would have to be like 60- or 70-something. Ive had 23 bone marrow aspirations. Having one isnt fun, and Ive had 23. So thats been tough.Despite the rigors of treatment and how it can ravage his body, he has never thought about giving up. In fact, he gets angry when he meets other patients who say theyve grown weary of fighting.Man, life is too beautiful, too wonderful, theres just too many things, he said. Its not just you. Its your family and kids and all. Fight. Fight until the end. Fight as hard as you can.With his radiant smile and TV-perfect persona, it takes time to peel back the layers of positivity and catch a glimpse of how hard that fight can be.His attitude is [that] nobody wants to hear it, said Stacy Sager, his wife, full-time caregiver and No. 1 fan. And so it makes you reflect on yourself and the things that you say when youre complaining about little things in life and trivial things, and it just puts things in perspective.But there are times, often as night creeps into early morning, where it all becomes too much. No medication can help.Ive never had any of those days where Ive actually said, Why me or I cant do it, he said. But Ill have some dark nights where Ill be here by myself and maybe getting some medicine thats making me jump around like a rabbit. And Im in pain and Ive got chills and Ive got fever and Ive got everything mixed into one and Im throwing up and have diarrhea ... and Ill just say, Stacy, I need you. I need you.And shell come to me and just hold me, and it just makes it better.A few days before his transplant, Stacy came down with a bad cold and doctors sent her home, fearful she would transmit her illness to her husband. Hall of Famer and TNT colleague Charles Barkley heard she couldnt be there for a couple of days and hopped on a plane from Phoenix.The problem was that Barkley had hip replacement surgery less than a month ago and wasnt cleared to travel. He said his doctor was livid when he learned Barkley had defied orders and flown halfway across the country. Barkley informed the doctor that it was an emergency -- although it was hard to know who was there for whom.Craig Sager is one of the most interesting people Ive ever met, Barkley said. We go to see Sager to cheer him up, and by the time you leave, youre like, Is anything wrong with him? He has the most positive attitude.When you go to try and cheer him up, his attitude is so upbeat, he cheers you up.Sager has found inspiration in a little girl who lost her fight with cancer before her ninth birthday. He befriended Lacey Holsworth and her family while working on a story about her illness and remained friends with her parents after she died in April 2014. Holsworth had cheered on the Michigan State basketball team and had a close friendship with star player?Adreian Payne.Last weekend, her parents visited Sager in his Houston hospital room. They left him with a more tangible reminder of her bravery.They brought me little Laceys boots that she used to always wear to games and a picture of her wearing them, Sager said, clutching the high-top cheetah footwear accessorized with laces made from silk ribbons. That little girl was so amazing. Fought for all of those years, was always positive, always cheerful, always brought other peoples spirits up. So if Im laying here feeling bad, I just think about Lacey, and it puts everything in perspective.Sager also is bolstered by his drive to be back on the sideline for the NBA season. He doesnt expect to have recovered from Wednesdays transplant in time for the season opener Oct. 25 but aims to return by early November for more gentle sparring with the likes of?San Antonio Spurs?coach Gregg?Popovich.It would be a victory not just for him, but for all the people his fight has inspired.It means that youre surviving and youre winning, he said. That youre knocking down obstacles and clearing hurdles that are put in front of you and youre doing them with flying colors.On Wednesday, five colorful balloons were tied to one side of his hospital bed. Several had birthday greetings and two read: Happy birthday, its your big day.Festive, yes. But Sager was born in June.When you get stem cells, they say its your new birthday, Stacy explained. So this is his fourth birthday.Sager tried to downplay the pageantry surrounding the event, saying it wasnt a big deal.That earned a sweet, yet stern, admonishment from his beloved wife.It is a big deal, she said. Its giving you life.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Bobby Orr Jersey . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. Jeremy Lauzon Bruins Jersey . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/tuukka-rask-hockey-jersey/ . 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"I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. Dallas Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory has not had his appeal heard regarding an additional suspension by the NFL for violating the substance abuse policy, a source told ESPN on Sunday.The NFL has not announced more than a four-game suspension for Gregory, and the league still considers his potential 4-plus-10 ?suspension to be pending, according to the source.When final roster cuts were made Saturday by NFL teams, there was a mention next to Gregorys name on the Cowboys roster of a four-game suspension, but that was in reference to his violation announced in February, not the additional violation reported in July, which the NFL has not made any announcement about.It is unclear whether Gregory violated the substance abuse policy by failing or missing a test, but he is facing the possibility of having the suspension extended.A source told ESPN on Sunday that agent Deryk Gilmore filed an appeal and sent the league documentation to support the contention that Gregory did not commit a violation that should add to his previously announced suspension. There has not been a hearing on the matter, the source said.The Cowboys placed Gregory on the reserve/did not report list at thhe start of training camp but have remained supportive and have a locker for him at The Star, their new practice facility.ddddddddddddAt the 2015 NFL scouting combine, Gregory tested positive for marijuana, which put him in the leagues drug program. Considered a first-round prospect out of Nebraska, he fell to the second round, where the Cowboys selected him with the 60th overall pick.The Cowboys and Gregory agreed that he would have a personal handler with him during the season to help him cope with issues related to anxiety.Gregory played in 12 games as a rookie and did not record a sack. He suffered a high-ankle sprain in the season opener against the New York Giants and missed the next four games. Cowboys coaches credited him with 11 tackles and 16 quarterback pressures to go along with one tackle for loss.The source said Gregory continues to receive inpatient treatment at a drug rehabilitation facility.The reduction in the suspension was first reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and two sources initially told ESPN the same information. ' ' '