CINCINNATI -- Randy Bullock had just arrived home in Houston -- unemployed after the Steelers released him -- and was doing his laundry when one of Pittsburghs biggest rivals called.The kicker tossed his clothes in the dryer and packed them again, this time for a trip to Cincinnati.And in his first game with a tiger-striped helmet, hell be trying to take the Steelers down.Pittsburgh waived Bullock on Monday because Chris Boswell had fully recovered from an abdominal strain. The Bengals claimed him off waivers and released the struggling Mike Nugent , who had repeatedly missed kicks wide right.Bullock expected to get released by the Steelers. The call from Cincinnati was a surprise.As a kicker, you never know whats going to happen, he said on Wednesday, wearing a Bengals stocking cap and jacket after a morning walkthrough.Coach Marvin Lewis had stuck with Nugent as he went through the worst slump of his 12-year career, missing five of his last nine extra-point attempts.Lewis felt the team had a better chance of working with Nugent to fix his problems rather than bringing in a new kicker.Lewis said that Nugents wide-right kick on a 36-yard field-goal try during a 23-10 victory at Cleveland on Sunday was the tipping point.Mike has been pretty consistent in practice but for whatever the reason, in the game it just hasnt worked that way -- missing the field goal before halftime last week, one that obviously he should make, Lewis said on Wednesday.Nugents struggles began at midseason. He missed a 51-yard field goal and an extra point during a 27-27 tie with Washington in London, and Bullock was one of the kickers whom the Bengals considered during their following bye week.It went really well, Bullock said of the tryout with Cincinnati. I felt like I stood out, and I was hoping at some point I would get an opportunity. It took a little longer than I expected, but morning came Im here now and Im really excited.Instead of signing Bullock, the Bengals decided to stick with Nugent. Now Bullock gets a chance to claim the job for the final few games and beyond.He was Houstons fifth-round draft pick in 2012 and has played in 45 games with the Texans, Jets, Giants and Steelers. He has made 78 of 96 field-goal attempts and all but four of his 95 point-after tries.I think any game is an audition, so Im thankful for the opportunity, Bullock said. Ive had a couple fill-in positions. Im here to perform at a high level, help this team win and hopefully stick.His first opportunity comes against his former team. The Bengals (5-7-1) need to beat the AFC North leaders (8-5) to maintain their slim chances of making the playoffs.Its always fun to have an opportunity to play against somebody who has released you, whether its recent or some other time, Bullock said.Game notes Receiver A.J. Green returned to practice for the first time since severely straining his right hamstring on Nov. 20, but did little more than jog lightly during the 30-minute part of practice that was open to the media. He didnt participate in drills with the other receivers. ... DE Wallace Gilberry (calf), CB Adam Pacman Jones (knee) and WR James Wright (knee) were held out of practice. ... G Clint Boling (shoulder), DE Carlos Dunlap (neck), WR Brandon LaFell (knee) and TE C.J. Uzomah (calf) were limited.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFLAuthentic College Football Jerseys .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. College Jerseys Outlet . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. http://www.cheapcollegejerseys.net/ .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start. Cheap Jerseys From China . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Discount NCAA Jerseys . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. England 537 (Stokes 128, Root 124, Moeen 117) and 260 for 3 decl. (Cook 130, Hameed 82) drew with India 488 (Vijay 126, Pujara 124, Ashwin 70, Rashid 4-114) and 172 for 6 (Kohli 49*, Rashid 3-64) Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsOn a day that Alastair Cook scored his fifth Test century in India, the most by a visiting batsman, he came desperately close to registering an unlikely Test win, but his opposite number Virat Kohli and R Ashwin saw India through with a 14.2-over partnership after England needed six wickets in 25.2 of the minimum of 49 overs they had given themselves to win the Test in. As England bowled their overs quickly and got 52.3 of them in, Kohli, digging in, having a go at the team mascot for returning the ball too soon, casting rueful glances at his departing partners, hitting boundaries to eat up time, rescued India when they nearly threw it away through no experience of batting when to save Tests.As much as Kohlis resistance, the lower-order runs in the first innings and some tight bowling at times, India could thank umpire Chris Gaffaneys interpretation that Ashwin was playing a shot when his bat would be hidden behind the pad and about a foot wide of the line of the ball. It arguably earned India nine overs.Ashwin went on to survive 53 balls to go with Kohlis 98 to finish a Test that he will count as a good one despite taking only three wickets in the whole match. England, though, will consider it as a moral victory. Ashwin had to bowl 61 overs for third of those wickets after he had struck with the last ball of the first session of the Test. His match figures of 3 for 230 were keeping in with his overall average of 53.4 against England.On the final day, Ashwin felt the need to bowl with a changed action, getting more side-on, rocking back on the right foot, which resulted in more pace and more rip, but all that it got him was economical figures. He conceded 31 runs in 13.3 overs, which might have had a part to play in the slightly conservative declaration: the asking rate for India was over six an over.Having come so close in the end, England will wonder if they could have declared earlier - when the asking rate reached five perhaps - but only those who have worked extremely hard to get into lead will know the risks involved in giving a chance to an opposition that had won 12 last home Tests not affected by weather. They would have also taken into the equation the pitch, which was turning square in the end but when England batted it did so from the rough and not from the centre, which is what concerns most batsmen. There will be those criticising the pitch, but they will do well to look at the number of missed chances that rose to 11 with Zafar Ansari dropping a tough chance from M Vijay and Stuart Broad shelling a dolly from Cheteshwar Pujara. Any of those wickets, coming at the back of Gautam Gambhirs duck, would have opened the Test up. Staying unbeaten would have helped Gambhirs case on a day that KL Rahul returned to first-class cricket. As he looks to revive his Test career, Gambhir did himself no favours by giving second slip catching practice after having played all around a straight delivery in the first innings.Vijay and Pujara then calmed Indias nerves for a bit before they got into an unusual drive fest against the spin of Ansari. Vijay had lofted him down the ground beautifully in the first innings, but this time got too close to one and failed to get the elevation. Drilled back at Ansar, this half chance hit the index finger of the right hand and popped out. The next offering, in the 11th over, went to Broad at point at about one-fiifth the pace but popped out again.ddddddddddddBy the time Pujara got out lbw to Rashids legbreak that hit him in front of middle, which should mean that on a fifth-day pitch this had to be pitched outside leg, England had lost 5.4 valuable overs. Pujaras partner, Vijay, didnt help matters by looking away as opposed to being alert to a possible review.This was just before tea. Soon after the break, Vijay was done in by Rashids drift; playing at a delivery that pitched outside leg and came back to take his inside edge for a bat-pad catch. Ajinkya Rahane saw a short ball, shaped up to pull and exposed his stumps, and then ended up looking to cut as this Moeen Ali offbreak cramped him up. He was bowled off the pads, and you wondered if India - not the best at batting out draws - would mess this up too.Either not trusting their defensive games or mindful of bouncing balls going to hand if they defended, Kohli and Ashwin too kept playing their shots. Except in one particular over when Ashwin exploited the umpires leniency towards batsmen pretending to play at balls. On three occasions he was hit on the front pad well in front of and straight of the bat. On all three occasion, Gaffaney ruled not-out because he reckoned Ashwin played those balls. As much was confirmed when England challenged the middle call.The DRS playing conditions have no room for the third umpire to overrule the on-field umpire on whether the batsman played a shot or not. Gaffaney told third umpire Rod Tucker Ashwin had offered his bat in his opinion. The replays returned an umpires call here, but the other two were hitting the stumps flush.Finally, though, Indias need to attack got the better of them and Ashwin drove Ansari to short cover after having hit three fours in an Ansari over. India still had a minimum of 10 overs to survive. Wriddhiman Saha came out charging at the spinners, and was applauded by Kohli when he lofted one over mid-on. The charge got him soon as he offered a return catch to Rashid. This brought back memories of Adelaide when India had come close to an improbable target, but lost in a collapse triggered by Sahas forays down the wicket.Kohli, though, stayed firm as the Test grew tenser in the last 10 overs. England tried everything. They brought all the fielders in, their reserve fielders sat the edge of the boundary to save time should India hit boundaries. One such boundary, hit by Ravindra Jadeja, bisected the two reserve fielders, but was returned promptly by Dharamveer, a specially abled man who travels to India matches and is allowed to watch from the boundary edge. Kohli let his annoyance known.Kohli saved the match in his own way. He used his wrists to keep the ball down but kept driving hard at balls. In he 46th over, it nearly got him out as he looked to whip a sharp offbreak to midwicket. The ball, fortunately for him, fell straight of forward short leg. In his own way, Jadeja kept hitting boundaries with Rashid spinning the ball into him, and ended up with 32 off 33.England will still be happy they pushed India after their batsmen had made the pitch and the bowling look easy. Cook became only the fourth visiting batsman to score 1000 runs in India, Haseeb Hameed registered the highest score for an England teenager but fell 18 short of what would have an emotional debut century in front of his family, and the promoted Ben Stokes scored a run-a-ball 29 to facilitate the declaration, but as it turned out England didnt have enough time in the end. ' ' '