Before I even begin to express my thoughts of this off-season and the coming season, my congratulations and praise to the Saskatchewan Roughriders for winning the 101st Grey Cup and to the province of Saskatchewan and city of Regina for putting on an excellent show and experience. Adidas Zx Flux trainers White . One of the best aspects of my job, maybe the best, is the experiences; the interactions with people you never forget. Whether it is meeting Tom Hanks briefly (class act) or the genuine enthusiasm and interaction of Riders and Ticats fans, I am confident I can speak for all that covered the game in saying you made us feel much more important and appreciated than we deserve. I sincerely hope the moment the new stadium is ready to roll the “Big Game" goes back to Regina with no hesitation. Overall this off-season has been a good and productive one. With new stadiums in Ottawa and Hamilton, future stadiums in Regina and Toronto, the most important aspects of the game – in-stadium fan experience and attendance – are progressing, not regressing. Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton is taking shape. The season ticket base is just about maxed out and the luxury boxes are all sold. I have yet to visit the stadium in Ottawa but I have a high level of confidence in the people running the Redblacks and what they are doing to make this organization viable. Its very important to have a CFL team in Ottawa for one big reason: it is our nations capital and will continue to enhance pride and patriotism in ourselves and our country. With Toronto, at the risk of sounding like a cheerleader, BMO Field would be perfect. I have walked around the stadium three or four times and the sight lines, angles, and proximity to the field are exceptional. Its basically on the same location as the old Exhibition Stadium and that location is excellent; not as congested as the Rogers Centre location and probably not as expensive. I dont dislike the Rogers Centre, at one time it was one of the most unique structures in North America, but BMO fits what is needed: more intimacy and less immensity. Trust me when I say this, its perfect! In on-field related issues, I like the challenge system as it relates to pass interference; the NFL will watch closely how it is executed and learn. But I also have concerns with flow of the game. Too many stops and starts in football make the game boring; I hate to say that but it is the truth. This is a pretty bold, precedent-setting move by the league. May I suggest one more? Eliminate the huddle from football with the exception of the beginning of a drive. Football players are pretty bright, they can run an entire offence without talking about it in detail after each play. Between TV timeouts, injuries, and challenges, the game is too long, especially NCAA football, which now runs anywhere from 3.5 hours to four. That is too much. How do you create a rule to keep the game flowing? Easy. Once a play is over, the offence must go back to the original position they began the play from, then the quarterback directs the play and players. Time constraints stay the same and every player that needs an ear piece can use one to offset the noise. The quarterback becomes a true quarterback, not an order taker. Realistic? I believe so. The entertainment value of the game would explode as there would be constant focus from the fans due to constant motion and action. It may be a difficult sell but as a viewer, anytime a team goes no huddle I regain and intensify my interest. Again the league could set a new standard of entertainment for the benefit of the paying public. They are, after all the most important revenue generators. Speaking of revenue, the Players Association wants a new, bigger and better deal. As a former player, I want the present players to earn more. CFL players are the most underpaid athletes in a combat sport I know. The league is not at a point where an increase can be so significant that it satisfies the desires of all. It is still a lean business that has developed stability, but not prosperity. There will be an increase for players, the amount is unknown. May I suggest this though, as a life lesson learned? It is not so much how much you make as it is how much you have and what you do with it. With an increase in revenue, the best thing the league and Players Association can do is get it out of the hands of the players to control spontaneous purchases. We have all heard the mind-numbing stories of athletes that make a lot yet have very little. And the truth is they have no one to blame but themselves. Hard pill to swallow. There will be more money, but making the money truly work so you can satisfy both your desires for security and adventure in life is critical. There is nothing more important in the CFL than the quality of the play and the player. And there should be nothing more important to that player than when his playing days are over he has physical, financial evidence he played. I dont know about you, but this was the most brutal winter I have encountered in a long time. I heard it was the coldest in Manitoba in 100 years. I am looking forward to watching a game without seeing my breath. Fall will come soon enough, but spring football sounds good to me! Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 31 Red . Ayovi scored in the 2nd and 9th minutes as Tijuana claimed a 4-3 aggregate win over the two legs of the quarterfinals. Argentine striker Dario Benedetto added a goal in the 26th minute and Richard Ruiz lengthened the lead in the 80th for Tijuana. Adidas ZX 700 Cheap . The veteran cornerback agreed to a two-year contract with the Saints on Friday, with a maximum value that approaches $7 million, including guaranteed money and a signing bonus in the first year. TORONTO -- As Omar Vizquel winds down his career, it seems like he reaches a milestone with each hit. It also helps when they win games as well. The 45-year-old hit a two-out single in the seventh inning against left-hander Jon Lester to break a 0-0 tie and the Toronto Blue Jays went on to beat the Boston Red Sox 5-0 on Sunday. The single was Vizquels second hit of the game and tied him with Jesse Burkett for 42nd on the all-time list with 2,872. The single was followed by a two-run homer by Adeiny Hechavarria, his second as a major-leaguer. The Blue Jays added two in the eighth in front of 21,698 fans at Rogers Centre. Vizquels next hit ties him with Babe Ruth and it could come at Yankee Stadium where the Blue Jays open a three-game series against New York on Tuesday. Blue Jays manager John Farrell said Vizquel will get the chance. "Id be crazy not to," he said. "Given todays performance with two more hits. For him to tie if possible in New York will be very fitting. "Not even in my wildest dreams was I going to think that you can bring the name of Babe Ruth next to mine and compare it with hits and other things there have been in my career," Vizquel said. "When I started the season I wasnt really thinking about numbers. I was just trying to go out there and finish my career strong." It also helped the Blue Jays avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Red Sox. Vizquel hit two sacrifice flies on Sept. 9 including the game-winner when the Blue Jays swept the Red Sox in three games at Fenway Park. This time Vizquel broke up a superb pitching effort by Lester who took a one-hitter into the seventh. "He was dominating today," Vizquel said. "We couldnt really get to him. We got very few opportunities." The opportunity came in the seventh when Yan Gomes singled with two out. Rajai Davis ran for him and stole second. Vizquel singled him home. "I came up there with a situation in the fifth where I was supposed to bunt and I couldnt do it," said Vizquel who also doubled in the third. "We had another opportunity and I came up again and Davis got that base and I came up with that big hit and Hechavarria did the rest. It was a good win overall." Lester said he was "trying to be quick to the plate" with Davis running the bases. "He steals 30-plus bags a year for a reason," he said. "I just left a curveball middle-up. Vizquel has been around for a long time and didnt try to do too much with it and got a base knock. "Next pitch, right back to executing, did what I had to do and (Hechavarria) put a better swing on it. Its baseball. You make a greaat pitch, they hit it. Adidas Zx Flux Black. You make a pitch right down the middle, they hit it right to somebody. Its just the way it goes sometimes." Lester (9-12) finished his seven innings, allowing four hits, one walk and three runs while striking out seven. Toronto righty Brandon Morrow did not factor in the decision after pitching six scoreless innings in which he held Boston (66-81) to four hits and a walk. He had made 102 pitches when he was removed for reliever Brett Cecil to start the seventh, and right-handed reliever Brandon Lyon (3-0) picked up the win. "Well-pitched game through the first six inning really, on both sides," Farrell said. "Nothing happening offensively. Then we get a two-out base hit in the seventh by Gomes. And as weve seen many times before, when Rajai gets on the bases he can make a lot of things happen. And the way Omars swinging the bat, he continues to creep towards a major milestone. "And Hech kind of surprised everybody in the ballpark with a two-run homer. It gave us further distance, then we tacked on the other two." The Red Sox had two runners on base twice in the first four innings but Morrow stranded them. Vizquel was the only base runner for Toronto (66-79) after a leadoff double in the third until Moises Sierra led off the fifth with a walk. Sierra reached second on a throwing error by Lester after a bunt by Gomes. Lester worked out of it by striking out Vizquel and Hechavarria and getting a fielders choice grounder to shortstop from Anthony Gose. Daniel Bard took over for Boston in the eighth and allowed a leadoff double to Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., and a run-scoring single to Colby Rasmus who took second on an error by left-fielder Ryan Kalish who had just entered the game. The Blue Jays picked up another run in the inning on a single by Sierra against Scott Atchison. NOTES: Toronto has Monday off before they visit New York for a three-game series against the Yankees. . . The Blue Jays salvaged one victory in the three-game series and finished a six-game home stand at 2-4. . . Blue Jays designated hitter-first baseman Edwin Encarnacion did not play because of a sore toe. Blue Jays catcher Jeff Mathis was a late scratch because of flu-like symptoms and Gomes replaced him in the lineup as DH. J.P. Arencibia was scheduled to be DH but moved to catcher. . . Sierra continued to have trouble in right field losing fly balls in the sun, letting a fly hit by Ryan Lavarnway drop in for a double in the second. . . Hechavarria made his seventh major-league start at shortstop with Yunel Escobar out with flu-like symptoms. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '
