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| 1445 Beiträge - Hardcoreposter
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INDIANAPOLIS - Colts coach Chuck Pagano befriended John Harbaugh years ago. Now Harbaughs former defensive co-ordinator in Baltimore is about to become a Ravens fan all over again. After seeing three AFC division leader lose in Week 15, AFC South champion Indianapolis moved back into contention for a first-round bye with Sundays 25-3 win over Houston. If the Colts and Ravens each win their final two games, Indy can start prepping for a divisional round game at home. "I always root for those guys, so I guess well be rooting for those guys again," Pagano said Monday. "Our focus is on us because it really wont matter if we dont take care of business, but well root for those guys, too." Last Monday, after losing at Cincinnati, the Colts (9-5) appeared to be locked into the AFCs No. 4 seed and were trying to generate some momentum before hosting their first playoff game of the post-Peyton Manning era. But after losses by Denver (11-3), New England (10-4) and Cincinnati (9-5) this past week, the Colts find themselves right back in the seeding chase. Indy closes out the season with a trip to Kansas City, which locked up a playoff spot with a win at Oakland, and at home against a Jacksonville team that has been much better over the second half of the season. Win both and anything, including a longshot jump to the No. 1 seed, is still possible. Cincinnati finishes at home against Minnesota and Baltimore. New England visits Baltimore and wraps up the regular season at home against Buffalo. Denver has trips to Houston and at Oakland, and the Chiefs close things out at San Diego. So if the Colts and Ravens win their last two, Indy have a better overall record than either the Bengals or Baltimore and would win a tiebreaker over New England on better conference record. Theyre just not looking at it quite the same way. "Regardless of what happens with anyone else, we want to win the rest of our games and kind of be catching fire here at the right time going into the playoffs," left tackle Anthony Castonzo said. "We want to be playing our best ball regardless of what happens with any other teams." After six weeks of slow starts and mostly frustrating football, the Colts looked more like the early-season team that jumped out to a big division lead. They led 20-3 at halftime, forced two turnovers, set up another score with a long punt return and produced their most lopsided victory since Sept. 29. It was easily their most complete game since Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne went down with a season-ending knee injury Oct. 20, and the difference came down to adjustments Andrew Luck & Co. made this week. Indy started the game with a no-huddle offence, got more receivers involved with a series of screens and was able to run the football in the second half. Darius Butler picked off two passes, too, giving him eight over the last two seasons, and Robert Mathis forced his second safety of the season. Thats how the Colts want things to look each week, not just against the scuffling Texans. "Everybodys jockeying for playoff position," Butler said. "You have the teams that are either fighting in the hunt or trying to climb another seed or two. So were jockeying for playoff position. We know every win counts, thats what we can control and what we do. Hopefully, other teams fall off pace, but we just want to keep stacking up wins." Notes: Pagano said offensive lineman Joe Reitz, who started at guard Sunday, was diagnosed with a concussion and will go through the NFL protocol. ... Most of the Colts other injured players are considered day-to-day. Those on the list are: linebacker Daniel Adongo (hamstring), receiver LaVon Brazill (foot), running back Donald Brown (stinger), safety Sergio Brown (groin), fullback Stanley Havili (knee), centre Samson Satele (elbow), cornerback Greg Toler (groin). ... Pagano said he is hoping to have defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois (foot) back for the Jacksonville game but noted he could return this week. ___ Online: http://pro32.ap.org air Jordan Flight 45 . Sabathia did not get a decision on Monday against Tampa Bay, as he allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings. Hes 13-4 on the year to go along with a 3.42 ERA. Since winning six decisions over a nine-start stretch, Sabathia is 0-1 over his last two outings, but still has only allowed more than three runs once in his previous 10 trips to the hill. air Jordan Son Of Mars .C. - Bernhard Langer overcame a bad start Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Champions Tours Greater Hickory Classic. http://www.sneakeraj.com/womens-jordans-ra-93.html . -- If the Bears make changes this off-season, it will not be at quarterback. Cheap Jordans For Sale australia . -- Connor Brown had two goals and an assist as the Erie Otters edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. air Jordan Fusion . The Richmond, B.C., native added eight rebounds and was named the tournaments most valuable player as the top-seeded Ravens defended their 2011 championship. "The biggest thing is to win the whole thing as a team," said Scrubb.Watching the Montreal Canadiens lose goaltender Carey Price to injury this week reminded me of what I often think is the great weakness of North American sports. The reliance of individuals in team sports. Hockey is obsessed with goaltenders. A team loses and the first place people look at for blame is in between the pipes. Baseball? As they say, momentum is all about the next days starting pitcher. NFL? Find an elite quarterback if you want to win the Super Bowl and stop using Trent Dilfer as an example (unless you can find one of the greatest defences to go alongside him). Basketball? You wont find many NBA championship teams that doesnt feature a current or future hall of famer. The global game of soccer is often very different, as the achievements of Atletico Madrid this week have shown. A sport that is so reliant on teamwork rarely allows a figurehead to rise to such prominence to make a championship be about them. Sure, domestic leagues have outstanding players who take over games, weeks, even months of a campaign, but without their teammates they are just one man with a ball at their feet. Even the greatest players in the world today are surrounded by players close to their level that allows them to perform brilliantly so often. For some reason, however, every four years many forget the common sense around this belief and two words are the reason for it. World Cup. There have only been nineteen of these in history and, specifically for the last 16 of them, it has been considered as the ultimate thing in the sport to win. However, the World Cup is not without its failings. Many games produce predictable, sterile games dominated by defensive-minded teams, unable to replicate the teamwork earned by club teams over long periods of time, who, subsequently, know its far easier to stop than score. It is a tournament that lasts one month every four years. The best team plays seven games and does not even have to win them all. Yet, because it is so short in time and so infrequent on the games calendar, the World Cup cares little for reputations, instead choosing to make them. This allows the sport to be much more North American in terms of individuals stamping their authority on it. With this in mind, collectively, we owe it to future generations to be extremely careful with the evidence provided (and this is not always easy with the lack of video available to us once the tournament ends). First of all we must remember that players can have excellent tournaments without actually winning it. This rule is for all, not just for those you didnt expect to win it anyway. Take Lionel Messis 2010 World Cup. Many adjectives have been used to describe this including poor and disappointing. What nonsense. Messi was excellent in South Africa but because he didnt score a goal some thought he was disappointing. When his out-of-his-depth manager, Diego Maradona, decided to play without a central midfield, Argentina were sent home packing in the quarterfinals. They never had a chance of winning the World Cup and none of that fell on the shoulders of Messi. Since leaving South Africa, Messi, with Barcelona, has won everything there is to win in club football, and added three more Ballon DOr awards. He has consistently succeeded in the most competitive tournament, the Champions League, the sport has to offer. He is described by many as one of the greatest players to play the game but suddenly he is removed from such a camp, by some, the closer a World Cup gets to starting, when a new hurdle is put in his path to reach the pantheon of greatness; a hurdle he simply cannot jump himself.dddddddddddd Messis countryman, Ossie Ardiles, who won the World Cup in 1978, hit the headlines last week with this gem of a quote: "To be considered alongside the top, top guys like Pele and Diego Maradona and so on, Messi not only needs to be in the World Cup but to win it." Mr Ardiles isnt the only one who feels this way, of course, and in fact there is an alarming chance he is in the majority rather than the minority when it comes to this topic. What a pity. And while we are on this quote, who is so on exactly? When Pele played, the World Cup was everything. He changed the sport and is arguably the greatest player to play the game. The World Cup made him the global star that he simply couldnt reach himself at Santos. Maradona graced four World Cups and is forever remembered as the face of Mexico 1986. It is fitting for a man so talented that he had that event to catapult him towards the legends of the game but many who celebrate Maradonas greatness, because of those 30 days in Mexico, often, conveniently, forget his 1982 and 1994 World Cups ended in disgrace. 1990? Dont let their runner-up spot fool you. His team was even worse than Messis 2010 side and his performances werent even close to the ones shown by Barcelonas current star in South Africa. There is no disputing Maradonas greatness on the field but if the guardians of football history and, subsequently, the makers of reputations are going to base so much on what happens at World Cups then they need to be fair about it. In a sport that cares so often about who wins and loses this seems like an impossible task. Only one team can lift the trophy when it all finishes on July 11. Of course, Messi will be considered as one of the true greats if that team proves to be Argentina but why should we wait to find out what some of his flawed teammates can do for him before we give him such an honour? Just because Maradona, Pele and so on won the World Cup? The game is full of true, elite greats who never did. Pele and Maradona call Alfredo Di Stefano the most complete player ever and what of Johan Cruyff, who was magnificent in the 1974 World Cup and did everything but win the tournament? Rather than holding the World Cup to a higher standard that some cannot reach, those who lean on individual quality, should enjoy its beauty at producing other stars whose solo acts can carry their teams far. Garrincha, Eusebio, Cruyff, Paolo Rossi, Toto Schillaci, Roberto Baggio, Romario, Davor Sukur, Ronaldo, Oliver Kahn, Fabio Cannavaro, Diego Forlan and David Villa are just some examples of that. Some won, some didnt. Some are true greats, some arent. Their reputations were enhanced by their World Cup play but also because their team was able to get to the final week of the event. Neither Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo needs to win a World Cup to be graced amongst the greatest ever. It appears, before the tournament already starts, that Ronaldo doesnt have the team to get him to the trophy, and if the tournament proves the same for Argentina why should Messi be judged differently to Ronaldo? This special group, created by the likes of Ardiles, that features Maradona, Pele and so on is a hindrance to football history and an ignorance to the game itself. cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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| Beitrag vom 07.03.2015 - 08:32 |
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