Forenregeln von Mamis mit Herz » y healthy. Spring Roots The Blue

SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan had ideal preparation for the playoffs at the Ford World Curling Championships with a pair of hard-fought wins over tenacious opponents Thursday. The Canadians defeated Sweden 9-6 and China 6-4 to finish atop the preliminary-round standings at 10-1. Their execution Thursday was the sharpest of the tournament so far. The games were tight with Homan and her Ottawa Curling Club teammates scoring three in the eighth ends of both. "We were really pushed today," Homan said. "It was great we were able to control the game and stay confident with this team and really nail the lines and make the big shots when we needed them. "We had to fight for our points." Homan will face Switzerlands Binia Feltscher, whose record was 9-2, in Fridays playoff game between the top two seeds. The two countries meet in the 1 vs. 2 Page playoff game between the top two seeds. (TSN, 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt) The winner books a ticket to Sundays gold-medal game. The loser drops to Saturdays semifinal. Canadas lone loss of the preliminary round was to the Swiss. It went so badly for the host country in ends five through eight that they shook hands early Sunday. "That was a little bit of a lopsided game," Homan acknowledged. "We had some misfortune, but I think were a little bit different now. Were going to know the rocks and its going to be on a different sheet and everything so I think it should be a great game." The top four teams advance to the Page playoff. Russias Anna Sidorova, Swedens Margaretha Sigfridsson and South Koreas Ji-sun Kim all finished tied at 8-3. Sidorova will play in Saturday mornings playoff between the third and fourth seeds with the winner advancing to the semifinal. Russias opponent will be the victor of Fridays tiebreaker between the Swedes and South Koreans. Sidorovas missed final shot of a game against the Czech Republic -- a draw -- prevented Russia from finishing 9-2 and playing Canada on Friday. China and Allison Pottinger of the U.S., were just outside playoff contention at 6-5 with Germanys Imogen Oona Lehmann and Anna Kubeskova of the Czech Republic ending their tournaments 3-8. Scotlands Kerry Barr and Denmarks Madeleine Dupont had 2-9 records ahead of Latvias Evita Regza at 1-10. Homan had to win a tiebreaker to get into the final four at last years world championship in Riga, Latvia. Canada won their subsequent playoff game before losing the semifinal and then winning the bronze medal. The beauty of finishing in the top two is the loser of Fridays game can still get to the championship game, albeit via a longer route. "We love the one-two game," Homan said. "Theres not much pressure. "Either way weve got a chance at the gold-medal game. Thats what were gunning for now." The Canadians struck a balance between patience and aggression to achieve their No. 1 ranking. The average age of Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Alison Kreviazuk and lead Lisa Weagle is just shy of 26, but theyre a Canadian womens curling team ahead of the curve when it comes to the big-game experience and the lessons learned in those games. Homan, Miskew and Kreviazuk have been teammates for over a decade. Since graduating from the junior ranks four years ago, they and Weagle have played in three national womens championships -- finishing fourth and winning twice -- two world championships and an Olympic trials. "This team may be young, but weve had so much experience," said Weagle, the oldest at 28. "We realize were a young team and have really ambitious goals. We really want to accomplish them, but at the same token, if you look at a lot of the great curlers in our sport, theyre in their 30s or even their 40s when theyre at the peak of their game." Weagles talent for clearing a road to the rings and Miskews ability to execute big-weight, multi-stone takeouts allows Canada to gamble and takes some pressure off Homan. Kreviazuk banged her broom after a few misses during the preliminary round, but the four curlers have an otherwise business-like demeanour on the ice. "Were patient and were learning all the time and were allowing ourselves to learn," Weagle said. "Were not expecting to be perfect every single shot, but when were not, we want to learn from it. "Often Ill go down and talk to Rachel about my shots and how Im throwing them, if she want me to make an adjustment or if shes going to make the adjustment with the broom. I think thats worked really well for us. We want to make the most shots possible and whatever way we need to do it, its good to take the emotion out and just treat it like business." Nike Zoom Sale .500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders. Nike Zoom Cheap Sale .Y. - Phil Varone was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Rochester Americans edged the Toronto Marlies 3-2 on Sunday in American Hockey League action. http://www.cheapnikezoomuk.com/.com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings take aim at an eighth straight victory on Monday night as they wrap up a road trip versus the Calgary Flames. Cheap Nike Zoom Uk . Azarenka needed exactly one hour in a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to start the night session at Laver Arena. Sharapova had a much easier time earlier in the day with cooler conditions and took full advantage in 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, while Radwanska had to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Nike Zoom Uk . Goldeyes third baseman Ryan Pineda drove in three runs and the pitching staff didnt allow an earned run, as Winnipeg downed Kansas City 6-3 in American Association exhibition action at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas.When Brett Lawrie arrived with the Blue Jays in 2011, he looked even at age 21 to have the raw potential to become one of the franchises greats. In a 43-game stint, he batted .293 with nine homers and 25 runs batted in with a .953 OPS. He played spectacular defence and seemed to have a skill for pumping up his teammates and electrifying the crowd. You had to ask yourself how Milwaukee let him get away in that trade for right hander Shaun Marcum? But in the last two seasons, Lawrie has gone through some growing pains. Hes had injury problems, some awkward in-game moments, such as throwing a batting helmat in the direction of an ump, and the berating of a teammate for a perceived miscue on the bases. (Lawrie was wrong). On top of that his production has dropped off, to the point where some have wondered if that blaze of glory in his first stint with the club was a fluke or a flash in the pan. The thing to remember is, Brett Lawrie is only 24. Skipper John Gibbons suggested this week that Bretts peak performance years could still be a couple of seasons away. If you go by a couple of third basemen from the Blue Jays past, Gibbons may well be right. Kelly Gruber spent nine years with the Jays, hitting .259 with 114 homers, 439 runs batted in and 80 stolen bases. He was stolen away from Cleveland in the Rule 5 draft and spent his first couple of years as a Jack-of-all-trades utility man before becoming the primary third baseman in 1987. At age 24 for the Jays he hit just .196 with five homers and 15 runs batted in. It took until 1990 for him to have a star impact season. At 28 years old, he hit .274 with 31 homers and 118 RBIs. Gruber was still the starting third sacker for a division title run in 1991 and for the Jays first World Series victory over Atlanta in 1992. Ed Sprague offers up another example of a player who peaked in his late 20s. Sprague was the Jays regular third baseman for six seasons. After Gruber was moved to the Angels, Sprague took over at third in 1993 at 26. He hit .260 with 12 homers and 73 runs batted in and was a key member of the Jays second straight World Series victory over the Phillies in 1993. Still he didnt have his first really big year until he was 29, when he broke through with 36 homers and drove in 101 runs. Yes there are exceptions to the rule...guys who hit the ground running and continue to thrive practically from the moment they arrive in the Majors. Two of those kind of guys enjoyed brief stints with the Blue JJays in the last decade.dddddddddddd Troy Glaus came over from the Diamondbacks along with Sergio Santos in a deal for right hander Miguel Batista and infielder Orlando Hudson. Glaus played third for the Jays for two seasons in 2006 and 2007. As a 22-year-old with his original club the Angels, he hit .240 with 29 homers and 79 runs batted in. At 24 with the Halos, he upped his power numbers to 41 homers and 108 runs batted in. Glaus had a good year with the Jays in 06, but his numbers fell off a bit in 2007, and he ultimately asked for a trade since the artificial turf at Rogers Centre was playing havoc with his back. The Jays dealt Glaus to St. Louis for another standout third baseman in Scott Rolen, who had had a falling out with Cards manager Tony LaRussa. As a 22-year-old with his original club the Phillies, Rolen - arguably the best defensive third baseman the Jays have ever had - hit .283 with 21 homers and 92 runs batted in. Rolen only spent one season with the Jays, at age 33 before asking for a trade to the U.S. midwest to be closer to his family. He wound up going to Cincinnati in a deal that saw the Jays land two pitchers, Zach Stewart and Josh Roenicke and a guy named Edwin Encarnacion. The point of all this is, Lawrie is still young enough to take off the way Rolen and Glaus did, or he may take a little longer like Gruber or Sprague. If you want to pipe dream a bit, consider Royals legendary Hall of Famer George Brett. At 24 he batted .312 with 22 homers and 88 runs batted in. The bottom line on Lawrie is, with the defence he plays, and the infectious hustle he plays with, the Blue Jays will be very patient with him indeed. The real Brett Lawrie could even emerge this season, if only he can stay healthy. Spring Roots The Blue Jays may not be leaving their spring training home in Dunedin after all. About a year ago a story first surfaced that the Houston Astros were talking with the Jays about teaming up with them on a new two-team state of the art facility in Palm Beach County on Floridas east coast. The Astros lease with Kissimmee, Florida runs through 2016, so the target date for moving obviously would have been 2017. However a local group of citizens didnt want any part of having this type of complex in their area and threatened a lawsuit. So now the Astros are looking elsewhere in Palm Beach County and are now talking with the Washington Nationals about being their potential partners. ' ' '