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Out of the disaster that was last season for the Edmonton Eskimos, the team accomplished perhaps the most important task of a rebuilding squad. Ken Sears Jersey .   A 4-14 record (last in the West Division) with a seventh ranked offence in terms of points scored and sixth-ranked defence wasnt pretty. Nor was the contract extension given to Kavis Reed early in the year.   But few expected the Eskimos to truly compete in the tough West Division and figured 2013, the first of the Ed Hervey era, would be a rebuilding year. The main goal Eskimos fans hoped would be accomplished was, the team found what looks to be their quarterback of the future in Mike Reilly.   Edmonton procured Reilly after a three-year apprenticeship in BC under one of the best QBs in the game Travis Lulay.   In his first year as a full-time starter Reilly impressed with 4,207 passing yards and 24 touchdowns to 18 interceptions while missing some game action due to a late-season concussion. Buoyed somewhat by injuries around the league, Reilly was second in the league in passing and when you add his impressive 709 yards on the ground, was only 300 yards behind league-leader Henry Burris for most combined yards.   The 29-year-old also proved to have the heart of a champion, a quality surely revered by the City of Champions. Reillys gutsy play made him a quick fan favourite but there is a disadvantage to his full speed, caution to the wind playing style as well.   Buck Pierce was loved and respected two provinces over for his gutsy efforts the past several years. He also spent a sizable amount of time on the injured list before the Winnipeg Blue Bombers decided it best to move on from the courageous quarterback.   Reilly would do well to find a nice balance between winning at all costs and career longevity, something the Eskimos are likely preaching to him as well.   With the QB position solidified, the Eskimos attacked another major deficiency in landing a promising head coach in the off-season.   Chris Jones learned the CFL craft with the Montreal Alouettes, picking up a Grey Cup ring in the process, before expanding his role with the Calgary Stampeders and earning another championship. He was a hot commodity when he jumped ship to the Toronto Argonauts, helping the team win the historic 100th Grey Cup, the third of his career.   Jones is a proven winner and a coach that will demand results; he brings a much different style to the table than that of his predecessor, Reeds.   Albeit big ones, Jones and Reilly are just two pieces of the puzzle. And the Eskimos need to get better filling the many holes they still have on the roster.   The objective now may be to speed up the process. Eskimo fans will have to learn a lot more patience if the team is only checking off one item per year on the “to-do” list.   That said, the Lions, Calgary Stampeders, and Saskatchewan Roughriders all figure to field contenders once again in 2014. Edmonton should be afforded at least one more year of rebuilding. With Reilly in tow at quarterback and Jones looking promising at head coach, the Eskimos can focus on building a more complete roster top to bottom.   Notes   Expansion Draft The Eskimos lost a trio of promising young players in the expansion draft to Ottawa. International receiver Carlton Mitchell was plucked in the first round but his loss wont be felt as much nationals Alexander Krausnick, a centre, and Justin Capiciotti, a defensive lineman.   Free Agency Edmonton remains in rebuilding mode and added a couple nice pieces to their roster during free agency. The biggest chip was cornerback Patrick Watkins, who followed his defensive coordinator Chris Jones out west. Edmonton also nabbed some offensive linemen in Justin Sorensen and Andrew Jones, and national receiver Akeem Foster.   CFL Draft The Eskimos had the fewest picks in the draft with just five and were one of three teams to not take a single offensive lineman. Instead, they targeted the skill positions in grabbing WR Devon Bailey from St. Francis Xavier in the first round and RB Aaron Milton from Toronto in the second round. The teams final three picks included DB Raye Hartmann from St. Francis Xavier in the fourth round, K/P Zackary Medeiros from Montreal in the sixth round, and DL Michael Dadzie from Regina in the seventh round. Mitchell Robinson Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. Langston Galloway Jersey . Roma has a game in hand but now second place is even at risk for the capital side as Napoli moved to within three points with the win. "The result is not always fair," Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. "If we play like this until the end we will win many matches.Mouse Morris was still pinching himself on Sunday morning following Rule The Worlds tremendous victory in the Crabbies Grand National at Aintree. Named to be a superstar, the nine-year-old has suffered repeated injury problems in recent years, twice fracturing his pelvis, but has been brilliantly nursed back to full health by his popular trainer.The Gigginstown House Stud-owned gelding arrived on Merseyside a maiden over fences after 13 starts, but broke his duck in the grandest manner in the hands of teenage riding sensation David Mullins Morris said on Sunday morning: It hasnt sunk in properly yet.The horse is in great form. You wouldnt believe it but you could run him again today. Its unbelievable.It has been a testing 12 months for the County Tipperary handler following the tragic death of his son, Christopher, last summer.Morris was reduced to tears and lost for words in the immediate aftermath of Saturdays momentous triumph and admits he could not believe what he was seeing.Watching the race I thought we were going to be third and I was going to be very happy with that. It would have been a fantastic run, he said.From where I was watching it, I didnt really believe it until he passed the winning post.Hes a horse I always thought an awful lot of until he had his injuries. Hes a typical National horse - hes a big horse that jumps well and has a bit of class.The funny thing is hes actually a good ground horse. Because of his injuries, his rear end isnt as strong as it should be muscle-wiise and I think the better the ground the better he is. Carmelo Anthony Jersey . As for future plans, Morris said: Id say its very unlikely hell run again this year, anyway. Well let the smoke clear and dust settle and well see where we are after that. The horse wont be abused, that is for sure.However, speaking to Sky Sports News, Ryanair boss OLeary seemed keener upon making sure that Rule The World would now retire on a high.Well, look, well see how he comes out of the race in the next couple of days, he said.Punchestown would obviously be the next [possible] outing, but well let Mouse decide in the next couple of weeks whether he runs in Punchestown or not.As I said yesterday, my only concern is the horse is now nine, he has suffered two pelvic fractures over the last three or four years and he has suffered a lot of injuries - I would be conscious now having had a Grand National winner not to do anything that would endanger him or threaten him or run the risk of pelvic injury.Well sit down and think about it over the summer. If I had my way Id like to retire him, but I think in this case well let Mouse decide what he wants to do and I know Mouse will make the right decision by the horse.If he wants to train him on next year, then well train on. If not, well retire him and mind him and look after him for the rest of his life in Gigginstown. Also See: Live results service Full racecards Get Sky Sports ' ' '

FORT WORTH, Texas - Brad Keselowskis face was puffy, and he took a couple quick drinks of water to wash the blood from his mouth. Kelan Martin Jersey . So close to a big playoff win, Jeff Gordon was left with a cut on his lip.The Chase for the Sprint Cup championship took another intense turn Sunday night when past champions Gordon and Keselowski were a part of a brawl after Jimmie Johnson won his third consecutive Texas fall race.Johnson emerged from a frantic finish, the second attempt at an overtime two-lap sprint to the finish after his teammate Gordon spun out from the front following contact with Keselowski.While Johnson celebrated his fourth victory at Texas and 70th Sprint Cup win overall, fireworks exploded in the sky — and on pit road.An irate Gordon stopped his car right by Keselowski and confronted him. There were plenty of punches thrown, with NASCAR officials in the middle of crew members and others around Keselowskis No. 2 car.I couldnt even tell you what happened, said Keselowski, who confirmed he was hit by someone. Just a melee of people.It seemed the only contact among drivers was when Kevin Harvick shoved Keselowski in the back to push him into the fracas, and Gordon briefly appeared to grab hold of Keselowskis firesuit.All the punches thrown appeared to come from crew members — including a member of Gordon teammate Kasey Kahnes team who appeared to land several shots on Keselowski from behind.Gordon was leading on a restart on lap 335, one more than the races scheduled length, when he took the outside lane. When Gordon drifted up a bit, Keselowski pushed through the gap, and made contact that left Gordons car with a cut tire.We were just racing for the win. I didnt wreck him, and just raced him hard. He left a hole. Everything you watch in racing, you leave a hole, youre supposed to go for it, Keselowski said. I dont want to ruin anyones day. I wanted to win the race and that was the opportunity.Gordon said he was on older tires when out of nowhere I got slammed by the 2. He then used an expletive in referring to Keselowski, who finished third.The way he races, I dont know how he ever won a championship. This is why everyone is fighting with him, Gordon said. There wasnt any conversation. You cant have a conversation with him. Theres big consequences. To me, its just a bunch of crap. The kid is just doing stuff way over his head.Gordon spun out, lost a lap in the pits and finished 29th. He also became the second competitor in four races to confront Keselowski after the checkered flag.NASCAR will review the post-race brawl and penalties could be issued during the week. Keselowski was fined $50,000 for his behaviour at Charlotte, but Matt Kenseth escaped penalty because he did not throw any punches when he jumped Keselowski from behind.Robin Pemberton, NASCAR senior vice-president of competition and racing development, indicated he had no problem with the hard racing in Texas. He might have a different take on what happened after the race.You shouldnt punch somebody, Pemberton said. Everybody gets together, and when youre holding on to each other and grabbing and this, that and the other, its one thing. When punches are landed, thats a different scenario.Johnson won by a half-second over Chase contender Harvick, who then pushed Keselowski into the fray.If youre going to race like that, youre going to have to man up at some point, Harvick said afterward. I didnt get in the middle of anything. I just turned him around and told him to go fight his own fight.Johnson, the six-time Cup champion who was eliminated after the second round in the new Chase format, led 191 of the 341 laps.The next highest-finishing Chase contenders behind Harvick and Keselowski were Carl Edwards in ninth and Denny Hamlin 10th.Texas was the second consecutive Chase race won by a driver already eliminated from title contention. That means at least three drivers will advance on points to get into the final four in the season finale at Homestead in two weeks.The third round of the Chase wraps up next Sunday in Phoenix, where Harvick won eight months ago in the second race of the season. Kenseth and Hamlin were the only of the eight Chase contenders to finish outside the top eight in that race.Joey Logano finished 12th at Texas, but is listed first in points while having the same number as Hamlin and two more than Ryan Newman. Gordon is fourth, a point ahead of Kenseth and Carl Edwards, followed by Keselowski and Harvick — though there is only an 18-point gap between first and eighth place. Jake Layman Jersey . With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. Timberwolves Jerseys 2021 . -- Phil Mickelson will be watching the final two rounds of the Masters from home for the first time in 17 years.Jonny Bairstow looks ahead to the first Test between England and Pakistan at Lords, discusses Mohammad Amirs return, revels in England Rugbys series win in Australia, and tries his hand at fencing… I got the opportunity to try a bit of fencing this week down at Team GB headquarters.I was alright. I managed to get a couple of points off a couple of the guys, but its safe to say its probably not my next gig after cricket.It was fantastic to see the people there preparing for the Olympics, though - the fitness and skill on show was truly remarkable. I wish them all the best for Rio.Weve got a big game to prepare for on Thursday. We know how important it will be to start the series well, but well try to treat it no differently to any other, just look to prepare in the same way, with the same intensity.Theres been a lot of talk about external factors in the build up to the Test but we try to take all of that out of the equation. Sure, its bound to still be there, but in the periphery of our minds.I have no idea what kind of reception Mohammad Amir will get on his return. Whatever happens, happens. All we know is he is a quality bowler. Pakistan seamer Mohammad Amir is looking forward to bowling at England’s captain and ‘backbone’ Alastair Cook when he makes his return to Test cricket At the same time, we have batsmen that are capable of countering his threat. Were in good form and have exceptional skills ourselves.He has talked about wanting to become number one in the world. Its hard to judge given I havent properly faced him - other than once or twice in under-15s cricket! He is coming back after a long period of time out of cricket, so Id imagine he has a long way to go for that.Look at Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad; both have performed day in, day out, for a number of years and only recently have they reached number one. Its not something thats going to happen overnight for Amir.We have Gary Ballance back in the squad, and Toby Roland-Jones linking up with us for the first time. Who is Toby Roland-Jones? All you need to know about the Middlesex quick called into Englands Test squad to face Pakistan Ive played for the Lions before with Toby. He has obviously done really well in county cricket recently and has rightly been rewarded with a call up into the Test squad.Gary is a class act. Everyone has enjoyed having him back in the squad; were all behind him, and Im sure he will score plenty of runs.He is someone who has scored four hundreds already in 15 Test matches. You dont have those stats and average over 50 with 28 hundreds in first-class cricket, if youre not a proven player. England batsman Gary Ballance admits he was surprised to be called back into the Test team for their series with Pakistan He also played really well for Yorkshire against Middlesex last week, hitting a hundred, so will come into the game on Thursday with his confidence on a high. Sam Cassell Jersey . Were back at Lords for the first Test. I got a hundred there last month against Sri Lanka, and while its always nice to score runs for the team, to get onto the prestigious Lords honours board made it particularly special - something Id always wanted to do.Hopefully I can get my name back up there again this week, although its not going to be easy. Jonny Bairstow is hoping for similar celebrations at Lords to when he reached three figures against Sri Lanka Left-arm seam is obviously not something we faced against Sri Lanka and it will play a big role in this series.There are some things we learned from playing Pakistan the UAE last year in terms of facing some of their bowlers, but it will be completely different conditions here, both overhead and with the pitches, compared to that tour.Pakistan have got a strong side all the way through. We know it is going to be a tough challenge, but hopefully playing with home advantage can help us.It served Andy Murray alright this week - you saw how much it meant to him to win Wimbledon again.It was great too to see England win 3-0 in Australia in the rugby union. Obviously, its always special to go to Australia and win. The way the guys performed in all three Test matches was brilliant to watch. Englands rugby team celebrate after their 3-0 Test series triumph in Australia There are a lot of rugby fans in the squad that took enjoyment from that - Cookie is a big rugby fan, Broady, too. Everyone kept a keen eye on those games while they were going on.Theres a lot of guys that take a keen interest in football too and watch that religiously, so by contrast, it was obviously disappointing to see England go out earlier than expected in the Euros.But thats part of sport sometimes - Im sure the team will move on, bounce back and come back stronger.Watch the first Investec Test between England and Pakistan from Lords, live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Thursday.  Or watch from £6.99 with NOW TV, no contract. Also See: Pakistan v England: Story of 2015 Bairstow can be one of the best Amir: Life ban or second chance? Get Sky Sports ' ' '

Week 12 of the Barclays Premier League was full of controversial refereeing decisions. Baron Davis Jersey . From Wes Browns sending off for Sunderland to Kevin Mirallas yellow card for Everton in the Merseyside derby, it wasnt a comfortable weekend to be a referee. Whenever an incident happens on the field, every fan expects the referee to make the correct decision. Yet referees dont have the benefit of slow-motion instant replays, and have only their assistant referees with whom they can consult for input. Often times, the referees view of an incident is not ideal, and can be blocked by other players. Yet they are expected to get decisions correct every time. With the benefit of instant replays, it is often much easier to make those decisions. Should Wes Brown have been sent off for Sunderland? No. Should Kevin Mirallas have been red carded for his horrible tackle on Luis Suarez? Absolutely. What makes a referees job more difficult, though, is that the vast majority of fans (and even some professional players, coaches and analysts!) do not fully understand the laws of the game. Case in point: Arsenals penalty kick in their game against Southampton. After a Tomas Rosicky corner kick was delivered into Southamptons penalty area, referee Mark Clattenburg blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot. His reason was that Southampton defender Jose Fonte pulled the jersey of Arsenals Per Mertesacker. Replays showed that Fonte did indeed have a handful of Mertesackers jersey, that he impeded the German international from reaching the ball. Clattenburg was absolutely correct to award a penalty kick.  Yet it didnt stop the inevitable outcry on Twitter.  Fans voiced their opinions, which ranged from "Thats never a PK - referees always let that go!" to "The ball was behind Mertesacker - need to take that into account!" to "Glad to see a referee finally call that - happens all the time!" Regardless of your opinion as a fan of the beautiful game, the FIFA laws of the game are very clear on what constitutes a foul, and in particular, a direct free kick. Consider the following from FIFA: The following conditions must be met for an offence to be considered a foul:• it must be committed by a player• it must occur on the field of play• it must occur while the ball is in play Group of Four• tackles an opponent to gain possession of the ball, making contact with the opponent before touching the ball• holds an opponent• spits at an opponent• handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within his own penalty area) For this group of four direct free kicks fouls, the referee is concerned with whether the action occurred, not with how it was done. For fouls in this group of four, the FIFA laws of the game require the following action to be taken: • restart with a direct free kick for the opposing team where the offence occurred • exception: if the offence was committed by a defender inside his own penalty area• penalty kick for the attacking team The laws of the game are very clear. Pulling a jersey (holding an opponent) is not allowed and is punishable with a direct free kick, or a penalty kick if the offence occurs within the penalty area. Mark Clattenburg was absolutely spot on to call a penalty in Arsenals favour. Fans (as well as players, coaches and anyone else who watches the game) would do well to familiarize themselves with FIFAs laws of the game. Some of your preconceived ideas about how the game is officiated might actually turn out to be completely false. D. J. Augustin Jersey . Virtanen opened the scoring at 6:45 of the first period, then gave Canada a two-goal lead with a power-play goal 1:03 into the second. Sweden cut the lead in half when Daniel Muzito Bagenda scored a power-play goal at 10:57 of the second. Al Jefferson Jersey . on the 15-day disabled Monday list because of a strained right hamstring.LONDON -- Arsene Wenger will feel "let down" if UEFA does not take a strong stance against clubs found guilty of breaking Financial Fair Play rules. UEFA will announce the first sanctions this month and more serious cases will be judged in June. A UEFA panel has negotiated settlements with clubs which have breached rules designed to curb owners excessive spending on transfers and wages since 2011. "One of the rules is that normally you should be banned for the excess of the financial amount that is not justified, that is if you are 100 million pounds ($169 million) overboard, you should be punished for 100 million of your wages bill in the Champions League," the Arsenal manager said during a pre-match news conference on Friday. UEFA said in February it targeted 76 clubs which played in the Champions League or Europa League. Speculation centred on big spenders Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, which are owned by the ruling families of Qatar and Abu Dhabi, respectively. Wenger said its in UEFAs interest to send a strong message when the first sanctions are issued in order to convince clubs to take its scheme seriously. "I want to see that respected. Kendall Gill Jersey . If that is not respected, then the Financial Fair Play will have problems to be respected in the future because everyone will just not consider it at all," Wenger said. UEFA appointed former Belgium Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene to lead the panel investigating club accounts. Serious sanctions will be decided by a panel led by Jose Cunha Rodrigues of Portugal, a judge at the European Court of Justice. Expulsion from the Champions League and second-tier Europa League are the toughest penalty UEFA reserves but its president, Michel Platini, said last week in an interview with a French newspaper that clubs wont be excluded from next seasons Champions League. Wenger believes Platinis announcement could be linked to TV rights sales. "That has gone now out. I have thought about that problem and the media might play a part in that, because when UEFA sells the rights of the Champions League to a French TV station, it is very difficult to explain to them once they have paid the money that the best club in their country will not play in the competition, so that might be one of the reasons behind that," the French coach said. ' ' '