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Chris Brown scored two second-half touchdowns as OU pulls away late.  

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1st 2nd 3rd 4th F OU 0 0 7 10 17 ISU 7 0 0 0 7
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 Stats Comparison OU ISU  1st Downs 21 15  Total Yards 316 269  Passing 183 174  Rushing 133 95  Penalties 3-35 5-45  3rd Down Conversions 9-16 4-15  4th Down Conversions 1-2 2-4  Turnovers 3 1  Time of Possession 28:53 31:07
 Stat Leaders  Passing C/Att Yds TD Int  OU - Bradford 16/28 183 0 1  ISU - Meyer 19/31 174 0 1  Rushing Car Yds TD Long  OU - Murray 9 59 0 11  ISU - Scales 22 46 1 17  Receiving Rec Yds TD Long  OU - Gresham 3 62 0 30  ISU - Hamilton 7 88 0 30  
 2007 OU Schedule  09/01  W - Oklahoma 79, North Texas 10 (Norman)  09/08  W - Oklahoma 51, Miami 13 (Norman)  09/15  W - Oklahoma 54, Utah State 3 (Norman)  09/21  W - Oklahoma 62, Tulsa 21 (at Tulsa)  09/29  L - Colorado 27, Oklahoma 24 (at Boulder)  10/06  W - Oklahoma 28, Texas 21 (at Dallas)  10/13  W - Oklahoma 41, Missouri 31 (Norman)  10/20  W - Oklahoma 17, Iowa State 7 (at Ames)  11/03  Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M (Norman)  11/10  Oklahoma vs. Baylor (Norman)  11/17  Oklahoma at Texas Tech (at Lubbock)  11/24  Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State (Norman)  12/01  Big 12 Championship (at San Antonio)  
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  AMES, Iowa (AP) — Chris Brown ran for two second-half touchdowns and No. 4 Oklahoma survived a major scare from Iowa State, beating the Cyclones 17-7 Saturday.

D.J. Wolfe’s end-zone interception midway through the fourth quarter helped turn the tide for the Sooners (7-1, 3-1 Big 12), who won at Iowa State for the 20th straight time.

It wasn’t easy.

Oklahoma, which was stunned by Colorado 27-24 in its only other Big 12 road game, committed three turnovers and didn’t take the lead until the fourth quarter.

The Sooners nearly gave it back.

Iowa State (1-7, 0-4), aided by a shanked punt, drove to the Oklahoma 8 with 7:24 left, where Bret Meyer converted a fourth-and-1. However, Wolfe grabbed a tipped pass from Meyer to keep Iowa State from tying the game.

The Cyclones forced Oklahoma into a forurth-and-4 with 3:02 left, but Sam Bradford found Jermaine Gresham for a 14-yard reception. Garrett Hartley sealed the win with a 43-yard field goal with 1:38 left.

Down 7-0 at the break, Oklahoma came out for the second half intent on running it down Iowa State’s throat. Demarco Murray picked up three first downs on the ground, and Brown capped the drive with an 8-yard TD run to tie the game at 7 with 8:35 left in the third quarter.

A 15-mph wind at his back seemed to bother Bradford, as pass after pass sailed by Oklahoma’s wideouts. But Gresham went 30 yards on a screen pass on the final play of the third quarter, and Brown gave Oklahoma its first lead, 14-7, on a 4-yard TD run.

Bradford was 16-of-28 for 183 yards and an interception. Murray led the Sooners with 59 yards rushing on nine carries.

In an effort to keeps the focus on Iowa State, coach Bob Stoops printed out a list of Top 25 teams who had been upset by unranked foes.

It didn’t look as though the Sooners bothered to read it.

Iowa State recovered an Allen Patrick fumble on the Oklahoma 35 midway through the first quarter, after no Sooners except Patrick realized the ball had come loose. The Cyclones, helped by a pass interference call, took a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard plunge by Jason Scales.

Oklahoma responded by driving to the Iowa State 33, but the Cyclones stopped a scrambling Bradford on 4th-and-5.

Bret Culbertson missed a 36-yard field goal on Iowa State’s next possession, but Allen Bell intercepted a pass that bounced off Gresham, dragging a sea of defenders to the Sooners 18.

Oklahoma finally made a play, stuffing Jason Scales on a 4th-and-1 at its own 9 with 1:05 left to keep its deficit at seven by the break.

Oklahoma improved to 67-5-2 against Iowa State, but the Sooners scored 31 points below their season average, against the Big 12’s worst defense.

Meyer completed 19-of-31 passes for 174 yards for Iowa State, which lost its fifth straight.

The Cyclones are now 0-55-2 against teams ranked 6th or higher in The Associated Press Top 25.

Source: www.soonersports.com

Is Steve McClaren ready for a “John the Baptist” moment? The crowds are calling for his head… especially if Hiddink’s Russia beat Israel.

In my mind, McClaren has gotten in over his head (no pun intended) but I blame the incompetent bureacracy of the FA.

So who will replace the unlucky man?

Here are our “out of the box” suggestions:

- “Big Phil” Scolari
- Jurgen Klinsmann
- Fabio Capello
- Jose Mourinho
- Guus Hiddink
- Arsene Wenger

I’ll admit I’m going overboard; but the FA is going to appoint another ham-and-egger unless we make some noise.

Any suggestions?

Source: www.soccerblog.com

The final weekend of play and four of the six matches have something riding on them. This is both a fun aspect of the US game and an annoying one. It is always interesting when teams are still playing for something at the end but it is also annoying when you realize that only three of the 13 teams are out of the playoffs this late in the game. But the good news, one of those four meaningful games is not for a playoff spot but for the top of the conference.

Columbus Crew (34pts) vs. DC United (55pts)
7:30pm ET/4:30 pm PT
TV: Direct Kick
Internet: MLStv
The Crew are already out of the playoffs and United have won the Supporters’ Shield so neither of them have much to play for. Still, United has looked a bit soft of late so they need to use this game as a warm up for whoever awaits them next week. For the Crew, this season was not one to remember but beating United on the final day would at least give them a big splash at the end. Plus, this could be Sigi Schmid’s final game in charge.
Predictions: Me CC 1-2 DC, Wife CC 0-3 DC

Kansas City Wizards (37pts) vs. FC Dallas (44pts)
8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
TV: Direct Kick
Internet: MLStv
KC holds their future in their own hands as a win will grant them at least two extra games, but this being the Wizards, I’m guessing it will not happen. They don’t really have much offense and even though Dallas is a mismatch at every position, the amount of time KC usually give their opposition should be enough for Dallas to make something out of it.
Predictions: Me KC 0-1 FCD, Wife KC 1-2 FCD

Real Salt Lake (24pts) vs. Colorado Rapids (35pts)
9pm ET/6pm PT
TV: Direct Kick
Internet: MLStv
Eddie Pope’s wonderful soccer career comes to an end tonight. Hard to believe the man the one the first MLS Cup is hanging it all up. He is an amazing person and hopefully one that will inspire those who are just now coming into their own. Aside from Pope, Real have a lot to play for tonight as they have a chance (with a win) to not be the worst team in MLS. In addition, they could knock the Rapids out of the playoffs if they can keep Colorado from getting out with more then a tie. It will be interesting to see how the Rapids play this match as they normally just play boring soccer while waiting for an opportunity to present itself, however since they need a win, they might actually have to attack.
Predictions: Me RSL 2-2 CR, Wife RSL 1-3 CR

Houston Dynamo (51pts) vs. Chivas USA (52pts)
10:30pm ET/7:30pm ET
TV: Fox Soccer Channel (30-min pre & post), FSE
This should be the best game of the weekend. Houston needs a win to take the West and earn home field advantage in the conference final. Chivas has only lost once all season at home but it was last week to a 10-man Colorado side. With Ante Razov out for Chivas, their attack has taken a big hit. In fact, their overall possession game is not looking like it once did, which will provide Houston with some room. However, the Dynamo are missing a proven center back, which, along with the hole still being caused by Ricardo Clark’s suspension, could damage their push. Unless someone goes up by three early, look for a full 90-minute experience with this one. One final note, could this be the game that decides who wins goalkeeper of the year? Brad Guzan is fun to watch but Pat Onstad is the old pro. I’m really looking forward to this match.
Predictions: Me HD 2-1 CV, Wife HD 0-2 CV

Beckham Galaxy (34pts) vs. Blanco Fire (37pts)
Sunday - 3pm ET/12pm PT
TV: Telefutura
At this moment, this game is a major playoff showdown, but if Colorado and Kansas City win, it will not be worth so much to LA. Oh, have you heard that Beckham and Blanco will face off in this one? Seems like MLS would want to promote that somewhere. Anyway, LA have the best current run in MLS which is amazing since they are only playing average ball. Meanwhile the Fire are giving us some fun games but are killing themselves by not making anything of their chances and allowing in late goals. With the Galaxy still having a horrible time passing the ball and clearing the ball out of the final third, Chicago should have the needed chances to put the game away. That is why I suspect that LA will win. It just seems like Chicago will blow their chances and LA will sneak in a couple.
Predictions: LA 3-1 CF, Wife LA 1-1 CF

So here are our predictions for the teams that will make the playoffs this weekend:
Me: Chicago and LA with Houston winning the West
Wife: Rapids and Chicago with Chivas winning the West

Labels: 2007 MLS Playoffs, 2007 MLS Predictions, MLS

Source: mysoccerblog.blogspot.com

By: Craig Mecham

The experts are telling us two things these days. First, we don’t get enough exercise. We sit-a lot! We sit at our desks, on our couches, at our tables, in our cars, at restaurants and much more. Now, mind you, sitting is not altogether a bad thing, the problem is that we’ve got the whole sitting thing out of balance. We sit too much. The result is that we’re all becoming fat!

It seems that in our modern world, we just don’t move around like we used to. We should spend more time running, jogging or even walking. We should be taking more stairs and less escalators. The American Cancer Society reported recently that people who don’t exercise are endangering their health just as much as people who smoke! Not only that, but people who don’t exercise–even a small amount–are twice as likely to get heart disease as people who exercise.

Even back when John F. Kennedy was president, the country recognized that Americans weren’t getting enough exercise. A fad that captivated the nation was walking. Not just walking around the neighborhood, but walking 20, 25 or even 30 miles in a single day. It was such a big deal that there were newspaper articles and news stories about how far people walked in a day. No one is expecting you to walk 30 miles today, but it would be great if we just got outside to play a family game together.

The same experts that tell us we’re getting fat, also tell us that even a small amount of exercise each day has a physically beneficial effect. That’s one reason that outdoor family games are becoming so popular. They are reasonably within reach of even the most tight-fisted consumer, plus they are a good way to add some exercise to our daily routine.

BlongoBall is one game that is becoming increasingly popular all across the nation. It’s easy to set up and fun to play. You don’t need any particular athletic ability so it’s suitable for all ages from grade schoolers to Grandpa and Grandma.

The game is played by tossing a bolo constructed from two golf balls connected with a length of rope. The bolo is tossed at the horizontal rungs of a “ladder” type goal. Scoring is accomplished when the bolo wraps around one of the horizontal rungs. It’s easy to learn and fun to play.

There are many BlongoBall imitators in the “toss it, wrap it, score” game category. BlongoBall is the original and our favorite. We’ve tested most all of these types of games and our preference is for BlongoBall because it is the only one we think is built to last. Some of the cheap imitations broke almost immediately, so be careful when buying a game if this type.

The second thing the experts are telling us is that we don’t spend enough time together as families. Of course this is probably not going to make you lose weight, unless being with your family puts you off your dinner. But an essential part of healthy psychology and parenting is to spend time together not just working and handling the chores involved with running a family, but doing fun things.

This is where outdoor family games are handy things to have around. Most families will respond quickly and easily to a game as easy and fun as BlongoBall. Even teenagers who might normally be less interested in participating in a family activity will usually perk up when the BlongoBall game is set up.

We especially like BlongoBall because it’s easy to talk and interact with each other while playing. It doesn’t require intense concentration but is still demanding enough to maintain the interest of the whole family. Players of all ages and skill levels will want to play. In addition, you can purchase soft rubber ball sets to use indoors, so BlongoBall can be played all year long–even when there’s snow outside!

All in all, outdoor family games are a great idea not only for staying in shape physically, but for keeping your family in shape and emotionally healthy.

Article Source: http://www.articleyard.com

Information about the Author:

Craig Mecham runs a consulting firm during the work day and is a father of six the rest of the time. His family is an ideal test market for outdoor family games. Nothing interferes with their BlongoBall time!
Feel free to grab a unique version of this article from the Uber games article directory

Source: ju-sport.blogspot.com

Drogba: A lot to answer for

After a midweek in which Steve McClaren played Russian roulette with England’s Euro 2008 qualification hopes and proceeded to shoot himself in the foot, it is back to the hurly burly of domestic action this weekend.

A nation may be mourning the likelihood of a summer without international football but thankfully the Premier League, replete with a host of sublime foreigners, should provide the tonic needed.

That said though, it is likely to be British bullishness that wins out over foreign flair in Saturday’s early kick-off, live on Sky Sports 1, as the Merseyside derby sees an out-of-sorts Liverpool travel to Goodison Park.

Rafa Benitez’s famed rotation policy tends to sit well with the Anfield faithful when his side are winning but their recent stutter should see the Spanish tactician go with his strongest side, as Fernando Torres looks to shrug off a knock to make his derby bow.

Avram Grant has endured a tough baptism of fire in the Stamford Bridge hot-seat and it only got hotter this week as Didier Drogba reportedly expressed a desire to quit West London. It will be interesting to note whether the influential Ivorian will start in Chelsea’s trip to Middlesbrough.

Of the top flight clubs least affected by Wednesday’s defeat, it’s likely Arsene Wenger and his players will have lost little sleep, as not one of their squad is a member of McClaren’s team and given Arsenal’s imperious form thus far, the visit of Bolton should pose little concern either.

While Wenger’s side are playing with the cocksure abandon of champions-elect, poor old Bolton looked destined for a long and arduous season having already dispensed with Sammy Lee and a bad week is only likely to get worse in North London.

Bolton have expressed a desire to speak to Steve Bruce but with Birmingham having rejected their approach, the former Manchester United legend must focus on the job in hand; a tough trip to Eastlands to face an in-form Manchester City, whose supporters are sure to give him a lovely reception.

City and in particular the effervescent Elano are proving to be a side to watch this season and they head into the Eastlands clash aware that a win could catapult them to the summit of the table.

Another side looking good for a European berth this season are Mark Hughes’ Blackburn and he will be confident of maintaining an excellent start to the campaign against a Reading side that are experiencing the quintessential difficult second season.

The ever pragmatic Steve Coppell will be well aware the threat of the drop is a real one, and so to will Lawrie Sanchez and Billy Davies, whose Fulham and Derby sides meet at Craven Cottage, in what already looks to be a relegation ’six-pointer’.

Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth look set for a decent campaign and he will be drumming into his players that away games in Wigan are the type of contest they need to take points from, if they are to realise their ambitions.

Saturday’s late kick-off sees champions Manchester United travel to the Midlands to face an Aston Villa side that have demonstrated already this term they are more than capable of competing with the division’s finest.

On Sunday there is just the solitary game as West Ham host Sunderland in a an Upton Park clash that can be seen live on Sky Sports 1.

Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers

Arsenal’s supposed bogey side Bolton have won only one of their last five meetings with the Gunners and have not won in their last nine visits to north London since an FA cup replay win in 1994. Nicolas Anelka has scored six goals in his last seven Premier League appearances against Arsenal - only Everton and Blackburn (seven each) have been on the receiving end more often.

Aston Villa v Manchester United

It is nine hours and 59 minutes since Manchester United last conceded a Premier League goal - the record is held by Chelsea at 17 hours and five minutes. Villa have scored just two goals in the last nine league meetings with United and none in the last five matches at Villa Park

Blackburn Rovers v Reading

Benni McCarthy and David Bentley both scored in Rovers’ last match and in both meetings with Reading last season. Reading are the only side to score more than once against Blackburn in Rovers’ last 14 Premier league games.

Everton v Liverpool

The Merseyside derby has seen more red cards than any other fixture in Premier League history - 14 (eight for Everton and six for Liverpool) - five have come in six Premier League games since Rafa Benitez arrived. In the last 14 meetings, Liverpool have won eight times and there have been red cards in six of those matches while in the six games where Everton have won or the game was drawn, there have been no red cards.

Fulham v Derby County

Derby have scored two goals in each of their last four away trips to Fulham, but have lost three and drawn one, conceding a total of 14 goals. After nine games under Chris Coleman last season, Fulham had six more points than they do this campaign with Lawrie Sanchez at the helm.

Manchester City v Birmingham City

Birmingham have only scored one goal and gleaned one point from eight Premier League visits to Manchester to play City or United. Sven Goran Eriksson’s side are one of two teams with a 100 per cent Premier League home record this season.

Middlesbrough v Chelsea

Boro have won their last two home games against Chelsea. Didier Drogba has scored five goals in five Premier League games against Boro.

Wigan Athletic v Portsmouth

Pompey and Wigan met three times last season in league and cup, with the home side winning by a one-goal margin on all three occasions. Benjani has scored two goals in three league games against Wigan.

West Ham United v Sunderland

The Hammers have drawn only one of the last 22 Premier League games. Sunderland have won only two of their last 41 Premier League away matches.

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Source: www.skysports.com

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton began his quest to secure the Formula One championship by setting the fastest time in opening practice Friday for this weekend’s season ending Brazilian Grand Prix.

Following a damp morning session in which the Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa set the quickest time, Hamilton took advantage of a drying track in the afternoon to post a top lap of 1:12.767.

That was just 12-100ths of a second quicker than teammate and title rival Fernando Alonso, who only turned a single lap in the morning practice due to the damp conditions and did not set a competitive time.

Massa was third quickest, 3-10ths behind Hamilton while Raikkonen settled for the fourth best time of the day, 4-100ths behind his teammate.

Following the session, Hamilton - along with Jenson Button and Takuma Sato - was summoned to see the race stewards after a FIA delegate noticed that the 22 year old had used more than one set of wet weather tires during the first practice.

 

The rules stipulate that "no driver may use more than one set of wet and one set of extreme weather tires during P1 and P2."

McLaren boss Ron Dennis admitted to the "silly mistake" but said no clear advantage had been gained by Hamilton as he did a single installation lap on one of the sets before coming in and having them replaced.

"He only did an in-and-out lap, so there was no advantage, but it was clearly a breach of the rules," said Dennis. "It is up to the stewards to decide on the penalty.

"People make mistakes. I am not trivializing it. It just perhaps shows we are all human. I don’t think anyone will imagine there was any advantage there at all. There is a rule there, we broke it, and we just have to get on with it."

After meeting with the drivers and teams, it was decided that all three teams would be fined $21,000 US for breaking the rules, but no further penalty would be imposed on the drivers, which means Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen will start on a level playing field when qualifying begins Saturday.

The teams were also asked by the stewards to return the tires in question so that they could not benefit in any way from having used them.

Giancarlo Fisichella rounded out the top five followed by Robert Kubica in the BMW-Sauber and the Williams duo of Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima, who will be making his first F1 start this weekend.
 

SECOND PRACTICE Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:12.767 27 2. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:12.889 + 0.122 28 3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:13.075 + 0.308 30 4. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:13.112 + 0.345 30 5. Fisichella Renault (B) 1:13.549 + 0.782 22 6. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:13.587 + 0.820 34 7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:13.655 + 0.888 33 8. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:13.664 + 0.897 38 9. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:13.706 + 0.939 30 10. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:13.785 + 1.018 44 11. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:13.829 + 1.062 29 12. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:13.879 + 1.112 28 13. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:13.892 + 1.125 45 14. Button Honda (B) 1:14.095 + 1.328 44 15. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:14.152 + 1.385 33 16. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:14.179 + 1.412 25 17. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:14.409 + 1.642 37 18. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:14.431 + 1.664 27 19. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:14.477 + 1.710 31 20. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:14.543 + 1.776 35 21. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:15.095 + 2.328 35 22. Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:15.715 + 2.948 32 FIRST PRACTICE Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:19.580 9 2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:20.062 + 0.482 10 3. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:20.829 + 1.249 19 4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:21.064 + 1.484 14 5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:21.121 + 1.541 10 6. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:21.243 + 1.663 22 7. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:21.598 + 2.018 22 8. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.104 + 2.524 12 9. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:22.104 + 2.524 26 10. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:22.250 + 2.670 17 11. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:22.434 + 2.854 23 12. Button Honda (B) 1:22.477 + 2.897 22 13. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.667 + 3.087 16 14. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:22.929 + 3.349 19 15. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:23.248 + 3.668 30 16. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.261 + 3.681 26 17. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:23.551 + 3.971 20 18. Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:24.366 + 4.786 25 19. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1 20. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1 21. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1 22. Fisichella Renault (B) 2 

Source: www.tsn.ca

SURFERS PARADISE, Australia (AP) — Oriol Servia had a solid qualifying performance Friday for a guy who wasn’t expected in Australia.

Servia, a late replacement for Tristan Gommendy on the PKV Racing team, had the fastest provisional qualifying time of 1 minute, 30.862 seconds for the Lexmark Indy 300 on Sunday.

Will Power of Australia was second-fastest in 1:30.895, followed by Justin Wilson of Britain (1:31.365). Sebastien Bourdais crashed for the second time in three days and finished eighth.

Bourdais leads Wilson by 58 points for the Champ Car drivers’ title.

Servia wasn’t supposed to race Down Under, but he replaced the French driver who couldn’t travel to Australia because of an “unresolved business situation,” said PKV team general manager Mark Johnson.

“It was a one-lap shootout at the end,” Servia said. “Although I just changed teams, it’s the same crew I worked with last year, same engineer.”

Servia is guaranteed a front-row position for race, regardless of how he does in the second qualifying session Saturday on the 2.795-mile circuit.

Bourdais’ crash-filled week Down Under continued. Three days after escaping injury after rolling a rally car onto its roof, the 28-year-old French driver hit the wall.

Bourdais, who needs to finish 12th or better Sunday to clinch his fourth straight Champ Car drivers’ title, was not injured in Friday’s mishap. After jumping out of his car, he jogged along the track to an open gate, helmet in hand.

“I just got the tire bundle and broke the suspension,” Bourdais said. “We’ll give it another shot tomorrow.”

The only American drivers in the field this weekend are both rookies. Graham Rahal, the 18-year-old son of three-time series champion Bobby Rahal drives for Newman Haas Lanigan. Alex Figge, a former Champ Car Atlantic driver, is with the Pacific Coast Motorsports.

Rahal, who was on a fast lap when teammate Bourdais crashed to force a caution, was 13th among 17 drivers Friday. Figge finished 15th.

The 33-year-old Servia finished in the top 10 in all but one of his 11 Champ Car starts this year. That included four top-five showings, with a second place at Long Beach and third at San Jose with Forsythe Racing.

In 2005, Servia won the pole and finished fifth, then qualified sixth and led the race in 2006 before a mechanical failure knocked him out.

“Obviously, we have to do it Sunday,” the Spainard said. “I learned that in ‘05.”

Source: www.sportingnews.com

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Minnesota Wild     (5-0-0)     10pts     1st in Northwest Division

2.20 Goals per Game (25th in NHL)

0.80 Goals Against (1st in NHL)

5.3% Power Play (29th in NHL)

90.5% Penalty Kill (4th in NHL)

Top 5 Scorers:

1.  #25 Eric Belanger ~ 2G 3 A = 5pts

2.  #12 Brian Rolston ~ 1G 4A = 5pts

3.  #96 P-M Bouchard ~ 2G 2A = 4pts

4.  #38 Pavol Demitra ~ 1G 3A = 4pts

5.  #10 Marian Gaborik ~ 1G 2A = 3pts

Top 3 Penalty Minutes:

1.  #24 Derek Boogaard ~ 17PIM’s

2.  #92 Branko Radivojevic ~ 16PIM’s

3.  #96 P-M Bouchard ~ 8PIM’s

Goaltenders:

1.  #32 Niklas Backstrom ~ (4-0-0)    1.ooGAA    .959SV%

2.  #29 Josh Harding ~ (1-0-0)    0.00GAA    1.000SV%    

at

Los Angeles Kings    (1-5-0)     2 pts     5th in Pacific Division

2.67 Goals per Game (16th in NHL)

4.50 Goals Against (29th in NHL)

24.2% Power Play (6th in NHL)

76.5% Penalty Kill (24th in NHL) 

Top 5 Scorers:

1.  #13 Mike Cammalleri ~ 6G 2A = 8pts

2.  #11 Anze Kopitar ~ 2G 5A = 7pts

3.  #23 Dustin Brown ~ 2G 3A = 5pts

4.  #24 Alexander Frolov ~ 0G 4A = 4pts

5.  #12 Patrick O’Sullivan ~ 1G 2A = 3pts

Top 3 Penalty Minutes:

1.  #41 Raitis Ivanans ~ 9PIM’s

2.  #3 Jack Johnson ~ 8PIM’s 

3.  #7 Derek Armstrong ~ 8PIM’s

Goaltenders:

1.  #45 Jonathan Bernier ~ (1-3-0)    4.03GAA    .864SV%

2.  #25 Jason Labarbera ~ (0-2-0)    4.50GAA    .827SV%

If the Wild learned anything at all from Sunday’s game, it would be stay out of the penalty box.  Fortunately, all the trips to the penalty box didn’t cost them.  During his post-game press conference, Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire commented on the overabundance of pentalties taken by his team. 

The Los Angeles Kings are once again struggling, and are most likely looking at being the team that hands the Wild (the league’s only undefeated team) their first loss of the season.  Another thing the Wild should have learned over the past few seasons, never, ever take a struggling team lightly.  Tonight’s game, could be the one where the Wild show their weaknesses.

All one has to do is look at the stats.  Even though they’re losing, the Kings can and do score.  While we lead the Kings in the win column, the Kings can do one thing that the Wild usually struggle with, and that is score with the man advantage.  If the Kings want to win, they’re going to have to find a way to keep the Wild in the penalty box.  However, with the way the season has gone, the Kings most likely won’t have to work hard to land them there.  The Wild have a way of getting themselves in trouble without any help from others.

There is a chance of fisticuffs tonight between Wild enforcer, Derek Boogaard and Kings tough guy, Raitis Ivanans.  However, it has been noted that Boogaard doesn’t seem to have the “fight” instinct in him much these days.  Sure, he’ll drop the gloves to send a message to the other team, but he’s not out their aggressively looking for a fight.  In fact, it seems that just his mere presence on the bench is enough to get teams focussing simply on him and not on the rest of the team.  His limited ice time against Edmonton was enough to take the Oilers off their game.  And in Anaheim, Boogaard was simply there to settle an old debt that Brad May owed to the Wild.  While Boogaard continues to work on his fighting skills, one only needs to watch him skate to see that this is an area that he has come leaps and bounds on.  While he will never have the adjectives agile and quick used to describe him, it is clearly evident he has worked on skating and will continue to work on his skating.

Once again, the Wild need to score early and often on this Kings squad if they desire to remain the only undefeated team in the league.  Look for Pavol Demitra to come out strong against his old team.  And in that area, also expect King forward (and former Wild draft pick), Patrick O’Sullivan to do the same.  O’Sullivan managed to score his first NHL goal against the Wild, and so it would only seem right that he will skate hard tonight and try to help his team get their second win of the season.

Also, no bets on who will start in net for the Wild.  If there’s one thing the fans in Minnesota have learned over the tenure of the Wild, is never expect anything.  Lines are never set nor are goaltenders.  While many expected to see Niklas Backstrom against Anaheim, many were pleased to see Josh Harding shut out the Ducks.  Jacques Lemaire could decide to see what Harding is made of by having him play two games in a row or he could simply go back to Backstrom, having given him a night off.  Either way, expect strong goaltending tonight.

It will be interesting to see which Wild team comes out tonight.  The one that comes on strong and stays strong.  Or the one that stumbles early and has to play catch-up the rest of the night.  Wild coaches and fans certainly hope it’s the former rather than the latter.  We’ll just have to wait and see (and with a 9:30pm start in Minnesota, we’ll have to wait even longer). 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 11:24 am and is filed under 2007-08 Game Reports & Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: mvn.com

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Last Spring, the Minnesota Wild felt the disappointment of falling in the playoffs for a 2nd time to the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. To literally add insult to injury the Wild felt abused in the series which capped off by an ugly sucker punch by Brad May to unsuspecting Minnesota defenseman Kim Johnsson sending him to the ice with a concussion. May would receive a pathetic 3 game suspension, and Minnesota was bounced in Game 5. Since that defeat, the Minnesota Wild and its fans have had this game circled on their calendar. A chance at least in small part revenge. Wild fans have been salivating at the chance of the Wild giving some serious payback to the ‘Dirty’ Ducks. Will they get some level of redemption tonight?

Right from the first shift, you could feel the tension in the air at Honda Centre perhaps personified by Wes Walz putting a good check on Anaheim’s Travis Moen near the Ducks’ bench. Both teams were wary of the other’s top lines, but it was the Wild carrying most of the play throughout the first half of the period. The Wild would earn an early power play when the hated Brad May was called for hooking. On the man advantage the Wild work the puck around the perimeter rather well; with Marian Gaborik drawing the defense down low before finding Brent Burns all alone in the slot. Burns got the puck and fired a wrister that found the outside of the pipe, a big opportunity missed by the young rugged defenseman. The Wild would also generate some point blasts from Kurtis Foster, including one laser that found Todd Marchant’s skate having the Buffalo, New York-native limping. As the period would go on, things would step up physically, and Derek Boogaard would drop the gloves with Brad May. The much smaller May must be given credit for accepting Boogaard’s challenge but it was a clear mismatch. May tried to just hold on and put his head as far away from Boogaard’s long reach as possible. Boogaard was firing right hands landing a few on the back of May’s head, and then pummeling the body to try to open him up for a big haymaker. Yet, the veteran May was happy to let his body take the beating and eventually the officials stepped in to prevent a massacre. The Wild would get into some penalty trouble and rather quickly there were two Wild players in the box, Brian Rolston and Keith Carney respectively. Yet, this is not the hyper lethal Ducks power play of a year ago, its the rather ordinary power play but they still have some firepower from two rather potent point shots from Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin. Both Pronger and Beauchemin would launch blasts at Josh Harding who was sharp tonight. Harding demonstrated tremendous rebound control, and preventing the Ducks from getting the 2nd chances they were so good at taking advantage of last season. The Wild’s penalty kill would manage to kill off the 2-man advantage, but the chippiness was still very evident. After a fairly benign looking shot by Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf he gave a small shove to Kim Johnsson and this caused Nick Schultz to come to his defense and the gloves came off. Nick Schultz is certainly not your usual fighter for the Wild, but he isn’t afraid to scrap from time to time. The two had a fairly intense close-in struggle but neither were able to really launch big punches at one another before Getzlaf finally wrestled the feisty Schultz to the ice. Throughout the period the Wild were bailed out by the great goaltending of Josh Harding who did a great job of corraling the loose pucks near the crease and the game would be knotted at 0-0 going into the 2nd.

Early in the 2nd period, just past the two-minute mark the Wild’s Brian Rolston was given a lot of space as the Wild entered the Ducks zone and he rocketed a slapper that blazed past Jean-Sebastien Giguere to find the twine putting the Wild up 1-0. The Wild seemed to have figured out a few holes in the Ducks’ defensive coverage and they started generating more scoring chances on Giguere. The Wild almost added to their lead off a nice rush by the team’s 4th line but Stephane’s Veilleux’s shot at a wide open net (since Giguere was sprawled helpless in front of the crease) instead caught a Anaheim defenseman deflected out. On the same play Anaheim’s Shane Hnidy was cross-checking Derek Boogaard voraciously, and the Boogeyman turned and challenged the defenseman but he wasn’t interested and his teammate the mustached George Parros stepped in instead. Parros and Boogaard would trade some big punches but perhaps a bit winded from his first fight Derek Boogaard lost his balance twice but neither fighter was able to connect on any big right hands.

A few minutes after Rolston’s goal the Wild would again find themselves in penalty trouble, resulting in another long 2-man advantage for Anaheim. Minnesota’s penalty kill, led by the steady goaltending of Josh Harding would step up to the challenge to frustrate another big opportunity for the Ducks. During the 2-man advantage Rob Niedermayer took his stick to Josh Harding’s jaw but there was no call at all, it was pretty blatent. The Wild perhaps feeling a bit lucky after killing of the 2nd two-man advantage in the game the 3rd line would chip in a big goal just past the mid-way point. Mikko Koivu would skate into the zone and give a nice pass to Branko Radivojevic would would skate near the goal-line before delivering a great cross-ice pass to Mark Parrish who buried the chance to put the Wild up 2-0. The State of Hockey was playing pretty smart hockey, despite the terrible ice quality at the Honda Centre that seemed to be about half empty despite being “sold out.” The Ducks seemed to be frustrated by the Wild’s pesky play, and Minnesota would skated into the 3rd with a 2-0 lead.

The 3rd period would start with the Wild would get an early power play. The Wild would work the puck well from the point, and almost cashed in on setting up Mark Parrish who was inexplicably left alone in the the slot area. Parrish rifled a shot at Giguere that he kicked aside. Yet about mid-way through the Wild power play Kurtis Foster recieved an elbow to the head by Rob Niedermayer; after an initial elbow the did not even react until Foster gave Niedermayer a good shove and soon both officials were in trying to break up the frakas near the Wild bench. The result? Off-setting minors? Seems a bit silly considering the elbow came well before Foster even pushed him back. The questionable call aside, the Wild seemed content to check the Ducks closely and not allowing them to get set offensively. However, the officials seemed to want to give the game to the Ducks and would make a marginal call on Pierre-Marc Bouchard. The Wild’s penalty kill, well worked handled the situation with great poise and shut down another Ducks’ man advantage. Minnesota played a very patient and safe third period even as the puck was bouncing all over the place on the 7-11 Shlushy-type ice in Anaheim. The Ducks kept trying to crash the net on Harding, but the Regina, Saskatchewan-native persevered managing to find and stop the puck despite screens, players hitting him, and odd bounces off the boards. A late too-many men penalty would effectively crush the Ducks’ hopes at getting back into the game and Minnesota would win 2-0.

Tonight’s game was another strong effort for the Minnesota Wild. The Wild demonstrated great positioning and that paid huge dividends in denying the Ducks prime scoring chances. The State of Hockey got tremendous goaltending from Josh Harding who had 37 saves along with the shutout, the 3rd of the season for the team thus far. Another big key was the Wild’s penalty kill which stood tall to kill off two long 5-on-3’s as well as seven other Ducks power plays. The Wild will not want to give the Ducks that many power play chances again but so far its power play again appears to be one of the best in the league. Minnesota stepped up to the challenge physically and did not let the Anaheim Ducks intimidate them, and that bodes well for a team that has set its goal as being a team that goes far in the post-season. It may not be total redemption for the Wild just yet but fans across the State of Hockey can always find a reason to celebrate a victory over the much hated Anaheim Ducks. 

Wild Notes:

~ Wild lineup tonight was as follows: Marian Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Brian Rolston, Mark Parrish, Mikko Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Branko Radivojevic, James Sheppard, Derek Boogaard, Stephane Veilleux, Eric Belanger, Nick Schultz, Martin Skoula, Keith Carney, Kurtis Foster, Kim Johnsson, Brent Burns, and Niklas Backstrom backed up Josh Harding. Matt Foy, Dominic Moore, and Petteri Nummelin were healthy scratches for tonight’s game.

~ The 3 Stars of the Game were: 1st Star Josh Harding, 2nd Star Travis Moen (why?), 3rd Star Chris Pronger (why?).

~ I know the game was announced as a sellout for the Ducks, but it was impossible not to notice the arena seemed to be half empty, so much for the big crowds to cheer on the defending Stanley Cup Champions!?!?

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 14th, 2007 at 8:47 pm and is filed under 2007-08 Game Reports & Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: mvn.com

By: Steve Lobe

Do you find that amongst the people you know, some are just Law of Attraction Magnets? Like magnets attracting pins to it, everything - wealth, health, great jobs, excellent relationships, love and happiness - seems to leap and land on their laps. They live their lives as if there are no limits and nothing can stop them. And yet, we all know, some of us continue in our struggle to get by each day. We attract nothing but the opposite of what these Law of Attraction Magnets get.

Do you want to know why they are such Abundance Magnets?

I took upon myself to examine such people and I found 3 consistent traits amongst these prosperous people. And I am going to tell you what they are so you can become like them!

It begins with a change in mindset. A change in the way you think. A change in the way you feel and act. If you want a transformation in your life, you must do it.

Here are three major factors to a life of abundance:

1) Live and Follow your Passions.

Do you realize that successful and prosperous people do not settle for the same mundane things over and over again?

They never sit still. They are overachievers, living life with adventure and zest. They do not settle for boring jobs… they look for interesting ones. They do not just settle for normal sports like tennis or golf…. they scuba dive or rock climb. They just want to experience life to the fullest and consider it a crime to settle for less.

What about us? Are we any different? Can we be like them? It is possible. One quick way to start is by thinking what drives you? What makes your pulse raise or blood pressure go up? Maybe it was something you did in your childhood? Or something that you really enjoy doing now?

You can think of new ideas. But often that is most difficult. But the key is to be open to new things. Look around, take a walk, or go to the library. There must be something that excites you. You just have to discover what you knew all the time… your passion.

2) Believe in Wonderful Possibilities.

The old saying, “The richer get richer” is certainly true for the Law of Attraction Magnets. It is because when they have achieved something, they do not consider that that is enough and strives for more.

Their belief of their unlimited potential and possibilities drives them to snatch at every opportunity that comes their way.

Start increasing your awareness by allowing yourself to feel that everything is possible in your life. Your life is not static but is in a constant state of dynamic flux - nothing, ever, stays the same. Keep this affirmation.

Be prepared to change. When you take advantage of all the opportunities to improve your life, you will naturally attract more opportunities.

3) Believe You Deserve It.

Basically, people fail in the Law of Attraction because they think that it is not possible for them to receive all the goodness in their lives because they do not deserve it.

These people leading abundant lives are always certain that they deserve what they get. They welcome all the blessings with open arms. But they remember to do so with gratefulness and grace.

People do not know they have a ‘Worth’ issue until they think about it. What is your reaction when you are complimented? Do you accept with grace or you dismiss it?

Well… I was the latter and did not fully appreciate that I was capable of much much more.

But this friend showed me that if I was in the habit of rejecting compliments or any goodness in any form, I might have an unspoken belief that I did not deserve any of those things.

And that was when I slowly changed my mind to start accepting gratefully the goodness and abundance others showed me.

Believe in yourself. And believe that you deserve much much more than what you have now. Repeat this affirmation daily.

More importantly, be humble and accept with gratitude for the blessings that come you way. When good things come - embrace them!

Believe me. If you keep these 3 factors in mind daily and practice them, you will turn yourself into a Law of Attraction Magnet, attracting all the things you desire in life.

Article Source: http://www.articleyard.com

Information about the Author:

Grab a free report that shows you how to turbocharge the Law of Attraction in your life. Steve Lobe runs a blog at www.AbundanceLaw.com to help fit the missing puzzles of the Law of Attraction.
This and other unique content Law of Attraction articles are available with free reprint rights.

Source: ju-sport.blogspot.com