GLASSgnawer

[Bellroll33]

It was a day not unlike today, eight years later this month, when Toronto FCs hierarchy guided the citys media to the top of the CN Tower to introduce their four newest signings and talk about their plans for their opening season in Major League Soccer. Everyone who spoke on behalf of the club that cold, sunny November day have long since departed, yet the team they helped create is still holding press conferences in the eleventh month of the year and not playing games. TFC is still searching for the formula that can find them on the field for a playoff game in November but one thing they have no problem organizing is a press conference in November. It was four years ago this month that they teased the city with the hiring of a certain consultant called Jürgen Klinsmann and two years ago this month that they hired Kevin Payne to run the club. Our mission should be that in 2014 we are in the playoffs, pushing to have the best record in the East, said Payne. By 2015, obviously, we want to be looked at as one of the top teams in the league. Obviously. Payne was supposed to be the man the club needed, a proven winner, we were told, who was an expert in MLS, or so we were told. Less than 24 months on, his press conference looks as ludicrous as all of the others the club has had during their brief eight-year existence. Words, tossed aside on to the growing mound of empty promises after another project and plan went array. It was impossible not to think about this clubs history in Novembers on Friday when the team called its most recent press conference. Sitting at the top table talking to the citys media was Michael Bradley, an American international midfielder who this club could only have dreamed of getting just last November. A year on, Bradley stands for much more than being a single, albeit designated player, member of Toronto FCs player staff. The 27-year-old is the remaining face of a winter of fantasies for the clubs fan base. He was unveiled as one third of a holy trinity of DPs yet less than a year later one is more than likely staying in England and not coming back while another hasnt yet proved he deserves such a tag of quality. That leaves Bradley all alone. It is a path that has led him to addressing the media about the season just gone. Another November press conference. Yet, this one feels different. For a quiet, seemingly shy man, you can always count on Bradley to think before he speaks. Its a motto that youd be hard pressed to say about many others who have spoke on behalf of this club on a November day. We realize we have to get better, improve and find the right ways to make ourselves better, he said on Friday. That is going to include bringing in new players and certain guys moving on. We need to find a way to get the right sorts of players in and the right sorts of men in. We need more quality, who in a football sense, can add something but we also need more guys with personality, more leaders, more competitors, more men. Although it is yet to be decided, such a group is unlikely to include Jermain Defoe. With Jermain, inside the locker room, there were never any issues. For me, he needs to decide where he is in his life, in his career and what he wants. He has to figure out what he wants from his career, his life. As a player I hope the best possible decision for everybody can be made and that he is focused and comfortable wherever he is. Bradleys own tenure at the club has not gone completely smoothly and in a World Cup year he remains in the middle of an awkward club vs country triangle as head coach Greg Vanney admitted last month. Ive spoken to Jürgen, and most of the conversation, to be fair, was Jürgen telling me how he thinks Michael should be played, Vanney revealed last month. My conversations are more with Michael and how Michael feels he should be played. We are with the player on a daily basis and we have a rapport and a relationship with the player on a daily basis and how they train and how they work. I think Jürgen feels like hes a player who should be higher up the field, Vanney added. But I dont know that Jürgen and Michael see things exactly eye-to-eye. So I work more closely with Michael than Jürgen in that realm. It is not a coincidence that Vanney, a man still trying to prove to some that he is the man to lead the club forward, chose Bradley as the lightning rod subject to publicly reveal leadership qualities. Vanney knows he is lucky to have Bradley at this club and it is imperative for him to ensure he puts the midfielder in a position that he is comfortable in. Bradley chose not to unveil, publicly, where he prefers to play in midfield but is clear that he is comfortable under Vanney. I have a very clear idea how I can best help the team, Bradley admits but once again he turned the conversation away from him and stressed the importance of a united group on and off the field. With Greg here there is an understanding of what we are about and how things need to be better. We need to make sure the balance is right. We cant fall into a trap that a number ten, or one guy, will fix everything. Dont misunderstand me, in no way does this team need to be blown up. Things didnt go the way any of us hoped this year. We werent good enough but to stand the test of time every part of what we do here has to be better. That is the tone and the mentality we have every day. Bradley, when talking about Defoe, gave the clearest indication yet about the message he can bring to the current and future players of this club. I am a firm believer in life that you have to find things that you are passionate about and you have to be then ready to go all in. Ideally you want to do that with people who have that same mentality, hunger and commitment and if you dont have that feeling and that focus and commitment to do something then its going to be difficult to ever enjoy yourself and be all in. Somehow I dont think that November quote will be thrown on to the empty promises pile in the future. It remains early days but at least one high-profile TFC designated player remains all in. Greg Maddux Braves Jersey . The third baseman whipped the ball across the diamond to second baseman Aaron Hill. He quickly tossed it to shortstop Chris Owings, who flipped over his shoulder to left fielder Cody Ross. Brian McCann Jersey . Unfortunately for Toronto, that surge was too much to handle as the Stars scored six straight goals and ended the Marlies season with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday. Toronto had built a 2-0 lead on goals by Frazer McLaren and Peter Holland, but Texas charged back with a wild rally late in the second period to spark its trip to the Calder Cup final. http://www.baseballbravesproshop.com/babe-ruth-braves-jersey/ .com) - Semyon Varlamov more than earned his third shutout of the season as he made a career-high 54 saves to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Josh Donaldson Braves Jersey . They wanna make t-shirts about it and sell them at our next hockey game..DB: Wow, they want to make t-shirts? That sounds pretty amazing.MS: Yeah, I was also on the Top 10, I was number 1 today, so that was pretty cool. Nick Markakis Jersey .com) - Former foes from the Mountain West Conference battle in the 23rd annual Las Vegas Bowl, as the 23rd-ranked Utah Utes clash with the Colorado State Rams at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday. PORTLAND, Ore. -- After Portland had withstood a late barrage from the Indiana Pacers and Paul George, the Trail Blazers gathered at midcourt and raised their hands together. It might be early in the season, but this was a statement win for the Blazers. LaMarcus Aldridge had 28 points and 10 rebounds and Portland downed Indiana 106-102 Monday night, snapping the Pacers seven-game winning streak. Damian Lillard added 26. "It was a tough one, and we knew it was going to be a tough one going in," Lillard said. "Theyre a good team, they only had one loss. But were a good team too, and we wanted to prove that." Paul George had a career-high 43 points for Pacers (16-2), who own the NBAs best record. The Blazers pulled in front early in the fourth quarter, but the Pacers kept it close and George hit consecutive 3-pointers that narrowed it to 98-96 with 1:37 left. Lillard answered with a 3-pointer and Nicolas Batum made a pair of free throws for the Blazers before George hit another 3-pointer that got Indiana within 103-99 with 21 seconds to go. Lillard hit free throws and George made yet another 3 with 10 seconds left to make it 105-102, but the Pacers couldnt get closer. Portland (15-3) is off to its best start since the 1998-99 season. "I really wanted to get this win," said George, one of just four Indiana players to score 43 or more points in a game since 2000. "I was trying to will us into the game." Both teams were playing the second of a back-to-back. The Blazers beat the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 114-108, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Lakers at the Staples Center. The Pacers (16-2) were coming off a 105-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday to open a five-game road trip. "Theyre a great offensive team and they made big shots all game long," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said of Portland. "Hopefully thats what its going to take to beat this team -- making impossible shot after impossible shot." Earlier Monday, the NBA named Vogel the Eastern Conference coach of the month for November. Portlands Terry Stotts was named coach of the month for the Western Conference. The Pacers went 15-1 in November and opened the season with a nine-game winning streak for the best start in franchise history. The Bllazers went 13-3 under Stotts to start the season, including an 11-game winning streak.dddddddddddd While Stotts acknowledged it was a big win, he stopped short of the whole "statement" thing. "We played the most complete game from beginning to end: Execution, effort, mental focus. All of those things," he said. "But I dont believe you play statement games in December. George had a 14-foot jumper that gave the Pacers an early 20-11 lead, but the Blazers hung close through the first half. Mo Williams, who helped Portland keep up with seven points, had three fouls and was sent to the bench. The Blazers finished out the first half with a 9-3 run to get within 46-45 at the break. Aldridges dunk pulled Portland within 59-54 midway through the third quarter, but George answered with an 18-foot jumper on the other end for Indiana. Orlando Johnsons 3-pointer extended the lead to 64-56 and it looked as if the Pacers were pulling away. But Aldridge hit a flat 20-foot jumper and made a free throw and Joel Freeland dunked to even it at 70. Lillard hit a 3-pointer and the Blazers took a 75-72 lead, their first of the game. Portland went up 86-78 on Wesley Matthews 3-pointer to make it 86-78. Matthews was asked afterward what the win meant: "That were a pretty damn good team," he replied. It was Aldridges 14th game this season with 20 or more points. The two-time All-Star has eight double-doubles this season. "Theyre good," Aldridge said. "I just had one of those nights." NOTES: It was Portland guard Lillards 100th career game. He is third NBA player ever to start his first 100 games. ... Among those at the game was Portland native Galen Rupp, who won the silver in the 10,000 metres at the London Olympics. ... Former Blazers coach Nate McMillan is an assistant to Vogel in Indiana. ... It was just the second time Indiana had given up 100 points this season. ... The Blazers are 8-0 this season against Eastern Conference teams. ... Indianas David West reached his 11,000th career point in the second quarter. West, a 10-year veteran, finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists. ... George Hill matched his career high with 11 assists. ... Pacers starter Lance Stephenson fouled out with just under 5 minutes left. ' ' '

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