when he tried to catch a foul ball as the Cubs came apart

EUGENE, Ore. -- How great would this be for the opening of a What I did during my summer vacation essay?I went to Rio and ran in the Olympics with USA on my chest!Thats a possibility for high-schoolers Michael Norman, Noah Lyles and Candace Hill, all of whom are trying to make the U.S. Olympic team in the 200 meters.Norman beat Justin Gatlin in their semifinal heat at Fridays U.S Olympic track and field trials, edging him by two-hundredths of a second, 20.21 to 20.23. Lyles won his heat in a time of 20.26. Over on the womens side, Hill finished second in the first heat, but her time of 22.93 matched gold medalist Allyson Felixs winning time in the second heat. Norman and Lyles advanced to Saturdays final in the mens 20,0 while Hill advanced to the womens semifinals.We dont need to brag, but were pretty extraordinary, said Lyles, who is from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. We came out here to do our best and definitely try to show off for the crowd. I love putting on shows.The three will all be attempting to make the U.S. Olympic team, something no high-school sprinter has done since 1976.I definitely thought [making the Olympics] was realistic, as long as we came in with the right plan, Lyles said. Weve been training for four years. We have the right team, the right facilities, the right recovery plan. Were coming back at it tomorrow so its definitely paying off because thats two rounds won. One more to go.As the womens hurdles competition showed Friday, finishing in the top three of the finals is no easy task. The high-schoolers will be racing against experienced Olympians, including LaShawn Merritt, who had Fridays best time at 19.74, about a half-second faster than Norman or Lyles. Normans time was the fourth-fastest of the day, while Lyles was sixth, so they will have to improve.We came out here trying to get as far as we can and now were going to the finals, said Norman, who is from Vista Murrieta High School in Murrieta, California. Now its a race to see what happens tomorrow. Its going to be an exciting race and Im looking forward to it.While Lyles and Norman are 18 and graduated this year (they are still officially considered high schoolers by USA Track and Field), Hill is just 17 and will be a high school senior this fall. She said she can see herself competing until she is 30, or long enough to run in the 2028 Olympics.Being 17, I have so much potential, said Hill, who attends Rockdale County High School in Georgia. I have so many years to go faster and improve.After crossing the line in their 200 heat, Norman and Gatlin embraced. Asked what it was like to beat someone of Gatlins age (34) and résumé (2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 100), Young said: I just treat him like any other competitor. I just go out there to compete and try to win.Running against him is a little intimidating, Im not going to lie. Hes huge compared to me. He has man muscles and Im just teeny. Yeah, its a little intimidating, but Im just getting a little more comfortable.Gatlin, who also advanced to the finals, said he hopes he is an inspiration to the younger sprinters. Lyles, meanwhile, wants people to take something from their performances.A lot of people have been coming up and saying, Hey, congrats! to me, Lyles said. I get a lot of messages on Instagram and Twitter. To them I say, Thank you, and you all go out and meet your goal. Dont just watch me, you can do the same thing. Basketball Shoes 2020 . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Basketball Shoes From China . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. https://www.cheapbasketballshoesstore.com/ . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Fake Basketball Shoes . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . Discount Basketball Shoes . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Beyond the viral social media campaign, past the flood of valedictory books and away from the David Parkin documentary about graduates of Alastair Clarksons coaching box, Hawthorn remains a football club vying for an AFL flag this September like all the rest.Three consecutive premierships carry with them a certain level of baggage. Theres the talk of making further history by winning a fourth, and there is also the lionisation of the club for what it has already done. These days the bookstores sport as many tomes about Hawthorn premierships as they once did about football itself. Booming membership has helped spawn a Hawks industry selling, to crib from Cut Copy, a kind of strange nostalgia for the future.At the same time Clarksons record of achievement means he is being hailed and almost fetishised in a manner seldom seen; certainly not since the cult of Kevin Sheedy reached its peak either side of the 2000 season. To watch Parkin interviewing Brendon Bolton, Damien Hardwick, Leon Cameron and Luke Beveridge about Clarkson was to get some insight about the environment he fostered, but it was also to stop and think: hang on, isnt this stuff usually saved for coaches and players in the retired column? With a contract recently extended until 2019, his finish line is some ways off.Certainly Clarkson expressed an air of detachment from the way he and his club have been turned into a museum piece, even as they continue to contend. The great Hawthorn side of the 2010s is not ready to be the subject of historical discussion, even though the conversation has already been going on for quite some time.No. 1, I havent seen it, Clarkson said of Parkins documentary, No. 2, Ive got no control over it and No. 3, theyre all at their different clubs doing what theyre trying to do to help their clubs and were doing what were trying to do in this moment right now and thats win a game of footy. It becomes pretty inconsequential really.Its not hard to imagine him speaking similarly about the video dreamed up by the clubs marketing wing to generate talk about the finals. Staged and CGI-enhanced footage of a Hawk grabbing a snake then dropping it onto a barbecue group of rival supporters - Geelong, natch - went around the world. But it could only have been the product of a club with A) plenty of money to throw around and B) concerns somewhere within the building that these finals campaigns are becoming a bit of old hat.That sort of thinking is anathema to Clarkson, who smiled when noting the bigger than usual turnout of fans and media to the clubs final training session of the week at Waverley. While some of his players have followed the embrace the hunt slogan being used by the aforementioned marketing departmennt and bestowed favouritism on other clubs, Clarkson leavened his enthusiasm for finals with sound logic: Hawthorn are here again, Hawthorn know how to get it done in September, Hawthorn have the experience required to face any finals obstacle.ddddddddddddIm not really too concerned by form lines and that sort of stuff, he said. Youve got to win games of footy in September, not August. Our form in Septembers been pretty strong and if we can reproduce that type of form were going to be hard to beat.You just cope with whatevers put in front of you, you address it. The benefit for this group is, its a really experienced group, theyve had a lot of hurdles over the journey and whatevers put in front of them they usually find a way to get around.Nothing has summed that up more effectively than Hawthorns record in tight games this year. Six of their wins have come in matches decided by fewer than 10 points. While the rapier-like foot skills and ball movement of previous years has been less prevalent, game awareness, composure and sheer bloodyminded determination have been evident in abundance. Finals-winning characteristics.We dont plan to have close games, no-one really does, Clarkson said. You focus on playing your best footy and you hope thats going to get you across the line whether its by a single kick or a couple of kicks in it.But when its presented to us we back our players to be able to cope with whats in front of them and weve been able to do that numerous times over the course of this year and indeed over the last five or six years. Well see what happens but its likely to be pretty close tomorrow night, so hopefully we can handle those scenarios pretty well again.Much of the Hawthorn story has been forged through meetings with Geelong, the club with which it has wrestled for AFL supremacy over much of the past decade. Walking into the MCG on Friday night there will be a sensation of more history about to be made, another chapter for all those books, another moment for the likes of Parkin and others to put into context.Clarkson and his players will, in time, join in the merry-go-round of history, marketing and discussion. But they want to stave off their own period of reflection by keeping things going this September. A premiership is a premiership, four in a row or not.Its been spoken aENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Trevor Siemian got the day off but only as a precaution.Rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch ran the Denver Broncos offense at practice Wednesday with Austin Davis also getting some work in while Siemian watched from the sideline and gave his bruised left shoulder another day to heal.With what we did today, I think the other guy needed all of the reps, coach Gary Kubiak said. Trevor didnt need those reps.Siemian said he hopes to practice Thursday and certainly plans to be under center Sunday when the Broncos (4-0) host the Atlanta Falcons (3-1).Ill see how I feel in the morning, he said.Kubiak is prepared to give Lynch his first NFL start if he has to, although hes said he would be OK with giving Siemian the nod even if he isnt able to practice during the week.Id take it all the way to game day. I trust Trevor, Kubiak said. He knows exactly what were doing and hes very bright. Hes on top of everything today. Hes a part of the walk-throughs and everything that were doing so hes on top of everything. Well just see where hes at physically.Lynch was impressive in relief Sunday, throwing for 170 yards and a touchdown in sealing Denvers 27-7 win at Tampa after Siemian got hurt.Siemian, the 250th overall draft pick in 2015, has outdueled top overall picks Cam Newton, Andrew Luck and Jameis Winston along with Andy Dalton, a second-round pick, in his first month as Peyton Mannings successor .Siemian said hes seen the hit he got hurt on just before halftime but doesnt begrudge Buccaneers defensive tackle Clinton McDonald for flinging him to the turf.Hes bringing me to the ground and I just fell funny, Siemian said.Siemian said he figures hell have to work through both the pain and the physical limitations whenever he does return to the field.I feel better than I was yesterday, so I havent tried to do too much, Siemian said.Kubiak held a three-way QB competition this offseason but Siemian and veteran Mark Sanchez quickly separated themselves from Lynch, who slowly adjusted from the spread style he ran at Memphis to Kubiaks West Coast offense with is thick playbook that Lynch compared to a phone book.Hes much improved as far just handling himself, handling the huddle and those types of things, Kubiak said. His confidence throwing the ball and stuff, hes always had that. Just handling all of the aspects walking in here today, getting a game plan thats different than the one he had last week. He adjusts a little quicker so I think hes just more confident in his ability each week to refocus, start over and get ready to play.Lynch said he figured hed get his shot to run the offense Wednesday.It feels good to get more reps, Lynch said. Im just doing the best that I can in case I do play on Sunday.Kubiak insisted he was preparing one game plan for whichever QB starts.You dont tweak game plans, he said. You plan to play.Running back C.J. Anderson said Lynchs growth over the last few weeks means coaches dont have to dial it down for him.You can just tell the preparation from OTAs and from training camp all the way to now that it gives us the opportunity to not go and be conservative, to go run our offense the way we want to run it, Anderson said. Thats probably the biggest area hes improved in. As far as all the intangibles, the arm strength and getting out of trouble with his feet, hes been born with those. His preparation and understanding the offense better you can actually see that.The Broncos dealt with musical chairs at quarterback on their way to winning Super Bowl 50, so this is nothing new.Were confident with anybody we got back there, Anderson said.The Broncos have won an NFL-best nine consecutive games and theyve done it while playing four QBs: Manning, Brock Osweiler, Siemian and Lynch.A great defense always helps, Anderson said, and then the 10 guys on offense doing their job to make the quarterbacks job easier. People say its a quarterback-driven league, and all our quarterbacks have played well with their opportunity. If we continue to do our job the way we know we can do it, it makes their job that much easier.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton Vapormax Plus Pas Cher . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Vapormax Pas Cher Ebay . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. 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And with his throw to first for the final out, the agonizing wait `til next year was over at last.No more Billy Goat, no more Bartman, no more black-cat curses.For a legion of fans who waited a lifetime, fly that W: Your Chicago Cubs are World Series champions.Ending more than a century of flops, futility and frustration, the Cubs won their first title since 1908, outlasting the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in 10 innings of a Game 7 thriller early Thursday.They even had to endure an extra-inning rain delay to end the drought.It happened. It happened. Chicago, it happened, first baseman Anthony Rizzo said after gloving the ball for the final out. We did it. Were world champions. I tell ya, were world champions. I cant believe it.Rizzo put that final ball in his pocket as the Cubs piled up in the middle of the diamond, David Ross got carried off the field by his teammates and Bill Murray partied in the clubhouse.And the whole time, blue-clad fans who traveled from Wrigley Field filled nearly the entire lower deck behind the Chicago dugout at Progressive Field, singing Go, Cubs, Go! in rain. They held up those white flags with the large blue W on a night many of their forebears had waited for in vain.Lovable losers for generations, the Cubs nearly let this one get away, too. All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman blew a 6-3 lead with two outs in the eighth when Rajai Davis hit a tying, two-run homer.But the Cubs, after tormenting their fans one more time, came right back after a 17-minute rain delay before the top of the 10th.Series MVP Ben Zobrist hit an RBI double and Miguel Montero singled home a run to make it 8-6. Davis delivered an RBI single with two outs in the bottom half, but Mike Montgomery closed it out at 12:47 a.m., and the celebration was on.I think about so many millions of people giving so much love and support to this team for so many years, said owner Tom Ricketts, whose family bought the team in 2009.Manager Joe Maddons team halted the longest stretch without a title in baseball, becoming the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals.This is an epic game. Its epic. I cant believe we were able to do it -- 108 years in the making, Zobrist said. We did it.They never quit, either, Zobrist said. They kept coming at us.Cleveland was trying to win its first crown since 1948, but manager Terry Franconas club lost the last two games at home.World Series favorites since spring training, Chicago led the majors with 103 wins this season.The Cubs then ended more than a century of misery for their loyal fans -- barely. Bryant, one of Chicagos young stars, began to celebrate even before fielding a grounder by Michael Martinez to third base and throwing it across to Rizzo for the last out.Its the best rain delay of all-time, Rizzo said.Zobrist got a Series-high 10 hits, a year after he helped the Royals win the championship. Zobrist was among the players brought to the Cubs by Theo Epstein, the baseball guru who added another crown to his collection. He also assembled the Red Sox team that broke Bostons 86-year drought by winning in 2004.From Curse of the Bambino to the Billy Goat Curse, he ended another jinx.We dont need a plane to fly home, Epstein said. Its fitting its got to be done with one of the best games of all time.Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward had called a meeting during the rain delay, talking to his teammates in the weight room.I just had to remind everybody who we are, what weve overcome to get here, he said.While Cubs fans hugged with delight, there was only despair for the Indians, who now have gone longer than anyone without a crown. In the Indians previous World Series appearance, they were a double-play grounder from winning the 1997 title before losing Game 7 in 11 innings to the Marlins.Its going to hurt. It hurts because we care, but they need to walk with their head held high because they left nothing on the field, Francona said.Earlier this year, LeBron James and the Cavalliers ended Clevelands 52-year championship drought by overcoming a 3-1 deficit to beat Golden State for the NBA title.dddddddddddd James and teammates were in a suite, rooting hard, as the Indians absorbed the same blow as the Warriors.After defeating San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs, Chicago became the first team to earn a title by winning Games 6 and 7 on the road since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.Dexter Fowler homered on Corey Klubers fourth pitch of the game, and 23-year-old Javier Baez and the 39-year-old Ross -- set to now retire -- also went deep for the Cubs, who led 5-1 in the fifth inning and 6-3 in the eighth.Chapman wound up with the win, and Montgomery got one out for his first save in the majors.Bryan Shaw, who gave up a leadoff single to Kyle Schwarber in the 10th, took the loss in just the fourth Game 7 that went to extra innings.Albert Almora Jr., pinch-running for Schwarber, alertly took second on Bryants long fly to center. Rizzo was intentionally walked, and Zobrist slapped an opposite-field double past diving third baseman Jose Ramirez. Montero singled to make it a two-run lead.Then in the bottom half, Carl Edwards Jr. struck out Mike Napoli, Ramirez grounded out, Brandon Guyer walked and Davis hit an RBI single. Montgomery took over, and helped set off a wild celebration on Chicagos North Side.Even a dedicated White Sox fan could appreciate the victory.It happened: (at)Cubs win World Series. Thats change even this South Sider can believe in. Want to come to the White House before I leave? President Barack Obama tweeted.Twenty-one other teams had won the World Series since the Cubs last were champions. They reached the top again on the 39,466th day after Orval Overalls three-hit shutout won the 1908 finale at Detroit in a game that took 1 hour, 24 minutes -- this latest Game 7 lasted 4:24, not including the rain delay.Back then, Theodore Roosevelt was president, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states, and the first Ford Model T car was two weeks old.The Cubs were last champions when Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance won consecutive titles in 1907-08, until now the only ones in team history. The Cubbies had not even reached the Series since 1945.This one was for Ernie Banks, Ferguson Jenkins, Ron Santo and Billy Williams, who never reached the postseason.For Gabby Hartnett, Ryne Sandberg and Greg Maddux, whose October runs fell short.For Lee Elia and the nickle-dime people who spent so many wind-swept afternoons in the Friendly Confines watching loss after loss.For Bill Veeck, who planted ivy vines against Wrigley Fields outfield walls.For William Sianis, the Billy Goat Tavern owner said to have proclaimed when he was asked to leave Wrigley with his pet during the `45 Series: Them Cubs, they aint gonna win no more.For Steve Bartman, whose life was upended when he tried to catch a foul ball as the Cubs came apart in the 2003 playoffs.And for Harry Caray, who promised viewers after the 1991 finale that sure as God made green apples, someday the Chicago Cubs are going to be in the World Series.Maddon, hired before the 2015 season, won his first Series title after establishing a loose clubhouse that featured at times Warren the pink flamingo, Simon the magician and the motto: Try not to suck.It was just an epic battle, Zobrist said. Just blow for blow, everybody playing their heart out. The Indians never gave up, either, and I cant believe were finally standing, after 108 years, finally able to hoist the trophy.PEN PALSThis was the first World Series in which no starting pitcher got at least one out in the seventh inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The only other in which no starter finished at least seven innings was in 2002, when San Franciscos Russ Ortiz threw 6 1/3 innings in Game 6.UP NEXTClevelands spring training opener is scheduled for Feb. 26 against the Cubs in Mesa, Arizona. ' ' 'bout less than last year to be fair, amongst both our coaches and our players, Clarkson said. It hasnt been something thats been used one bit at this point. We know weve got a formidable opponent tomorrow night and that sort of stuff is still a fair way down the track for us. ' ' '