Watching my 73rd CFL football game of the year, I must say I saw things I have never seen.
Vans Store Near Me . The Eastern Semi-Final was not a well-played football game, a point I know may seem obvious. And if the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are to move on to the Grey Cup, they must improve or it will be Toronto playing in Canadas football championship for the second year in a row . Again, no kidding, Chris! But in a league that can be criticized and complimented within one paragraph if not one sentence, the 2013 East Semi-Final sure had an original charm all its own. First was the weather. I think I saw everything; the wind was blowing from the North or was it the East, or maybe the West but definitely not the South, I think. There was rain, even some frozen rain and I definitely saw snow at one point. In the second half, the sun came out; thats right, the sun and it looked like it was warming up. But then it started raining a little more and I saw a rainbow over the Alumni Stadium. I have never seen a rainbow over a football field before so I squinted my eyes and yes, there it was. The weather affected the game but the players adjusted and Hamilton adjusted just a little more than Montreal. The only two touchdowns scored by the Ticats were on their last two possessions, one in regulation time and one in overtime. At moments, the Ticats offence looked dreadful but the second to last drive of 97 yards was a work of football art; maybe not the art that the majority of football fans would appreciate but a demonstration of patience in play-calling and execution. Every play of the drive, Montreal came after Burris and every play Burris found the open area and open man and took the team in for a touchdown that, at the time, looked like the game winner. There is aggressive play-calling and execution and then there is patient play-calling and execution. With 5:18 to go to 1:04 to go. it was a lesson in football patience in the extreme as it seemed that every pass was between seven and five yards. I have never seen two different quarterbacks used so frequently with such positive result. In overtime, the first play was Burris, then the next two were Dan Lefevour and then back to Burris for one more and Lefevour for two to win the game. Never seen it before but look forward to seeing it again. For Montreal, the 2013 season can be described in two, perhaps contradictory words: adversity and optimism. From former head coach Dan Hawkins to quarterback Anthony Calvillo to wide receiver Jamel Richardson to offensive guard Scott Flory to running back Brendan Whitaker, the Alouettes were in adjustment mode all year long on offence. But Jim Popp took over for Hawkins, Troy Smith looked pretty good in replacing Calvillo, Duron Carter played effectively for Jamel Richarson, Brian Bomben replaced Scott Flory and Tyrell Sutton looked like Whitaker. Watch out for Montreal next year, they learned a lot and found out a lot that will be beneficial for 2014. In the Western Semi-Final, lets be honest, the Riders almost blew it. BC showed up and played well. Travis Lulay was magnificent and in giving credit where earned, the Lions blockers and pass protectors had their best game of the year. The game changed toward the end of the third quarter because at half-time, BC was winning 17-16 and scored on their first possession of the second half to make it 24-16. The game was theirs to win. Then a critical 2-and-out forced by the Rider defence and a couple of crushing hits turned it into Saskatchewans game to win. The dream lives on. Darian Durant was magnificent, completing 19 of 23 passes or 83 per cent with two touchdowns and no interceptions as well as six runs for 97 yards. On those runs, Durant made a 2nd and 10 into a first down twice and a second and 7 into a first down once. In football, a game of maybe 150 plays can come down to two or three and I thought the three runs by Durant were the game-changing and game-winning plays. For BC, the season was awkward. They had poor red zone defence but great middle field defence. There were blocking issues at times for Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan and six games without Travis Lulay, who was exceptional on Sunday. But the word persists; awkward. So now its Hamilton at Toronto and Saskatchewan at Calgary. And the visiting fans will travel. I doubt I will see a rainbow in the Rogers Centre but Ill be looking for one at McMahon Stadium.
Vans Slip On Cheap . The San Antonio Spurs handled the conditions, and the team, and it sure helped when a suffering LeBron James couldnt make it to the finish.
Vans Old Skool Black Sale . Brad Malone had the other goal for the Monsters (1-1-0), while Elliott chipped in an assist for a three-point night and the games first star. Bryan Lerg also had two assists. Corban Knight and Max Reinhart scored for the Heat (1-1-0), who opened their season Friday with a 5-2 win over the Monsters in Cleveland. LONG POND, Pa. -- Denny Hamlin won the pole the first time he ever raced at Pocono Raceway. Eight years later, Hamlin still had the speed in the No. 11 Toyota to take the top spot at the triangle track. Hamlin turned a track record-lap of 181.415 mph Friday to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup pole, a throwback to the times he dominated qualifying at one of his best tracks. Hamlin is a four-time winner at Pocono, matching his Martinsville mark for most career wins at a track. He swept two Pocono races on its former rugged surface from the pole in 2006. He also won races on the 2 1/2-mile track in 2009 and 2010. "I hope this track has aged a little bit," he said, "because when it was old and worn out was when I was really good at the track." With blistering speeds, Hamlin zipped his way to his second track record and pole of the season after topping the field at Bristol. Hamlin has 19 poles in 304 career Cup starts. Hamlin hasnt had much success with Joe Gibbs Racing at Pocono since 2010, finishing in the top 10 onlt twice and crashing out twice -- including a 43rd-place run last August. "We havent been that strong here since the repave," he said. "Its just a handful of things that make you off here and there. These tracks are almost like superspeedways now in the sense that youve got to have the fastest car in the right position to win them. BBack when I was winning in 06 on the old track, you could make up tons of position.
Vans Shoes Wholesale. That would never happen today because the cars are running so fast and so equal." Kurt Busch starts second for a needed lift for his Stewart-Haas Racing team. Busch has otherwise struggled outside of the one win that all but locked him into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. "We came here with a new approach to try to get our front ends to settle into the track a little better," Busch said. "I was really surprised that we had the speed for the pole today in our first attempt to try something a little different. Its great to cash in." Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon completed the top five. Coming off wins in the Coca-Cola 600 and at Dover, Jimmie Johnson will start 20th in his bid for a third straight victory. "I just got too greedy down in two and lost the nose in the corner exit," Johnson said. "I feel bad for my guys, but this ones on me." Keselowski continued his run of qualifying success. Last weeks pole winner at Dover, Keselowski has started third or better in the No. 2 Ford a whopping 10 times in 13 races this season. "Im not sure why, but Im not going to complain about it either," he said. "It does seem qualifying day has been the highlight of our week, for sure." ' ' '
