It was an early start this morning, travel days are always the worst! We meet at our training base in Guildford before heading off to the airport for the fourth leg on our World Rugby HSBC Women’s Sevens Series, this time in Atlanta. Travelling as part of a national team is not like any other travel; you generally have no idea what time you actually fly, which terminal you are flying out of, or indeed even which airport. The logistics are all handled, all you have to do is pack… Katy McLean the organised packer My two housemates (Natasha Mo Hunt and Katy McLean) and I have been involved within England squads for on average about eight years; so you would think this would mean we are well versed at the obligatory packing process. But if you had entered any of our three rooms last night you would have thought we had either been burgled or someone had played a practical joke and removed all our clothes and scattered them on the bed. Mo Hunt trying to pack Katy went for the mini pile approach, and spent over an hour arranging her things into bitesize collections and then proceeded to place them into numerous mini bags within her big bag.Mo organised her toiletries in a military size descending line across her chest of drawers for absolutely no purpose whatsoever. She is also hopeless at making any form of decision for herself and so would appear at your doorway every five minutes and slope in to see how much of everything you have packed… Shes 27!!I, however was in the biggest predicament, and gathered the others for a house decision… which trainers should I take with me? Emily Scarratts shoe selection Arriving at the airport is where the real fun starts. Firstly we travel with an unreal amount of additional bags; kit, medical stuff, cameras, food, and what seems like the kitchen sink! Theres always a few that have over packed and try and sneak a few of their personal things into the team bags, fair game unless our manager catches you! Check-in this trip was a good one…Claire Allan, team joker and normally one of the most organised had had a mare [see pic]! To travel into America you have to apply for an ESTA, essentially a Visa that approves your travel. So we had been given weeks to either update our existing one or apply for one, and Claire decided so leave it until last night!This is normally no trouble at all, unless you put all of your details (including your card) into a fake ESTA site. Former police officer Claire and our manager Zoe Eaton were then holding up the check-in queue, finding the correct website, cancelling cards and actually getting a legitimate ESTA. Needless to say we cut her loose at check in, for rugby players breakfast and food often out prioritise all else! Look closely to see Claire Allen at check-in Walking through the airport and onto the plane is always quite amusing. When we board, most people are sat down and they cannot help but gawp and whisper to one another as were all in matching kit slowly making our way to our seats at the back. You can tell that people want to ask, but often wait to pick us off when were alone stretching at the back, waiting for the toilet or some will just lean right into your seat and ask so what team are you then?.There begins the conversation; where were playing, who were playing, will we win, etc, etc. The length of the conversation is often dictated by which member of the squad has been asked and how much sleep theyve had.As I finish writing this the team is spread about the plane watching films, doing analysis, stretching or trying to avoid our physio and catch a quick nap. A subdued travel mood currently but one that will build all week through training and hopefully hit the ground running come Friday and our first game against current series leaders Australia. Also See: SportsWomen Latest Show News Latest News SportsWomen Video . He was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 5th. The 34-year-old Laval, Que. native has played six seasons with the Penguins. . The 23-year-old Poland international is back as first choice at Arsenal after losing his regular spot in the team on occasions over the last three seasons.
http://www.officialknicksfanstore.com/k ... ks-jersey/. -- Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman is undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone above his left eye but has no other serious injuries after being hit in the face by a line drive in a spring training game. . The 90-plus minutes of play are about trends and approach. . The Detroit Tigers star had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee. "I dont want to say it was a surprise," team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said.On little sleep after travelling back from Quebec in the morning and under soggy conditions, Winnipeg Goldeyes pitcher Chris Salamida made sure the Goldeyes started a seven-game homestand with a win. Salamida went eight innings to lead the Goldeyes (25-14) to a 4-1 victory over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (23-18) in front of 5,023 rain-soaked fans at Shaw Park Friday night. Thanks to the St. Paul Saints losing to the Sioux Falls Canaries, Winnipeg now has a three-game lead on the RedHawks and Saints in the American Associations North Division. After giving up the games first run in the top of the fourth inning off an infield single, Salamida retired the next 13 consecutive RedHawks and his teammates did the rest. "When you have a defence like that, its pretty easy to pitch," Salamida said. "You cant ask for a better situation." The Goldeyes quickly took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, as Reggie Abercrombie singled in Ray Sadler and Donnie Webb scored thanks to a balk by Fargos starting pitcher Drew Bowlin. Winnipeg added a run in the seventh when Casey Haerther singlled in Ryan Pineda and another in the eighth when Luis Alen dropped a single into right field to score Abercrombie.dddddddddddd "We came off a pretty good road trip and everybody is swinging the bat pretty well right now," Abercrombie said. Haerther led Winnipeg with three hits in the game to improve his league-leading batting average to .376. Salamida, who allowed just one run in eight innings of work and struck out seven, improved his record to 3-3 with the win. "I hated facing him when I was in Sioux Falls and I have even more praise being on his team than when I played against him," Abercrombie said of Salamida. "When hes on, its pretty hard to hit him." Bowlin suffered his first loss of the year for Fargo, while Chris Kissock pitched the ninth inning for his seventh save of the season. The second game of the four-game series between the Goldeyes and RedHawks goes Saturday night at Shaw Park. Lefty Nick Hernandez (3-0, 3.51) will take the ball for Winnipeg against Fargos Taylor Stanton (1-4, 3.72). The game was delayed 34 minutes by rain. ' ' '
