KINGSTON, Ont. - At the 1976 Olympics, on the way to his bronze medal, Toller Cranston marched to the river and threw his skates in it.Cranston had done poorly in the compulsory figures, and launched his skates in frustration.Then he turned and said I will never skate on those again, said Olympic teammate Debbi Wilkes, with a laugh.He was a man of extremes. Either totally into it, or totally out of it. A day after the skating legend died at the age of 65, former skaters were lovingly, laughingly sharing stories at the Canadian championships.Wilkes, an Olympic silver medallist in pairs, trained with Cranston in Toronto in the early years of his career. She was a sympathetic ear for the sometimes-tortured skater, whose attention to artistry would forever change mens figure skating.I would say If that is your vision, how are you going to find the bravery to be able to display that, despite people laughing, or despite criticism. He certainly developed a passion, and almost an obsession about how he was going to deliver that.The funny part is he would often say to me Im not a very good skater. He would say Its bravado, I want to shock people, I want people to be able to see something new and fresh and in order to break down those barriers of awareness maybe I need to shock people a little bit. And he took that on. His subject matter and methods were unheard of at the time.We always talked about what courage he had to find to be able to deliver the style that he believed in so strongly.Wilkes travelled the world with Cranston. They were crazy times.He was crazy, he was absolutely the weirdest and most wonderful person ever. Incredibly generous, but never spoke about that, and loved the drama, loved the spotlight, wanted to be the centre of attention. Would get very moody if he wasnt, Wilked said.But always with an idea about how to broaden peoples views. What did he need to do to shock and inspire.Friends and former skaters refer to the crazy Cranston stories as Tollerisms. Many of them cant be repeated, Mike Slipchuk said laughing.Last time I saw Toller was worlds in London (2013), said Slipchuk, a former Canadian champion and now Skate Canadas high performance director. There was a huge line of people waiting to get autographs from him, and he sees me, and he comes straight over, and we sat on two folding chairs across from everyone and talked, and we must have sat there an hour while people were waiting for his autograph.Eric Radford won his fourth consecutive Canadian pairs title Saturday night with partner Meagan Duhamel. Earlier in the day, hed sat down to watch some of Cranstons programs on YouTube. Its really hard for me to imagine how it was back then in the skating world and exactly what it took for him to just go out there and literally change the face of skating like he did, Radford said. Even I could compare his actual movements, and his actual routines and his musicality, compare it to todays skaters, he was just phenomenal, and obviously he was a groundbreaker and paved the way for so many other skaters.Cranston, a six-time Canadian champion, died at his home in Mexico of an apparent heart attack. . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. .J. -- Fabian Johnson scored his first international goal and Clint Dempsey doubled the lead after a defensive lapse as the United States beat Turkey 2-1 Sunday in the second of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Americans before they head to Brazil.
http://www.cheapchargersjerseysonline.c ... sey-online. -- Hal Steinbrenner says Alex Rodriguez is "a great player" and "obviously an asset," but the New York Yankees managing general partner wouldnt discuss the third basemans possible return to the team following a season-long suspension. . The third-seeded Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., was coming off a semifinal appearance at the French Open. She took the opening set before the unseeded American came back for the 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. . The former Edmonton Oilers defenceman was with the St. Louis Blues in training camp on a professional tryout. Whitney, 30, had four goals and 13 points in 34 games with the Oilers last season.LONDON -- Real Madrids 6-1 thrashing of Schalke followed by its 2-2 draw with La Liga title rival Atletico Madrid sent it to the top of this weeks Associated Press global football poll. Madrid edged Bayern Munich by three points to take team of the week honours for the second time this season. It was even closer in the player poll, where Munichs Arjen Robben beat Madrids Cristiano Ronaldo by two votes. Robben scored a hat trick in Bayerns 5-1 Bundesliga victory, also against Schalke, and runner-up Ronaldo managed a brace against Schalke in the Champions League. "Bayern Munich have gone unbeaten for an incredible 48 Bundesliga games and dont just beat opponents: They hammer them," Richard Jolly of ESPN said. Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sympathized with Schalkes tough week. "What in the name of soccer did Schalke 04 have to do to get a schedule where it played Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in a span of four days? Thats inhumane," Timmermann said. "And Schalkes in fourth place in the Bundesliga." Manchester City was third in the team vote after coming from behind to win the League Cup final against Sunderland 3-1. Yaya Toure, who levelled for City in the second half at Wembley wiith a curling long-range strike, was sixth in the poll, tied with Carlos Tevez.dddddddddddd Tevez led fourth-place Juventus to a 2-0 away win over AC Milan. "It was impressive the way Carlos Tevez played this game: He was everywhere, showing a real fighting spirit, working hard for the team and scoring an amazing goal," panellist Aurelio Capldi of RAI Sport in Italy said. "He is now the Serie A top scorer." Chelsea was fifth after its 4-1 victory against Fulham saw it move four points ahead at the top of the Premier League, after Arsenal lost to Stoke 1-0. Germany attacker Andre Schurrle scored a second-half hat trick for Chelsea and enters the poll for the first time this season in third position. Robert Lewandowski of Borussia Dortmund was fourth, and Luis Suarez fifth after scoring on his 100th Premier League appearance for Liverpool as it won 3-0 away at Southampton to rise to second in the league. "The Uruguayan international striker creates, performs and leads his team higher and higher," Manos Staramopoulos of Eleftheros Typos in Greece said. After Tevez and Toure, the rest of the top 10 were Lionel Messi, Aritz Aduriz of Athletic Bilbao, and Karim Benzema of Real Madrid. ' ' '
