Male curlers have joined their female counterparts in taking off a lot of their clothes for a fundraising calendar. Brad Jacobs, skip of Canadas national champions and world silver medallists, is among the dozen men who posed for a "2014 Men of Curling Calendar," released Tuesday. "In talking to some of the other curlers in the calendar, it was kind of go with as much skin as you can without making it too ridiculous," Jacobs said Tuesday. "Hopefully a lot of people will enjoy it, especially the women." Women have posed for an annual curling calendar for several years. Among them were Kaitlyn Lawes and Jill Officer, third and second respectively for Jennifer Jones, Olympic silver medallist Cheryl Bernard and Scottish skip Eve Muirhead. Theyve been photographed wearing curling clothes, workout wear, cocktail dresses and not a lot over the years. The men have gone straight to near-nudity in their first calendar. Manitoba skip Mike McEwen graces the calendar cover wearing tight shorts and nothing else while balancing on concrete blocks. Jacobs, who skipped Northern Ontario to a Brier title this year, says hes wearing a towel standing in the entrance of a sauna in his photo. "I did that because a lot of people know I love to have saunas," the 28-year-old said. In addition to Jacobs and his second E.J. Harnden, the mens calendar includes Olympic and world champion third John Morris, Glenn Howards lead Craig Savill, Jeff Stoughtons third Jon Mead, Norwegian skip Thomas Ulsrud, Swedens Niklas Edin and Scotlands David Murdoch. The Curling News publishes the womens calendar. When the invitation went out to the men, Jacobs says there were a few e-mail exchanges between them saying "Ill do it if you do it." Morris was the first curler invited and he helped recruit the rest, according to publisher George Karrys. "Im pretty laid-back so when I found out that most of the other guys were in, I had to be in," Jacobs said. At $29.95 per calendar, the curlers have committed to donating some of the proceeds to an organization of their choice. Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., has chosen the Soo Curling Associations junior curling program. The calendars are also available to curling clubs to sell as a fundraiser. Athletes employing their fit bodies to pose for calendars has become a popular way to raise money. The Canadian womens biathlon team published a nude calendar in 2008 and the national womens rugby team did the same two years earlier. After curling became a full medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics, curlers paid a lot more attention to physical fitness and off-ice training. Morris has a reputation as one of the fittest in the sport and Jacobs has muscular teammates who are in the gym a lot. "Probably when everyone heard they were doing a calendar, everyone started hitting the gym a little bit more," Jacobs said. .Heres Ralph the Dog with the crew here at TSN jumping into the James Duthie TradeCentre selfie: Happy to drop by! RT @TSN_Sports: @tsnjamesduthie: Take this Ellen. .A caravan greeted the former Boston Red Sox pitcher at the airport and took him to a public park in Santo Domingo, where a crowd lined a 19-mile stretch of highway to catch a glimpse of him.Once at the park, Martinez went on stage accompanied by players David Ortiz and Robinson Cano as merengue music played and fireworks lit up the sky.
http://www.custompackersjersey.com/cust ... 1492r.html. Vettel only needs to finish fifth or better Sunday to wrap up the championship with three races remaining, and bettered his own lap record to claim his third straight pole at Buddh International Circuit. . Behind the talents of rookie Johnny Gaudreau, the Flames will look to keep pace Thursday night when they face the Minnesota Wild in the second of a six-game homestand. . Austin Watson, Scott Ford, Filip Forsberg and Mark Van Guilder had the other goals for the Admirals (30-21-12). Scott Darling made 30 saves for his 10th win of the season.OTTAWA -- Marc Cohon never tires of singing the praises of the Ottawa Redblacks ownership group. The CFL commissioner spoke to media prior to the start of the Redblacks home opener at the newly refurbished Lansdowne Park, now known as TD Place. Fridays game signifies the return of CFL football in the nations capital for the first time in nine years, but this time Cohon is convinced football is back for good. "We always believed in our ownership group and we had great support at the city council," said Cohon. "I think those two groups working together got us to this point today. It took longer, obviously there were some skeptics and some roadblocks along the way, but look at this -- you have one of the best facilities in North America I believe and when the whole project is done its going to be a great social environment. "You have what looks like a competitive team, corporate support, youve got 17,000 season ticket holders and the ownership group that Ive talked about being the dream team. Its a recipe for success." Cohon had always been a vocal supporter for the return of football in Ottawa and its clear Fridays game is a personal celebration. "Youve heard my quote before and Ill say it again, we had a hole in the heart of the CFFL," said Cohon.dddddddddddd "I think what this ultimately means for us is we have more people watching our game à this means the CFL is growing and expanding and in a big market like Ontario its important for us to be in one of its largest cities." The 48-year-old commissioners commitment to football in Ottawa has even earned him personal recognition as he admitted to being recognized by fans and given thanks for helping with the Redblacks. When asked about Ottawa hosting a Grey Cup Cohon couldnt help but laugh, but did say there was an agreement in place for the Redblacks to host a Grey Cup within the teams first four years of playing. Many would love to see the Redblacks host in 2017 to coincide with Canadas 150th anniversary, although Cohon was noncommittal. With the Redblacks now established, many expect expansion to be the focus for the nine-team league, but Cohon says attention needs to be given on getting the Toronto Argonauts out of Rogers Centre and hopefully securing a home at BMO Field. In addition, Cohon may have to deal with further delays to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats new stadium. Overall Cohon believes the league is in good standing. TV numbers are good and he expects them to improve as the season progresses. ' ' 'ored 32 runs and collected 48 hits over the three games. "(This) happens every other week here, doesnt it?" Bronson Arroyo said. "Doesnt usually happen to those guys, though. We just happened to put all the runs on the board this time." Even Arroyo (5-4) pitched differently in this park. He went with fastballs 60 per cent of the time -- something the 37-year-old usually doesnt do. But hey, this quirky park sometimes calls for an unorthodox approach. "I threw an offbeat game," said Arroyo, who allowed four runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. The Rockies were once again off their game as they lost their seventh straight. Its their longest skid since losing nine in a row late in the 2012 season. "We come to play every single day," said Troy Tulowitzki, who had a homer and a double. "Its just not happening right now. A night after the Diamondbacks put up 16 runs, they pounded Rockies starter Juan Nicasio (5-4). The right-hander struggled with his command, allowing a season-high seven runs in 5 1-3 innings. Manager Walt Weiss called a team meeting before the game, just so he could check in with his team during this horrendous stretch. He said there are "no magic words in this game or magic words for success." Is this rock bottom? "I dont know," Weiss said. "We have a game tomorrow. Well try to win a game tomorrow." The top five hitters in the Diamondbacks lineup -- Gerardo Parra, Owings, Goldschmidt, Montero and Martin Prado -- feasted on Rockies pitching, going a combined 13 for 24 with nine RBIs. "I know weve got a good hitting ball club. I know that," Montero said. "We showed it the last couple of games." Did they ever. According to the Diamondbacks, its just the second time the team has had back-to-back games with 18 or more hits. Its only the fifth time theyve scored 12 or more runs in two straight. "You hear stuff about Coors Field coming up through the minors leagues," said Owings, who finished 3 for 5 with four RBIs. "You watch a lot of games here, see a lot of runs scored. But I wouldnt say that plays into anything you do differently here. You hit the ball hard. "The ball might do some different things here." Owings had a two-run homer in the eighth that gave Arizona a 9-6 lead. The cushion was valuable at the time as Rockies pinch hitter Brandon Barnes hit an inside-the-park homer in the bottom of the inning, when the ball sailed over the head of centre fielder Ender Inciarte, hit off the base of the wall and caromed away. It was the 14th inside-the-park homer in Rockies history and first since Eric Young Jr. had one on Aug. 8, 2012, in Los Angeles. Arizona added to its lead in the ninth with three more runs. Inciarte ended the game by making a leaping catch at the wall on Wilin Rosarios deep drive. Arroyo had a 7-3 lead heading into the seventh inning, when he ran into trouble. A usually reliable bullpen struggled, too. The Rockies scored three times on RBI singles from Drew Stubbs, Michael Cuddyer and Corey Dickerson. With the bases loaded and two outs, Oliver Perez was brought in to face pinch hitter Justin Morneau, who grounded out to third to end the rally. "That was huge," Arroyo said. "He came in and gave us that one out we needed and really broke the game open for us." NOTES: The Diamondbacks open a three-game home series against Atlanta on Friday, with RHP Brandon McCarthy taking the mound. ... Colorado held a moment of silence for Don Zimmer, who died Wednesday at 83. Zimmer spent three seasons as a coach with the Rockies. ... Colorado RHP Eddie Butler makes his debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. ... OF Charlie Blackmon hit his third leadoff homer of the season. . Griffin scored 13 of his 31 points in the final 7:05 and Dudley got 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter, leading the defending Pacific Division champions to a 112-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. "Dud is a shooter. . Ho-Sang is a highly regarded prospect, as seen in TSNs Midseason Rankings. This was Game 3 of their playoff series and that wasnt the only strange incident in Londons 10-2 win over Windsor.
https://www.cheapblazersonline.com/108i ... azers.html. DETROIT LIONS AT ATLANTA FALCONS, 9:30 AM (ET) Detroit - RB Reggie Bush, TE Eric Ebron, TE Joseph Fauria, WR Calvin Johnson, QB Kellen Moore, TE Brandon Pettigrew, OT LaAdrian Waddle Atlanta - CB Javier Arenas, DT Jonathan Babineaux, OT Cameron Bradfield, WR Freddie Martino, QB Sean Renfree, OT Jonathan Scott, LB Tyler Starr SEATTLE SEAHAWKS AT CAROLINA PANTHERS, 1:00 PM (ET) Seattle - DT Jordan Hill, CB Byron Maxwell, OT Andrew McDonald, TE Zach Miller, C Max Unger, LB Bobby Wagner, WR Bryan Walters Carolina - CB Bene Benwikere, LB Chase Blackburn, WR Philly Brown, G Amini Silatolu, G Trai Turner, RB Fozzy Whittaker, RB DeAngelo Williams HOUSTON TEXANS AT TENNESSEE TITANS, 1:00 PM (ET) Houston - OT Jeff Adams, DB Josh Aubrey, LB Brian Cushing, DB Darryl Morris, WR DeVier Posey, QB Tom Savage, LB Jeff Tarpinian Tennessee - RB Antonio Andrews, WR Kris Durham, TE Richard Gordon, DL DaQuan Jones, CB Coty Sensabaugh, OT Will Svitek, TE Taylor Thompson BALTIMORE RAVENS AT CINCINNATI BENGALS, 1:00 PM (ET) Baltimore - CB Chykie Brown, LB Arthur Brown, DL Chris Canty, TE Owen Daniels, G/C Gino Gradkowski, RB Bernard Pierce, OT Jah Reid Cincinnati - RB Rex Burkhead, DE Will Clarke, WR A. . Julien coached the Bruins to the Stanley Cup championship in 2010-11 and is the longest serving coach in consecutive seasons in the teams history. Claude is one of the top coaches in the NHL and has consistently shown a passion for winning, general manager Peter Chiarelli said Sunday in announcing the signing. . Phoenix got injured centre Emeka Okafor and a top-12-protected first-round draft pick in 2014 -- giving the rebuilding Suns potentially four choices in the opening round. The Suns also sent guards Kendall Marshall, Shannon Brown and Malcolm Lee to Washington so the deal will work financially.BROOKLYN - It was widely expected to be one of the more unpredictable drafts in recent memory, but in the end it was Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors that raised the most eyebrows. For the first time all night, as the Raptors were on the clock to make the 20th overall selection, no one had the slightest idea what was about to happen. No leaks, no whispers, nothing. Then came the announcement. "With the 20th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Toronto Raptors select Bruno Caboclo from Sao Paulo, Brazil," first-year commissioner Adam Silver proclaimed with a confused look on his face as the basketball world raced to their internet browsers and Google apps. Who was this Brazilian mystery man? The grainy clip of him shown on the broadcast appeared to be shot from a cell phone. A web search produced a few brief videos, little more. The bio distributed by the Raptors came courtesy of Eurobasket and listed his weight as "n/a". "Theres probably three or four teams that knew about him," Raptors coach Dwane Casey told reporters in Toronto shortly after the selection. Seven days ago Casey was in the same boat. He knew very little about the player that would eventually become his newest 6-foot-9, 205-pound small forward. "I hadnt seen him, didnt know who he was but I was totally impressed when I saw him," said Casey, who accompanied Ujiri on a scouting trip to Houston where they watched Caboclo workout and met with him a week ago. Caboclo had been on Ujiris radar for some time. The Raptors general manager made three trips to see the young Brazilian forward play throughout the season, and he had to be "stealth" about it. In this day and age it seems impossible that such a talent could exist, anywhere in the world, without every team and every scout knowing about him, right? It also seemed impossible that for once, in this age of social media, a pick was not broken on Twitter five minutes before it was made. But thats Ujiri. Thats how he does business, quietly. Expecting to use the 37th pick of the draft, Ujiri promised Caboclo the Raptors would select him months ago and as a result, the forward declined to workout for NBA teams. True to form, Ujiri was not following along with mock drafts, he was not the least bit concerned about how such a pick would be received. He saw something in Caboclo. "Hes a talent," Ujiri said of the 18-year-old and youngest player available in this draft. "I think at the end of the day we will be happy we picked him." Caboclo was not Ujiris primary target. As expected, the Raptors were after Canadian point guard Tyler Ennis, hoping he would fall to them while also trying desperately to trade up for him. Ideally, Toronto had hoped to select Ennis with pick no. 20 and snag Caboclo early in the second-round with pick no. 37. But the plan changed, as they often do on draft night, when the Phoenix Suns took Ennis at 18, two picks ahead of the Raptors. "We decided we lost one," Ujiri said. "Were not going to lose the second one. We jumped on it." The Raptors were fearful that Caboclo, second on their board, wouldnt make it back to them. A couple teams that had intel on the Brazilian and were believed to be interested - Phoenix and Utah - had picks ahead of Toronto and after missing out on a similar prodigy in Greek freeak Giannis Antetokounmpo a year ago, Ujiri was not going to let this target get away.dddddddddddd. The allure, despite the lack of available information, is not a surprise given the rare gifts possessed by the long and athletic Caboclo. The first thing that jumps out watching short clips of the newest Raptor is his 7-foot-7 wingspan. "Bruno is an athletic phenomenon," Casey said. "At [pick no.] 20, you cant go out and get a perfect player but this young man has a chance to hit it big. Hes raw but hes going to be a guy thats going to develop in our program and grow and do a lot of things for us. Defensively hes long, he covers a lot of ground down [and] blocks shots with his length." He passed Caseys eye test immediately and the Raptors coach is confident hell turn heads once he heads north, calling him one of the most athletic players in the draft. "I know a lot of people dont know about him. Were excited to get him. Hes going to be a guy thats going to grow with our program and no one is going to be disappointed once this guy is developed and hits his peak because hes one of those guys that has a chance to hit it big as far as his potential is concerned." After a return to the playoffs last season, the Raptors have the luxury of bringing Caboclo along slowly, allowing him to learn in practice and on the bench, without the pressure of having to produce at a high level in his rookie campaign. Among other things, hell need to get bigger and stronger, hell need to get comfortable with the NBA game and his familiarity with the language will also be a work in progress. Upon meeting the 18-year-old Brazilian, Casey asked him who his favourite player is, to which Caboclo responded, "Kevin Durant". "Can you guard Kevin Durant," Casey asked and without hesitation the young man replied, "yes". Casey was impressed with his willingness and ability to learn on fly, a quality that should serve him well when he does join his new team. "Hes a smart young man, his basketball IQ is high," said the Raptors coach. "He knows how to play, has a great feel for the game. Hes going to be a clean slate as far as a guy to work with." Caboclo spent draft night in New York getting his visa sorted out before he makes a quick trip to Toronto over the weekend, where hell be introduced following a workout at the ACC on Saturday. Next week hell meet up with some of his new teammates and coaches in Los Angeles and is expected to participate in Summer League with the Raptors next month. Although theres no telling what role hell have with the team or to what extent hes able to produce right away, Caboclo will be a member of the Raptors this coming season. The Raptors were able to add a more seasoned player with the 37th pick in forward DeAndre Daniels, a proven winner and member of the reining National Champion UConn Huskies. Daniels, 22, averaged 13.1 points and 6.0 rebounds with Connecticut last season. "Hes a good athlete also," Casey said of Daniels. "Hes a guy thats going to go through our Summer League program and well see where he is but I was impressed with his workout." Toronto selected Xavier Thames of San Diego State with the 59th overall pick, quickly trading him to the Brooklyn Nets for cash considerations. ' ' '
