miaowang123: have the luxury of more time to prepare

miaowang123

CALGARY -- With players moving in and out of the lineup, the bye week was especially beneficial for the Calgary Stampeders. Chicago White Sox Gear . The Stampeders have the luxury of more time to prepare for next Sundays Western Division final than the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are coming off their division semifinal win Sunday over the B.C. Lions. Calgary won the West with the CFLs best record of 14-4. So instead of preparing to win a game last week, the Stampeders got an early start on adjusting to life without injured receiver Marquay McDaniel and defensive tackles Demonte Bolden and Micah Johnson. Receivers Joe West and Brad Sinopoli participated in their fourth practices Tuesday after returning from a shoulder injury and a concussion, respectively. The Stampeders continued auditioning for replacements on the defensive line with Junior Turner, Etienne Legare, Freddie Bishop and six-foot-six behemoth Earl Okine getting reps Tuesday. "Sometimes you dont know how the bye week will help you, but it helped us in that sense," Stampeder quarterback Kevin Glenn said. "Getting guys acclimated with the positions they may play in this game was big. Having those practices and letting those guys work in those positions, it helped having that bye. If we would have had to possibly go right into playing a game, it might have been a little bit tougher." McDaniel posted the first 1,000-yard season of his career, only to have it end with a high ankle sprain in the regular-season finale versus the B.C. Lions. Both Johnson and Bolden suffered damaged knee ligaments in that game and will not play in the West final. Veteran slotback Nik Lewis has been sidelined since August with a broken leg. With McDaniel following him onto the injured list, getting West and Sinopoli up to speed again is crucial. Import wide receiver Jeff Fuller signed with the Stampeders in September and played just the final three games of the regular season. "Its good that we had this extra time . . . to get a few more days on the practice field executing the offence," head coach John Hufnagel said. West had three touchdown catches in his first four games this season before his shoulder injury in Week 4. He returned to the lineup in September only to re-injure it in his second game back. Sinopoli, a Canadian college quarterback converted into a receiver, missed the final two games of the season with a concussion. A one-handed catch on a 42-yard gain in his debut at receiver in July continues to be shown on highlight reels. The Peterborough, Ont., native says the extra work in practice without the pounding of a game has helped his transition back onto the field. "It helps and it helps just with the legs and feeling fresh," Sinopoli said. "I feel like the season just started now. I dont feel like Ive been playing for 20 weeks or whatever its been. Its huge." The bye week has to be managed properly for it to be an advantage and not a disadvantage, said running back Jon Cornish. "People talk about the bye week being a week off, but as long as you dont view it as that, its a beneficial thing," the CFLs leading rusher explained. "The bye week is supposed to be a week of practice, a hard week of practice, working out and still doing all the things you should be doing to get ready for a game, and then just not playing the game. We had that mindset this year. "A few years back, we sort of had this mindset that the bye week was some sort of week off and we shouldnt be practising hard. You get your rest from not playing in the football game." McMahon Stadium temperatures for Calgary over the next few days are forecasted to stay above zero. Hufnagel hopes that is true because frigid temperatures makes for difficult practices. "Its hard to keep these men out there for an hour and 45 minutes and expect them to have full attention when its minus-20 degrees," Hufnagel said. Sundays forecast is for flurries and a high of minus-11. But the coach says hes more concerned about high winds than a low temperature on game day. "As far as how wind effects the game, it almost cuts the game in half," he said. "When you have the wind, you have to make hay and when you dont have the wind, hopefully you can hold on." Chicago White Sox Shirts . UEFA said Wednesday that the champions of England and France only have to include five home-trained players in their 21-man squads next season instead of the expected eight. Only one of the five players needs to be trained by the club itself. Stitched White Sox Jerseys . Heather, the first Gaiter to win the award, set a Canadian Inter-university Sport record with 3,132 passing yards in eight league games, an average of 391.5 yards per game. That beat the mark of 3,047 set only one week earlier by Westerns Will Finch, a Hec Crighton finalist. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Michael Bradley has a special place in his heart for Columbus Crew Stadium and now his Toronto FC teammates do as well. Bradleys goal in the 11th minute was enough for TFC to end the Crews unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory on Saturday. Bradley scored from a tough angle, beating goalkeeper Steve Clark at the near post with a shot taken two yards from the end line. Substitute Issey Nakajima-Farran added a goal in the 85th minute off a cross by Justin Morrow. Crew Stadium is where Bradley scored twice for the U.S. national team in a 2-0 victory against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier on Feb. 11, 2011. "Ive been fortunate to get a few goals here," he said. "Great stadium and the atmospheres always good. So far my records not bad here." Bradley played 90 minutes and had a goal and an assist vs. Mexico in 2-2 friendly on Wednesday but showed few effects against Columbus although he was replaced by Jeremy Hall in the 73rd minute. "The idea is to always go 90," Bradley said. "Physically I started to feel it a bit. The important thing now is to recover and get ready for the weekend." TFC coach Ryan Nelsen says he was not surprised by Bradleys effort. "Thats Michael," he said. "He has this willingness to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Its instinctive." On the goal, Bradley ran onto an entry pass from Mark Bloom on the right side of the box, outpacing Crew midfielder Bernardo Anor. Bradley then startled Clark with a shot that went five-hole. "At first I was just thinking of getting there before the ball gets out of bounds," Bradley said. "At that point youre looking across. Given the field and the way the goalie is positioned, if I can really nnail this ball low and hard its got a good chance. Cheap White Sox Jerseys. " The goal was his second in MLS and first with TFC (3-1-0) in his fourth game after returning from Europe. His previous league goal was Oct. 16, 2005, with the New York MetroStars. TFC was minus several starters, most notably forward Jermain Defoe. He had scored all three of Torontos goals this season before suffering a hamstring injury in the last match against Real Salt Lake in a 3-0 loss. Also, defender and captain Steven Caldwell was suspended for the match, midfielder Jonathan Osorio was out because of a hamstring problem and defender Doneil Henry sat due to a knee injury. TFC did get midfielder Jackson back from suspension and rookie Nick Hagglund, raised two hours south of Columbus in Cincinnati, made his first appearance, starting in the central defence with Bradley Orr. "He was fantastic," Nelsen said of Hagglund. "I thought the centre backs, Nick and Brad, were incredible. Youd never know thats those guys first games at centre back in an MLS game." Hagglund had about 50 family members and friends on hand and said the game was almost perfect. "I could have scored a couple of goals," he joked. "No, absolutely it was an incredible experience to play in Columbus on this pitch with these guys and get the shutout." TFC goalkeeper Julio Cesar had critical stops on Bernardo Anor and Tony Tchani in the second half when it was 1-0 to preserve the lead against the Crew (3-1-0) before a crowd of 12,045. "I attribute this loss to two things, a bad start to the game and to a very well organized Toronto FC," Crew coach Gregg Berhalter said. Toronto returns to BMO Field April 12 to host the Colorado Rapids. ' ' '