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Hairston was hit by a pitch to load the bases again from corse178's blog

For a man who is used to preparing for a new season pounding the tarmac, spending the last few weeks in water hasnt been easy. Wholesale Raptors Jerseys . Swimming has been a major part of Mark Englishs return to fitness since a foot injury (thanks to running over a pothole) forced his withdrawal from the World Indoor Championships in March.The 23-year-old Sky Academy Sports Scholar and 800m runner opens up about his season preparation and love affair with athletics.... .Im optimistic about the summer. The challenge since the injury has been finding ways to keep fit so when I return to training properly I can focus on finding my rhythm again.Im hungrier than ever to put on my spikes and leave the swimming goggles behind. I have a 600m race planned for Birmingham on June 6 but Ill need to see how the injury progresses.I really hope I can race in Amsterdam at the European Championships, but it isnt the priority. The Olympics come first, and I wont do anything that would put my race preparations for Rio in jeopardy.Fighting back to fitness got me thinking about what makes my sport so great. So I wrote a few words..... Sebastian Coe beats fierce rival Steve Ovett in the 1500m final at the 1980 Moscow Olympics 1. RIVALRIESThe IAAF and meet directors are really trying to promote head-to-heads this year and it is needed if they want to return to the Seb Coe vs Steve Ovett and Linford Christie vs Carl Lewis days.Essentially, its about creating the right story around it and allowing people to naturally choose sides.Take the Coe-Ovett rivalry. This was pitted as a good boy vs bad boy rivalry. The public were intrigued because they were a Coe or an Ovett fan. Similarly, you were a Linford Christie or Carl Lewis fan.And its no surprise to watch these showdowns and see packed-out stadiums. Last year, we saw huge interest in Usain Bolt vs Justin Gatlin in Beijing. Everyone loves a good ol showdown.2. DRAMAAnything can and does happen. Even the overwhelming favourites have a capacity to bottle and its an irresistible sight to watch. Take John Treacys victory over Ovett - otherwise known as that arrogance personified video on YouTube.The mud lark Treacy out-leans a celebrating Ovett who clearly thought he had the race sewn up. Youd be hard pressed to pick a better video to teach someone that it aint over till its over.3. THE PAIN IS RELATABLEI have to put my hands up and admit that before I was 10, I wouldnt run more than a mile. I wondered what the point was.Grabbing a football and using jumpers as goalposts seemed more fun than running around in circles. But then I had to run cross-country and experienced a whole new world of pain.Then came the fun run 5k and 10k races at local Turkey Trots. After grinding my way through those races, I could only imagine what marathoners had to put their bodies through on a daily basis.From then on, I went from switching the channel when a marathon came on, to empathising with the pain, focus and the slog. And those who have run any of these races will know what Im on about. Irelands David Gillick overcame the fashion conscious Bastian Swillims to be 2007 European indoor champion 4. NATIONAL GLORYTheres a huge surge of national pride anytime someone does well on the big stage. I know I felt incredibly proud watching David Gillick (400m) and hurdler Derval ORourke winning their indoor titles over the years. The arenas can be viewed as proving grounds, where nations seek to get one up on each other.I remember very well when Gillick beat the German athlete Bastian Swillims (donning a very eccentric one-piece suit) to win the European indoors in 2006.5. SIZES FOR EVERYONE Athletics is a sport that caters for all sizes.Its fascinating to walk around the dining hall at a Diamond League meeting and note the difference between the lean marathoners and the muscled shot-putters. No other sport has such a vast array of sizes.6. SUMMER MEETSA few of my mates came along to the Morton Games two years ago. This is an athletics meeting held in July in Santry, Dublin. They werent regulars at athletics meets but they thoroughly enjoyed it.From the exciting commentary trackside to great weather and track records - its a great place to chill in the summer. You dont even need to fully understand athletics to enjoy watching it.Im sure if I went to watch an NFL game, I wouldnt have a Scooby Doo what was going on, but Id still have a great time munching on some popcorn - its a well-sold package.Athletics could do even more to package itself along these lines, but meets like the Morton Games lead the way when it comes to entertainment and carnival-type atmospheres. Usain Bolt storms to victory for Jamaica at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia 7. RELAYSThe best sporting event I have ever been to without doubt has been the Penn Relays. Its the oldest and largest track meet in the United States. Its a mixture of high school, college, university and elite events, attracting 15,000 competitors over five days.The atmosphere is fascinating. The crowd usually tops 10,000 on the final day, many of them Jamaican. And when the USA vs the World relays begin, theres huge passion. Everyone loves getting behind a team.Invariably, there will be at least one race where the leader is hunted down over the last few strides. Its a refreshing reminder of whats beautiful about relays in general - displays of pure desire, guts and pride.WHATS COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS19 - 27 MAY: Savannah Marshall, World Championships in Kazakhstan22 - 30 MAY: Sam Oldham, Europan Gymnastics Championships in Switzerland Also See: About the Scholarship Meet the athletes Blogs Videos Galleries Cheap Swingman Raptors Jerseys . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Cheap NBA Jerseys . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. http://www.cheapraptorsjerseys.com/ . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p.TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays had a long players-only meeting before the game, but came up short again when it counted. After meeting behind closed doors for more than an hour Tuesday, Toronto blew an 8-3 lead through six innings in losing their sixth straight game, 10-9 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Adrian Gonzalezs three-run home run keyed a four-run eighth as the Dodgers won their fifth in a row and 22nd in 27 games. "It doesnt get any worse than that to be honest with you, considering where were at," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, whose team has lost 13 of its last 17. "Games like that are going to happen every now and then but its really magnified now. We had a nice little lead, nine outs to go and we were in the drivers seat. "Our bullpen has been very good but they kept coming after us, they have a pretty good lineup. We made a run late, but by then it was too late." Andre Ethier and Jerry Hairston Jr. also homered as the Dodgers (52-47) won a ninth straight road game to match their longest streak since July 2004. Gonzalez, Ethier and Mark Ellis each had three RBIs for Los Angeles. Hairston homered in the sixth and Gonzalez erased an 8-6 deficit with a drive to centre off Darren Oliver (3-2) in the eighth, his 15th. One out later, Ethier went deep for the seventh time. The Blue Jays (45-54) continue to disappoint after opening the season with great expectations. "Its definitely not how we drew it up, but thats why you have to play the game on the field," Oliver said. "We definitely have to turn it around so we can enjoy the last two and a half months." Jose Reyes had a two-run home run and three RBIs for the Blue Jays, while Jose Bautista and Mark DeRosa hit solo shots. Brett Lawrie and Bautista each had two RBIs. "You have to tip your hat when a team comes out swinging like that and can score some runs with some home runs, " Bautista said. "Theres nothing that we can do about it at times. We scored nine runs and thats normally enough and our pitchers are not going to give up home runs but some days are like that." Bautista declined to discuss details of the meeting. "Sometimes teams just have to get together and kind of air some things out," he said. "Teammates have to know what everybody is thinking whats in everybodys head. Today was a good day to do it. "After the (all-star) break we were hoping to come out of the gate strong and we didnt. So it was a good time to do it. It went well, we aired some things out. I like to keep it private. I certainly wont discuss the details of what we talked about." Former Toronto reliever Brandon League (4-3) pitched two-thirds of an inning to pick up the win. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 12th save despite allowing a run. Down 10-8 in the ninth, the Blue Jays made a push when J.P. Arencibia singled home Adam Lind, but Lawrie ended the game with a fly to the warning track in left. "Were fighters," Bautista said. "We showed it today. We scored a lot of runs and theey went ahead and we still tried to battle back. Cheap Raptors Jerseys. Unfortunately we came up a little short. We have a lot of great capable baseball players in this room. "Were not getting the results right now." Blue Jays starter Todd Redmond held the Dodgers to three runs and seven hits over 5 2-3 innings, while Dodgers counterpart Chris Capuano allowed five runs on seven hits in 4 1-3 innings. "I thought (Redmond) did a great job, he gave us what we needed, " Gibbons said. "Its not an easy lineup to face and he held them in check." The Blue Jays took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a single by Lawrie, a double by Reyes and a single by Bautista. The Dodgers tied the game 2-2 in the fourth on infield hits to third by Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez, a double by Ethier that scored one run and a single by Ellis that plated another. The Blue Jays regained their two-run edge in the bottom of the inning on DeRosas fifth homer of the season, a double by Rajai Davis, an infield single by Arencibia and a sacrifice fly by Lawrie. Bautista then hit his 23rd homer of the season in the fifth to put the Blue Jays up 5-2 and chase Capuano in favour of Carlos Marmol. Hairston made it 5-3 with his solo homer in the sixth and Brett Cecil came out of the Toronto bullpen to replace Redmond after Tim Federowicz doubled. The Blue Jays added three runs in the sixth against Marmol and looked to be cruising. Lawrie singled home Arencibia and he came around on Reyes fifth homer of the season. "You dont feel great when youre down 8-3 there but you also know youve got three innings." Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "Weve been throwing up some big innings lately." Down by five, the Dodgers didnt quit. They scored three in the seventh to cut the lead to 8-6 on singles by Puig, Gonzalez and walks to Ramirez and Ethier that forced in a run. After Dustin McGowan replaced Cecil, Ellis greeted him with a two-run single before Hairston was hit by a pitch to load the bases again. McGowan struck out Federowicz and then got the force at home on a close play to end the inning and keep Toronto up by two before Gonzalaz gave L.A. the lead. "That ball was crushed," Mattingly said. "For me, Adrians been our guy all year. I know Hanley (Ramirez) has been really hot but Adrian has just been there the whole season for us. He doesnt get the same attention because hes kind of been consistent." Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 32,158. ... Davis started in centre field for the Blue Jays against the left-handed Capuano. ... The Blue Jays juggled their lineup with Bautista returning the third spot after 59 games hitting second. Edwin Encarnacion dropped back to fourth, while Melky Cabrera returned to the No. 2 hole. ... In losing 14-5 to the Dodgers on Monday, the Blue Jays committed five errors in a game for the first time since May 18, 2011. .... Esmil Rogers (3-4, 3.84 earned-run average) will start the series finale on Wednesday for Toronto against L.A.s Ricky Nolasco (6-9, 3.75 ERA). Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '

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