h, who gave a real fright to double Olympic champion Lin Dan before bowing out in the quarterfinals, have given him reason to sit on the plane back home a s from LAM's blog
Matt Kenseth has some unfinished business at the Martinsville Speedway when he arrives at the Virginia track to start the penultimate round of the Chase. cheap jerseys from china .That unfinished business is to win a second Sprint Cup championship -- his first under the Chase format instead of the old season-long points battle.Never short on determination or talent, Kenseth has been trying to get back to champion status since 2003 when he and crew chief Robbie Reiser won the title with a lone victory at the Ford team owned by Jack Roush. It was not necessarily a happy occasion, since Kenseth and his crew chief were roundly criticized for stroking to the title by points racing.It was, in many respects, the birth of the Chase format, designed to make sure drivers push the accelerator to the max. Kenseth led only 354 laps in 36 races his championship season and this year has already led 717, which is slightly more than his career seasonal average of 693.Last year, Kenseth had some other unfinished business get in the way of his championship pursuit. The goal was to win the race and, as it turned out, beat front-running Joey Logano, the same driver who had rammed him out of the lead in the late stages two races earlier at the Kansas Speedway.The plan infamously went awry. Instead of beating Logano to the checkered flag, Kenseth ended up beating him into the Turn 3 wall after the Wisconsin driver tangled with Loganos Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski on a re-start and got fed up with the Ford duo. Kenseth and Keselowski had literally fought at Charlotte several weeks earlier.Kenseth, who was forced to the sideline by a suspension from NASCAR for his frontier justice, is focused on a victory to advance to the championship finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. By most accounts the feud with Team Penske is over -- although another skirmish in the tight confines of Martinsville could well rekindle it.For a driver with as such down-home Wisconsin attitude, Kenseth cant seem to get away from controversy at this time of year. He comes into Martinsville on the heels of another flare-up, somewhat similar to his championship season.Along with his fellow Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, Kenseth was a strumbo -- or an old-school points racer -- at last weeks race in Talladega, where the trio rode around in the back to avoid stealing points from fellow Chase aspirant Denny Hamlin.But as the NASCAR world turns, each race weekend brings a new perspective. The Round of 8 that starts at Martinsville sharpens every championship contenders focus on winning. A victory is the surest way to get to the finale in Homestead. Otherwise a driver needs a stellar points record -- which can easily go askew in the fender-banging at Martinsville.Before moving to JGR in 2013 from Roush-Fenway Racing, Kenseth had not fared well at Martinsville, which has not been kind to Fords in recent autumn events. Driving a Toyota and cribbing notes from his teammates, Kenseth has been more consistent at Martinsville under crew chief Jason Ratcliff, finishing sixth or better four times -- including his best ever finish of second in 2013.Its been a tough place for me for a lot of years, but the last four years since I got with Jason at JGR, weve been pretty competitive there, Kenseth said. Its certainly one that Ive always wanted to go win. Weve come up short, weve had problems there -- things like that -- but typically we run good, so Im really looking forward to getting to Martinsville and hopefully we can perform well and get a good finish and kick off the next round in a positive way.One can imagine Kenseth enjoying the prospect of returning to Martinsville with racing on his mind rather than revenge or balloon-footing it like Talladega according to team strategy. Theres that unfinished business of finally winning a championship under not only the Chase format, but the elimination structure that was launched in 2014.Prior to Talladega, Kenseth, who had two victories in the regular season, was averaging a Top 5 finish in the first five Chase races. He knows the hill gets steeper as the field is winnowed down. Man, good race cars, good race car drivers, good teams, he said.One of those good cars belongs to Talladega winner Logano, who certainly has his own unfinished business at Martinsville. It remains to be seen if Keselowski, who was eliminated from the Chase last week, will run interference for his teammate on the short track where both Penske cars have run well.We got momentum, we have speed, said Logano, who said he learned a lot about his own confidence last year after winning three straight Chase races and then getting dumped by Kenseth.This year, Logano said he once again had three good cars in the Round of 12 and thats given his team momentum.We have a lot of confidence for that reason because we know we can do it, he said. We know we can go to these next couple races, theyre good racetracks for us, all three of them are. We just got to go out there and fight, do what we know how to do ... I think were better under pressure. Thats kind of our motto this year, we can fight under those situations. We know how to do that.As for JGR, since Hamlin -- an excellent short track driver -- advanced at Talladega, all four drivers are in the Round of 8 and theres little margin for team orders.Given that last years Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon returns as a substitute for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports, and that teammate Jimmie Johnson is the career leader at the track among active drivers with eight wins, the fight at the front should be furious.Former Martinsville winners Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, both Chevy drivers, are also in the Round of 8.Kenseth is still looking for his first career victory at Martinsville -- like Logano -- and will have his work cut out for him if hes going to get to that second championship. Say what one will about last weeks lack of racing, at least the Chase has one good ol short track on the schedule. In a setting where saving brakes might be a good idea, holding back on the accelerator or trying to protect ones fenders is a losing proposition. nfl cheap jerseys . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. cheap jerseys shop . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. http://www.nflcheapwholesalejerseysstore.com/ . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. RIO DE JANEIRO -- In June, at the Australian Open Super series in Sydney, PV Sindhu lost her first round match to South Koreas Kim Hyo Min in straight games.Min was the 40th ranked player in the world. It was an insipid performance from Sindhu and came at the back of a year that had seen her produce a string of underwhelming results. Her win-loss ratio was 23-13. She was playing okay, but for Pullela Gopichand, okay has never been acceptable. Okay means average. Okay means mediocrity.?When she lost the first round at the Australian open we decided whatever happens we should give the Olympics our best shot, Gopichand says in his signature low-pitched, measured voice. And she responded.By itself, that is the kind of throwaway banal quote athletes and their coaches hurl in the direction of journalists working on tight deadlines. But when Gopichand says they decided to give the Olympics their best shot and that Sindhu responded, it implies a brutal training regimen in the two months before they would board a plane to Rio.Sindhu was asked to surrender her phone and give up eating all junk food. The coach and student woke up every morning before the first ray of sunlight, and trained. And trained. And then trained some more. And did it all over again the next day.While Gopi was chiseling Sindhu the badminton player, he was also working on Sindhu the 21-year old, who is, well...21.She as a person is an extrovert, very friendly, loves people will do anything for the people whom she likes, he says. And that is a challenge as a sportsperson because you want somebody to be really focused, put their head down but when you tell her something she will definitely do that. So she has these different personalities which you are definitely struggling with, she needs to find herself and when she does that she will be even better.All athletes have switches that only a select few around them know how to flip on. In the fascinating documentary Serena, a fly on the wall account of her incredible 2015 season that ended in a failed quest for the calendar Grand Slam, we get an illuminating look into the method of her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.Mouratoglou makes little notes on each of her opponents at the US Open and ends them with a comforting personal message. One of the most successful tennis players of all time needs to hear that voice as she heads into each match of this quest and Mouratoglou knows just what to say and how much to say. Serena tells us how Mouratoglou gets her and that they are so in tune with each other.Gopi first set eyes on Sindhu as a 10-year old back in 2005. She stood out among her peers. Her parents were volleyballers and Sindhu was genetically well served. At Gopis academy in Hyderabad, many wide-eyed kids with eager parents would train, keen to flower under the tutelage of man who had won the All-England championships.By 2010, having made a successful transition from top player to respected coach, Gopi was spending considerable amount of time with her on a daily basis. He had identified the qualities of a top level athlete but as a teacher, Gopi was torn.It is tough because you have to pick from among your kids and you need to pick one for special care, he explains. That is quite a sick job anyway.To believe that she could actually be the one who could put us on the international stage and take the sport up a notch higher and to give what is best to her so that neither she or I should feel that there was a talent which deserved more attention and I didnt give it to her.It did not take long for that talent to start making rapid strides. At 18, Sindhu won bronze at the World Championships in Guangzhou. No Indian womens singles player had done so earlier. A year later in Copenhagen, she stunningly produced an encore and remains to this day the only Indian to have won two World Championships medals.But despite those early incisions on the circuit, Sindhus career had not quite taken off. wholesale stitched nfl jerseys. She circled around the top-10 in the rankings and won a few titles, but not even one among them is a Super Series, the elite level tournaments in the sport.Gopi smiles that Sindhu often wins matches he expects her to lose and then somehow goes down in matches he thinks she will win. Yet, fascinatingly, when she does suffer defeat, they engage in no post-mortem.What is important is that you ignore the mistakes and focus on the positives, he says. We hardly discuss the matches that she loses. She is someone I believe has a lot of ability in her game and the strokes she plays as well. Slowly we will see more of her as she gets more confident.While Sindhu was rising, another player in Gopis watch was already among the best in the world. In 2014, Saina Nehwal stomped off from the academy in Hyderabad. Gopi had nurtured Saina for ten years as she rose to the top of the world rankings.However, Sainas results had started to taper off and she felt she was not getting the individual attention she deserved as an elite player under Gopis watch. Their split created a media furore unlike any other witnessed in Indian badminton before. Even today, though his stoic demeanour gives little away, the wound from that episode is raw.I ask him if he is still hurt by that entire episode.?It is not a profession which is all good, it is quite stressful and unfortunately in our country we dont have systems in place that can set things right and show us a way forward, he says.We are very immature and hopefully it is time for all of us to sit together and build a system which ensures that people know what discipline is - players, coaches and administrators know what their responsibilities are and I think its important that all of us work towards ensuring that we dont go haphazardly based on hype and media and records to take decisions but based on systems and best policies.I prod a little more.?For a few seconds, Gopi munches over his response. He is a thoughtful man, not given to gusts of emotional outpouring. I have players who have the potential and I believe there is a lot they can achieve and I would focus on them.I think Saina is a great athlete. And what shes done for us, for badminton and for the country is fantastic and I hope she continues in the same way because to have two women gunning at the highest level is something we really love and possibly there will be a few more in the next few years.For now, though, the future - immediate or long term - is not on Gopis mind. He is exhausted.In Rio, two of his wards, Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth, who gave a real fright to double Olympic champion Lin Dan before bowing out in the quarterfinals, have given him reason to sit on the plane back home a satisfied man.Now, he just wants to get back to Hyderabad to family and friends. He offers an emphatic Yes when I ask if watching Sindhu on the podium felt better than winning the All-England all those years ago.If I do it (coaching) then I better do it well, Gopi says. Thats the way I look at it. But it is a tough job, it is stressful and discriminative in a way. It is not always a job without tension. It is a lot of work physically and mentally and it is a lot of stress as well. But these moments, to be able to be part of a group that can give happiness and pride to the entire country that kept me going and hopefully we should have many more results like these which are very important.This medal was very important for all of us and the nation. To be part of this great journey is something I am very grateful about. Today, we have accomplished something, and hopefully we have the fire and the energy to continue doing something for 2020. Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Wholesale Jerseys China Wholesale NFL White Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Authentic Jerseys China Womens NFL Jerseys Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Discount NFL Jerseys ' ' '
The Wall