News & Neuigkeiten » you love to perform, you love the uniform

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Greg McDermott isnt ready to think about No. 22 Creightons place in the national polls just yet.Ill worry about that come March, the Bluejays coach said.Creighton is riding high, though, after beating N.C. State 112-94 on Sunday night to advance to the championship game of the Paradise Jam tournament.Cole Huff had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and six other players finished in double figures for Creighton (4-0), which had its highest offensive output in a regulation game since scoring 115 points against Indiana State on Jan. 19, 1985.The polls dont mean anything to me right now, McDermott said. They will in March, but not right now. We just have to continue to get better.Im proud of the fact that coming off an emotional win like we had against (No. 9) Wisconsin, weve been able to put together two pretty good performances back to back. Thats a credit to this team.Khyri Thomas added 16 points and Marcus Foster had 15 among the seven Bluejays (4-0) in double figures. Creighton led by 24 at one point in the second half.Terry Henderson scored 28 points and three other players finished in double figures for the Wolfpack (3-1), who battled to six ties and eight lead changes in the first half.Dennis Smith Jr. added 21 points, Torin Dorn had 16 and Abdul-Malik Abu had 13 for N.C. State, which last led 47-46 with 2:43 remaining in the first half on Smiths 3-pointer.Creighton closed out the half with an 8-2 run for a 54-48 lead, then opened the second half with another 8-2 stretch for its first double-digit lead.The Bluejays biggest lead, 24 points, came when Huff hit a pair of free throws with 5:17 remaining for a 103-79 lead.No. 1, theyre a really good team and they can score the ball, N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. We had a hard time stopping them from scoring. I liked a lot of things we did -- we scored 92 ourselves -- but we just really couldnt slow them down, much less stop them. That was the difference in the game.Maurice Watson Jr. scored 15 points for Creighton, Isaiah Zierden added 12, Zach Hanson had 11 and Justin Patton had 10.BIG PICTUREN.C. State: Henderson scored more than 20 points for the second time in four games this season after missing nearly all of 2015-16 with an ankle injury.Creighton: The Bluejays are 4-0 for the fifth time in the past six seasons under McDermott. The only blemish on that run was a 3-1 start in 2015-2016.STAT SHEETN.C. State made a season-best 14 of 28 3-pointers and shot 45.6 percent from the field (31 of 68). But Creighton countered with a season-best 60.6 percent shooting (40 of 66) and made 13 of 27 3-pointers.FOUL TIMEN.C. State and Creighton were whistled for 45 combined fouls, including a pair of technical fouls (on Foster and Patton) in the second half for excessive celebration. Beejay Anya fouled out for the Wolfpack, and six others (four for N.C. State, two for Creighton) finished with four fouls.POLL IMPLICATIONSWith the Top 25 rankings coming out Monday morning, Creighton should head into that evenings Paradise Jam championship game having moved up several spots following back-to-back 100-point games.UP NEXTN.C. State: Will play Saint Josephs in the tournaments third-place game Monday.Creighton: Will face Mississippi in the championship game Monday.DeAndre Hopkins Texans Jersey . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. Max Scharping Jersey . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. http://www.officialhoustontexanspro.com/Kahale-warring-texans-jersey/ . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. Tytus Howard Womens Jersey . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Custom Houston Texans Jerseys .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.He lost a step. His bat is slowing down. He isnt getting the jumps he used to get. His slider is flat. His slow start is a liability. He has no position. He has lost velocity. What is he taking?Yes, even David Ortiz heard some of these comments about his career, and it wasnt that long ago.The reality is that players dont get to ride off into the sunset on their own terms without, at some point, being on the receiving end of such commentary. In fact, no one exits without cuts and bruises, maybe even a few arrows to the back. It doesnt matter how glorious, thankful or championship-caliber the ride was just moments before.David Ortiz is leaving at the top of his game, having the greatest over-40 final season in history. His hands are adorned with rings. He has brought victory and glory to his city, country and family. Then in this final campaign, he led the league in many major offensive categories and helped carry his team to a division title after it finished dead last a year ago. So why in the world would he leave with so much left in the tank?Because the opposite of a full tank is an empty one, and even he knows that with age comes holes in the fuel line. Its inevitable that you will eventually be overmatched, that you will spend more time getting ready for the game than playing in it, that you will stop being a starter if you keep going. Ever pinch hit in early April, in Boston, off of Wade Davis after sitting for four games? Go get em!Remember, two of the greatest performers of our time were Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, and they both hit close to .200 in their final seasons. We heard all about Jeters declining range and inability to hit at the top of the order; we heard all about A-Rods struggles and health issues. And Jeter had a world tour to go on while scuffling like he never had before. Then someone is on your heels to replace you (see Gary Sanchez), and this is while it takes three hours to get your legs ready just to play. That is where its heading.I caught up with Ortiz a few years ago before an interleague game between the Red Sox and the Cubs. As always, Big Papi was holding court with teammates, opponents, legends, 8-year-old fans and reporters. On this day, he was almost starting his farewell tour, telling Anthony Rizzo about the dos and donts of the game, talking to the Cubs middle infielders during the game. He could share institutional knowledge with an opponent and then bury him in the next breath in the ninth inning. The game, according to Ortiz, was meant to be passed on to everyone, not just those in your uniform.At one point, he came over to me to explain that he was old, in a jovial way that only Ortiz can pull off. These days, everyone in the bullpen throws hard, everyone! he said. I am running out of time.No one is harder on a player than the player himself. When you start and play 162 games a year, even a superior athlete at 22 years old feels the effect of the grind. It becomes difficult to tell the difference between a permanent reduction in skill and a blip. They feel the same during the exhaustion of a long season. They even look the same. Managers see it and give you a day off when youre a fixture in the lineup, but if it continues, and youre of advanced age, it will signify bigger issues. And baseball, like all sports, has a natural ageism to it. Managers and front offices know when youre supposed to decline, and they can map it as a function of age. Then life will imitate science.So at 40, your days are numbered, every slow day a marker for a larger issue. I tore a hhamstring tendon just running down the line at 32 years old.dddddddddddd Ortiz was hobbled with bad feet and heels. Youre the upside-down hourglass with no hope for anyone turning it right-side up. The question is how much can you produce before the sand runs out? Can you squeeze out another big moment or two? Does your contract give you coverage to play while the sand falls? Will they trade you at the deadline to rebuild?Ortiz followed what musician Daryl Hall once said when he was atop the music world in the 1980s: I stopped before it stopped me. Sure, most players have to worry about appearing ungrateful because the general sentiment is seeing the gift side of playing baseball, and to leave when you can still enjoy this fantasy life is hard to fathom. But fantasy is tied to performance. As players, we have expectations that we need to meet to continue in this game.Then, there is the challenge of fighting denial, a tool you use to keep on keeping on. I am not hurt, I am not slowing down, I am not going to lose. The willpower to overcome is a necessary trait, and this can carry you to play through the finish line until a limb falls off and you hit .156. Or until you just get released.And keep in mind, Ortiz has seen a lot. Two years ago, I spoke with Ryan Howard on the field. Howard had come up in my final season with the Phillies. He watched how I got phased out of the game. I was not performing well, I was 34 years old, and our team was not going anywhere. I helped Marlon Byrd take and keep my job, I smelled the roses, I took time to thank everyone, and then I realized I was close to the end. Howard saw how I pinch ran, pinch hit, how one day I had to face a super ace, like a Brad Radke, after no one told me until I got to the park that I was starting. You start to feel like age is pushing you downhill, and the powers that be are tilting the hill to accelerate it. I am sure when Ortiz was younger, he remembers how veterans got pushed out of the game. He filed that away. Even how his former manager, Terry Francona, ignominiously left Boston. Players pay attention because they know one day that will be them.Ortiz ended on top, and what he probably already knows is that the the top is just an illusion. It is thinking you have reached the peak on a foggy day when visibility is low. You have so little perspective when the curtain falls. But for sure, life will bring new challenges, he will struggle with certain adjustments, it will still feel unresolved even if he is happy in another world. Because like most ballplayers, you love the game, you love to perform, you love the uniform, and when you hang it up in your closet, permanently, when all of your young adult life was invested into this game, you will feel vulnerable.Ortiz decided to write the final chapter of his career book, not have it written for him, and even if a ghost writer would have said glowing things about him, it would have mattered if in his final season he hit .212. So to exercise some semblance of control, you set artificial targets for the end of your career, saying to yourself that you will play until you have no job, until your body fails you, until the passion dies, until you hit a milestone, until the uniform is ripped off your body, until you stink, until, until, until -- but true to David Ortiz, he decided to be the entertainer until the end. One who lives by the adage: Always leave them wanting more. ' ' '