The Vancouver Whitecaps were denied a well-earned three points against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, after Gonzalo Pineda converted a controversial penalty kick to level the score at 2-2. [url=http://www.authenticbasketballshophawks.info/dikembe-mutombo-hawks- jersey/]Dikembe Mutombo Jersey[/url]

The Vancouver Whitecaps were denied a well-earned three points against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday, after Gonzalo Pineda converted a controversial penalty kick to level the score at 2-2. Dikembe Mutombo Jersey . Whitecaps skipper Jay DeMerit was judged to have fouled Sounders striker Cam Weaver, though the "foul" that DeMerit allegedly committed was a mystery to me. In the aftermath of the game, I tweeted this: If we start giving penalty kicks every time players make minimal contact heading crossed balls, well ruin the game. — Jason deVos (@jasondevos) May 25, 2014 To which I received this response: @jasondevos LOL -too late! You already ruined it with your stupid LTPD plan. #keepscore — Jon Empringham (@92jays93) May 25, 2014 While Mr. Empringhams tweet wasnt relative to the Vancouver Whitecaps game against the Seattle Sounders, it did highlight another important point: LTPD, the CSAs long-term player development program, is still very misunderstood. According to his twitter bio, Mr. Empringham is an elementary school teacher who coaches basketball, soccer and track. Given his occupation, he would appear to be the ideal proponent of the principles of LTPD. Yet he seems adamantly opposed to the removal of scores and standings for youth soccer players below the age of 13. While the removal of scores and standings is just one small component of the changes brought forward by LTPD, the concept still faces considerable pushback. I believe that much of that pushback comes from the general publics misunderstanding of the reason why scores and standings have been removed. Keeping scores and standings is not inherently bad for children. We havent been doing young players a disservice all of these years by tracking the results of their games, nor by adding up their wins and losses at the end of their seasons. What we have done, though, is compromise their development by linking their opportunities within the game – perceived or otherwise – to their results on the field. As it is my home province, I will use Ontario to explain. Until the introduction of LTPD, the "Pyramid for Play" (the name of the competitive structure for youth soccer in Ontario) was based on promotion and relegation between multiple tiers. The higher the tier, the more "competitive" the level of play. Tier 1, provincial "rep" soccer, was considered the highest level of play, while Tier 7, local "house league" soccer, was the introductory level. Teams who won their leagues (or finished in the top two or three, in some cases) were promoted to the next highest tier, while teams who finished bottom of their leagues (or finished in the bottom two or three, in some cases) were demoted to the next lowest tier. This movement of teams every year caused a major problem. Players as young as 9 were coming under immense pressure to win promotion - primarily from their coaches and parents. In some cases, failure to win promotion would lead to the break up of an entire team, as players would scatter over the off-season in order to tryout for teams that did win promotion. The concept of promotion and relegation created a false belief amongst coaches and parents that the key to success in the game - the way for kids to "make it" - was to play at the Tier 1 level, which began at the under-14 age category. The years leading up to under-14 were becoming a dogfight, as players jostled to be on a team that was poised to win promotion to Tier 1. It didnt really matter how games were won, or what players were learning, so long as promotion was achieved. The competitive structure itself reinforced this "win at all costs" mentality, and youth soccer in Ontario found itself spiralling into a vicious cycle that was getting worse every year. In my time working as the Technical Director of the Oakville Soccer Club, I once had to gather the parents of an entire age groups competitive program after a fight had broken out amongst parents on the sidelines of an under-10 boys game. On another occasion, I had to intervene on the field of a house league game, as the coaches and parents were incensed by a call made by the referee – who was a 16-year-old girl – and were verbally abusing the young lady. Yet another incident saw a 14-year-old referee leave the field in tears after being verbally abused by spectators at a game. Over time, we have collectively lost sight of the fact that youth soccer is a game that is supposed to be enjoyed by its players, coaches and spectators. Young children shouldnt have to shoulder the burden of "needing to win this game" in order to win promotion or avoid relegation. That pressure is difficult enough for seasoned professional players to handle. Imagine if children had to finish in the top three in their class in order to graduate to the next grade each year? Our school system would devolve into chaos - wed have parents submitting homework and assignments on behalf of their children, as theyd be terrified that their kids would miss out on graduation! Critics have argued that over-competitiveness amongst parents is a societal issue, and that other sports suffer from the same problems. If that is the case though, then surely it is up to our governing bodies to try to better the environments in which our children experience the game of soccer? Surely they should do everything in their power to compensate for our societys failings? Critics have also suggested that, rather than removing scores and standings, we should just remove promotion and relegation from the system. But doing so is far more difficult than it sounds. For starters, how does one determine which teams play at which competitive level? Does one make that determination based on population, geographic location, club size or historical club "success" – all the while knowing that any "success" that was previously achieved was done in a flawed system that was systematically abused? Additionally, there are many people firmly entrenched within the clubs and districts who rule the game in Canada who dont think anything is wrong with how we develop soccer players. Some of those individuals believe this because they do not know what a genuine, player-centric development system should look like, while others believe this because they have a vested financial interest in maintaining the status quo. It is those individuals who will fight the hardest to maintain the previous competitive structure. The only way to combat this is through education – by shining a light on what our real problems are. Because the only way we are going to fix our problems is if we first acknowledge what they really are. It isnt about scores and standings being "bad" for kids. It is about the behaviour that keeping scores and standings brings out in adults. John Collins Jersey . Watch all the action unfold live on TSN and TSN Mobile TV at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. You can also watch the game live with the debut of Wednesday Night Hockey on TSN.ca and chat throughout the game with TSN. Mike Bibby Jersey .com) - The Eastern Conferences best team takes on one of its worst Tuesday night when the Atlanta Hawks pay a visit to the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia 76ers. http://www.authenticbasketballshophawks.info/kent-bazemore-hawks-jersey/ . -- Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew practiced in a limited capacity Friday, a positive sign he might be able to play against the Tennessee Titans.MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Klay Thompson erased a previous bad outing by scoring early and in the process helped himself accomplish a first in his NBA career. Thompson scored 30 points Saturday night and the Golden State Warriors ended an 11-game losing skid to Memphis, defeating the short-handed Grizzlies 108-82. "Ive been in this league three years, and I havent beaten them in three years," said Thompson, who was limited to five points in a loss at Houston on Friday. "So, to finally get a win, the way we did, it felt great to win big like that." David Lee added 23 points for the Warriors and Stephen Curry scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, despite shooting 7 of 16 on the night. Curry matched his career-best with 15 assists, two more Memphis team total. "Klay was hot early, and we had some matchups we wanted to attack," Curry said. "On pick-and-rolls, they were basically trapping and trying to get the ball out of my hands. You cant force anything, so you trust your teammates to make plays." Mike Miller led the Grizzlies with 16 points, while Jon Leuer and Zach Randolph added 15 points each. Mike Conley finished with 12 points, but was 4 of 12 from the field, part of Memphis shooting 37 per cent. Kosta Koufos had 10 points and 16 rebounds. Memphis played without starters Marc Gasol and Tony Allen, plus Ed Davis, who had moved into the starting lineup. Then in the second quarter, Memphis lost Quincy Pondexter, who started for Allen, to a right midfoot sprain. "Weve got to step it up," Randolph said of the injuries. "Weve just got to come out and play hard. Its tough." Lee had 11 rebounds and Andrew Bogut grabbed 12 boards to help Golden State outrebound Memphis 47-40 while shooting 50 per cent. Memphis was limited to 2 of 10 from beyond the arc as the Warriors rebounded from Fridays 105-83 loss at Houston. "I think we showed who we truly are," Warriors coach Mark Jackson saiid. Pete Maravich Jersey. "Weve been upset with the way weve played. We came in here against a team that we had not had much success, or any success at all against, and got a quality win." Thompson got the Warriors started early, connecting on 7 of 9 shots in the first quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers. That helped Golden State build its lead to as many as 16 points in the first half. And Jackson was going to make sure Memphis didnt get any momentum. "It was the first time in my career that I was locked and loaded to call an early timeout," Jackson said. "Fortunately, it didnt have to take place because of the way we came out." Meanwhile, the Grizzlies injury woes continued to build when Pondexter went to the locker room in the latter stages of the half and did not return. The Warriors defence and a short Memphis bench allowed Golden State to stop the Grizzlies after halftime. Memphis was 3 of 18 to start the third quarter and had three turnovers in the first 9 minutes of the stanza. At that point, Golden State had matched its largest lead at 69-53, and the Grizzlies were dragging. "We need to go out there and take an attitude of competing our tails off and letting the chips fall where they may," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said, "and not worrying about anything on the periphery." NOTES: The Warriors last victory in the series was Nov. 3, 2010. Golden State had not won in Memphis since April 4, 2008. ... Currys 3-pointer with 10:48 left in the third moved him past Jason Richardson as the Warriors top 3-point shooter. Richardson had 700 from outside the arc. Curry has 701. ... The Warriors were 0-4 in the second game of back-to-backs this season before Saturdays victory. ... Curry had led Golden State in scoring the past five games. However, he did keep his streak of leading the Warriors in assists. He has led the team in eight straight. ... Miller led the Grizzlies in scoring, becoming the eighth player to lead Memphis in scoring the past eight games. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '