LaberFred » jersey unzipped and wide open

NEW YORK -- David Sterns NBA owners gathered one last time, toasting the outgoing commissioner before he leaves after 30 years on the job. They also changed back one of the earliest changes Stern made. Leaving with Stern is the NBA Finals format he implemented in his first full year on the job, one that alleviated travel concerns but critics felt also gave an advantage to the lower-seeded team. Beginning with the 2014 finals, the higher-seeded team will host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The lower seed gets Games 3, 4 and 6, following the same format the NBA uses in all other rounds. The NBA for the previous 29 years has used whats referred to as the 2-3-2 format, in which the higher seed hosts the first two games, then goes on the road for three straight. The 2-3-2 format was instituted in 1985 in part to ease the amount of cross-country travel with the Celtics and Lakers frequently meeting for the championship. But some felt it also worked against the team that should have the advantage. "There certainly was a perception ... it was unfair to the team that had the better record, that it was then playing the pivotal Game 5 on the road. So this obviously moves that game back to giving home-court advantage to the team with the better record if its a 2-2 series," Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said. The unanimous vote to approve the 2-2-1-1-1 format came Wednesday during Sterns final preseason meeting with his board of governors. Owners also voted to add an extra day between Games 6 and 7. The leagues competition committee had recommended the change last month back to 2-2-1-1-1, which was used in all but one finals from 1957 to 1984. Stern has often said he was acting on advice -- or complaints -- about the travel from former Celtics boss Red Auerbach when the finals format was switched. But with commercial flights long since replaced by charters, teams didnt have the same difficulties now with the number of trips. Instead, the ones who had the higher seed found it more inconvenient, Stern said, to be on the road for as many as eight days in a row when the opponent hosted the middle three games. Silver, who will become commissioner after Stern retires Feb. 1, is a proponent of the 2-2-1-1-1 format, though he said Stern and other league executives all thought it was time for the change. "It reached a crescendo where basketball people thought it was important and the business people stood down and said it was no longer necessary for the convenience of transportation or the media," Silver said. Beyond the re-election of Spurs owner Peter Holt as chairman, there was little other business for the owners, who toasted Stern during dinner Tuesday night. Stern said there was a video tribute voiced by Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, along with "some speechifying" and "a series of totally embarrassing photos of me over the last 36 years." "I got the opportunity to thank my colleagues at the NBA for their incredible work and saying how pleased I was that the league was in such good hands under those colleagues and Adams stewardship," Stern said. The owners were also presented with a Stern bobblehead doll. The commissioner said Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert joked that unlike most bobbleheads whose heads nod up and down, Sterns only moves side to side as if shaking its head no. "Its been a great opportunity," Stern said. "Believe it or not, even including my interaction with the media and the burns that come from being a lightning rod, its been a great run, and Im grateful to the owners for giving me the opportunity." Julio Jones Jersey . The Swiss won on the fastest run-time tiebreaker after the four-racer teams tied 2-2. Wendy Holdener and Reto Schmidiger won their final heats against Julia Mancuso and Tim Jitloff, respectively. Matt Ryan Jersey . The Canadian Football Leagues all-time passing leader said he has not made a final decision, but he will discuss his future with Montreal Alouettes owner Bob Wetenhall on the weekend. http://www.thefaclonsshoponline.com/Yout...Falcons-Jersey/. The trade deadline is Monday, Mar. 2 at 3pm et/Noon pt. TRADES COMPLETED SINCE OCT. 1, 2014: Feb. 15, 2015 Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: F Olli Jokinen, F Brendan Leipsic, 1st Round Pick (2015) Nashville Predators acquire: D Cody Franson, F Mike Santorelli Feb. Brett Favre Jersey . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing. Custom Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . The International Ice Hockey Federation says Pavlovs avoided a two-year sanction because he acted "without significant negligence in failing to verify the safety of the supplements he was taking.RISOUL, France -- Panting hard with his jersey unzipped and wide open in the heat, Polish rider Rafal Majka sped to a solo breakaway victory on Stage 14 as the Tour de France wrapped up its foray in the Alps on Saturday. The two stages were expected to shake up the standings, but Vincenzo Nibali was not only still wearing the yellow jersey, he was farther out front. In a flip of their finishes a day earlier in the races entree to the Alps when Nibali won, the Pole and the Italian crossed one-two after the 177-kilometre (110-mile) ride over the 2,360-meter (7,742-foot) Izoard pass -- the races highest point -- and a final ascent up to Risoul ski station. Majkas victory was the first on this Tour by his Tinkoff-Saxo Bank team, which lost main leader Alberto Contador when he crashed out injured on Stage 10. Majka was not a threat to Nibali: He began the day 97 minutes behind the race leader, who has carried out a methodical, chipping-away strategy against his biggest challengers for the yellow jersey. "I am really very happy," Majka, who was sixth in the Giro dItalia this year, said of his first professional victory after chucking his stage winners bouquet to the crowd. He became only the second Polish rider to win a Tour stage, after Zenon Jaskula in 1993. "I am a little tired, but ... I had a calm first week to help Alberto. It broke my heart to see him leave." Team owner Oleg Tinkov, a Russian businessman, choked up, wiped his nose, and put on sunglasses. "We lost Alberto, we had to win," he said through a translator on French TV. "Rafal is a marvelous young rider. We will come back to try to win the Tour one day." Majka said he did not believe speculation that Tinkoff-Saxo Bank selected him among its nine Tour riders only after the team suspended Czech rider Roman Kreuziger. Just days before announcing its Tour roster last month, the team suspended Kreuziger from competing any more this year because of anomalies in his biological passport, which cycling officials use to fight doping. He has denied any wrongdoing. Majka, who said he was tired after the strong Giro performance, said he was given assurances by team managers that "youll do the Tour, but youll take it easy in the first week," he said. "Its also wrong to think that Im doing the Tour because Roman Kreuziger isnt. Had he been able to start, we would have both been part of the team." Victor Petri, a team spokesman, confirmed Majka was in contention for a roster spot before the Kreuziger case. The Pole was out front early in the stage, joining a 17-rider breakaway behind Spains Joaquim Rodriguez, the Tours bestt climber.dddddddddddd They cleared the first big climb, the Lauteret pass, with about a five-minute lead. By the top of the Izoard, they had thinned to 10. As the groupetto splintered on the last climb, and Nibali and the peloton closed in, Majka covered the last eight kilometres alone. The stage didnt shake up the top five standings, but the days biggest loser was Alejandro Valverde of Spain: The Movistar team leader held on to his second place but lost a minute to Nibali and saw his gap over third-place Romain Bardet of France slip to 13 seconds. Overall, Nibali leads Valverde by 4:37 and Bardet by 4:50. American Tejay van Garderen was fifth, 5:49 back. Nibalis strong performance makes the Tour from here to the finish in eight days in Paris looking more and more like a race for podium spots below him. Giuseppe Martinelli, a manager with Nibalis Astana team and an Italian cycling veteran, said Nibalis "big engine" was making the difference: "Its what makes the difference between a very strong rider and a regular rider." "Preparation, team strategy, thats all good. But its the engine that makes the difference in times like this," Martinelli added. Nibai crossed 24 seconds behind Majka, followed by Jean-Christophe Peraud in third, two seconds slower. Bardet and fellow French rider Thibaut Pinot conducted a two-man sprint and crossed another 24 seconds back. Van Garderen was fifth, 54 seconds behind. "From the team car, I was told: If you still have something in the tank, go for it," Nibali said. "I was looking at gaining some time over Alejandro Valverde. I heard that he cracked after I left him." Valverde, speaking from a team car, said "I didnt crack!" and explained that his trouble stemmed mainly from bad co-ordination with Pinot on the final climb and taking leadership of their bunch. As for the overall title chase, Valverde said: "Nibali is the strongest, but we others are neck and neck." Nibali addressed speculation that he might have known Michele Ferrari, an Italian doctor who was banned by the Italian Cycling Federation in 2002 and by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency two years ago for serving as a doping consultant on Lance Armstrongs winning teams. "Ive never met him personally. Ive been accused in the past to have worked with him," said Nibali, referring to allegations that there were photographs of him together with Ferrari. "Those pictures simply didnt exist." Sundays stage offers some relief after the Alps: Stage 15 is a flat 222 kilometres (138 miles) from Tallard to Nimes, before riders take the second rest day. Wholesale Orioles Jerseys Red Sox Jerseys China Cheap Stitched Yankees Jerseys Cheap Stitched Rays Jerseys Wholesale Blue Jays Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Cheap Indians Jerseys Wholesale Tigers Jerseys Royals Jerseys China Cheap Stitched Twins Jerseys Cheap Stitched Astros Jerseys Wholesale Angels Jerseys Athletics Jerseys China Wholesale Mariners Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Rangers Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Braves Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys Wholesale Mets Jerseys Cheap Stitched Phillies Jerseys Wholesale Nationals Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Online Wholesale Reds Jerseys Cheap Brewers Jerseys Online Cheap Pirates Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Authentic Cheap Rockies Jerseys Authentic Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Authentic Cheap Padres Jerseys Online Wholesale Giants Jerseys ' ' '