Breitmann Tuning » become. Aside from the home run, I thin

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The frustrating losses in coach Mike Zimmers first year with Minnesota have piled up higher than the signature wins.The latest example came on Sunday at Detroit, when the Vikings let a two-touchdown lead in the second quarter slip into a narrow defeat by the Lions.The Vikings controlled much of the game against the NFC North co-leaders, a stark contrast from the first matchup the Lions dominated two months ago, but they were ultimately done in by a handful of mistakes.The patchwork offensive line played capably against one of the best fronts in the league, Teddy Bridgewater completed a career-high 31 passes and the defence allowed only 233 total yards. But two interceptions and three missed field goals proved to be more than the Vikings could overcome in the 16-14 loss.Bottom line is we want to be a playoff team. We want to be one of those teams in the race or leading the division, defensive end Brian Robison said. When we play a team like that, we know thats the type of ball that we can play.After falling to 6-8, their long-shot wild-card bid now mathematically impossible, the Vikings have one tangible motivation left for 2014. They play at Miami this week and finish the year at home against Chicago, with another opportunity for Zimmers first NFC North victory.To be even at .500, thats a good goal, left tackle Matt Kalil said, adding: Its two games that we can definitely win.Zimmer was irritated after the Vikings beat the New York Jets in overtime on Dec. 7, believing that game should have been sealed long before the winning score. This time, against a better opponent, the coach sounded more understanding and appreciative even as he was dissatisfied with another defeat.I get calls and texts from people and coaches, and they say what a good football team we look like and the things were doing right and the things that were doing, Zimmer said on Monday. And maybe theyre just telling me to be nice. I dont think that. But were doing so many good things.The interceptions and missed kicks aside, the Vikings still had two late drives to move into position for victory. But a holding penalty and a failure to get out of bounds and stop the clock, and the signs of a still-maturing team were apparent in the clutch.My mindset has not changed. As I told the team, were going to stick with it, keep working on getting better because weve got something to build for the future, Zimmer said.Bridgewater, fittingly, has been a microcosm of this teams status. For the third straight week, Bridgewater completed more than 70 per cent of his passes. He turned in his second straight 300-yard game. But two errant throws in the second quarter were picked off by the Lions, leading to 10 points.The good thing is Teddy is getting a lot of these experiences, Zimmer said. The on-the-job training hes getting I really believe will bode well for him in the future and for us as an organization and as a team.At this point it can be easy to forget that Bridgewater was supposed to be the backup to Matt Cassel this year. Zimmer said he was nervous early in the season about the rookie getting beat up both physically and mentally and becoming gun shy after the inevitable struggles.He learns from a lot of the experiences hes had. I expect him to continue to improve in those ways. Im really glad that hes playing. Im glad that were keeping him upright, Zimmer said.___AP NFL websites: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Discount MLB Jerseys . If there is one club built to handle an off-field controversy, its the Bill Belichick era Patriots. Even if New Englands offence stumbles a bit out of the gate, their defence can help them stay in games, especially in the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets in the first two weeks. Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys . - While he appreciates suggestions from Packers fans of remedies for his sore left calf, Aaron Rodgers is not necessarily going to listen to the advice. https://www.mlbjerseyschina.us/ . New York then missed its next six shots and scored only two points the rest of the night. The Los Angeles Clippers defence and the Knicks general ineptitude both played a role in the unsurprising finish to a meeting of two teams headed in opposite directions. MLB Jerseys Outlet . The Yankees made the moves before Tuesdays game against Baltimore. Robertson was listed retroactive to Monday. Robertson posted two saves in three games as the replacement for retired Yankees closer Mariano Rivera before getting hurt. Cheap MLB Jerseys Nike 2020 .com) - The Hatch Attack is back in the Southern Conference.BOSTON - If youre a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, no doubt you remember where you were 20 years ago tonight. October 23, 1993. The SkyDome. Game Six of the World Series. The Blue Jays vs. the Phillies. Joe Carter vs. Mitch Williams. The home run. Tom Cheeks famous line, "Touch em all Joe, youll never hit a bigger home run in your life!" To this day, it remains the most recent postseason moment in Blue Jays history and oh was it special and memorable. I had the good fortune of being there, of seeing that famous moment in person and of experiencing the bedlam as Carter rounded the bases, feet leaping and fists pumping. I was sitting down the right field line, in foul territory. I know exactly where, by the way. Section 113B, Row 34, Seat 111. Before you think Im crazy, I still have the ticket stub. I didnt actually memorize the seat. I was 14 years old. We were fortunate, my entire family, because my dad, Jamie, had a position with the Stadium Corporation of Ontario, which operated the SkyDome. This afforded him the opportunity to get us tickets to games. We went often and many of us were there that night. My paternal grandparents, both of whom have since passed, were there. They loved baseball. Let me be clear: They didnt like baseball. They loved baseball. They, along with my mom, Terry, were in box seats. My maternal grandparents, my grandmother has since passed, were somewhere else in the crowd. My brother, Drew, then a 10-year-old, was sitting with me and so were two sets of aunts and uncles. Heres what I remember about the ninth inning and the immediate aftermath. Philadelphia turned to its closer, Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams, to save a game that, for most of the night, was in the Blue Jays control. Toronto, behind Dave Stewart, led 5-1 after six innings but the Phillies, keyed by a Lenny Dykstra two-run home run, put up a five-spot in the seventh to take the lead and deflate the partisan SkyDome crowd. Rickey Henderson led off the inning with a walk. The crowd was on its feet, hooked on every pitch. Now, for reasons I cannot recall, 20 has always been my favourite number. I began to clap, along with the rest of the crowd, in between each pitch, except I would stop at 20. It became my routine for the remainder of the inning. Pitch is thrown, resulting play occurs, I clap 20 times. Lather, rinse, repeat. Devon White flied out to left field on the ninth pitch of his at bat. One out. Im still clapping 20 times in between each pitch. Paul Molitor, the consummate pro, drove a base hit to centerfield on the third pitch of his at bat. Henderson advanced to second. Joe Carter came up and, well, the rest is history. I saw the home run swing. I saw the ball leave the bat. But I lost the balls trajectory as it soared through the air. It was, for a home run, a relatively low line drive and I remember the ball disappearing in the backdrop of the white facade of the auxiliary press seating in left field. So I waited for what obviously was a matter of mere seconds but for what felt like hours. Surrely the ball was going to hook foul.ddddddddddddMaybe it would careen off the wall for extra bases and at the very least Henderson would score the tying run. I remember thinking these thoughts in that brief nanosecond of time. I watched for the reaction of the crowd down the left field line. When the folks in foul territory raised their arms in unison, followed quickly by almost everyone else in the stadium, I started screaming and jumping up and down. There were high fives. Random people were embracing. We were strangers but for the moment, we were all friends in this celebration. Then there was the bunting lining the façade between the first and second decks. People began to reach up and pull it down. We all wanted a little piece of the cloth; our little piece of this historic moment. Guys were using the little scissors on their Swiss Army knives to cut out fragments. I didnt have a Swiss Army knife. What I did have, and man did it seem like a good idea at the time, were braces on my teeth. Remember, I was 14. Yes, I tried to tear a piece of the cloth with my braces and, yes, I was in the orthodontists chair just days later as he reattached the tinsel to my bottom front teeth. Smart move, Scott. Smart move. Some guy was good enough to cut me a piece of the cloth. I still have it. After the game those of us sitting in right field met up with our family whod watched from box seats and other spots in the stadium. We laughed and relived the moment. We commented on the look of sheer joy on Carters face as he bounced around the bases. We knew that this was a cool time to be a Toronto sports fan. The Blue Jays were back to back World Series champions. The Maple Leafs, under Pat Burns, had taken us on quite a ride the previous spring and were in the process of starting 10-0 that season. And nobody was talking about it. Get that, nobody was talking about the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Can you imagine? The Argos were owned by McNall, Gretzky and Candy. We hadnt yet been introduced to the Raptors and their maddening sub-mediocrity. Major League Soccer was but a pipe dream. Toronto FC wasnt yet the pipe nightmare it would become. Aside from the home run, I think what I remember most is being young, at that impressionable age when our fondest sports memories are created. Sure its special when youre an adult and your favourite team wins but it isnt quite the same. You know too much about the world, how it works, and you become jaded, maybe cynical. You know most athletes arent the superheroes youd once envisioned them to be. I remember my grandparents, three of whom are gone, and how we enjoyed that celebration together. My dads folks used to buy tickets to games at Exhibition Stadium on sale at the Dominion grocery store, two-dollar bleacher seats for one dollar, and they often took me. Carters home run was the culmination of our committed fandom. The great payoff we experienced together. There was nothing better. Maybe someday something else will happen on a baseball field that will top it. But I doubt it. ' ' '