needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting

Its only two starts, but Chien-Ming Wang appears to be just what the doctor ordered for the Blue Jays beleaguered pitching staff. He has taken the team deep into both games hes pitched and picked up the victory Sunday at Arlington, pitching seven shutout innings while walking two and striking out five. The Blue Jays were able to get Wang, who starred for the Yankees in 2006 and 2007, winning 19 in each of the those seasons, simply because the Yankees felt he couldnt help their big club. They released him from his Triple A deal at Scranton-Wilkes Barre of the International League, allowing him to sign on with the Blue Jays. In a certain way, it reminds me of the success the Jays had with another Yankee discard, Doyle Alexander. In 1982, Doyle went 1-7 for the Yankees with a 6.08 earned run average. He got off to another rocky start in 1983 going 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA. Then out of frustration one night, he punched a wall and broke his hand. On May 31 of 1983, the Yankees released the 32-year-old Alexander and some wondered if his career could be over. The Blue Jays signed him on June 21 of that season, and suddenly Doyle was reborn. He went 7-6 for the Jays the rest of the season and, more importantly, shaved his earned run average to 3.93. Things only got better the next two seasons under skipper Bobby Cox. Doyle won 17 games in 1984, and 17 again in 1985, the year the Blue Jays won their first division title. In fact, Doyle pitched the division clincher against the Yankees on a Saturday afternoon at Exhibition Stadium on the second last day of the regular season. Doyle had a very strong and serious personality. Bobby Cox left after the 85 season and returned to Atlanta to become general manager of the Braves. Whether it was Cox leaving or some other reason, "Dour Doyle" as he came to be known, slipped a bit in 1986. He was 5-4 with 4.46 ERA when he was ultimately swapped to Coxs Braves in July for a young starting pitching prospect by the name of Duane Ward, who would eventually become part of the greatest 1-2 relief punch the Blue Jays ever had with Tom Henke. Alexander had his moments after leaving Toronto, especially in 1987, when he helped Detroit beat out the Blue Jays for the East Division title on the final weekend of the season at Tiger Stadium. Still, overall, he never again reached the heights he enjoyed in Toronto. Over two full seasons with the Blue Jays and parts of two others, he went 46-26 with a 3.56 ERA. Though he won 194 games over his career, the best span of Doyles career came in Toronto. Truth be told, over those Toronto years, I enjoyed watching him pitch more than any other Jays starter. The man knew how to pitch. He could change speeds and vary his location as well as anyone Ive ever seen in a Blue Jays uniform. No, he could not blow people away like a Roger Clemens and he wasnt Dave Stieb or Roy Halladay, but when he was on, he could make hitters look foolish. The circumstances are different with Chien-Ming Wang. The Yankees werent fed up with him. They just didnt have a spot for him, what with Michael Pineda going on rehab and expected to finally pitch for the big club in the near future. But the Yankees could get stung on this one, just as they did in 1983 when they released Alexander. The Blue Jays should be so fortunate. Playoff Watch If you look at the American League standings from last year, four of the five teams that made the post-season are holding down playoff positions right now outright with the only exception being the Yankees and Texas, who are tied for the second Wild Card position. Both teams are struggling right now, especially at the plate. The team that has stepped up is Boston. Theyve gone from also rans to first place in the AL East under John Farrell. If this continues the rest of the campaign, Farrell is going to be a shoo-in for American League Manager of the Year. Along those same lines, if the BoSox win the East, Dustin Pedroia would have an excellent shot at the Most Valuable Player Award, though Ive got a feeling in the end it will boil down to a battle between the Orioles slugger Chris Davis and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. The Blue Jays are coming off a great 6-1 road trip, just when they needed it most, to climb to within five and a half games of the second Wild Card spot. But theyve got to come close to sustaining this pace through the end of this month. They have 13 games left in June, including 10 against the East: three at home this weekend against Baltimore followed by three at Tampa Bay and four at Fewnway Park in Boston. Going 8-5 would keep them in the conversation at least about having meaningful games down the stretch. Grant Hill Jersey . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Penny Hardaway Jersey . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. https://www.thesunslockerroom.com/Ray-Spalding-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). Aron Baynes Jersey . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. Ty Jerome Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. MINNEAPOLIS -- New Minnesota Timberwolves brass Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden sat on the sideline through the first two days of free agency as the big money players flew off the market. They dipped their toes into the waters on Day 3 by making a value play for hometown boy Cole Aldrich.The Timberwolves agreed to a three-year, $22 million contract with Aldrich, a native of the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Sunday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract cannot be signed until Thursday.Aldrich was a high school star in Bloomington before attending college at Kansas. He was the 11th overall pick in 2010 and has played for Oklahoma City, Houston, Sacramento, New York and the Clippers.The journeyman is coming off his best season as a pro, when he was a valuable defensive presence off the bench for the Clippers.He will slide into the big-man rotation in Minnesota with Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorggui Dieng.ddddddddddddThe Timberwolves were in search of a backup big man with Nikola Pekovics foot issues derailing his career and Kevin Garnetts future still up in the air.After other teams splurged on the likes of Bismack Biyombo, Ian Mahinmi and Timofey Mozgov, the Wolves went for a value play with Aldrich.The 7-foot Aldrich will give the Wolves some muscle, defense and rebounding, which is exactly what Thibodeau was lRENTON, Wash. -- What Pete Carroll saw beginning to develop in the first two weeks of training camp showed when the Seattle Seahawks finally got on the field.In critical areas like the offensive line, backup quarterback and Seattles stable of running backs, that development was far more important than the 17-16 victory over Kansas City in the Seahawks preseason opener.Were really pleased with whats happened up to this point because guys are showing in the game like they showed in practice, Carroll said. So were getting good information and really directs us for the things we need to work on.The standouts included the maligned starting offensive line, which held its own against Kansas Citys front, though the Chiefs were without a number of starters. Running back Christine Michael rushed for 44 yards on just seven carries and was decisive during his runs. Backup quarterback Trevone Boykin played adequately even before the final drive, when he took the Seahawks 88 yards in the closing seconds and hit Tanner McEvoy for a 37-yard touchdown on the final play of regulation. And undrafted rookie defensive back Tyvis Powell showed his versatility with a couple of standout plays on special teams and an interception on defense.I dont remember a first-year guy having a first game that was that obvious like that, Carroll said of Powell.The more important developments were the play of the offensive line and Boykins performance.The projected starting line has been the most watched position group during training camp because of its perceived weakness. Justin Britt seemed to adjust well to his move to center, tackles Bradley Sowell and Garry Gilliam played well and rookie Germain Ifedi made a few mistakes but overall held up in his first professional game.I thought we were tight in our pass protection and really hit some runs against a really nice front, Carroll said.Boykin was 12 of 22 passing before the final drive when he hit all four passes, including the touchdown to McEvoy. Carroll said Boykin had some issues in the huddle that led to miscommunication but the coach was pleased overall as Boykin tries to show he can serve as Russell Wilsons backup.He showed the big plays and showed the confidence and the poise to get through it and the clock is ticking down on that last play and the clock is running out and had great poise to finish it off like he did, Carroll said.Michael exhibited the continuing maturation he first displayed when he was re-signed by the Seahawks late last season. Michael has received the bulk of the work in training camp as Thomas Rawls recovers from the ankle injury he suffered in December.Im just here to contribute. Whether thats a 1-2 punch or backing Thomas up or starting, I have to be consistent, I have to do my job, I have to be trustworthy and know what Im doing, Michael said.Game notes Seattle signed veteran DT Tony McDaniel. Agent David Canter posted on Twitter that McDaniel had signed with the Seahawks. McDaniel played with Seattle in 2013-14 and was in Tampa Bay last year. ... RT JMarcus Webb is not expected to play Thursday against Minnesota. Webb twisted his knee in practice last week and did not play against the Chiefs. Seattle moved Garry Gilliam to right tackle and inserted Bradley Sowell at left tackle against Kansas City and will likely do the same again this week. ... SS Kam Chancellor has not returned to practice due to a groin injury and wont play this week.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Fake Shoes . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Fake Shoes For Sale . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. https://www.fakeshoeswholesale.com/ .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Kevin Porter and defenceman Chad Ruhwedel from the minors as part of a five-player roster shuffle made by the NHLs worst team. Black Friday Shoes . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Clearance Shoes . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. FARMVILLE, Va. -- Jackson Kent scored a career-best 22 points as James Madison defeated Longwood 71-59 on Saturday, earning its first win of the season.Kent had the hot hand, shooting 7-for-8 from the floor, including a perfect 5-for-5 on 3-pointers. Yohanny Dalembert added 16 points, Ramone Snowden 12 and Joey McLean 10 for the Dukes (1-7), who shot 45.5-percent (25-55) and outrebounded Longwood 47-27.Darrion Allen scored 13 points and Kendrick Thompson 12 to pace Longwood (2-4), which closed to 34-30 at halftime but fell behind by 14 before Isaiah Walton hit a 3-pointer at 16:27 after the break.ddddddddddddThe Lancers rallied to within 50-46 on a Khris Lane basket with 7:19 remaining, only to see the Dukes go on an 11-3 tear over the next three minutes. Lane finished with eight points. ' ' 'ooking for as he starts to install a culture built on defense and toughness in Minnesota.The Timberwolves also were in talks with Pau Gasol, but signing Aldrich as another big could have an affect on that prospect. Gasol was also talking to San Antonio, Portland and Toronto, among other suitors.The Wolves also started free agency looking for shooting and could still address that need, perhaps with a backup to shooting guard Zach LaVine, in the coming days. ' ' '