Kultur?! » They will be honoure

TORONTO -- Just two games into the 2014 MLS season, Toronto FC is experiencing new heights. England star Jermain Defoe is scoring goals as befitting his monster salary. American international Michael Bradley is pulling the strings in midfield. And everyone else is playing their part. Its early days yet but Toronto, once the MLS doormat, is off to its best start ever at 2-0-0 and drawing a crowd on and off the pitch. On Saturday, the TFC dressing room was crammed with reporters eager to tell the story of Torontos 1-0 win over D.C. United in the home opener before an announced -- and enthusiastic -- sellout crowd of 22,591 at BMO Field. Defoe emerged from the shower in a towel and flip-flops to find a mass of humanity in front of his stall. "Id forgotten about this," he said with a smile. The 31-year-old forward, used to reporter-free dressing rooms in England, must have felt like he was starring in "Magic Mike" as he dressed in front of some three dozen members of the media. Canadian midfielder Jonathan Osorio, who dresses two stalls down, had to scale his locker like he was climbing Everest just to get to his gear. Toronto loves a winner. Its just never seen one wearing Toronto FC gear. Still manager Ryan Nelsen is preaching caution at this early stage of the franchises eighth season. "I dont think were a top team right now," he said. "Were very well organized but I dont think weve seen the best of us. And you wont see the best of us because were still new." "I think we still have a long way to go as a team," he added. "Well play better than that probably and lose games." Toronto started six players Saturday who werent with the club last year. Defoe, who scored twice in his MLS debut last week in Seattle, could have had four goals Saturday before he finally scored in the 60th minute after Brazilian strike partner Gilberto was sent in alone by a beautiful through ball from Bradley. Goalie Bill Hamid made the save but the ball was cleared only as far as Defoe, who got the ball out from under his feet and hammered home a right-footed shot. The goal, which featured all three of TFCs designated players, was a model of efficiency. Brazilian international goalie Julio Cesar started the play, booting the ball up field. A D.C. United player headed it back towards the Toronto end but TFC captain Steven Caldwell nipped in and sent it to Osorio. The 21-year-old Canadian quickly gave it to Bradley, who lofted a pass over the defence to Gilberto. The day offered thin gruel for D.C. United (0-2-0), which has yet to score this season after being beaten 3-0 by the Columbus Crew in its season opener two weeks ago. "I dont think D.C. broke us down very often at all," said Nelsen. "And you look at our chances we had to score." Defoes three goals in two games would have tied him for third overall in Toronto FC scoring over the entire 2013 season. After a brutal winter that included one last snowfall overnight, the ravaged grass at BMO Field made for a choppy game. It might as well have been played on a cowpatch. "The field was not conducive to playing any sport of football," Nelsen said by way of understatement. "But thats no fault of the groundskeeper," he added with a smile. "I blame God for that at the moment for the winter hes given Toronto." In addition to having a predator up front, Toronto is also looking a lot harder this season. Caldwell has added to the spine of the club since his arrival last season but the presence of Bradley has helped. The American literally ran over referee Silviu Petrescu in the first half, knocking the official down as he steamed towards the visitors penalty box. And he kept playing after a nasty clash of heads in the second half knocked Davy Arnaud out of the game. The shaven-headed Bradley, who returned to the fray with a bandage, was sporting an ugly array of staples to close the head wound after the game. "You can see now theres a bit of hardness to us, to tell you the truth," said Nelsen, who was tough as nails himself as a player. "That, no disrespect to the past, I dont think weve had." D.C. United coach Ben Olsen, while noting both teams had to play on the surface, called the pitch "as bad as Ive ever seen in the MLS." Be it artificial turf (last week in Seattle) or just bad turf, Toronto is winning. Just two games into the 2014 schedule, TFC has already one-third of the victories it collected last season when the team went 6-17-11. Torontos previous best opening was a 1-0-1 start in 2009. In 2012, it took the team 14 games to record two victories. Nelsens team will no doubt face a stiffer test next weekend at Real Salt Lake (1-0-2). While the overnight snowfall had dissipated by kickoff, fans had to contend with a partial shutdown of the subway system as well as an AHL game and the National Home Show on the Exhibition grounds Saturday. The crowd was announced as a sellout, but there were some empty seats. Defoe called the atmosphere "unbelievable." "From Minute One, the stadium was rocking." It was two degrees at kickoff although a stiff wind did little to make it a pleasant afternoon. Neither did the pitch, which started cutting up in the first half. Torontos Brazilian midfielder Jackson received a yellow card in the 50th minute for what looked like an elbow off the ball. "It looked pretty bad," D.C. defender Bobby Boswell said. Said Nelsen: "I think the referee saw it and he gave him a yellow card. So its been dealt with, isnt it?" D.C. United was the worst team in the league last season at 3-24-7 but made wholesale changes during the off-season. "Its a loss but I think when I look back, I think we will see that we really took some steps forward." said Olsen. Khris Middleton Jersey . On Tuesday, the star questioned whether that was still the case. Speaking to reporters at a charity event, Johnson said: "I just kind of wonder sometimes: Is this still the place for me?" Johnsons comments came after he was asked why he recently skipped a voluntary minicamp. Spencer Hawes Jersey .com) - Mike Conley scored 20 points with five assists to help the Memphis Grizzlies remain unbeaten with a 91-89 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. http://www.nbabucksproshop.com/Authentic...r-Bucks-Jersey/. -- The Green Bay Packers have signed quarterback Graham Harrell to the active roster from the practice squad and placed tight end Andrew Quarless on injured reserve. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Jersey . LOUIS -- The St. Malcolm Brogdon Jersey . In the Brewers six games this season, no starter has allowed more than three runs. "We see the guy in front of us do a great job and we want to do even better," Gallardo said after the Brewers beat the Red Sox 4-0 on Sunday, his second straight scoreless start.KAPALUA, Hawaii - Hunter Mahan is a Californian and predictable when it comes to his PGA Tour schedule on the West Coast. He has played Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and Riviera every year dating to 2007, a streak that probably will end.Mahans wife, Kandi, is expecting their second child in the middle of that stretch. He knew he could count on the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. After that, its up in the air. His plan is to not have one.Im just going to play my schedule and make adjustments from there, Mahan said. Its too hard to figure out.He is scheduled to play the Phoenix Open, Farmers Insurance Open, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Northern Trust Open. He is not expecting to play them all.Whenever the baby falls is where hes going to fall, Mahan said.Give him a choice, and the one tournament he would hate to miss is Riviera.I love that place. I love that golf course, Mahan said. Its the end of a four-week stretch. Its the one tournament I want to be in good shape. I enjoy it and really want to win there.But baby comes first. Remember, Mahan was leading the Canadian Open when he left after 36 holes because his wife went into labour.___POINT TAKEN: As more players join the PGA Tour, the gap in the ranking points swings even more toward America.The average points awarded to PGA Tour winners in 2014 was 56.42, compared with 42.13 for winners on the European Tour. That includes the four majors, where the winners automatically get 100 points, and the four World Golf Championships, which averaged 73 points for the winner. Remove those eight events from the equation and the average PGA Tour winner received 49.54 points, compared with 32.54 points in Europe.The PGA Tour points were a slight increase from 2013, while Europe had a slight decrease.Throw out the BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event in Europe which is guaranteed 64 points to the winner, and four final events in the Race to Dubai, and the Scottish Open had the strongest field for a regular European Tour event. It offered 52 points.The PGA Tour had eight regular events that offered 52 points or more. The strongest field for a regular event was the Memorial with 64 points to the winner.As for the playoffs.The four FedEx Cup playoff events offered an average of 67.5 points to the winner. The Final Series in the Race to Dubai offered an average of 54.5 points, and that includes the HSBC Champions, a WGC event.___GWAA AWARDS: Rory McIlroy and Bernhard Langer were runaway winners as the top male and senior player of the year by the Golf Writers Association of America. Stacy Lewis won a tighter race in a more crowded field of contestants for female player of the year.McIlroy received 94 per cent of the vote after a year in which he returned to No. 1 with emphasis by capturing two majors at the British Open and PGA Championship, a World Golf Championship and the European Tour flagship event at Wentworth. Its the second time in three years he has won the GWAA award.This award is testimony to my best year as a professional golfer and something I can aim toward winning again as I go into next season, he said.Langer received 90 per cent of the vote as the senior player of the year. He had five wins, two majors and capturred the Schwab Cup at age 57.ddddddddddddLewis swept the biggest awards on the LPGA Tour — the money title, Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average and points-based player of the year. She received 57 per cent of the GWAA voting over Lydia Ko and U.S. Womens Open champion Michelle Wie.They will be honoured at the GWAA Annual Awards Dinner on April 8 in Augusta, Georgia.___BAES DILEMMA: Bae Sang-Moon smiled as he loaded his golf bag onto a cart at Kapalua on Tuesday.I make big news, huh? he said.Bae might be making more headlines now than when he won the Frys.com Open in October to start the 2014-15 season. According to the Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean faces military conscription after being denied an extension on his overseas travel permit.Bae said he has hired a legal firm to help him sort out the matter with South Korean government, which has to do with how much time he spent at home while being granted an overseas travel permit. He has been in Honolulu over the holidays and practicing at Waialae Country Club. Bae said he does not expect his PGA Tour schedule to be interrupted early in the season and that he has no immediate plans to return to South Korea.But he smiled again when reminded that getting back to South Korea at the end of the PGA Tour is the ultimate goal. The Presidents Cup is going to South Korea for the first time, and there currently are no South Koreans on the International team. Bae is the highest-ranked player from Korea.___WALKERS AFFINITY: Jimmy Walker was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas. But his favourite courses are far from home.Two of his three victories last year were in California — CordeValle for the Frys.com Open and Pebble Beach. Walker says Pebble Beach and Riviera are two his most favourite courses of the year.He just doesnt know why.Its so different from what Im used to, he said. You get out there, and youre in a different world. Youre out on the beach. Riviera is my favourite tournament of the year. The golf course is so good. And I dont mind poa greens. It kills some guys. But the ball rolls true if you hit it where youre supposed to.___DIVOTS: Hideki Matsuyama, the 22-year-old Japanese star who already has six wins worldwide, has signed with IMG. ... The Westgate Las Vegas Sports Book has Rory McIlroy has the 6-1 favourite to win the Masters, followed by Tiger Woods at 12-1. More interesting are the odds to win multiple majors. Odds are 11-4 that Woods will win one major, 20-1 to win two majors, 100-1 to win three and 250-1 to win them all. Odds are 8-5 for McIlroy to win one major this year, 11-2 to win two, 25-1 to win three and 80-1 to win a calendar Grand Slam. ... Six players at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions are not eligible for the Masters yet — Scott Stallings, Matt Every, Steven Bowditch, Matt Jones, Chesson Hadley and Nick Taylor. Hadley and Taylor won opposite-field events. The other won their PGA Tour events prior to Masters and played Augusta National last year.___STAT OF THE WEEK: Five players from the top 10 in the world ranking did not win on the PGA Tour last year.___FINAL WORD: Why cant it be both? — David Duval, when asked if his priority in 2015 would be his golf or his new role with Golf Channel. 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