uld be moving from the starting rotation to the bullpen for the

A couple of teams coming off disappointing efforts in their respective season openers get together tonight as the Montreal Alouettes entertain the B.C. Lions. Catch the game as the first half of a doubleheader on TSN and TSN GO at 7pm et/4pm pt, with radio coverage available on TSN 690 in Montreal and TEAM 1040 in Vancouver, followed by the Edmonton Eskimos hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at 10pm et/7pm pt. The Als figured to have some struggles early on with the change in quarterback, but no one could have foreseen their awful effort against Calgary in the opener. Troy Smith did little with his opportunity to make Montreal fans forget all about Anthony Calvillo. In fact, it would not be surprising if Calvillo was besieged by requests to reconsider his retirement after the lackluster performance by the new starting quarterback for the Als in their 29-8 setback at Calgary last weekend. Smith was largely ineffective as he completed just 18-of-41 passes for 154 yards, was sacked four times and tossed an interception. Many of his throws sailed over the heads of receivers, and at no time did Smith make an effort to show off his running ability, perhaps the latter was in an effort to keep him from getting injured in the very first game of the season. Running back Brandon Whitaker was credited with 59 yards on 12 carries, while Steven Lumbala scored a one-yard touchdown on his only carry of the contest, one that came at the end of the meeting following a defensive penalty. The debut of former NFL superstar receiver Chad Johnson was uneventful as he caught just two passes for 20 yards, but he wasnt the only Montreal player guilty of having little influence on the outcome. As a group, the Alouettes generated a mere 175 yards of offense and while they were far from an offensive juggernaut a season ago, they did manage to put up 322.5 ypg. Charged with 12 penalties, for a loss of 120 yards, didnt help matters for the Als, but that was just one aspect of the game that needs to be cleaned up moving forward. Defensively, Montreal surrendered 425 yards and did little to capitalize on the fact that Calgary was hit with a dozen penalties for 129 yards. While the Alouettes were completely blown out of the water, British Columbias meeting against visiting Edmonton immediately afterward on Saturday evening started off well enough, before spiraling out of control, en route to a 27-20 defeat. Kevin Glenn tossed a couple of first-quarter touchdowns for the Lions in that clash, but after that he was barely heard from as the club registered just two field goals by Paul McCallum the rest of the way. BC ran only 65 plays partly because Glenn was picked off four times and suffered four sacks as he completed 18-of-28 passes. The pressure on the signal-caller was never ending, as his four picks were more than half of his entire 2013 total of just seven. Andrew Harris, who ran for 37 yards on 11 attempts, also caught six balls for 102 yards in an effort to keep the Lions in the mix against Edmonton. Then again, Harris did fumble on the final offensive play of the game. On a more positive note, the Lions did manage to limit the Eskimos to less than 300 yards of offense, but even that went by the wayside in the loss. The squads split their two regular-season matchups from last year as the home team came up big. First, the Als slipped by BC during Week 9 action by a score of 39-38, as Sean Whyte knocked through the game-winning field goal in the waning moments in order to offset five field goals by his counterpart, McCallum. Three weeks later, British Columbia returned the favor with a resounding 36-14 decision, as Travis Lulay threw one TD and ran for another in order to offset a trio of interceptions. As far as the series record is concerned, BC is ahead by a count of 35-32-1 when taking into consideration only regular-season meetings dating back to 1961. The Lions have won two of the last three encounters, including a 36-14 decision at home back in September of 2013. These teams will meet once more during the regular season a little over two weeks from now in Vancouver. Watch the Eskimos take on the Tiger-Cats in the second half of a doubleheader on TSN at 10pm et/7pm et. Edmonton, AB - After winning a total of just four times all of last season, the Edmonton Eskimos shoot for half that number in just the second week of the 2014 campaign as they host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Commonwealth Stadium on Friday night. Edmonton, which won just once through the first 10 games of 2013, got off on the right foot this time around thanks to a convincing 27-20 victory versus British Columbia at BC Place last weekend. Mike Reilly threw for 229 yards and three touchdowns for the Eskimos and new head coach Chris Jones. The quarterback converted 22-of-35 pass attempts and was intercepted once. Receiver Adarius Bowman finished with nine catches for 105 yards, one of his best performances in years. Calvin McCarty and Fred Stamps also registered majors in the outing. Edmonton scored points in every quarter, yet the squad generated a mere 295 yards of total offense on 84 snaps, partly due to the fact that the Eskimos had to deal with 13 penalties for a loss of 93 yards on the evening. Defensively, Edmonton held the Lions to just 283 yards on 65 plays, all without the services of J.C. Sherritt who remained on the injured list. The linebacker, who missed several games last season, set the CFL single-season record for tackles two years ago with 130. Sherritt should be back on the active roster this week, but that does not guarantee that he will see game action. While the Esks were setting in motion the start of what will hopefully be a successful season, Hamilton was being beaten up by Saskatchewan in a rematch of last years Grey Cup. In November of last year, the Roughriders dominated the Tiger-Cats at Mosaic Stadium by a score of 45-23, and Sunday night saw a similar performance from both sides as Hamilton took it on the chin once more in a 31-10 rain-soaked final. In 2013, the Cats had the luxury of riding the arm of Henry Burris, the leagues top passer with close to 5,000 yards, but he has since been moved a couple of times and now plays for the newest team to the league, the Ottawa RedBlacks. Now they are relying on free agent Zach Collaros to provide some stability at the position, something that was not found in the opener. Granted, the poor weather conditions may have had something to do with the lackluster play of Collaros, as he completed 19-of-33 passes for 159 yards and a score, but considering the protection he was given along the offensive line, you really cant put all the blame on him. Although, being sacked a mystifying 10 times does indicate that perhaps Collaros was holding onto the ball a bit too long. Unfortunately, it appears the sack issue may be a continuing trend from last season when Hamilton was last in the league with 65 allowed, second-most on that list was Edmonton with 60. Producing only 201 yards of total offense in the opener, there were times when the Tiger-Cats could not get out of their own way. The squad fumbled the ball four times, losing possession twice, and was flagged for an incredible 17 penalties for a loss of 148 yards. Sam Giguere stepped up and posted a game-high six receptions (a career high) for 46 yards, while Luke Tasker reeled in a four-yard scoring pass for the program midway through the final period. One bright spot for the Hamilton defense was rookie tackle Bryan Hall who made three tackles, registered one sack and forced a fumble during the setback. Dating back to 1961 and taking into consideration only regular-season meetings between these two clubs, Edmonton is ahead by a count of 54-30-1, winning two of the last three and four of the last six matchups overall. However, Hamilton is the one that came out on top in the most recent encounter last August, when kicker Grant Shaw delivered a 45-yard single as time expired in a 30-29 road triumph. The teams are also set to meet in Hamilton during Week 13 play this season. Andrea Barzagli Jersey . Pinch-hitter Tommy Medica singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in their first home game since Gwynn died of cancer Monday. Miralem Pjanic Jersey . Less than 24 hours later, in the same arena, he tried to recreate the magic of his all-time favourite player. Hilliard scored a career-high 26 points and No. http://www.juventusfcpro.com/Kids-Sami-Khedira-Jersey/ . And Richard Bachman, their rookie goalie, is facing a penalty shot a few seconds after the opening face-off. No pressure, right? Bachman stood his ground against Zack Kassian and saw the puck dribble off the Canuck rookies stick, then settled in and backstopped the Stars to a 5-2 win over Vancouver Tuesday that put Dallas in first place in the Pacific Division. Cheap Juventus Jersey . Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap. Federico Bernardeschi Jersey . -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released veteran guard Davin Joseph, a mainstay on their offensive line over the past eight seasons.BOSTON - There are cities which long for winners. Toronto would be one. There are cities which have perennial winners, yet to outsiders seem to take all those victories for granted. Atlanta, which didnt sell out some of those playoff games during the Braves heyday of the late 1990s and early 2000s, comes to mind. Then there are cities which have become accustomed to winning, regardless of the sport, enjoy the feeling and crave more. Fans get so involved, are so passionate, it becomes difficult to separate them from their team to the point they get credit for pushing their team to victory, even though their real effect is negligible. Boston, with your Red Sox and your Patriots and your Bruins and your Celtics, thats you. What cannot be denied, ever, is the unifying force a successful sports franchise has on an invested community. Standing on the lush green grass of Fenway Parks infield, minutes after the Red Sox had defeated the Tigers 5-2 in Game 6 to clinch the American League pennant and hours after the Dropkick Murphys had put their spin on the national anthem and belted out “Shipping Up To Boston,” it was hard to forget that only eight months earlier, Boston was a city in pain. It was April 15, Patriots Day, when the annual Boston Marathon was interrupted by two explosions near the finish line on Boylston Street in nearby Cambridge. Three people were killed and almost 300 others were hurt. A police officer was shot and killed in a gun battle with one of the suspects three days later. A city was wounded. The Red Sox, both overtly and covertly, have aided the city in its recovery from that horrific day. Saturday nights victory was their latest generous overture to their baseball-obsessed town. “It means so much to this city, so much to the guys on this team,” said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. A lot went right for Boston in this series. To win, it must. Nobody will talk about how David Ortiz was held to only two hits in the series, one of them a bloop single in Game 5. Thats because the other hit was a monstrous grand slam, which erased a 5-1 deficit in Game 2 and catapulted the Red Sox back into the series. It would have been a difficult task, heading to Detroit down two games and with the prospect of facing Justin Verlander in enemy territory. On another day, two actually, Mike Napoli was a hero. In the deciding Game 6, it was Shane Victorino with the seventh inning grand slam that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. Xander Bogaerts, the steel-eyed 21-year-old who carries himself as if hes a 10-year veteran, went 3-5 with two doubles and two walks after taking oveer third base from Will Middlebrooks late in Game 4.dddddddddddd He worked three full count plate appearances in the clincher, reached base each time and scored twice. Red Sox hitters struck out an ALCS record 73 times. Through four games, they were overwhelmed by the Tigers extraordinary starting rotation, a staff Detroit manager Jim Leyland referred to as the best hes had in his eight career postseasons. Yet, there was Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and John Lackey matching their opponents pitch for pitch, sometimes getting by with just enough. How about that Boston bullpen? Koji Uehara, with three saves and a win to show for his six innings, was named the MVP of the ALCS. Junichi Tazawa found another gear and in three head-to-head meetings with Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera, shut him down on a strikeout and two ground balls, one of which was a key, rally-killing double play in the seventh inning of Game 5. Left-hander Craig Breslow offered up 3 1/3 scoreless innings, often working in specialty situations against Detroits potent left-handed and switch-hitters. Honourable mention also goes to youngster Brandon Workman, who worked the long role and cleaned up others messes. “Its an unbelievable team over there, extremely well coached, well managed and a great group of players,” said Canadian Ryan Dempster, who selflessly didnt raise a stink when he was asked, or more like told, he would be moving from the starting rotation to the bullpen for the playoffs. “We were able to fight through some tough times and come away with the series win and win our American League pennant. Now weve got to go on and have a real tough challenge with St. Louis.” The Tigers will lament the leg injury which severely limited Cabreras offensive and defensive effectiveness, the poor performance of Prince Fielder and, likely most of all, the inability of the bullpen to work at anywhere near the level of the starting rotation. For Detroit, which has two recent unsuccessful World Series appearances – 2006 and 2012 – along with ALCS losses to New York in 2009 and now, to Boston, it represents more playoff disappointment. For Boston, a community thats overcoming is celebrating another sporting victory, anticipating that the best is yet to come. The Cardinals will arrive on Tuesday and the World Series will start, at Fenway Park, on Wednesday. Here, there is nothing to distinguish the bombing victims from the Dropkick Murphys, from the players, from the fans. Theyre all the same in one respect. Theyre Red Sox Nation. Right now, were all living in it. ' ' '