ekansekans's blog: "df"

INDIANAPOLIS - Dan Wheldon couldnt win his third Indianapolis 500. Terrell Suggs Youth Jersey . Dario Franchitti did it for him. And if it wasnt going to be Franchitti, then it would be Scott Dixon. Maybe even Tony Kanaan. No matter what, one of Wheldons best buddies was going to Victory Lane. In the end, they celebrated a 1-2-3 sweep that honoured D-Dub, their missing friend. Franchitti stamped his name in the record books by winning his third Indy 500 on Sunday, a day that started and ended as a tribute to Wheldon, who won the race a year ago but was killed in an October crash in the IndyCar season finale. As his three friends lined up with six laps remaining for the final restart -- Kanaan out front, Chip Ganassi teammates Franchitti and Dixon second and third -- they couldnt help but wonder if Wheldon was at play. "Kind of like old times, the three of us back and forwards," Franchitti said. "I thought, Dan is laughing at us right now going at it." It was an absolutely fitting finish, even if the elation for Franchittis win was tempered by the heartbreak for two other deserving drivers. Dixon, a one-time Indy 500 winner, temporarily relocated his family to St. Petersburg, Fla., to support Wheldons wife and two sons, and Kanaan, 0 for 11 now at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, had openly wept following the death of his former teammate. "I think a lot of us that were close to Dan, you know, you wanted it that little bit more," Dixon said. "I guess maybe in the back of your mind, you figured he would probably help you out today, too. I think in that situation, seeing how it lined up with the top three, three of Dans friends, it was a tough one." Franchitti won a wheel-to-wheel, last-lap battle, sailing away to the checkered flag when Takuma Sato spun out trying to make one last pass on the inside and slammed into the wall. The race had shaped into what was expected to be a duel to the finish between Franchitti and Dixon. But when the Scot made his final pass of Dixon with two laps to go, he pulled Sato with him and it sapped Dixons momentum. So the last-lap pass attempt was Satos for the taking, and he couldnt pull it off as he hugged the inside white line through Turn 1. His wheels appeared to touch Franchittis, he spun hard into the wall, and Franchitti sailed past for the win -- this one, just like the first two, under caution. Dixon crossed the finish line in second, and Kanaan was third. "Everybody up there was a friend of Dans, and that about sums it up. Everybody loved him," Franchitti said as bagpipes played over the public address system. "What a race! What a race!" Franchitti said. "I think D-Dub would be proud of that one." James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., started second and finished sixth in his second career Indy 500. Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que., meanwhile finished 13th. Dixon met his teammate in Victory Lane, and Franchitti was reminded of the delicate balance in celebrating a team win vs. beating a teammate. "I want to beat Scott. I know he wants to beat me. I dont think Ive met maybe a more competitive individual, except maybe Dan in the early years," Franchitti said. "Hes my buddy. Out on the track, hes competition, but a teammate, and then afterward hes my friend. I see the disappointment in his face. I see the disappointment in T.K.s face. "I think both those guys will get more championships and Indy wins. Theyre just too good not to. When you beat guys like that, I take that as a big accomplishment because, God, theyre not easy to beat." Kanaan, who used a bold move on a late restart to dart from fifth to first, couldnt hold off Franchitti and Dixon on the last restart. He was OK with the final result. "I dont think it could have been a better result for Dan," Kanaan said. "Wherever he is right now, hes definitely making fun of Sato, I can tell you that, and hes giving Dario a tap on the back for sure, and he was going to call me a wanker that I didnt win this thing. "Im glad this is over. Im glad that now I hope we can all move on and just remember Dan the way Dan was -- a happy guy, a wonderful friend." Wheldons wife, Susie, went to Victory Lane to congratulate Franchitti, who hid his tears of joy behind a pair of white sunglasses worn in tribute because they were Wheldons preference. She then sat next to Franchittis wife, actress Ashley Judd, in the backseat of the convertible -- the same seat she had a year ago for Wheldons win -- for the victory lap around the 2.5-mile oval. The day opened with car owner Bryan Herta driving a single parade lap around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the car Wheldon drove to victory last year. Fans were given white sunglasses to wear on laps 26 and 98, marking the car numbers Wheldon used in his two wins. It was Susie Wheldons first trip to any race track since her husbands death, and she watched from Dixons pit stand with his wife, Emma. So it was apt on this hot day -- the temperature hit 32 degrees Celsius, just shy of the Indy 500 record from 1937 -- that one of the most competitive races in history ended with a frantic push from Wheldons friends. Ten drivers swapped the lead 35 times, shattering the record of 29 in the 1960 race won by Jim Rathmann. Until the last lap, when Sato made his move for the win, the race was close but uneventful. The only multi-car accident came when a spin by Mike Conway collected Will Power, who came to Indy as the series points leader and winner of the last three races this season. It was a somewhat frightening accident as Conway, who broke his front wing when he hit one of his crew members on pit road, hit the outside wall and his car tilted on its side before coming to rest. And Helio Castroneves had to deftly manoeuvre past a bouncing tire that still grazed one of his own wheels. Besides that, though, the race was slowed by just seven other cautions -- including the one on the last lap -- for 39 of the 200 laps. Marco Andretti, who went into Sunday believing the race "is mine to lose," was strong at the start, but a series of adjustments were not to his liking and he unravelled on his team radio before spinning to bring out the final caution with 13 laps remaining. Franchitti and Dixon battled back and forth in the final third of the race, with Sato consistently in the mix. Then came Kanaan, from nowhere it seemed, but he was unable to hang on to the lead on the restart after Andrettis crash brought out the yellow with 13 laps to go. Andretti said the wreck "definitely rang my bell." Everyone thought the race would go to a Chevrolet driver for either Andretti Autosport or Penske Racing, which won the first four races of the season and swept the front two rows in qualifying. But in the end, it was three Hondas fighting for their first win of the season. After the last restart, Franchitti pulled past Dixon for the final time, then went for the lead, pulling even with Franchitti. "Job done," he said he thought, but he went in too low and the tires appeared to touch. "It looks like he didnt give me enough room to go there," Sato said. "I was a little below the white line. I had nowhere to go." Sato said the cars never actually hit but the white line marking the inside of the track "was less than touching my own car -- so, you know, I mean almost on the grass." Franchitti coasted across the line under a yellow caution flag to become the 10th driver to win at least three Indy 500s. This was the second year in a row that a crash on the final lap affected the outcome. In 2011, rookie JR Hildebrand was leading going into the final turn when his car slammed into the wall, allowing Wheldon to cruise past and take the checkered flag. "I was side by side with Takuma," Franchitti said. "We hit and I managed to keep it out of trouble." The victory snaps a disappointing start to the season for Franchitti, who has won the last three championships but seemed stumped by IndyCars new car through the first four races. In breaking out Sunday for his 31st victory, hes now in a tie with Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy on the all-time wins list. One more win will move Franchitti into seventh place in the record books. The only drivers ahead of him? The giants of open-wheel racing: three Unsers, two Andrettis and A.J. Foyt, the all-time wins leader. Dennis Pitta Womens Jersey .Y. - On the day before Barry Larkin and the late Ron Santo are inducted into the Hall of Fame, Tim McCarver and Bob Elliott were the centre of attention. Cary Williams Womens Jersey . -- The Oshawa Generals have hired DJ Smith to take over as head coach of the Ontario Hockey League team. http://www.baltimoreravensmall.com/haloti-ngata-jerseys . The evidence includes a copy of a letter the NFL Players Association sent the league on March 7 asking Goodell to delay punishment of players implicated in the bounty probe. It also includes a sworn declaration from Goodell in which he states he was prepared to hand down player discipline at the same time he announced suspensions for coaches and executives on March 21. Ray Rice Youth Jersey . Quinn will serve behind the bench for Team Orr, while Recchi will coach Team Cherry. Quinns coaching career includes both Olympic and world junior gold medals and two Jack Adams trophys as the NHLs top coach. Joe Flacco Jersey .J. -- Dustin Penner has the mountain man look. PHILADELPHIA -- Adam Larsson watched Game 1 from the press box, dressed sharply in a suit and tie. From the rafters, he sat helpless as he watched his New Jersey Devils lose a tough road opener in this Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Flyers in overtime. In Game 2, though, he received his chance to shed the suit, and don a uniform. And the 19-year-old rookie took full advantage. Larsson scored the first post-season goal of his career off a wristshot in the third, igniting a four-goal explosion in the period, as the Devils rallied to a 4-1 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday night. The best of seven series is now tied at 1-1. "I know how the playoffs (are)," Larsson said. "I watched all the games from the stands. I know that everybody steps up a little bit. I knew in my mind, if wanted to stay in the lineup, I had to step it up." Larsson and Clarkson scored consecutive goals in the third period to rally the Devils past the Flyers and make up for the absence of Ilya Kovalchuk. The Devils played without their regular-season leading scorer because of a lower body injury. Travis Zajac added a late goal to make it 3-1, and Bryce Salvador scored a late empty-netter for the Devils. Game 3 is Thursday in Newark, N.J. Matt Read scored 2:53 into the game to give the Flyers hope they could jump to a commanding series lead. Instead, the offence went into a funk and goalie Ilya Bryzgalov couldnt protect the advantage. Even without Kovalchuk, the Devils did what they wanted against Bryzgalov, taking close shots and dominating the play in the Flyers zone. They just couldnt score -- until the third. Bryzgalov, who signed a $51 million, nine-year deal last summer, was especially stout in the second when he bailed out the Flyers offence with a 12-save period. The Flyers went more than 18 minutes in the period before taking a shot on Martin Brodeur. "I didnt sense frustration. We were comfortable with how we played the first two periods," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "And it was just a matter of keeping it going in the third. And the goals came." Bryzgalov had a brutal first five games of the post-season and allowed 20 goals against Pittsburgh. But he shut down the Penguins in the Game 6 clincher -- a 5-1 win -- and allowed three goals in the Game 1 victory against the Devils. He appeared to have turned the corner. Then came the final period. Kovalchuks injury opened a roster spot for Larsson, a rookie defenceman, to be activated. Larsson was a first-round pick last year, and is just 19 years old. He had two goals and 18 points in his first NHL season, but had not played a playoff game yet. Larssons shot from the circle beat Bryzgalov on his glove side early in the third for the tying goal. "Down a goal, third period, and it was huge," DeBoer said of the rookies goal. "I feel great for Larsson. Hes been out a few games, and he responded." Clarkson made it 2-1 minutes later when he scored off a rebound. The Devils won the faceoff and Zach Parise was stuffed with a pad save. Clarkson then crashed the net to knock in the puck and fly gut-first into the crossbar. He lay on top of the net briefly as his teammates mobbed him. Bryzgalov slammed his stick in frustration after the goal. Zajacs fifth goal of the post-season on a backhander made it 3-1 and gave the Devils the insurance goal they needed. "I really felt wed respond like this," DeBoer said. "I knew wed be better than Gaame 1. Ed Reed Youth Jersey. Knew wed bounce back. Weve dealt with adversity and injuries all year. Its nothing new." Bryzgalov shook his head and remained motionless on his knees for at least a minute after Zajacs goal. He was still down on one knee for the faceoff before he finally stood up and got his head back into the game. He clearly wasnt happy about the goals. And he was probably angry with Philadelphias offensive ineptness, as well. At the end of the game, Claude Giroux stopped Bryzgalov for a brief chat before he was greeted by the rest of the team. Giroux has emerged as the leader of the team and whatever he was telling the goalie, Bryzgalov seemed to agree with, mostly nodding his head. "Bryz was phenomenal tonight, but we have to do a better job in front of him," coach Peter Laviolette said. "We were not skating the way we needed to be, but I dont think it was because of the fact that we were relying on him to win a game for us." The Flyers entered with an NHL post-season-high 34 goals, but failed to generate much offence after a move-the-puck first 10 minutes. Read scored from a tough angle outside the circle to beat Brodeur for the fast 1-0 lead. But it didnt hold up. Not even Giroux and Danny Briere could spark the Flyers. Each tick of the clock in the second period was like watching a no-hitter to see if the Flyers would finally put the puck on Brodeur. With 1:27 left in the period, the Flyers broke through for a shot and they only took one more. Brodeur, who had 19 saves, joked he needed an "old mans chair" to sit and rest. "I got lonely a little bit," he said. The Devils outshot them 12-2 in the second, in fact. And to make matters worse, the Flyers opened and closed the period on the power play. "Thats the answer, they were just quicker on the loose pucks," Flyers forward Jaromir Jagr said. "Not only on the power play, but 5 on 5. They looked fresher. Everybody knows we didnt play very well. We need to play a lot better next game to have a shot." The road win was New Jerseys third of the post-season. "We knew, if we lost tonight, it wasnt going to look good for us," DeBoer said. "Im not surprised to see us play the way we did." Though clearly they missed Kovalchuk for long stretches. In his third season with the Devils, Kovalchuk has three goals in eight playoff games and remains day to day. He walked with a pad on his back after Sundays 4-3 overtime, Game 1 loss, and walked around the locker room Monday at practice in Newark quite gingerly. Kovalchuk, a former Atlanta Thrasher who had 37 goals and 83 points this season, won his first playoff series ever in New Jerseys Round 1 triumph over Florida. The Devils say Kovalchuk was injured in that first-round series. Defenceman Peter Harrold, who had three points and five shots on goal in the post-season prior to Game 2, was moved up to a forward position to replace Kovalchuks spot in Game 2, allowing Larsson to play defence. Harrold had four shots on 12 shifts up front. "I couldnt get any better (of a) start," Larsson said, "with the goal and everything." Notes: The Flyers were 0-for-5 on the power play, and are now 1-for-11 on the series. New Jersey had the leagues top penalty-killing unit in the regular season. ... New Jersey has now won three of the last four games. ... Clarkson had 30 goals and 46 points in the regular season. ... Brayden Schenn had his fifth assist on Reads goal. ' ' '