ekansekans's blog: "df"

MIAMI -- LeBron James was awake at 3:45 a.m. Dwyane Wades dogs were unhappily roused from slumber at 4 a.m. by their bleary eyed owner. Udonis Haslem was responding to text messages at 5 a.m., which classifies as a rarity. To a man, the Miami Heat raved about their trip to China. Recovering from their trip to China, well, thats apparently another matter entirely. After flying roughly 17,000 miles, playing three games in eight days starting with the preseason opener in Atlanta, holding practices and participating in more events than could be squeezed onto a double-sided itinerary, the Heat -- with many players acknowledging sleep deprivation -- went back to work on Tuesday, trying to get back into some semblance of a normal routine. "Tuesday, right? Had to think about it though," James said. "I got up this morning about 3:45. Been up since. So, it is what it is. Im not back just yet." But hes trying, as was everyone else. "Its crazy that were back already," Wade said. James was the last player in the gym Tuesday afternoon, taking dozens of jumpers -- hed receive a pass, take a jab step, ball-fake, then shoot, over and over again -- as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and two assistants watched quietly from afar. "Short," James yelled at no one in particular after one jumper from the right wing, and the NBAs reigning MVP looked mildly surprised when that shot dropped with a swish. "Ni hao," Spoelstra said after practice, using the Chinese phrase for hello. "Its good to be back in our gym. We didnt waste any time getting back to work. The trip was a great trip from a lot of different levels, but theres nothing like coming back in your practice gym, putting the pads up, mouthguards in and getting after it. Thats what we did today." Miami played the Los Angeles Clippers twice in China, the second of those meetings Sunday in Shanghai. The Heat flew home after the game, landing Sunday evening in Miami after what Spoelstra estimated as a 16-hour flight. He gave the team Monday off, though several players were in the facility for workouts, treatment or both. Or maybe it was because they just couldnt sleep. "Im having a tough time," Haslem said. "Just trying to get back in the right time. Well get it. Well figure it out." Haslem heard plenty of theories on how to cope with other-side-of-the-world travel before Miamis trip to China. Stay on East Coast time. Stay up all night the first night. Sleep on the plane. Dont sleep on the plane. Take Vitamin D. All may be valid. None of them really seemed to help the Heat co-captain. "Theres nothing you can really do," Haslem said. "I just couldnt figure it out. Happy to be home. It was a great trip, great experience, I loved the fans in China, they were real excited about basketball, they loved the Heat. So the experience overall was great. Just getting acclimated to the time, I lost like five pounds probably from not sleeping and eating on our regular schedule. Those were the things that were tough." Spoelstra will gradually ease Miami back into what would be its regular schedule. Practice started at noon on Tuesday, he plans to begin at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and then a shootaround session would be around 10 a.m. Thursday -- with the Heat playing host to the Detroit Pistons that night. For the Clippers, the reacclimation process was perhaps even more accelerated, with their first post-China exhibition game scheduled for Wednesday against Utah. "It was great to be there," James said. Notes: Wade, still working his way back to full-strength after off-season knee surgery, said hes hopeful of playing Thursday against Detroit. ... Spoelstra said Mario Chalmers and Jarvis Vernado did not practice Tuesday while still dealing with minor injuries, and that Haslem and Joel Anthony were limited but improving as they work through injuries. ... James -- a comic book fan as a kid -- said he was surprised to learn that hes the subject of an upcoming Marvel comic called "King of the Rings," which hes seen but has not read. "I heard its pretty good. Ill check it out, but I had nothing to do with it," James said. The comic book will be an insert into an upcoming edition of ESPN The Magazine. Cheap Jerseys USA . And over these two-plus decades, one constant remains - Sir Alex Fergusons annual summer jolly as he plots the downfall of his rivals. Cheap Jerseys Direct .5-million, three-year deal on Tuesday. League, acquired by the Dodgers from the Seattle Mariners at the July trade deadline, went 2-1 with six saves and a 2. http://www.dancewithmeusa.com/hot.html . The Lachenaie, Que., skater fell during the preliminary round of the 1,000-metre race last Friday at a World Cup in Nagoya, Japan. There is no firm timeline in place for his return.TORONTO -- A home world championship heading into an Olympic Games -- it doesnt get much bigger or better than that for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. But these worlds hold even greater significance for Canadas ice dance stars, because they may very well be their last. Virtue and Moir will be aiming for their third world title in March at whats essentially their home rink in London, Ont., and then have talked retirement following the Sochi Olympics. "There is a good chance," Virtue said, on London being their world finale. "I remember the Turin world championships after the Vancouver Games, we said we would probably never do a worlds after an Olympics again because it takes such a toll both physically and mentally. "Its a lot of pressure and stress that goes with an Olympic Games so it was hard to turn around and compete again." Virtue and Moir, and Torontos Patrick Chan, headlined the Canadian team for the world championships, announced Monday at the top of the CN Tower. Torontos Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., will also represent Canada in ice dance. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., will skate mens singles, while the lone womens singles skater is Kaetlyn Osmond, a 17-year-old from Marystown, N.L. Canadas two pairs teams are Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., and Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto. Another mens singles skater and a third ice dance team will be added before the event, March 11-17 at Londons Budweiser Gardens. Virtue, from London, Ont., and Moir, who grew up just down the road in Ilderton, know that time is ticking down on a career thats already stretched 16 years, and they make a point of not letting a moment go unnoticed. "Even in day-to-day training, we always say that to each other, theres not much left," Moir said. "We laugh because it seems like it hasnt been three years since the Olympics already, it goes by so quick." Moir, who claimed his fifth national title Sunday with Virtue, said the two have begun to think about the next stage of their lives. "Which is natural when you get to be 23 (Virtue) and 25 (Moir), but at the same time, were trying to take in every moment," Moir said. "Because it could be the last 13 months of our coompetitive career, weve had a great run and we just want to finish it off the way we want, on our terms.dddddddddddd" Chan, meanwhile, will be gunning for his third consecutive world title in London. The 22-year-old cant see himself going another four years to the 2018 Olympics, but isnt counting out another world championship appearance or two. "Well see," he said. "Sometimes people have the urge to go and get another world title, I might want to go for Kurts (Browning) record and be like him. It would be cool to match him with the world titles." Browning won four titles, three of them consecutively. Retirement is the last thing Duhamel and Radford are thinking about. While theyre both 27, theyre virtual new kids on the block in only their third season competing together. "We may have been around in the skating world for a long time, but were just beginning to hit our stride, we feel there is so much further than we can go," Duhamel said. Duhamel and Radford, who were fifth at last years world championships, edged Moore-Towers and Moscovitch in the tightest event of the Canadian championships. While domestic scores tend to be inflated, their 206.63 points would have earned them gold at last years world championships. Moore-Towers and Moscovitch were right behind them at 204.54. "We dont want it that close," Duhamel said. "Were happy that we have two teams that are going to go into worlds because we really want to get the three spots (for Sochi)," Radford added. "But well be working really really hard to make sure we are the top team." The world championships determine how many berths every country will get in each discipline at next years Olympics. If the placings of Canadas two pairs teams totals 13 points or less -- a sixth-place finish and a seventh-place finish -- Canada will have three pairs berths in Sochi. Because Osmond is the lone womens singles skater, she has to finish top-10 in London to clinch two womens berths in Sochi. A top-three performance by Osmond would give Canada three Olympic berths. NOTES: The federal government announced a contribution of $2.2 million toward the London world championships. . . The CN Tower will be lit in purple, the colour of the events logo, on March 10 in celebration of the event. ' ' '