ekansekans's blog: "df"

LOS ANGELES -- Houston Dynamo defender Andre Hainault hopes winning the MLS Cup can help erase some of the disappointment of Canadas crushing exit from World Cup Qualifying. Hainault was on the Canada team that lost 8-1 in Honduras in October, but now hopes to finish the year in a much more positive manner. The 26-year-old admits that the loss in Honduras has been difficult to deal with. "Theres not a day goes by when I dont think about it," he said. "It was a tough pill to swallow. It was tough to close your eyes at night and not think about what happened. I wont forget it but getting to MLS Cup helps me to move forward. "To come back to your club and make the playoffs and win big games always helps. Its been huge for me to be able to be with the guys on this Houston team and enjoy the end of the season." Hainault arrived here in Los Angeles along with his Houston teammates on Thursday night and will train at the Home Depot Center on Friday morning. The Quebec-born defender hopes his team will benefit from having been through the same experience a year ago when they lost 1-0 to the Galaxy in the final. "Its a very familiar situation for us. It seems like just yesterday that we were in MLS Cup here so that will help us," he said. "It is a different matchup to last year and we have got everyone fit. Last year we never really got going offensively and things never clicked. We have to impose our style on the game." Led by Head Coach Dominic Kinnear, the Dynamo are in their fourth final since joining MLS in 2006 and Hainault gives much credit to his coach for the way he has built the team. "Its good to have skillful and athletic players, but it is also important to have the right personalities. Dominic is always pushing us to give our maximum. He makes it clear we cant just turn it on at the weekend - we have to work hard all week. We have a strong collective team that fights for each other. "Weve got a deeper team this year than last year and we have had guys come in during the playoffs who have stepped up huge for us. To be successful in the playoffs you need to have a deep team because it is such a long season. We will have played almost 50 games this season, and that takes its toll when games come in thick and fast," explained Hainault. One of the keys to Houstons success in Saturdays match will be how well they are able to deal with the threat of Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan. The Galaxy duo have been in scintillating form through the second half of the season. "Its impressive to see those guys working together with their intelligence and speed," said Hainault. "They are very dangerous and we have to be very aware of them and where they are. The Galaxy have got threats all over the field but you dont want Keane and Donovan to get going because when they do theyre so dangerous." MLS Cup can be seen live on TSN this Saturday at 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. Authentic RG3 Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics have called up left-hander Sean Doolittle from Triple-A Sacramento to cap a rapid rise less than a year after making a switch to pitcher. Robert Griffin III Jersey . -- Defenceman Aaron Ekblads strong showing at the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge has solidified his standing as a player to watch. http://www.dancewithmeusa.com/new.html . Baker missed the Reds 6-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday that clinched the NL Central title. Doctors wanted to keep him one more night to make sure he had fully recovered.WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- You cant wipe the smile off the face of Dale Earnhardt Jr., not even at a road course. With five races before the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins, Earnhardt is in unfamiliar territory as the series gets set for the second and final road race of the season at Watkins Glen International on Sunday -- hes perched atop the points standings. A year ago at The Glen Earnhardt was 10th, just one point ahead of eventual champion Tony Stewart. The top 10 drivers in the points and two wild-card teams qualify for NASCARs version of a post-season. "Coming here in 10th place just trying to hang on to a spot in the Chase is really, really tough, especially for someone like myself who is more cold than hot (here)," Earnhardt said Friday as he waited for a steady rain to stop so Cup practice could begin. "Weve had good tests. Were feeling positive about our chances of having a good run. "We struggled at Sonoma and we struggled in our test earlier in the season, too," said Earnhardt, who qualified 19th and came home 23rd on the circuits other road course in June. "We kept working at it and made a lot of gains, gained a lot of speed. Im excited to see how its going to pay off this weekend. I feel pretty confident well be able to put up an effort we can be proud of." Earnhardt, who has nine top-five finishes and 15 top-10s, leads Matt Kenseth by a scant five points, with Greg Biffle another point back and five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson only eight points behind. Because of his impressive consistency this year, Earnhardt finds himself in a unique spot. "We can take gambles. It is real tight," Earnhardt said of the top four in points. "We could walk out of here in fifth pretty easily if things were to go bad for us. I know that going in. Ive prepared myself mentally for all things. You have to." In 12 starts at Watkins Glen, Earnhardt has qualified in the top 10 three times but still is seeking the first road course win of his career. He has two top-five finishes and three top-10s at The Glen. The rain forced NASCAR to push back Cup practice until late afternoon and Earnhardt was only 28th fastest. Qualifying for Sundays Finger Lakes 355 is scheduled for late Saturday morning. "This race you can kind of just throw it all out there," Earnhardt said. "We were really conservative all year long, and we feel like we can definitely, in the position were in, gamble a lot more ... to try to win races like a lot of these guys do. We just kind of played it safe to make sure we were going to make the Chase. Thats the first thing. You dont want to miss the Chase being foolish. "If we fall back in points because we made a few mistaakes or a gamble that didnt pay off, its no big deal.dddddddddddd. We know the kind of season that weve had. Weve got a lot to be proud of. I think mentally we can go into the Chase pretty excited about our chances. Hopefully, we can make some of those gambles pay off." Earnhardt left Indianapolis Motor Speedway two weeks ago with the points lead after a fourth-place finish. It was his best career finish at the venerable track, where he often has struggled. Earnhardt said he was proud of that and called it symbolic of how well the team has done. His enthusiasm appears unbridled. When Earnhardts consistency was stopped last week at Pocono by a faulty transmission, as soon as he pulled into the garage for repairs he jumped out and began jacking up his No. 88 Chevy before his crew arrived. "Ive always worked on cars," Earnhardt said. "I got back to the garage first and I knew my guys were moments away, but they werent there just yet. I thought that we needed to get back out as fast as we could. I thought I could cut some time off that process by getting the car up so that when they got there they could get right under it. I know my way around the shop, so it felt natural to me." Earnhardt, who had finished on the lead lap of every race this season to tie Jeff Gordons NASCAR mark of 21 straight, finished 32nd, 18 laps behind winner Gordon, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. The four-time champion didnt see Earnhardts expertise with the jack. He was impressed, nonetheless. "I would never have done that," Gordon said. "It just tells you he knows enough about the cars that he felt like it was a linkage that could get fixed quick and the team wasnt prepared for it. He was just trying to give them a little head start." To be considered a legitimate championship contender, its all about wins, especially in the Chase. Earnhardt is well aware of that, and those special moments have been scarce since he won a career-high six races in 2004. Earnhardt had lost 76 races in a row when he won at Michigan four years ago, and his victory at Michigan this year snapped a winless streak of 143 races. Still, despite that lone victory this year, he figures to be a factor until seasons end. "Barring any catastrophe, as long as we dont have the same thing that happened last week happen every week, we should find our way into the Chase," Earnhardt said. "Thats been a big load off our shoulders ... and not have to worry about anything too far out into the future. We can just forget about the Chase for a moment, concentrate on being fast, concentrate on what were doing ... try to find more speed and enjoy it. "Ive had fun all year. Thats a good feeling." ' ' '