Kritik und Lob » U.S. teams got tough draws: the men

Crystal Palace got their first win of the season Saturday as they beat Middlesbrough 2-1 thanks to goals from Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha.Daniel Ayala had a header sandwiched between the visitors two goals but Aitor Karankas men fell to a first defeat of the season in disappointing fashion.Palace started on the front foot and didnt take long to find the opener; a lovely curling cross from the right dropped for Benteke to direct his header into the far corner for his first Palace goal.Middlesbrough upped their game considerably after going behind and it showed when they got back on level terms with 10 minutes to go to the interval. A corner from Stewart Downing picked out Ayala, who smashed a header of his own into the net to level it up.Palace didnt mess about in the second half and got off to a flyer as Zaha dispossessed George Friend before finishing beyond Victor Valdes to send the traveling fans into ecstasy.Both sides seemed to struggle to create anything from then on until the final 10 minutes when Middlesbrough upped the ante, sending a bombardment of crosses into the box to no avail.The hosts felt they shouldve had a late penalty when Friend went down under the challenge of Zaha, but Neil Swarbrick wasnt having any of it.Middlesbrough drop to eighth, while Palace rise to 12th.Wholesale Chargers Jerseys . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. Philip Rivers Jersey . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. http://www.cheapchargersjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-antonio-gates-jersey . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Kellen Winslow Jersey .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Dan Fouts Jersey . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short.Rugby is returning to the Olympics for the first time in 92 years, bringing the ruck, the maul and the hooker back into the lexicon of the Summer Games.The format has changed, considerably, since the United States won the last rugby union Olympic gold medal in 1924. The abbreviated seven-player version was favored for Rio over the traditional 15-a-side game, and Fiji is favored for a breakthrough triumph. The aim remains the same: score more tries -- grounding the ball in the opponents in-goal area -- and youre a good chance of winning.Its fast and physical, with more emphasis on speed and passing the ball (always backward) than heavy contact.Heres some things to watch in Rio, where the womens tournament runs Aug. 6-8 and the mens from Aug. 9-11 at the Deodoro Stadium:FLYING FIJIANSFiji has never won an Olympic medal, but it has never had a chance to play its national sport at the Summer Games. The world series champions are favorites in the mens competition, and expectations are high in the Pacific.Englishman Ben Ryan took a squad containing an abundance of players with size, speed and natural flair for rugby sevens, and added extra discipline to every facet of the preparation from diet to drills. The result is a still entertaining, but more consistent Fiji team.Its the national sport, so our best athletes play rugby, Ryan says. We have been successful at it and thats also created this aura around the team, the way we play, totally different to every other side in the world. Its a risky, entertaining, exciting, slightly laid back -- sometimes -- way of playing the game. And we are doing it to a very high level.GO BROSonny Bill Williams is a high-profile game hopper who will feature for New Zealand in Rio, another notch in a career that has involved switching back and forth from rugby league to rugby union to win some of the biggest prizes in those sports. Already a World Cup winner with the famous All Blacks, Williams wants to add Olympic gold. He wont have to look far for family support, with his sister, Niall, selected in the title-chasing New Zealand womens team.POINT PROVEDThe sevens foormat has surged in popularity since its inclusion on the Olympic program, and the rewards are being spread more widely than ever.dddddddddddd Countries such as Kenya and the United States have won stops on the world series circuit, and are ranked 6th and 7th behind southern hemisphere powers Fiji, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina. American Madison Hughes led the world series with 331 points in the 2015-16 season. American speedster Perry Baker was second behind South Africas Seabelo Senatla for most tries scored and most line breaks.WOMENS DRAWAustralia won the womens world series, reaching the final in four of the five tournaments to outpoint second place New Zealand, the dominant team in 2014-15. Canada and England were equal on points in third place.The womens squads in Rio will feature players lured from sports such as basketball, volleyball and track and field. As it catches on, therell be more professionals, and increased competition.New Zealand had been the benchmark ... ever since I had started playing rugby. Everything we trained for and played for can subconsciously be aimed around beating them, Australias Alicia Quirk said. But this series turned out to be the most competitive season yet -- the gap between teams has definitely closed.SPANISH ACQUISITIONSpain was the last of 12 teams to qualify in each of the mens and womens tournaments. The Spanish men had a stunning upset win over world series regulars Samoa in the last-ditch repechage, a victory which playmaker Patricia Garcia said inspired her womens team to its victory over Russia in Dublin the following week.USEFUL TERMSRuck, maul, scrum -- all physical contests for the ball. Hooker, prop, wing -- all playing positions.FORMATEach competition will feature 12 teams divided into three pools, with the top eight advancing to the quarterfinals. U.S. teams got tough draws: the men were grouped with Fiji, Argentina and Brazil, and the women were grouped with Australia, Fiji and Colombia. [url=http://www.cheapjerseysauthenticmlb.com/]Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '