rd in one run games (29-9) and extra inning contests ( | Forum

SPARTANBURG, S. Saucony Jazz Scontate .C. -- The Carolina Panthers made history on Thursday by holding a joint practice with a high school football team.The Spartanburg High School Vikings went through warmups and had a chance to interact with Carolinas coaches and players at Wofford College before breaking off and doing their own work on an adjacent field.Panthers director of community relations Riley Fields said it is the first time an NFL team has practiced alongside a high school team.Fields said the organization wanted to celebrate the NFLs Play 60 initiative by doing something special and unique. He said the Panthers needed to clear everything with the NFL, the NCAA and state high school officials before the project initiative was granted.Everyone said, `Wow this is a great idea, Fields said. ... We felt it was a special day for our players and for the Spartanburg High School football players.Panthers coach Ron Rivera said when Fields initially approached him about the idea he was against it. But the NFL Coach of the Year soon changed his mind once he realized it could be a huge benefit to the high school athletes.To me its about the love of the game and bringing it back to the community, Rivera said.Spartanburg High School coach Chris Miller said he thought it was a joke at first when his office received a call about practicing with the Panthers.It is just an unbelievable opportunity for us, Miller said.Miller said watching an NFL team run through similar drills to what they run in practice was an important lesson for his players.Were constantly talking about it and they are doing it over and over again. Now they see guys who have paid the price and look where it has gotten them, Miller said.Rivera said the experience was also fun for his players.When you talked to some of our guys they had a chance to reminisce about the good old days, Rivera said. I was standing over there watching (the Vikings) earlier and it took me back to playing at Seaside High School. It was kind of neat.Linebacker Thomas Davis, the elder statesman of the Panthers, said it was an opportunity he would have loved to have had as a teenager growing up playing football in Shellman, Georgia.It will go a long way in these kids lives knowing they had an opportunity to practice with Panthers, Davis said. I impressed upon the kids the importance of coming out here and working hard and being able to do your job and listen to your coach.Davis, who regularly exchanges trash talk with Cam Newton during practice, also had a little fun with the high school players.He even convinced one of them to talk some trash to Newton.I was kind of feeding him stuff to say to Cam, Davis said with a laugh. He delivered it pretty well.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Saucony Outlet Italia .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Saucony Shadow Original . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. http://www.sauconysneakersjazz.it/saucony-shadow-5000.html . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents.The most horrifying sight in baseball is to see a batter get hit in the head with a pitch or a pitcher get struck in the head by a line drive. Earlier this week at Tropicana Field, Blue Jays lefty J.A Happ could have had his career, if not his life, ended by a line shot up the middle by the Rays Desmond Jennings that struck him in the skull near his left ear. Happ was fortunate to escape with a small fracture behind his left ear, a lacerated ear, and an injury to his right knee, from the awkward way he fell when nailed by the ball. Happ is estimated to be out anywhere from 3-6 weeks. Even close calls like this can be career-altering. Reliever Rob Dibble, one of the Nasty Boys World Series-winning bullpen of the Cincinnati Reds in 1990, remembered facing Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, then with Cleveland, in a game a few years later. Murray hit a screaming liner up the middle and by some miracle, Dibble got his glove up and caught the ball at the last second. Dibble said that incident changed him. He claimed to never fully trust his stuff again after that and was never quite the same pitcher, ultimately out of the game a couple of years later. The most frightening and gruesome incident I ever saw occurred on September 8th, 2000. Ryan Thompson of the Yankees hit one back through the box and it struck Red Sox reliever Bryce Florie square in the face. He simply had no time to react. Sport Science estimated the ball was travelling at 120 miles per hour and hit Florie with a force of 5,500 pounds. Florie suffered several facial fractures and partial vision loss in his right eye. There was blood everywhere. Believe it or not, Florie actually briefly made it back to the Majors the following year, but quickly left the game as a player thereafter. Baseball took a long time to develop protection for batters and even the coaches manning the bases. Ray Chapman, the star shortstop of the 1920 Cleveland Indians, is still the only Major League player to die from an on-field incident. He was struck on the side of the head by a pitcher from the Yankees sidearm hurler Carl Mays on August 16th, 1920 and died 12 hours later in hospital. Though various players experiimented with head protection over the years, the first true well-marketed batting helmet wasnt produced until 1952. Saucony Shadow 5000 Blu. Oddly enough, the man responsible was the same man who brought Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Branch Rickey was the general manager of Pittsburgh Pirates in 1952 and commissioned one of his front office team, Charlie Muse to come up with something that would offer protection to the players when they stepped up to the plate. Muse obliged and Rickeys own outfit, the American Cap Company, would market these helmets. But it wasnt until 1971 that helmets became mandatory and even then, there was a grandfathering rule that gave veteran players the right to choose whether to wear them or not for the remainder of their careers. The last player not to wear a helmet was former Red Sox catcher and later broadcaster Bob Montgomery, who played until 1979. Montgomery also spent some time in Toronto catching for the old Maple Leafs of the International League, then a Boston affiliate. Even the helmet with at least one earflap wasnt made manditory until 1983. The point is baseball moves slowly. Efforts are being made to develop some sort of padding that could at least be fitted into a pitchers cap to protect the skull to a degree. But I doubt well ever see the day a pitcher wears the type of helmet a batter does. Pitchers maintain it would be too cumbersome, too uncomfortable and would affect their performance. I can guarantee well never see the day when a pitcher wears a full facial shield or mask but a cap insert is an important and necessary step to give pitchers some semblence of protection and a chance to at least escape more serious injury in baseballs most frightening and dangerous plays. Numbers Game Last season , the Baltimore Orioles made their season with their record in one run games (29-9) and extra inning contests (16-2). Already this season, the Blue Jays are 4-8 in one run games and 1-3 in extras, not to mention 6-14 against their own division, including 3-10 against the the Yankees and Red Sox. That does not bode well, especially with the starting rotation ravaged by injuries. Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '