ekansekans's blog: "df"

JOLIET, Ill. Coby Fleener Youth Jersey . -- Elliott Sadler spent most of the week in bed with a stomach virus, and wasnt able to eat anything beyond a single biscuit Sunday morning. As weak as Sadler felt, there was no way he was giving up his seat. Sadler brushed off questions from team owner Richard Childress about a potential replacement driver, then held off a charge by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on a green-white-checker finish to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday. Was there a pride factor in toughing it out? "Youre damn right," Sadler said. "I told Richard yesterday, I was like, I can handle this." Childress said he thought about putting a backup driver in place as an insurance policy, but understood why Sadler didnt want to give up the wheel. "Ive seen drivers when it gets down to it, thats worse than giving your wife away, I think," Childress said. Childress then sheepishly apologized to Sadlers wife, who was sitting off to the side in the postrace interview room. Explaining why it was so important to tough it out, Sadler proudly noted that he threw up three times in his helmet during a race earlier in his career. "It was a big-time pride thing today to stay in the car and do what I felt like I needed to do to be competitive," Sadler said. Stenhouse finished second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Kenny Wallace and Michael Annett. Wallaces car was found to be too light in postrace inspection. NASCAR officials are expected to determine any penalties early this week. Stenhouse appeared to have the stronger car and was chasing down Sadler in the closing laps of the race. But a late caution bunched up the field for NASCARs version of overtime, Sadler got a push from Allgaier on the restart and pulled away. Had the race gone green until the end, Stenhouse was certain he would have ended up in victory lane. "We had it won," Stenhouse said. It was the third win of the season for Sadler, who has eight Nationwide victories in his career. Sadler won at Phoenix and Bristol earlier this season. He leads the series standings by 11 points over Austin Dillon, who finished sixth. Track officials held a moment of silence before the race and the No. 24 car driven by Benny Gordon carried the message "Remember Aurora Colorado" on its rear fender. Danica Patrick finished 14th. Sundays race drew a sparse crowd, although no official attendance figure was immediately released. The Sprint Cup Series was off this weekend and will resume racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next week. Many of the leaders had just made their final pit stop of the day when Brad Sweet spun to bring out a caution. It was a boost to several drivers, including Sadler, Allgaier and Kyle Busch, who were able to pit under caution. The ill-timed caution flag hurt several drivers who already had pitted -- especially Sam Hornish Jr., who expressed his annoyance to his crew on the radio. Sadler led when the race restarted with 28 laps to go. Stenhouse then made a charge, taking third place away from Busch with 20 laps to go and taking second from Allgaier with 16 to go. Sadler had a lead of just under two seconds, with Stenhouse closing in quickly. Then Hornish tapped the rear bumper of Busch and sent him crashing into Brendan Gaughan with eight laps left, bringing out a caution and bunching up the field. Stenhouse was hoping officials would stop the race with a red flag to clean up the track and run a few more laps to the finish, but it didnt happen. Sadler and Stenhouse lined up for the green-white-checker restart, and Allgaier gave Sadler a push when the green flag fell. Sadler surged away and Allgaier couldnt stay in contact. "I knew if I could time it just right and push him out, maybe we could race for the win," Allgaier said. "We did that, and just lost a little bit of momentum in (Turns) 1 and 2, and thats what allowed Ricky to really get a run on the outside. But all in all, just a great day for us." Stenhouse charged to second, but couldnt chase down Sadler at the end. "I feel like the 31 (Allgaier) just pushed the 2 (Sadler) so far out there, there wasnt anything I could do," Stenhouse said. It was a respectable run for Patrick, but perhaps not as good as she might have expected going into the race. She finished 10th at Chicagoland last year, and was second-fastest in Saturdays final practice session. Overall, she feels most comfortable on 1.5-mile ovals such as Chicagoland as she makes her transition from NASCAR to IndyCar. But Patricks car appeared to be a little loose in qualifying, and she started 12th and couldnt make up ground for much of the afternoon. In the end, a weakened but proud Sadler was the one celebrating, knowing that he had to back up his big talk after he told Childress he could tough it out. "A lot of pride," Sadler said. "And my big mouth." Donnie Avery Womens Jersey .C. -- Top-ranked LPGA Tour golfer Yani Tseng will play in the CN Canadian Womens Open. Johnny Unitas Jersey . Its time for others in the NL to recognize the first-place team in the NL East. Aiming for a fifth straight win overall and an eighth consecutive victory against the Phillies, the NL East leaders hope to complete a three-game sweep tonight at Nationals Park. http://www.coltsteamstore.com/reggie-wayne-jersey . -- Whether its sheer concentration, inspiration from the loudest gallery in golf or a willingness to deliver when the sport is more about country and continent than cash, the Ryder Cup tends to deliver more stunning shots in three days than most fans see in a month. Andrew Luck Shirts . TSN Scout Craig Buttons monthly ranking released on Wednesday has Portland Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones leading the pack over Halifax Mooseheads forward Nathan MacKinnon, followed by European blue-chipper Aleksander Barkov. Andrew Luck Blue Jersey . MLSE is Canadas largest sports and entertainment company and owner of the premier professional sports teams in Canadas largest marketplace: The Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Marlies and Toronto FC.  On Dec. 9, Bell announced it had, in a joint ownership arrangement with Rogers Communications Inc., agreed to purchase a net 75 percent ownership position in MLSE from Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board.NEW YORK -- Grant Balfour watched as Alex Rodriguezs high fly soared toward right field and thought the worst. Hard to blame him after Oaklands first two games at Yankee Stadium. With his back to the wall, Josh Reddick caught the ball, then Balfour notched the final out as the Athletics bounced back to avoid a sweep, edging New York 5-4 Sunday and stopping the Yankees seven-game winning streak. "The way things went for us in this series, you never know," Balfour said. Cliff Pennington hit a go-ahead single in the sixth inning after a key error by backup shortstop Eduardo Nunez. A day after their stunning 14-inning loss -- capped by a misplay on Nunezs grounder -- the As maintained their 2 1/2-game lead for the second AL wild-card spot over the Los Angeles Angels. The Yankees kept their one-game lead in the AL East because Baltimore lost in Boston. Despite the defeat, the Yankees have to like their chances to win the division -- their final 10 games are against three teams with records below .500. "We control what happens," Derek Jeter said. "We play how were capable of, we win our games. We really dont have to look at the scoreboard." The As lost a 10-9 heartbreaker Saturday when Brandon Moss misplayed Nunezs spinning grounder for an error with two outs in the 14th. This time they took advantage of Nunezs two-base throwing error on a tough play with one out in the sixth. An out after Josh Donaldson reached second base, Pennington, the No. 9 batter, singled to left field for his third hit and a 5-4 lead. Pennington earlier hit a two-run homer. "To lose two games in extra innings is tough, especially when these games mean so much," Pennington said. "It was really still just another game, but it was a big one." Nunez, demoted in May because of his struggles in the field, was playing shortstop because Jeter has been slowed by a sore ankle. Jeter had two hits as the designated hitter to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. "I have to keep practicing defence. I have to keep working," Nunez said. "Tomorrows a different day." Yoenis Cespedes had a tying single in the fifth after a wild pitch from Hiroki Kuroda (14-11). The As scored a run in the first on another wild pitch by the Yankees starter. Jerry Blevins (5-1) pitched 1 1-3 innings in relief of A.J. Griffin. Oakland improved to 2-4 on a 10-game road trip against playoff conntenders. Andrew Luck White Jersey. . They play four games against West-leading Texas beginning Monday. In a seesaw series, the As opened a 3-0 lead but the Yankees rallied for four runs in the fourth before Cespedes tied it. "Rarely do you lose a game like you did last night, and I think coming back from something like that and scoring early in the game showed some fight right away," As manager Bob Melvin said. "It was a big game." Oakland scored four runs in the 13th inning of Saturdays 5-hour, 43-minute game, but the Yankees came back. The As bullpen locked this one down, though, with 4 2-3 innings of shutout ball. Ryan Cook worked 1 1-3 innings, Sean Doolittle went an inning and Balfour finished for his 20th save. "Terrific," Melvin said. "Our bullpen came up huge for us today." Donaldson led off the second by beating out a grounder to shortstop. But replays clearly showed Donaldsons foot a few feet from coming down on first base when Nick Swisher caught Nunezs low throw. Two batters later, Pennington homered to right field for a 3-0 lead. The young As -- 14 rookies on the roster -- kept right on celebrating in their dugout, a day after former teammate and current Yankee Eric Chavez told a New York columnist that Oaklands rhythmic clapping during its three-homer spurt in the 13th inning was "high schoolish." But in this tight series the Yankees rallied again, and Raul Ibanez was right in the mix in the fourth inning. Trailing 3-0 and with only one hit off Griffin through three innings, the Yankees came back in the fourth when Cano singled and Swisher homered into the second deck in right field. After two more hits, Ibanez followed up his two-homer performance Saturday with an RBI double that left a mark on the right field line to tie it. With the infield playing halfway, Nunez drove in a fourth run with a grounder to second base. NOTES: Oakland OF Coco Crisp (allergic conjunctivitis) went to see an eye specialist Sunday, Melvin said. "We hope every day thats the day hes able to get in the lineup. But were not going to put him in a position to go out there where he cant see the ball that could be pretty dangerous. We hope its tomorrow. Were not sure." ... Yankees RHP Joba Chamberlain turned 27 Sunday. ... The As purchased the contract of RHP Jeremy Accardo from Triple-A Sacramento before the game. ... Reddick went 0 for 4 and is hitless in 24 at-bats. ' ' '