SAINT JOHN, N. 76ers Jerseys China .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan had ideal preparation for the playoffs at the Ford World Curling Championships with a pair of hard-fought wins over tenacious opponents Thursday. The Canadians defeated Sweden 9-6 and China 6-4 to finish atop the preliminary-round standings at 10-1. Their execution Thursday was the sharpest of the tournament so far. The games were tight with Homan and her Ottawa Curling Club teammates scoring three in the eighth ends of both. "We were really pushed today," Homan said. "It was great we were able to control the game and stay confident with this team and really nail the lines and make the big shots when we needed them. "We had to fight for our points." Homan will face Switzerlands Binia Feltscher, whose record was 9-2, in Fridays playoff game between the top two seeds. The two countries meet in the 1 vs. 2 Page playoff game between the top two seeds. (TSN, 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt) The winner books a ticket to Sundays gold-medal game. The loser drops to Saturdays semifinal. Canadas lone loss of the preliminary round was to the Swiss. It went so badly for the host country in ends five through eight that they shook hands early Sunday. "That was a little bit of a lopsided game," Homan acknowledged. "We had some misfortune, but I think were a little bit different now. Were going to know the rocks and its going to be on a different sheet and everything so I think it should be a great game." The top four teams advance to the Page playoff. Russias Anna Sidorova, Swedens Margaretha Sigfridsson and South Koreas Ji-sun Kim all finished tied at 8-3. Sidorova will play in Saturday mornings playoff between the third and fourth seeds with the winner advancing to the semifinal. Russias opponent will be the victor of Fridays tiebreaker between the Swedes and South Koreans. Sidorovas missed final shot of a game against the Czech Republic -- a draw -- prevented Russia from finishing 9-2 and playing Canada on Friday. China and Allison Pottinger of the U.S., were just outside playoff contention at 6-5 with Germanys Imogen Oona Lehmann and Anna Kubeskova of the Czech Republic ending their tournaments 3-8. Scotlands Kerry Barr and Denmarks Madeleine Dupont had 2-9 records ahead of Latvias Evita Regza at 1-10. Homan had to win a tiebreaker to get into the final four at last years world championship in Riga, Latvia. Canada won their subsequent playoff game before losing the semifinal and then winning the bronze medal. The beauty of finishing in the top two is the loser of Fridays game can still get to the championship game, albeit via a longer route. "We love the one-two game," Homan said. "Theres not much pressure. "Either way weve got a chance at the gold-medal game. Thats what were gunning for now." The Canadians struck a balance between patience and aggression to achieve their No. 1 ranking. The average age of Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Alison Kreviazuk and lead Lisa Weagle is just shy of 26, but theyre a Canadian womens curling team ahead of the curve when it comes to the big-game experience and the lessons learned in those games. Homan, Miskew and Kreviazuk have been teammates for over a decade. Since graduating from the junior ranks four years ago, they and Weagle have played in three national womens championships -- finishing fourth and winning twice -- two world championships and an Olympic trials. "This team may be young, but weve had so much experience," said Weagle, the oldest at 28. "We realize were a young team and have really ambitious goals. We really want to accomplish them, but at the same token, if you look at a lot of the great curlers in our sport, theyre in their 30s or even their 40s when theyre at the peak of their game." Weagles talent for clearing a road to the rings and Miskews ability to execute big-weight, multi-stone takeouts allows Canada to gamble and takes some pressure off Homan. Kreviazuk banged her broom after a few misses during the preliminary round, but the four curlers have an otherwise business-like demeanour on the ice. "Were patient and were learning all the time and were allowing ourselves to learn," Weagle said. "Were not expecting to be perfect every single shot, but when were not, we want to learn from it. "Often Ill go down and talk to Rachel about my shots and how Im throwing them, if she want me to make an adjustment or if shes going to make the adjustment with the broom. I think thats worked really well for us. We want to make the most shots possible and whatever way we need to do it, its good to take the emotion out and just treat it like business." 76ers Jerseys 2019 . The Ravens werent about to let it happen again. Carleton picked up its fourth straight national mens basketball title, and 10th in the last 12 years, with a 79-67 victory over its crosstown rival on Sunday. Philadelphia 76ers Pro Shop . -- Howie Kendrick had a two-run single in his first game batting leadoff this season, Chris Iannetta hit a pair of RBI singles and the Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 6-4 Tuesday night, sending the Indians to their fifth straight defeat. https://www.cheap76ers.com/ . Dalton completed his only pass and led the Bengals to a touchdown in his only drive -- one that took four minutes to finish -- and the Cincinnati Bengals ended the preseason with a 27-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night.While the English transfer window has been open since the first of January, a deal has yet to materialize that will see Toronto FC striker Jermain Defoe return to his homeland. While Defoe insists that he has never tried to orchestrate a move away from Toronto FC, it has been widely reported that a number of clubs are interested in acquiring his services. If Defoe does leave the club, Toronto FC will need to replace the Englishman with a proven goal scorer. One move that is being suggested is a possible swap deal with Sunderland that would see U.S. international Jozy Altidore (plus some financial compensation) coming to Toronto in exchange for Defoe. While Altidore has scored goals in the past – 39 goals in 67 appearances for AZ Alkmaar in Holland between 2011-13, for instance – his time at Sunderland has been a disaster. Since joining the Premier League team in July 2013, Altidore has scored just one league goal in 42 Premier League games. His struggles in the northeast of England have led many to believe that the American simply does not have what it takes to score goals at the highest level. If he were to return to play in MLS, Altidores reported wage demands are ridiculously high for a player in his current form. If Toronto FC is indeed making a move to bring Altidore to the club, they need to be very careful when they decide just how much they are willing to pay him. Some people believe that because the cap hit for a designated player is $387,000, it really doesnt matter what a club pays a player above and beyond that. Whether a designated player makes $1.2 million per year (like Gilberto) or $6.5 million per year (like Michael Bradley), it doesnt really matter; their cap hit is exactly the same at $387,000. These people are wrong. While it might not matter in terms of the salary cap, it does matter in a much more important place – the dressing room. Players are not stupid, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. They know exactly what they are worth to their team and, thanks to the Players Union releasing the salaries of its members, exactly what their teammates are worth, as well. In most of the world, salary information is kept private. Players do not know what their teammates are earning, or what their opponents in the league are being paid. Players can only guess at what these numbers are, which keeps dissension in the ranks to a minimum. In MLS - where everyone knows what everyone else is earning – publicly available salary figures can lead to major problems. Players do not begrudge each other what they earn – far from it, in fact. If a player is earning a high wage in relation to his teammates, the general consensus in the dressing room is Well done – can I get your agents phone number? There is rarely bad blood between players over what they earn. Problems arise, however, wwhen players start comparing wages, taking into account performances on the field. Cheap 76ers Jerseys. If a player is being paid a fortune and not returning that investment with outstanding performances week in, week out, his teammates who are performing well begin to rethink their own value to the team. This then creates a rift – not between players, but between the players and the club; the players who are doing the business begin to think they are being underpaid and undervalued. These players base their value not on their market value, but on what their contribution to their team is in relation to their teams highest earner. Toronto FC does not need to look too far into its own past to find a stark reminder of the danger of overpaying players. When Toronto FC signed Dwayne De Rosario in late 2008, it was a dream move for both the player and the club. De Ro was coming back to his hometown club in the hopes of leading them first to the playoffs, and then to an MLS championship. It was a match made in heaven. De Rosario quickly became the main goal scoring threat for TFC – 11 goals in 2009 was bettered by 15 goals in 2010 – and he was well paid by MLS standards, earning a guaranteed salary of $443,750 in 2010. Unfortunately, De Rosario was not well paid by TFC standards. When Toronto FC made De Rosarios Canadian national team teammate, Julian de Guzman, the clubs first designated player in 2009, they decided to offer de Guzman a staggering contract - nearly four times as much as De Rosario was earning ($1,717,546 in 2010, to be exact). To compound this mistake, in 2010 the club signed Mista, paying the Spaniard $987,337 for half a seasons work. This caused a massive problem for TFC. De Rosario looked at his production on the field in 2010 (15 goals, 3 assists) and compared it to de Guzmans (0 goals, 2 assists) and to Mistas (0 goals, 1 assist) and things didnt add up. De Rosario was the man for TFC, but he wasnt being paid like it. Whatever your views are on what played out next – De Rosarios cheque-signing celebration, his subsequent trade to the New York Red Bulls in 2011 – the problems would likely never have arisen if TFC hadnt drastically overpaid both Julian de Guzman and Mista. This is why Toronto FC needs to be very careful if it decides to sign Jozy Altidore. The U.S. international will likely score goals in MLS. After all, hes done it before, notching 15 goals in 37 games from 2006-08 with the New York Red Bulls while still a teenager. At 25, he has the size, strength and experience needed to succeed in this league. But nowhere outside of MLS would you find a club willing to pay Altidore $5-$6 million per year to play for them. If TFC decides to offer that kind of contract to the player, theyd better be very confident that he is going to deliver a significant return on that investment. ' ' '