Kneipe » Raptors and Heat

Baseball season is just under two weeks old… Are you tired yet? For a sport which can cite the speed of the game as one of its major detractors, the 2014 season has already seen developments come to light to call into question whether the game needs to be sped up. The advent of instant replay on select plays, allowing managers to challenge contentious calls, has added yet another stall tactic to the great summer spectacle. Naturally, two weeks in, a pattern has emerged. Many organizations have employed or utilized a “video coach” whose job it is to keep an eye on a monitor when close plays come about and to double-check whether the right call was made. In order to give managers better odds of winning challenges, a trend has now emerged where skippers saunter out to the umpire to discuss the call while awaiting a signal from the bench to decide whether or not the play is “challenge-worthy”. Sometimes it is not and the game proceeds. Sometimes it is and more time is spent actually reviewing the play in question. So, whats the solution? Well, according to a report from ESPNs Buster Olney earlier this week, one MLB executive believes seven-inning games would help get the games done in roughly two-and-a-half hours. But is that really the best way to speed up the game? Solutions have been pitched before, however. In 2007, the MLBs official rules were altered to reduce the maximum amount of time a pitcher was allowed between pitches without runners on base. Under these rules, a pitcher was allowed no more than 12 seconds between pitches (down from 20) with the bases empty. The penalty for exceeding that time limit is an extra ball added to the batters count. Still, games clock in regularly at north of three hours. So, is the seven-inning game a viable solution for Major League Baseball? Changes have been made in the past to alter the quality of the game both on- and off the field including the advent of the live-ball era, the lowering and raising of the pitchers mound and – most notably – the restructuring of the Leagues substance abuse policy in the wake of the “Steroid era”. Speaking of which: Wouldnt a switch to seven innings be a clever way to asterisk the records that Major League Baseball is hesitant to recognize? “Sure, Barry Bonds is the all-time home run king… but that was during the nine-inning era.” What do you say? Would you be in favour of just heading home at the seventh-inning stretch? As always, its Your! Call. Devon Travis Jersey . "We cannot stay the same way the whole season long," said Reyes. "This is not acceptable. Something needs to change because were a better team than what were showing right now. Its a long season and we just need to continue to push." Its been a frustrating week for the ballclub. Sam Gaviglio Blue Jays Jersey .C. United on Wednesday night. Forward Bright Dike scored the games only goal in the 85th minute on a foggy night in Bradenton, Fla. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/856h-marco...lue-jays.html.J. -- Rampage Jackson scowled, howled, then bellowed to the crowd: "Im back! Im back!" With rebuilt knees and a new promotion, Jackson might have one more act left in MMA. Shannon Stewart Blue Jays Jersey .com) - Virginia is for loving Latrell Scott. Josh Towers Jersey . With timely hitting and good pitching, the Marlins are one win away from sweeping the slumping Houston Astros.TORONTO -- With Chris Bosh back home on dad duty, the Miami Heat had to make do with the "Big Two." But despite a good start for Toronto, it was business as usual for the Heat. LeBron James poured in a season-high 35 points, while Dwyane Wade added 20 to propel the Heat to a 104-95 win over the Raptors on Tuesday, marking Miamis 12th consecutive victory over Toronto. DeMar DeRozan had 21 points to top the Raptors (2-2), who fell apart in the fourth quarter against the two-time defending NBA champions. "Were still a good team, we lost to a good team, we lost to the defending champs. Two-time defending champs," said Rudy Gay, who had 13 points and 10 boards. "But we still can grow, we played them pretty solid for three quarters, weve just got to learn how to finish games out." Jonas Valanciunas finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. Kyle Lowry had 13 points and five assists while Terrence Ross added 11. Bosh -- the third piece of Miamis "Big Three" -- didnt make the trip for the game that came a day after his wife Adrienne gave birth to their daughter Dylan Skye. The former Raptors all-star, who spent seven seasons in Toronto, is averaging 19.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a night. But his absence was barely noticeable -- save for the fact he wasnt there for fans to boo -- as James and Wade more than carried the load. When they werent scoring, they were helping each other score. "To see it now and to where it was before, you dont see all the hours of commitment on their part to develop different parts of their game, and that specifically is: what are they doing without the basketball?" Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said on the chemistry between his two stars. "Early on, when we put this team together, it was a challenge, they were used to having the ball so often in their hands, particularly in pivotal moments during the game, and they had to learn how to adjust, play off the ball. . . and theyve both done a tremendous job, for marquee players to make that adjustment is much easier said than done." Ray Allen had 14 points for Miami (3-2). The Heat moved the ball with high-speed precision, totalling 31 assists to Torontos 15. Still, the Raptors led by as much as 11 points in the second quarter before Wade, looking as if he was toying with Toronto, sccored on a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to end the third.dddddddddddd The basket gave the Heat a 78-74 lead heading into the fourth and sucked all the life out of Toronto. The Heat opened the fourth with a 12-0 run, and held the Raptors scoreless for more than five minutes in about as ugly a quarter as you can get. The Raptors had nine turnovers, and Lowrys driving layup with 3:58 left in the game was Torontos first field goal in the quarter. The game was out of reach by that point, and many of the 18,470 fans at the Air Canada Centre were already headed for the exits. "I thought our guys battled for three-and-a-half quarters, but those turnovers in that one stretch broke our back," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. The Raptors string of futility versus Miami is the teams longest active losing streak. James reached another milestone during the game, becoming the fifth player in NBA history to score 10 points or more in 500 consecutive games, achieving the feat with a huge first-quarter dunk. The four-time NBA MVP joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (with streaks of 787 and 508 games), Michael Jordan (866), Karl Malone (575) and Moses Malone (526) as the only players to accomplish the feat. "I felt good," James said. "And Im getting there. Im getting to where Im going out there and feeling like I was at the end of last year. That was a great road win for us tonight." Joel Anthony of Montreal played just nine minutes for the Heat and had two boards and zero points for the Heat. Valanciunas had 10 points in the first quarter to give the Raptors a nine-point lead. But Allen drained a three to cap a Miami run and pull his team even at 23-23. The Raptors led 25-23 heading into the second. A Valanciunas hook shot gave Toronto an 11-point lead with five minutes to go in the first half, but Mario Chalmers buzzer-beating three capped an 18-5 Heat run and gave Miami a 52-50 advantage at halftime. The Raptors and Heat meet three more times this season, including Nov. 29 at Miami. NOTES: The Raptors are at Charlotte on Wednesday, and Indiana on Friday before returning home to host the Utah Jazz on Saturday. . . Rapper Macklemore had a courtside seat and helped chuck T-shirts into the crowd during a timeout. . . DJ Jazzy Jeff and Toronto Maple Leafs James Reimer and Phil Kessel were also seated courtside. ' ' '