miaowang123: rivals seem to be accepting that Nibali may win. "

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CALGARY -- With players moving in and out of the lineup, the bye week was especially beneficial for the Calgary Stampeders. Danny Woodhead Jersey . The Stampeders have the luxury of more time to prepare for next Sundays Western Division final than the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are coming off their division semifinal win Sunday over the B.C. Lions. Calgary won the West with the CFLs best record of 14-4. So instead of preparing to win a game last week, the Stampeders got an early start on adjusting to life without injured receiver Marquay McDaniel and defensive tackles Demonte Bolden and Micah Johnson. Receivers Joe West and Brad Sinopoli participated in their fourth practices Tuesday after returning from a shoulder injury and a concussion, respectively. The Stampeders continued auditioning for replacements on the defensive line with Junior Turner, Etienne Legare, Freddie Bishop and six-foot-six behemoth Earl Okine getting reps Tuesday. "Sometimes you dont know how the bye week will help you, but it helped us in that sense," Stampeder quarterback Kevin Glenn said. "Getting guys acclimated with the positions they may play in this game was big. Having those practices and letting those guys work in those positions, it helped having that bye. If we would have had to possibly go right into playing a game, it might have been a little bit tougher." McDaniel posted the first 1,000-yard season of his career, only to have it end with a high ankle sprain in the regular-season finale versus the B.C. Lions. Both Johnson and Bolden suffered damaged knee ligaments in that game and will not play in the West final. Veteran slotback Nik Lewis has been sidelined since August with a broken leg. With McDaniel following him onto the injured list, getting West and Sinopoli up to speed again is crucial. Import wide receiver Jeff Fuller signed with the Stampeders in September and played just the final three games of the regular season. "Its good that we had this extra time . . . to get a few more days on the practice field executing the offence," head coach John Hufnagel said. West had three touchdown catches in his first four games this season before his shoulder injury in Week 4. He returned to the lineup in September only to re-injure it in his second game back. Sinopoli, a Canadian college quarterback converted into a receiver, missed the final two games of the season with a concussion. A one-handed catch on a 42-yard gain in his debut at receiver in July continues to be shown on highlight reels. The Peterborough, Ont., native says the extra work in practice without the pounding of a game has helped his transition back onto the field. "It helps and it helps just with the legs and feeling fresh," Sinopoli said. "I feel like the season just started now. I dont feel like Ive been playing for 20 weeks or whatever its been. Its huge." The bye week has to be managed properly for it to be an advantage and not a disadvantage, said running back Jon Cornish. "People talk about the bye week being a week off, but as long as you dont view it as that, its a beneficial thing," the CFLs leading rusher explained. "The bye week is supposed to be a week of practice, a hard week of practice, working out and still doing all the things you should be doing to get ready for a game, and then just not playing the game. We had that mindset this year. "A few years back, we sort of had this mindset that the bye week was some sort of week off and we shouldnt be practising hard. You get your rest from not playing in the football game." McMahon Stadium temperatures for Calgary over the next few days are forecasted to stay above zero. Hufnagel hopes that is true because frigid temperatures makes for difficult practices. "Its hard to keep these men out there for an hour and 45 minutes and expect them to have full attention when its minus-20 degrees," Hufnagel said. Sundays forecast is for flurries and a high of minus-11. But the coach says hes more concerned about high winds than a low temperature on game day. "As far as how wind effects the game, it almost cuts the game in half," he said. "When you have the wind, you have to make hay and when you dont have the wind, hopefully you can hold on." Jonathan Ogden Jersey . The 21-year-old Canadian earned a spot in his third career ATP final on Saturday thanks to his first Top 10 victory of the new tennis season, a 6-4, 6-4 win over world no. 10 Nicolas Almagro of Spain. Michael Pierce Jersey . The injury will keep the Finnish forward out of the Olympics. The 29-year-old has 20 goals and 41 points in 56 games this season, his first with Tampa Bay.CHAMROUSSE, France -- If Vincenzo Nibali was looking happier Friday after the Tour de France rode into the Alps, heres why: His top rival fell out of contention, he gained nearly a minute on his next-biggest challenger and oh, he won Stage 13 to boot. On a sunbaked and melting Alpine road, the 29-year-old Italian, cemented his control of cyclings greatest race with a solo-finish victory that was an afterthought to gaining time on other title contenders. Team Skys Richie Porte, who began the day in second, saw his title hopes all but vanish after he lost about 9 minutes to Nibali on the last climb along the grueling 197.5-kilometre (122-mile) trek from Saint-Etienne to Chamrousse ski station. Ever cautious, calm and understated after his stage win, Nibali noted that three big Alpine climbs still await Saturday and other punishing ascents are on tap in the Pyrenees next week. "For the coming days, I only know that I have to remain quiet," he said. But in the winners circle, where he collected the yellow jersey for the 11th time this year, Nibali perhaps let slip a bit more happy emotion -- knowing that a first Tour victory for an Italian since Marco Pantani in 1998 just got a little closer. "I expect more attacks tomorrow in another very hard stage and next week," Nibali said. "My advantage over Porte is good now. Hes the rider I feared the most in the closing time trial." If Nibalis mountain dominance keeps up -- on Monday, he won the only other high-mountain stage so far -- the 54-kilometre (33-mile) time-trial in Stage 20 from Bergerac to Perigueux is the only real challenge left in his way. The unexpected has gone Nibalis way. He surprised himself by winning an up-and-down Stage 2 stage in the hills and dales of Yorkshire and capturing his first Tour yellow jersey. He mastered cobblestone treachery in Stage 5, when 2012 Tour champ Chris Froome crashed out. And then, two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador went out five stages later after a fast downhill crash fractured his tibia. In a sport where many dominant riders in past years later turned out to be drugs cheats, Nibali confronted the issue of doping a day earlier, saying he expected questions about it. "This theme belongs to the past," he said, crediting recent efforts like enhanced testing and the biological passport to clean it up. This 101st Tour could become the third straight in which the winner locked up victory from before the halfway point. Last year, Froome was in yellow from the eighth stage onward. In 2012, Bradley Wiggins had the shirt for good after Stage 7. Nibali tookk it in Stage 2, lost it in Stage 9, and regained it a day later. Morgan Cox Jersey. Hes hoping to take it home after a largely ceremonial ride on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 27. A comeback by a rival would be exceptional by recent standards. After the 13th stage last year, Froome had three other riders within minutes. In 2012, Wiggins had only two. After Fridays ride, no one is within three minutes of Nibali. The first of two days in the snow-capped Alps lived up to its billing as the daunting final climb of 18 kilometres (12 miles) with an average 7.3 per cent gradient shook up the overall standings. The ride was hot: black tar on the recently resurfaced road to Chamrousse melted. Big crowds lined the route, including fans dressed as superheroes and one as a scantily clad Borat -- the Sacha Baron Cohen film character. As riders embarked on the final climb, the pack was mostly together and Valverdes Movistar team was pushing the pace. But when it hit the steepest part, Porte struggled and dropped off the back and Nibali briefly turned his head to look. Valverde attacked a short while later, but Nibali and the others reeled him in. Nibali said he felt "better and better" as he climbed, despite the heat of more than 30 degrees Celsius (86 F). When the Italian saw "Richie Porte in trouble," he turned his attention to gaining time on Valverde, he said. After two riders raced ahead, the Italian leader struck -- jumping out of his saddle, and pedaling while standing in the upright riding position known in French as "la danseuse" or the dancer. He overtook them, and went on to win. Portes troubles also meant others climbed in the standings: Frances Romain Bardet moved up to third, countryman Thibaut Pinot was fourth, and American Tejay van Garderen fifth. Nibali appeared to be taking a risk that his effort to distance his rivals could come back to haunt him. By his own admission a day earlier, he said that he feared the second Alpine day more. Saturdays 177-kilometre (110-mile) stage takes riders over three tough climbs from Grenoble to Risoul -- including the Izoard pass that is one of the hardest under cyclings ranking system. Some of his rivals seem to be accepting that Nibali may win. "Vincenzo is the strongest rider in the race, but after him, there is a place to take," Bardet said, referring to the final podium. Nibali "played it well", said FDJ.FR team manager Marc Madiot. "Now he can say Ive got all the cards, I can do what I want, when I want and if you try to slap me, I give two slaps in return." Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Cheap NFL Gear Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap Jerseys NFL Jerseys China ' ' '