and Zimonjic the set.I wanted to keep things interesting fod I know if it doesnt happen this year its probably something I

TORONTO -- Ralph Krueger, the head coach of plucky, piecemeal Team Europe, shines like a light. His coaching tenure with the Edmonton Oilers ended early and badly; now hes the chairman of Southampton, the Premier League football club. Not many men can switch sports at the highest levels. Krueger managed it because when he enters a room, his heart is as open as the door he walked through.On Thursday at the World Cup of Hockey, he was asked about how much the human heart tells in our games, hockey most of all.I dont think theres a game more honest than ice hockey, he said. Theres no hiding here. ... If youre not connected, it doesnt matter how much skill you have, youre going to be dealing with luck and chance. Hockey will punish you if youre dependent on that. Its such a great game because of that. Such an honest game.Heart is an amorphous concept, easy to lie about. Its nice to think that desire can overcome any weakness, because most of us have weaknesses and the alternative is believing that youll never be good enough. And underdogs win sometimes, which means heart must win sometimes, too.Heart is also an impossible thing to metric, and there are times when having all the heart in the world doesnt help. In some ways, big hearts can seem the easiest to wound. Theyre bigger targets.Dean Lombardi, the general manager of Team USA and the Los Angeles Kings, has a huge heart. He is known for his almost blind devotion to his players. If he falls in love with you, he will love you forever. He is the sort of man who makes other men wish they saw the world as clearly as he does.Like Krueger, he, too, talked about passion and hockey on Thursday. Unlike Krueger and Team Europe, Lombardi and his team were going home soon after.Lombardi talked specifically about how he believes heart can close the talent gap between teams.I think that our game allows emotion, competitiveness, caring about each other, to close that gap more than any other sport, he said. And thats why I think its the greatest game. Theres no doubt in my mind that the formula has worked. Weve won two Stanley Cups. The first thing, yes, we had talent, no question about it. But the reason we won, we were a frickin team.When Lombardi was building Team USA, he began with the premise that no matter what roster he made, it would be less talented than Canadas.His coach, John Tortorella, agreed.Ill be honest: Were not as deep as Canada skill-wise, he said. Not sure USA Hockey will like me saying that, but its the truth. Its a situation where I still think, in our mind, we could not just skill our way through Canada.So Lombardi decided that his team needed to compensate with heart. He used his hands to show the talent gap between Team USA and Canada. He said he could have picked a different roster that would have narrowed that gap, and he drew his hands closer together. Instead, he purposefully picked a roster that widened that gap, he said. He pulled his hands farther apart.Their heart, he said, would more than make up the greater distance. In his mind, then, talent has a ceiling, but heart doesnt. Heart must be exponential.He lifted the hand that represented Team USA over the Canadian one.Give me 22 guys that care, Lombardi said. Thats where it starts. From there you can build competitiveness and culture and everything else. But if you dont have 22 guys that care, youre not going to get to square two.Then Team USA came here (with 23 guys) and lost 3-0 to Kruegers Team Europe, lightly regarded almost to the point of invisibility. The Americans didnt just lose that game. They were flat, uninspired, gutless. Never mind too-talented Canada, which also beat them. They couldnt beat a group cobbled together from eight different countries deemed too uncompetitive to dress their own teams.What did that that say about Team USAs heart?Krueger also used his hands to answer that question. In the end, what we did with the U.S. in the first game -- maybe it was like this, the skill levels, he said, and he held the hand representing his team well below his American hand. But the work ethic and the passion and the team spirit was able to bring us above them on that day.Now his other hand, like his team, was on top.Lombardi didnt much like the suggestion that his group had been outgutted by an afterthought team that is also this tournaments oldest.No. There were guys in tears in that room the other night, and they were real, he said of the moments after the loss to Canada that eliminated them. And some of the texts I got from players, Ill treasure for the rest of my life. Thats good stuff. Those are things you dont forget, even in failure. And so that part we got down.Even if heart cant be quantified, Lombardis math doesnt add up. He thought heart would help his players close the gap between them and the better team, which is advancing to Saturdays semifinal. Instead they were caught by a worse one, which will play in Sundays.The harshest possible assessment of Team USA is that it had no heart.The kindest one is that it was made to be broken.Balenciaga Outlet France . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. Acheter Balenciaga Pas Cher . The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator. http://www.pascherbalenciaga.fr/ . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. Balenciaga Pas Cher Livraison Gratuite . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. Balenciaga Pas Cher Chaussure . - The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Khalif Barnes on Friday.Of all the annoying and meaningless rituals associated with the NFL preseason, this ones my favorite: the annual parade of players proclaiming with 100 percent certainty, and for all the world to hear, that they are, without a doubt, in the Best Shape of their Lives.If youre also a connoisseur of football clichés, of exaggerated, unfounded and ultimately hollow declarations of elite fitness and impending greatness, it will come as no surprise that the biggest training camp BSer (Best Shape) of 2016 was none other than the Dallas Cowboys -- a team that prints money and is everyones surprise playoff pick for the 20th year in a row despite the fact that no one in Jerrys World has sniffed a Super Bowl in two decades.Way back in May, in fact,?Dez Bryant got the annual training camp platitude parade started early when he proclaimed: I am in the best shape that Ive ever been in just a few days after Dallas VP Stephen Jones mentioned that the teams All-Pro wideout might not have been in, ya know, his best shape last year. Then, just before camp opened, Dallas defensive back Orlando Scandrick, coming back from a major knee injury, got in on the action, claiming that, wouldnt-ya-know-it, he too is in the best shape of my life. A few days later, after an unflattering photo made Tony Romo look as if he had arrived at fat camp instead of football camp, Jones quickly declared with the utmost confidence that the pear-shaped Romo was -- wait for it -- in some of the best shape hes been in.Well, of course he is. And so is Terrell Suggs. Sure, hes 33 and playing on two surgically repaired Achilles tendons. But he recently cut out pizza, fried food and gefilte fish and, wham, is now ready to declare himself in the BSL (Best Shape of his Life). Brandon Marshall? Yep, BSL. Heck, even the doughy Jay Cutler is in the BSC ( ... of his Career) according to reports from camp, where, I bet, Cutler is also the happiest hes ever been, the most focused on winning hes ever been, the most confident in his supporting cast hes ever been, the most comfortable with the offensive scheme hes ever been, the closest hes ever been with his head coach, and the warmest, most humble and approachable hes ever been.After all this BS talk, we decided to investigate all the other Best Shape of my Life claims that were made this summer.Tim TebowBS Line: Im in the best shape Ive ever been in, Tebow declared at the end of July in yet another attempt to return to the NFL.BS Level: 10. Tebow -- the guy who is willing to do anything on earth to make his QB dreams come true (except, ya know, go play in the CFL) -- was so confident in his life-altering conditioning that shortly after this statement he quit football altogether to pursue a baseball career.Knile DavisBS Line: He came back in the best shape of his life, said Chiefs special-teams coach Dave Toub at the start of camp.BS Level: 3. Seems legit, at least to Toub, who added: The conditioning test, I think he was first out of all of those guys. Hes lean, hes ready to go, hes focused and hes ready to compete.LeVeon BellBS Line: Im in the best shape Ive ever been in, Bell declared on his Facebook page this summer.BS Level: 0. Uh, have you seen the workout videos the Steelers running back posted? A few examples: here, here and here. Have you seen him run during camp? But last year, the 244-pound Bell posted a medical report that listed his body fat as 2.9 percent. Now, who actually believes hes in better shape this season? Well, me for one.Rob GronkowskiBS Line: This is actually the best shape Ive been in for the beginning of camp for the first five days, Gronk told Sirius Radio during camp.BS Level: 8. The proof Gronk used to back up his claim? He really got intense and super-focused with his training for the entire two weeks before camp opened.Darren SprolesBS Line: Enters his 11th NFL season feeling in the best shape he has in some time, stated a recent CBS report in Philadelphia.BS Level: 6. The 33-year-old Tank says he dropped his body fat but kept his weight the same, in part, by cutting out candy. Id give this a higher BS Level, but the wording leaves it unclear whether this is the best Sproles has felt in the past 11 years or the past 11 hours. ?NaVorro BowmanBS Line: Chip Kelly will make the 49ers the best in-shape team in the NFL, Bowman told the NFL Network this offseason.BS Level: 9. Sorry, but Chip Kelly doesnt look as if he has jogged around anything but a buffet table. Although I do give Bowman credit for expanding the boundaries of this camp cliché to an entire team.Anthony DavisBS Line: Im in the best shape Ive ever seen, the 49ers tackle said after his first practice since 2014.BS Level: 6. After a year of retirement, hes down 35 pounds and, remember, he iis on the best in-shape team in the NFL.ddddddddddddJameis WinstonBS Line: Just having the opportunity to get in shape, with this being my first [NFL] offseason, was very important to me, Winston said this offseason. ?BS Level: 2. The Buccaneers QB showed up to camp 20 pounds lighter and without the doughy dad midsection that went viral before the draft.Aaron RodgersBS Line: I would say this is the best shape Ive seen him in, coach Mike McCarthy said at the start of camp.BS Level: 3. Rodgers reported at 218 pounds, his lightest since his rookie season and well below the 230 pounds he has sometimes carried. And the Packers QB did it while eliminating dairy from his diet, no easy task when you play in Wisconsin.Jaelen StrongBS Line: This is probably the best shape Ive been in, the Texans wideout told reporters at the start of camp after wowing the not-easily-wowed Bill OBrien.BS Level: 1. Strong reported 33 pounds lighter than he did as a rookie.Terrance WestBS Line: I would say hes in the best shape of his life, Ravens coach John Harbaugh told reporters about his running back in June.BS Level: 7. This is the same coach who says his players are like family to him, right before running them through an extra unsanctioned practice in pads.Kyle Van NoyBS Line: The Detroit linebacker is in the best shape of his professional career, the Lions team website reported, a statement backed up by coach Jim Caldwell.BS Level: 6. Saying hes in the best shape of his professional career doesnt really mean much. He was injured as a rookie and played 7.6 percent of the teams snaps last year.Todd GurleyBS Line: Hes in great shape right now, said Rams coach Jeff Fisher.BS Level: 8. Of course one of the games best RBs is in great shape. This statement from Fisher means almost as much as when he vowed not to go f---ing 7-9 again at the start of camp after, ya know, six straight non-winning seasons.C.J. AndersonBS Line: His conditioning level is the best Ive seen it since Ive been here, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak says of the now 217-pound back. I also saw a report that says Anderson is in the best camp-opening shape of his career, in an effort to become more of an every-down back.BS Level: 6. It makes me suspicious when a guy credits the heat in Houston for his newfound physique. I mean: Vince Wilfork lives in Houston.Adrian PetersonBS Line: Asked by the Pioneer Press whether hes perhaps in the top shape of his career, the Vikings RB replied, Ill say that.BS Level: 4. If theres one player who can reverse the trend of a running backs production dramatically declining after the age of 30, its Peterson. ?Branden AlbertBS Line: Right now Im in the best shape Ive been in a long time, the Dolphins left tackle told reporters in May after the team drafted a tackle in the first round.BS Level: 4. Albert has worked hard to come back from knee surgery; they moved that rookie to guard; and, really, who doesnt love the fact that an offensive lineman can be considered svelte at 313 pounds?Ray RiceBS Line: Im happy. Im in the best shape of my life, and I know if it doesnt happen this year its probably something I have to deal with, the former starting running back told NJ.com in July.BS Level: 2. I wholeheartedly believe Rices assessment of his physical condition, and at 29, he might still be able to help a team. But Rice also acknowledged that hes mostly training for life at this point, which is probably a smart move on his part.Orlando FranklinBS Line: The big thing for me was to be in the best shape of my life this year, Franklin told San Diegos KLSD.BS Level: 8. Just before saying this, the Chargers O-lineman admitted hes been hurt, heavy and not all that flexible in the past.Jordan PoyerBS Line: Feel good, feel great, probably the best shape Ive ever been in, the Browns DB told reporters in camp after explaining hes gained about 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason.BS Level: 1. Although most of these BS declarations are wild speculation, this one is a scientific fact, thanks to the Browns new commitment to sports science and wellness. This includes players logging into terminals all over the facility to record everything from bench-press numbers to increases in REM sleep, which typically skyrockets for Browns fans at the start of every fourth quarter.Von MillerBS Line: I havent been in shape like this since coming out of college, the Super Bowl MVP told reporters at the start of camp after a jam-packed offseason spent away from the facility.BS Level: 8. Dancing With the Stars is a vigorous workout, Im sure, but, uh, Von already said he was in the best shape of his life -- in 2013. ' ' '