On all levels the 100-year anniversary of the Canadian Skating Championships was an overwhelming success. In honour of the anniversary, over 80 Canadian champions of the past were in attendance to witness one of the best Canadian Championships in many years. What made this championships so successful was first and foremost the inspired and at times heart wrenching performances of Canadas best as they tried to validate four long years of effort in a few short minutes of competition. What we saw was strength in all of the disciplines. Strength across the board, which reminds me of the good old days - the 1988 Calgary Olympics when Canada had its biggest medal haul in skating at the Games, winning medals in three of the four disciplines. Its interesting to note that this will be the biggest Olympic skating team from this country since those 1988 Games and with the addition of the team event it looks likely that Canada will equal or top that medal total from 26 years ago. The audiences were terrific in Ottawa. They were loud, enthusiastic and large in numbers. The packed house on Saturday got their moneys worth and gave numerous standing ovations in return. Highlights for me were plentiful. The womens competition, which in the past has often been the least hotly contested title, was instead more competitive and intriguing that it has ever been. Kaetlyn Osmond showed her trademark composure and charisma after coming back from a season of injuries to defend her title and to prove that her breakout season last year was no fluke. She has a presence that fills the arena and an elusive blend of raw talent and solid technique which is mixed with the soul of an artist. What I find most appealing in Kaetlyns character is the refusal to take herself or the magnitude of the moment too seriously. Each moment is met with a smile, a giggle or a shrug, and with eyes sparkling. This is supposed to be fun, right? To watch her compete is to believe just that. That it is fun. Gabby Daleman at only 15 years of age showed a feisty competitiveness and raw athleticism on her way to winning silver and a ticket to Sochi. Her triple lutz-triple toe, the most difficult triple-triple combination being executed in the world of womens skating, was as good as they come. This kid can fly and showed a focus and nerve quite remarkable for her age. As good as the two at the top are, the rest of the field showed us that they will continue to be pushed, as the final flight was filled with youth, triple jumps and engaging personalities. This bodes well for the seasons to come. Speaking of youth, in the mens event it was 14-year-old Roman Sadovsky and 15-year-old Nam Nguyen who brought the house to its feet and the scores to new heights in the penultimate flight. These are the numbers that the final group of men were challenged to beat. What we saw was a glimpse of where the next Patrick or Jeffery or Kurt might come from. They were back-to-back exceptional scores, for remarkable performances by young teenagers and once again the future looks bright. Patrick Chan, who came in without challengers due to the fact that Kevin Reynolds was not in peak competition form because of skate malfunctions, was not as sharp as usual and showed signs of his focus being a little split between the here and now, and the larger challenge looming that is the Olympics. But, "not his best" is still world class, and it was the kind of performance that will keep him on his toes without chipping away at his confidence. A rock solid foundation to build on for the games. The drama came in the pairs competition with the intense rivalry building once again between Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch the worlds fourth-ranked pair and world bronze medalists and defending Canadian champions, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford. Like last year the teams were separated by less than a point after the short program with Kirsten and Dylan just behind. That meant that they were the first of the two teams to skate in the free program showdown. About the performance in the free, Meagan said "We didnt know what they did before us, but we did hear a New Canadian Record!" and so they knew that the bar had been raised yet again. Both teams set Canadian records that night and both teams brought the fans to their feet in appreciation of the pairs finesse and fearlessness. The evening wound up with the Ice Dance event which was a "something for everyone" type of affair. It was filled with a variety of genres, an abundance of athleticism and dramatic and emotional musical interpretations. The final flight of dance was of such a high standard that the teams fighting for the third Olympic spot knew that only "their very best" and "not a step wrong" would get them there. In the end it was Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam after two seasons of mishaps and heartaches who nailed the Olympic spot. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje won silver, wowed the crowd and showed with their fluid and refined Tango that they are absolutely Olympic podium worthy. The final skate of an awesome day fell into the capable hands of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. They closed the show and the final chapter of their competitive life at Canadians with their Olympic free dance, a standing ovation and a final good bye. A fitting end to a fabulous day. Cheap Packers Jerseys . He was still a kid, going into his senior year of high school. Thursday, the point guard stood in front of a couple dozen members of the media and spoke with poise about how much hed grown since then, and how hes ready for the next level. Jace Sternberger Jersey .J. -- The New York Jets have promoted Tony Sparano Jr. http://www.cheappackersjerseyselite.com/...williams-jersey. - After a back-and-forth battle throughout the season, Alex Guenette has earned the 2013 rookie of the year award for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 by just one point over Ryley Seibert. Elgton Jenkins Jersey .A. Dickey earned an American League Gold Glove on Tuesday to become the first Toronto Blue Jays pitcher to win the award. Cheap Packers Jerseys Authentic . Helwani said that Weidman has been dealing with recurring swelling and pain in his knees related to torn meniscus he suffered as a teenager and the problems came to a head last week when he suffered prolonged swelling and pain in his left knee, resulting in the decision to undergo an arthroscopic scope procedure to clean up the tear in both knees.SAN DIEGO - After watching a full season of expanded-replay review, Joe Torre is unhappy with what he saw — that is, before managers challenged plays.Major League Baseballs chief baseball officer thinks one way to cut down lengthy games is to adjust replay rules.Initially when we talked about rolling out replay, we basically talked about if you go out of the dugout you cant challenge it. That was the first thought we had, Torre explained Tuesday at the winter meetings. And then I said, I hate to take that away from the manager. But I didnt really, in thinking that way, I really didnt plan on watching managers meander on out. ... That looks bad.Time and again, the Dance of the Manager would play out after a close play to give the teams replay crew a chance to look at the video. Whether it was Don Mattingly with the Los Angeles Dodgers or Joe Girardi with the New York Yankees or Joe Maddon with Tampa Bay, the moves were the same.The manager hesitated on the top step of the dugout before taking a slow stroll out to an umpire. The manager inevitably coaxed the umpire into swinging around so the skipper could have a clear view into the dugout while awaiting a thumbs up or down from a coach: review or not. More often than not, the manager and umpire engaged in what appeared to be friendly banter.The 1,275 reviews in the first year of expanded replay averaged 1 minute, 46 seconds in a season in which game times ballooned to 3 hours, 2 minutes on average for nine-inning games.With Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred making attracting younger viewers a priority, everything on the field is up for discussion when it comes to enlivening Americas pastime, plagued by sagging national TV ratings.ddddddddddddTorre will be meeting with the 30 managers at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, overlooking San Diego Bay, home of the famed aircraft carrier USS Midway, and one of his main topics will be replay review. The Hall of Famer will then gather with the rules committee to further discuss pace of game among other issues.I think what were looking at now in regards to pace of game is strictly pace of game. Not necessarily length of game, although that would pick up if you helped the pace, Torre said. And part of that was I guess you could look at the replay stuff where the challenge system, where we had managers go out.Torre said about two-thirds of the managers he spoke with during the season were not happy with the expanded-replay system and he cited Kansas Citys Ned Yost as being someone to look to for a possible solution.He pretty much just came out of the dugout top step, just to sort of alert the players that I may be doing something, Torre said. And that worked well for him.When the rules committee meets, all sorts of ideas for speeding up the pace will be addressed. One of the most talked about ideas this off-season is a 20-second pitch clock. Torre had a chance to see it used during an Arizona Fall League experiment.I was never a proponent of introducing the clock in baseball. But I went out there the one afternoon and I was pretty impressed, Torre said. It was there. But it really wasnt intrusive in any way. Im not discounting down the road that it may be a benefit, maybe some kind of variation of it. 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