help decide next steps in a saga that has dogged footballs govern

Over the past two seasons, the B. Cheap Vans Sk8 Hi Shoes .C. Lions have had good teams that havent won a playoff game. And because of that those good teams are not remembered as exceptional, just non-producing playoff teams. This is a high pressure year in Lions football because of that fact. You can justify losing once, especially coming off a Grey Cup winning year, but losing twice transitions your team into re-evaluation and, sometimes, over-evaluation. Losing three times tends to lead to a more dramatic change. But can you build a team in May and June for success in October and November? Part of me thinks yes, if you have exceptional depth and a quarterback who performs at his best when the pressure is highest - playoff football. Also, a nice balance of veterans and youth helps on your roster. Veteran guys know and have the ability to rise to a challenge, a playoff game, because they know how to raise urgency both individually and collectively. My argument that you cant develop a playoff capable team early relates to how teams change as the season progresses. Injuries are the single biggest factor. If you lose a lot of players over a season it is difficult to find new performers to play as well as their predecessors. Or if you lose key players, a quarterback, a top defensive back, your best receiver, that individual may not be able to be replaced without a drop-off in production. When it comes to training camp and the regular season, all you can do is demand and hope for progressive and consistent improvement so come playoff time, you are at your best and competing against yourself. Last year BC was good on defence but needed to improve on offence. They finished with the third-ranked rushing offence, averaging 107 yards per game, but only seventh in passing with 244 yards per game. On the other side of the ball there was a clear contradiction. They allowed the fewest passing yards but were at the league bottom in red zone defence. It was tough to move the ball against the Lions between the 20s, yet easier from the 20-yard line in. The vast majority of the time the opposite is true: the closer to the goal line, the tougher to advance because the defence has less space to defend. An unusual contradiction. Still, when you study last season and notice that BC was seventh in kickoff returns and eighth in punt returns, you see just what may be the priority for improvement may not be anything with or without the ball. Where you start drives and the length of field you have to overcome determines success in a season as much as any other aspect of football. As always, the Lions strength will be personnel change at just the right time. More youth on the offensive line and more experience at quarterback will prove beneficial at key moments of the season. Travis Lulay will be ready to go but that is not the concern. It is whether he will be ready for 18 games as his shoulder will be tested at some point in the season. In what may turn out to be the smartest move in the draft, acquiring Kevin Glenn as a veteran alternative is a nice luxury that only half the league has.The Lions will win their fair share of games, maybe even more than what is fair. The question will be whether they can break the “one and done” streak in the playoffs. You cant really prepare for it until the week of. And that week is months away. Vans Old Skool Sale . With Van Osch out with a flu bug that has been rampaging through the tournament, Knezevic stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1,131 at the Maurice Richard Arena. Vans Old Skool White . Rinehart joins safety Darrell Stuckey and linebacker Donald Butler as potential unrestricted free agents who are remaining with the team. http://www.vansshoesclearancesale.com/vans-old-skool-sale/black.html .com) - The Denver Nuggets snapped a losing streak last time out and will try to carry that momentum Saturday night when they welcome the Indiana Pacers to the Pepsi Center.GENEVA - Five officials, including three long-serving FIFA executive committee members, are being investigated in the corruption probe into the bidding contests for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.A person familiar with the cases confirmed the names Thursday to The Associated Press after the five were identified in European media reports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the FIFA probe is confidential.The current FIFA board members under investigation are FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar of Spain, Michel DHooghe of Belgium and Worawi Makudi of Thailand.Villar and Makudi risk losing their FIFA seats within months as even provisional suspensions from all football duty can block them standing in scheduled confederation elections.The others under suspicion are German great Franz Beckenbauer and Harold Mayne-Nicholls of Chile.Beckenbauer was a FIFA voter when the board chose Russia to host the 2018 World Cup and Qatar secured the 2022 tournament. He was provisionally suspended during the World Cup in June for initially refusing to help Garcias probe.Mayne-Nicholls inspected the bids for FIFA ahead of the December 2010 polls, and reportedly sought placements for family members at Qatars influential Aspire youth academy.Last week, FIFA ethics committee chairmen Michael Garcia and Joachim Eckert said a number of formal cases had been opened against unidentified individuals.FIFA also filed a criminal complaint to Swiss federal prosecutors against unnamed individuals cited in Garcias investigation report, adding to a sense of disarray about the wider World Cup investigation.The probe was revived after Eckert tried to close the cases against Russia and Qatar — a decision Garcia quickly appealed to FIFA.On Thursday, FIFA said it cannot confirm or deny any such information about the five named, and referred questions to the ethics panel. The Kirkland & Ellis legal firm in Manhattan where Garcia is a partner was closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.Individuals were identified Thursday despite strict confidentiality rules in FIFAs code of ethics sealing details of who is under investigation, and for which alleged offences.FIFA President Sepp Blatter has backed Eckerts view that evidence in a 430-page report submitted by Garcias investigations team cannot be disclosed. They cited privacy rights to protect suspects and witnesses.Some members of FIFAs board who joined since the World Cuup votes are calling for full disclosure. Vans Shoes Sale. Garcia and UEFA President Michel Platini want appropriate publication with some redactions.Villar, who was elected to FIFAs ruling board 16 years ago, was a leader of the Spain-Portugal bid that was among four candidates in the 2018 contest. It lost despite a widely reported voting pact with Qatar, in breach of FIFA rules to prevent collusion.A former Spain player and chairman of FIFAs legal committee, Villar was previously identified in March as trying to remove Garcia from the investigation.One bidder was particularly unco-operative with Garcias requests, Eckert noted in his investigation summary. Only Spain-Portugal among nine bidders was not examined in Eckerts 42-page document.DHooghe, the longest tenured board member with 26 years service, previously acknowledged accepting a painting from a Russian former FIFA colleague during the campaign. He has said he voted only for his native Netherlands-Belgium bid in the 2018 contest.DHooghe, whose FIFA mandate expires in 2017, did not respond to messages requesting comment Thursday.Makudi joined FIFAs board in 1997 and was a longtime ally of Mohamed bin Hammam, the now-disgraced Qatari who was a key FIFA power broker.Makudi was alleged in Britains Parliament to have sought favours from Englands failed 2018 bid. He denied the claims, which a FIFA ethics panel dismissed in 2011 before Garcia and Eckert were appointed.Even if the FIFA prosecutions fail against Villar and Makudi, the cases could potentially remove them from high office.Garcia and Eckert typically impose provisional suspensions on football officials when cases are pending, and both board members are due for re-election.Villar has a late-January deadline to declare in UEFA elections for four of its eight delegates on the FIFA board. The vote of European football federations is March 24 in Vienna.Makudis latest four-year mandate from the Asian Football Confederation also expires soon. Those elections are expected in May.The FIFA board, likely including the implicated trio, meets Dec. 18-19 in Marrakech, Morocco, and could get the Garcia dossier to review.Amid the turmoil last week, Garcia and Eckert agreed that FIFAs independent audit and compliance official, Domenico Scala, should decide what evidence to give the board to help decide next steps in a saga that has dogged footballs governing body for more than four years. ' ' '