hall of fame. » idnt seem as scripted and ful

In 2013, it took Toronto FC 21 matches to earn just three wins. A year later and it is a very different story. Instead of starving the fans of success and making them wait until the end of July to reach that three victory mark, the Reds have managed to achieve it just four matches into the season. Heading into the year, expectations were high, driven by the star power that had been added in the offseason, but as Toronto sits second in the Eastern Conference heading into Saturdays home match against Colorado Rapids (live on TSN at 4pm ET) the story developing is showcasing the supporting cast as well as he big names. One of the big question marks around this team is whether there is enough depth to rely on within the squad when they lose their top players. Last Saturday in Columbus, there were plenty of players eager to prove that depth is there as the team had to face the Crew missing some key pieces including leading scorer Jermain Defoe and first choice central defensive pairing: Steven Caldwell and Doneil Henry. The win in Columbus probably told us more about the reality of Torontos playoff hopes than the previous wins against Seattle Sounders and DC United. Players such as Bradley Orr and Nick Hagglund made significant contributions, as did young Canadian midfielder Kyle Bekker. While Torontos post season ambitions will rest on the consistently high level performances of their big wage earners, having reliable options to call upon within the rest of the squad will also be extremely significant. So in Columbus, it was three points that certainly werent expected. It was a win that proved the new look TFC has the potential to be about more than just the stars. Defoe remains a major doubt for the match against Colorado with the hamstring injury that forced him off in the second half of the 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake, but Ryan Nelsens men have already shown they can win without the England international. They will however be desperate to have Michael Bradley available. The United States international has been magnificent through his first four games with the team. He has missed training this week but is expected to be ready to face the Rapids. Bradley is the heartbeat of Nelsens team. He scored the opening goal in Columbus a week ago, but his performances so far have been of a consistently high standard, driving the team forward from midfield. While everyone has played a part in the excellent start to the season, Bradley has been the key to success. Rapid Response Toronto FC certainly have history on their side heading into Saturdays match. Colorado have visited BMO Field on seven occasions and only won once. However, that match was the most important of them all, beating FC Dallas in extra time to win MLS Cup in 2010. When playing Toronto FC, the Rapids have lost all six. This is the second of back-to-back games for Colorado in Canada and they arrive in Toronto in a confident mood off the back of a 2-1 win against the Whitecaps in Vancouver a week ago. The Rapids were fortunate to see the sending off of Whitecaps midfielder Matias Laba turn the game in their favour, but they took full advantage to gain all three points at BC Place. The Rapids were undermanned in Vancouver with four-goal Vincente Sanchez and Edson Buddle missing the trip because they didnt want to play on turf, plus defender Marvell Wynne who was suspended. Despite the absences of key players, they were well organized against the Caps, led by their Spanish midfielder Jose Mari. He scored both goals, but his play throughout was very good, and his passing was exceptional with a 95% success rate. Colorado are yet to lose away from home this season, with a tie at New York to open the season and last weeks win in the Pacific Northwest. There will be a strong Toronto connection within the Rapids squad with four players having previously pulled on the Reds jersey, Wynne, Buddle, Nathan Sturgis and Nick LaBrocca. As they return, they will find a club far different from the one they experienced during their time in Toronto. Ryan Nelsens squad has proved it has the ability to grind out results at home or on the road, something we havent seen from a TFC team for a very long time. Scarpe Adidas Superstar Scontate . Players suspended during the season for a performance-enhancing drug violation will not be eligible for that years post-season. In addition, discipline will increase from 50 games to 80 for a first testing violation and from 100 games to a season-long 162 for a second. A third violation remains a lifetime ban. Adidas Superstar Scontate . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. http://www.adidassuperstarscontate.it/. Cilic cruised to victory, beating the seventh-seeded Seppi 6-1, 6-3 in just 72 minutes. He faced only one break point, winning 24 out of 29 points played on the first serve. Adidas Superstar Outlet Adidas Superstar Italia . While Chelsea stayed two points behind leader Arsenal courtesy of Etoos hat trick, seventh-place United slipped 14 points from the summit this weekend. And the gap from the Champions League places is growing as well, with Liverpool six points ahead in fourth.PHOENIX - No, Roger Goodell is not going to give himself a pay cut. Wont trim even a measly $1 million off his $44 million salary.Not voluntarily, anyway, even after a disastrous year that shook the NFL to its core.Hes also not going to resign and, no, he doesnt expect to be fired.Does that surprise you? he asked the questioner.It didnt, and not much else did Friday as the embattled NFL commissioner put on a show of not being embattled at all at his annual State of the NFL presser.To call this a dog and pony show would be insulting to dogs and ponies everywhere. Nothing about the format was conducive to getting actual answers rather than the talking points the commissioner had long ago committed to memory.A few miles down the road, Tiger Woods was explaining as only he can about how he could shoot 82 on a relatively easy resort course and miss the cut in his first tournament of the year. Goodell took the podium at about the same time to explain why the NFL was going to wait until after the Super Bowl to determine whether the New England Patriots were conspirators in a scheme to deflate footballs.Neither of them were terribly insightful, but at least Woods had an excuse. He had been out playing in the rain for five hours, and was just hoping to get somewhere dry.Goodell, meanwhile, spent the morning working out, presumably while studying the talking points his aides had surely drawn up for any question that might come up. Like Woods, he had an answer for everything, even for the cute little kid who warned his question about league-sponsored exercise would be a tough one.Not for the Teflon Commissioner, it wasnt. Goodell informed the kid that not had he already done Play 60 for the day, but actually did 65 minutes on the elliptical.Goodell was so on point that the only question that seemed to throw him for the slightest moment came from a Las Vegas television reporter who wanted to know about prospects for a team in that gambling city (not good).To be sure, the annual appearance by the commissioner rarely offers much insight into the operations of Americas most popular sports league. The supremely insularr NFL prefers it that way, and without follow up questions the questions bounce around from topic to topic with no clear theme.ddddddddddddThis year, though could have been different. This year should have been different, if only because of two big controversies that cast doubt about fair and just the league really is.Goodell had a chance to go deeper into the deflated ball controversy, and didnt. He could have directly answered why his friend, New England owner Robert Kraft, wants an apology for the way the league has handled it, and didnt.He could have talked more about the whole Ray Rice affair, and didnt.Instead he talked in generalities about winning trust from fans every day and making enormous progress on social issues.The NFL is made up of good and caring people, he assured us at one point.That may be true, but for now were going to have to take Goodells word for it. Were also going to have to believe him when he says that the events have recent months have humbled him.It might be easier, though, if those responses didnt seem as scripted and full of generalities as his thoughts about players safety (hes for it) and earlier kickoff times for games in London - giving the networks yet another 3-hour block of NFL television (terrific).Listen, it has been a tough year, Goodell said. It has been a tough year on me personally. Its been a year of what I would say humility and learning. We obviously as an organization have gone through adversity, but more importantly it has been adversity for me. That is something where, we take that seriously. Its an opportunity for us to get better. So weve all done a lot of soul searching, starting with yours truly. And we have taken action.Speaking of action, Mr. Commissioner, how about that pay cut?Thats up to the owners, Goodell said. They evaluate my performance. They evaluate my compensation every year. And I dont argue.Come to think of it, after a year like the last one silence might be Goodells best option.____Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg ' ' '