rafes disciplined line kept making him play in the first over before the Bangladesh captain got one to come back sharply at the start of

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario -- Imagine running a 1,500-meter race up and down hills, while leaping over barriers and carrying a sack of potatoes.Thats how Elvis Stojko describes the long program in mens figure skating.Patrick Chan won his seventh Skate Canada International title on Saturday, but it was with a flawed free skate that petered out over the final minutes. That performance had the 25-year-old from Toronto describing himself as the least-bad skater on the night.So Stojko pulled Chan aside to offer advice that could help put him in medal contention at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.Patrick, he relied on the artistry for so long until everyone caught on, but in the meantime everyone was working on the quads, Stojko said. Now, hes got one season to get this. Hes got to do it now. And I told him, `Youre going to make the mistakes. You might have to give up competition wins for it.The mistakes were many on Saturday. To keep pace with his competition, Chan debuted an ambitious program that included three quads. He started off beautifully, landing a huge quad and triple axel, but fell on his second quad attempt, and turned the third into a triple. He downgraded several jumps over the final, lung-busting minutes.On a night that saw all but Canadian Kevin Reynolds struggle, Chans was one of three gold medals for the host nation. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the ice dance title in their first major competition since the Sochi Olympics. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won the pairs title. Reynolds landed three quads in his bronze-medal performance.Stojko was famous for doing double run-throughs in practice, and suggested Chan try it. The 44-year-old would do a run-through of his 4 1-2 minute free skate, take a one-minute break, then do it again -- a taxing workout he could only do every few weeks.We call it the wall, and youve got to push it, youve got to push that limit all the time that youre always up against it, and it always feels like youre working out in molasses, Stojko said. After youve done training like that, the wall moves. And its hard.As Stojko explained in a lengthy interview Sunday, competition is much tougher on the body than practice. Nerves and anticipation push the heart rate up.What happens to any of us when we have anxiety? Youre exhausted and you havent even done anything. Times that by 10 in this environment, said Stojko, who credits his background in martial arts for his approach to sports.The stress level youre under drains the tank that much faster. So when youre competing at that high level, and trying all the quads and everything, your tank needs to be larger than at a normal practice.Chan, whos also a three-time world champion, planned to discuss the double run-through idea with coach Marina Zoueva. They also plan to explore meditation and breathing exercises.Stojko has been outspoken about the direction of mens skating, writing a scathing column for Yahoo at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics under the headline The night they killed figure skating. He was angry that American Evan Lysacek won gold with no quad.Hes thrilled the sport is embracing the big jumps again.I think its awesome, said Stojko, who is Skate Canadas ambassador. People say the sports going too gymnastics. But if you take out the jumps and you limit the guys, then it just becomes a recital. Youve got the art form, but you need that athletic side to blend them together. To have a clear-cut winner, youve got to have that technical side.Critics argue the focus on the quads is hard on the skaters bodies.Look at hockey. Look at football. Look at all these other sports where they push the body, Stojko said. People come to watch that excitement. If you take all the quads out, youre going to see a lot of perfect performances, but its going to end up being boring again.The 25-year-old Chan is embracing the big jumps -- if only by necessity.Were going to keep pushing the boundary, he said. But somethings got to give, either youll have skaters who wont last very long due to injury, or the component/presentation side starts getting affected.But its cool to see these guys pushing the boundaries; Im in awe. Its going to be interesting to sit back and see where it does top out, where it does suffer. Charles Oakley Jersey Large ., for the next three years with the signings on Monday of Daryl Townsend and Michael Carter. John Starks Jersey Large . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. http://www.customknicksjersey.com/custom-willis-reed-jersey-large-229w.html . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. Custom Knicks Jerseys . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. Walt Frazier Jersey Large . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No. Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai acknowledged that his side failed to match Bangladeshs experience during the 141-run defeat in the series-deciding third ODI in Mirpur on Saturday.Bangladesh is a Full Member team and has a lot of experience, Stanikzai said. Our team played very well and gave them a tough time in the first two matches. They had experience and we had inexperience. We have learnt lot of things from these matches.Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who had stated after the second match that Bangladesh were lucky to be in contention in the series, said his team had summed up the opposition well in the decider. In the first match, Afghanistan had run Bangladesh close, losing by seven runs, before beating the hosts in a tense chase in the second game.The more matches you play, the better you can assess the situation. Afghanistan played better than us in the first two games and we played better than them in this game, he said.The 2-1 win over Afghanistan was Bangladeshs sixth consecutive bilateral ODI series victory at home, equalling Indias record for the longest consecutive bilateral ODI series streak at home (excluding their 2011 World Cup win), spanning from 2009 to 2011. Among teams from the subcontinent, only Pakistan (7) have won more.Had the crunch match against Afghanistan gone the other way, it would have put Bangladesh under pressure for the upcoming ODI series against England.Instead Tamim Iqbal, who struck a run-a-ball 118, found clarity when Stanikzai dropped him on 1 in the third over, the first of numerous fielding lapses from Afghanistan. Tamim attacked the bowlers, starting with Mirwais Ashraf who had bothered him in the first two games. By the time he was dismissed, he had brought up his seventh ton and achieved the record for the most ODI centuries by a Bangladesh batsman.Tamim knew that Mohammad Nabi and RRashid Khan were the most threatening bowlers, so he went after Samiullah Shenwari and Rahmat Shah.dddddddddddd He was severe on anything loose, and later said that the reprieve sharpened his focus.I never thought that he [Stanikzai] would drop that catch, he said. I was trying to tell myself understand that I will do well in this innings. I knew that I was on 1 and that I had to work harder and longer to get a big score. I was trying to start afresh and just play cricketing shots.When they came out to bat, Afghanistan did not break the chase down into partnerships, which resulted in a collapse that left them at 89 for 7 in the 26th over.Mohammad Shahzad, one of the sides most attacking batsman, was not given any width to use his arms. Instead, Mashrafes disciplined line kept making him play in the first over before the Bangladesh captain got one to come back sharply at the start of the third over. Mashrafe, having injured his ankle after a fall, bowled off a short run-up later on, and ensured Afghanistan played a lot of spin before they could settle at the crease. Nawroz Mangal and Rahmat scored 33 and 36 respectively but failed to carry on. Eventually, Afghanistans middle order fell to shots they probably would not have played if the target was lower or they were batting first.Afghanistan will, in the course of time, learn that batting normally can also bring success in a high-pressure match like the series decider. They will also have to learn how to recover quickly from mistakes like Stanikzais that led to the century stand. The split-second indecisions can go away through clarity and experience. Just ask Tamim, who finished with a seventh ODI hundred, the Player-of-the-Match and Player-of-the-Series awards. ' ' '