good, Babcock said. (Especially) at the start until we settled in and got playing.The Czechs couldnt maintain their early pace and started to fade after the midway point of the first period. Pr

As the end of the year approaches, baseballs award season kicks into high gear, setting off the biggest fights to take place that dont require the approval of a state athletic commission. Like Hall of Fame inductions, theres always this argument: Theyre just awards, dont take them too seriously. But wheres the fun in that? We love baseball, and arguing about which first baseman is the best and which pitchers deserve demotions to Double-A is the lifeblood of the sport.And if one award is most likely to be controversial, its the MVP award.One of the things that makes the MVP battle so contentious is that you have competing definitions of that troublesome word, valuable, which can be stretched in as many directions as the slime in those little plastic eggs 8-year-olds get from grocery store vending machines. (And which I hope still exist so Im not dating myself.)Anyway, with those conditions and contortions in mind, lets analyze three main schools of thought, and decide who should win the MVP award based on each of them. Cheap Air Force 1 Australia . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Discount Nmd . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. http://www.discountaustraliashoes.com/cheap-nmd-fake.html . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Discount Yeezy 350 V2 . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Outlet New Balance Melbourne . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. TORONTO -- Canadas World Cup of Hockey opener was Carey Prices first meaningful game in almost 10 months. He played like he was in prime mid-season form.Price stopped 27 shots to help Canada beat the Czech Republic 6-0 on Saturday night at Air Canada Centre. He made an excellent save after Ondrej Palat tipped a shot in the opening minute and delivered when needed the rest of the way.Price hadnt played since late November after a knee injury cost him nearly all of last season with the Montreal Canadiens.It was definitely nice to get a few shots off the get-go, Price said. I started to get a feel for the game. Obviously, as the game went on I started to feel more comfortable. I thought our team play was very good tonight.Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, and Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Toews and Alex Pietrangelo also scored.Canadas captain also won six-of-seven faceoffs in 13 minutes.Lets not get carried away, said coach Mike Babcock, asked if Crosby had gotten better from earlier Team Canada performances, specifically the past two Olympics. He was a star in Sochi. He was a star in Vancouver. What you saw tonight though is he got points.Crosby opened the scoring and helped set up Machands goal that made it 2-0 late in the first. Crosby also assisted on Thorntons goal in the second periodSid is obviously an incredible playmakker with a very high hockey I.ddddddddddddQ., Marchand said.Michal Neuvirth made 44 saves for the Czech Republic.The goalie was really good, Babcock said. (Especially) at the start until we settled in and got playing.The Czechs couldnt maintain their early pace and started to fade after the midway point of the first period. Price stopped 12 shots in the first, made seven saves in the second and eight stops in the third period, few of the laborious variety.Price only returned to game action last week in exhibition play. The Montreal star looked rusty in a 4-2 loss to the United States, but was sharper in a 3-2 overtime win over Russia a few days later.I dont try to overthink things and overcomplicate things, Price said. I think thats something Ive improved on over the last couple of games. It just comes down to preparing the right way and just letting your instincts take over. Its definitely nice to kick one out in the first minute and start feeling good, just let it roll from there.The Canadians face the Americans on Tuesday night.I think we understand the position were in, Crosby said. Were at home and theres high expectations, but I think thats just part of it. If anything, hopefully thats something that gets the best out of us. ' ' '