you get a lot of swirling winds and

  • ST. Cheap Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping . LOUIS -- Jeff Fisher has never been afraid to buck a trend, draft a troubled player or grant a second chance. The coach of the Rams stuck with Adam "Pacman" Jones and Kenny Britt when he was at Tennessee, despite their off-field problems. Britt is now reunited with Fisher in St. Louis. Fisher recently rehired Gregg Williams, the defensive co-ordinator who was given a one-year suspension by the league for the bounty scandal with the Saints. It was not a surprise that it was Fisher who helped Michael Sam make history as the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team. "He is an amazing leader, and even better, hes a better man," said Wade Davis, the head of an advocacy group for lesbian and gay athletes. Davis currently is doing some work with the NFL. "He looks at everything from all angles and hes not afraid to take on a challenge." The 56-year-old Fisher deflects any praise for being a trailblazer, insisting it was simply a football decision to upgrade one of the NFLs top pass rushes by taking Sam at No. 249. "In our world, nobodys going to agree with what you do 100 per cent of the time because everybody has opinions, and thats fine," Fisher said. "Im concerned about whats going on in the building, with the staff and players, the direction were headed. Thats always been the case." At least on the field, Fisher can relate to the challenge for Sam. He also was a seventh-round pick, the fourth wheel of a star-studded Southern California secondary that featured Ronnie Lott, Dennis Smith and Joey Browner. He then carved out a career playing under Mike Ditka for a Super Bowl winner in Chicago and is entering his 19th season as an NFL head coach. Lott, a Hall of Famer, recalls Fisher smoothly making the switch from wide receiver to cornerback. "To me, its easy to play wide receiver because you know where youre going," Lott said. "Having to react, respond and do it with confidence and knowing youre not going to win every play, thats the mindset on defence. The determination he had then has stayed with him." Not long after Sam came out in February, Fisher said hed have no problem having him on the team, that this was an age of diversity. Turns out it wasnt just talk. Several picks before the Rams took Sam, Fisher broached the subject with owner Stan Kroenke and general manager Les Snead. Ditka said he wasnt surprised it was Fisher who stepped up when every other team was backing away from Sam. Ditka, who once traded all his draft picks to land Ricky Williams, called it a "pretty gutsy move." Players have fallen in lockstep with their coach on the question of picking Sam. Defensive end Chris Long called it a "football move" and so did linebacker James Laurinaitis. "I dont think it was courageous," Laurinaitis said. "I think its a calculated move by the organization. ... If you have the opportunity to draft a guy that you think is extremely productive and maybe you had a higher grade on him than where he is, you go ahead and take that. I think football-wise, it was a very smart decision." Fisher wouldnt say how far Sam slid on the Rams draft board. The coach joked that divulging that information might affect Sams rookie contract. Titans broadcaster Thom Abraham remembers Fisher in 2009 after Tennessees 0-6 start removing his sport coat, tie and shirt at the podium of a civic function to reveal a Peyton Manning jersey underneath. The punch line: "I just wanted to know what it felt like to be a winner." "Picking Sam did not surprise me one bit," Abraham said of Fisher. "Hes confident in his ability to be out front, and almost represent the NFL." Sam has had several off-season workouts and more practices are on tap this week with the veterans. Long said Sam was working hard and former Missouri teammate, receiver T.J. Moe, said the team viewed Sam simply as someone trying to make it in the NFL. "He is on the team. Theres a 90-man roster, it doesnt go 89 and then Michael Sams over there, this is the gay team, this is the straight team," Moe said. "Michael Sam is on this team and hes treated just like anybody else." And if Sam struggles, nobody that knows Fisher well doubts the coach will have any problem cutting him loose. "He doesnt like doing that part of it," said Brad Hopkins, a former Pro Bowl offensive tackle who played his entire NFL career under Fisher. "But he knows it has to be done, and that you cant make everybody happy." Discount Shoes Online Free Shipping . - The situation looked bleak at best for the coach Doc Rivers Clippers — down by four points with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Shoes Discount Sale Online . Rico dove horizontally to meet Andoni Iraolas precise long cross from the right to score his second league goal of the season in the 33rd minute. Two minutes later, Aritz Aduriz netted Bilbaos second when he raced forward and pounced on a poor clearance by Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio, sending a low shot rolling past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Champions Tour players put on long-sleeved pullovers and tried to figure out which way the wind was swirling from hole to hole. They left Shoal Creek with little separation at the top. Jay Haas, Mark Calcavecchia, Olin Browne and Chien Soon Lu shared the first-round lead at 3-under 69 on Thursday in the Regions Tradition, the first of the 50-and-over tours five majors. Nine others were within two strokes of the lead. With windy, unseasonably cool conditions, it was the highest score for first-round leaders at the Tradition since three players tied at 3-under in 1990 at Desert Mountain Club in Arizona. The course absorbed more than an inch of rain heading into Thursday and the players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls. The Tradition hasnt been so tightly bunched in the top spot after the first round since a seven-way tie in 2008 and the average score was about two strokes higher than last years first round. "The winds were very tricky," the 60-year-old Haas said. "I kind of had a handle on it, I thought, on the front nine. And then by the time we got to about 13, 14, 15, I had no idea which way the wind was blowing. "With all the trees and the valley and everything, you get a lot of swirling winds and you just have to be extra careful and think it out and then hit the shot that youre planning to hit, which I did most of the time." Calcavecchia birdied three of the final nine holes and came within a whisker of a fourth and the solo lead on No. 18. "When it was about 10 feet short, I didnt think it could miss," he said. "It was just dead centre the whole way and the last couple of feet, it was still in the middle of the hole and it just dribbled just a shade to the right and singed the right lip. "That would have been nice to walk that one in to end the day. Those are the ones that make the rest of the day go by a little bit better, dinner taste a little better." Haas capped a run of three straight birdies with a 50-foot putt on the 12th hole to move to 5 under. Shoes Clearance Sale Online. . He finished with six birdies and had bogeys on three holes, including two of the next four after the long putt. The sun actually shone much of the day but the wind and wet course did make for some challenges. "There was no roll in the fairways," Calcavecchia said. "We had to play lift and place. The ball was just caked with mud every time you picked it up in the fairway. The wind was very tricky." Lu did manage to birdie the final hole and two of the last three to grab a share of the lead The native of Taiwan has two second-places in the Tradition, 2010 in Oregon and 2012 at Shoal Creek. Calcavecchias history at the scenic course has been up and down, though he says its his favourite stop on the Champions Tour. He lost a six-shot lead in 2011, including a pair of weekend double bogeys on No. 12. This time he avoided a bogey on his most troublesome hole but tweaked a rib on a shot from the fairway bunker. "The 12th hole is not my favourite out here, Ill tell you that right now," Calcavecchia said. Brownes only win on the 50-and-over circuit came in the 2011 U.S. Senior Open Championship. He missed five months of last season with a stress fracture in his back, playing only 14 events. Browne, who tied for second at the ACE Group Classic in February, had a bogey-free round with his final birdie on No. 17. "It was blustery and it was difficult to gauge, but my caddie and I did a decent job," Browne said. Steve Elkington, Willie Wood and Corey Pavin were one stroke off the lead at 70 and six players were two shots back. DIVOTS: Defending champion David Frost had a 72. ... Tom Lehman, the 2011 and 2012 winner, opened with a 73. ... Fred Couples shot 74. ... Bart Bryant withdrew after a death in the family while Craig Stadler and D.A. Weibring dropped out because of back problems. Stadler played nine holes before withdrawing. Rick Fehr replaced Bryant, and Doug Garwood filled Weibrings spot. Authentic Nike Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Tennessee Titans Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Washington Redskins Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Arizona Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Denver Broncos Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Green Bay Packers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike New England Patriots Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Oakland Raiders Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Seattle Seahawks Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Carolina Panthers Jerseys Cheap Authentic Nike Cleveland Browns Jerseys Cheap Cheap Throwback Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Atlanta Braves Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Baltimore Orioles Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Boston Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Chicago Cubs Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Chicago White Sox Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Cincinnati Reds Jerseys Cheap Throwback Baseball Cleveland Indians Jerseys ' ' '