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ekansekans's blog: "df"

created on 10/29/2012  |  http://fubar.com/df/b351055

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- With Rafael Nadal sidelined with an injury, the Czech Republic team hopes to complete a rare double this weekend when it takes on defending champion Spain in the 100th Davis Cup final. Two weeks after the Czech women secured the Fed Cup title at Pragues O2 Arena, Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek will try to equal the feat at the same venue. No country has won both competitions in the same year since the United States in 1990. "Our fans are in the winning mood and we hope that we can leave this arena in the same way (as the Fed Cup team)," Stepanek said. Even without Nadal, Spain is no easy opponent. The Spaniards recently have dominated the Davis Cup and look for their fourth title in five years. One of those victories was a 5-0 sweep against the Czechs at home in 2009. This year, the team will be led by fifth-ranked David Ferrer, who is wrapping up a year with a career-best seven titles. Ferrer won two matches at the season-ending ATP finals in London last week, but still failed to qualify for the semifinals. Hes looking forward to another chance to add one more title before the off-season. "Im very confident with my game," said Ferrer, who beat Stepanek in five sets in the 2009 final. That, he said, "was one of the best moments of my career." The sixth-ranked Berdych also qualified for the ATP finals, where he went 1-2. He and Stepanek led the Czechs to victories against Italy, Serbia and Argentina on the way to the final. They hope to give their country its first Davis Cup title as an independent nation, having split from Czechoslovakia in 1993. Czechoslovakia won its only title in 1980, when Ivan Lendl led the team to victory. The last time the Czechs beat Spain was as Czechoslovakia in 1971. But the players said they learned a lesson in 2009 -- and now have the home-court advantage. "The final in Barcelona (in 2009) was a great experience for us that we can learn from," Stepanek said. "Our two biggest advantages are that we have a choice of the surface and we have our fans behind us. And certainly, they miss Nadal." Nadal has been sidelined with a left knee injury since a second-round loss to Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon in June. Rosol is on the Czech team but unlikely to play if Berdych and Stepanek are fit. A capacity crowd of more than 13,000 noisy fans is expected, after tickets sold out in a matter of hours. The surface might even be of bigger importance. The Czechs beat Serbia 4-1 in the same arena in the quarterfinals, but that was on clay. Now, they opted for a faster hard court to counter the Spanish clay court specialists, who havent lost on that surface in 12 years. Ferrer said the Spaniards have never played on such a fast court. "We all have problems," he said. "But were ready to play, were ready to fight." Spanish captain Alex Corretja is expected to use Nicolas Almagro as his second singles player, but could also opt for Feliciano Lopez, who is 4-3 against Berdych and beat him twice on hard court. Almagro lost four of his five matches to Berdych this year. Corretja said Tuesday that "Feliciano is here in case we need to make any chances." As always, Saturdays doubles match could play a key role, and Spain received a confidence boost when Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez won the ATP finals on Monday by beating Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna of India for their third title of the season. "For us, it was a very special to win," Granollers said. "We come here with a lot of confidence after winning in London. Were ready to fight for everything." Berdych and Stepanek are expected to team up for the doubles as well, having an 11-1 record in Davis Cup play. Their only loss came in the 2009 final. Cheap Jerseys China . -- Dennis McPhee is back for his third tour of duty with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . -- The Oakland Raiders made a move to bolster their struggling pass rush on Wednesday by signing proven defensive end Andre Carter to a free-agent contract. http://studyworx.org/china.html . "Oh, man," the quarterback said. "I gotta get out of Cleveland." The Eagles hardly soared, but flew away with a win anyway.The Guelph Gryphons advanced to the Yates Cup with a stunning comeback. Now theyll need another unlikely result against a much tougher opponent. Jazz Lindsey threw a 35-yard touchdown to Micahel Fortino in overtime Saturday as the Gryphons fought back from a 22-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Queens Gaels 42-39 in Canadian university playoff football action. Dillon Wamsley kicked a 39-yard field goal on the Gaels first possession of overtime to put his team up by three. Guelph needed at least a field goal to keep the extra period going, but Fortino broke a tackle after the catch and crossed the goal-line before being mobbed by teammates. Guelph will play next play the top-ranked McMaster Marauders, who cruised past No. 8 Western Mustangs 42-28. Trailing 36-14 with just over 10 minutes to go in the fourth, Guelph started on the comeback trail when Jake Reinhart returned a fumble 15 yards for a touchdown. Lindsey then broke for an 80-yard TD run with under four minutes to play. Backup quarterback Lucas Nangle entered the game with 44 seconds left and found Saxon Lindsey to make the score 36-34. Carl Trivieri then caught the two-point conversion to force overtime. Lindsey finished the day 14-of-36 passing for 198 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also had 99 yards rushing and a TD. Fortino was the top receiver for Guelph, hauling four catches for 86 yards and a TD. Elsewhere in CIS playoff action it was: No. 2 Laval 46, McGill 9; No. 3 Calgary 57, Manitoba 18; No. 10 Sherbrooke 42, No. 4 Montreal 24; and Saint Marys 49, Mount Allison 11. At Guelph, Ontt.dddddddddddd, Queens quarterback Billy McPhee was 22-of-33 passing for 226 yards and touchdown but threw three costly interceptions. Jesse Andrews had a big game on the ground for the Gaels, rushing for 117 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carriers. T.J. Chase-Dunawa added a 34-yard punt return for TD. Justin Chapdelaine caught five passes for 79 yards, while Giovanni Aprile also hauled in five catches for 72 yards and TD. Leading 24-14 at halftime, Queens scored 12 points in the third quarter on a safety, a Wamsley field goal and Andrews second TD of the game to lead 36-14 heading to the fourth before collapsing in the final period. No. 1 Marauders 42, No. 8 Mustangs 28 At Hamilton, Kyle Quinlan threw for three touchdowns and 324 yards as the defending Vanier Cup champs continued their undefeated season by eliminating Western. --- No. 2 Rouge et Or 46, Redmen 9 At Quebec City, Tristan Grenon threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns as Laval hammered McGill to advance to next weekends Dunsmore Cup. --- No. 3 Dinos 57, Bisons 18 At Calgary, the Dinos led 42-0 at halftime and went on to blast Manitoba. Calgary now plays No. 7 Regina in the Hardy Cup next weekend. --- No. 10 Vert et Or 42, No. 4 Carabins 24 At Montreal, Sherbrooke stunned the Carabins to advance to the Dunsmore Cup, where the Vert et Or will take on Laval. --- Huskies 49, Mounties 11 At Halifax, Jean Legault threw two touchdown passes to Kevin Wuthrich and another to Carl Fitzgerald as Saint Marys thumped Mount Allison. The Huskies will play at Acadia next weekend in the Loney Bowl. ' ' ' 

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