Events (auf Funorb) » skills to score a one-sided 30-27

Edmonton, AB (SportsNetwork.com) - The CFL postseason returns to Commonwealth Stadium this weekend, as the Edmonton Eskimos entertain the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western Division Semifinal of the 102nd Grey Cup Playoffs. Saskatchewan, the defending Grey Cup Champs who dismissed Hamilton in the title tilt last year by a score of 45-23, appeared to be one of the teams to chase again in 2014 after moving out to an 8-2 mark through 10 games, but the second half of the campaign wasnt nearly as kind. After defeating Winnipeg in Week 11 action on the road, the Riders proceeded to win just two more times over the course of eight games and one of those came in double-overtime versus Ottawa, the newest addition to the league and the weakest member. Following that 35-32 survival versus the RedBlacks, Saskatchewan dropped five in a row before closing with a 24-17 triumph versus these same Eskimos on Nov. 8. As for Edmonton, the team with the second-best record in the CFL at 12-6, it had a three-game win streak snapped by Saskatchewan in the regular-season finale on the road. Of the three meetings between these two division foes this year, two went to the Eskimos -- a 24-0 shutout in Week 14, and a closer 24-19 decision three weeks later. In the most recent matchup, Edmonton trailed 24-7 after three periods of play but managed to make things interesting thanks to a 24-yard field goal by Hugh ONeill and a two-yard TD run by quarterback Matt Nichols, but still the hole was too deep. Nichols handled almost every one of the snaps for the visitors, converting 30- of-42 passes for 261 yards, but he was picked off twice and unable to get one of his attempts into the end zone. Running back Tyler Thomas not only ran for a team-best 66 yards on 10 carries, he also caught a game-high seven passes for another 53 yards in the losing cause. The Eskimos were forced to insert Nichols into the starting lineup after Mike Reilly suffered a foot injury during the blowout win over the British Columbia Lions. As of Tuesday night, there was still no determination on whether or not Reilly would be available for the meeting with Saskatchewan, but certainly keeping him out of the regular-season finale increased his chances of rejoining his teammates. While the Eskimos were relying on Nichols to get them through to the postseason, Saskatchewan used a trio of quarterback to handle the final game of the regular season. Kerry Joseph hung in there the longest in terms of pass attempts (16), but he completed just five for 71 yards and was sacked once. Tino Sunseri responded with a perfect 2-of-2 showing for 59 yards and a score to Rob Bagg, while Seth Doege hit on one of his three passes for 12 yards and was sacked one time. Both teams were hard to watch at times, considering the number of penalties doled out in the meeting. Edmonton was charged with 13 infractions for a loss of 110 yards and the Riders 12 penalties for 105 yards. Saskatchewan has done well to limit mistakes this year, at least in terms of penalties, as it ranked next-to-last with 1,523 penalty yards over 18 games. On the other hand, no team was plagued more than Edmonton as the team averaged just over 100 yards in penalties per contest. Nevertheless, even though the referees were constantly looking for the Eskimos to suffer a transgression, the team was still able to control the action rather well. In fact, Edmonton ended up leading the league in scoring defense with just 18.9 ppg allowed. Further down on the list at sixth was Saskatchewan with 24.5 ppg. Offensively, thanks in large part to Reilly, Edmonton was second in points scored with 27.3 ppg, trailing Calgary by just over one point per contest. Again, the Riders found themselves in the middle of the pack with 22.2 ppg. Last season, while Saskatchewan was running away with the lopsided Grey Cup victory over Hamilton, the Eskimos were left at home trying to figure out how they won just four of 18 decisions, two of which came against the Riders and Tiger-Cats ironically enough. In terms of postseason success for each side, Edmonton has the second-most Grey Cups among active clubs in the league, bringing home the trophy 13 times in 24 opportunities. However, the last time the Esks were the last team standing was in 2005 when they topped Montreal by just three points, 38-35. Obviously, Saskatchewan has experienced success more recently in the postseason, playing in the title game in three of the last five years. The survivor of this outing will be back in action the following weekend versus division champion Calgary, for the right to move on to the Grey Cup on Nov. 30 in Vancouver. Fake Shoes Black Friday . 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Cheap Shoes Black Friday .Brady threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter, and New England beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 for its eighth win in nine games.QUEBEC -- Former Green Beret Tim Kennedy outmuscled English middleweight Michael Bisping en route to a unanimous decision win in the main event of the UFCs "Ultimate Fighter Nations" finale card Wednesday night. The judges scored it 49-46, 49-46, 50-45 for Kennedy. Wrestling proved to be the difference with Kennedy taking Bisping down in the first, third and fifth rounds and keeping him there. The crowd at the Colisee Pepsi didnt like it and neither did Bisping, whose game is built on movement and technical striking. It was the 20th UFC fight for the 35-year-old Bisping but his first since April 2013 because of a detached retina that required several surgeries. The 34-year-old Kennedy had won his two previous UFC fights after coming over from Strikeforce. Bisping (25-6) came into the fight ranked fifth among middleweight contenders while Kennedy (18-4) was No. 8. "I dominated Michael Bisping," said Kennedy. "A guy thats been in the top five for ever." Still Kennedy, who said he may have broken his hand, was unhappy he had not finished Bisping. There were harsh words from both fighters in the buildup, but it was hard to tell whether it was anything more than gamesmanship. Bisping cant pass a pot without stirring it. But the two did touch gloves before the fight. And they said they respected each other after the fight. Kennedy, a Texan who still serves in the Army National Guard, walked out to "Rooster" by Alice in Chains. Bisping followed to his trademark "Song 2" by Blur. Kennedy went straight for the takedown and spent much of the first round grappling on top of Bisping. He got briefly into mount but could not take advantage. Bisping caught a right hand and an uppercut in the second but fought off a takedown. As the round wore on, Kennedy seemed to move less -- allowing Bisping to find his striking range. Some wild swinging by Bisping led to another prolonged Kennedy takedown in the third. The Brit is known for getting back to his feet when taken down, but those skills deserted him here. Kennedy outmuscled Bisping early in the fourth before the two began trading punches. Kennedy, an ungainly striker, was cut during one exchange. In the fifth, Kennedy landed another takedown one minute in. The referee stood them up with two minutes remaining but Bisping was unable to take advantage. The card also crowned the first Canadian winners of the UFCs "Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show. There was little drama in that other than which Canadian would carry home a trophy. The welterweight and middleweight finals of "The Ultimate Fighter Nations," a show which pitted Canada against Australia, were all-Canadian affairs after the Aussies were eliminated earlier. Chad (The Disciple) Laprise, a native of Windsor who fights out of London, Ont., won a split decision over Montreals Olivier Aubin-Mercier to take the welterweight crown before Torontos Elias (The Spartan) Theodorou stopped Edmontons Sheldon Westcott via second-round TKO in the middleweight final. In the co-main event, Montreals Patrick (The Predator) Cote won a 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 decision over Australian Kyle Noke in an entertaining, back-and-forth matchup of TUF Nations coaches. After Noke (20-7-1) came out to Men at Works "Down Under," Cote came out to wild cheers and the Beastie Boys "No Sleep Till Brooklyn." The chant of "Cote, Cote" started before the action did, followed by "Ole, Ole, Ole" within the first minute of the first round. Cote (21-8) caught a kick and took Noke down, landing some elbows and cutting the Australian as the crowd chanted "Lets Go Cote." Noke caught Cote with a big knee in the second, stunning him. Cote somehow hung on, a bloody mark by his eye, but he had been damaged. The 34-year-old Canadian was also favouring his left leg, but he still managed to take Noke down later in the round. A Cote takedown in the third got the crowd back into it and may have convinced the judges. "He hurt me with that knee," said Cote, who actually ducked into it as he looked to grab Noke. "I didnt see it coming, but I think I did the most damage overall." There was a frantic opening to the TUF Nations middleweight final as Westcott (9-2-1) looked to take the fight to the ground quickly, hoping to bring his submission game into play. But the bigger Theodorou (10-0) fought him off and started punnishing him with knees.dddddddddddd Theodorous size and wrestling skills took their toll. He dumped Westcott midway through the second round and hammered him. The referee eventually stepped in to stop the beating at 4:41. "This proves I kick ass," said the 25-year-old Theodorou, whose resume includes modelling for Harlequin romance covers. The welterweight final was much closer. The judges scored it 28-29, 29-28, 30-27 for Laprise, who finished strongly. Aubin-Mercier stalked Laprise, looking for openings to get the fight to the ground. But Laprise resisted the takedown and countered effectively from the outside. Laprise (9-0) got on his knees in the middle of the cage after the fight. Aubin-Mercier (5-1), seemingly favouring his right foot, hung on to his cornermen. It started as a sparse crowd but it grew as the night wore on. It was a long day, after all. The first bout of the 13-fight card started at 3:15 p.m., with the main card running from 7 to 10 p.m. Dustin (The Diamond) Poirier, ranked sixth among featherweight contenders, scored a second-round TKO over Akira Corassani (14-5) for his eighth UFC win at 145 pounds. The American-based Swede, who exited with a broken nose, started well but succumbed to a flurry of blows from Poirier (16-3) after 42 seconds of the round. Poirier and Carassani got US$50,000 each for fight of the night. Canadians went 5-1 on the undercard led by light-heavyweight Ryan (The Big Deal) Jimmo, who knocked out UFC newcomer Sean (The Real OC) OConnell in the first round. Jimmo (19-3) felled OConnell (15-5) with a crunching counter straight right and then added three blows for good measure before the referee stepped in at 4:27. A native of Saint John, N.B., who fights out of Edmonton, Jimmo opened his UFC account in 2012 with a seven-second KO of Anthony (The Hippo) Perosh. He is now 2-2 in the UFC and has nine first-round finishes in his career. Former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman of Victoria registered her first UFC win, earning a unanimous 30-27 decision over Leslie (The Peacemaker) Smith in a high-octane slugfest that saw the Canadian land 202 significant strikes to 79 for Smith, according to FightMetric. Kaufman (17-2 with one no contest), ranked No. 5 among UFC bantamweight contenders, won a split decision when the two met in April 2013 on an Invicta FC card. Smith (6-5-1) took this fight on 10 days notice, as two other opponents withdrew through injury. "The three changes of opponent were stressful, I admit," said Kaufman, who hopes to fight on the UFCs June card in Vancouver. K.J. Noons needed just 30 seconds to knock out Sam (Hands of Stone) Stout of London, Ont., with a huge overhand right to the chin. And Noons (12-6) did more damage before the referee could get to him to stop the action. Stout (21-10-1) was so dazed that he tried to grapple with the referee after being knocked out and then fell backwards. But he was smiling soon after. The fight was scheduled for lightweight (155 pounds) but was switched to welterweight at the request of both fighters. They weighed in at 168-169 pounds. Jimmo and Noons got US$50,000 performance of the night bonuses. Veteran lightweight Mark Bocek (12-5) of Woodbridge, Ont., returning to the cage for the first time since November 2012 after injury, won a slender 28-29, 30-27, 29-28 split decision over newcomer Mike (El Cucuy) de la Torre (12-4). Bantamweight Mitch Gagnon of Sudbury, Ont., opened the card with a unanimous 30-27 decision over Tim (The Psycho) Gorman (9-3). Gagnon (11-2) won his third straight in the UFC. In a battle of bearded Australia TUF Nations teammates, welterweight (Filthy) Rich Walsh (8-2) showed a better all-round game in earning a unanimous 30-27 decision over Chris (The Savage) Indich. The durable Indich (5-2) becomes the first indigenous Australian to fight in the UFC. Montreal middleweight Nordine Taleb (9-2) used his superior grappling skills to score a one-sided 30-27 decision over Australian Vik (The Spartan) Grujic (6-4) in another matchup of TUF Nations cast members. Lanky bantamweight George Roop (15-11-1) won a 29-28, 30-27, 29-26 decision over Dustin (The Diamond) Kimura (12-2). The card marked the UFCs first in Quebec City, which became the sixth Canadian city to host an event after Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg. Halifax is scheduled to join the UFC club in October with a televised card. Attendance was 5,029. ' ' '