10 games, winning just three times in that stretch. "You ar

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MONTREAL -- It isnt often a Quebec rink gets to play at home in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts but thats what skip Allison Ross of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., will experience this week. A year in which the Canadian curling championship has been pushed forward a week to accommodate the Winter Olympics was deemed the perfect chance to stage the event in Montreal for the first time since 1979. The opening ceremonies and the first two draws are set for Saturday at the 4,000-seat Maurice Richard Arena, normally the training base for Canadas short-track speedskating team. "For us its going to be really fun," Ross said Friday. "Were really a team that likes to have the crowd support. "We respond well to that. Its a bit more pressure, for sure, a bit more media attention, but we are a team that likes it. We are enjoying every minute of it." Interest is likely to be lower than usual with the tournament schedule overlapping the Feb. 8 start of the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. But holding it in a city not known as a curling hotbed and far from the sports heartland in western Canada, is seen as a chance to grow the game. Kruger, which produces Scotties paper products, has its head office in Montreal, also worked in its favour as well. "This will be a wonderful platform to get (curling message) out here," said tournament director Francine Poisson, who played in three Canadian championships in the late 1980s and early 1990s. "Weve had a lot of French media this week, so its breaking the (notion) of curling being an English sport. "Its very exiting. The visibility of curling has never been as great as it is now. People are watching. Now its time to translate eyeballs into people playing in curling clubs." Next years tournament will return to curling country in Moose Jaw, Sask. Facing the likes of defending champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa, the Ross rink wont be among the favourites after going 3-8 at last years Scotties in Moncton, N.B. "We are hoping for a better result than last year," said Ross. "Last year we had three games that came down to last rock. "We could have had six wins instead of three. We take a lot of what we learned last year and come back a lot stronger this year." It isnt home for Homan, but Ottawa is just a two-hour drive or train ride away and shes also expecting some extra support as she defends her title. "Its nice for us," said Homan. "We drove here and a lot of friends and family will be coming up to support us and share the experience with us. "Obviously, there wont be as many fans here as there would be out west, but its good for our friends and family." Its an unusual Scotties in many ways, so perhaps there will be surprises on the ice. For one, Jennifer Jones rink from Winnipeg wont be around because shell be in Sochi. Instead, Chelsea Carey will make her Scotties debut for Manitoba. In 1979 in Montreal, British Columbia won the tournament led by Lindsay Sparkes. This time, B.C. will be led this time by 22-year-old skip Kesa Van Osch of Victoria. She wont be the youngest skip on the ice. That honour goes to 20-year-old Sarah Koltun of Whitehorse. The Yukon/Territories skip is the youngest ever to compete at the Scotties and the first player to skip at both the Scotties and Canadian junior championship in the same year. The favourites include Val Sweeting of Alberta, who is in her second Scotties, and Stefanie Lawton of Saskatchewan, who is at her third. The veterans are skip Heather Strong of Newfoundland, who is in her 11th Scotties, and Kim Dolan of P.E.I., who is in her 10th. "The transition is certainly happening," said Dolan. "There a lot of young teams and new faces, which is great to see. "Womens curling is in a great place, so these new young ladies are keen. That only entices other people to play and go after their dreams." The Ontario team is skipped by Allison Flaxey while Nova Scotia has Heather Smith at the helm and Andrea Crawford will carry New Brunswicks colours. Allen Iverson USA Jersey .com) - Bradley Beals 22 points and seven rebounds helped the Washington Wizards erase a halftime deficit and top the Utah Jazz, 93-84, on Sunday. Kevin Love Team USA Jersey .com) - DAngelo Harrison posted 21 points to guide No. http://www.teamusaolympicsshop.com/Olym ... sa-Jersey/. Duhamel, from Lively, Ont., and Radford, from Balmertown, Ont., were third with 210.84 points. Teammates Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto were fourth. Duhamel and Radford, who were seventh at the Sochi Olympics, also won bronze at last years world championships in London, Ont. Charles Barkley USA Jersey . INJURIES - Reds RF Jay Bruce is facing knee surgery for a torn meniscus and it could cost him a month of playing time. Chris Heisey, who has shown some pop (43 home runs, . Stephon Marbury Team USA Jersey . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Manager Joe Girardi will have an extra day to contemplate ways to ignite the Yankees lineup. New Yorks game Monday night against the Kansas City Royals was postponed about two hours before the scheduled first pitch because of rain. The game will be made up on Aug. 25 at a time to be determined. Now, the Bronx Bombers will take their slingshot offence to Seattle and Oakland to continue what has already been a disappointing trip. The Yankees won the opener against Kansas City 4-2, but then struggled again to score runs in an 8-4 loss on Saturday and a 2-1 defeat Sunday. "The one thing you cant do is you cant necessarily change everything," Girardi said. "You look at what guys have done in the past, you look at what guys are doing this year, and you try to piece together what you feel is the best lineup every day. "Weve struggled the last three or four weeks scoring runs. We know we need to score more," he continued, "but guys are going through a time. You just have to ride it out a little bit." The Yankees, in the bottom half of the league in several offensive categories, have failed to score more than four runs each of their past 10 games, winning just three times in that stretch. "You are usually not as bad as you look when things are going bad," said Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who was 0 for 4 on Sunday. "Its like youre usually not as good as you look when things are going good. But weve got to turn it around." Dazzling import Masahiro Tanaka flew ahead to Seattle in anticipation of starting Tuesday, but Girardi said he plans to push everybody in his rotation back a day. That means left-hander Vidal Nuno will start the opener against the Mariners and Tanaka will pitch Wednesday. Royals manager Ned Yost also plans to slide his rotation back one day.ddddddddddddLeft-hander Jason Vargas will now start the opener of a two-game series Tuesday against Cleveland, with right-hander Yordano Ventura on the mound Wednesday. The Royals are off on Thursday. If theres any team that can commiserate with the Yankees popgun offence, it just may be the Royals, who are in the bottom third of the league in scoring and last in home runs. There have been signs the last couple weeks that Kansas City is starting to come out of its early season funk, though, and that resurgence has roughly coincided with some changes to the coaching staff when the team was in Toronto. Pedro Grifol was removed as the hitting coach and the job given to Dale Sveum, who once helped to tutor Milwaukees young power hitters. 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