Nova Division
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Stella Division
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Male Division
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ISML 2015: Nomination Results
Avaya Stadium Sex Machine Boogaloo A La NorCal!
SAN JOSE, Calif. – To San Jose Earthquakes team president David Kaval, Sunday wasn’t just the grand opening of Avaya Stadium.
“I think our fans have been waiting for this for so long, it was kind of like a wedding/bar mitzvah/anniversary all wrapped up into one,” Kaval told MLSsoccer.com after the Quakes beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 18,000. “The joy for so many fans was just palpable.
“Just an incredible day.”
About the only thing that seemed to go noticeably wrong for the Quakes in the debut of their $100 million stadium was when one member of a skydiving team had to land in a parking lot instead of on the field due to high winds pushing him off course.
Otherwise, it was a rollicking party, fueled by early tallies from Fatai Alashe and Ty Hardenthat staked San Jose to a 2-0 lead after 21 minutes.
“The atmosphere was fantastic,” Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear said. “I’m glad we gave them good early goals to get them excited and keep them nice and vocal. … Overall, it’s a wonderful place to play.”
San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham said the noise made it tough to hear at times – something that might have played a part in the Quakes’ goals. Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson, standing in the enclosed end of the arena for the first half, appeared to err to some extent on both occasions, opening the door for San Jose’s attack.
“The crowd was awesome the whole time,” said Harden, who scored his first career MLS goal. “It was loud and everybody felt really close. All the guys on the team jumping and piling on me made it feel that much better. I thought it was electric inside.”
Fire coach Frank Yallop, who spent eight and a half years on San Jose’s bench, said he had “goosebumps” walking into the stadium for the first time.
“It was a really nice feeling,” Yallop said. “It’s a special place. They did just a magnificent job on the stadium.”
The occasion afforded MLS commissioner Don Garber a chance to take a triumphant victory lap in a market the league had to vacate in 2005 after the first-generation Quakes – and their owners, Anschutz Entertainment Group – couldn’t get a soccer-specific stadium built and thus moved to Houston. San Jose’s current team was born as an expansion side in 2008.
“It feels like we’ve been waiting from my first day in 1999,” Garber told reporters at halftime in the Avaya press box. “Certainly when we left, we so desperately wanted to come back. And we wanted to have a stadium that our league could be proud of, and we are very proud today.”
Garber and Yallop both praised the field-level luxury boxes, and the commissioner pointed to the (relatively) lower cost as a potential blueprint for other clubs in the future.
“I think this is going to be one of the best models for us going forward,” Garber said. “They built it smart. … They’ve built it very efficiently, and that’s important. Not every stadium’s got to be several hundred million dollars. It’s actually good to have them built in a way where the economic model makes sense, and I think that’s what we have here.”
Rasputin
There lived a certain man in Russia long ago
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear
He could preach the bible like a preacher
Full of ecstasy and fire
But he also was the kind of teacher
Women would desire
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear
He could preach the bible like a preacher
Full of ecstasy and fire
But he also was the kind of teacher
Women would desire
Ra ra Rasputin
Lover of the Russian queen
There was a cat that really was gone
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
It was a shame how he carried on
Lover of the Russian queen
There was a cat that really was gone
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
It was a shame how he carried on
He ruled the Russian land and never mind the czar
But the cassock he danced really wunderbar
In all affairs of state he was the man to please
But he was real great when he had a girl to squeeze
For the queen he was no wheeler dealer
Though she’d heard the things he’d done
She believed he was a holy healer
Who would heal her son
But the cassock he danced really wunderbar
In all affairs of state he was the man to please
But he was real great when he had a girl to squeeze
For the queen he was no wheeler dealer
Though she’d heard the things he’d done
She believed he was a holy healer
Who would heal her son
But when his drinking and lusting and his hunger
For power became known to more and more people,
The demands to do something about this outrageous
Man became louder and louder.
For power became known to more and more people,
The demands to do something about this outrageous
Man became louder and louder.
"This man’s just got to go!" declared his enemies
But the ladies begged “don’t you try to do it, please”
No doubt this Rasputin had lots of hidden charms
Though he was a brute they just fell into his arms
Then one night some men of higher standing
Set a trap, they’re not to blame
"Come to visit us" they kept demanding
And he really came
But the ladies begged “don’t you try to do it, please”
No doubt this Rasputin had lots of hidden charms
Though he was a brute they just fell into his arms
Then one night some men of higher standing
Set a trap, they’re not to blame
"Come to visit us" they kept demanding
And he really came
Ra ra Rasputin
Lover of the Russian queen
They put some poison into his wine
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
He drank it all and he said “I feel fine”
Lover of the Russian queen
They put some poison into his wine
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
He drank it all and he said “I feel fine”
Ra ra Rasputin
Lover of the Russian queen
They didn’t quit, they wanted his head
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
And so they shot him till he was dead.
Lover of the Russian queen
They didn’t quit, they wanted his head
Ra ra Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
And so they shot him till he was dead.
Wisconsin: 2014-15 Big Ten Men's Basketball Champions
CHICAGO -- Nigel Hayes scored 25 points, Frank Kaminsky added 19, and No. 6 Wisconsin outscored Michigan State 11-0 in overtime Sunday for an 80-69 victory in the Big Ten tournament championship game.
Bronson Koenig scored 18 points, and the Badgers (31-3) rallied from 11 points down in the second half in an attempt to strengthen their bid for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Branden Dawson and Denzel Valentine scored 16 points each for Michigan State (23-11). But the Spartans were outscored 31-10 over the final 11½ minutes and came up short after winning the tournament last year.
In the first overtime in a Big Ten title game, Hayes and Koenig hit 3-pointers in the first three minutes to give the Badgers a 75-69 lead. Michigan State missed all six shots and committed two turnovers in the extra period.
SMU: 2014-15 American Athletic Men's Basketball Champions
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Markus Kennedy scored 14 of his 15 points in the first half and No. 20 SMU held off UConn 62-54 on Sunday to win the American Athletic Conference Tournament title.
Georgia State: 2014-15 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Champions
NEW ORLEANS -- R.J. Hunter, the coach's son, made two free throws with 21.6 seconds left and Georgia State survived two last-second, 3-point attempts Sunday to beat Georgia Southern 38-36 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game.
Georgia State (24-9), in its second season in the Sun Belt, will make its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2001.
Kevin Ware scored 18 points for Georgia State, the only double-figure scorer in the low-scoring game, while Hunter finished with nine.
Jelani Hewitt had eight points to lead Georgia Southern (22-9).
Hunter was fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound of Ware's missed jumper. Georgia Southern's Curtis Diamond missed a 3-point attempt with 7 seconds left but tracked down the rebound and called a timeout as he jumped out of bounds with 5.1 seconds left. Eric Fergusontook Georgia Southern's final shot, missing from the left side.
Georgia State coach Ron Hunter was injured during the celebration after the game and had to be helped off the court. He did return to be with his team as they continued the celebration.
Virginia Commonwealth: 2014-15 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Champions
NEW YORK -- Treveon Graham scored 20 points and Doug Brooks made a huge steal in the final minute to help VCU beat Dayton 71-65 on Sunday and win its first Atlantic 10 tournament championship.
Fifth-seeded VCU (26-9) had lost the last two A-10 finals -- in their first two seasons in the conference -- but this time strung together four wins in as many days to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Not that they needed it. VCU -- and Dayton for that matter -- were considered to already be NCAA-bound.
Graham gave VCU a 61-59 lead with 1:13 left on a drive to the basket. Then Brooks picked off a Dayton pass and fed JeQuan Lewis for a layup to put VCU up four with 53 seconds left.
Jordan Sibert made three free throws with 10.6 seconds left for second-seeded Dayton (25-8) to make it 67-65, but VCU closed it out from the free throw line.
Scoochie Smith led Dayton, which was looking for its first A-10 title since 2003, with 16 points. Sibert and Dyshawn Pierre both had 14.
It's been four years since coach Shaka Smart and the Rams went from the First Four to Final Four in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, VCU was knocked out of the NCAAs in its first game.
This season's team was expected to be one of Smart's best. The Rams started the season ranked No. 15 in the country and as the overwhelming favorite to win the A-10.
The Rams were rolling along with a 17-3 record when star guard Briante Weber blew out his knee at the end of a loss to Richmond. The Rams went 5-5 to end the regular season and slipped to the fifth seed. That meant they would need to win four games at Barclays Center to earn that elusive A-10 tournament title.
They seemed to get a little better each day, a little more comfortable playing without Weber, who leads their havoc defensive pressure.
Lewis, his replacement in the starting lineup, scored 15 points in the title game. Lewis made two free throws with 7.9 seconds left to put VCU up 69-65. Burly center Mo Alie-Cox added 13 points.
Weber is not playing, but he's still with the team. The senior from Chesapeake, Virginia, has been stationed next to the assistant coaches on the bench this week, a huge black brace immobilizing his right leg but not keeping him from standing up to shout instructions and encouragement to his teammates. He even made it over to a few team huddles during timeouts on Sunday, giving Lewis a squeeze on the shoulders or pat on the back.
When it was over, Weber left his crutches on the bench, made his way to center court and led the celebration, hopping on one leg and then crying on the shoulders of teammates and coaches who came to hold him up.
Pierre's straight-on 3-pointer for Dayton tied it at 55 for with 3:09 left and then the Rams and Flyers started trading scores, until Brooks' steal finally got VCU the stop it needed.
Kentucky: 2014-15 SEC Men's Basketball Champions
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Willie Cauley-Stein scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and top-ranked Kentucky never trailed in beating No. 21 Arkansas 78-63 on Sunday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game.
The Wildcats (34-0) are only the fourth team to go into the NCAA Tournament undefeated since Indiana finished off the last perfect season with a title in 1976. They paired their 28th SEC tournament title with their 46th regular season championship.
Andrew Harrison also scored 15 points for Kentucky, and his brother Aaron had 11.
The Razorbacks (26-8) were trying to win their second tournament title and first since 2000.Michael Qualls, coming off the bench for only the second time this season, scored 18 points, while Bobby Portis, the coaches' pick for SEC player of the year, added 13.
Unlike last season when Arkansas swept Kentucky, these Wildcats proved to be just too good.
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