Dein erstes Forum » rivers. You lose Sunday and you wait til next year. Amo

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Game has lost its luster in recent years.Ohio State has dominated Michigan, winning four straight and 11 of 12 to diminish intrigue in one of the greatest rivalries in sports.The third-ranked Wolverines (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) have a chance to change the conversation Saturday against the second-ranked Buckeyes (10-1, 7-1) in the Horseshoe, where they havent won since 2000.This rivalry is going to be relevant, Michigan tight end Jake Butt, who is from Pickerington, Ohio, said Monday. It never wont be relevant.Even if Michigan loses, dropping 12 of the last 13 meetings in the series?Were not thinking about losing, Butt said. Its a must-win game . We understand that. We have to win this.That wont be easy.Ohio State is favored by about a touchdown perhaps in part because the Wolverines may be without standout quarterback Wilton Speight, who missed Saturdays 20-10 win over Indiana with an injured left shoulder.To my eye, he has looked better every day, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said.Speights backup, John OKorn , struggled to sustain the success the offense was having against the Hoosiers. OKorn was 7 of 16 yards for just 59 yards, the fewest yards passing for Michigan since John Navarre threw for 58 in a win over Wisconsin on Nov. 17, 2001. OKorn transferred to Michigan last year after starting 16 games at Houston over his freshman and sophomore seasons.If OKorn is pressed into playing again and cant make the Buckeyes respect the pass, it is difficult to envision the Wolverines being able to move the ball well enough only on the ground to earn a win.Michigan leads the all-time series 58-48-6, but is mired in the worst slump in a storied series that dates to 1897.Harbaugh has been hailed for coming back to the school where he was a star quarterback and guaranteed a win over the rival Buckeyes in 1986, backing it up with a win. But he and his proud program must upset Ohio State to show significant signs of progress this season. In his debut as a coach in the rivalry, Ohio State routed Michigan 42-13 last season at the Big House.At his weekly news conference ahead of the highly anticipated game, Harbaugh wasnt in the mood to make predictions or discuss the showdown in detail.Its a great opportunity and tremendous challenge, he said in one of his many brief answers.Michigan, college footballs winningest program, has an opportunity to move a big step toward ending its longest championship drought since going without one from 1950 to 1964. Beat the Buckeyes and the discussion can continue this season.Its very important, cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. I dont know how many wins we got this decade. It would be very important, especially for our season. This determines whos going to go to the Big Ten championship game. Its a big stake.With a win, the Wolverines would in fact earn a spot in the Big Ten title game and be another victory away from its first conference championship since 2004. With two more wins, they would be in the College Football Playoff with a shot to earn its first national championship since 1997.A loss to the Buckeyes, though, would lead to more questions about whether signature wins and coveted championships will ever catch up to the hype Harbaugh has brought to Ann Arbor.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Larry Lage on Twitter at www.twitter.com/larrylage Nick Chubb Browns Jersey . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Sheldrick Redwine Womens Jersey . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. 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Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Who wants it the most? Thats what the six drivers still trying to get one of the last two spots in the championship race and to keep their title hopes intact should ask themselves before they strap into the race car for this final race before Homestead.Which two drivers transfer to the championship race will be predicated on many things: fuel mileage, tire wear, perfectly executed stops and, of course, the mechanical integrity of every piece making up the race car. But what weighs the most, in my opinion, is the desire and determination of those half-dozen drivers behind the wheel.Carl Edwards serves as the perfect example of this. Edwards came into last weekends race the furthest out mathematically from securing a spot at the Homestead final, and while it came down to several factors at Texas, front and center for me was watching Edwards empty the tank physically and mentally in the final 10 percent of the race with weather closing in and Joey Logano closing from the rear.Edwards demonstrated to perfection the adage, Save your best for when it matters most.Of the six, four are former champs.Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and last years champ, Kyle Busch. There is value in having won a championship. Its the value of knowing you will retire with a ring, which eliminates apprehension. Perhaps it eliminates the urgency.But that may not be a good thing.Take Jimmie Johnson, for example. He is waiting for whomever is capable of joining him and Edwards to square off for next weekends title race.Jimmie is the model of a great athlete that steps up in critical moments, as his six titles will attest.So this is that moment for Logano, but more specifically for Denny Hamlin, because he is nearly 10 years older than Logano.Logano is going to win a title; hes just too talented not to, and you could see the past three yeears that he has come of age.ddddddddddddIts been a linear graph from the lower left to upper right in terms of performance. But in full disclosure, Ive been saying the same thing about Hamlin for years. He is destined to win a title.Talent gets you to the door. Drive, determination, focus and desire are required to kick it open.The bottom lineIts the top of the ninth inning for these six drivers. You lose Sunday and you wait til next year. Among them, I believe Hamlin will be feeling the most pressure.He has above-level talent and has capitalized on it, winning 29 Cup races to date.Hamlin has won in every full season he has competed, 11 consecutive, and its a remarkable accomplishment. But it will be an incomplete career without a title. Incomplete because he has been worthy of a championship ever since entering the scene, finishing third in his first full season, being a legitimate title contender every season since.His strength is his qualifying; his weakness has been self-inflicted wounds (pit road penalties). Thats obvious. Whats not so obvious is the frame of mind he carries into the weekend.Can Hamlin simply make up his mind the same way Edwards did last week, or the way Harvick has the past few years when his back was against the wall?Every championship driver I can think of seemed to reach a threshold in his career where preparation converged with opportunity, and he capitalized. Im not talking about the elite ... Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon or Johnson.Im talking about the not-so-obvious ... Alan Kulwicki, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte and Brad Keselowski.They are all champions, and I truly believe that before Hamlin can join this group, he needs to want it the most. ' ' '