Spam & Fun » other decisions Tuesday, FIFAs World Cu

WENGEN, Switzerland -- Erik Guay was fastest in World Cup downhill training yet again Thursday. The Canadian racer extended his streak of winning a training run at each downhill venue this season, timing 2 minutes, 36.14 seconds on the 4.42-kilometre (2.75-mile) Lauberhorn. "I feel like my training runs have been very consistent since the start. Now Im slowly translating those fast speeds into race days," said Guay, who won last month in Val Gardena, Italy. Matthias Mayer of Austria was second, 0.11 behind, and Kjetil Jansrud of Norway was third, 0.31 behind. "Its not often Ive been fast in Wengen and Ill take this," Jansrud said. Guay, the 2011 world downhill champion from Mont-Tremblant, Que., is among several contenders who have found success elusive at the storied Swiss venue. Neither he nor Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who leads the World Cup downhill standings ahead of Guay, has ever finished on the podium in Wengen. Svindal, the 2010 Olympic silver medallist in downhill, was ninth Thursday, trailing by 1.18 seconds. Bode Miller of the United States, a two-time Lauberhorn winner, was 10th, 1.67 behind, and Carlo Janka, the 2010 winner from Switzerland, was 13th despite a bib number of 39. Manuel Osborne-Paradis of North Vancouver, B.C., was tied for 21st, Robbie Dixon of Whistler, B.C., was 39th and Jeffrey Frisch of Mont-Tremblant was 54th. Ben Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., was 58th, Conrad Pridy was 64th and Morgan Pridy, also from Whistler, was 84th. Most racers will get another look at the course on Friday afternoon in the downhill portion of a super-combined event. The slalom leg is scheduled first in the morning when snow is forecast. Don Larsen Jersey . - Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery was so busy in free agency he didnt mind having a few extra weeks to prepare for the draft. Austin Romine Jersey . - After spending the morning in the hospital, Logan Couture gave the San Jose Sharks the spark they needed. https://www.cheapyankees.com/2301g-jonathan-loaisiga-jersey-yankees.html . - A week after a late-game debacle on defence, the Pittsburgh Steelers showed they can finish. Tommy Kahnle Yankees Jersey . The Raptors general manager has his list of possible draft selections whittled down to a handful ahead of Thursday nights NBA draft in Brooklyn, New York. The Raptors, who have auditioned dozens of players over the past couple of weeks, have the 20th overall pick in the first round, as well as the 37th and 58th picks in the second. Adonis Rosa Yankees Jersey . - Free agent defensive end Will Smith has signed with the New England Patriots.COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil - France was perhaps the biggest beneficiary when FIFA decided on its procedure for the World Cup draw Tuesday, as the team now has better odds of avoiding Brazil and Argentina. As the lowest-ranked of nine unseeded European qualifiers, France was expected to go in the Africa-dominated draw pot — meaning it could not be placed in the same group as a top-seeded European team. But instead of following its format from the 2006 World Cup, FIFA decided that all nine European teams enter an open ballot which starts the draw ceremony on Friday. That team selected will effectively enter Pot 2 alongside the five African teams, plus Chile and Ecuador. France could yet face the top South Americans but now also has the unexpected chance of drawing seeded Switzerland or Belgium. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said the decision followed talks with confederation presidents, including UEFAs French president Michel Platini. However, he sidestepped a question asking him to explain a procedure that seemingly ignored FIFAs own precedent and favoured France. "Let us (hold the) draw and not let us speak of teams," Blatter said. FIFA traditionally tries to create pots based on geography, so that groups will include teams from up to four different continents and avoiding scenarios where three European teams get grouped together. For the 2006 tournament — the last time there were nine unseeded European teams — Serbia and Montenegro was the lowest-ranked team from the continent. That time, FIFA put it iin a separate pot, and Serbia and Montenegro found itself in the toughest group: with Argentina, Netherlands and Ivory Coast.dddddddddddd The eight top-ranked teams in Pot 1 also include Colombia, Uruguay, Germany and Spain. The five African teams in Pot 2 are Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria, while Pot 3 includes the teams from the Asian and CONCACAF regions — Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and the United States. In other decisions Tuesday, FIFAs World Cup organizing committee declined to switch early kickoff times in tropical cities despite concerns by the international players union over the heat and humidity. Blatter had suggested in Rome last month that seven 1 p.m. kickoff times in Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador could be re-evaluated. FIFPro, the international players union, had formally asked FIFA to consider moving the matches to later in the day. "We were perfectly aware of the weather conditions when this match schedule was organized," FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said of the October 2011 agreement. "It was done in a professional way." Valcke confirmed FIFAs budgeted commitment to increase World Cup prize money by around one-third, but the exact breakdown will be decided later this week. FIFA shared $348 million among the 32 national federations in 2010, including $30 million to Spain for winning and a minimum of $8 million to each team. FIFA has previously said the prize fund will be $454 million next year. ' ' '