Die Macht » han Frannson from the faceoff circle.

While Lane Kiffin was said to be nearing a deal to become Houstons next head coach, the schools board of regents chairman said Friday night that the Cougars never were close to hiring the Alabama offensive coordinator.Tilman Fertitta told KILT-AM in Houston that offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, whom the school promoted to head coach earlier Friday, was a better fit than Kiffin. Fertitta called in to the sports radio show Gallant At Night after he heard the hire being discussed on air.Lane Kiffin did not show me anything that Major Applewhite did not show me, Fertitta said. Sure, hes been a head coach and hes been an OK head coach. But I can tell you this: [Kiffin] was not a safe hire.Asked whether Kiffin was ever close to becoming Houstons coach, Fertitta said: Never. He was no closer than anybody else. Those [stories about him being close] are all put out by his agents, because thats the way they play the game.In response to reports that Kiffin was put off by Houstons desire to put a steep buyout clause in the next coachs contract to make it difficult for the coach to leave after two seasons -- as former coach Tom Herman did in order to accept the head position at Texas -- Fertitta said that wasnt the case and that Kiffin had assured him he would stay at Houston for an extended period if hired.He said Write the contract the way you want it, said Fertitta, who also is a prominent booster for the schools athletic program. Lane Kiffin looked me in the eye and he knew when he sat down at that table that he was going to go with the contract that I put in front of him with the buyout that I wanted in front of him. And we never even got there.The range for the buyout that Fertitta sought was the remainder of the contract at the time the coach leaves. The Houston Chronicle reported Friday that such a buyout will, indeed, be in Applewhites deal. Sources told ESPN on Friday that Applewhite will receive a five-year contract. Financial terms were not immediately available.Fertitta also expressed concern with Kiffins potential offensive and defensive coordinator choices and lack of ties to the Houston area.Applewhites familiarity and relationships with Texas high school football coaches and the continuity his hire would provide were major factors in the decision to choose him over Kiffin, Fertitta said.The Texas high school football coaches bombarded our athletic director [Hunter Yurachek] and said: We want our kids to play for Major Applewhite, Fertitta said. Heres a guy thats been on the big stage, he was the quarterback at the University of Texas, he has a great relationship with the coaches and high school football in Texas. Lane does not. That was an X against Lane compared to Major.Continuity in the program, the kids, the recruits today playing wanted Major Applewhite. They let it be known. It was just one thing after another that had steamrolled to Major.Fertitta, an entrepreneur who owns the restaurant corporation Landrys Inc. and is the host of a CNBC reality television show called Billion Dollar Buyer, said he interviewed Kiffin twice and admitted that when Houstons coaching search started, he did not originally intend to hire either of the two internal candidates: Applewhite or defensive coordinator Todd Orlando, who was named interim head coach when Herman left. Applewhite, Kiffin, Orlando, former?LSU?coach Les Miles and current Oklahoma?offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley all interviewed for the job.Ill be 100 percent honest with you. When this started, I thought that we needed to go out and get a name-brand coach, because, to me, its all about brands, Fertitta said. Nobody understands that better than me. And I wanted the University of Houston to stay relevant, OK? I think Les Miles is a fine coach and hes going to be a great coach for somebody, and I think the same thing of Lane Kiffin. I was very impressed. But when I looked at the whole picture and totality, I truly think in my heart -- and so did everybody else on the committee think -- that Major Applewhite was the right fit. Nike Air Max Discount . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. Fake Nike Air Max Free Shipping . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. https://www.fakeairmaxwholesale.com/ . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Nike Air Max From China . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. Nike Air Max Outlet . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Canada was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the IIHF World Championship for a fourth straight year with a 3-2 shootout loss to host Sweden on Thursday. Fredrik Pettersson scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout as Sweden moved on to a semifinal meeting with archrival Finland. "Its the worst feeling obviously," said Canada goaltender Mike Smith. "Every time we put the Canada sweater on you are expected to win. This is tough to take." Trailing 1-0, Nicklas Danielsson scored a pair of power-play goals in the third period to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. Canadas Claude Giroux tied the game just over a minute after Danielssons second goal. Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning scored a second-period power-play goal. Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes stopped 30 shots in the loss, while Jhonas Enroth of the Buffalo Sabres made 39 saves for the win. "Third period, we werent on top of them as much as we could be," Canada coach Lindy Ruff said. "Their defending was a lot better. They made sure they had people back and didnt get caught through the neutral zone. "Both teams defended well through the neutral zone and it made it an offensive or defensive zone game. In the end it turned into a special teams game." Jacob Markstrom made a pair of saves in overtime while Enroth dealt with an equipment issue. Canada extended its run of quarter-final losses in this tournament to four straight years. Canada last advanced to the semifinals in 2009 en route to a silver medal with Ruff as coach. "It doesnt get any easier," said Canada forward Matt Duchene, who has been in the lineup for three of those losses. "Third time losing for me losing in this game and the fourth time for a couple of other guys. It hurts. "I cant believe we lost. I thought we had the team to do it this year. It just shows you one game, anyone can win. We dont like that penalty shot rule, thats for sure. It sucks we couldnt keep playing overtime." In other quarter-finals, Switzerland extended its unbeaten run in the tournament to eight wins with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic. Theyll face the United States, an 8-3 winner in Helsinki over a Russian team that had Alex Ovechkin in the lineup, in Saturdays semifinal. Finland edged Slovakia 4-3 in Helsinkis other quarter-final. The semifinals and Sundays bronze- and gold-medal games are in Stockholm. Canada had beaten the host country 3-0 in the preliminary round, but that was before the arrival of Swedish forwards Henrik and Daniel Sedin and defenceman Alex Edler from the Vancouver Canucks. The Swedes had more swagger in their step with the additions, although theyd been heaping the pressure on Canada by calling them the favourite to win. Canada lost captain Eric Staal to a knee-on-knee collision with Edler in Swedens zone at 15:52 of the first period. The Carolina Hurricanes forward went down writhing in pain and clutching his right knee. He needed assistance off the ice and did not return. Edler was served a major and a game misconduct and threw his stick like a harpoon when he left the ice. Ruff said he didnt have an update on Staals status, but te captain walked to the team bus on crutches and with a brace on his knee. "It had some impact because there was a lot of shuffling going on, Ruff said.dddddddddddd "Still we had our opportunities. One of the turning points was we built a 1-0 lead and if Steve scores on the breakaway, it might have given us a little bit of cushion. We didnt. We let them hang around." Giroux atoned for his cross-checking penalty that allowed Danielsson to push Sweden up 2-1 at 9:35 of the third period by evening the game at 10:50. Andrew Ladds hard check along the boards knocked the puck loose towards the net. The Winnipeg Jets forward retrieved it and fed Giroux from behind the goal-line. Danielsson scored power-play goals on a pair of slapshots through traffic from just inside the blue-line in the third period. His second beat Smith between the pads and the other the eluded Canadians glove. Canadian defenceman Dan Hamhuis was serving a delay of game minor on Danielssons first goal of the period. Canada appeared to go up 2-0 at the end of the second period on a last-second shot from recent addition P.K. Subban, but referees determined via video review that time expired before the puck crossed the goal-line. "Thats why we have the instant replay. It wasnt a goal obviously I guess," Subban said. "I thought we did enough things to win this game today. I think what it comes down to is we had opportunities early in the game to put them away. We didnt capitalize." Canada scored first with power-play goal from Stamkos 45 seconds into the second period. Ladd teed up defenceman Stephane Robidas at the blue-line and Stamkos changed speed on the puck with a re-direct to slide it past Enroths pad. Smith and Enroth traded showy saves in the second period. Enroth stopped an all-alone Stamkos charging in off a stretch pass from Claude Giroux. Smith quickly covered the gap on a Johan Frannson from the faceoff circle. While Canada didnt score again in the second period, their puck management improved over the first period. They supported each other better in the defensive and neutral zones and outshot the host country 16-11 in that period. Smiths quick pad off an Oscar Lindberg re-direct early in the first period kept the Swedes off the scoreboard. Simon Hjalmarsson missed getting the puck to Gabriel Landeskog on an odd-man midway through the period. The man advantage during the Edler first-period major was negated when Andrew Ladd took a hooking major halfway through the five minutes. Canada got another 20 seconds out of that major to start the second period with an extra attacker and Stamkos made good on it. Subban, a defenceman with the Montreal Canadiens, played his first game of the tournament after his arrival Tuesday and was paired with Jay Harrison. Canada added two defenceman after the start of the tournament to bring its blue-line total to nine players. Hamhuis arrived Saturday with his Swedish Canuck teammates. Canada brought 12 forwards, so eight defencemen played Thursday. T.J. Brodie of the Calgary Flames was scratched. Notes: Switzerland, coached by Sean Simpson of Brampton, Ont., will play in the semifinal for the first time since 1998 . . . St. Louis Blues rookie forward Jaden Schwartz joined the Canadian team the previous day as insurance against injury up front. ' ' '