Die Macht » rnoon game was called about an hour before the scheduled

INDIANAPOLIS - Adam Vinatieris greying temples and greyer beard reveal one part of his remarkable career. At age 41, he is the NFLs oldest player.Hes not slowing down.Nine years after the leagues best clutch kicker made the surprising move to leave New England and sign with rival Indianapolis, Vinatieri is still finding ways to kick it in a young mans world.At his age, he could probably just leave practice and say See you on Sunday. But Vinnie works just as much now as he did when he was 25 years old, teammate Pat McAfee said. The reason he is so good and can be so good for however long he wants to be is his work ethic.McAfee was 9 years old when Vinatieri was a rookie in 1996.Over five seasons as Vinatieris understudy, the Colts punter and kickoff specialist says Vinatieri has advised him on everything from how to eat right to finding the proper balance between football and life. McAfee believes those life lessons have helped him thrive, and remain the primary reason Vinatieri seems to be on the cusp of milestones every week.The next chapter could come Sunday night when Vinatieri will try to become the first player in league history with 17 seasons of 100 points. He needs eight points to break a tie with Jason Elam, and it would be a fitting moment as the Patriots (7-2) and Colts (6-3) renew their rivalry.Hes as good of a kicker, good of a clutch kicker, and consistent kicker thats probably ever been in the game, New England coach Bill Belichick said Wednesday. Mentally, hes as tough as they come in terms of concentration, focus, discipline, blocking out all the things that he cant control and just doing his job.Vinatieri, after all, made decisive last-minute field goals in each of New Englands three Super Bowl wins. He earned his fourth Super Bowl ring in his first season with Indy. He made two equally memorable field goals during a New England blizzard, to tie and then beat Oakland, as the Pats made their first title run.Last month, he became first NFL player to score 900 points with two franchises and hes just 60 points away from making it an even 1,000 with both teams. With two points Sunday, hell also join Morten Andersen, Gary Anderson and Jason Hanson as the only players to reach 2,100 career points.Things havent changed much this year. Vinatieri is 32 of 32 on extra points and 20 of 20 on field goals. His current streak of 26 consecutive field goals made is the third longest in franchise history.But Vinatieris legacy cannot be measured purely by numbers.Hes played for Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells, Hall of Fame finalist Tony Dungy and, of course, Belichick. Hes played with three No. 1 overall draft picks -- Drew Bledsoe, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck -- in addition to certain Hall of Famer Tom Brady. He also played for the defunct World League of American Football long ago.Not all of his moments have been memorable. His Super Bowl kickoff against Green Bay in 1997, returned for a touchdown by Desmond Howard, has appeared in the NFLs Hall of Fame. It made Howard the only special teams player to ever win the MVP award.Vinatieri put that behind him long ago. An avid hunter, he also learned at a young age about the necessity of maintaining a steady heart rate before taking a shot.Backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck saw how good he truly is when Vinatieri popped in a video of a lion hunt in Africa. As Vinatieri tracked the animal, the guide started explaining it was no longer safe.I feel like Im pretty unflinchable and my heart was racing, Hasselbeck said. I remember thinking, Theres no way a field goal is going to get his heart racing.Teammates dont just respect Vinatieri for his experiences. Theyve given him one of the rarest titles a kicker can attain, locker room leader.Not surprisingly, Vinatieri doesnt let the milestones, the nickname, the honours or the buzz get in the way of what he does best. Thats how he got a foothold in the NFL. And thats how he intends to keep it until he leaves, on his terms.Its been a lot of fun, he said. There have been so many great moments throughout my career -- the first time you win the Super Bowl is something you dream about as a kid. The Snow Bowl game was fun. Tackling Herschel Walker as rookie was great fun.When you get to my age, you focus on staying healthy and staying productive, he added. If thats a year or three years, I dont know. Im not putting a time on it.___Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Baltimore Orioles Shirts . -- Without Carey Price, the run for a first Stanley Cup in 21 years got steeper and longer for the Montreal Canadiens. Orioles Jerseys 2020 . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago. https://www.cheaporioles.com/ . He says he will have the operation Wednesday and be ready in time for training camp in September. Bernier missed five games in March due to the injury. Baltimore Orioles Store . The Pope greeted Klose at his general audience Wednesday and the pair had a long chat. Klose is German like the pope, although he was born in Poland. In Sundays derby, Lazio took the lead in the seventh minute after Maarten Stekelenburg brought down Klose, resulting in the Roma goalkeeper being sent off and a penalty that Hernanes converted. Stitched Orioles Jerseys . LOUIS -- David Ross never expected to be on a World Series podium.DETROIT -- Brad Ausmus is hoping hell have a chance to use every position player on his roster before too long -- no sense letting backups become rusty at the beginning of the season. "Yes, Id like to get them in," Detroits rookie manager said. "Mother Natures going to have a say in that." Sure enough, the Tigers had their game against the Kansas City Royals postponed because of rain on Thursday. The game will be made up June 19, when the Royals are back in town for what was initially supposed to be a three-game series followed by an off day. Detroit will move on to a three-game series against Baltimore thats scheduled to start Friday -- when the weather may not be much better. The Tigers are planning to push right-hander Anibal Sanchez back to Fridays start after he was supposed to face the Royals on Thursday. Rick Porcello is now slated to pitch Saturday, meaning left-hander Drew Smyly will be skipped in the rotation. Kansas City, on the other hand, will simply skip rookie Yordano Ventura, who was scheduled to pitch Thursday. Jeremy Guthrie will start Fridays home opener against the Chicago White Sox, as planned. Ventura will be available out of the bullpen. The Tigers won their first two games under Ausmus, scoring the winning run in their last at-bat both times. The new manager made a big move in Mondays opener, sending rookie Tyler Collins to pinch-run in the ninth inning of a tie game. Collins ended up scoring the winning run. Collins then started Wednesdays game in left field, but shortstop Andrew Romines first start was put on hold by Thursdays postponement. Outfielder Don Kelly and backup catcher Bryan Holaday havent played either. Now the Tigers face the prospect of additional postponements, and they have scheduled off days April 7, 10 and 14. It has the makings of a choppy start to the season. &qquot;You try to balance getting veterans rest and getting reserve players in, but when you have all these off days, the truth is the veterans probably dont need the rest," Ausmus said.dddddddddddd "You still have reserves that need to get in, so it can be a little bit of a juggling act." Ausmus says hes settling into the Detroit area. As manager of the Tigers, hell have to deal with a certain celebrity status, and he says people recognize him. "I havent been around that much," Ausmus said. "Ive gone out to eat, but other than going out to eat, Ive kind of been holed up." The Thursday afternoon game was called about an hour before the scheduled first pitch, amid temperatures in the 30s and with significant rain expected. The decision to skip Smylys spot in the rotation came as no surprise. Its an easy chance for the Tigers to manage his innings as he makes the transition back to the starting rotation after spending last season in the bullpen. Detroits talented rotation has been on display already. Justin Verlander pitched the opener and Max Scherzer worked eight scoreless innings Wednesday. Thats part of the reason Royals manager Ned Yost isnt panicking over two losses in which Kansas City struggled to score. "Youve got to understand what youre dealing with," Yost said. "What weve dealt with here the last two days is Verlander and Scherzer. I mean, these are top-of-the-line pitchers in the American League, so theyre on most days going to shut teams offences down." At least the Royals were able to leave town without having to face Sanchez, too. "Hes nails, too," Yost said before the game was called off. "You just keep plugging until you start to get on track." NOTES: The Tigers claimed LHP Mike Belfiore off waivers from the Orioles and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo. 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