Die Macht » While there certainly are other women wh

HOUSTON -- When 7-year-old Will Erickson penned a letter to Jeff Luhnow imploring the Houston Astros general manager to not trade George Springer, he never dreamed hed get a response.The reason was simple.Because hes busy, Will told The Associated Press on Wednesday.Will decided to write the letter when he heard the Astros could be looking for pitching this offseason and might need to trade a player such as Springer to get it. His letter was straightforward. With a few spelling errors, it said: Please dont trade George Springer these are the reasons 1. He is my favorite player 2. I get my hair cut like his 3. He is a team leader.It turns out that Luhnow wasnt too busy to take some time to get back to the second-grader.?Will said it took him about 15 minutes to write the letter. He decided after a recent letter-writing project at school that it would be cool to write instead of sending an email. He wasnt nervous about reaching out to a baseball executive, despite being in elementary school.No, because it was just a letter -- not like talking, Will said.He has been to quite a few Astros games and loves the work of Springer, who is an outfielder.I like how he robs homers and hits home runs, Will said.During the week, Wills bedtime is 8 p.m., so he isnt able to watch much of Astros games live, as they begin at 7:10 p.m. But he DVRs every game and watches his beloved Springers work from the night before after school each day.As for the haircut, Will decided to change his hairstyle after seeing Springers cool do, which has shaved sides and is longer on top. It was supposed to be for only a little while, according to Wills parents, but now they cant get him to change it and say its part of his personality.Theres no curls [on mine], but its the same, Will said.After Luhnow tweeted Wills letter, it got a lot of attention on the internet, with scores of people retweeting it and dozens of news stories written about it. Wills father discussed the letter in a segment on the local news in Houston, and Wills teacher played the segment in class Wednesday.They called me famous, Will said of his classmates.Will hasnt met Springer but is a little worried about how hell respond if he ever gets the chance.If I saw him, I would faint, he said.When he isnt talking trades with baseball executives, Will is a typical elementary school boy. He plays little league baseball and fit his first interview in between school and a trip to see Santa Claus at a nearby Christmas village.Its not much of a surprise what he planned to ask Jolly Old Saint Nick for on Wednesday. He wants real snow or a baseball lesson from Springer at Minute Maid Park.Both are a tall order, but considering Will lives in a place where temperatures in December can soar into the 70s, his parents arent sure which wish is more unlikely.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Blue Jays Jerseys China . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. Stitched Blue Jays Jerseys . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/ .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Blue Jays Jerseys 2020 . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Wholesale Blue Jays Jerseys . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite.PARIS -- Used to be the French Open was the scene for clay-court specialists and surprise champions. Scan the list of past winners and runners-up. Theres Gaston Gaudio and Albert Costa, Guillermo Coria and Martin Verkerk, Andres Gomez and Mariano Puerta. Not so much a "Whos Who." More like a "Whos He?" The womens list features fewer out-of-nowhere names, yet does include those such as Iva Majoli, Anastasia Myskina and Francesca Schiavone, who all won the French Open while never making it past the quarterfinals at any other major championship. With the years second Grand Slam tournament set to begin Sunday at Roland Garros, there is little thought being given to that sort of stunning outcome, thanks to Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. As seven-time major champion John McEnroe put it: "Its pretty obvious who the favourite is." He meant, of course, Nadal, who won his record seventh French Open title last year and is 52-1 for his career at the place. Consider, too, the nearly perfect way the Spaniard has played after seven months off the tour because of a left knee injury: Since returning in February, Nadal is 36-2, reaching the finals at all eight tournaments hes entered, winning six. "I am enjoying every moment, and eight finals in a row is wonderful," Nadal said. "Four, five months ago, it was impossible to think about this." He wore a wrap of white tape below that troublesome knee while practicing Thursday afternoon on Court Philippe Chatrier with the temperature in the 40s (below 10 degrees Celsius) for about an hour before heavy rain fell; the forecast is for more wet weather in the coming days. Nadal has cut down on the amount of time he spends training on court, one concession to recurring knee problems, which also forced him to pull out of Wimbledon in 2009, when he would have been the defending champion. "Im really happy for him, and impressed that hes come back," said McEnroe, now a TV analyst. "It seems like hes barely lost anything, if at all. Right now, he seems to be finally, he says, playing the best hes been playing the whole year, which is sort of frightening for the other players." And yet Nadal will not be seeded No. 1 when the draw is held Friday. Thats because the French Open decided to strictly follow the rankings, and Nadals time away deducted enough points that he is currently No. 4 (hell move up one spot to No. 3 in the seedings, because No. 2 Andy Murraay, the reigning U.dddddddddddd. Open champion, withdrew because of a bad back. Tournament director Gilbert Ysern explained that while he could have opted to ignore the rankings -- and even contemplated doing so, because Nadal is "the best player on clay" and Roland Garros "is a bit like his garden" -- there wasnt a consensus it was the proper thing to do. "You can understand the argument that those who are higher than him in the rankings in a certain way deserve their ranking," Ysern said, "and to move these players back to move Nadal forward could have been considered unfair." Nadal, for his part, did not sound too fussed about the matter, saying, "I had a very good chance to be No. 10 (given the time off), and there are lots of chances to be worse, and I accept the situation." So last years French Open runner-up to Nadal, Novak Djokovic, will be seeded No. 1, and 17-time major champion Roger Federer will be seeded No. 2. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., is ranked No. 16 in the world. Djokovic handed Nadal one of his two losses of 2013, in the Monte Carlo final on clay last month, proof that Nadal is not completely invincible, even on the slow surface he dominates. The No. 1-ranked Williams, meanwhile, has been unbeatable lately. She arrives in Paris having won a career-high 24 consecutive matches and is 36-2 -- like Nadal -- with a tour-leading five titles this season. Thats part of a stretch in which shes gone 67-3, including titles last year at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the London Olympics. That 70-match stretch of excellence dates, probably not coincidentally, to her last match at Roland Garros, a shocking loss to 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano of France in the first round in 2012. It is her only opening loss in 50 career Grand Slam tournaments -- precisely the sort of thing that seems to happen around these parts. While there certainly are other women who realistically can harbour hopes of lifting the trophy in a little more than two weeks -- defending champion Maria Sharapova is the best example -- Williams appears to be playing as well as ever at the moment. She already owns 15 Grand Slam singles titles, but the French Open is the only major tournament shes won fewer than four times. Her lone championship in Paris came in 2002. "Nothing is ever perfect and I learned that last year when I felt perfect," Williams said. "So I am still in a danger zone." ' ' '