Die Macht » 00-62 last year but lost to the Chicago Cub

Amid the sea of delighted Western Bulldogs faces in the rooms, from the chairman Peter Gordon and the club legends Chris Grant and Tony Liberatore, a more sober face in Hawthorn colours emerged to mark the significance of the occasion.Alastair Clarkson, for the first time in four years a coach thwarted in September, marched into the heart of the Bulldogs kennel to congratulate his former assistant Luke Beveridge and wish him well for the remainder of the AFL finals. As is often the way for great teams and athletes, Clarksons Hawks had been undone by opponents who had long admired them.Speaking within a few minutes of each other on Thursday morning, Beveridge and Clarkson were a study in contrasts. By Friday night, so too were their clubs. Hawthorn had expected, the Western Bulldogs had hoped. This turned out to be a night for the dreamers.Beveridge had spoken expansively about history and hope, while also revealing he, as a former Hawks assistant, would feel a little regretful if his team were responsible for ending Hawthorns tilt at four consecutive premierships. Clarkson took the path of the punchy, bristling his way through pre-match commentary in a way that betrayed the ruthlessness at the core of his football being.The wistfulness Beveridge carried with him helped draw a mighty crowd of Bulldogs optimists to the MCG - 87,823 was among the greatest gatherings ever to see the club once known as Footscray play any match in their history. It was this wave of optimism and hope that carried the night, even as the Hawks players tried their best to be feisty after Clarksons preferred fashion.So it was that a team with one premiership in all their VFL/AFL years dethroned another trying for a fourth flag in a row. So too was a team trying to hang onto their hegemony through a gradually diminishing arsenal of personnel and tactical options undone by opponents firing on far more varied and effective cylinders.It had been eight matches over six years since the Bulldogs last beat the Hawks, so long ago that Beveridge was a junior assistant with Collingwood, before he found his way to Whitten Oval via a spell in Clarksons coaching box. He has not lost the sense of gratitude.Him and I have shared some unbelievable times together in 2012-14 and he was the one who sent out the olive branch to me to come work at the Hawthorn football club so I owe him a lot, Beveridge said. I have a very strong emotional connection to the Hawks. That of course doesnt trump my emotional connection to our football club.But it is a little bit different beating the Hawks. I have so much admiration and respect for everyone over there. But you can imagine how I feel about my football club and how much I admire what everyones done. Especially the players but also all our staff whove held their nerve and pulled things together when its been tough.In pressure nights and games like tonight we dont have a great deal of experience in these situations but everyones been ice cold and managed themselves superbly.Evident on the night was a sharp example of a trend building all year. Skilful and brutal as they had been and still were, the Hawks lacked both the industry in the middle of the ground to win a decent share of the contested ball, and the tall marking target up forward to provide a circuit-breaker when precise disposal wasnt possible. As Clarkson put it, his team would happily finish 18th if it meant Jarryd Roughead could return to full health and the Hawks forward line.Of course Clarkson is so skilful a coach and Hawthorn so proud an organisation that their decreased means were still enough to earn a top four spot. But Isaac Smiths kick drifted wide after the siren against Geelong, exposing the defending premiers to a Bulldogs side both refreshed by the pre-finals bye and enlivened by an unexpected overthrow of West Coast in Perth. According to Clarkson, they were also advantaged by generous holding the ball interpretations that will necessitate another tweak to Hawthorns style.No good this losing caper is it? Clarkson said. Weve seen the Bulldogs play some good footy but I dont think Ive seen them play as well as tonight. Theyre deserved preliminary finalists and hopefully theyll really serve it up to GWS next week.Anyone still wondering at the effect of the bye and a Thursday start to the finals needs only to watch how the Dogs played without any evidence of a cross-country trip in their legs or their minds. This ran contrary to the vast majority of semi-finals since the final eight entered its present iteration more than a decade ago.Oddly enough the first big lead of the game was staked by the Hawks, a 23-point break in the second quarter. But it had arrived more through the Bulldogs early profligacy in front of goal and in field kicking, in a wider version of their start against the Eagles. Now, as then, the Dogs found their range with time, looking to have won the game on general play by halftime even as the Hawks nursed a one point lead at the break. That did not last long.The reward for unseating Hawthorn and rewarding the fans who turned up in such vast numbers at the MCG, the Bulldogs must travel to face the formidable but inexperienced Greater Western Sydney. They will not be favoured to win, but then after West Coast and now the Hawks, anything will seem possible.As for the Hawks, moves to replenish the club are already afoot, as far as such a thing is possible in the ever more equalised AFL petrie dish. Clarkson has signed on to continue on until 2019, and now finds himself with the difficult task of refocusing on a summit now a season and three games distant. But over the next two weeks even this most hard-nosed competitor will send some positive thoughts in the direction of Beveridges Bulldogs. Air Max 97 Have a Nike Day For Sale . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. Air Max 97 Ultra 17 Fake . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. http://www.outletairmax97.com/wholesale-air-max-97-undefeated.html . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Air Max 97 Have a Nike Day Tropical Twist . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. New Air Max 97 2019 . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. ST. LOUIS -- All season long, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny set 10-games over .500 as a target for his team.St. Louis, on its tenth try, finally reached that mark with a 10-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, but the Cardinals still missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010.Matt Carpenter homered and Randal Grichuk keyed a six-run seventh-inning with a two-run double to lead St. Louis to its fourth win in a row.But the Cardinals (86-76) were eliminated while still on the field when San Francisco (87-75) beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-1 and earned the second NL wild card.Thats the danger when its not in your hands anymore, Matheny said. Our focus was to take care of our own business, and we did that.St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright allowed two runs and six hits over six innings. He did not get a decision.To miss the playoffs by one game -- thats tough to swallow, Wainwright said. You think about how many times you couldve won games, or just one or two games, and you didnt. It gets you to thinking back a little bit.St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday was brought into the game briefly to play left field in the ninth inning. He was given a standing ovation and taken out before the first pitch. The Cardinals announced Friday they plan to decline his 2017 option and allow him to become free agent.How special was that? Matheny said. What instigated it was the response of the fans, so badly they wanted to see him one more time.St. Louis was a big league-best 100-62 last year but lost to the Chicago Cubs in the Division Series. The Cardinals never led the NL Central at any point this season and finished with a losing record at home (38-43) for the first time sincee 1999.dddddddddddd.Anytime you dont win the World Series, its disappointing, said infielder Aledmys Diaz. But we kept coming and never let down.To get close, it definitely makes it a little more disappointing, Carpenter said. But thats the nature of the business. Theres only team that doesnt have this day.After making the playoffs for three straight years, Pittsburgh dropped from 98-64 to 78-83.Yadier Molina had three hits for the Cardinals. Stephen Piscotty singled in Molina to break a 4-4 tie in the seventh.Carpenter hit his 21st homer of the season off Antonio Bastardo for a 4-2 lead.Jonathan Broxton (4-2) won despite allowing two runs in one inning of relief.Juan Nicasio (10-7) gave up three runs without recording an out in the seventh.Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run single in the fifth to give his team a 2-1 lead.Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle is ready to move on from the disappointing campaign.Forty-one years in the game and I honor the game, I respect the game, Hurdle said. And Ive also gotten very good on closing the book when its time to close the book.Pittsburgh catcher Eric Fryer had two hits in a losing cause.I think down the stretch we definitely competed, Fryer said. Theres a lot of optimism here with a lot of young arms.PACK THE PLACEA crowd of 44,615, the 19th sellout of the season, watched the final game.St. Louis drew 3,444,490, second to the Los Angeles Dodgers in major league home attendance. It was the fifth highest attendance total in franchise history and the 13th successive year the team has drawn at least three million. ' ' '