Die Macht » n guiding England to a 13-m

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kansas coach Bill Self was asked not long ago about the Jayhawks early schedule, and he wryly gazed across the room at several school administrators and responded with his own question.Who thought this was a good idea? he said.Few teams play tougher nonconference schedules than the third-ranked Jayhawks, which is a big reason why their RPI is always among the best in the country. But theyve taken it up a notch this year, playing No. 11 Indiana in their opener Friday night before facing top-ranked Duke on Tuesday.Oh, and those two games will take place 5,000 miles apart.I think to get a couple of blue-bloods to play, I think it will be a great game, said Self, whose Jayhawks face the Hoosiers in Honolulu before turning around to play the Blue Devils in New York.Self may have poked fun at school officials for their brutal first week, but in reality he wouldnt have it any other way. The game in Hawaii is part of the Armed Forces Classic, and roughly coincides with the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, while the game at Madison Square Garden is part of the Champions Classic doubleheader that also features second-ranked Kentucky and No. 14 Michigan State.These are the kinds of games that top-rated recruits want to play, and the kind that give Kansas the national exposure that it takes to reel them in.I mean, its hard. You play national, traditional powers, the league will be great, all these things, Self said. But when it was brought to me to have a chance to play in kind of the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and what that could mean from an educational standpoint with our guys and everything, I think that was something like, `Yeah, emotionally weve got to do that.Of course, then he realized how the flight itinerary will look.Were taking three planes over there. Weve got to take three planes back to New York. We cant even travel together, Self said. And its certainly not going to be easy coming back to play after that trip, and all we did was set ourselves up to have a tough opening start.At least Spartans coach Tom Izzo can commiserate.Michigan State plays No. 10 Arizona in the other part of the Armed Forces Classic on Friday night, then will take a similar trip to New York for its game against the Wildcats.In fact, the Spartans may have an even more daunting November than Kansas. They return from New York for two games at the Breslin Center before visiting the Blue Devils in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.Weve never had a November where we played three or four top teams, opponents. This year were going to probably have a minimum of four, Izzo said. I dont know what that means. It means that were going to find out early exactly where we are, like we always do. The travel makes it a little more brutal, a little more concerning with the number of young guys.Likewise, Hoosiers coach Tom Crean welcomes the challenge of facing the Jayhawks to start the year.Were going to go against one of the hardest-nosed, toughest-minded, best-coached teams in the country, he said. And really, what it does is it just kind of increases your urgency a little bit in the non-season. And theres not a day that goes by that I dont reference one of those two teams at least four or five times in something that were doing.Two teams? Oh, right. The Hoosiers wrap November by playing sixth-ranked North Carolina .But the marquee nonconference matchups are part of college basketballs appeal. Even a team that loses one -- or all -- of its high-profile games wont hurt its chances of making the NCAA Tournament, while a similar loss or two in college football can end a teams championship hopes.Rather, the games serve as an early barometer for where a team stands, exposes flaws that can be addressed before league play, and toughens teams up for the brutal grind of March.I think our guys will rally around that, Self said of the grinding start to the season, and certainly if they are fatigued, they wont play fatigued.---For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org/ Jonathan Isaac Jersey .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Horace Grant Jersey . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. https://www.cheapmagiconline.com/558i-rashard-lewis-jersey-magic.html .Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. D. J. Augustin Jersey . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Dennis Scott Jersey . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. England boss Eddie Jones relishes stirring the pot and will not stop his media jousting with Test coaching rivals, according to Matt Giteau.England host Australia at Twickenham on Saturday in a Test clash where tensions have been ratcheted up by coaches Jones and Michael Cheika trading verbal salvos all week.Australias 103-cap playmaker Giteau has been coached at the Wallabies by both Jones and Cheika - but believes, of the two, Jones is the more natural-born sledger.I dont think Cheiks overly-big on that type of thing happening in the press, said Giteau. When hes had enough he lets people know, but Eddie for me, it looks like he really enjoys it. Hes smiling there, and cracking jokes.Thats just part and parcel of the coach, his personality. Hes cheeky, thats his personality, he enjoys stirring the pot a little. But at the same time hes very professional in everything he does.Giteau excelled as Jones led Australia to the 2003 World Cup final, and continues to set standards at Toulon. The 34-year-old featured in Australias run to the 2015 World Cup final under Cheika too, but remains fairly confident he has now played his last Test for his country.Jones and Cheika have spent the weeks build-up to Saturdays Twickenham clash accusing each others side of illegal scrummaging.Cheika claimed Jones had tarnished his legacy in his homeland of Australia with his conduct during Englands 3-0 Test series whitewash of the Wallabies down under in June.Then Jones insisted Australias media had treated England with disrespect. Eventually the rugby will take centre stage, but Giteau believes Jones simply cannot turn off that talkative element of his personality.He was the same when he used to play touch football, where the coaching staff would get involved in a game once a week, said Giteau.Hes the one who just barkks throughout the whole game, just having a go at the opposition - thats not how you run, what type of lines that? - the whole game.dddddddddddd And hes playing at the same time. At the end of the day either coach would just be happy with a victory.?Thats what theyre here for. Its Test match footy and you just want to win it, it doesnt matter how you win or who said what before the game. Its just about the win, and the winning coach will be happy.?Giteau however hailed Jones ear-factor coaching as integral to the Australian guiding England to a 13-match winning streak.England can equal their record winning run on Saturday, where a 14th consecutive victory would draw Jones men level with Sir Clive Woodwards class of 2003.I was coached by the two coaches at very different stages of my career, said Giteau of Jones and Cheika. Eddie still has that fear-factor for me, he was my first coach, and the guy that youre desperate to make sure youre not doing anything wrong.Youre scared youll walk wrong and hell tell you off. Eddie creates an environment where you never feel comfortable. You can never feel as though youre going to be picked. Hes never fully satisfied I dont think.That keeps you working hard yourself, always looking to improve. Hes a very good motivator in that way. Hes so thorough, over tiny little parts of the game that I can remember sitting down with him about in a midweek.If I just ran ever so slightly differently, he would point it out, then say thats your best line. That made your game better, just small little things.Thats probably why there havent been huge changes in the England game, its just small changes, and they seem more clinical and more confident. ' ' '