Gästebuch » The two-time defending NBA champions avoided their first

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- A big punt return for Miami turned into points for Virginia Tech. A big kickoff return for Miami, more points for Virginia Tech. In the span of a week, the Hurricanes have gone from unbeaten to reeling. And if this is going to be the year where Miami finally plays for an Atlantic Coast Conference title, itll probably need some help down the stretch. Three special-teams blunders led to touchdowns, two huge mistakes on third-and-long did the same, and all that simply doomed the Hurricanes on Saturday night. Trey Edmunds rushed for four touchdowns, and Virginia Tech knocked off No. 14 Miami 42-24 to turn the ACC Coastal Division race into a logjam. "Whatever I say is an excuse," Miami coach Al Golden said. "At the end of the day, we have to fix it. We have to go back to work and fix it." Edmunds first three scores were direct results of the special-teams mistakes. Virginia Tech also not only converted on third-and-17 and third-and-12 later in the game -- but it got touchdowns on both of those plays. The Hokies outgained the Hurricaanes 549-352 and piled up 26 first downs to Miamis 12. "We had a lot of unforced errors. ... Thats pretty much it," Miami defensive captain Shayon Green said. Edmunds had scoring runs of 10, 2, 4 and 1 yards for the Hokies (7-3, 4-2 ACC). Logan Thomas completed 25 of 31 passes for 366 yards, giving him consecutive games of 300 yards or more for the first time in his Virginia Tech career, and the Hokies held the ball for nearly a 2-to-1 margin -- an all-too-familiar trend for Miami this season. "We ran the ball really hard, had some holes to run in ... one of our better offensive performances in a while," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "On defence, we played well, had a couple long plays. This was a great win for us." Miami wore new jerseys with the phrase "Deserve Victory" -- a favourite of Goldens -- stitched along the collar. Only Virginia Tech got the message. Stephen Morris completed 16 of 29 passes for 324 yards for Miami (7-2, 3-2), which hasnt beaten Virginia Tech consecutive times since 2001 and 2002. Morris had an 81-yard touchdown pass to Stacy Coley and an 84-yarder to Allen Hurns, but it wasnt nearly enough. "Like I was telling the team in the locker room, its not over for us," Morris said. "Weve got a lot to still work for." Virginia Tech held Miami to 28 rushing yards. The win turns the ACCs Coastal Division into a muddled mess, with Georgia Tech at 5-2 in conference play, Virginia Tech a half-game back (but owning the tiebreaker over the Yellow Jackets), Miami and Duke at 3-2, North Carolina at 3-3 and Pittsburgh at 2-3. Florida State has already clinched the Atlantic Division title and spot in the ACC title game on Dec. 7. "Were back in there," Beamer said. "Weve got a shot." Joshua Stanford (107) and Willie Byrn (105) both had 100-yard receiving nights for Virginia Tech, helping carve a Miami defence that has allowed 1,066 yards in its last two games -- both blowout losses. Winning games with help of strong special teams play is nothing new for the Hokies. After all, its not called "Beamer Ball" for nothing. But the Hurricanes were making it too easy for Virginia Tech. After the Hurricanes took a 7-0 lead on the Morris-to-Coley completion, Miami was primed to get the ball back in Virginia Tech territory following a punt. But Coley fumbled it away at the Hokies 45 -- after getting hit by punter A.J. Hughes, no less. And five plays later, Edmunds scored his first of the night to tie the game. Rain was falling steadily. The mistakes, from the Miami side, started coming at deluge rates. The ensuing kickoff was eerily similar to the punt return, with things going from great to dreadful for Miami in the blink of an eye. Artie Burns fumbled the kickoff return near midfield, Edmunds scored five plays later once again, and the Hokies had the lead. It became 21-7 not long after the third Miami blunder, this one coming when punter Pat ODonnells knee was on the ground as he fielded a low snap at the Miami 17. "Cant let them get 21 points like that," Golden said. "Inexcusable." Virginia Tech converted on a third-and-17 late in the half, when Stanford made three Hurricanes miss -- two had a chance at him well short of a first down -- on the way to a 32-yard scoring grab that made it 28-14. A third-and-12 play at midfield in the third quarter summed up the night. Virginia Tech took a time-out to keep Thomas, whose helmet was knocked off on the previous play, on the field. He found a wide-open Willie Byrn for a first down -- and when Miamis Ladarius Gunter punched the ball away around the 5, it bounded into the end zone, only to be recovered by Demitri Knowles for a 35-17 lead. Beating Miami, Thomas said, is huge. "Those colours," Thomas said, "bring out the best in a player." Bobby Baun Jersey .com) - The surprising Calgary Flames host the winless New Jersey Devils at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday. Garret Sparks Jersey .com) - Semyon Varlamov more than earned his third shutout of the season as he made a career-high 54 saves to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. http://www.officialmapleleafsfanstore.com/authentic-timothy-liljegren-maple-leafs-jersey/ . The 49ers announced the deal Thursday. San Francisco selected Kilgore in the fifth round of the 2011 draft out of Appalachian State. He has played in 33 regular-season games, plus all six playoff games the last two seasons. Felix Potvin Jersey . -- Deshorn Brown scored twice, the first coming 13 seconds into the game, and the Colorado Rapids beat the undermanned Seattle Sounders 5-1 Saturday night. Curtis McElhinney Jersey . Toronto dropped a 7-2 decision to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon, with only a pair of late runs preventing a second straight shutout loss. Josh Willingham belted a two-run homer in the first inning and Kendrys Morales hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh as the Twins took the rubber game of the three-game series.PHILADELPHIA -- So much for Miamis losing streak. LeBron James & Co. were back in business in a big way. James had 21 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds to help the Miami Heat snap a three-game skid and beat the Philadelphia 76ers 101-86 on Friday night. "It was great to see our energy from the beginning, basically, to the end," James said. "Thats what we are. We cant be nobody else. Weve got to be us." Being themselves has worked out fine for the Heat. The two-time defending NBA champions avoided their first four-game losing streak since March 2011. The Heat had dropped games at New York, Brooklyn and Washington. They had no trouble in their second game against the Sixers. They led by 25 and atoned for a 114-110 loss to Philadelphia in October. Chris Bosh scored 25 points and Norris Cole and Shane Battier had 13 points. "We didnt do everything perfect," coach Eric Spoelstra said. He could have fooled the Sixers. Tony Wroten led Philadelphia with 13 points and Spencer Hawes had 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Sixers missed 18 of 20 3-pointers and had 23 turnovers. James was stretched, twisted and massaged in the locker room, headphones on, and glued to the Sixers recent win over Charlotte on the big screen. About an hour before tip, he hardly seemed concerned the losing streak would hit four. "Its a long season, man," he said. "Every now and then, you just need to refocus." They found moments of clarity against the Sixers. At one point, Philadelphia used a lineup of Wroten, Dewayne Dedmon, Hollis Thompson, Brandon Davies and Elliot Williams. That rotation wont win too many games. It never stood a chance against the Heat. Back in October, the Sixers made their first 11 shots and raced to leads of 19-0 and 26-4, putting the champs on their heels a night after they received their rings. "It seems 1,000 years ago," Sixers coach Brett Brown. It was also the highlight of a season that has the Sixers tumbling toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference -- which has been the plan all along as the franchise tries to gobble lottery picks and rebuild. Its why Brown has a four-year contract and a promise of patience from ownership. But that win against the Heat still danced in their heads until tip. "They were able to beat an NBA champion and you cant take it away from them," Brown said. No, but they sure couldnt do it again. The Heat scored 17 seconds into the game, raced to a 12-point lead in the first quarterr and never looked back.dddddddddddd James brought what had to be about 10,000 Heat fans to their feet with a rim-rattling dunk in transition. Bosh scored 15 in the first half and Battier hit three 3s. The Sixers? Well, they missed 12 of 13 3-point attempts in the first half and committed 10 turnovers. They never led. They rested their starters and played all subs in the fourth. "They earned the right to keep trying to make a push for it," Hawes said. James crushed Davies in a 1-on-1 mismatch late in the fourth, burying a string of mid-range jumpers to stretch the lead to 20. Bosh-to-James for the alley-oop made it 96-79. His left shoulder was heavily wrapped in ice after the game to nurse a hard hit suffered against the Wizards. Dwyane Wade, who missed the first game against the Sixers, scored eight points on his 32nd birthday. He missed the first Sixers game because it was the second game on back-to-back nights. Hell sit out Saturdays game at Charlotte. "We know how to fix it," Wade said. "Sometimes, it takes you going through certain things to fix it." James posted a collage of photos on his Instagram account as part of a birthday tribute to his friend and teammate. "Happy Bday to my running mate, homie, brother, and most of all straight up friend!" James wrote. "The friendship weve created our rookie year at pre draft camp was pure and thats why we stuck together from that point on! Obviously didnt know we would eventually become teammates and do the things weve done so far. I came to Miami for 2 reasons. To play with U and to win championships and I cant thank u enough for the sacrifice youve made since I arrived homie! No matter what happens in the future we stuck together like brothers for life." James, who can become a free agent again this summer, was amused that his message was interpreted by some that he may leave Miami. "I was more focused on our friendship and where life can take us," he said. NOTES: Los Angeles Angels OF Mike Trout was at the game. ... Heat C Greg Oden sat out two days after he played his first game in four-plus years. Oden wore a basketball-sized ice pack on his left knee in the locker room before the game. ... Brown, a long-time assistant for San Antonio, said it was hard to forget how the Spurs lost Game 6 and then the NBA Finals to the Heat. "You just want to flip a desk," he said. ... Wade said before the game his mom had yet to call to wish him a happy birthday. Wholesale MLB Orioles Jerseys Red Sox Jerseys From China Discount Yankees Jerseys Online Rays Jerseys For Sale Blue Jays Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB White Sox Jerseys Indians Jerseys For Sale Tigers Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB Astros Jerseys Cheap Baseball Angels Jerseys Athletics Jerseys From China Mariners Jerseys For Sale Cheap Baseball Rangers Jerseys Braves Jerseys For Sale Discount Marlins Jerseys Online Discount Mets Jerseys Online Phillies Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB Nationals Jerseys Cubs Jerseys From China Discount Reds Jerseys Online Brewers Jerseys From China Wholesale MLB Pirates Jerseys Wholesale MLB Cardinals Jerseys Diamondbacks Jerseys For Sale Rockies Jerseys For Sale Discount Dodgers Jerseys Online Discount Padres Jerseys Online Giants Jerseys For Sale ' ' '