Just when it looked like the field was reeling him in, Patrick Chan has raised his game and distanced himself from the pack. wholesale nfl jerseys . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. Of course with the Olympics still over two months away, the questions are being asked; Is he ready too soon? Has he peaked too early? I personally believe there is nothing better for building confidence than knowing what perfect feels like, especially in back-to-back skates. This is something that has eluded Chan in the past. He has had a history of building a lead in the short and hanging on in the long, and of moments of brilliance followed by untimely baubles and stumbles. Now he knows what clean feels like and that he has the mind for it. What we saw in Paris from Chan was consistency and that, combined with his explosive power, was in a word - impressive. Impressive to watch. Intimidating for his competition, who now know that the game has just changed and they need to step up. In this seasons scores, Chans total in Paris has out-pointed the field by almost 30. Heading into the Grand Prix Final next week in Japan, all eyes are on Chan. He takes on the seasons top finishers and the phenomenal Japanese men; three of whom have qualified in the spots behind Chan and are hoping to gain some help with some home field advantage. A similar situation is unfolding in the pairs this season with the Russian team of Tatiana Volososhar and Maxim Trankov. What Chan did in Paris, they did in both of their competitions. They literally did not put a foot wrong in any program in either competition. The nine judges give a score for each element in the program (jumps, spins, steps, lifts) based on the quality of the element. The scores they give range from minus- 3 to plus- 3. Ninteen elements in two programs and they did not receive one minus, on any element, from any judge. All plus- 2 and plus- 3 with a sprinkling of ones. That just doesnt happen early in the season in the pairs event, where the programs are filled with high risk elements, the margin of error is great, and it takes a season for the teams to fully meld with the nuances of the choreography, the hidden technical difficulties and with each other. This season the Russians set and now own the three world records for highest short, free and total scores. This is a team with a clear focus. Until the Vancouver Olympics, Russia held the longest unbroken gold medal streak in the Winter Games. Russia had won every Pairs gold medal since 1964, until 2010 when Russian pairs not only didnt win gold, they failed to reach the podium. We did an interview with Tatiana and Max on TSN following those Vancouver games when they were a newly formed pair. Max spoke about Vancouver, but not about plans of redemption in the pairs event. He talked about how inspired and emotional he was watching Canadians Virtue and Moir in the ice dance event. He spoke about being in the Olympic arena when Scott and Tessa won gold and the whole country celebrated with them and he said "we want the same." It is a mission that seems inevitable. The chance of competing at a home games has also brought out inspired performances from the Russian women, and so the Grand Prix final will look a lot like the Russian nationals in the ladies event. Four teenagers aged 17, two 15 year olds and a 14 year old have qualified for the final. We have watched Russia produce a series of young talented superstars but they tend to come and go and have not been able to translate early season success into success at the big events. In the ladies qualifying, the competition entered and the depth of the field, played into who made the final. Olympic silver medalist Mao Asada and American champion Ashley Wagner have qualified, while great skaters like Akiko Suzuki and Carolina Kostner are left out of the final. I believe that the podium in Sochi will look very different from the one at the final, as a number of the worlds best and brightest will not be at the ladies event in Japan. As always at this time of year, the rivalry intensifies in the dance event where we will see this seasons first head-to-head match-up of Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and World Champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White. Meryl and Charlie have the advantage in the points early in the season, but it is a game of inches with both teams capable on any given day. Unique this season in the ice dance event is the hotly contested battle for bronze. Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje are among the four teams in the hunt. What is intriguing is how much these teams have improved, and while ice dance has been sensational at the top for a number of years, the teams chasing the champions are bringing the sport of Ice Dance to a new level as a whole. Cheap Los Angeles Galaxy Jerseys . Still to be determined is whether the few Indian athletes who have qualified for Sochi compete for their country or under the Olympic flag. The International Olympic Committee gave a reprieve to Indias suspended national Olympic body on Tuesday after a long impasse that had threatened to lead to the expulsion of the worlds second most populous nation. Cheap Jacksonville Jaguars Jerseys . Testaverde is one of 12 former players to be picked by the National Football Foundation as part of the latest Hall of Fame class. http://www.cheapjerseyschina.cc/nhl-jerseys_washington-capitals-jersey.html . Top Picks: With 128 points over the last two seasons, John Tavares ranks sixth, and hes the one driving the Islanders offence. It would be easier to raise expectations if the Islanders provided him with a better supporting cast, but hes a reliable point-per-game option who would be higher than a top five fantasy centre if he could become a stronger plus player. cheap jerseys from china . Wayne Rooney did not score but played a role in four of Uniteds goals. Antonio Valencia put United ahead in the 22ndminute, Emir Spahics own goal in the 30th doubled Uniteds lead and Jonny Evans got the third in the 65th. cheap jerseys from china . The 32-year-old Malisse, from Belgium, will face two-time tournament champion Sam Querrey on Friday "Ill try to put as many returns (as possible) in play, thats the first thing," Malisse said.BALTIMORE -- The Boston Red Sox celebrated a rare September victory for about 20 minutes before turning their attention toward their next game -- the last and most important of the 162-game schedule. The Red Sox maintained a share of the AL wild-card lead Tuesday night, using four home runs to beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-7 and set up a dramatic conclusion to the regular season. The skidding Red Sox were 6-19 this month before rebounding to edge the last-place Orioles. The win, combined with Tampa Bays 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees, kept Boston and the Rays tied with one game left. After blowing a nine-game lead in the span of 23 days, the Red Sox will send Jon Lester (15-9) to the mound against Baltimore on Wednesday night in an effort to get into the post-season for the fourth time in five years. Lester, Bostons winningest pitcher, will be throwing on three days rest. A month ago, the Red Sox would shudder at the prospect of a must-win situation on the final day. But here they are, and they intend to make the best of it. "I think its really good for baseball, not so good for my stomach," manager Terry Francona said. "Its exciting. If you dont want to show up (Wednesday) and play, youve got no pulse. My goodness, I cant remember being that nervous in a long time. Go back to the hotel and not sleep, and then show up and see what we can do." Boston will be looking to put together its first winning streak since sweeping a doubleheader from Oakland on Aug. 27. If the Rays and Red Sox remain tied after Wednesday, Tampa Bay will host a one-game playoff Thursday. "Everybodys been watching the scoreboard and knowing that we need to win tonight so we can come back (Wednesday) and fight through it again," Boston slugger David Ortiz said. "I hope if Im still here next year we can make it easier. Were playing like this is a playoff already." Rookie Ryan Lavarnway became the unlikeliest of heroes for Boston, hitting his first two major league homers after being thrust into the lineup because of injuries to catchers Jarrod Saltalamacchia (sore collarbone) and Jason Varitek (knee). Lavarnway, a Yale philosophy major who never played a big league game before August, hit a three-run drive in the fourth inning and added a solo shot for an 8-4 lead in the eighth. "Besides what he did offensively, I thought he ran the game, I thought he had a lot of poise," Francona said. "That was one of the more exciting things to watch. Weve seen a lot of interesting things here over the years, but that was right near the top." Lavaarnway said, "It feels good, but the jobs not done. wholesale nfl jerseys. We still got to go out (Wednesday) and win another ballgame." Jacoby Ellsbury and Marco Scutaro also connected for Boston, which scored all its runs on home runs. Alfredo Aceves (10-2) pitched 3 2-3 innings of three-hit relief for the Red Sox, who survived homers from Baltimores Matt Wieters and Adam Jones. After the Orioles scored twice in the eighth off Daniel Bard to make it 8-6, Jonathan Papelbon survived a hectic ninth for his 31st save. Wieters drove in a run with a grounder and Baltimore had the potential tying run at second with two outs before Jones grounded out on a 3-2 pitch. "Everything we got, we needed," Francona said. "We hung on for dear life." Said Jones: "We battled down to the final pitch. Thats the way I live. You know we aint going to quit." Pitching at Camden Yards for the first time since being traded by Baltimore to Seattle in February 2008, Boston starter Erik Bedard of Ottawa gave up three runs and five hits in 3 1-3 innings. The left-hander struck out six but needed 84 pitches to get 10 outs. Bedard retired the first two batters without difficulty, then walked Nick Markakis and yielded an RBI double to Vladimir Guerrero to fall behind 1-0. Boston took the lead in the third against rookie Zach Britton (11-11) when Scutaro hit a two-out double and Ellsbury followed with his 32nd homer. Ellsbury has hit in 35 straight games against the Orioles, a streak that began on April 17, 2009. Lavarnway connected on a 3-2 pitch in the fourth following singles by Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez. Wieters answered in the bottom half with his 22nd home run, the second in two nights, to make it 5-3. A triple by Carl Crawford and Scutaros homer off Jason Berken made it 7-3 in the sixth. Jones led off the bottom half with a homer off Aceves. NOTES: Bostons Jed Lowrie started in the cleanup spot for the first time in his career. He went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts. ... Saltalamacchia was available if needed. Before the game he said, "I feel good, I feel like I can perform, but if it takes today to be 100 per cent tomorrow, then thats what well do." ... Francona said RHP Clay Buchholz, whos on the 60-day DL with a back strain, could find his way onto the post-season roster. ... For the second time in two nights, play was interrupted when a fan ran onto the field. ... Boston starters have a 7.28 earned-run average in September. ... Alfredo Simon will pitch Wednesday for the Orioles. ' ' '