singled and doubled to help his own cause.He really

In his second column for ESPN, Australian Olympian James Magnussen explains how swimmers manage the nerves in the minutes before they step onto the blocks, and looks ahead to his swim in Australias 4x100 relay tilt.Its hard to describe the emotions you roll through ahead of a swimming race; it can be a bit of an out-of-body experience.You spend so much time preparing for that one race that your body almost goes into autopilot and takes over. But I remember the atmosphere in London was almost deafening; I struggled to gather my thoughts because it was so loud and there was so much going on.But as you get older you learn how to relax in those situations and take in the crowd, and use it as a source of energy and feed off the adrenalin. Sometimes as a younger swimmer, you try to block it out, you try to ignore it; but its almost impossible.If you imagine a smallish football crowd, and then put a roof on the stadium, it becomes a situation where there is no way for the noise to escape, and it gets pretty loud. So youve really just got to try to gather your thoughts and use it as a source of energy.There has certainly been a lot of negative press about Rio the past few months, and that has seemingly hit new heights over the past 10 days or so. But I dont have an issue with some of the fears that have been raised, or the problems that members of the Australian team have incurred.The first team I made was for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010, and there was so much negative press around that event. But I went to India and had a great time; I didnt encounter any problems. And since then Ive had the attitude, Well, Ill just turn up and everything will be all right once you get there.These events are so big and so important that countries are willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. And after a few issues this week, I believe that things will be fine once the Games get underway.Obviously, this is a completely different Olympics for me compared with London four years ago. I dont have an individual swim, but Im really excited by the opportunity to contest the 4x100 relay.I want to be a really strong contributor not only to the relay team but also to the rest of the squad; I just want to do the best I can on the day. And as one of the older members on the team, I am keen to be a leader and put in a performance well above what I did at the Olympic trials now that Im a lot stronger and fitter.As far as expectations go, weve got a quality group of relay swimmers. That should put us right in the mix for a medal, and thats all you can really hope for in that event at an Olympic Games. It really is a lottery on the day, but were in with a shot and Im really excited about that. Cavan Biggio Jersey . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Anthony Bass Blue Jays Jersey . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/1996h-mike-matheny-jersey-blue-jays.html . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Jose Canseco Jersey . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Danny Jansen Jersey . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. PHILADELPHIA -- Ryan Howard isnt the slugger he once was. He can still clear the fences, though.Howard homered and Maikel Franco singled home the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-2 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday night.Howard put Philadelphia in front 1-0 by leading off the second with a 428-foot drive to right-center off Mets starter Logan Verrett. It was the 13th homer of the season and the 370th of his career for Howard, who moved into a tie with Gil Hodges for 77th on the all-time list.Obviously, in the moment, youre playing a game, but when I get time to sit back and reflect on it, its actually pretty cool, some of the names that Im there with, Howard said. Ive still got some work to do, but Im going to enjoy this one today.Carlos Ruiz doubled and had two hits for the fourth-place Phillies, who have won 11 of 15. Philadelphia also silenced a large contingent of Mets fans, who sometimes made Citizens Bank Park sound more like Citi Field for the second straight night.It was a good win, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. I didnt want to hear the Mets fans.Jose Reyes and Travis dArnaud drove in the runs for the Mets, who have dropped four of five since All-Star slugger Yoenis Cespedes was injured.Were not taking care of opportunities, manager Terry Collins said. Weve got to take advantage of all those opportunities. We had a chance to add on and we didnt get it done.New York failed to homer for just the second time in the last 14 games. The Mets entered having hit 14 homers in four games at Citizens Bank Park this season and 33 long balls over the last two years at Philadelphias home park.The Mets appeared primed to take the lead in the top of the seventh, but pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson flied out to short left field with runners on second and third and one out before left fielder Cody Asche made an excellent sliding catch for the final out on Asdrubal Cabreras sinking liner with the bases loaded.Cespedes was available as a pinch-hitter, but Collins said he went with Johnson because Cespedes couldnt run the bases in the event of a walk.Philadelphia capitalized on Cabreras throwing error at shortstoop in the bottom half for the go-ahead run.dddddddddddd Cabrera threw wide of first baseman James Loney, allowing speedy Peter Bourjos to reach with one out. Bourjos went to second on Asches walk against Jerry Blevins (3-1) and scored on Francos single to left.I had all the time, said Cabrera, who has four errors this season. It happens.The Phillies tacked on a run in the eighth when Ruiz led off with a double, went to third on a groundout and scored on Erik Goeddels wild pitch.Edubray Ramos (1-0) worked a hitless inning for his first major league win. Jeanmar Gomez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 25th save in 27 chances.The Mets tied it in the third on Reyes sacrifice fly that scored Juan Lagares.New York took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on dArnauds sacrifice fly before the Phillies tied it in the fifth on Asches groundout that scored pitcher Jerad Eickhoff.PHILLIES STARTING REPORTEickhoff allowed two runs and five hits with three strikeouts and one walk in six-plus innings. The right-hander singled and doubled to help his own cause.He really wasnt that sharp, but he pitched well enough to win, Mackanin said. Too many baserunners for my liking, but he got us into the seventh inning, so he did a good job that way.METS STARTING REPORTVerrett, making his seventh start in 25 appearances this season, gave up two runs and eight hits with four strikeouts and one walk in six innings. The right-hander is 1-4 with a 5.20 ERA as a starter this season. He took Matt Harveys spot in the rotation this month when the former ace was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome.I felt good, Verrett said. I felt like I threw the ball well and kept us in the ballgame.TRAINERS ROOMCespedes missed his fourth straight game due to a strained right quadriceps. Collins said the outfielder will undergo testing Sunday morning to determine if he is able to play.UP NEXTThe teams wrap up their three-game series Sunday when Mets RHP Jacob deGrom (5-4, 2.61 ERA) opposes RHP Zach Eflin (2-2, 4.08). In six career starts against Philadelphia, deGrom is 3-0 with a 3.03 ERA. ' ' '