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BEAVER CREEK, Colo. Justin Tucker Pink Jersey . —Sandro Viletta
of Switzerland has a fear of flying. Only, that anxiety doesnt carry over to ski
racing. Viletta soared through a demanding Birds of Prey course on Saturday,
flying over bumps on the super-G course and attacking sections of the hill few
dared to challenge. When he crossed the finish line, Viletta glanced up at the
scoreboard and quickly began pumping his ski poles in jubilation. He was flying
quite high after his first World Cup win. Starting way back at 30th and with
snow falling, Viletta held nothing back and finished in a time of one minute
18.71 seconds to overtake Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway by 0.20 seconds. Beat
Feuz of Switzerland took third. Robbie Dixon of North Vancouver, B.C., was
fourth, while Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was seventh. “Its a bittersweet
day for me but I did everything I could,” said Dixon, who sat out the second
half of last season with a concussion. “To get a podium would have been a pretty
special moment, especially with some of the stuff Ive had to go through over the
last year. But Sandro had a wicked run. This is a big step for me in terms of
building confidence.” Dixons time of 1:19.02 looked good enough for the podium
until Vilettas run knocked him into fourth. “Just amazing,” Viletta said. “I had
such a great run.” A risk-filled run inspired by none other than Bode Miller.
Viletta watched Miller attack the downhill course Friday on the way to a gutsy
win in which the American refused to tap the brakes. Before pushing out of the
starting gate, Viletta decided he was going to employ the same aggressive style
as Miller. He was going to ski like Miller. Well, as much as anyone can at
least. “To ski like him is not possible,” Viletta said. “To risk a lot, its
possible.” On this day, Viletta did a better Miller impersonation than Miller
could do himself. On this day, Millers hard-charging style led to an early
mistake and he needed an acrobatic recovery just to stay on the course. Miller
finished in 21st place, which was 1.40 seconds behind Viletta. Afterward, Miller
said he had the right line. And if he couldve executed it properly, he might
have been on the podium. Thats how well he was skiing. With Miller, its either
feast or famine. Theres rarely anything in between. “Youve got to take a risk or
you dont have a good chance,” Miller told The Associated Press as made his way
through the crowd and on down the hill after the race. “I was skiing well, but
once you make that mistake there, its over. “I pushed everywhere, just one (bad)
turn.” Andrew Weibrecht had the top finish for the United States as he finished
10th. For Feuz, the beat goes on at Birds of Prey as he worked his way onto the
podium for a second straight day. He was second in the downhill on Friday. “The
snow really seems to suit us Swiss,” Feuz said through a translator. It sure
seems to as the team has made itself right at home at Birds of Prey. The fact
the Swiss had two skiers on the podium hardly came as a surprise. But that one
wasnt named Didier Cuche was a little startling. Cuche entered the race as one
of the favourites, but he wound up ninth for a second straight day. Still, Cuche
was quite pleased for his proteges. After all, they help keep the 37-year-old
Cuche young and skiing fast. “The guys are pushing harder now,” Cuche said. “Its
good for the team.” But the 25-year-old Viletta was beginning to feel a little
left out of the fun. The teammates he had grown up with—skiers such as Feuz,
Carlo Janka and Daniel Albrecht—were already in the World Cup win column.
Viletta was still searching for his first podium, let alone victory. He kept a
positive attitude, even with a balky back hampering him for a few years. Viletta
just had a feeling this day was close. With the weather and the course precisely
to his liking, Viletta let loose and picked up his first win. “I risked all at
the top,” said Viletta, whose previous best finish was fourth in a giant slalom
nearly three years ago in Adelboden, Switzerland. “I just pushed as much I can.”
Just when Svindal was starting to think he had a win sewn up, along came
Vilettas run. Although Svindal didnt ski all that well at the top, he wasnt
fretting since no one really had. Austrias Georg Streitberger, the defending
champion at this event, skied off early, as did Ted Ligety of the U.S. But once
Svindal caught a glimpse of Viletta gliding through the top section of the hill
so effortlessly, so smoothly, Svindal knew he was in trouble. Viletta had the
top time through that demanding stretch and carried it on through to the finish.
“The way Viletta skied that (top), he absolutely earned the victory,” Svindal
said. As a result of his first win, Viletta is hoping for a little perk on the
flight home—an upgrade to business class. Maybe riding in comfort will help
ease his fear of flying. Dennis Pitta Elite Jersey . —The Los
Angeles Dodgers need Andre Ethier to be healthy and productive this year to take
some of the offensive burden off of Matt Kemp. Justin Tucker Youth Jersey . Now that
qualifies as fear mongering, but considering how entrenched both the league and
the players association are with less than 10 days until the expiration of the
existing collective bargaining agreement, sources on both sides are accepting
the loss of another season as a possibility. http://www.shopbaltimoreravensgear.com/womens-ray-rice-nike-jersey/
. The win was the Italians second three-set match in two days, after ousting
2002 champion Carlos Moya in the first round. Starace defeated Safin for the
first time since losing to the Russian at the 2004 French Open. Torrey Smith Limited Jersey . Manager Bobby
Valentine said Tuesday that the club felt Bard (5-6) needs to work on his
mechanics back in the minors before he gets another shot at making the Red Sox
rotation. Vonta Leach Jersey . —For one half, the
Colorado Rapids appeared listless.Got a question on rule clarification, comments
on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry Fraser wants to answer
your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Hi Kerry, I had a question regarding officiating
and their involvement or non-involvement in “tilting” games. During Game 4 of
the Stanley Cup Final, David Clarkson was given a minor penalty for boarding
Dustin Brown at 8:52 into the third period. Nobody wants to blame a win or loss
on officiating, but a call like this very much confuses me. Clarkson does charge
into the boards and knocks Brown somewhat from behind, but we all know the
unspoken standard of officiating and “letting the boys play it out”, especially
when it is a 0-0 tie in the third period. But it seems somewhat strange to me
that such a weak call was made at such an important point of the hockey game. It
also happened to be called only minutes after the Devils went up by one. So my
question is this: What is your honest opinion of this play and are there other
times a referee will make “phantom calls” for any number of reasons? Thanks!
Jeremy Schroeder— Hi Kerry – Can you please explain why the ref would call a
boarding penalty on Clarkson for his somewhat late hit in the third period of
last nights game? Considering some of the hacks and whacks that werent called in
order to let the players play, this call seemed absolutely ridiculous,
especially in a potential series ending game. Would you have called it? Justin
Ruka— Kerry…Im currently watching Game 4 and I cannot believe the call that
was given to David Clarkson which lead to LAs tying goal. Ive watched hockey for
the last 20 years of my life and I have never once given any thought to the
Canadian bias rumours or other such conspiracies! But this playoff year I have
been disgusted at the blatant want for an LA or NY cup win! M. Morgese Jeremey,
Justin and M. Morgese: My honest opinion of the boarding penalty assessed to
David Clarkson just 56 seconds after Patrik Elias scored to give the Devils a
short-lived 1-0 lead at 7:56 of the third period of Game 4 is that it was not a
strong call.  No penalty should have resulted on the play. That being said I can
assure M. Morgese and all that there is no bias or other such conspiracies from
the League or any of their game officials that would have caused the penalty to
be called. I would only describe the call as an error in judgment or
overreaction by the back referee on the play given the vantage point from which
he viewed the play. While mistakes and errors in judgment are part of the human
element of officiating it is wrong to suggest a bias or conspiracy to favour one
team over another. That would be blatant cheating and the officials have too
much integrity to be part of such a thing. Mistakes, errors or incompetent
decisions can result from a variety of factors but most often from a less than
optimum sightline on a play. They are honest mistakes! The NBA unfortunately had
one rogue referee who was punished for his crimes. Referee Tim Donaghy was the
exception to the character and integrity possessed by members of the officiating
fraternity. Ray Rice Camo Jersey. The late finish by
Clarkson on Dustin Brown was deemed to be a penalty by the back referee who was
positioned on the opposite side of the ice a considerable distance away from the
check. The apparent angle the referee had would indicate that he was looking
through Clarksons back at the point of impact but would have also seen the
considerable distance of separation between the two players in advance of the
hit once Brown had released the puck. While it is true Clarkson approached Brown
from behind the Devil player made a concerted effort not to make contact to
Browns numbers (middle of the back). Clarkson was also cognizant and careful not
to generate excessive velocity that would typically result in a penalty. Given
the ebb and flow of the game with hits and contact that was previously deemed
legal and for the elements I just described on Clarksons contact with Brown, I
would not have called a penalty on this play. As the back referee I would have
deferred to my partner who was closer and on the same side of the ice as the
hit. As the front referee I would have been in a better position to see Clarkson
avoid direct, hard contact with Brown. It would also be easier from this vantage
point to identify that Brown stumbled somewhat awkwardly into the boards and not
so much from any excessive impact delivered by Clarkson. I am not endorsing in
any way that the referees should put the whistle away in the late stages of game
or series or as a result of the score. However with an eye to the standard that
has been set throughout the game, when a player crosses the line and commits an
infraction it should be called. “Weak” calls are magnified in the late stages of
the game. It takes tremendous concentration on the part of the officials to know
the difference.  Most of the time they get it right, as was the case when the
back referee caught Willie Mitchell strike Ilya Kovalchuk under his visor with a
high stick at 17:10 of the third period and assessed the appropriate penalty.
There was no conspiracy here. I want to also commend David Clarkson for
remaining focused on his task and for not blowing up when Drew Doughty scored
just four seconds into the power play. I have seen players totally lose their
cool in situations such as this and take themselves out of the game. Clarkson
made a terrific play on Adam Henriques game-winning goal. This speaks to the
character of Clarkson and he is a champion in my books. Focus and concentration
are vitally important to achieve success whether you are a player or a referee.
Game 4 was very exciting to watch. I expect more of the same on Saturday night
at the Rock regardless of the outcome. For a personally autographed copy of
Final Call from TSN hockey analyst and former NHL referee Kerry Fraser, visit
The Book Keeper website. For a regular copy of Final Call from TSN hockey
analyst and former NHL referee Kerry Fraser, visit here. ’ ’ ’