ERST LESEN! » Embiid was nearly unstoppable in the paint in the sec

TORONTO -- Portland Timbers captain Will Johnson capped off a career year Thursday by being named Canadas male soccer player of the year. The Toronto-born midfielder was voted to the MLS All-Star Fan XI team and named to Major League Soccer Best XI after leading the Timbers to a first-place finish in MLSs Western Conference with a 14-5-15 record. In his first year in the Pacific Northwest after five seasons with Real Salt Lake, the 26-year-old set MLS career marks in goals (9), assists (5), points (23) and minutes played (5,250). He played the full 90 minutes in all 28 regular-season appearances. Johnson called it a year "of coming into my own." "I loved having that responsibility of leading this group," he said of being given the captains armband by coach Caleb Porter. "It was a welcomed challenge for me, something I just really got excited about and it just gave me a passion to excel and take my game to the next level." Johnsons hard-nosed play and leadership won admirers around the league, with Toronto FC casting envious eyes at him during the season. He is the 14th winner of the award and the third from MLS ranks, following Dwayne De Rosario and Pat Onstad. Atiba Hutchinson was runner-up in voting by Canadian media, coaches and clubs. Midfielders Patrice Bernier of the Montreal Impact and Russell Teibert of the Vancouver Whitecaps were third and fourth, respectively. On the national team front, Johnson was part of Canadas CONCACAF Gold Cup squad but was sent home early due to illness. He had one assist in three appearances for Canada, with club duties restricting his time with the national team. Johnson said he looks forward to spending more time with the Canadian team, which is in a period of transition under new coach Benito Flores. Born to English parents, Johnson holds Canadian, American and English citizenship. He moved to England as an infant and then came to the Chicago area at the age of 10. After spending 2005 with the Chicago Fire, he went to Europe where he played for Heerenveen and De Graafschap in the Netherlands. Johnson says he is enjoying Portland and MLS but would be open to the right opportunity. "Id love to stay here, Im very happy here but Im not tied down here for too long so well see," he told a media conference call. "I do feel I have the quality to play in Europe but I also have a young family now." he added. "It has to be the right situation. Going to Scandinavia does not interest me. Top leagues in Europe would interest me but other than that, at my age with a young family, MLS is a great league. I very much enjoy playing here, I enjoy being an ambassador for the league. I love being part of the growth of this league. "So it would have to be something very special to entice me to leave a league I very much enjoy playing in." After beating archrival Seattle, Portland lost to Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference final. Real Salt Lake also ousted the Timbers in the semifinal of the U.S. Open Cup. "Weve got to take that next step now," Johnson said of Portland. "We set the platform and the minimum requirements that we all expect out of ourselves. I think that hunger will translate over to next year. "On a positive note, we now have guys who have played in the playoffs, have won a playoff series, have experienced what its like to get in there ... This will not be an acceptable season next year, thats for sure. The bars been set." Canadas female player of the year will be announced Friday with national team captain Christine Sinclair a favourite to claim the award for a 10th straight year and 11th overall. Dylan Carreiro and Kadeisha Buchanan were earlier named under-20 players of the year. Marco Carducci and Sura Yekka took under-17 honours. The awards are sponsored by BMO. Zapatillas Puma Baratas Online . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Puma Baratas España . Crawford hit his slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez to give San Francisco a four run lead in the fourth and they never looked back. Brandon Belt had three runs batted in as well. Bumgarner pitched all nine innings and allowed just four hits. http://www.pumabaratas.es/ . The incident occurred at 6:28 of the first period in Anaheims 6-3 home win over Dallas on Sunday. Garbutt left the penalty box and skated at Penner before leaving his skates to deliver a check. Comprar Zapatillas Puma Baratas . Joel Embiid was nearly unstoppable in the paint in the second half, and Naadir Tharpe seemingly couldnt miss. Zapatillas Puma Baratas España .Y. -- In a span of three days, Shabazz Napier and Connecticut knocked out both Philadelphia schools in the NCAA tournament.CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Wendell Scott has been elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame as voters honoured the sports first black driver to win a race in whats now the Sprint Cup series. Also honoured Wednesday were one of NASCARs most popular champions, Bill Elliott, along with two-time series champ Joe Weatherly, 1960 champion Rex White and 26-time race winner Fred Lorenzen. Scott competed in NASCARs top series from 1961-73.dddddddddddd. He won his only race at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1963, winning the 100-mile feature after starting 15th. Scott started 495 Sprint Cup events and had a 147 top 10 finishes. Elliott was the 1988 Sprint Cup champion and his 44 race victories rank 16th in NASCAR history. Series matriarch Anne Bledsoe France was honoured with the inaugural Landmark Award. ' ' '