There are many titles that could have been bestowed on Jessica Ennis-Hill during her magnificent athletics career. The Face of 2012? Of course. The nicest athlete in Britain? Almost certainly. The most beloved? Very possibly. The toughest? Well, if you had ever watched her train at her Sheffield base, you wouldnt have had to ask twice.Yet as British sport bade farewell on Thursday to its diminutive heroine with the big heart and the even bigger smile, it was also legitimate to wonder whether our Jess was, pound for pound, the finest, most complete all-round athlete this country has seen in the new millennium.We are talking of a woman who was not just the worlds best multi-eventer but, within Britain itself, brilliant enough to be at various points the nations top high jumper, its finest long jumper, its most outstanding, world-class hurdler and one of its fastest sprinters.Standing at 5-foot-5, she could leap 30cm above her own height -- a feat only ever achieved by a handful of jumpers -- and, though only a fraction above nine stone, she turned herself into one of the countrys top 10 shot putters. At her peak, she was forced through stress fractures to effectively relearn the long jump from scratch, having to take off from her left foot instead of her right, and yet still won the Olympic title within three years.Hers was an odyssey of courage, skill and unreal determination. No one trains harder than multi-eventers and no multi-eventer prepared harder than her.I once had the privilege to spend a day watching her train at the English Institute of Sport in her home town. It was truly wince-inducing.Intense sprints, skipping, sandpit drills, 12 long jumps, 12 puts, throwing technique sessions, circuit training, conditioning. Not as bad as the hill runs and weight sessions of the previous day but a brutal morning. She then sat at lunch just dreading the afternoons killer 800m training and, after those killer 200 metres reps, I actually did hear the unthinkable from her -- dear old Jess in agony, swearing her head off.Watching this workload, I remember later thinking that, after she had taken a break following her Olympic triumph to become a mum, it would be miraculous for her to reprise the same intense daily physical and mental slog that shed need to beat the world again. Thirteen months after giving birth to son Reggie, though, she was world heptathlon champion again. Yes, the mother of all comebacks.When such a natural talent was enhanced by such extraordinary determination, only one thing more was required to create the ideal athlete; a rare spirit when in the heat of competition.Toni Minichiello, the ebullient coach who could always seem to cajole the best out of this self-confessed worrier, once scolded me for suggesting she was Daley-esque, that she had something of the peerless Daley Thompsons ability to produce her best under the most severe moments of pressure. No, Jessica-esque -- Daleyd learn a thing or two, he laughed.Certainly, Thompson could have taken a lesson or two in charm and how to win friends and influence people from Ennis-Hill. Its not easy having to live up to some fanciful role model notion but she never seemed to have to try; shes just a natural and it was for good reason that she was earlier this year voted ahead of Andy Murray as the sports personality that Britain was most proud of.In an era when athletics had become enveloped by doubt and cynicism, people still always felt that here as someone they could still believe in. Mick Thompson, the coach who first spotted the talent of an energetic 10-year-old schoolgirl when overseeing a summer camp in Sheffield, once told me shes never changed in all the time hes known her. Whats not to like about Jess? Still as good as gold, always friendly and open, he said.Too true. She kept that demeanour even when the pressure was at its absolute height. Like Cathy Freeman in Sydney 2000 and Michael Johnson in Atlanta 1996, she shouldered with wonderful aplomb the ultimate double -- being both the face and the hero of a home Olympic Games.What could have been more challenging than having to burst out of that London 2012 poster and into legend on that Super Saturday with anything less than gold being seen as some sort of failure? As an example of amazing grace under pressure, British sport has seen little like it.So, yes, she was as good as gold yet the funny thing was how she always sounded as if she never quite understood how brilliant she was.With her Olympic heptathlon gold and silver, her two world titles (actually, it should really have been three because she wasnt up-graded from silver in 2011 even after Russian winner Tatyana Chernova was subsequently discredited as a doping cheat), her world indoor pentathlon title and her European crown, there have been times when Ennis-Hill would have had a right to call herself the worlds best athlete. Yet, she just laughed that she couldnt bring herself to think like that because it all sounded a bit too surreal.Lets be clear, though. The woman who had a right to once feel a bit irritated by being faintly patronised as tadpole by one British rival ended up showing everyone that she was a veritable giant in the nations sporting firmament.More than that, Ennis-Hill was living proof that nice guys do finish first. She could have plumped for one final hurrah at next years world championships, back at the scene of her 2012 triumph, but she knew instinctively it was time to go.Like practically everything she did, our Jess, who radiated sunshine while she raided all those golds, got it right even at the very end of her quite glittering career. Cheap NCAA Jerseys From China . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Cheap NCAA Jerseys Online . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. http://www.cheapncaajerseys.net/ .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Discount NCAA Jerseys . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Stitched NCAA Jerseys . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The Detroit Pistons finally clamped down on defense, in plenty of time to secure their third straight win.Tobias Harris scored 25 points and Marcus Morris added 22 to lift the Pistons to a 102-89 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. Detroit closed the game with eight straight points, and the Knicks didnt score after Derrick Roses bank shot with 5:40 remaining.I thought our offense in the first half was excellent, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. Defensively, I thought we finished the game real well.The Pistons have won three in a row -- all by double digits -- since dropping their season opener. They held New York to 10 points in the fourth quarter.Carmelo Anthony scored 24 points for the Knicks, and Rose added 19.Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 19 points for Detroit, and Andre Drummond had nine points and 13 rebounds.Its been an encouraging start for Detroit, which has been playing without injured point guard Reggie Jackson. The Pistons shot 55 percent from the field in a smoothly played first half, and Detroit was up 64-55 after two quarters.I have been very amazed about how we move the ball, Caldwell-Pope said. Everybody is getting equal shots. Nobody is being selfish. We are being a little too unselfish, but thats good.The offenses bogged down in the second half, and the Knicks had chances to close the gap in the fourth quarter. Down 94-89, New Yorks Lance Thomas missed from the perimeter. Morris made two free throws at the other end with 3:22 remaining.A 3-pointer by Caldwell-Pope put the Pistons up by 10, and Harris added a three-point play with 1:11 left.It just didnt go down tonight, Rose said. When the shots arent falling, we have to depend on our defense even more. We have to play tthe type of game where if were having a hard time scoring, youre definitely going to have a hard time scoring.dddddddddddd Thats the mentality and culture were trying to build.TIP-INSKnicks: Joakim Noah had only two points, but he contributed eight assists and 11 rebounds. ... Former Detroit G Brandon Jennings scored 12 points for the Knicks.Pistons: Detroit outscored the Knicks 50-32 in the paint. ... Harris had 10 rebounds. ... Ish Smith, starting in place of Jackson (knee), had 10 points and eight assists. ... The Pistons went 8 of 13 from 3-point range.WEARING DOWN?Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said his teams stamina may have played a role in the offensive struggles late.Were not in the kind of condition that we need to be to play offense and defense for 48 minutes, Hornacek said. It looked like we did get a little tired and thats going to affect the shooting.STICKY FINGERSThe Knicks had only three turnovers in the first half, and the Pistons had only two. That was a big reason the game was so high-scoring early. New York finished with 12 turnovers and Detroit had 11.REPLACEMENTSVan Gundy wasnt totally buying the idea that the Pistons have had no problems without Jackson. Smith and Beno Udrih were a combined 8 of 23.I think anybody in the league would tell you that were playing well, but Reggies just a really difficult guy to guard in the pick-and-roll. So we miss him, and thats taking nothing away from Ish and Beno.UP NEXTKnicks: Host Houston on Wednesday night.Pistons: Detroit heads to New York as well. The Pistons face Brooklyn on Wednesday night.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '