Campaigning for Carl I hadnt heard the expression "crafting a campaign" until Michael Davies of the excellent "Men In Blazers" podcast used it to describe his beloved Chelsea, and the manner in which Jose Mourinho engineered his Blues through the nitty gritty of a long Premiership season. Cheap Fake Shoes Online . In the rigours of MLS, successful teams have managed their schedule carefully, and even though its early, Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson has already shown signs of recognizing the details of that process. Some might have been surprised Thursday when Robinson told TEAM 1040 radio in Vancouver that skipper Jay DeMerit had been left home to rest so early in the season. But for Robinson, the marathon is as grueling in March as it will be in September. Hes comfortable enough in his squad that well likely see more players left home for longer trips. Flying straight back to Vancouver right after the 0-0 draw with New England allowed players to get home on Saturday night and enjoy two full days off after what has been a taxing, air mile-accumulating couple of months. From a point gathering perspective, the new Whitecaps boss has also exhibited some proactive substitutions and game management during critical moments in his first three matches. Pedro Morales was brought on in the 65th minute of season opener, which effectively killed the game off. At Chivas, Robinson brought on Kekuta Manneh with enough time to rescue a point. And in New England, with a point in his back pocket, he gave Gershon Koffie a long-awaited introduction which infused a tiring team with some bite and balance to lock down that first clean sheet of the season. Crafting a campaign Those little decisions dont always work. But they did for Caleb Porter, the reigning MLS coach of the year with Portland. The well-travelled Timbers were a team that foraged for every point - especially away from home, where they didnt win a lot of games, but gathered enough draws (or avoided defeat enough) to help reach the Western Conference summit. Many lamented two points lost for Vancouver at an undermanned and unfairly disregarded Chivas team. Some even expected the Whitecaps to beat a New England squad that hadnt won, nor scored after two weeks. But in Carl Robinsons mind, his team earned a point despite a poor performance in LA, and a clean sheet after a nine-hour travel day against a desperate New England team stuck on no goals after two games. Maybe we should start calling the Whitecaps coach a "campaign" manager. Authentic Shoes Wholesale . The Wizards announced Friday that Webster had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back. The operation was performed Thursday in Los Angeles. Authentic Shoes For Cheap . This game was inside. Adrian Peterson was missing. The stage was set for another step toward the playoffs. http://www.cheapshoes.us.org/ . -- During Kansas shootaround on Wednesday before the Jayhawks faced Oklahoma, coach Bill Self told Wayne Selden Jr.MONTREAL -- All things considered, Chelsea Carey would rather be in Sochi, Russia. But qualifying for her first Scotties Tournament of Hearts after years of falling short in tough Manitoba provincial championships is as good as consolation prizes get for the 29-year-old from Winnipegs Fort Rouge Curling Club. And Carey is making the most of it, taking her record to 7-1 after an 8-4 victory over New Brunswicks Andrea Crawford (5-4) on Wednesday night. Earlier, the Carey rink trounced Quebecs Allison Ross (1-8) by 15-3. The 15 points tied the Scotties record set in 1989, when Alberta beat Newfoundland 15-6. Carey reached the Manitoba finals twice, losing in 2011 to Cathy Overton-Clapham and in 2012 to Jennifer Jones, the four-time Scotties champion who will represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Games. "We wanted to be here badly and lost a couple of heartbreakers and thats no fun, but it wasnt the only thing for us," said Carey. "The (Olympic) trials was our first goal and this was our second goal." Her only loss so far was an 8-3 setback this week to defending champion Rachel Homans seemingly unstoppable Canada team. Homans Ottawa foursome extended its unbeaten string to eight games with a 9-4 victory over Prince Edward Islands Kim Dolan. They have outscored their opponents 62-26 and have yet to play a full 10 ends. Saskatchewans Stefanie Lawton (7-1) posted an 8-6 win over Nova Scotia (3-6) and Ontarios Allison Flaxey (3-5) completed a sweep of her sides two games on Wednesday with a 12-2 victory over the Yukons Sarah Koltun (1-8). Flaxey had the upset of the day in the afternoon draw with a 6-5 win over Albertas Val Sweeting (6-3). Carey put together her team with lead Lindsay Titheridge, second Kristen Foster and third Kristy McDonald specifically to take a shot at the Olympics. The rink has been among Canadas best for a few years, winning often in national and regional events, and did well enough to earn an invitation to the Canadian Olympic trials in Winnipeg. When that dream died with a fourth-place finish, Carey admits it was tough to find the energy to go to last months provincial championship, let alone win it. "I took a week off and didnt throw," she said. "I forced myself to go back, but I wanted no part of it. "I was just going through the motions. It took a long time to get our heads back there, but wed played in a lot of provincials before and we knew going into the trials that it was something wed have to transition to. It wasnt easy, but we did a good enough job to pull off the win there." Once she got her Manitoba team jacket and got to Montreal, she was thrilled to finally have a chance to represent her province at the Scotties. On the team website, Carey describes herself as "Unemployed, AKA Starving Curler." She worked as a sales representative for a mattress company for six years, but was finally told to choose between curling and her job. "It was the yeear of the trials and Im not going to pick that job over curling," she said. Best Cheap Fake Shoes. . "My initial thought was to get a new job, but with trials in December its hard to start a new job and say I need six weeks of holidays. "Ive been unemployed since then. It will have to change after this because I cant pay my bills." Manitobas win over Quebec had some wondering if curling needs a mercy rule. It was Quebecs worst beating since a 13-1 setback to Alberta in 1991. A rule obliges teams to play at least eight ends no matter how badly theyre trailing. "Im not so sure I believe in the eight-end rule," said Manitobas McDonald. "If things arent going well, the other team should be able to get out when they feel its time. "Theyre a good team. Theyre much better than that. But theyre just having a tough go. When things go sour, they go sour." Ross had plenty of support among the 1,790 spectators at the Maurice Richard Arena, but her squad has been off the target consistently all week. She was also missing second Brittany ORourke to the flu bug that has sidelined several players and officials during the week. "Todays game was tough for sure," said Ross, whose team also lost 6-5 to B.C. in the morning draw. "We didnt play well at all." Flaxey turned around what had been a dismal week with her win over Alberta. Ontario held off a charge that saw Alberta score two in the ninth end. She took out Sweetings stone on the button in the 10th to prevent a steal and secure the victory. "We havent been playing as well as we could have all week," said Flaxey, the 2001 Manitoba junior champion now based out of Listowel, Ont. "To show that we are a good, solid team and that we belong with the favourites and can play with the favourites, it shows people why were here." Ontario is all but eliminated from playoff contention, but can still play the role of spoiler with three round-robin games remaining, including a match Thursday afternoon with Manitoba. "Its all we have left so youve got to love doing it," said Flaxey. "Weve got a couple of tough ones left and hopefully we can at least shake things up." The afternoon draw saw Homan put up a 7-3 victory over British Columbia (5-4). Homan has a shot at being the first skip to go undefeated in the tournament since B.C.s Linda Moore in 1985. Jennifer Jones went undefeated in the round robin last year but lost to Homan in the final. "Im confident we can win the rest of our games," said Homan. "You have to be confident in your abilities. "You put in the practice and the hours and the work. I believe 100 per cent in our team. Were in a good spot now and we have to keep playing the way were playing." Lawton downed Newfoundlands Heather Strong (4-4) by 7-3. Other early matches saw Alberta top Newfoundland 9-5, New Brunswick beat P.E.I. 9-6 and Nova Scotia down Yukon 7-3. ' ' '