It was 10:35am on March 9, 2012. Nike Free 5.0 Womens Running Shoes . Luke Wileman and I stood in the corridor outside of the Vancouver Whitecaps dressing room at BC Place in Vancouver. Wed been there for a few minutes already. We were early (as we usually are) for the Whitecaps practice, which was scheduled to begin at 11am. There wasnt a soul to be seen outside the dressing room, as all of the players and coaches were already inside preparing for training. The time is etched in my memory because it was then, at 10:35am, that Darren Mattocks came strolling down the hallway. Big headphones blaring, he didnt look like he had a care in the world. He certainly didnt look like a rookie who was late for the last practice before his first game as a professional soccer player. He bowled on by and walked into the dressing room - the last player to arrive by a wide margin. I turned to Luke, completely bewildered by what I had just witnessed, and asked him, "Is he having a laugh?" (Im paraphrasing - my choice of words were far more industrial than that.) "That would NEVER happen in Europe. No chance. The senior players would crucify him for that. And the manager would have him banished to train with the youth team." I couldnt believe what Id seen. In 18 years as a professional player in Canada and the UK, Id never seen a young player show such blatant disrespect for the rules and hierarchy of a football club. First to arrive, last to leave is a principle that all rookies (apart from Mattocks, clearly) adhere to religiously. They do so because they know that they not only have to impress their manager, but more importantly, they have to impress their teammates. They have to earn the respect of the senior players if they are ever going to be considered one of them. You see, experienced players can suss out a fraud in less than one training session, and it doesnt take long for them to figure out if a young player comes with an ego. Those egos dont last very long though, because the senior players simply dont tolerate them. They chip away at the arrogance of youth, exposing flaws until the young player sees the light; that they arent the finished article and that they have to work hard if they are ever going to fulfill their potential. It is a humbling that involves brutal honesty, but it teaches young players humility and mental resiliency - two vital ingredients in having a lengthy professional career. That humbling clearly hasnt happened for Darren Mattocks. He has been allowed to live in the bubble that he has created for himself - one in which he thinks hes already the finished article. Mattocks spoke on a Jamaican football program this week, where he revealed that he "carried Vancouver to the playoffs last year" and that "every team in MLS wants me". On former head coach Martin Rennie, Mattocks said this, "If me can do successful [sic] with my first season, and in my second season, you will try to jeopardize my career, Im not naive and Im not gonna stay (in Vancouver)."  His responses were as brazen and as arrogant as Ive ever seen. You could write Mattocks attitude off to his youth, but he is 23-years old. Its not like he is a baby in the world of football. Hes a grown man, at an age where his European counterparts will have already amassed 150+ first team games. You could also argue that someone has been filling his head with ideas of grandeur, leading him to believe that he really is the world-class striker that he imagines himself to be. But these arguments are nothing more than excuses. They wont help Darren Mattocks. What he needs is some tough love. What he needs is for someone to hold a mirror in front of his game, so that he can see himself for the player that he really is. So here goes. Darren, you have exceptional athletic ability, and you are arguably one of the finest athletes in Major League Soccer. But you were voted the top prospect in MLS under the age of 24 last year because of your potential, not because you are the finished article. You are a 23-year old man, but you have the football intelligence of a 15-year-old boy. You are reactive, rather than proactive, and you use your pace and athleticism to make up for the fact that you are often in the wrong position to begin with. The timing of your runs is poor, your finishing is poor, and you do not retain possession of the ball nearly well enough to be considered amongst the leagues best. You did not play a starring role this season because you simply didnt earn the right to do so. You are judged on everything you do - in training, in games, in your demeanour on and off the field - not just on your statistics. Unless you realize this, you will never be in a position to fulfill your undoubted potential. Unless you realize this, you will become just another player who failed to live up to his potential. The choice is yours, Darren. You can carry on believing that it was Martin Rennies fault that you had a poor season. But youd be wrong. You are the only reason you struggled this year. If anything, Martin tried to protect you from the things Ive just told you, because Im not alone in my assessment of your game. Many of the senior players in your dressing room think the exact same things. And I suspect that now that Martin is gone, youll be hearing it from them very soon. For your sake, I hope you listen to them. Nike Free 3.0 v2 Mens Uk . Blatter spoke Sunday in the Paraguay capital, where he attended a special congress of South American football officials aimed at toughening up rules against government intervention in football in the region. Nike Free 3.0 v3 Running Shoes . Stones three-point effort helped lead the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 5-3 victory against the Red Deer Rebels. Jordan Fransoo, Alessio Bertaggia and Darian Dziurzynski also scored for Brandon (19-12-2).MONTREAL -- The Edmonton Oilers taught Montreal Canadiens forward Lars Eller a tough lesson. Eller said the Oilers were a "junior team" that was "all over the place" before Edmontons 4-3 victory over Montreal on Tuesday night, Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins took offence to Ellers comments and used it to motivate his youthful team. "When youve got some young player whos trying to get his feet wet calling an organization a junior team, people take notice," said Eakins. "I knew it was going to turn. It makes for great banter in our dressing room. "That is a total hockey god thing. Im sure that young man has learnt his lesson, and I highly doubt youll see anything like that out of his mouth again." Eller, Montreals leading goal-scorer, had only one shot on net and didnt earn any points in the loss. "Hes a young player," said Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien of Eller. "I think hell learn from that. He made inappropriate comments." Ales Hemsky and Ladislav Smid both scored in the second period for Edmonton (3-6-1) to tie the game 2-2. Jeff Petry and Ryan Jones then had back-to-back goals in the third to give the Oilers a 4-2 lead. Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher struck in the first period to give Montreal (5-4-0) the lead and Brian Gionta scored with three seconds left to play. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was at the heart of Edmontons turnaround with two assists. "I got a huge momentum boost from (Eakins) talk between periods," said Nugent-Hopkins. "That was big for us. I thought we responded well. "Its what we needed at that point. We were losing battles, we werent playing with the passion that we need to win games in that situation." With the win, the Oilers ended a six-game road trip on a high. They went 2-3-1 on that stretch, and sit in last place in the Pacific Division. Plekanec put the Canadiens on the board first when he scored a power-play goal at 16:36 of the firrst period. Nike Free 5.0 Mens. Andrei Markov started the play, showing great vision with a diagonal cross-ice pass from the blue-line. Plekanec made no mistake slotting home his fourth goal of the season between Devan Dubnyks legs. Rookie Michael Bournival got an assist on the play. Gallagher increased Montreals lead less than two minutes later. Gallagher intercepted a poor clearance by the Oilers Jones and beat Dubnyk glove-side with a quick wrist shot. Edmonton answered with two goals of its own in quick succession. Hemsky scored the first at 12:50 of the second period, getting around Alex Galchenyuk with ease and beating Price above the shoulder. Smid then tied the game 2-2 with his first of the year, when he put the rebound of a Nugent-Hopkins shot into a gaping net at 15:37. Edmonton completed the comeback when Petry scored at 7:59 of the third. Nugent-Hopkins pretended to shoot on a 2-on-1, but instead dished the puck to Petry who made no mistake from close range. Jones put the game out of reach, scoring the eventual game-winner at 9:57. Brian Gionta scored a late consolation goal for the Canadiens with three seconds remaining. "We cant expect to play one period and win," said Gionta. "We had a great start, we did what we wanted to, we stuck to our game plan for the first period, and we didnt adjust after that. "We have to do a better job of finding a way to play 60 minutes." The injury-plagued Canadiens were without the services of Max Pacioretty, Brandon Prust and Daniel Briere. All three forwards sustained injuries last week. Edmonton was missing star forward Taylor Hall and veteran Ryan Smyth. Hall, who injured his knee on Saturday in the Oilers win over Ottawa, is expected to be out four weeks. Rookie defenceman Nathan Beaulieu, who was sent down to Hamilton on the weekend, was recalled by the Canadiens and played in place of Jarred Tinordi. Beaulieu finished the game with three blocked shots and 11:26 of ice time. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '