Geschichten aus dem CoJoBo » ard to come back on a team like Virginia

MINNEAPOLIS - The Super Bowl has been secured. Now the Minnesota Vikings have set their sights on soccer. With construction underway on their new stadium, the Vikings have intensified their pursuit of a Major League Soccer franchise for the NFL facility that team owners designed in hopes of accommodating both sports. Co-owner Mark Wilf met this week with MLS officials, the latest dialogue between the two parties. The Vikings also announced a partnership with promoter Relevent Sports, a major player in the soccer world that is helping sell an international tournament game between two European teams to be played at the University of Minnesota in August. "We like to go to new markets," Revelant Sports CEO Charlie Stillitano said Wednesday. "It seems like wherever we go an MLS team follows, and I think its a good thing." Most MLS teams, 15 of the current 19, play in soccer-specific stadiums for around 20,000 fans in a more intimate setting, but the Vikings have been touting their plan to classily cover the upper bowl of their new venue and reduce capacity from 65,000 to between 20,000 and 25,000. The translucent roof and five pivoting glass doors on the front of the building -- plus seats and suites close to the action -- give the facility a more vibrant feel. "Theres a real opportunity there, and we really have a lot of respect and admiration for the ownership group," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said earlier this year. Atlanta will begin play in 2017 at that citys new retractable roof NFL stadium to be built for the Falcons, whose owner Arthur Blank acquired the soccer club. Plans there will convert the 71,000-seat football facility to a soccer capacity of 29,000 by only using the lower bowl. With the regular season starting in March and the MLS Cup held in December, a roof would be ideal for a team in Minnesota. When Sporting KC won the championship game outside last year, the game-time temperature in Kansas City was 22 degrees with a wind chill of 12 that plummeted as the sun set. The MLS has added five teams in the last five years with a goal of 24, and New York City and Orlando will make 21 next season. Miami has also granted a franchise to former star David Beckham, contingent on a soccer-specific stadium being built there. That only leaves one spot left, and Garber said earlier this year Sacramento, California, San Antonio and San Diego are also under consideration. MLS executive vice-president for communications Dan Courtemanche said theres no specific deadline for awarding the next franchise. "There is no shortage of demand for future MLS expansion teams, and many markets and potential ownership groups have contacted the league office to inquire," he said. Criteria for MLS expansion include a committed local viable ownership group with a comprehensive stadium plan it controls, in an appropriate market attractive to sponsors and television networks with a history of strong fan support. The Twin Cities area currently has a team, Minnesota United FC, in the North American Soccer League, a level below the MLS. "We think our stadium is the perfect fit for MLS. We also think that Minneapolis-St. Paul has tremendous potential for MLS," Vikings vice-president for public affairs and stadium development Lester Bagley said. The legislation authorizing funding for the stadium included a five-year window from the opening during which the Wilfs have exclusive rights to bring an MLS franchise to the venue. That doesnt mean another group couldnt beat them to it at another site. Minnesota United owner Bill McGuire, the former CEO of United Health Group, has been linked with Minnesota Twins owner Jim Pohlad as potential partners in an MLS franchise. But that would require money for and construction of yet another new sports facility in a crowded market. Vikings officials will use the Aug. 2 match between Manchester City FC and Olympiacos FC, part of the Guinness Cup tournament, as an opportunity to gain more knowledge of and grassroots support for the sport. About 20,000 tickets have been sold so far, Stillitano said. Evgenii Dadonov Jersey . -- Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson couldnt hear himself amid the roar in Koch Arena, so he kept stomping on the floor in a fruitless attempt to get his teams attention. Aleksander Barkov Jersey . -- Oakland Athletics starting pitchers Jarrod Parker and A. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline....-hockey-jersey/. The question all fans want to know heading into this light heavyweight affair is will Rua display his true potential. Working with UFC welterweight fighter Demian Maias team in Sao Paulo Brazil and having training partners such as fellow UFC stand outs Fabio Maldonado and Daniel Sarafian, the 32-year old feels very well prepared for Friday nights encounter. Custom Florida Panthers Jerseys . - The Toronto Blue Jays have optioned pitchers Kyle Drabek, Chad Jenkins and Sean Nolin to triple-A Buffalo. Florida Panthers Jerseys . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics.GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Its been a season of firsts for No. 6 Virginia. The Cavaliers are savoring their latest one by sticking around the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament a little while longer than usual. Virginia advanced to the ACC semifinals for the first time since 1995 by pulling away to beat Florida State 64-51 in a quarterfinal Friday. Joe Harris matched a season high with 20 points and Anthony Gill added 16 for the top-seeded Cavaliers (26-6). They shot 48 per cent, forced 15 turnovers and earned their third double-digit victory over the Seminoles this season while winning their 14th in 15 games. "We really just wanted to go out there and prove to everybody that we deserve to be here, we deserve the No. 1 seed," Gill said. Okaro White scored 17 points and Aaron Thomas added 13 for the ninth-seeded Seminoles (19-13). They shot 43 per cent against one of the nations best defences but couldnt keep the Cavaliers off the boards when it counted most, and were denied their third victory over a top-seeded team since 2009. A victory would have gone a long way toward propelling them back into the NCAA tournament. Instead, the Seminoles can only sweat it out until selection Sunday. "Our record speaks for us to be on the bubble, but I think were a great team," White said. "We had a tough time throughout the course of the season, but I think weve shown everyone were a team that should be out there. I think were a team thats up to the level of a lot of the teams that are going to be in the NCAA tournament, but its hard." Virginia established a 31-25 rebounding advantage -- 21-13 in the second half -- and finished with 17 second-chance points. "We talk about outlasting people all the time," freshman London Perrantes said. "We know that nobodys going to want to guard us 35 seconds every time down the court, so we know that if we keep running our offence, theyre going to get frustrated and were going to get good shots." White pulled Florida State to 61-49 with his jumper through contact with 3:25 left.dddddddddddd. But he missed the free throw and the Seminoles didnt hit another field goal the rest of the way. Virginia will face fifth-seeded Pittsburgh, which beat No. 15 North Carolina 80-75, on Saturday in the first semifinal. Thats unfamiliar territory for a Cavaliers program that hadnt reached the semifinals in nearly two decades -- the longest drought in the conference. In matching a league record with 16 conference victories, Virginia earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament for just the second time and first since 1981. The Cavaliers only tournament title came in 1976 and until Friday they had won only four ACC tournament games since that last semifinal appearance -- and none since 2010. "Weve done a lot of things that we havent done for years," Perrantes said. "So for this to happen for us now is definitely a relieving experience." They led for all but about eight minutes of this one and were in control throughout -- even if it took a while for the scoreboard to finally reflect that. "Its very hard to come back on a team like Virginia when theyre coming down and using 30 seconds of the shot clock," White said. "You cant get down on them." Harris, who matched the season high of 20 points against Hampton on Nov. 26, was 7 of 12 and hit at least half of his shots for the first time since a win against Maryland on Feb. 10. "He has a good feel when to let it come and when to be assertive," ACC coach of the year Tony Bennett said. "He senses. He doesnt get it right all of the time (but) he senses when something is required of him." Virginia pushed its lead into double figures for the first time on Gills free throw with 13:57 left that made it 43-33. Harris bounced in a 3-pointer four possessions later to make it 48-37, Darion Atkins followed that with a jumper and then hit two free throws to make it a 15-point game with 9:51 remaining. Ian Miller finished with 10 points for the Seminoles. ' ' '