to take forward into this game (Saturday against D.C, United) as well."

TORONTO -- First game of the season and the Toronto Rock locker-room is jumping. The music is blaring and kids of assorted size -- most in team jerseys -- have the run of the boxy Air Canada Centre dressing room that is normally home to visiting NHL and NBA teams. A dozen pizza boxes cover a table in the middle and Rock captain Colin Doyle, in the wake of Fridays season-opening 16-11 win over the Calgary Roughnecks, is beaming. "The best part of playing in this league is bringing your kids into the room and letting them see the guys and hang out," said the 36-year-old Doyle, who has three daughters. "Youre not going to become a millionaire (so) you might as well have fun doing it. "We can get pretty gloomy when we dont win but why not have fun with this? This is a great opportunity. The crowd (of 11,120) was great tonight, everybody was excited. I thought we put on a real worthwhile performance, we didnt cheat anybody. They all went home happy, so thats a good feeling." It took Doyle less than 12 minutes into his 17th pro lacrosse season to claim a Gordie Howe hat-trick of sorts. Doyle scored the Rocks first goal, taking a pass on the edge of the crease and then faking out Roughnecks goalie Mike Poulin before putting the ball past him as he flew through the air. He followed it up with two assists before taking umbrage at Calgarys Andrew McBride cross-checking a Rock teammate in the face near the Roughnecks goal. Doyle made a beeline for McBride and the two were soon trading stick shots and shoves. Perhaps not a fight but Doyle had sent a signal that he had his teammates back. "I felt it was a cheap shot at his head," Doyle explained later. "Maybe a little out of discipline but I dont like seeing that stuff, not to my teammates." Doyle finished with two goals and two assists on the night, upping his career regular-season totals to 486 goals, 780 assists and 1,266 points in 238 games. The six-foot-three 215-pounder from Kitchener, Ont., ranks second all-time in the National Lacrosse League in assists and points and fourth in goals. Buffalos John Tavares leads all the categories. Doyle has won just about all there is in lacrosse. Named NLL Rookie of the Year in 1998, he has hoisted the Champions Cup six times and been named MVP of the champion game three times. A 10-time all-star, he was named league MVP in 2005 and won the league scoring title in 2005 and 2009. Away from the NLL, he has won the Mann Cup four times -- even serving as an emergency goalie for the Six Nations Chiefs in 2013 before scoring the game-tying goal and winner to decide the series -- and helped Canada to the World Indoor and World Lacrosse Championships. Doyle says he feels every bit of his 16 previous NLL campaigns but takes good care of his body and hopes to feel younger as the season wears on. Winning helps. His skills remain sharp. He clearly measures his output but the bag of tricks remains very deep. Faced with a Roughnecks defender at one point Friday, Doyle initiated contact and then rolled away before flicking a shot at the goalie. "Hes one of a kind," said Rock teammate Jesse Gamble, who played box lacrosse with Doyle last summer. "Hes always energetic, hes always got a great attitude. He always gets guys feeling like theyre ready to play the game ... You couldnt ask for a better captain. Plus what he does on the floor. He leads the team both on and off the floor." Calgary coach Curt Malawsky is a friend and former teammate of Doyles. Asked what makes him special, Malawsky offers one word -- character. "He takes teams on his back, he does the dirty work when it needs to be done. He scores nothing but big goals. Off the floor, a consummate professional and hes all about the team. "Im very proud to call him a friend and hell be a first-ballot NLL Hall of Famer. Anyone who watches the NLL, he should be our poster boy for it." Rock coach John Lovell is also a fan. "Hes ready to go for another season. Its a great plus to have." As for Doyle, he was just glad to put the grind of training camp behind him. Friday night was almost a perfect start to the season, despite the fact that backup goalie Zak Boychuk tripped and fell over as he stepped onto the field during introductions to Guns N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle." "It was about as good as it can gets, I think, as far as starts go," Doyle said of the game. "I really didnt know what to expect. You never know going into a season how good you are or who you are or any of that. "Not that we discovered it all tonight but we showed a little glimpse of what we can be when things go well and when were disciplined and all the right things happen." Away from the field, Doyle has put a teaching career on hold to sell synthetic grass fields across Ontario. He plays lacrosse 10 months of the year, putting his stick down only in October and November. Day jobs are a necessity in a league that has a maximum salary of $27,217 for veterans. Designated "franchise" players get an additional $5,000 for the season. "Its not all about the dollars and cents," Doyle said. "We take a lot of pride in what we do and in hopefully impressing the people who pay to come and see us play." Asics Baratas España .com) - A chant of Zeke reverberated around AT&T Stadium before Ezekiel Elliott powered into the end zone for his fourth and final touchdown. Asics Baratas Chinas . The 6-foot-10 centre who won an NBA title with the Miami Heat was voted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday, adding that honour to becoming a board member at his alma mater. http://www.baratasasics.es/ . - The Raiders have released guard Mike Brisiel after two disappointing seasons in Oakland. Zapatillas Asics España . Thats what he did over the past 2 1/2 years with the Washington Wizards. Wittmans approach helped turn the Wizards from pushover to playoff winners. Zapatillas Asics Baratas España .The Dallas Cowboys released Sam from the practice squad Tuesday, dropping the rush end as they prepare for several potential reinforcements to return to the defensive line.TORONTO -- The MLS schedule is just three weeks old and already the shots are coming fast and furious. Too many on Clint Dempsey, says U.S. coach Juergen Klinsmann. But the league decided that Dempsey was the trouble-maker not the victim when it suspended the Seattle Sounders star striker two games Friday for "violent conduct" against Toronto FC defender Mark Bloom. The incident happened off the ball in the 40th minute of Torontos 2-1 win in Seattle last Saturday. Dempsey swung an arm and caught Bloom in the groin. The U.S. international was also fined an undisclosed amount. Klinsmann stepped in after the game, saying MLS has to offer key players like Dempsey more protection. "Obviously we are a little bit worried about Clint Dempsey getting fouled I dont know how many times in this game against Toronto," he said in a U.S. Soccer video. Toronto committed 25 fouls compared to 15 for Seattle. "Im hoping MLS is having an eye on that ... What I saw there on the weekend there were certain things not within the rules any more," Klinsmann added. "So I hope that our players in a certain way get a little bit of protection because they need to be healthy going into this World Cup." Seattle was also the victim of 25 fouls in its season-opening win over Sporting Kansas City. Asked about the Klinsmann comments on protecting stars, Toronto FC manager Ryan Nelsen stuck his tongue firmly in his cheek. "I 100 per cent agree with him," he said. "Jermain Defoe, Michael Bradley and Gilberto should be left alone, they shouldnt be allowed to tackle them." "I think theres a hidden agenda with Juergens comments," he added. Bradley, a veteran U.S. international whose father Bob Bradley used to coach the American national team, also downplayed the issue. "Its a physical league for sure but when youu look around the world, all the best games are physical," he said.dddddddddddd "Theyre hard, Teams compete at the highest level. For us, when we look back at last weekend, we feel like we played hard, we competed hard, we left everything we had on the field but in an honest, fair way. "And so I think, after the fact, for people to look and to start to talk about a play here, a play there, lets be honest, theres little plays like this that go in every game. And still when you look back at 90 minutes, I think the way that we were able to get after Seattle and make the game hard on them and really win the physical battles was something we want to take forward into this game (Saturday against D.C, United) as well." Seattle coach Sigi Schmid didnt offer much on the suspension in an interview posted on the club website. "It is what it is so we have to deal with it," he said. Dempsey is eligible to return for an April 5 road game in Portland. The MLS disciplinary committee also suspended Chicago Fire defender Lovel Palmer for two games and fined him an undisclosed amount for violent conduct toward Portland Timbers forward Maximiliano Urruti last weekend. Both Dempsey and Palmer submitted appeals that were turned down. Montreal Impact midfielder Justin Mapp was also fined an undisclosed amount for simulation in a game against the Houston Dynamo. New York Red Bulls defender Armando was banned one game and fined an undisclosed amount for serious foul play against Colorado Rapids forward Deshorn Brown. Prior to the start of the season, the leagues board of governors approved a policy stating that any player receiving a red card for violent conduct or adjudged unanimously by the discipline committee to be an unequivocal red card for violent conduct will be automatically suspended for at least two games and be fined. ' ' '