... but I thought we adjusted well," Ellis said

The gold-wrapped TV deal the Canadian Football League secured last year will make financial life a lot easier for every franchise this season. But for a few weeks this spring, it also played a significant role in a labour dispute that could have stopped the season from getting off the ground. TSN/RDS and the CFL signed a new contract last year that runs through 2018, reportedly worth in the neighbourhood of $40 million per season, more than double the previous five-year agreement. That extra cash is great news for money-losing franchises like the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. "We needed a deal that would dramatically change the economics of our league and its teams and thats what this does," league commissioner Mark Cohon said last year when it was announced. "This will allow losing teams to start making money and to make some investments in their future, whether its new stadiums or practice facilities. Its definitely transformative from an economic standpoint." But the flip side of the coin was the serious pre-season friction with the CFL Players Association the lucrative new agreement provoked. Players wanted a bigger slice of the TV pie than the league was offering and in the end settled for a $600,000 bump in the salary cap to $5 million, more than a million short of what they initially sought, although only $200,000 less than their final offer to the league. But labour peace has now been guaranteed for the next five years and TSN president Stewart Johnson wants to look for even more ways to give fans an up-close-and-personal look at the CFL this season as the new deal kicks in. "How do we create better access for a viewers?" he said as the CFL prepares to start the 2014 season with the Toronto Argonauts visiting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday. He said he league has already been very co-operative in allowing the network to put microphones on players, put cameras in locker-rooms for speeches and Grey Cup pre-game and post-game talks and putting cameras in less traditional places on the field. "Look for us to continue to look for new ways to innovate when it comes to that type of thing," he said. This year former Bombers coach Paul LaPolice will move to a full-time member of the "CFL on TSN" panel from the part-time role he occupied last season. Rod Smith will host the show. "He (LaPolice) has shown to be an incredible asset to bring a coachs perspective to our panel as we try to tell those stories," said Johnston. The panel is expected to be live in Ottawa for the expansion Redblacks opener and Hamilton as their new stadium is christened. The 2014 CFL broadcast schedule will expand to 86 games in 2014, with the addition of the Ottawa expansion franchise and the playoff games, including the Grey Cup. "Were thrilled with that expansion to begin with. Having nine more games on the schedule in and of itself is a huge benefit to TSN (and) expanding to another major Canadian market that will generate interest not only in the home team but the league as a whole is a benefit to TSN." The new agreement gives TSN and RDS exclusive media rights to all CFL exhibition, regular-season and playoff games — including the Grey Cup — as well as the leagues annual draft and combine. In addition to broadcast and digital rights, it includes exclusive radio rights to the Grey Cup for TSN and Team radio stations. "The deal is an incredibly important component of TSNs overall programming schedule," said the network president. "It is an exclusive relationship with a top-tier property that delivers incredibly compelling all-Canadian content and culminates in the biggest show on Canadian soil, the Grey Cup." The CFL is a marquee property for TSN, which lost the NHL national rights earlier this year after Rogers paid $5.2-billion for a 12-year deal. Sports increasingly is seen as the premium product for broadcasters in the competitive multi-channel environment. "It has to be consumed live, there are very few folks who want to PVR a sporting event and watch it later," said Johnston. "That translates into an increased value proposition for our advertisers." Adidas Gazelle ελλαδα . -- A deflected pass that landed in DeSean Jacksons hands. Adidas Falcon παπουτσια .Y. -- Sore nose and all, Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists to help Pittsburgh beat Buffalo 5-3 on Friday night, snapping the Penguins mini-slump and slowing the Sabres late-season surge. http://www.nmdgreece.com/adidas-falcon-greece.html . Not only that, when Julian de Guzman first stepped on the pitch for Deportivo de la Coruna he became the very first Canadian to play in Spains top tier. Adidas Gazelle Φθηνα .Y. -- The Montreal Canadiens have had few reasons to celebrate this season as they have been mired near the basement of the Eastern Conference. παπουτσια NMD .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to complete a sweep of the Washington Capitals when the clubs cap a quick home-and-home series Tuesday night in the Steel City. PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- They slowed it down to a crawl in the beginning, then went as fast as they could at the end. An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. 2 Kansas 67-63 on Saturday night in the third-place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis. "Let me just say that we got beat by a fine team tonight," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said. "And theyre going to do a lot of things, I think, in the NCAA tournament this year." McKenzie Moore scored 15 for UTEP (4-4), including three free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining to get the Miners within three. Justin Crosgile scored 14 points and Vince Hunter added 10 the Miners, who held Kansas to 39 per cent shooting. "I was real pleased with the effort," Floyd said. Perry Ellis scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, Wayne Selden Jr. scored 14 and Joel Embiid came off the bench to add nine points, seven blocked shots -- all in the second half-- and six rebounds for the Jayhawks (6-1), who will likely drop from the No. 2 spot in the national rankings this coming week. Still, the Jayhawks will likely be on everybodys list of must-watch teams come March, and that gives Floyd plenty of hope for the Miners season. "We have a long ways to go to become a good basketball team," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And thats not all bad, either. We rarely have great teams in November. But were not as good as we were 17, 18 days ago. So thats a little frustrating that weve gone backwards. We didnt play well at all over here." Naadir Tharpe added 11 for the Jayhawks, who never trailed. The Jayhawks won despite Andrew Wiggins being held to six points, nearly 10 below the freshmans season average. It was the second straight night where Kansas saw a big early lead, 11-2 against Villanova and 15-2 against UTEP, evaporate and the game turn into a struggle. The finish saw UTEP scoring 13 points in just over a minute and carving away most of a late 14-point Jayhawk lead, but Kansas had enough. Barely, but enough. And if UTEP had been better from the line, it miight have been a different story -- the Miners missed 10 of 24 tries from the stripe.dddddddddddd Kansas led by 15 in the second half, and after a series of UTEP rallies, the Jayhawks were still up by 14 following Ellis jumper from the right wing with 2:21 left. It was 59-45 at that point. It was 18-8 UTEP the rest of the way, a far cry from how the Miners started the night. On UTEPs first possession, Floyd -- who isnt exactly shy about going against convention, with his box-and-one and triangle-and-two defences on display often in the Bahamas -- did something hardly ever seen anymore, especially at the start of games. He stalled, though said afterward that it wasnt a true stall, just a set with hopes of creating 3-on-2 mismatches or open drives. Think the old North Carolina "four corners," or something akin to it, anyway. Thats what the Miners did in the opening minutes, running an average of 30.1 seconds off the 35-second shot clock on their first nine possessions. Simple logic, really -- the fewer possessions Kansas had, the fewer chances it would have to score. It only sort of worked. After 5 1/2 minutes, Kansas had only two points. In that same span, the Miners had zero points. "It was different ... but I thought we adjusted well," Ellis said. The Miners missed their first six shots and didnt get on the board until 12:35 remained in the half, a drive by C.J. Cooper snapping an 0 for 6 start by UTEP and cutting Kansas lead to 7-2. By the time UTEP scored again, Kansas had already pushed the lead out to 15-2, running off eight straight. And along the way, UTEP ditched the ploy and just started playing. Thats when it became a game, for really the first time. UTEP went on an 18-11 spurt, getting within 26-20 late in the half. Wiggins -- who had been scoreless until then -- scored six straight to give Kansas a 12-point lead with 1:30 left, and Seldens acrobatic drive gave the Jayhawks a 34-25 lead at the break. But UTEP hung around, all the way to the end. "We didnt want to leave here without getting better for the rest of the season," Hunter said. "I believe we did. I believe we got better, playing the No. 2 team in the country." ' ' '