Lanschaften » second overtime as Rutgers

BARCELONA, Spain -- Former Barcelona player Luis Enrique promised a new start for the Catalan club after signing a two-year contract to become coach on Wednesday. Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years. "We believe that this is the beginning of a new Barcelona, a Barcelona that will excite again," Luis Enrique said. "When I left Barca the club told me that it was a see you later and they have kept their word. I cant wait to hear the hymn of Barcelona in the Camp Nou." The 44-year-old Luis Enrique won two league titles as a Barcelona player from 1996-2004 and coached its B team from 2008-11. He also coached at Roma, and led Celta Vigo to a respectable ninth-place finish this season after installing an attractive passing attack on the Barcelona model. Luis Enriques hiring continues a recent tradition of in-house coaches recently represented in Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. That string was broken when Martino was hastily brought in last year after Vilanova resigned to focus on his battle with throat cancer that he eventually lost last month. Luis Enrique is the clubs eighth former captain to coach the club, joining such greats as Laszlo Kubala, Cesar Rodriguez, Johan Cruyff and Guardiola. Although Luis Enrique was never in the same class as them, he will be only the second former captain to coach the clubs B side and first team. Guardiola is the other. Luis Enrique asked not to be compared with Guardiola, and said his best quality as a coach was being a leader, not as an expert in tactics, despite his insider knowledge of Barcelonas ball-control approach. "I dont rely too heavily on tactical knowhow, instead I focus on managing a group, managing egos," he said. "There is work that goes on during the week, work based on knowing each player. I try to be everything a leader is." Luis Enriques immediate goal is to work with sports director Andoni Zubizarreta and rebuild a squad that has experienced a slow slide over the past two years. "He is a coach that knows our way of playing, our philosophy. We believe that we have put the squad that we are going to build for next season in good hands," said Zubizarreta, who also recalled that Enrique had "put a goal or two" past the former Barcelona goalkeeper when Enrique played for Real Madrid. Under Luis Enrique, Barcelona will be expected to bring in reinforcements to help Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Neymar. And he wont be measured -- at least not immediately -- against Guardiola, who won an unprecedented six titles in his first season and 14 of a possible 19 in four years. Luis Enrique acknowledged his other challenge is helping Messi rediscover the competitive spirit that the clubs all-time leading scorer appeared to lack during some matches after recovering from nagging muscle injuries last season. "I am thrilled to have the best player in the world on my team," Enrique said. "Its obvious that Messis output this season wasnt as incredible as in past years ... I hope that with me he can find his best version, but not only him, also Iniesta and Neymar and the rest." Luis Enrique can draw on links with three generations of players, having played alongside veteran Xavi Hernandez, coached former B team player Sergio Busquets, and taken rising talent Rafina Alcantara from Barcelona to Celta on loan and now back. Luis Enrique is one of the few players to have enjoyed successful stints at both Barcelona and Madrid. He occupies a special place among Barcelonas faithful as the one recent player to have left Madrid for Barcelona, in contrast to a group of former stars who left for the Spanish capital, including Luis Figo, Bernd Schuster and Michael Laudrup. Cheap Panthers Jerseys Authentic . They find themselves trying to knock each other out in the Western Conference finals for the second straight year. The Blackhawks prevailed last year on their way to the Stanley Cup, and they have the early lead this time after taking the opener, 3-1. Authentic J.J. Jansen Jersey . -- Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 98-96 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. http://www.cheapcarolinapanthersjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-torrey-smith-jersey . With the team he supported as a child on the verge of reaching the Champions League semifinals for the first time in 19 years, Ba instead scored the goal that knocked them out. Authentic Ben Jacobs Jersey .J. -- Freshman Eli Carter scored a career-high 31 points and hit the go-ahead basket in the second overtime as Rutgers rallied to stun No. Authentic Cameron Artis-Payne Jersey .C. -- Clemson celebrated a senior class Saturday that brought the program back as a national contender.SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Padres took a break from a dizzying series of trades Friday afternoon to introduce one of their new sluggers, Matt Kemp.Kemp, in turn, put the blockbusters by general manager A.J. Preller into perspective as only a guy fresh from Hollywood could.This is unbelievable. Hes a GM rock star right now, moving in and out and doing so many things right now, said Kemp, who sat between Preller and manager Bud Black at news conference at Petco Park. Every day theres something different.Preller smiled and said, Thats definitely the first time Ive gotten the rock star tag.Later, Preller, a native New Yorker, said he listens to Frank Sinatra most mornings, but I dont know if that characterizes me as a rock star.Preller has certainly gotten the Padres humming with a badly needed new identity in just more than a week.Since Dec. 11, Preller has worked a five-player deal with the division rival Los Angeles Dodgers to get Kemp; an 11-player deal with Tampa Bay and Washington to get outfielder Wil Myers, the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year with the Rays; a six-player deal with Atlanta for slugger Justin Upton; a four-player trade with Oakland that landed All-Star catcher Derek Norris; and a straight-up trade with Boston to get third baseman Will Middlebrooks for catcher Ryan Hanigan, who came over from Tampa Bay.Prellers wheeling and dealing isnt over yet, since he has a surplus of outfielders.Its a stunning haul for a team that has had only two winning seasons since its last playoff appearance, in 2006.Preller said acquiring Kemp kicked-started the process, and the other deals started falling into place.Preller has managed to give Black a more well-rounded club that gives us a chance, while retaining top three starters Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross and Ian Kennedy, and most top prospects.We wanted to get a core group that we could give to Buddy and his coaches and hopefully have that group play together for a long time, Preller said.Preller said the Padres are taking a win now and win later attitude. I dont think we went out and just emptied the cupboards and dont have any other players in the system. We definitely looked at different paths to the off-season and one of the things that was attractive to us was to find a way to get offence without touching the front-line pitching in the big leagues.Black said the calibre of players that have come in in a short period of time is extremely impressive, from All-SStars to MVP candidates to guys who are talked as potentially some of the best players in the game as far as talent and production.ddddddddddddreller was hired in August after developing a reputation as a hard-working, hard-charging scouting and player development executive with the Texas Rangers.Kemp and Upton are among the games top power hitters.Kemp had a strong second half in 2014 for the NL West champion Dodgers. He finished the season with a .287 average, 25 home runs and 89 RBIs. That deal, agreed to early the morning of Dec. 11 at the winter meetings in San Diego, was finalized Thursday night.Although hes hit well at Petco Park, Kemp said he hated facing Padres pitchers.Now we have some offence and were going to help them score runs, he said.On Thursday, there was a report the Padres were concerned that Kemp had arthritic hips.Ive got a little arthritis, he said, adding that its nothing to worry about.These hips are unbelievable, man, he said to laughter. These hips are great. You all keep talking about my hips. You want to see my hips, man? Strong hips.Upton, who will earn $14.5 million in the final year of his contract, had 29 homers and 102 RBIs last season. That deal has yet to be finalized.Preller seems to be a later-day Trader Jack McKeon, just without the cigar. McKeon was general manager of the Padres when they went to the World Series in 1984, earning his nickname for his fondness for deals.The Padres also got catcher Tim Federowicz and $32 million from the Dodgers to help defray the remaining $107 million on Kemps deal. The Padres obligation of $75 million to Kemp during the next five years becomes the biggest contract in club history. The Dodgers got catcher Yasmani Grandal and right-handers Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin.Myers and Hanigan came over from Tampa Bay in an 11-player, three-team deal. The Padres gave up catcher Rene Rivera and four prospects. Shortly after that trade was finalized Friday morning, Preller flipped Hanigan for Middlebrooks.Upton and a minor league pitcher cost Preller four prospects, including lefty Max Fried.The Padres had a historically awful offence in the first half of 2014. Although they played better in the second half, they finished at the bottom of the majors with a .226 average, .292 on-base percentage and 535 runs. Their 109 homers were the second fewest in the baseball.___Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson ' ' '