Plauderecke » We didnt play our best and we got

WINNIPEG -- Brad Jacobs was the first to admit how poorly his team played. Hes also one win away from a trip to the Winter Games. The reigning Canadian champion remained undefeated at 6-0 with a 5-4 victory Thursday night over veteran Kevin Martin, clinching a spot in Sundays final of the Canadian Olympic curling trials. "Even though we were, in all honesty, pretty bad that game, we were able to pull it out and I think thats huge," Jacobs said. "And I think even though we were sloppy, we were still confident. But it was really nice to be in a game like that where we had to grind and score two to win." Martin came out of the battle of the best with a 5-1 record that earned the veteran from Edmonton a berth into Saturday afternoons semifinal. The other semifinalist wont be determined until the men finish their seven-game Roar of the Rings round robin with a morning draw Friday at the MTS Centre. With Martin leading 4-3, Jacobs blanked the eighth and ninth ends to keep the hammer in the 10th. Both rinks had a pair of rocks inside the four-foot, with a Jacobs stone almost dead centre in the button. Martin then put up a guard, forcing the 28-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to do a run-back takeout and score two points. Martin, who won gold at the 2010 Olympics and silver in 2002, is looking for a fourth trip to the Games. The 47-year-old was leading Jacobs 3-1 after four ends, but Jacobs scored two in the sixth to tie it up. Martin looked like he was going to taken advantage of Jacobs misses in the seventh end and score two, but after he took out a Jacobs stone his own rock was just barely swept out of the rings for the 4-3 lead. Martin agreed it was a sloppy game by both sides. "But Brad made a good one in his last one," he said. A duel between the Winnipeg rinks skipped by Jeff Stoughton and Mike McEwen ended with McEwen defeating the veteran 9-6. Stoughton, who dropped to 2-4, was given a standing ovation. McEwen sits at 3-3. Before competing in his fifth trials, Stoughton said itll be his last attempt to go to the Olympics. McEwen jumped to a 5-1 lead after the third end when he scored four against the two-time world champion, but Stoughton stole two in the fifth to close the gap 5-4. McEwen stretched the lead to 9-5 after a draw for three in the eighth end. "Its whoever played their best this week," Stoughton said. "We didnt play our best and we got what we got, which is not enough wins to get in the playoffs." Winless Kevin Koe of Calgary drew to the button to claim his first victory of the competition with a 7-6 decision over veteran Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont. (2-4). John Morris, who curls out of Kelowna, B.C., improved to 4-2 with a 7-6 win over John Epping of Toronto (1-5). "Not the textbook when youre up 5-2 that youd want to play it, but thats how we roll," Morris said. "Sometimes its not pretty, but we get the job done and were excited to live on till tomorrow." Morris plays Martin on Friday, with the other matchups between Stoughton and Howard, McEwen and Koe and Epping against Jacobs. On the womens side, Rachel Homan avoided playing a tiebreaker and grabbed a spot in the semifinals. The reigning Canadian champion defeated Stefanie Lawton of Saskatoon 6-5 in the final game of their seven-game round robin to finish 4-3, but Winnipegs Chelsea Carey and Ontarios Sherry Middaugh also sported the same mark. Homan got bumped to the semi, though, because her Ottawa rink fared better than Carey and Middaughs teams on rankings based on draws to the button before games throughout the week. "It wasnt important," Homan said of avoiding a tiebreaker. "Its nice to be able to get second place and go into the semi. Either way we had a chance and thats all we needed." Carey and Middaugh will play their tiebreaker Friday afternoon, with the winner taking on Homan later that night. Homan, 24, had no preference on which team theyd prefer taking on. "Weve played them both a million times and its going to be a good game either way and hopefully we can win it in 10 (ends)," Homan said. Winnipeg veteran skip Jennifer Jones already earned a bye into Saturday nights final and will watch her competitors battle it out. Jones, 39, defeated Edmontons Heather Nedohin 6-5 to finish her round robin at 6-1, while Nedohin ended with a 3-4 mark. Homan almost had to play in a tiebreaker, but Edmontons Val Sweeting lost 9-8 in an extra end to Renee Sonnenberg of Grande Prairie, Alta., and fell to 3-4. Sonnenberg finished 1-6. Carey had a chance to grab second place outright, but she lost 7-6 to Middaugh. "If theyd told us at the start of the week wed have a tiebreaker, wed take it," Carey, 29, said. Middaugh, 47, whos competing in her fourth trials, was leading 5-3 after six ends and stole another point in the seventh. She also saw room for improvement after the win. "The first seven ends were fun and then I turned off my brain in my last shot in eight and then the collar got a little tight after that so I cant lie," Middaugh said. Dustin Pedroia Jersey . When a game is in the balance, however, they still have the personnel and the experience to end up with the two points. Chris Sale Jersey . Kerr said he had dinner with Jackson, his former coach with Chicago and the new Knicks team president, on Friday night and they talked again Saturday. Kerr is in New York to work the game between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors for TNT. http://www.cheapredsoxjerseys.com/. Then youve got to worry about the other up and coming teams in the two weaker divisions in the "Junior Circuit". Robby Scott Jersey .J. - Trying to learn and absorb the new West Coast offence being installed by new offensive co-ordinator Ben McAdoo, the New York Giants wrapped their final organized team activity Thursday before a three-day mini-camp next week. David Price Jersey . on the 15-day disabled Monday list because of a strained right hamstring.Detroit Red Wings super star, Pavel Datsyuk owned the 2013 TSN NHL Play of the Year Showdown Championship match, literally. It was an all-Datsyukian final, with two fantastic plays going head-to-head for the title. In the end, it was Datsyuks end-to-end dangle through almost every Nashville player on the ice that captured the title. On the winning play, Datsyuk showcases his hands, vision and perseverance. He starts by throwing a solid hit in his own defensive zone and retreiving the loose puck, and by the time this play is over, Datsyuk makes every single Nashville player on the ice look silly. Datsyuks winning play was able to beat a stellar individual effort by New York Islander forward Michael Grabner, an incredible play that saw Floridas Shawn Matthias muscle and dive his way to the net, and a dazzling display of hand-eye coordination by Edmontons Magnus&nbbsp;Paajarvi.dddddddddddd But it was the semi final match-up against a showstopper of a save by the Blues Jake Allen that really brought the drama. As this match neared its conclusion, the Detroit Red Wings were Tweeting and firing off message on Facebook nearly every minute in an attempt to rally the fans, thanking them personally for their support when fans tweeted their votes. It was this last-minute push by the team, which saw Datsyuk mount an incredible, last minute comeback and squeek out the victory by .5% over Allen. Thanks to all the fans for taking the time to watch the plays and vote, thanks to the teams for getting involved and rallying around their players, and thanks to the players for making such oustanding, highlight-reel plays. See you next year. Last years TSN NHL Play of the Year Showdown winner was Winnipeg Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. ' ' '