te should take into account exclusively the individual professional achievements of the players. Finally, we believe that Crist

It is the early 90s and a winter night in Chicago. Michael Jordan is at the free throw line. He is in the prime of his career yet with no one in front of him the greatest shooter in the history of man misses. Bounce, bounce, clank. He would go on to miss 1,444 other free throws throughout his magnificent NBA career. No one is perfect. Not even his Airness. It is now the final month of 2014. Soccer’s governing body have informed us that three men have been nominated for their illustrious individual honour, the Ballon d’Or. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Manuel Neuer. Messi and Ronaldo are on the three-man ballot for a fourth successive year. That is no surprise. The third name, however, certainly raises eyebrows. Not because he is German, after all it was clear many wanted a World Cup winner on the ballot, particularly after all the moaning and campaigning coming out of the mouth of UEFA President Michel Platini in recent weeks. The surprise comes from the fact Neuer is a goalkeeper. There is little doubt that the Bayern Munich stopper is the greatest at his position in the world and during the summer spectacle in Brazil his name got more press when he in particular performed brilliantly in the game against Algeria, allowing his backline to play higher up the pitch and effectively played as a sweeper at the edge of his box. It was the kind of performance that a whole chapter of a book on the position needed and the 28-year-old is certainly the poster child for a whole new crop of goalkeepers who are technically superior to most of those who played the previous generation. Neuer is the best goalkeeper on the best national team and arguably the best club team in the world. There are plenty of reasons to explain why he is great at what he does and how he deserves the credit. Giving him the Ballon d’Or is not one of them. Platini will have slept soundly in his bed after finding out who the nominees were but the inclusion of Neuer on the ballot just puts a massive exclamation mark on the argument against a German coming in the top three, no matter which position. Germany was a marvelous team in Brazil. They peaked at the right time, overcame obstacles that came their way, had a proven international goalscorer up front, a star man out wide (when not asked to play up front) who continued to score goals at the World Cup, a brilliant trio of central midfielders and some legitimate world class defenders. None of which were good enough to be classed as a top three player in the game in 2014 and that is fine; the sport is defined by collective balance, relationships on the field and combinations that tick, a true team game. The inclusion of Neuer will certainly satisfy Platini and his cronies while ensuring FIFA’s grandest stage of all does indeed get some kind of recognition but that should be all it does. Don’t bet on it. This is FIFA after all. They have opened up a window of opportunity for the contrarian and in a world where people are trying to stand out and be different expect the Neuer campaign to pick up significant steam. Votes, of course, have already been counted and the top three nominees are simply just the top three vote getters but it was no coincidence that Platini’s mouth was wide open throughout the voting process. Now the votes have been cast more people will speak out. It hasn’t even been a day since the announcement and the Internet is flooded with journalists claiming the goalkeeper should win the award. In an incredibly flawed voting process it is easy to point fingers at the national team captains’ picks and many over the years have been hilarious. I am still convinced Xavi got robbed of the award in 2010 because many people wrote Xabi Alonso by mistake. Coaches are not much better. Last year the Laos head coach didn’t bother putting Messi on his ballot (he wasn’t the only one) and instead picked Gareth Bale as the number one player in the world. Last season, though, we should not forget that professional writers who are paid to cover this sport handed more first place votes to Franck Ribery than Ronaldo or Messi. And it wasn’t even close with the Frenchman getting 80 first place votes compared to Ronaldo’s 48 and Messi’s 31. Why? Many said it was because he was the best player on the best team who won the biggest prize of the year, the Champions League. Sound familiar? It is easy to push this entire debate aside and act like it doesn’t matter. I for one have written that in the past and continue to feel that way but it is not my opinion that matters and it is clear that clubs and players very much care about this individual award in a team sport. The more Platini talked last week the angrier Real Madrid got and in the end they were forced to issue a statement, one they will hope influenced some late voters. Firstly, we are surprised at the repeated comments regarding his [Platini’s] personal preferences over the choice of winner of the Ballon dOr, particularly given that he is the head of European footballs principal body, where our understanding is that the strictest impartiality should prevail. Secondly, the Ballon dOr is an individual rather than collective prize which is awarded annually to the best player in the world, and we believe that, in order to maintain its prestige, those who participate in the vote should take into account exclusively the individual professional achievements of the players. Finally, we believe that Cristiano Ronaldo has without doubt had his best ever professional year individually and he is deserving of the Ballon dOr. Without doubt. Two words placed inside a 120-word statement that are so poignant. Ronaldo has had some incredible years as a professional but it is this year that his club believes has been his best by some margin. It is easy to say they would say that, but it is far harder to argue against their case. We are in an era where we are all so fortunate to be able to watch closely two of the greatest players in the history of the game. Messi has won this award four times now but it is the two-time winner Ronaldo who has been marginally the better player for the best part of three years. He should have won it in 2012, he did win it in 2013 and he should win it again in 2014. He and Messi are once in a lifetime talents, only this generation has been gifted with two of them at the same time. Golf waited years for a Tiger Woods and may never fill the void once he has gone, and the NBA will never see anyone come close to another Michael Jordan. In a sport played by millions there is a pantheon of current players gathered in the penthouse and only two men should be allowed in. The fact that one is slightly better than the other for a certain year speaks to just how incredible their performances are every single week. If the FIFA Ballon d’Or really needs to be significant amongst those in the game the very least we need to ensure it does is tell the story to those who will follow us on this earth about just how good these two footballers were. What are we doing if we pass the story on to the future that someone else, who played as a goalkeeper, was the best footballer on the planet in 2014? It shouldn’t be that difficult. Those who have been given a vote by FIFA stand on the free throw line and it should be as easy as bounce, bounce, swish. But don’t count on it. Even the greatest missed sometimes. And if these guys miss on this, they’ll never fully appreciate true greatness delivered to us every week by two very special footballers. Josh Jackson Jersey . So far, so good: Gonzalez has allowed one run through 12 innings this season. His second start came Tuesday night, when he gave up only three singles over six innings to lead the Nationals to a 5-0 victory over the Miami Marlins. Kevin Johnson Jersey .Y. -- Scott Chandler is returning to Buffalo, where he spent the past three seasons establishing himself as the Bills top pass-catching tight end. http://www.officialsunsfanstore.com/shaquille-oneal-suns-jersey/ . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle. 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And it was a goal that tied it up, so that makes it even better. Goodrow, meanwhile, added an assist and has a pair of goals and five points in 17 games. James Sheppard and Logan Couture also lit the lamp for the Sharks, who have won eight of their last nine overall. Antti Niemi stopped 25-of-28 shots in the win. He is 8-6-0 in his career versus the Blues with a 2.53 goals against average and .913 save percentage. San Jose scored 14 goals in winning all three meetings with St. Louis a season ago and the Blues are coming off a defensive disappointment in Thursdays 6-4 setback to the Los Angeles Kings. The Blues netted four goals in the third period of Tuesdays 5-2 home win over the Kings, but L.A. potted a trio of goals in the final frame on Thursday to split the home-and-home set. David Backes, Dmitrij Jaskin and Kevin Shattenkirk scored in a 2:48 span in the first period to give the Blues a 3-0 lead and Jori Lehtera made it a 4-3 St. Louis advantage in the second period after that edge failed to hold. Martin Brodeur, though, was beaten six times on 37 shots as the Blues had a five-game win streak halted. We were careless at times and thats a big part of it, said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock. We did a really poor job of managing the puck as the game went on so we turned it into a track meet. Jake Allen may get the start for the Blues tonight and he is 2-1-0 lifetime versus the Sharks with a 2.34 GAA and .923 save percentage. Custom Miami Marlins Jerseys . The Rays hope to stay alive for the postseason and salvage the finale of this series Sunday at Rogers Centre, where they dropped a 7-2 decision Saturday. Chris Archer lasted 2 1/3 innings in the no-decision, charged with a run and five hits, and Alex Torres suffered the loss in relief. 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Martin Prado Jersey . 9 Baylor Bears just needed some time to get on track in their first game after the Christmas break.(SportsNetwork.com) - The San Jose Sharks aim to extend a four-game point streak tonight as they host the Vancouver Canucks in the first matchup of the season between the Pacific Division rivals. Listen to all the action live on TSN Radio 1040 beginning at 5:30pm pt. The Sharks avoided a third straight loss on home ice with Saturdays 3-1 win over the New York Islanders. Logan Couture netted the game-winning goal with 8:10 to play and Antti Niemi came up with 19 saves. On the winning goal, Marc-Edouard Vlasic sent a pass across the blue line to Justin Braun, who had his slap pass re-directed into the top of the net by Couture at the right side of the net. I knew I was trying to tip it and get it up. I was lucky it got in, said Couture. Great look by Braun. Tomas Hertl scored on the power play and James Sheppard tallied a late goal as San Jose moved to 3-0-1 over its last four games. San Jose lost defenseman Scott Hannan to an undisclosed injury late in the first period and his status for this game is unknown. Niemi, meanwhile, will make his fifth straight start and is 9-7-2 with a 2.64 goals against average and .913 save percentage in 18 prior starts against the Canucks. The Sharks won three of four versus the Canucks last season and have claimed seven of the past nine meetings overall. Vancouver did snap a three-game series road slide in its last trip to San Jose and comes in having won five of its last six overall. The Canucks rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Tuesday to open a four-game road trip. TThe Canucks trailed 2-0 after the first period, but finally got on the board with four seconds left in the second frame and then scored four times in the final frame.dddddddddddd Nick Bonino had two of those goals. Vancouver failed to score on its first 26 shots before Henrik Sedin got his club on the board with a rebound goal in the final seconds of the middle period. I think in the second we just took the game over, said Vancouver forward Shawn Matthias, who scored unassisted with 6:50 to play to cap the scoring. It just seemed like we were rolling the lines and cycling the puck well. All four lines were going. Ryan Miller made 20 saves for Vancouver. He won his sixth straight start and is 9-1-0 on the season with a 2.22 GAA and .917 save percentage. Miller is 7-1-0 lifetime versus the Sharks in nine meetings with a 2.17 GAA and .932 save percentage. Canucks forward Alex Burrows is eligible to return tonight from a three-game suspension earned for a high, late hit on Montreals Alexei Emelin in last Thursdays win. 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