Harrison, NJ (SportsNetwork. Ernie Banks Cubs Jersey .com) - Sporting Kansas Citys MLS Cup defense will begin on Thursday when the club travels to Red Bull Arena to face Red Bull New York in the Eastern Conference play-in game. Kansas City finished the 2013 regular season in second place, one point back of the MLS Supporters Shield-winning Red Bulls. Sporting went on to win MLS Cup in the playoffs, but the 2014 campaign has been a significant deviation from last seasons success. Once in the discussion for the top seed in the East, a poor second half to the season yielded an abysmal 3-8-1 record after the All-Star Game, dropping Sporting to fifth place in the table. Kansas City concluded its regular season on Sunday with a disappointing 2-0 home loss to the Red Bulls. SKC head coach Peter Vermes cited the teams exhaustion as one of the main factors for the demise. To me, this isnt a bad loss from the point of view that the guys fought and tried, theyre just tired, Vermes said of the loss to RBNY. One is you make technical or tactical errors and the other is you make psychological errors when youre tired, and the guys are. There was really nothing we could do. Im not sure if Im not being clear, but when you have as many guys out as we do, at some point you have to understand you cant replace those guys. We have a salary cap. So were asking guys that are not regulars, not ready yet, to be 34-game times 90-type players. And theyre having to play like that on a regular basis. And not just through one competition, its been multiple. Ive painted those examples before, but I dont walk around with the guys and paint excuses to them based on that. We have to get healthy and I think that if our guys are recovered and healthy, we can give any team in this league a good game. The Red Bulls have also had to contend with CONCACAF Champions League fixtures this season, but head coach Mike Petke seems to have managed the extra fixtures more appropriately. New York essentially enters the postseason at full fitness, a testament to Petkes rotation policy. The Red Bulls rested captain Thierry Henry for Sundays meeting with Sporting, but the team rallied and earned a result in what Petke identified as one of the most enjoyable matches hes witnessed since assuming the managerial duties of his former club. This was one of the more enjoyable games since Ive been a coach, because you put a game plan out and you watch it executed, its a fun thing, Petke said after the match. Thats not always the case, but these guys were disciplined, they did exactly what we wanted to do and Im happy for them. We didnt celebrate like we won anything. Its just a good thing now we can go home and have a home game. Bradley Wright-Phillips stole the headlines by notching both goals on the night to finish with 27 goals on the campaign, tying Chris Wondolowski and Roy Lassiter for the single-season scoring record. But according to goalkeeper Luis Robles, the shutting out SKC striker Dom Dwyer was the biggest contributing factor to helping the Red Bulls march on to three points on Sunday. The thing that stuck out was defensively we limited Kansas Citys chances, said Robles, who only had to make two saves en route to recording his sixth clean sheet of the year. Realistically, they only had the one in the beginning with Dwyer and after that we won every second ball, were chasing balls down and it was a performance that we can really be proud of. Kosuke Fukudome Cubs Jersey . The 57-year-old Tietjens has coached New Zealand to nine IRB World Sevens titles and to four Commonwealth Games gold medals as its only coach in the professional era. New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said the re-signing was made with a focus on 2016 when sevens will be in the Olympics. David Ross Jersey . Algeria led 3-0 at halftime, but withstood a stronger South Korean second half performance to claim its first World Cup win since 1982 and move into second place in Group H with one match left to play. Defeat for South Korea means it must now beat already-qualified Belgium to stand a chance of progressing to the knockout stages. http://www.cubsauthentic.com/cubs-brandon-morrow-jersey/ . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action.WINNIPEG -- Wade Miller has pressed the firing button again. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced Wednesday the firing of head coach Tim Burke. Miller said the move was made Tuesday, after the "acting" tag was removed from his title of president and chief executive officer. When Miller was put in the acting role in August, his first move was axing general manager Joe Mack. Although Kyle Walters is the teams acting GM, Miller explained why he let Burke go rather than wait for a GM to decide his fate. "I believe that it was the right step for this organization," he said at Wednesdays press conference. "Typically, a new general manager is going to want to hire his own person, and I believe now that weve set that path for a new general manager to be able to make his own determination of who his head coach should be. "And also, that I didnt feel it was appropriate to have Tim waiting for the next three or four or five weeks in determining what his future was with the organization." Burke became Winnipegs interim head coach in August 2012 after Mack fired Paul LaPolice. He was given the job last November. The Bombers finished with a league-worst 3-15 record this season, tying the clubs lowest mark in an 18-game season. They were 7-21 under Burkes leadership. All the assistant coaches are on contracts that are up this year, Miller said, adding hes open to Burke staying with the team because hes got good character and has excelled as a defensive boss. Burke reportedly had a year left on his contract. "I think that wed be lucky as an organization to have Tim back as a defensive co-ordinator," Miller said. "I think that thats a decision that the new head coach and general manager will make, but that is definitely something that Tim and I discussed." Burke is receptive to that and wants to meet the new head coach, said Miller, wholl be involved in the interview process with the GM. "Ive really enjoyed my time in Winnipeg and am grateful for the opportunity this franchise gave me," Burke said in a press release. "The fan support in this city and province is just really remarkable and it is one of the greatest things I can take away from this experience in Winnipeg." Miller acknowledged Burke was in "an extremely tough spot when he took over." And it got worse this season. Mack kept often-injured Buck Pierce as the teams starting quarterback, and predictably Pierce was lost to injury early this season. His young backups didnt flourish, Mack was fired annd then Pierce was traded to B. Addison Russell Cubs Jersey. C. in September. Offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach Gary Crowton was fired after Mack and replaced by former Hamilton head coach Marcel Bellefeuille, whod been added to the staff the week before as a consultant. Miller didnt view Winnipegs disastrous season as a negative to finding someone to replace Burke. "I think you get an opportunity to come make a mark for yourself," he said. "Its not going to happen overnight, but the head coach and general manager are going to need to have a direction and a plan to get us to be competitive every week." The Bombers will have some competition searching for a head coach as there are also vacancies in Edmonton and Ottawa, while Montreal GM Jim Popp took over as the Alouettes head coach when Dan Hawkins was fired earlier this season. Miller said the GM the team hires, which is two to four weeks in the offing, would have a list of candidates theyd want to pursue as a head coach. Some names that have surfaced include Calgary offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson, Saskatchewan quarterbacks coach Khari Jones, B.C. offensive co-ordinator Jacques Chapdelaine and Toronto defensive co-ordinator/assistant head coach Chris Jones. Dickenson is considered a desirable candidate, although its believed he doesnt want to break his family and professional ties in Calgary. Khari Jones has strong ties to the Bombers. The former quarterback is in the clubs hall of fame and he and Miller played together and are partners in Booster Juice franchises. "Im not going to talk about potential candidates," Miller said. "People that know me know that I care about being competitive and personal relationships wouldnt impact decisions that I make." If the Bombers are looking for someone with head coaching experience, a list might include former Bombers boss Doug Berry (Montreal) and Kavis Reed, who was recently fired by Edmonton and is a former Winnipeg defensive co-ordinator. The firing of LaPolice, now a TSN broadcaster, was also called a bad move by many Bomber fans. "If youve been a head coach before, is that a good thing or a bad thing, who knows?" Miller said. "So I think its important to find the right person, and (having) head coach experience is important, but not a deal-breaker, either." He did know what the right person will hopefully bring to the club. "Bring an attitude, bring leadership, bring a vision of where we need to go, along with the general manager," Miller said. ' ' '