paint this as Woe is me and were getting all the bad brea

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Frisco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Theres good reason as to why North Dakota States national championship-winning football program doesnt beat itself on the playing field. The three-time defending FCS champion Bison, seeking an unprecedented fourth straight title on Saturday, have a roster full of smart players - both on and off the field. The Missouri Valley Football Conferences 2014 All-Academic team featured 12 players from 10 schools on the first team, and, incredibly, five of the selections were from North Dakota State, each with a grade point average over 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. Its invaluable. Football is a very, very cerebral game, said Illinois State coach Brock Spack, whose team will play the Bison in the FCS championship game. Obviously, theyre a very talented team. They wouldnt win three national titles in a row or be here four years if they didnt have talent. But theyre very well coached, very disciplined and, obviously, very smart. North Dakota States MVFC All-Academic first-team selections were defensive end Kyle Emanuel (3.66 GPA), who won the 2014 Buck Buchanan Award as the FCS defensive player of the year; center Jesse Hinz (3.71); linebacker Esley Thornton (3.92); wide receiver Zach Vraa (3.51); and quarterback Carson Wentz (4.00). Free safety Christian Dudzik made the second team and place-kicker Adam Keller and running back Chase Morlock were honorable mention selections. NDSU has a plus-12 turnover margin and ranks second in the FCS in time of possession. The Bison also rank second nationally in scoring defense and third in total defense. They have a 14-1 record this season and are 57-3 since the start of the 2011 season. . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct. . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. http://www.officialnuggetsstore.com/All ... ersey/.com Tours Nova Scotia Open. The 27-year-old Sloan, a former Texas-El Paso player from Calgary matched first-round leader Rodriguez at 10-under 132 on Ashburn Golf Clubs New Course. . GQ Lundqvist quite well.Three rounds, and nearly two months later, will the Kings have the strength to reach the summit of the Empire State to claim the cup?Truer words have never been spoken. . Patrick Sharp scored twice and Patrick Kane, Bryan Bickell and Nick Leddy also connected to lead Chicago to a 5-2 win over the Devils on Monday night.Staring down a six-game stretch heading into the Olympic break, the Maple Leafs gathered as a group and discussed the importance of yielding as many points as possible out of a pair of match-ups with the Panthers and Lightning as well as games against the Senators and Canucks. Already with four wins out of five, a victory on Saturday night against Vancouver would make it mission accomplished. "We want to end this part of the year off on a winning note," said Dion Phaneuf after the team took part in an off-ice workout on Friday. "We talked about it two weeks ago, how we wanted to get as many points as possible to set ourselves up going into the break in a good position." Despite the Leafs rolling to a 10-2-1 record in their last 13 games, a playoff position is still far from secured though. On Jan. 12, the day they beat the Devils 3-2 in a shootout to begin this impressive stretch, the Leafs sat two points out of a Wild Card spot. As of Feb. 7, they sit with a five-point Wild Card cushion and have gained ten points on the Montreal Canadiens to draw even at 68 points. Though still with 23 games remaining, Toronto is nowhere close to a position where they can ease up on their effort. "I dont think any team wants to give away any points," said Carl Gunnarsson. "Were in kind of a tight spot too. We really need the points." So too do the Canucks who have struggled mightily of late, losing six straight games and posting a dismal 4-12-2 record since the turn of the calendar to see their six-point Wild Card cushion evaporate to just one. That doesnt, however, mean the Leafs are taking anything for granted. "When youre playing a team that hasnt had as much success as theyd like, theyre going to want to end their pre-Olympic break on thee right note," Phaneuf said.dddddddddddd"Were expecting a push out of them." How hard the Canucks can push though is the question, since they are missing Henrik Sedin, Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis, Chris Tanev, Andrew Alberts, Mike Santorelli and Yannick Weber to various injuries and ailments. "Quite honestly, Ive never been through so many injuries at one time in all the years that Ive coached," said head coach John Tortorella after putting his team through practice at the MasterCard Center on Friday. "I dont want to paint this as Woe is me and were getting all the bad breaks, we have to find a way to get out of it. I think we have in the past three games regained our structure and hopefully itll get things going our way tomorrow." Outscored 23-10 during their six-game skid, an inspired performance from both Daniel Sedin and Roberto Luongo would be most welcomed by the Canucks. Sedin has not scored in 2014 and has just five assists in the 18 games he has played since the turn of the calendar. Luongo meanwhile has lost his last four starts, posting an ugly 3.50 GAA and .881 save percentage. With their playoff cushion all but evaporated, the Canucks no longer have time to slowly work their way out of this slump. They need points, and fast. "I think a win is the top priority," Luongo insisted. "I dont want to sit here and make excuses, injuries are part of every team in the NHL, and everybody goes through it. You still have to find a way to accumulate points. That being said, were missing a lot of guys but sometimes its little things and then all of a sudden it snowballs into bigger things and next thing you know, you dont realize it but youre in a six-game losing streak." ' ' '