Kritik und Anregungen » s about London that havent be

WASHINGTON -- Danny Espinosa drove in eight runs in April and tallied seven RBI in Washingtons latest victory.So, after the Nationals shortstop hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in a 13-4 rout of Cincinnati on Thursday night, manager Dusty Baker offered some perspective on the performance.Thats quite a night, Baker said. Thats a week and month for some guys.Espinosas second career slam put Washington up 8-1 in the third inning, and his next drive made it 13-1 in the fourth. Espinosa ranks second on the team with 15 homers despite usually batting eighth.The switch-hitter connected off Brandon Finnegan (3-7) batting right-handed, then went deep from the left side against Josh Smith. He is the first Nationals player ever to homer from both sides of the plate, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.As his second home run cleared the fence in center field, Espinosa recalled, I was just happy. I had never done that in the big leagues, hitting a home run from both sides.Espinosas previous career high for RBI was six, and his only other grand slam came in his fifth major league game on Sept. 6, 2010.It was a rocky April for Espinosa -- as evidenced by those eight RBI -- and May was only slightly better. June, however, was a different story.Hes persevered, Baker said. Im happy for him. Now, he just needs to keep it going.Gio Gonzalez (4-7) gave up four runs and struck out nine over six innings for the NL East-leading Nationals, whose current winning streak comes on the heels of a seven-game skid. Gonzalez was 0-6 with an 8.44 ERA in his previous seven starts.Ryan Zimmerman got the rout started with a three-run homer in the first inning against the lowly Reds, who have lost eight of nine.Joey Votto homered for Cincinnati, which has yielded 40 runs in its last four games -- all of them defeats.Espinosas slam chased Finnegan, who surrendered eight runs, five hits and five walks in 2 1/3 innings.You all saw the game. Not much to say about it, Finnegan said. It was definitely my worst outing of the year -- of my life, honestly. Just have to get ready for my next start.He had never given up more runs, or gotten fewer outs as a starter.The lesson learned? It wasnt as much about the home runs as the five walks.Throw strikes, Finnegan said. Thats about it.Smith provided little relief, giving up five runs and four hits in 1 2/3 innings.Washington tied a season high for runs in a game without receiving a contribution from reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper, who was given the night off by Baker.His legs are a little tired, Baker said, noting that Harper twisted his ankle earlier in the week. Hes been playing through things the last couple days.HIT PARADEReds: It was the second time in seven games that Cincinnati lost by nine runs. The Reds have allowed at least 13 runs eight times this season.Nationals: During its five-game winning streak, Washington has outscored the opposition 36-12.TRAINERS ROOMReds: RHP Caleb Cotham (right shoulder inflammation) was scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Thursday night at Class-AA Pensacola against Chattanooga. Manager Bryan Price said the plan is to have Cotham pitch around five times in the minors, and then well reassess. Cotham has been on the DL since May 31. ... OF Billy Hamilton passed concussion protocol and was in the starting lineup after being struck in the face by a deflected line drive Wednesday.Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (back, ribs) is eligible to return from the DL on Friday, but that almost certainly will not happen. Im more inclined not to rush him, Baker said.UP NEXTReds: RHP Anthony DeSclafani (2-0, 1.52 ERA) makes his fifth start of the season, bringing a 13-inning scoreless streak into Friday nights game against Washington.Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (7-5, 2.96) is 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA over his last four starts.Cheap Jerseys 2020 .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Cheap Authentic Jerseys 2020 . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. https://www.wholesalejerseysreview.com/ . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. China Jerseys 2020 . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Wholesale Jerseys Review . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1.It was the chairmans idea.How could he get the NFL, one of the largest global brands in all of sports, to agree to hold regular-season games in a Premier League stadium? It had never been done.Maybe the NFL thought Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy was, as he said, a little bit mad in 2012 when he suggested the two agree to hold NFL games in his clubs new 61,000-seat stadium beginning when it opens in 2018. But the NFL listened.Levy proposed equipping the stadium with a retractable pitch -- a grass soccer field over a synthetic surface for NFL games -- which would make it possible to hold two games in the same stadium on the same day. Over time, Levy also agreed to configure the stadium so the sight lines would be as good for NFL games as they would be for soccer games and to build a dedicated NFL-sized locker room and NFL-sized medical and media facilities.We worked together, Levy said, because it needed to be viewed as a combined joint soccer and NFL stadium. In fact, the way we designed the whole experience is one side of the stadium is a dedicated soccer entrance and the other side is a dedicated NFL entrance.If it ever got to a stage where the NFL decided it wanted to have a permanent team in London, this stadium could literally be, whatever the team was, it would be their stadium as opposed to an NFL team feeling theyre renting Tottenhams stadium.That is a big reason why Mark Waller, the NFLs executive vice president of international, told ESPN.com earlier this year that he could see the league putting a team in London by 2020 if the ownership decided that was something we wanted to do.The NFL has been building a fan base in England since it started its International Series there in 2007. The league has held 14 regular-season games in London -- all at Wembley Stadium -- and will hold three more there this season, including one at Twickenham Stadium, home of Englands national rugby team.Starting in 2018, the NFL will hold at least two games at Tottenhams as-yet-named stadium for a 10-year period, although Levy said, Weve encouraged them to engage with us in a wider way.If the NFL decides it wants to base a team in London, Levy said the Spurs?would like to host it.We would welcome very much close cooperation with the NFL and a dedicated team, Levy said. Obviously a decision is entirely theirs whether they do bring a team to the U.K., and where it would be located is something that would be talked about. But yes, we would be very much welcome to that scenario.When Levy became chairman for the Spurs in 2001, he had three objectives: improve the quality of the team, build a world-class training facility and build a new stadium.When the stadium, which will be adjacent to Tottenhams current White Hart Lane home, is complete, Levy will have achieved all three. Last season, the Spurs finished third in the Premier League, their highest finish of Levys tenure. And a couple of years ago they moved to a new training facility, where they soon will break ground on an addition for player housing.But the stadium and the accompanying neighborhood revitalization project -- both of which are known as the Northumberland Development Project -- are Levys baby. The project includes the construction of new homes, a hotel, a medical facility and a grocery store, among other things.I have lived and breathed this project from day one, the 54-year-old Levy said. It is absolutely my ambition to make this work. When I first started talking about it internally at the club, again I think people around me thought I was mad as well. I guess its my tenacity to get it done because there were many times with the NFL where there wasnt going to be an arrangement. We just kept going back and saying, What about this? What about that?When we first went to them, we went to them with the idea of a joint stadium in some shape or form without going through all the details at that stage. As we sat down and we went through all the operations, we worked out, What does the NFL need? What does soccer need? Basically we had a checklist of all the various things we wanted to achieve, and then at the end of the day it was the best solution.Levy said hee researched stadiums in the United States, and while he said he didnt want to give away any trade secrets, the major difference between venues there versus in England is the scale.dddddddddddd. Theyre enormous, Levy said. So while Tottenhams video boards will be the largest in a European stadium, they wont touch the size of some in the U.S.And although Levy looked at the retractable grass field at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, home of the Cardinals, there were logistical differences there, too. That field retracts outside the indoor stadium, where it can be exposed to sunlight. At the Tottenham site, where land is at a premium, the grass field will retract under the stands and be exposed to artificial light.But unlike Wembley Stadium, the Spurs new venue wont need to be reconfigured to accommodate an NFL field. So the turnaround time from hosting a soccer match on the grass field to an NFL game on the synthetic surface will be two hours.One of the idle thoughts we have at the moment is, would you really be able to play an NFL game and an EPL game on the same day as a doubleheader? Waller said. It wouldnt be absolutely out of the question. I dont think youd want to do it on a regular basis, but on a unique feature, that might be a really interesting idea.Said Levy: I dont think its something wed want to try our first game, but that is certainly realistic. How exciting the idea of having the two biggest leagues in the world from a television perspective -- fantastic! -- play on the same day.While the NFL likes to cite a string of statistics that shows how well it is trending in England -- such as that it has sold out every game at Wembley -- Levy is a bit more conservative in his assessment of whether England can support a full-time NFL franchise.It starts with kids.Kids in school in England dont think about NFL, Levy said. They think about soccer, and to a much, much less extent rugby and cricket. You wouldnt put the NFL in that list at the moment, and therefore one has to be cautious about the timing of the decision and how that is done.I think its possible and I think it can work, otherwise we wouldnt have invested what weve invested in our stadium, and we wouldnt have entered into the arrangement with the NFL. I just think that everyone needs to have their feet on the ground, and just because you sell out three games of 80,000 or 90,000 people [doesnt mean] that a franchise is an automatic success.One NFC front office executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says he worries about issues beyond the size of the fan base. He wonders if commissioner Roger Goodell and the league are being overly aggressive with their overseas ambitions during a time when player safety is being emphasized.I would say 2020 is probably the realistic goal in Rogers mind and the owners minds, he said. Theres been so much talk about international. My biggest concern is were trying so hard to go international in so many places too fast that too many bad things can happen. Theyre talking about playing in China. Are you kidding me? Its a bad idea. There are enormous questions about London that havent been answered, but its player safety, player safety, player safety. Regardless of the timeframe, Levy emphasized two things would help put a U.K. franchise in position to succeed. One is the continued engagement of fans, young and old. The other is ensuring that the stadium experience is a real NFL experience, because if its not, not only will the fans attending the game know it, so will the ones watching on television.Tottenham is committed to making the stadium experience special, and if and when the NFL is ready to move a team to London, it will be waiting.Clearly we wouldnt both be putting all this into this stadium if there wasnt the prospect of one day a team eventually coming to London, Levy said. But there are certainly no guarantees that A) a team comes to London, and B) they have to use our stadium.I think were all putting the effort in in the hopes that they will do it. ' ' '