nd Seattle Sounders. The award was created by supporters of the three teams back in 2004. Seattle claimed the Cascadia Cup last

SOUTH BEND, Ind. Radoslav Nesterovic Jersey . -- A disappointing 2-4 start for Notre Dame has seemingly left observers with contrasting images of Brian Kelly.There is the head coach who after different losses this season has said to reporters that all of his players jobs are up for grabs, who has labeled his quarterbacks play as sub-standard and who has deemed his centers snapping of the ball in a hurricane as atrocious.Then there is the Kelly who praised his players in the locker room after Saturdays 10-3 loss to NC State, saying in a video posted by the athletic department this week that he needs to do a better job, adding: I couldnt find a way to win that game for you.On Wednesday, Fighting Irish players took turns defending their coachs demeanor, from the tough public love to the more intimate dealings behind closed doors.Thats tough. You never really -- obviously some guys dont perform in every game and its tough at this level, senior linebacker and captain James Onwualu said of Kellys comments to reporters. Obviously we dont love seeing that from a head coach, but sometimes its necessary, I guess.Starting quarterback DeShone Kizer said he wouldnt use the word blame to describe Kellys public methods, saying there are 11 players who have a job to do and that they take it as a challenge.James walks in and he gives an answer and its perceived as if hes saying that its a horrible thing that coach puts blame on guys, Kizer said. But Im sitting here having a conversation with him and all hes trying to say is: Yeah, its tough when a coach calls you out, but we take it as a challenge here. We accept everything as a team.But individually youre going to have to get challenged to play your best. When youre 2-4 right now, everyone has to point the finger at themselves, look themselves in the mirror and accept those challenges so that we can come out and be more successful and hopefully put together the wins that we need to put together in the second half of the season.Fellow captain Mike McGlinchey defended Kellys dealings with the media, minimizing any public mishaps and attributing them to the frustrations of a season gone wrong through six games.Well we know hes not blaming us, said McGlinchey, a left tackle. If Coach Kelly really wanted to blame us he would come up and say it in our face like he has done before when we screwed up. Obviously things can get misconstrued, things can get misstated and we dont feel as though hes blaming us. Hell have a conversation with us personally if he wants to get better because thats the kind of man that he is.He runs our program unbelievably well. Were all lucky to have a coach like him and he takes care of us more than anybody I can even imagine anybody ever doing. Obviously things get said and were 2-4 and things are said after a football game that -- everybodys pretty emotional after certain things like that and things can easily get misstated and thats all that that is.McGlinchey also said that Kellys postgame apology this past weekend was unnecessary, as the redshirt junior blamed the players for not performing well enough to beat the Wolfpack.I dont think that its necessary for Coach Kelly to start apologizing to anybody on this football team, McGlinchey said. Its our job to execute the gameplan that they put in place, and we didnt do a good enough job of doing that on the last Saturday. So I think that it comes down to a whole team effort, both coaching and playing better. I think that obviously hes the head coach and hes going to take a lot of the fault for whats going on on our program right now, but it comes down to a mindset, like I said, of executing our job and doing our job one day and one play at a time.The more we can focus on doing that, the more success thats going to come. Its not necessary for him to say that because we all know its on us, and obviously its one of those things that he said, but its on us and we all know that.Added Onwualu: Its important, and its just a reminder that were all in it together and were working toward the same goals. And hes a 2-4 coach as well, so like I said, were all in this together. A lot of the fans can see what he does on the sideline as negative but its high-stress, especially in the situation were in now. Everybody wants to win and everybody wants to get it right, so its obviously his job as the head man to be the enforcer of that.Kelly had said during his Tuesday news conference that he doesnt blame players for losses, later adding, once pressed on one of his earlier postgame remarks from this season: I blamed all of us for that loss. Were all in it together. Lets be clear.Notre Dame hosts 3-2 Stanford this Saturday night before entering its bye week. Kevin Love Jersey . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Jordan Bell Jersey .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. https://www.cheaptimberwolves.com/490j-r...mberwolves.html . Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz were sent to Toronto on Saturday as the Maple Leafs traded defenceman Jesse Blacker and draft picks to the Anaheim Ducks. VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Giles Barnes scored twice and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Portland Timbers 4-1 on Sunday to eliminate the defending MLS Cup champions from the playoffs.Both of Barnes goals came in the first half at BC Place and the Timbers couldnt catch up. The Whitecaps (10-15-9) had already been eliminated from the playoffs but they claimed the Pacific Northwests Cascadia Cup on goal differential with the victory.Portland (12-14-8) finished the season without a win on the road.When I look at the overall performance, I didnt think we were good, Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. I didnt think we defended well, and I thought we had some surprisingly poor performances out of our keys guys.Barnes first goal came in the 13th minute, and he slotted his second in the 32nd. The goals were his first with Vancouver after being traded from Houston in late July.Pedro Morales scored in the 54th minute for his ninth goal of the season. He doffed his jersey in celebration following the goal and was handed a yellow card.Nicolas Mezquida followed with a goal a minute later as the Timbers playoff hopes nosedived. Diego Valeri scored on a penalty kick in the 71st minute to avoid the shutout.This performance absolutely drives me mad, Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson said. I know we have the players to do it, but we havent done it on a consistent basis. Why? I dont know. Im going to get to bottom of it because I dont want to be sitting here next year saying the same things to you like a broken record. We finished on a high today, but Im not fooled.Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted stopped what appeared to be an easy goal for Portlandds Lucas Melano in the 18th minute. Jordan McLaughlin Jersey. Melano was subbed out for the second half.The Timbers, one of four teams vying for three open playoff spots in the Western Conference at the start of the day, did not have starters Liam Ridgewell and Diego Chara for the match against the Whitecaps because of yellow card accumulation.There has to be some long, hard discussions and reflexion on what went wrong, Porter said. Its a combination of things, but for me there were holes in the team all year long.The Cascadia Cup goes to the winner of the three-way competition between the Whitecaps, Timbers and Seattle Sounders. The award was created by supporters of the three teams back in 2004. Seattle claimed the Cascadia Cup last season and fans from the Emerald City Supporters brought the trophy to BC Place.I cant fault any of my players today, Robinson said. I thought we played with an energy and an enthusiasm and a will and a desire, but we havent done that too many times this year, which is why we are where we are.The Timbers were eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night when they played to a 1-1 draw with Costa Ricas Deportivo Saprissa at Portlands Providence Park.It was the final match for Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury, who has played for 14 MLS seasons with his final six in Portland. Traveling fans at BC Place canted Captain Jack! in his honor after the game.Its been unbelievable, Jewsbury said after Sundays match. I never knew what I was getting into when I came to this team in 2011. ' ' '