er of the year award against a number of rivals, including three Olympic champions from Germany and five-time winner Marta.Lloyd

The $70 million Central Broward Regional Park was purpose-built for cricket when it first opened, in 2008. Randy Coffield Jersey Retro . It was US crickets crown jewel, an oasis in a land starved of turf-pitch stadium facilities.Before long, though, the venue took the shape of a white elephant, in the words of a hit piece in the areas major newspaper, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. After it hosted only two revenue-generating cricket events featuring Full Members in its first seven years, restlessness from Broward County management understandably set in, and as a result the facility has begun creeping towards repurposing itself for other sporting tenants, chiefly soccer.At the entrance to the park there are signs hawking sign-ups for FCB Escola, the summer soccer school run by FC Barcelona that has been the chief provider of rental revenue at the stadium for the last several years. Inside the pavilion there are no posters of cricketing icons who have graced the CBRP but framed images of Messi, Neymar, Iniesta and Suarez.Most recently the second-division soccer franchise Fort Lauderdale Strikers announced their relocation from Lockhart Stadium on the north side of Fort Lauderdale to the CBRP, which offers them a more central and upgraded location. They are the main tenant at the ground now. The cricket square was dug up in 2013 and moved 20 yards north to accommodate soccer, not the other way around. All signs point to the realisation that cricket is no longer what the facility is for.Much work had to be done on the pitch and outfield just to get it in shape to host cricket matches for the CPL this weekend. Auckland-based pitch consultant Mark Perham was brought in from Auckland to oversee the preparation of the pitch. A weed-filled outfield also needed to be worked on significantly after recent soccer use to get it back to looking green and clean.This weekend is an opportunity to show fans the CBRP has not been lost to soccer. CPL organisers have made it known that they want to play at the venue every year, and it will take a regular commitment such as that to deter a complete repurposing of the facility for soccer. CPL chief executive Damien ODonohoe has made it perfectly clear, though, that he wants a series of sell-out crowds to make return visits worthwhile.CPL administrators are also confident that the product theyre putting out will be better than that offered by last years Cricket All-Stars roadshow. The cheapest ticket in Lauderhill can be bought for US$23, with two-thirds of tickets priced at $30 or less. The cheapest Cricket All-Stars ticket was $50, though more than 75% of seats were priced at $100 or higher. Tom Moody, the CPLs international director of cricket, says not only is the event more affordable than the All-Stars, but it will be a better product.With all due respect to the Masters competition, youre really looking down memory lane and enjoying the spectacle but from a different position in the seat, Moody said. Youre sitting back and admiring some of the greats of the game that have played over the last couple of decades.You see one form where youre looking back and admiring some past greats in a different generation, played in a different gear. Over the next few days youre going to see the game played thats current, with the best players in the world, playing in overdrive. From an entertainment standpoint, youll be on the edge of your seat for the next week.Whether or not fans hold up their end of the bargain is to be determined. The overwhelming majority of ticket sales online have been purchased by out-of-towners. A ticket sales manager at the main Florida CPL box-office location at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center said a week out from the event that the word was about 100 walk-up tickets were sold in the month and a half since tickets went on sale.Yet there was more success achieved at other satellite sales locations, where tickets were offered by local West Indian expat merchants. Sheila Sawh Gowkaran, owner of Joys Roti Delight - a cult restaurant located across the street from the stadium - said she sold out of her batch of 500 tickets more than two weeks ago. I could have sold 1000 if they gave me that many, Gowkaran said.In terms of local competition from other sports, Miami Marlins are home at the moment and commence with a four-game series against St Louis Cardinals, which directly clashes with the CPL start times. However, CPL chairman Richard Bevan doesnt feel theyll be affected by traffic that could have gone to the CPL games had Marlins been away.I think were only in competition with ourselves in terms of putting on the very best product and making sure the cricket in Florida is played lighter and better, Bevan said. Well communicate that to a world audience over the next few days. Pulling out all the stops, Tridents part-owner Mark Wahlberg tweeted his support for the event, encouraging people to show up in Lauderhill.Barring a dramatic surge in walk-up sales, the expectation is that Thursday nights curtain-raiser may be played in front of a half-full stadium, which may be a disappointment to ODonohoe. The crowd is expected to be better on Friday night, while Saturday and Sunday are projected to be sold out, with few tickets remaining for both days. Time will tell if better success at the gate on the weekend double-header days outweighs less than optimal attendances at the start.The last obstacle is the temperamental Florida weather in the summertime, which is also tropical storm season. The weekend prior to the CPL saw heavy rains each day. Some training sessions for the early-arriving teams were cancelled. However, since Monday there has been glorious sunshine every day. Organisers have their fingers crossed the rain will hold off through the weekend, and the current forecast is for good weather on the first three days, with only Sunday in some doubt.If the scene in Lauderhill is anything like the last visit made by West Indies in 2012, the atmosphere should be thriving. Instead of having to wait four more years, good support in Lauderhill for the CPL might not only encourage the league to come back next year, but a visit by India and West Indies could be in store even sooner. Alfonso Boone Jersey Retro . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Jordan Bernstine Jersey Retro . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. https://www.cheapjerseyslines.com/jim-ritcher-jersey-retro/ . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. ZURICH -- Carli Lloyd will defend her FIFA womens player of the year award against a number of rivals, including three Olympic champions from Germany and five-time winner Marta.Lloyd is the United States only nominee on a 10-player list announced by FIFA on Thursday after the 2015 World Cup winners lost in the Olympic quarterfinals in Rio de Janeiro.Germany has forward Dzsenifer Marozsan, who scored in a 2-1 win over Sweden in the gold-medal match, as well as midfielders Melanie Behringer and Sara Daebritz on the list. Behringer retired after the Olympics, having played more than 100 times for her country.Each of the trio aims to be the third different German winner in the paast four years. Buzz Sawyer Jersey Retro. .Brazil great Marta, who won the award every year from 2006 through 2010, had her 11-year streak of making the final shortlist of three candidates broken last year.European champion club Lyon provides four nominees from four different national teams.Voting is held by national team captains and coaches, selected media members and an online fan poll. Each section will count for 25 percent of the final tally.FIFA will announce the shortlist on Dec. 2. The rebranded Best FIFA Awards ceremony will be held on Jan. 9 in Zurich. ' ' '