It was a day not unlike today, eight years later this month, when Toronto FCs hierarchy guided the citys media to the top of the CN Tower to introduce their four newest signings and talk about their plans for their opening season in Major League Soccer. Anthony Carter Jersey . Everyone who spoke on behalf of the club that cold, sunny November day have long since departed, yet the team they helped create is still holding press conferences in the eleventh month of the year and not playing games. TFC is still searching for the formula that can find them on the field for a playoff game in November but one thing they have no problem organizing is a press conference in November. It was four years ago this month that they teased the city with the hiring of a certain consultant called Jürgen Klinsmann and two years ago this month that they hired Kevin Payne to run the club. Our mission should be that in 2014 we are in the playoffs, pushing to have the best record in the East, said Payne. By 2015, obviously, we want to be looked at as one of the top teams in the league. Obviously. Payne was supposed to be the man the club needed, a proven winner, we were told, who was an expert in MLS, or so we were told. Less than 24 months on, his press conference looks as ludicrous as all of the others the club has had during their brief eight-year existence. Words, tossed aside on to the growing mound of empty promises after another project and plan went array. It was impossible not to think about this clubs history in Novembers on Friday when the team called its most recent press conference. Sitting at the top table talking to the citys media was Michael Bradley, an American international midfielder who this club could only have dreamed of getting just last November. A year on, Bradley stands for much more than being a single, albeit designated player, member of Toronto FCs player staff. The 27-year-old is the remaining face of a winter of fantasies for the clubs fan base. He was unveiled as one third of a holy trinity of DPs yet less than a year later one is more than likely staying in England and not coming back while another hasnt yet proved he deserves such a tag of quality. That leaves Bradley all alone. It is a path that has led him to addressing the media about the season just gone. Another November press conference. Yet, this one feels different. For a quiet, seemingly shy man, you can always count on Bradley to think before he speaks. Its a motto that youd be hard pressed to say about many others who have spoke on behalf of this club on a November day. We realize we have to get better, improve and find the right ways to make ourselves better, he said on Friday. That is going to include bringing in new players and certain guys moving on. We need to find a way to get the right sorts of players in and the right sorts of men in. We need more quality, who in a football sense, can add something but we also need more guys with personality, more leaders, more competitors, more men. Although it is yet to be decided, such a group is unlikely to include Jermain Defoe. With Jermain, inside the locker room, there were never any issues. For me, he needs to decide where he is in his life, in his career and what he wants. He has to figure out what he wants from his career, his life. As a player I hope the best possible decision for everybody can be made and that he is focused and comfortable wherever he is. Bradleys own tenure at the club has not gone completely smoothly and in a World Cup year he remains in the middle of an awkward club vs country triangle as head coach Greg Vanney admitted last month. Ive spoken to Jürgen, and most of the conversation, to be fair, was Jürgen telling me how he thinks Michael should be played, Vanney revealed last month. My conversations are more with Michael and how Michael feels he should be played. We are with the player on a daily basis and we have a rapport and a relationship with the player on a daily basis and how they train and how they work. I think Jürgen feels like hes a player who should be higher up the field, Vanney added. But I dont know that Jürgen and Michael see things exactly eye-to-eye. So I work more closely with Michael than Jürgen in that realm. It is not a coincidence that Vanney, a man still trying to prove to some that he is the man to lead the club forward, chose Bradley as the lightning rod subject to publicly reveal leadership qualities. Vanney knows he is lucky to have Bradley at this club and it is imperative for him to ensure he puts the midfielder in a position that he is comfortable in. Bradley chose not to unveil, publicly, where he prefers to play in midfield but is clear that he is comfortable under Vanney. I have a very clear idea how I can best help the team, Bradley admits but once again he turned the conversation away from him and stressed the importance of a united group on and off the field. With Greg here there is an understanding of what we are about and how things need to be better. We need to make sure the balance is right. We cant fall into a trap that a number ten, or one guy, will fix everything. Dont misunderstand me, in no way does this team need to be blown up. Things didnt go the way any of us hoped this year. We werent good enough but to stand the test of time every part of what we do here has to be better. That is the tone and the mentality we have every day. Bradley, when talking about Defoe, gave the clearest indication yet about the message he can bring to the current and future players of this club. I am a firm believer in life that you have to find things that you are passionate about and you have to be then ready to go all in. Ideally you want to do that with people who have that same mentality, hunger and commitment and if you dont have that feeling and that focus and commitment to do something then its going to be difficult to ever enjoy yourself and be all in. Somehow I dont think that November quote will be thrown on to the empty promises pile in the future. It remains early days but at least one high-profile TFC designated player remains all in. Denver Nuggets Shirts . -- Challenged for the first time under Major League Baseballs expanded replay system, umpires got it right. Malik Beasley Jersey . In a series of tweets, it is explained by the Department of Player Safety that Niederreiter makes full body contact with Burrows and although there is head contact, he does not "pick" the head in the course of making the hit. https://www.cheapnuggets.com/907y-monte-morris-jersey-nuggets.html . Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series. SEATTLE -- Richard Sherman did a CenturyLink Leap. Golden Tate grabbed a 12th Man flag and circled the field with it. Even team owner Paul Allen made an appearance and gave a victory speech. The Seattle Seahawks are headed to the Big Apple for the Super Bowl. "To see all our work that we put in -- the mornings, the nights, the weights, all your life, as a young player and in the NFL," Malcolm Smith said after his end zone interception with 22 seconds remaining clinched the 23-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. "Its amazing." Seattles top-ranked defence forced three fourth-quarter turnovers, and Russell Wilson threw a 35-yard touchdown pass on fourth down for the winning points. Seattle will meet Denver (15-3) for the NFL title in two weeks in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Its the first trip to the big game for the Seahawks (15-3) since they lost to Pittsburgh after the 2005 season. The conference champs had the best records in the league this year, the second time the top seeds have gotten to the Super Bowl in 20 seasons. It also is a classic confrontation of Denvers record-setting offence led by Peyton Manning against the NFLs stingiest defence. Denver opened as a 1-point favourite over Seattle on the Glantz-Culver Line. "It will be a great matchup," coach Pete Carroll said. "I think its an extraordinary opportunity to go against a guy that set all the records in the history of the game." Moments after Sherman tipped Colin Kaepernicks pass to Smith for the interception, the All-Pro cornerback jumped into the stands behind the end zone, saluting the Seahawks raucous fans. With 12th Man flags waving everywhere, and "New York, New York" blaring over the loudspeakers, CenturyLink Field rocked like never before. "Thats as sweet as it gets," said Sherman, who also went into several rants about 49ers wideout Michael Crabtree, whom he called a "sorry receiver." "This is really special," added Carroll, who has turned around the Seahawks in four seasons in charge. "It would really be a mistake to not remember the connection and the relationship between this football team and the 12th Man and these fans. Its unbelievable." San Francisco (14-5) led 17-13 when Wilson, given a free play as Aldon Smith jumped offside, hurled the ball to Jermaine Kearse, who made a leaping catch in the end zone. Steven Hauschka then kicked his third field goal following Kam Chancellors pick, and Smith intercepted in the end zone on the 49ers final possession. "This feels even sweeter, with the amazing support we have had from the 12th Man," Allen said, comparing this Super Bowl trip to the previous one. Until Seattles top-ranked defence forced a fumble and had two interceptions in the final period, the game was marked by big offensive plays in the second half. That was somewhat shocking considering the strength of both teams defences. And those plays came rapidly. Marshawn Lynch, in full "Beast Mode," ran over a teammate and then outsped the 49ers to the corner of the end zone for a 40-yard TD, making it 10-10. Kaepernick then was responsible for consecutive 22-yard gains, hitting Crabtree, then rushing to the Seattle 28. His fumble on the next play was recovered by centre Jonathan Goodwiin, who even lumbered for 2 yards. Gary Harris Jersey. Anquan Boldin outleapt All-Pro safety Earl Thomas on the next play for a 26-yard touchdown. Then, Doug Baldwin, who played for 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh at Stanford, stepped up -- and through San Franciscos coverage -- on a scintillating 69-yard kickoff return that made the stadium shake for the first time all day. That set up Hauschkas 40-yard field goal. And a frantic finish. Seattle took its first lead on Wilsons throw to Kearse with 13:44 left, and CenturyLink rocked again. The place went silent soon after when Niners All-Pro linebacker NaVorro Bowman sustained an ugly left knee injury midway and was carted off. Bowman, who was having a huge game, had forced a fumble at the San Francisco 1, but Lynch recovered. "I never heard him yell like that, or even stay down for a moment," teammate Patrick Willis said of Bowman. The Seahawks had gotten their first turnover moments earlier when Cliff Avril stripped Kaepernick and Michael Bennett recovered. But Lynch and Wilson botched a handoff on fourth down on the play after Bowmans injury. It took only two plays for Chancellor to haul in Kaepernicks underthrow to Boldin, and Hauschkas 47-yarder ended the scoring. But not the excitement. Kaepernick, who rushed for 130 yards, got San Francisco to the Seattle 18 with his arm. But his pass for Crabtree was brilliantly tipped by Sherman to Smith. "We knew it would come down to us in the back end to win this thing," Sherman said. The final play was similar to last years Super Bowl ending, when Kaepernick missed Crabtree in the end zone from the 5 and Baltimore survived. "Its tough. Any time you get this close to the Super Bowl and lose, its pretty upsetting," tight end Vernon Davis said. "We just didnt get it. Weve been down this road before in the same kind of situation. Its hard." Whether it was nerves or just a great play by Aldon Smith, Wilson fumbled on Seattles first snap. Smith got credit for a sack and a recovery, too -- a defenders dream -- at the Seahawks 15. More staunch defence followed, this time by Seattle, which held and only gave up Phil Dawsons 25-yard field goal. Seattle simply had no answers for Kaepernicks runs, looking either flat-footed or plain-out lost when he took off. He gained 98 yards on the ground in the first half, including a 58-yard second-quarter run, the longest of his three-year career and the longest Seattles defence allowed all season. But he was less effective in the second half and was plagued by turnovers. Wilson came up with a huge improvisation of his own moments after Kaepernicks long jaunt. Wilson avoided the rush with some nifty scrambling before spotting Baldwin behind the defence for a 51-yard pickup. All it resulted in was Hauschkas 32-yard field goal, making it 10-3. Baldwin finished with six receptions for 106 yards. And now its on to New Jersey, where Carroll once coached the Jets for a season. That didnt end well -- he was fired so the team could hire Rich Kotite. He heads back with a chance to add a Super Bowl crown to two national titles as coach at Southern California. "Its quite a magical moment," Carroll said. "You cant really grasp the moment. Did we really do this?" Yep -- the Seahawks and their 12th Man. ' ' '