TORONTO -- Ryan Briscoe knows all about Toronto hospitals. Josh Jackson Jersey . Briscoe broke his wrist in the first race of the doubleheader at the Honda Indy Toronto last year, an injury that kept him from competing in the second race and later led to surgery. Three years ago Briscoe also made a visit to a local hospital, albeit with a less serious injury, after a wheel-to-wheel incident with Tony Kanaan. "Ive still got a little lump on my hand from that," said Briscoe. Just finishing the claustrophobic 85-lap, 2.81-kilometre street course at Exhibition Place in one piece is difficult enough for IndyCar drivers. Surviving two races, which run Saturday and Sunday, on a crash-prone track requires plenty of strategy and a bit of luck. Briscoe has seen a bit of everything at the race. The 32-year-old Australian driver for Chip Ganassi Racing finished second when the race returned from a hiatus in 2009. But the following year he was bumped off the track by Graham Rahal and finished two laps off the pace in 18th. In 2011 Briscoe finished seventh and earned his first hospital visit for the trouble. A collision in 2012 with Dario Franchitti ended Briscoes day, and last year he broke his wrist after failing to let go of the steering wheel when Justin Wilson bounced off a wall and smacked into Briscoe and Charlie Kimball. Like most drivers, Briscoe is still trying to figure out how to win Toronto. "You never know," he said. "Everyone will say qualifying at the front of the track position is very important, but the way these races have been working out this year you really just got to be heads up all the time, get that strategy right, work the tires the right way, especially the red soft compound tires. "And then, with a track where accidents are going to happen, you dont want to be caught out on track when the yellow comes out because the pits close and then youre hosed." There are plenty of spots for potential accidents on the 11-turn track. Two in particular stand out to Briscoe: a tight right at Turn 1 and a deceptive Turn 3 hairpin where drivers often think they have more room than they do at the end of a long straight. Briscoe has been guilty in the past of being one of those drivers. His first injury in 2011 came at Turn 3 when he tried to pass Kanaan on the inside and bounced the Brazilian out of the race. "I think if theres any track where you just have to give a little extra room its there in Toronto," said Briscoe. For Marco Andretti, who finished fourth and ninth last year, the final four turns are just as hard to get out of. A bumpy Turn 8 leads into three final high-speed turns. IndyCar teams set up their vehicles differently depending on the track and weather conditions, and the high speeds of Turns 9-11 dont mix well with the street-car setup usually employed in Toronto. "You normally just have to hang onto the car thats probably not going to do what you want through there, so that normally makes it tough, but its character, its fun," said Andretti. Complicating matters is a gruelling weekend set in the middle of a busy schedule. Toronto caps a set of races that has been going on at least once every weekend since June 28. Drivers get just two 45-minute practice sessions Friday. The weekend is much busier, with qualifying held in the morning before the afternoon race Saturday and Sunday. Briscoe, who is juggling the IndyCar season with life as a new father since daughter Finley was born in December, said the event can be unforgiving and require hard work. "I mean these races are so physical," he said. "Especially in the middle of summer when its so hot. ... You just really need to be on it, and on it quickly, and on the physical side its just all about staying hydrated, really." Unlike most street races, however, a good qualifying result in Toronto doesnt guarantee a checkered flag. Andretti describes the race as "attrition." "Its not as track-position dependent, meaning you dont have to lead right from the start to win at the end," he said. "If you have something happen, if you qualify bad, which unfortunately I have in the past, it gives you a shot at it because theres just so much carnage that goes on." Even some legendary family experience isnt much of an advantage for Andretti in Toronto. His father and boss, Andretti Autosport owner Michael Andretti, won Toronto an unmatched seven times during his career. But his fathers victories between 1989 and 2001 dont give Marco Andretti an upper hand. He has yet to step onto the podium in Toronto. "Ive been strong at other places, I dont have seven wins at one place, but you cant explain why. It just happened that way," said Marco Andretti. "If you look at his track record, he was probably more dominant at Indianapolis and he has no wins there. "So sometimes it just clicks, sometimes it doesnt. He did nothing different here than he did anywhere else. Thats the tough part. A lot of it I just have to learn by going out and doing it." Winning both races in Toronto will be crucial to the overall championship. Last year Scott Dixon swept the doubleheader en route to winning the series title. This year, Helio Castroneves holds a slim lead at the top heading into the race with 471 points. There are at least 100 points available in Toronto, meaning the championship wont be won but could be lost this weekend as the season draws to a close Aug. 31. Andretti, who is seventh overall with 337 points, said his season will be decided in Toronto. "For me in particular this is the weekend if I want to win a championship. This is the make or break," he said. "You know, if I come out of here fourth in points then Im still in striking distance but if something goes wrong then Im done. This weekends huge for me, for sure. "Im good with the top fives, but I need the W." Oren Burks Packers Jersey .com) - The 12th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes continue a four-game homestand at Value City Arena on Wednesday night when they face off against the High Point Panthers in a non-conference matchup. Jaire Alexander Packers Jersey . This week they discuss the Philadelphia 76ers, Gregg Popovich, Royal and Ancient Golf Club and Bill Belichick. http://www.packersauthoritystore.com/Customized/ .6 seconds left to give the Toronto Raptors a 92-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in an exhibition game Wednesday night.Long before EA Sports created the immensely popular FIFA video games there was a board game that allowed players to take ownership of football teams during an FA Cup season. Road to Wembley, later known as just Wembley, was a game dictated by dice that gave football clubs a better chance to reach the great old stadium for the FA Cup based on what league they were in. The game had six different colored dice, which would be used to determine how many goals that team scored in the tie. If a team in the top division were drawn at home the owner of that team would use the red dice. This was the best one of the six in the game - featuring two 4s, a 3, 2, 1 and 0 – given the team a 50 per cent chance it would score three goals. To recreate the magic of the FA Cup, where teams from lower leagues can be drawn against top clubs, and to allow true giantkilling acts for teams who were in the third or fourth tier, the games rules dictated that those sides use the white dice when away from home. It featured two zeroes, two 1s but a 4 and a 5. More often than not the lower league club would be knocked out by the dice, as it should. However, some times youd get massive shocks. If you held ownership of that lower league club and you beat the big giant on their pitch it was a fantastic feeling, one very difficult to create on a modern day video game where better teams just had better opportunities and skills to beat lower opposition. Yet, in a world where so much can be predicted sport isnt supposed to be that way. On a weekend where one continent obsessed about PSI levels and hockey players skating fast around drink bottles, the global game went back to the future to give fans a true glimpse of what following sport should be all about. The oldest association football competition in the world may have become a little bit easier to read in its older, more recent years but it is not easy to teach an old dog new tricks and just when some wanted to write this one off it bounced back in all its glory on Saturday by showing modern day football fans just how beautiful it is when its most stunning feature, a giantkilling, is on show. FA Cup fans of different generations all have memories of these games. The 70s had Colchester over Leeds and Hereford over Newcastle, the 80s had Sutton over Coventry and Bournemouth over Man Utd and then in the early 90s came Wrexham over the mighty Arsenal. Depending on your age the highlights and goalscorers from those games are never forgotten. Major shocks also came in finals like Sunderland over Leeds, Wimbledon over Liverpool and, more recently, Wigan over Manchester City. The board game, if you are wondering, ensured teams used away dice for neutral venues. The return of the FA Cup, this season, to the broadcaster BBC in the UK has seen the competition receive more coverage and to promote the tournament they ran a number of previews in December, before the top teams joined at the third round stage, looking at the biggest shocks in FA Cup history. Like most of the ones listed here, rarely came ones where the giant was slayed on its own patch of grass. Who knew that a month later that list would need to be changed? In the buildup to this past weekends matches there was little fuss made about potential shocks. It is the job of the broadcaster to pick potential upsets in television slots, yet it speaks to the real level of surprise of the big shocks this past weekend that most took place at the traditional 3pm local kick off slot. Gone were Tottenham, Southamptonn, Manchester City and, of course, in disgraceful fashion, according to he who is special, Chelsea. DeShone Kizer Packers Jersey. At a time when it really needed it the FA Cup delivered one of its biggest shocks of all. Red dice………..two. White dice……………four. Everywhere football fans turn these days there are articles and analysis about how to make the old pensioner that is the FA Cup relevant again. Gone is the magic, they tell us, gone is the interest. Crowds are down but when assessing the reasons for that, the FA Cup itself is low on such a list. Like so many things in life, something so vulnerable isnt always at fault for its ways. The FA Cup will never be loved the way it once was but this past weekend gave us powerful images that sport, the great distractor from everyday life, can so often deliver. Friday nights affair between Cambridge United and Manchester United ended 0-0 and the outpouring emotion from the home fans and players at the end was almost as incredible as the look in the eyes of the young Cambridge mascots who got to look up at the likes of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao and shake their hands before kick off. Less than 24 hours later, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was attempting to shake hands with Bradford boss Phil Parkinson to congratulate him on a stunning victory before the final whistle had blown. It was Bradfords moment. Well, almost. At that point there were still three and a half minutes left and I wasnt getting drawn into that, said Parkinson on the snub afterwards. Good for him. Parkinson would get his moment. Mourinho had his interview and got his name splashed across the story once again. How exhausting. Magnificent he may be at his job, but it is little wonder his time in one place is so limited. Unlike Chelsea, the FA Cup proved to be bigger than Mourinho. It came through English football like a hurricane this past weekend bringing many smiles to fans across the world who had become so complacent to the class system the game, flush with money, had allowed. This is not a tournament that will simply allow the countrys big four to reach the semi-finals. It will return in February down to its last 16 with seven of the top 12 in the Premier League, including the top three, no longer involved. Gone are the teams who wanted it but would never prioritize it. Some teams remain who feel the same but in an era when its never been more difficult to break the monopoly of the top teams and win a trophy suddenly a real chance has opened up for big football clubs to end long runs without a trophy. Back when board games were popular it meant everything to win the FA Cup. These days men in powerful positions at football clubs, with a strong disconnect for positive emotions, have done what they can to convince people that a finish in the top four of the Premier League is more valuable. Dont let them fool you. There are some things you cant put a price on. Winning an FA Cup means so much to fans and players too. Best feeling Ive had on a football pitch, said Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey after winning the FA Cup at Wembley last May. There are still many games to be played but thanks to an unprecedented weekend of surprises we now have teams left whose eyes need to be firmly fixed on the prize come the Wembley final on May 30th. If the dice fall in the right place the FA Cup could fall into the arms of a team desperate to have it for the third successive season. For the all the joy it continues to bring people, that is the very least it deserves. Cheap Canadiens Jerseys Cheap Predators Jerseys Cheap Devils Jerseys Cheap Islanders Jerseys Cheap Rangers Jerseys Cheap Senators Jerseys Cheap Flyers Jerseys Cheap Penguins Jerseys Cheap Sharks Jerseys Cheap Blues Jerseys Cheap Lightning Jerseys Cheap Maple Leafs Jerseys Cheap Canucks Jerseys Cheap Golden Knights Jerseys Cheap Capitals Jerseys Cheap Winnipeg Jets Jerseys ' ' '