with a 1-4 record, and Seattle hasnt looked good in the process. | Forum

In September, espnWs weekly essay series will focus on college football. Cheap Jerseys .When I was 14, my brother enrolled at the University of Oregon, and I felt something like betrayal when he, and then my parents, started watching the Ducks. At that age, I was at peak insecure snottiness, and I pictured myself being above the weekly bacchanal that overtook Eugene every fall.A few years later, two things happened. First, I moved to Portland for college. Its not far, but its far enough and big enough that the Ducks arent the center of the universe -- especially within the ivory tower confines of my college -- and I found, to my surprise, that I missed them.I was homesick, awkward and wrestling with my identity. I wore my Oregon hoodie like armor in the campus coffee shop. And then LaMichael James happened. James, in 2009, was slippery and tough at the same time. He ripped through seams in defenses, always stayed up five or 10 or 50 yards longer than anyone expected. He had a side gig as a passable collegiate-level sprinter. Watching him, I realized for the first time: this is fun.Saturday afternoons, I would hole up in my dorm room, put on the Ducks game and forget about whatever existential crisis I was going through. My boss in college was a graduate of Oregon State University. He teased me about the Ducks reliance on Uncle Phil -- Phil Knight, Nike co-founder and Oregon booster. My comeback was always lethal: we were winning.Although DeAnthony Thomas didnt come along until two years later, nobody embodied the jubilant excitement of that time for the team like the electric running back. If James was a bullet train, Thomas was a fighter jet -- blistering fast, always faking and juking and making everyone else look like useless man-babies. He, too, ran track in the spring, better than James.?Thomas was undeniable. It was impossible not to get excited watching him.James, Thomas and the divinely gifted Marcus Mariota were the faces of Chip Kellys no-huddle, speed-of-sound offense. They were the bannermen of a charmed era in Oregon football.Southeastern Conference purists will tell you the Ducks only looked great at that time because of the conference they played in. Theres some truth to that, but it didnt matter to me. All I knew was that whatever else seemed confusing and uncertain in my world, I always knew the Ducks were going to win the day. The only question was whether theyd win by 50 points, or just 10.Everything about that time felt special. We (we is how Id begun thinking of the Ducks) were exciting, flashy and cool. The team would take the field in mirror-finish or black helmets and jerseys with wings on the shoulders and perform a weekly ritual of running opposing defenses to the point of exhaustion. Nobody could catch us, and we looked good, too.Although it took me 18 years to figure it out, this is the fact: underneath the slick uniforms, the speed, the 12-0 seasons, the more powerful attraction is always the tribe, the feeling of understanding exactly where in the world you belong.The Ducks still feel like home.Katelyn Best is a writer and journalist in Portland, Oregon. Her work has appeared in Portland Monthly, Excelle Sports and the Toast. Follow her on Twitter @BestKabest Wholesale NHL Jerseys . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. NHL Jerseys China . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. http://www.jerseysnhlfromchina.us/ .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. SEATTLE -- The Toronto Blue Jays have spent a good part of recent weeks chasing the Boston Red Sox in the American League East standings and the Baltimore Orioles in the AL wild-card race.After Tuesday night, the Blue Jays are beginning to look more like the hunted.Their 10-2 win over Seattle put the Blue Jays atop the wild-card standings and applied a significant blow to the Mariners playoff chances.Toronto (83-68) has won two in a row and suddenly is in better position than it has been in a while.With that early game (Wednesday afternoon), this was a big win tonight, Toronto right fielder Michael Saunders said late Tuesday night. Its going to come earlier than usual, and hopefully we can carry this momentum into (Wednesday).The first order of business is to finish off a sweep of the fading Mariners, who host Toronto in the final game of the three-game series Wednesday.The Blue Jays plan to have starter Aaron Sanchez (13-2) back on the mound after a blister delayed his latest start. Sanchez got roughed up his last time out, but his blister problems appear to be somewhat resolved as he heads into Wednesdays game.The Mariners (79-72) will counter with No. 1 starter Felix Hernandez, who hasnt pitched like an ace this season. Hernandez (11-6) is coming off a forgettable start in the opening game of the Houston series last Friday, and he needs to step up in one of the few big-game starts of his career.Hernandez has never pitchedd in a postseason game, and most of his September starts over his 11-year career have come with the Mariners out of postseason contention. Wholesale Jerseys. Seattle is still alive this time around, but the Mariners chances are growing slimmer with each loss. They entered the Toronto series in need of at least two wins, and now the Mariners will just try to salvage one.The good news for Seattle is that Baltimore has also fallen on hard times, so the Mariners are still within striking distance in the wild-card race. The bad news is that two other teams -- Detroit and Houston -- have now passed Seattle and are added obstacles.Its disappointing, no doubt, Seattle manager Scott Servais said after Tuesdays loss, but it is what it is. Weve got to get back to playing good baseball.The Mariners have scored two runs or fewer in five of their past six games, and their offense is running out of gas at a bad time. Tuesday was another example, as Seattle took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning but didnt score again the rest of the way.Five games against fellow AL wild-card contenders Toronto and Houston have left the Mariners with a 1-4 record, and Seattle hasnt looked good in the process.Thats kind of been the story of our season, Servais said. Were either really, really good, or we have some ugly nights. ' ' '