Every year around this time, that question gets trotted out once more: When will a Canadian win the RBC Canadian Open? Its a difficult question that has no answer, really. Jeremiah Attaochu Jersey . It will happen when it happens. To give it some perspective, a Canadian hasnt won on the PGA Tour since Stephen Ames captured the Childrens Miracle Network Classic in 2009. So perhaps the first question we ask should be - when will the drought of a Canadian winning anywhere on the PGA Tour end? For a Canadian to win the Open at home, it means having his game peak on one particular week, on a course they may or may not like, while being pulled in many different directions by media, sponsors and friends while defeating a field of international stars that wont be laying down just because a guy has a maple leaf on his bag. Its a tall order, for sure. "Ive played I think 100 tour events, or 99 tour events in my career," said Graham DeLaet, the highest ranked Canuck in the world, "and I have yet to win one so I guess it would have to be a little bit of luck for it to happen here, but I feel like Im close to my first win and thered be no better place to do it than here." "I think winning a PGA Tour event is difficult let alone to do it here in Canada for a Canadian," added David Hearn. "That being said, this would be a wonderful place for it to happen. Such wonderful history at Royal Montreal. It would be an amazing achievement and something special. So if its not me Ill be pulling for another Canadian to do it as long as Im not the one in second." Yup, there is some symmetry with all this. The last Canadian to win the Open on home soil was Pat Fletcher, who spent much of his career as the head professional at Royal Montreal. And this club was where this tournament started, back in 1904 when just a handful of professionals and amateurs teed off in the pouring rain. Canadians have come close in the past. One of the first Opens I covered was in 1988, when Dave Barr tied for fourth. He was the leader in the clubhouse on Sunday afternoon when a massive thunderstorm rolled in and stopped play. When it resumed on Monday morning, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and the wind was howling. I didnt think anyone could get in the house and defeat Barrs score but Ken Green did it to win. In 2004, Mike Weir came about as close to winning as possible when he lost in a playoff to Vijay Singh. That was in front of a ramped-up crowd that more or less expected it to happen. It was as if there was a hockey game going on at the 18th green. Weir understands perhaps better than anyone what it would take for a Canadian to win. "To end it, you just have to play great golf," he said. "Theres good competition here and great players and you just have to play four solid days and you have to do what you can do as a player. You have to know your own game. You have to know your strengths and weaknesses and try to minimize the mistakes, but you have to have fun too." In 2011, the unheralded Adam Hadwin shocked just about everyone – including himself – by nearly taking the title. He was just a PGA Tour Canada member at the time. He says that the attitude every player needs to take is that anythings possible. "Why not?" he asked. "Its not impossible, thats the way you look at it. Obviously, like you said, I dont think anyone expected me to do what I did in 2011, maybe including myself. I might have surprised myself back there at Shaughnessy, but if you put it together, why not?" But perhaps to get a different perspective, we need to go outside the Canadian perspective. Jim Furyk won his national championship but says that for a Canadian to do it would be massively more difficult just due to the outside pressure that gets put on them. "Its hard to win a national open, its hard to win a big tournament," he said, "but any time one of those guys gets close it becomes such a focus, it makes it that much more difficult." However its not as if the non-Canadians wouldnt like to see it happen. Brandt Snedeker won last years RBC Canadian Open and his caddie, Scott Vail, hails from Oshawa, Ont. He saw the joy on his bag-toters face after they combined to capture the Open. "I can imagine winning a US Open what that would feel like to me," he said, "talking with Scott after last year, winning his national Open. It would mean the world to Graham or David or any other Canadian up here so if I cant win Im pulling of a Canadian to win because its a big deal for them and I know it would be special to see that get done." Will it happen this week? The odds say its difficult, but not impossible. But if nothing else, Id love it to happen so I dont have to ask the question again next year. Adrian Phillips Jersey . -- Its been 21 years since Joe Gibbs Racing celebrated its only Daytona 500 victory. Hayes Pullard Jersey . “The shootout, theres nothing wrong with it, I think its an exciting part of the game but its just one small aspect,” said Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman. “Its a skill exhibition. If you can get it back closer to regular hockey and have it decided that way; that would be my preference.” “I dont think its a knock on the shootout, I think more of the managers would like to see it end in overtime,” added Washington Capitals GM George McPhee. http://www.chargersprofansshop.com/Black-Melvin-Ingram-Chargers-Jersey.html?cat=886 . The 18-year-old centre was the Senators first-round pick (17th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot 196-pound native of Salmon Arm, B.(SportsNetwork.com) - Robert Griffin III is expected to be back under center on Sunday when the Washington Redskins take their modest two-game winning streak to Minnesota. First-year Redskins coach Jay Gruden confirmed RG3, who suffered a dislocated left ankle in Week 2 against Jacksonville and hasnt played since, will make his return if he shows he can handle the workload in practice. Griffin was a full practice participant on Wednesday for the first time since the injury and split first-team reps with Colt McCoy. Well see ... its all going to depend on how he does in (Thursday) and Friday, said Gruden. And moving forward, how I feel hes coming back. From a physical standpoint he looks good, now its a matter of mental and getting back into the football part of it. McCoys performance in Dallas on Monday night, in which he completed 25-of-30 passes for 299 yards to help the Redskins to an overtime upset of NFC East rival Cowboys, could also factor in the decision. With the Redskins having their bye after Sundays game, Griffin could receive an additional two weeks of recovery time before returning for a home matchup against Tampa Bay on Nov. 16. If he looks good in that (mental) regard, then theres a chance he could play. And if not and he needs another week, hell take another week, said Gruden. McCoy has held his own since replacing an ineffective Kirk Cousins for the second half of Washingtons Week 7 game against Tennessee. The former Cleveland Browns starter went 11-of-12 for 128 yards to rally the Redskins to a 19-17 win over the Titans, then played solidly in the Dallas game. The Vikings, meanwhile, are also coming off an overtime win, outlasting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Central Florida when rookie linebacker Anthony Barr, the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week, returned a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown in the extra frame to lift Minnesota to a 19-13 win. After his team blew a 10-0 lead in the fourth quarter, Vikings kicker Blair Walsh made a 38-yard field goal as time expired in regulation to tie the game at 13. On the first play of overtime, Barr stripped the football from Austin Seferian-Jenkins, scooped it up and raced 27 yards the other way for the game- winning score, only the fourth time an NFL game has ended that way in OT. Its really unfortunate because we were playing really hard and we were doing a great job, said Seferian-Jenkins. Its unfortunate I fumbled the ball. I have to have better ball security. Teddy Bridgewater completed 24-of-42 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings, who snapped a three-game skid. Jerick McKinnon carried the ball 16 times for 83 yards and Cordarrelle Patterson caught six passes for 86 yards. During the week, the practices, we were humming pretty good defensively, said Vikings coach Mike Zimmer. I said: If we can continue to do these things, then we have a chance to be a good defensive football team. Were definitely not there yet, weve got a long way to go, but I think weve made pretty good strides since the beginning of the season. If Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis wasnt busy himself on Sunday, he would probably be at TCF Bank Stadium acting like a proud papa. Lewis coaching tree exploded before this season when both of his coordinators from his 2013 staff, Gruden and Zimmer, got head coaching jobs. With Gruden and Zimmer, the Bengals made three consecutive trips to the playoffs with the offense ranking 10th, 12th and 19th in points scored, and the defense measuring fourth, sixth and ninth. Its probably going to be overhyped a little bit on me knowing him and him knowing me, Gruden said. Hell, I dont know when hes going to call his blitzes and when hes going to call his zones. Zimmer said he remains good friends with Gruden and praised the offensive- minded coach for his own innovative skills. I honestly dont like going against my friends because I know at the end of the day one of us is going to be upset, Zimmer said. But it is what it is. Im sure hell have his team ready to play and hopefully Ill have my team ready to play. Michael Schofield Jersey. The Vikings and Redskins have split their 18 previous meetings. WHAT TO WATCH FOR The shift from a read-and-react Tampa-2 base defense under former coach Leslie Frazier to the far more aggressive default setting of Zimmer has worked wonders for the defense in Minnesota. Zimmer has significantly upgraded a group which ranked 31st total defense in 2013 and dead last in scoring defense. Midway through the season the Vikings are eighth in total defense, allowing 323.8 yards per game, fourth in passing defense at 212.1 ypg and second in sacks with 25. Hes also cultivated stars at all three levels. Everson Griffen, the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the month, has turned into one of the games best pass rushers and is currently second in the conference with eight sacks. Griffen recorded an NFC-best six sacks in a four-game span during the month of October and also led all NFC defensive linemen with 20 total tackles in the month. Barr, fresh off his game-winning FF-FR-TD trifecta in Tampa, is an athletic marvel who will only improve with experience and Harrison Smith has been the best safety in the NFC during the first half. The problem is (Zimmer) he gives you so many looks, especially in the blitz, Gruden said. Hes the blitz doctor. So we just got to be on top of what we do and protect the quarterback. The lone issue for the Vikings has been late-game collapses, something that was a staple under Frazier and an issue Zimmer has yet to fix. Whomever plays QB for Washington will be piloting a team with significant weapons, featuring a solid receiving trio in Pierre Garcon, DeSean Jackson and Andre Roberts as well as a matchup problem at tight end in Jordan Reed. Running back Alfred Morris is also an issue for any opposing defense although he is far more effective when RG3 is in the lineup and the read-option is in play. (Gruden) has got terrific personnel there in Washington, Zimmer said. I think the tight ends are all good and obviously the receivers and running back. Im sure that he would tell you that his personnel is very good as well. The Vikings offense has struggled mightily thanks to injury and off-the-field issues. Minnesota planned to line up with QB Matt Cassel (broken foot), star running back Adrian Peterson (banishment), tight end Kyle Rudolph (sports hernia), right guard Brandon Fusco (turn pec) and wide receiver Jerome Simpson (released due to drug issue) playing significant roles. Instead they have had to rely on the rookie duo of Bridgewater and McKinnon, who both have significant talent but are going through the requisite growing pains behind a shoddy offensive line. Minnesota is currently ranked 29th overall in offense at 312.0 ypg and will be facing a Jim Haslett-led defense that likes to bring he blitz. The Redskins are tied for ninth in the NFL with 21 sacks and 14 of those have come with more than four rushers, Overall the Washington D blitzes nearly a third of the time on early downs and 50 percent on third down. I think Teddy has been improving each and every week, Zimmer said. A lot of teams are giving him a bunch a different looks, as I am sure the Redskins will as well. But he has got great composure, he has been great in the two-minute drill -- end of the game, end of the half situations. I think we are getting better at down situations for him. So it has been a work in progress the entire time. But I feel like we are starting to move in the correct direction now. OVERALL ANALYSIS Making the move away from McCoy with the bye week looming seems like a strange tact to take for the Redskins because we all know what happened the last time RG3 rushed back from an injury. The blitz doctor is well aware that Griffin will be rusty and you can bet he will be dialing up pressure from every which way while using the athletic Barr backing that up as an RG3 spy. Figure on the Vikings escaping with a close win. Sports Network predicted outcome: Vikings 20, Redskins 16 Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '