Wichtig » ook no further than Kerber. At 28, Kerber is the oldest wo

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- After the Minnesota Vikings worked out six kickers on Tuesday, coach Mike Zimmer reiterated his support for Blair Walsh on Wednesday morning.The Vikings worked our Kai Forbath, Randy Bullock, Zach Hocker, Travis Coons, Marshall Koehn and Aldrick Rosas on Tuesday but opted to stick with Walsh after his missed extra point and blocked field goal on Sunday. The kicker has missed more extra points (three) than any kicker in the league this season and is tied for 25th in the league with a 75 percent success rate on field goal attempts, but Zimmer said, I still believe in him.Its a different tone than the coach struck on Monday, after Walshs misses cost the Vikings in a 22-16 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions. When asked why the Vikings planned to work out other kickers, Zimmer said, You havent been watching all year? He later added, At some point in time, you have belief and confidence in guys because you know what theyve done in the past. You know what theyve done. Weve missed three extra points this year; weve missed several field goals. The way our games are being played, theyre probably going to come down to a lot of close games -- I hope so at least, anyway. We have to look at all avenues as far as what gives us the best opportunity to win football games.On Wednesday, though, Zimmer said the Vikings looked back at Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby, who was retained by the team after missing 12 field goal attempts in 2012. Since then, Crosby has made more than 80 percent of his field goal attempts each season and has missed only three extra point attempts in that time.He had one year where he struggled, and fought through it, Zimmer said of Crosby. I look at a lot of different things -- the game winner [Walsh] had against Chicago last year, the game winner he had against St. Louis, the field goals that hes made.Walsh missed a 27-yard attempt in the closing seconds of the Vikings 10-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC wild-card game in January, and the Vikings made a careful effort to try and rebuild the kickers confidence this offseason. As Walsh has struggled, though, the Vikings finally made the decision to consider other options on Tuesday.Asked whether the tryouts were meant to convey to Walsh -- who signed a four-year contract extension in 2015 -- that his job wasnt guaranteed, Zimmer said, I dont necessarily think it was psychological. We just have to cover all our bases.The coach said he didnt watch the tryouts on Tuesday; he was busy having another procedure on his eye after tearing his retina last week. Zimmer squinted against bright lights during his news conference on Wednesday but said hes back to work on a normal schedule now.I told the players, if I can get six needles stuck in my eye in the last two weeks, they can suck it up for me, Zimmer said.Nike Air Max 270 Womens Clearance . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Nike Air Max 270 Clearance . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. http://www.max270cheap.com/nike-men-s-air-max-270-react-hyper-jade-frosted-spruce-ao4971-301.html . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Nike Air Max 270 Womens Discount . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Cheap Nike Air Max 270 Womens . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins.SINGAPORE -- The comparisons with Serena Williams have always been more of a disservice than an inspiration to Madison Keys. She might be the anointed flag-bearer for the next generation of American female tennis stars, but Keys has never really liked the burden of trying to match Williams or appease an impatient public wanting more. And why should she? Williams has 22 Grand Slam singles titles; Keys has none. At least for now.Unlike Williams, who had completed her own career Grand Slam by the time she was old enough to buy booze legally, Keys is still a work in progress at 21. But that doesnt mean shes not doing great things.But those great things will have to wait, at least for now. On Thursday night in Singapore, world No. 1 Angelique Kerber?presented Keys a tennis master class. Although Kerber had already qualified for the knockout phase and knew Keys would join her in the last four if the American won at least one set, Kerber played pristine tennis once again, winning 6-3, 6-3.I let nerves get the best of me, and I think that happens to everyone, Keys said afterward. Just something that I need to work on. Its not a bad thing. It happens to a lot of people. People figure it out. Obviously Im not the best at it, at 21. But hopefully there is a couple more years to figure that out.Keys is still on a sharp learning curve and remains her own harshest critic. Her biggest takeaway from Singapore was not what went right but went wrong. She knows she has a rocket of a serve and booming groundstrokes that should have been ideally suited to the indoor hard courts where the finals are played, but she also knows she made too many mistakes to be able to rattle her more seasoned opponents.I think one big thing for me that I need to work on is being able to separate my feelings and emotions from my matches, Keys said. I think when its a high-stress situation, my tennis definitely takes a big dip. Thats something Im gonna have to work on.This is obviously my first experience in a setting like this.Ranked seventh in the world, she was the youngest player to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore, reserved for the worlds elite top eight. She didnt make the semifinals after losing to Kerber and the fourth-ranked Simona Halep but did manage a win against the vastly more experienced Dominika Cibulkova -- no small feat.ddddddddddddOverall, its an amazing experience to be here, she told reporters in Singapore. I worked really hard to get here, so Im proud of myself for that.Keys earned her place in the WTA Finals the old-fashioned way: slogging it out all season long and accruing the points through consistency rather than with one big breakthrough. She did capture her second WTA Tour title, at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, England, in June, and made the final at the Italian Open and Canadian Open. But the bulk of her points came from reaching the round of 16 at all four Grand Slam tournaments.Ive gotten a lot better at figuring matches out when I wasnt necessarily playing well, Keys said. That was a big goal of mine. Thats something that I can use all of next year and years to come. I think the biggest thing is just wanting to get better every single day and never really being completely happy. I think pushing myself like that has really helped me get to where I am.If Keys requires some fresh inspiration, she needs look no further than Kerber. At 28, Kerber is the oldest woman to reach the No. 1 ranking and is in the best form of her life, winning the Australian Open and US Open titles this year. A perennial underachiever for most of her career, the German is now a model of calmness and efficiency.Before this week, Kerber had managed just one win in three trips to the WTA Finals. This time shes 3-0, safely through to the semifinals and the favorite to win the title.For Keys, rather than feeling deflated after being beaten up by another older opponent, she was actually grateful for the schooling.It just makes you realize it doesnt all have to happen right now, she said. Sometimes you have to give yourself a break. I think it just shows that tennis is evolving a little bit. People arent winning Slams at 21 anymore. Its later.Angelique made No. 1 in the world at 28; that wasnt happening before. So that just gives me a little bit of relief. It feels like I dont have to figure it all out tomorrow. ' ' '