with 43. NPS lower order, however, made scant contributions, resulting i

There are many titles that could have been bestowed on Jessica Ennis-Hill during her magnificent athletics career. The Face of 2012? Of course. The nicest athlete in Britain? Almost certainly. The most beloved? Very possibly. The toughest? Well, if you had ever watched her train at her Sheffield base, you wouldnt have had to ask twice.Yet as British sport bade farewell on Thursday to its diminutive heroine with the big heart and the even bigger smile, it was also legitimate to wonder whether our Jess was, pound for pound, the finest, most complete all-round athlete this country has seen in the new millennium.We are talking of a woman who was not just the worlds best multi-eventer but, within Britain itself, brilliant enough to be at various points the nations top high jumper, its finest long jumper, its most outstanding, world-class hurdler and one of its fastest sprinters.Standing at 5-foot-5, she could leap 30cm above her own height -- a feat only ever achieved by a handful of jumpers -- and, though only a fraction above nine stone, she turned herself into one of the countrys top 10 shot putters. At her peak, she was forced through stress fractures to effectively relearn the long jump from scratch, having to take off from her left foot instead of her right, and yet still won the Olympic title within three years.Hers was an odyssey of courage, skill and unreal determination. No one trains harder than multi-eventers and no multi-eventer prepared harder than her.I once had the privilege to spend a day watching her train at the English Institute of Sport in her home town. It was truly wince-inducing.Intense sprints, skipping, sandpit drills, 12 long jumps, 12 puts, throwing technique sessions, circuit training, conditioning. Not as bad as the hill runs and weight sessions of the previous day but a brutal morning. She then sat at lunch just dreading the afternoons killer 800m training and, after those killer 200 metres reps, I actually did hear the unthinkable from her -- dear old Jess in agony, swearing her head off.Watching this workload, I remember later thinking that, after she had taken a break following her Olympic triumph to become a mum, it would be miraculous for her to reprise the same intense daily physical and mental slog that shed need to beat the world again. Thirteen months after giving birth to son Reggie, though, she was world heptathlon champion again. Yes, the mother of all comebacks.When such a natural talent was enhanced by such extraordinary determination, only one thing more was required to create the ideal athlete; a rare spirit when in the heat of competition.Toni Minichiello, the ebullient coach who could always seem to cajole the best out of this self-confessed worrier, once scolded me for suggesting she was Daley-esque, that she had something of the peerless Daley Thompsons ability to produce her best under the most severe moments of pressure. No, Jessica-esque -- Daleyd learn a thing or two, he laughed.Certainly, Thompson could have taken a lesson or two in charm and how to win friends and influence people from Ennis-Hill. Its not easy having to live up to some fanciful role model notion but she never seemed to have to try; shes just a natural and it was for good reason that she was earlier this year voted ahead of Andy Murray as the sports personality that Britain was most proud of.In an era when athletics had become enveloped by doubt and cynicism, people still always felt that here as someone they could still believe in. Mick Thompson, the coach who first spotted the talent of an energetic 10-year-old schoolgirl when overseeing a summer camp in Sheffield, once told me shes never changed in all the time hes known her. Whats not to like about Jess? Still as good as gold, always friendly and open, he said.Too true. She kept that demeanour even when the pressure was at its absolute height. Like Cathy Freeman in Sydney 2000 and Michael Johnson in Atlanta 1996, she shouldered with wonderful aplomb the ultimate double -- being both the face and the hero of a home Olympic Games.What could have been more challenging than having to burst out of that London 2012 poster and into legend on that Super Saturday with anything less than gold being seen as some sort of failure? As an example of amazing grace under pressure, British sport has seen little like it.So, yes, she was as good as gold yet the funny thing was how she always sounded as if she never quite understood how brilliant she was.With her Olympic heptathlon gold and silver, her two world titles (actually, it should really have been three because she wasnt up-graded from silver in 2011 even after Russian winner Tatyana Chernova was subsequently discredited as a doping cheat), her world indoor pentathlon title and her European crown, there have been times when Ennis-Hill would have had a right to call herself the worlds best athlete. Yet, she just laughed that she couldnt bring herself to think like that because it all sounded a bit too surreal.Lets be clear, though. The woman who had a right to once feel a bit irritated by being faintly patronised as tadpole by one British rival ended up showing everyone that she was a veritable giant in the nations sporting firmament.More than that, Ennis-Hill was living proof that nice guys do finish first. She could have plumped for one final hurrah at next years world championships, back at the scene of her 2012 triumph, but she knew instinctively it was time to go.Like practically everything she did, our Jess, who radiated sunshine while she raided all those golds, got it right even at the very end of her quite glittering career.Cheap Vans Sk8 Hi Shoes .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Vans Old Skool Cheap . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. http://www.vansshoesclearancesale.com/vans-old-skool-sale.html . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Vans Old Skool Black Sale . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Vans Old Skool Sale .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee.India A 4 for 208 (Jadhav 93*, Iyer 62, ODonnell 4-28) beat National Performance Squad 8 for 207 (Harper 72, Hinchliffe 43, Aaron 3-58) by six wicketsScorecard Half-centuries from Kedar Jadhav and Shreyas Iyer gave India A a bonus-point win over Australias National Performance Squad in their Quadrangular A-Team One-Day Series clash on Saturday. By virtue of the win, India became the first team to seal their spot in the final of the tournament, to be played on September 4.Jadhavs unbeaten 93 and Iyers 62 helped India A knock off a 208-run target in 38.2 overs with six wickets in hand in Mackay. That was after the bowlers had combined for a collective effort to keep NPS to 207 for 8 in 50 overs.Iyer and Jadhav were left to reconstruct India As innings after left-arm medium pacer Tom ODonnells early strikes left them 41 for 3 in the 11th over of the chase. The two added 135 for the fourth wicket in 23.1 overs. It took ODonnell again to separate the duo when he struck at the end of the 34th over, having Iyer caught. But at that point, India A were comfortably placed and needed 32 more from 16 overs. Hardik Pandya joined Jadhav and the two knocked off the remaining runs in 26 balls. Iyers 62 took 93 balls and contained foour fours.dddddddddddd Jadhav faced 83 balls for his unbeaten 93 and struck 10 fours.ODonnell was the only NPS bowler among the wickets and finished with 4 for 28 in nine overs.NPS were rocked early when they batted after Varun Aaron struck first ball to dismiss Caleb Jewell for a duck. Matt Renshaw and wicketkeeper Sam Harper then got together for a 76-run second-wicket stand that came in 93 balls. After Renshaw was trapped lbw by Jayant Yadav, Harper added 52 more with captain Matthew Short. Harpers dismissal for 72 - the highest score of the innings - ended the association. Short was caught behind off Aaron for 30 and Clint Hinchliffe lent a solid hand with 43. NPS lower order, however, made scant contributions, resulting in a weak finish.Aaron took three wickets, but was expensive and leaked 58 runs in nine overs. Pandya, Axar Patel, Yadav and Iyer took a wicket apiece.India A are on top of the table with 16 points from five matches. NPS trail them with 10 points from five games. India A will next face Australia A on Tuesday, while NPS face off against South Africa A the following day.Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys [url=http://www.jerseysnhs