st start (6-0) since 2001 when they won their first 11 games and lost in the BCS Championship Game against Miami.Mike Riley deserves credit for the Huskers turnaround, but maybe there is

NEW YORK -- Nineteen years ago, Venus Ebony Starr Williams wandered into her first US Open draw and, at the age of 17, managed to reach the final. She lost there to a 16-year-old kid named Martina Hingis.But while Hingis would retire from singles after the 2007 season, Williams kept on going. And going.On Tuesday afternoon, at the age of 36, when she stepped onto the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, there was a leap into tennis history. It was Venus 72nd appearance in a Grand Slam singles main draw, which surpassed the Open era record of fellow American Amy Frazier. At Wimbledon, Williams broke the mens record of 70, by Fabrice Santoro, and reached the semifinals, her best major performance in six years.Hows that for slamming those tennis balls grandly?Im grateful and Im blessed, Venus said of her milestone. All Im hoping for is just health, that I can keep that record going. I dont know when Im going to stop playing. I dont have plans now. Im playing too well to be thinking about stopping. I appear to be getting better each and every month. So Id like to make that record hard for someone to break.A year ago, she made the quarters here, losing to sister Serena. In fact, the only real context for the quality and quantity Venus still produces comes from Serena, who is 15 months younger -- and remains the worlds No. 1-ranked player.On Thursday, Venus Williams eventually handled Kateryna Kozlova, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, but she may have turned 37 during the match. The running time: 2 hours and 42 drenching minutes, the longest womens match so far at this years Open.The final result wasnt exactly surprising; Venus is 18-0 in first-round matches here at the US Open, one behind all-time leader Chris Evert.Nice, Venus said, laughing, when the statistic was relayed to her during an on-court interview. Im grateful for that record.On some level, she should be grateful that Kozlova didnt serve a tad better. Venus broke Kozlova in eight of 15 service games, the difference in the match.Williams was the living definition of hit-or-miss, with 46 winners and 63 unforced errors.Yeah, today I had to hit a lot of balls, she said. Hopefully that will help me going forward when I get into some tough spots. Im going to try to keep that momentum.Venus had never played the 22-year-old Ukrainian before, but it was her 14th career match against a player named, in some shape or form, Kateryna. There have been seven different ones over the years, from Katarina Studenikova (1998) to Katarina Srebotnik (1999) to Ekaterina Makarova (2010) to Catherine Bellis earlier this year.Its been five years since Venus disclosed that she suffers from Sjogrens syndrome, an autoimmune condition that reduces her energy level and prevents her from practicing as much as she would like.As the oldest woman in the draw, she is playing in her 18th US Open, the most among active players. Its hard to believe she won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001.Venus is the No. 6 seed in this tournament, meaning only five players have demonstrated a consistent ability to be better over the course of the past year. Shes listed at 6-foot-1, but three-time Grand Slam singles champion Lindsay Davenport swears Venus is 6-3. That gives her enough leverage to continue hitting powerful serves and groundstrokes with enormous depth.Her half of the court still looks smaller than the other side.However, there have been a few concessions to age:Sometimes a half-step slow moving forward, Venus isnt always positioned properly to hit her trademark volleys.Nerves and double faults creep into her service games, making her more vulnerable to breaks.On long rallies, Venus groundstrokes are typically the ones that break down, especially the forehand.Against Kozlova, Venus saw her serve broken six times and threatened numerous others. She was up a set early, and up 3-0 and 5-2 in the third, before locking it down.Kozlova, a solid defender, played quite credibly, despite the fact that she has yet to win a Grand Slam main-draw match. She has never beaten anyone ranked higher than No. 39.In the changeover after the first game, Venus started back onto the court but turned to pick up a towel. Kozlova was already into the narrow gap between the net post and the umpires chair, but stopped abruptly and might have even taken a half-step back to allow Venus to pass.Such is the deference due her from a young player.Julia Goerges, Venus second-round opponent, or No. 10 seed Karolina Pliskova -- who could await in the fourth round if Venus gets that far -- might not show that kind of respect.When Kozlovas last backhand found the net, Venus unleashed one of her eternal Mona Lisa smiles and slowly raised her fist.Once youre at this level, everyone can play, she said. Its always hard. Its never easy. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. Cheap Baseball Jerseys Online . Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. http://www.wholesalemlbjerseys.us/ . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. China MLB Jerseys Outlet .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Cheap MLB Jerseys Free Shipping . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. After defeating Indiana on Saturday, the Nebraska Cornhuskers have already matched their win total from last season and are off to their best start (6-0) since 2001 when they won their first 11 games and lost in the BCS Championship Game against Miami.Mike Riley deserves credit for the Huskers turnaround, but maybe there is a secret to their success that is rooted in data and statistical analysis.?Nebraska is the only Division I college athletic program that employs a sport analytics department spanning all sports. Headed by Tucker Zeleny, Nebraskas full-time director of sports analytics and data analysis hired in 2015, the department is in charge of working with Nebraskas 24 varsity sports teams to collect, analyze and summarize data for the coaches and staffs.In the simplest terms, Zeleny and his team look at anything and everything that can help Nebraska win games including scouting, recruiting, health and nutrition, player exertion, injury prevention and more.A native of Carleton, Nebraska, Zeleny grew up loving Nebraska sports. He earned his doctorate in statistics from the university in 2015 and convinced the Nebraska brass that sports analytics can make an impact in college athletics.Zeleny understands that his role is not to replace coaches and scouts; rather, he can provide them data to inform their decisions.Maybe its something new or something they suspected and we can reinforce that idea. Zeleny said.One example of a study the analytics department recently completed is an analysis of what wins football games. Looking back at the past five seasons, they determined what makes a successful team (beyond scoring more points than its opponents) and provided the coaching staff with benchmarks relating to turnovers, penalties, third downs, yards per point differential and more.Beyond looking at conference and national trends, the analytics team also dives deeper into scouting, situational decision-making and player exertion than ever before.We doo player tracking with Catapult [a GPS tracker] and that is mostly done from a health perspective, Zeleny said.dddddddddddd. Coaches get that data and monitor the player loads. We dive deeper in the analytics department to do more predictive injury risks.Additionally, the team provides coaches with information on opponent tendencies, formations and personnel to help with scouting, and have looked at specific situations (such as fourth downs) to supplement coaches in-game strategy.Maybe this type of data analysis impacts only a few plays or players per game, but if any team understands how much one or two plays can impact the entire season, its the Nebraska football team, which lost four games on the final play in 2015.Zeleny notes that the Nebraskas coaching staff has been receptive to this added data, but the key is to present their findings in a way that coaches can relate to.We know that if we go in there guns blazing and act like you have all the answers with someone who has worked there for years, you arent going to have a lot of success, Zeleny noted. Coaches are coaches for a reason, so we try to help them as much as possible and supplement them rather than replace them.Over the years, sports analytics has gotten a bad rap from some purists; skeptics fear that the nerd behind the computer will take over their time-honored game, but the main goal for groups such as the one at Nebraska is to simply provide one more tool for coaches and staffs to make decisions.The sports analytics revolution?has already begun in college football, and as teams and coaches continue to recognize the value it can provide, it will only continue to grow.While Nebraskas 6-0 start should not be unduly credited to the schools year-old sports analytics department, it certainly doesnt hurt to have extra data that can provide the slightest edge. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '