Allgemeines » in danger of damaging young players by encouraging

HOUSTON -- Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Ricky Nolasco pitched seven solid innings, helping the Los Angeles Angels hinder the Houston Astros wild-card hopes with a 2-0 victory Thursday night.The Angels ended an 11-game skid and pushed Houston 1 1/2 games behind the Tigers for the second AL wild card.Pujols homered into the Crawford Boxes in left field, helping Los Angeles move to 2-11 against the Astros this season.Nolasco (7-14) gave up five singles and struck out five. He did not allow a baserunner past second. Nolasco had a second straight scoreless start after throwing six shutout innings Saturday against Toronto.JC Ramirez pitched the eighth before Andrew Bailey pitched the ninth for his fifth save.Mike Fiers (11-8) allowed two runs and four hits with a season-high nine strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander sent down 13 straight at one point. Fiers had his second straight strong outing after throwing six scoreless innings Saturday in Seattle.Jose Altuve had three hits for Houston, which grounded into three double plays.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: LHP Tyler Skaggs (left forearm tightness) played catch and will throw some bullpens in the coming week, manager Mike Scioscia said. Hes symptom free, but we are going to obviously be very conservative where his treatment is now to make sure that this doesnt re-occur or turn into anything bigger, Scioscia said. Right now he feels great.Astros: RHP Lance McCullers, who has been out since Aug. 2 with a mild right elbow strain, threw a full bullpen Thursday. McCullers was pain free and will have another bullpen in a few days, manager A.J. Hinch said.BROWN RETIRESHouston Astros TV play-by-play announcer Bill Brown will retire this month. The 69-year-old Browns final scheduled broadcast will be the last regular season home game, Sept. 28 against the Mariners. Brown started with the Astros in 1987 and has called games for them for nearly 30 years.UP NEXTAngels: RHP Alex Meyer (1-3, 5.63) will make his fifth start of the season and fourth for the Angels on Friday. Meyer earned his first career win in his last start Sunday, tossing five shutout innings against Toronto.Astros: RHP Doug Fister (12-12, 4.45) will make his 31st start of the season Friday, looking to snap a four-game losing streak. Fister allowed seven runs in less than four innings Sunday at Seattle. Lorenzo Cain Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Jhoulys Chacin Jersey . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. http://www.brewersteamshop.com/Brewers-Eric-Thames-Kids-Jersey/ . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Yovani Gallardo Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Keon Broxton Jersey . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers.The late Roger Millward epitomised the sort of play that is in danger of disappearing from the game, says Sky Sports Phil Clarke in this weeks column... The death of a legend is always a time of great sadness, but it should also be a time of great hope and inspiration. Millward was both a great player and a successful coach.If you have the chance, please spend some time and search for footage on the internet which shows just how good a player he was. He was fast, brave, skilful and evasive, but more than anything he was instinctive. He used his eyes and the creative part of his brain to attack his opponents. He set up and scored hundreds of tries by reacting to what was happening around him. The best tries are always the ones that you dont expect to see, and he scored many of those. I hope his legacy can be an inspiration to the next generation of midfield maestros. Phil Clarke on Roger Millward In my opinion, most fans pay to see creativity on a rugby field. They appreciate the brutal battle that takes place in the middle of the pitch, and they dont mind seeing a try from a pre-planned move now and again, but it is magic moments that they talk about on their way home, ones that are totally unrehearsed. These are what makes them return for the next game.I watched a great TED talk recently by Sir Ken Robinson. It posed the question Do schools kill creativity? - he looked at the path all educational systems have gone down over the past 100 years and identified that we have prioritised logical thinking over creativity. WATCH: Super League tries Phil Clarkes top 5 Super League tries from round 13 It is a bit the same in rugby league. The structured play of who stands where, runs into which hole in their opponents defensive line, passes behind which team-mate, its a bit like watching a driverless car.It just does not excite you even though I can see that it efficiently gets you from A to B, or over the tryline. If we are not careful we are in danger of ridding the game of creative thinking by simply focusing on having more attacking numbers than defending ones. As rugby league mourns the death of one of its greatest players, Sky Sports remembers Millwards career in this fascinating interview with Brian Carney Its logical but it doesnt fire the part of the brain that makes you smile or get up out of your seat.ddddddddddddThere is a bigger danger that the shift away from an autonomous thinking in attack will become boring - if it hasnt already. Worse still, we are in danger of damaging young players by encouraging them to copy this style of play.Not all coaches are guilty of it but I worry that we are stifling the talents of more players by getting them to play like robots. The obsession with completion rates discourages players from taking a risk. We need to radically alter that thinking and encourage players not to worry about being wrong and losing the ball, mistakes will happen. Millward lifted the Challenge Cup with Hull KR in 1980 after beating Hull FC 10-5 in the final It seems to me that coaches need to feed the imagination of their players, not just provide a template like a choreographer would do for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Professional sport is about entertaining people and we need to remember that.Roger Millward epitomised the sort of play that I think is in danger of disappearing from the game. The best tries are always the ones that you dont expect to see, and he scored many of those. I hope his legacy can be an inspiration to the next generation of midfield maestros. Also See: Rugby League Set of Six Should Marsh try have stood? Pundits Follow @SkySportsRL ' ' '