The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 14

F2 II SPORTS A HRKAK1NG NHW8; VANCOUVKRSIIN.COM FRIDAY, NOVKMHKR IY, 2(110 BRUISING BEARS REFUSE TO LOSE TO DOLPHINS Brian Urlacher and the swarming Chicago Bears' defence allowed only 1 87 yards and a single third-down conversion Thursday night, winning 16-0 to send the injury-ravaged Miami Dolphins to their second home shutout In 40 years. Miami's already depleted offence lost Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall to a hamstring injury and centre Cory Procter because of a knee Injury, With third-string quarterback Tyler Thigpen (right, being grabbed by Urlacher) struggling In his first NFL start since 2008, the Dolphins (5-5) were no match for the Bears' defence. The Bears (7-3) won for the third time In 12 days and moved a half game ahead of Green Bay atop the NFC North, Associated Press EAGLES LOOKING TO GET OFF THE GRID Tht Philadelphia Eagles art taking their gridiron off the grid, The i team said Thursday that it will add wind turbines, solar panels and a cogeneratlon plant at Lincoln Financial Field over the next year, a combination that will make the stadium self-sufficient and let the Eagles sell some power back to the electric grid, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said the plan was part of the Eagles commitment to be a socially responsible organization, "Owning an NFL team, I think you have an opportunity to lead the way," Lurie said, Under the plan, roughly 80 spiral-shaped wind turbines will be mounted on the stadium's roof and 2,500 solar panels attached to the stadium's facade, Associated Press wjT'" Him WHITECAPS DeMerit takes long way Late bloomer wasn't an overnight sensation, but his road to Vancouver is to MLS paved with successes CFL Miller time spent on playoffs, not future Rider coach's thoughts on Stamps, Grey Cup BY MURRAY MCCORMICK Despite speculation about Sunday's West Division final being Ken Miller's last game as head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, he won't be rushed into making a decision regarding his future. Miller said Thursday that he'll wait until after the Riders' current playoff run and likely beyond that before deciding on his possible return for the sou CFL season. The (ig-year-old Miller wants to discuss hat's ahead with his ife, Maureen, ami members of the Riders' management team including president-CEO Jim llopson and general manager Brendan Taman before making a decision.

NHL NOTEBOOK Nets filled in Philly as defences rest Stamkos, St. Louis pad stats in Lightning win; Suppose they played a hockey game and no one played defence. That's kind of what happened Thursday night in Philadelphia. Resembling a pickup game played on a neighbourhood street, the Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning lit up the scoreboard. Purists hated it.

Fans at the Wells Fargo Center roared. That is, when they weren't groaning because of a Tampa Bay goal or the 8-7 Lightning victory. Steven Stamkos scored a hat trick and Martin St. Louis contributed five assists to spark Tampa Bay, which notched the final three goals to erase a 7-5 deficit. "It was crazy.

I've never been involved in anything like this at any level," Stamkos said. "It's fun to be a part of it and it's fun to contribute, but at the end of the day, we wanted to win this wild game." Stamkos extended his scoring streak to seven games with three goals and two assists, putting him atop the league scoring race with 19 goals and 35 points. THERE'S A GOOD ADD: The Atlanta Thrashers have named forward and Maple Ridge product Andrew Ladd as team 8 w5 fcH y7 A I if BY BRUCE CONSTANTINEAU VANUIIIVIKSIIN Jay DeMerit is your classic late bloomer. The U.S. international defender and first official Vancouver Whitecaps Major League Soccer player signing was 16 years old before he figured out soccer was his best sport.

He was 23 when he signed his first professional contract in England and 27 when he debuted for the U.S. national team. Now just two weeks shy of his 31st birthday, DeMerit feels the best is yet to come in his hard-to-believc, storybook soccer career. "I've only been doing this professionally for 6V2 years so I feel like I have a lot to learn," he said after the Caps introduced him at a Vancouver news conference Thursday. "Coming off the U.S.

team and playing in big games is really starting to make me believe that I'm starting to be at the pinnacle of my career." Hie Whitecaps hope he's right as they'll count on the tough centre back to anchor the back line of a squad that begins MLS play in four months. DeMerit spent the past six seasons with Watford FC in England playing five seasons in the second-tier Championship and the 2006-07 season in the Premier League. His exposure in the English top flight got him on the U.S. national team radar and he was called up for his first international game in early 2007. He now has 23 caps and started all four games the U.S.

played this summer at the World Cup in South Africa. DeMerit has been on the Whitecaps' radar for months and got serious about his potential as an MLS player when his Watford contract expired in June. He had offers from other Championship sides, low-level Premier League teams and from clubs in the Bundesliga and I.e Championnat. But DeMerit said the CFL PHIL COICGETTV IMAGES FILES )ay DeMerit, who played for the U.S. in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps Thursday saying 'the vision the club has matches the vision I seventh-tier Northwood FC of the Isthmian League Premier Division.

His big break came during a pre-season friendly North-wood had against Watford, when then-Watford manager and former Vancouver White-cap Ray Lcwington liked what he saw from the feisty Wisconsin native and invited him to try out for his side. Things worked out for DeMerit after that as he scored the match-winning goal in a 2006 Championship playoff victory over Leeds United that got Watford promoted to the Premier League. He captained the Watford squad for the past 2V2 seasons. DeMerit said he wouldn't have had his unlikely road to soccer success any other way. "You only get to this point if you have the attitude to get over obstacles and my life has been full of them," he said.

"But if you can get over them, it's 10 times better and much more worthwhile." Watford FC football operations manager Iain Moody said financial problems at his club forced it to part ways with DeMerit and go forward with younger, less expensive players. But he stressed DeMerit established himself as a crowd favourite at Watford, as fans felt a connection for a fearless and athletic player with an "unusual background." Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson said he was impressed with DeMerit's World Cup performance this year, particularly enjoying his aggression, leadership, commitment on the field and never-give-up attitude. "We've been lacking that a little bit so he will definitely bring something that I have really been looking for," he said. DeMerit will fly back to England to take care of personal affairs before trying to join the Whitecaps during a two-week training spell in California that begins at the end of this month. bconstantineauvancouversun.com with Lions hurt his future appeal a catch in practice last week.

"He told us, 'Hey guys, I didn't practise well enough. I wasn't focused, I let our offence Jackson says. "That gave me a lot of respect for the guy. He might not be starting, but he put it on himself to be better the next day." In his professional attitude alone, Jackson believes Gore has a major upside. Yet Gore figures to challenge veteran wide receiver O'Neii Wilson for a starting spot next season, not Jackson.

Still, he saw import wide-out Derick Armstrong, also 31, moved aside and made expendable, a victim of a youth movement, despite being a productive player. It's more ammunition for Jackson to think that anything is possible. "I believe I'm a leader on this team," he says. "I sucked it up when maybe I shouldn't have been on the field because I didn't want the team to lose confidence in me. Was it the best statistical year? No.

But I showed I could play through a nagging injury when every step I took hurt. I think I got mentally stronger. "I believe I have six more years of potential in me to make big plays." But does Wally Buono feel the same? mbeamishvancouversun.com Jackson unsure if job Slotback played through pain, but age and lack m-m, 7k players whose full salaries are not counted against a team's $2.67 million salary cap. DeMerit overcame incredible challenges to kick-start a soccer career in England after being undrafted and unsigned by any MLS team following his collegiate career at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A teammate with the Chicago Fire Premier of the USL Premier Development League -Kieren Keane convinced him they should both leave the U.S and explore European soccer opportunities.

"My journey started with a backpack and a plane ticket," DeMerit said. He caught on with ninth-tier Southall FC of the Combined Counties Football League before getting a trial with is secure of productivity might rehabbing from season-ending knee surgery. And Harris didn't catch a single pass all season. Neither did Shawn Gore and Akeem Foster, two rookie receivers, both 23, whose contributions were limited to special teams. "Akeem has a nice, lean body frame, he has a great stride, he's quick, agile, good hands, but he's got to put on about 15 pounds Foster is 6-4, 212," Jackson says.

"And he's a little bit young-minded. He's just playing the game for fun, not realizing it's a business. It sometimes takes time for a young guy to reach a maturity level where he realizes, 'This could be taken away from He has to have that drive to want to get better and take a veteran's spot." Gore is a different matter. The 10th overall pick in the 2010 CFL college draft signed with the Green Bay Packers and was with them through the NFL pre-season campaign before being released in September. When Gore joined the Lions, he showed none of the reflexive feeling of rejection and sulki-ness that NFL cuts frequently do when they first join a CFL team.

Politically, for anyone looking to score points with the veterans and coaches, he's done all the right things, including buying breakfast for the receiver group after he muffed Saskatchewan Roughriders' head coach Ken Miller prefers to talk about today and Sunday and not his retirement. "I'll talk to Maureen and we'll make a good decision for us," said Miller, who is also the Roughriders' vice-president of football operations. "I'll talk to Jim and Brendan and we'll evaluate hat we've accomplished or haven't accomplished. "Then we'll make a good family decision and a good decision for the Riders. That's what we'll base those decisions on." When the Riders' season ends has yet to be determined.

The inner of Sunday's Roughrid-ers-Stampeders West final advances to the Grey Cup game in Kdmonton on Nov. 28. Miller said the team's performance down the stretch won't make any decision he makes easier to reach and that includes winning the Grey Cup. "I wish we had won it last year," Miller said in reference to the Montreal Alouettes' 28-27 win over the Riders in the 2009 Grey Cup. Miller said deciding when the time is right will carry more weight than results.

"1 talk with players all the time about the importance of family," said Miller, who is in his third season as head coach. 1 Iopson said there hasn't been much discussion about Miller's future. "1 Ie's not sending a strong signal one way or another," Hop-son said. "Ken tends to live in the today and that's his mantra. I Ie doesn't look back because it doesn't help and thinking too far ahead hurts you.

After the season, when everyone has a chance to decompress and hopefully celebrate a little bit, we'll sit down." Miller took on the role as vice-president offootball operations during the off-season. The duties were added to his responsibilities as head coach after the Jan. 8 resignation of Kric Tillman, the Riders' former general manager and vice-president of football operations. Miller's contract includes a clause where he could relinquish his duties as head coach in the next year or so to concentrate on football operations. "If I weren't to appear on any given day, it would move forward without a hitch," Miller said.

"I'm proud and happy with the people we have in the organization right now," Poitmedia News LA European offers couldn't meet the challenge and excitement of coming to Vancouver. "For me, it's always about the whole scheme of things," he said. "It's not just the money or the place or the club. It's everything and in Europe, those everythings never really came together, probably because I'm picky." DeMerit said there's something inspiring about starting a new venture and being part of an organization with big aspirations like the Whitecaps. "I feel like I'm in the right place now," he said.

The vision the club has matches the vision I have." Terms of his Vancouver contract were not released but he will not count as a "designated player" typically expensive v. ywx RIC ERNSTPNG FILE5 Paris Jackson, who turns 31 a month into the 2011 CFL season, only had one touchdown this season. definitely have to be on your Ps and Qs right now. "Look what happened to Clermont. It's a cutthroat business, they can bring somebody new in and cut you just like that.

And there are a lot of other Canadian receivers on the team." But are they truly threats to Jackson's job security? Jamall Lee and Andrew Harris are running backs by trade, and the Lions have only toyed with the idea of turning them into full-time receivers. Lee, who caught just eight passes, is captain. The announcement was madeThursday afternoon by coach Craig Ramsay. Another former Chicago Blackhawk also landed a letter as Dustin Byfuglien was named an alternate captain along with' Tobias Enstrom. NHL forward Andrew Ladd of Maple Ridge was named captain of the Atlanta Thrashers due to his desire to be 'the "Andrew Ladd will be that guy.

It's an enormous responsibility, but he's well respected," Ramsay told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He has stepped up his commitment to himself to make sure he's ready to play 1 every night and his commit- ment to the team has been so evident. He's earned that. I didn know who to pick at the start of the season and he's earned that opportunity. "We were hoping from the start of the year that somebody would step up and say 'Hey, the guy.

I want to be that tj When you go out on a 2-on-1 are you the shooter or always the passer? You want to be that, guy that makes the big play. He, wants to be that guy." NO JOKINEN FORTHREE 1 GAMES: The NHL handed Calgary Flames forward Olll 1 5 Jokinen a three-game suspeM sion Thursday afternoon, fol- lowing his Wednesday night cross-check on Phoenix Coyotes' Wojtek Wolski in the neckface' in a third-period melee near the benches. Jokinen received a five-minute" major and game misconduct for his stickwork in the 3-1 loss to the Coyotes. He'll forfeit $48,387.09 US in salary. LUCIC NETS THREE IN BRUINS WIN: Former Vancouver Giants 'j star Milan Lucie scored Boston! first three goals, Tuukka Rask I made 41 saves for his first vie- tory of the season, and the -'A Bruins beat the visiting Florida Panthers 4-0 on Thursday night! Lucie scored late in the first perl od, then added two goals in a 1 5-second span late in the thli for his second career hat trick, He has 1 0 goals this season, Shawn Thornton also scored.

Sun news services BY MIKE BEAMISH VANIOUVIRSUN One year, the B.C. Lions had a bobblehead night for Jason Clermont. The next year, Clermont was gone. That example of the transitory nature of football made a deep impression on Paris Jackson, the player who took over Clermont's starting slotback spot for the 2009 CFL season. After two successive campaigns in which he surpassed 1,000 receiving yards, Jackson dipped to 758 yards and scored but a single touchdown in 2010.

He was never able to shake off the full effects of off-season knee surgery, and he spent long sessions during practice returning to the medical room to have his problematic joint iced down. Jackson turns 31 a month into the 20H season, which would be his ninth with the Lions, and he wonders if this is as good as it's going to get. Indeed, he wonders if that time is already past. "I'm going into my option year," he says. "Hopefully, they invite me back.

But you never know what direction they're going. I want to be here. When you have an 8-10 season, things can change. You've seen in the past how many veterans have been shipped out. You.