While taking in Thursday nights absorbing scenes and thoroughly unscripted climax from the Bronx as Derek Jeter said his emotion

While taking in Thursday nights absorbing scenes and thoroughly unscripted climax from the Bronx as Derek Jeter said his emotional goodbyes to Yankee Stadium, I couldnt help but think of Ryan Giggs. Shoes Online UK Review . Then thoughts of Frank Lampard crossed my mind, but more on Manchester Citys joint top scorer another time. Giggs, like Jeter, will be remembered as a one club man. The Welshman trotted out at Old Trafford for a remarkable 23 seasons before eventually hanging them up in the spring. For Jeters five World Series rings, he won a pair of European Cups and 13 Premier League titles. Now installed as Louis Van Gaals right-hand man in the dugout, Giggs has certainly endured a baptism by fire since joining the managerial ranks. It wasnt exactly plain sailing after he took over from David Moyes in late April. With ?￡150 million invested in the transfer market and Louis Van Gaal installed as Sir Alex Fergusons Heir Version 2.0, they were certainly meant to improve on last seasons Annus Horribilis. Hardly. The Dutchman likely wishes he could take a can of that vanishing spray and wipe this early part of his tenure off the records. If getting trounced in the Capital One Cup by MK Dons wasnt bad enough, last Sundays second-half meltdown against newly-promoted Leicester must rank as one of the worst moments in recent club history. Perhaps you have to go all the way back to that infamous Denis Law back heel against his former club back in 1974 for a comparable moment. It wasnt so much the calamity Jane-type defending. It was the cavalier attitude from too many wearing one of the first famous jerseys in world sport. And Van Gaals wholly unbalanced team selection provided added motivation. Whether or not Van Gaal took the opponent way too lightly, well never know. If he had any illusions of how utterly competitive the BPL was, they should surely have evaporated away when Ulloa tucked away Leicesters fifth. In the aftermath, Giggs ex-team mate Phil Neville suggested the English giants needed to invest a further ?￡100m over the next two transfer windows for United to be in position to challenge for a title. Not sure the supporters nor the majority shareholders are willing to write off upwards of two more seasons. Van Gaal was bought in to have an impact with immediate effect. It seems by his news conferences that hes spending more time thinking up excuses and laying blame with all others than he is even willing to accept responsibility. His pre-match comments regarding a scarcity of central defenders ahead of Saturday mornings encounter at Old Trafford (against a resurgent West Ham who put Liverpool firmly in their place in East London last Saturday) is his latest. Even our 12-year old recognized in early summer that Manchester United were in desperate need of Grade A centre-halves and the hallmark leadership qualities of the departing Nemanja Vidic. Ive forgot how many trees have been torn down over the months as the football media kept up their incessant write-ups about a desperate and immediate need for central defenders - and yet one didnt even arrive on a Falcao-type loan. If its because Van Gaal couldnt acquire the one or two players he wanted most, then he has no right to plead centre-half poor. Everyone wants Cristiano Ronaldo, but hes not for sale - at least not just yet. Did that prevent United overpaying for Angel Di Maria? Apparently not. Van Gaal might already be ruing his Leicester pre-match comments that only Wayne Rooney is guaranteed a starting place, where it now seems Englands first choice centre-forward will have to get fully accustomed to the midfield role Van Gaal has now bestowed. Any more of this and Wayne might have to slot into central defence. With the Leicester debacle fresh in the minds of 75,000 plus at Old Trafford, West Hams manager Sam Allardyce fears a Manchester United backlash. All Fat Sam has to do after breakfast Saturday is show his team the video of that classic West Ham victory at Old Trafford in the 2001 FA Cup. Paolo Di Canio, in acres of space, slotted away the legendry winner as Uniteds completely exposed goalkeeper Fabien Barthez went the mind game route as he desperately tried to con the referees assistant into awarding an illusionary offside call. Even in defeat, Giggs starred for United that day. You wonder though if he hung up more than his boots last May. Manchester United vs. West Ham is live Saturday on the TSN and TEAM Radio Network with pre-game coverage at 9:30am et /6:30am pt. Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter Fake Shoes UK . While Minnesota takes aim at its eighth win of November, the Canadiens will try to post just their third victory in nine games this month. Wholesale Shoes UK . The Oilers will try to get back in the win column on Monday when they continue a four-game road trip with a battle against the Buffalo Sabres. Edmonton won its third straight game last Wednesday against visiting San Jose, beating the Sharks 3-0 as Scrivens stopped 59 shots to set an NHL record for saves in a regular-season shutout. https://www.shoesukonline.com/ .com) - Tony Parker scored 17 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a comfortable 99-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.BOSTON -- When Shane Victorino signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent in the off-season, they were coming off a last-place finish that was their worst in almost half a century. They had fired their manager for the second year in a row. He believed they could turn it around. And quickly. Victorino brought the Red Sox one big step closer to completing their comeback, sending them to the World Series with a seventh-inning grand slam that gave Boston a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 of the AL championship series Saturday night. The Red Sox will open the Series on Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, the team they swept in 2004 to end their 86-year title drought. The Cardinals won the NL pennant on Friday night by eliminating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. "Its one of those moments you live for," Victorino said as he wandered around the Fenway Park infield while Red Sox fans serenaded him with his theme song, Bob Marleys "Three Little Birds," and its chorus, "Dont worry about a thing, Cause every little thing is gonna be all right." "Just listen to the crowd," Victorino said, referring then to the Boston Marathon bombings that left the city reeling during the first month of his first season in town. "The one thing I came here to do is to be a part of this city. With all we went through as a city, theres definitely a bond." Detroit took a 2-1 lead in the sixth and 21-game winner Max Scherzer protected it until the seventh, when Boston loaded the bases on a double, a walk and an error by rookie shortstop Jose Iglesias, traded by the Red Sox in July. Victorino fell behind Jose Veras 0-2 but lofted a hanging curveball over the Green Monster to set off a celebration in the Red Sox dugout and in the Fenway Park stands. "Its been a special ride, and were still going," second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. "Were not going to stop. We know what our goal is. We want to win the World Series." Junichi Tazawa got one out for the win, Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless eighth and series MVP Koji Uehara got the last three outs before the Red Sox poured out of the dugout to begin their now-familiar celebration on the mound. "The way I would sum it up is that I thought their starters were good," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I thought their bullpen was great." Uehara, who inherited the closer job after the teams first two choices were injured, posted three saves and a win in the series. Then he joked about pitching so well under pressure. "To tell you the truth, I almost threw up," Uehara kidded through a translator. Its the 13th AL pennant for the Red Sox and their first since 2007, when they swept the Colorado Rockies to win it all for the second time in four seasons. Boston swept the Cardinals in 04, winning Game 4 in St. Louis to clinch the title that put an end to generations of disappointment. The latest trip comes one year after a 69-win season that prompted the team to jettison its high-priced stars, rebuild the roster and bring in manager John Farrell to replace Bobby Valentine. Victorino was one of the biggest additions, and he delivered on Saturday as he did for much of the season. "Since the first day of spring training, there wasnt one person more important than the next," said outfielder Jonny Gomes, another newcomer, who doubled to lead off the seventh, missing a homer over the Green Monster by no more than a foot. "Were all pulling in the same direction." Scherzer got one out in tthe seventh but left after walking rookie Xander Bogaerts to put runners on first and second. Wholesale Shoes UK Free Shipping. Drew Smyly got Jacoby Ellsbury to hit a grounder up the middle, but it popped out of Iglesias glove behind second base and everyone was safe. Veras came in and quickly got ahead of Victorino. But he hung a curveball and Victorino sent it toward the 37-foot left-field wall, which had already knocked down two Red Sox line drives. This one left no doubt. It was the second career post-season slam for Victorino, who also had a record-setting hit-by-pitch in the sixth but failed to get a bunt down in the third. "Hes come up big a number of times this season, none bigger," Farrell said. "Probably the last thing were thinking of, that hes going to hit a ball out of the ballpark, and thankfully the curveball stayed (up)." Scherzer and Clay Buchholz also matched up in Game 2, when the Tigers right-hander took a no-hitter and a 5-0 lead into the sixth. The Red Sox rallied against the Detroit bullpen, tying it on David Ortizs eighth-inning grand slam and winning it in the ninth on Jarrod Saltalamacchias walk-off single through a drawn-in infield. Both starters gave up hits in the first inning in the rematch, but it remained scoreless until Bogaerts doubled off the Green Monster with two outs in the fifth and scored on Ellsburys single. But the Tigers took the lead in the bottom half, chasing Buchholz with a walk and Miguel Cabreras single before Franklin Morales walked Prince Fielder on four pitches to load the bases with nobody out. Victor Martinez lined one high off the Green Monster to make it 2-1, holding at first with a two-run single. Brandon Workman came in and got Jhonny Peralta to hit a hard grounder to Pedroia, who chased down Martinez in the basepath for one out and then threw home to get Fielder in a rundown. Saltalamacchia ran him back to third and dove, somersaulting over him while making the tag. Workman struck out Alex Avila looking to end the inning. Scherzer worked out of a jam in the bottom half after putting runners on second and third with one out. He allowed three runs on four hits and five walks, striking out seven in 6 1-3 innings. Buchholz gave up two runs on four hits and two walks, striking out four in five-plus innings. Scherzer walked the first two batters in the third, but Victorino popped up a bunt and Scherzer made a sliding catch for the first out. Pedroia hit a high drive that was just foul of the Carlton Fisk pole above the Green Monster. After it was confirmed by replay, he hit a hard grounder down the line that Cabrera fielded, easily stepping on third base before throwing to first for the double play. NOTES: It will be the first World Series between the teams with the best record in each league since 1999. ... Detroit C Alex Avila, who absorbed a body shot and a foul ball off the mask in Game 5, took another ball off the mask in the fourth but remained in the game. ... The Dropkick Murphys sang the national anthem before the game, followed by "Shipping up to Boston," wearing Red Sox jerseys that said "Boston Strong" and the number 617. ... The Red Sox are 6-0 in Game 6 of the ALCS. ... Ellsbury had successfully stolen 18 bases in a row in the regular season and playoffs before being thrown out in the fifth. ... Victorino was hit by a pitch leading off the sixth, his sixth of the playoffs, extending his record and setting a major league record with the 10th post-season HBP of his career. Alex Rodriguez had the old record. ' ' '