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There was nothing second-rate about their performance, but second place is where Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir find themselves following their short program in the ice dance event on Sunday. Following a pattern that has become all too familiar for the defending Olympic champions, the American team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White bested Virtue and Moir by a margin of 2.56 points at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi to take top spot. Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov fed off the pro-Russian crowd and tallied a 73.04, putting them in bronze-medal position heading into Mondays free dance (10:00 a.m. ET, streaming live at cbc.ca/olympics). Virtue and Moir, skating to Ella Fitzgeralds Dream a Little Dream of Me, put their slip-up in the team event far in the rear view mirror with a seemingly flawless performance, carving perfect turns, nailing their rotational lifts and staying in sync during their twizzle sequences. As the music ended and they struck their final pose, Moir let out a triumphant "Yes!", knowing that the skate represented one of their best performances of the season. Their joy was short-lived though, as their score of 76.33 came in below their season best score of 77.59 at the Grand Prix Finals in December, leaving the door wide open for the reigning world champions Davis and White, who set a new short dance world record with a score of 78.89. Canadas other medal hopefuls, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, skated a strong routine that earned them a 65.93, good for seventh place. The third Canadian entry, featuring Toronto-born Alexandra Paul and Barries Mitchell Islam, skated a light, airy and up-tempo routine, marred only by a small bobble on the opening twizzle by Paul. The 2010 world junior silver medallists finished with a score of 55.91, putting them in 18th place. Virtue and Moir have some work to do to catch the leaders, but they were still happy with how the day unfolded. "It was a really fun performance," the 24-year-old Virtue told CBC Sports. "Obviously, you are here to defend your title. You also want to have fun. You still love what you do." Moir, 26, said that it was this type of performance that has kept them going for the last four years. "Its definitely the reason we keep going. To be on this stage representing Canada, its a huge thing for Tessa and I to be part of a fantastic Olympic Canadian team." Moir added that they still get plenty of enjoyment out of competitions like these. "We love what we do. We love skating together. We have a lot of special moments, and that was one of them." Sundays short dance marked the third head-to-head battle between the Canadians and Americans at these Olympics. Davis and White beat Virtue and Moir by three points in the short dance portion of the team event early in the Games, and repeated the feat in the free dance portion with a seven-point victory. The two rivals bring contrasting styles to the sport. Virtue and Moir boast an elegant and flowing style, and a sense of unison that no other team can match, thanks to nearly 17 years as an on-ice tandem. Davis and White, on the other hand, typically display a faster and bolder technique than the Canadian duo, albeit one with arguably less precision. Virtue and Moir have laid claim to an Olympic gold medal in Vancouver, two world titles and six Canadian championships during their careers, but theyve consistently come up short against the American pair over the past two seasons, including at the 2013 world championship in Virtues hometown of London, Ont. What makes the rivalry even more peculiar, if not slightly peculiar, is the fact they share not only the same training facility in Canton, Mich., but also the same coach and choreographer, Russian-born Marina Zoueva. Zoueva has coached Davis and White for the past 14 years, and has been working with Virtue and Moir for 10 years. While they arent close friends with the Americans off the ice, Virtue and Moir have often said that they have a good relationship with them and that both sides enjoy the friendly rivalry. Another storyline that has surrounded the athletes since the team event, an alleged judging scandal, has fortunately faded into the background. During the opening weekend, the French sports publication LEquipe had reported that the American and Russian judges were conspiring against Canada in order to assure a gold medal for Russia in the team competition and gold for the U.S., in ice dancing. Despite being at the centre of the controversy, Virtue and Moir insist that the rumours havent affected their focus on or off the ice. Cheap Jordan Shoes Wholesale . As they are wont to do, the Spurs made things real easy. The Spurs signed Parker to a multi-year contract extension on Friday, ensuring that the six-time All-Star point guard will be in the fold whether Duncan and Ginobili are able to continue their careers or not. Cheap Jordan Shoes Australia .Michael Briscoe is serving a life sentence for sexual assault, kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte in 2005. http://www.australiacheapairjordan.com/ . He is nigh unstoppable against the leagues worst. The 31-year-old dangerman set up two goals and scored two himself as Toronto FC rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the slumping Houston Dynamo 4-2 on Saturday night. Air Jordan Shoes For Sale Australia . The team announced the defensive coordinator will not be offered a contract extension. Cheap Air Jordans Australia . At least 90 players who had college eligibility remaining are expected to enter the draft, shattering last years record number of 73. "Its a humongous number, so the first reaction is it makes you step back a little bit," said NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, a former scout with the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Marcus Mariota became the first Oregon player to win the Heisman Trophy. The Ducks quarterback was announced as the recipient of college footballs most prestigious individual honor during Saturdays ceremony in New York. The redshirt junior also won the Davey OBrien, Walter Camp and Maxwell Awards on Thursday night. Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon and Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper were also finalists for the Heisman Trophy, but the vote wasnt close. Mariota received 788 first-place votes and a total of 2,534 points. Gordon finished second with 37 first-place votes and 1,250 points and Cooper had 49 first-place votes, but came in third with 1,023 points. Mariota had the second-highest percentage of possible points (90.9) in Heisman history, behind only Ohio State quarterback Troy Smiths (91.6) victory for the 2006 season. The most prolific quarterback in Oregon history has led the Pac-12 champion Ducks (12-1) to 35 wins in his three seasons as the starter. He needs two more victories to cement his legacy at Oregon. The Ducks ended the season No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings and will face Florida State in the national semifinals at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. The other semifinal will pit Alabama against Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl on New Years Day. The winners of those games will play for the national championship on Jan. 12. So far this season, Mariota has passed for 3,773 yards and 38 touchdowns with 669 yards rushing and another 14 scores. He completed 68.3 percent of his 372 passes with just two interceptions on the season and accounted for 346 yards and five touchdowns in a 51-13 win over Arizona in the Pac-12 title game. This award belongs to my teammates, Mariota said during his acceptance speech Saturday. The amount of hard work and sacrifice that each of them has made has not gone unnoticed. He has thrown for 10,115 yards and 101 touchdowns with just 12 interceptions in his college career with another 2,136 yards and 28 touchdowns rushing.dddddddddddd Mariota was emotional at times during his Heisman speech, especially when speaking about his accomplishment as the first Hawaii native to win the award. To the Polynesian community, I hope and pray this is only the beginning, he said. Young Poly athletes everywhere, you should take this as motivation and dream big and strive for greatness. Gordon rushed for a then-FBS record 408 yards against Nebraska last month and ended the season with an FBS-leading 2,336 yards rushing, the fourth-best total all-time. Cooper, a junior, had an SEC-record 115 catches for a national-best 1,656 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games this season. He had an Iron Bowl-record 224 yards receiving in Alabamas 55-44 win over rival Auburn on Nov. 29. Mariota was the third Ducks player to be named a finalist for the Heisman following quarterback Joey Harrington, who finished fourth in the voting in 2001, and running back LaMichael James, who placed third behind Cam Newton and Andrew Luck in 2010. A quarterback has won 13 of the past 15 Heisman Trophies, with the other two going to running backs Reggie Bush for the 2005 season and Mark Ingram in 2009. (Bushs Heisman was later vacated.) TCU QB Trevone Boykin received eight first-place votes and 218 points to finish fourth behind the finalists. Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett (78) and last years Heisman Trophy winner, Jameis Winston (51) of Florida State, ended fifth and sixth. Winston got four first-place votes. Finishing 7-10 in the voting were Indiana running back Tevin Coleman, Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott, Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III and Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty. Wright was the only one of that bunch not to get a first-place vote. ' ' '