the chance to join them by losing to Norway

Sweden and Canada became the first mens teams to qualify for the Olympic curling semifinals on Sunday, and Britain missed the chance to join them by losing to Norway. Canada (6-2) stole a point at the last end to secure an 8-6 win over the U.S., which now cannot qualify. The Canadians didnt know they had qualified when they came off the ice after a tense win over the U.S. team, but they soon were celebrating. Even if the Canadians lose their last game — to China in the evening session — the worst they could finish is tied at 6-3 with Norway and Britain. They would qualify on a superior head-to-head record, the Canadian Curling Association confirmed. "We played all right, definitely not our best, but its still good to get the win knowing that we didnt put our best performance together," Canada skip Brad Jacobs said. The game came down to the final shot, delivered by U.S. skip John Shuster. His draw settled around the button next to a Canadian stone, which was closer by barely half an inch. "Sometimes you are on the right side and sometimes on the wrong side," Shuster said. "It just sucks that weve been on the wrong side at the Olympics." Playing in front of their king, Carl XVI Gustaf, the Swedes beat Russia 8-4 in nine ends to move into the outright lead at 7-1. They are the reigning world champions. Norway (4-3) staved off elimination with a 7-6 win over Britain (5-3), ensuring there will be plenty to play for going into the final day of round-robin action Monday. "It was one of the most important games of our career," said Haavard Vad Petersson, who was part of the Norway team that won an Olympic silver medal in 2010. "We had to win this one to stay alive. "We have won a medal before but we want to get gold." The Americans are 2-5. Norways final two games are against Switzerland and Denmark, both of which are out of contention. Britains last game is against China. Black Air VaporMax Shoes . They actually finished with a better record in ‘07 than they did in ‘06 but only marginally, going from 61 victories to 66. Supply Air VaporMax Shop . And once again, Team Homan emerged as the victor with the reigning national champions defeating Team Sweeting at the Pintys All-Star Curling Skins Game Friday night in the tournaments opening draw at The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in beautiful Banff National Park. http://www.cheapairvapormaxoutlet.com/ . Vonn "reopened" the idea of competing in the season-opening World Cup event on Oct. 26-27 in Soelden, Austria after returning to the slopes last month in Portillo, Chile. Cheap Air VaporMax Discount . Obasi chested the ball past one defender, prodded it past another and then rounded the keeper before scoring from a tight angle in the 16th minute. Seconds after the restart, Obasi set up Klaas Jan Huntelaar for the Dutchmans 11th goal from 13 games this season. Green Youth Air VaporMax .That sight softened the blow of what ended up as a 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.Knowing their teammate was fine after a scary headfirst fall in the opening minute of the game helped calm the Maple Leafs.DAVIE, Fla. - The Miami Dolphins have never been so bad against the run.Not their 1966 expansion team, which won three games. Not any of the awful defences that kept Dan Marino from winning a Super Bowl. Not even the 2007 team that went 1-15.In the past three games the Dolphins have allowed 661 yards rushing, the worst three-game stretch in franchise history, according to STATS.Disappointing, defensive end Cameron Wake said Tuesday.Not acceptable, defensive co-ordinator Kevin Coyle said.We have to do a better job, coach Joe Philbin said.Time is running out, with playoff hopes already slim. To have any shot at a post-season berth, the Dolphins (7-6) likely need a sweep of their final three games, beginning Sunday at New England.Poor run defence is a big reason the Dolphins have lost two of three past three games. They gave up 201 yards in a defeat at Denver and 183 in a loss to Baltimore. They also allowed 277 in a victory over the woeful New York Jets.Each of those opponents averaged more than 5.5 yards per carry, and Miami was gouged for 21 runs of at least 10 yards.Frustration became evident when defensive tackle Jared Odrick screamed at Philbin on the sideline following a 44-yard run by the Ravens late in Sundays game.Any time you dont play up to the standards we like to uphold, yeah, youre upset, Odrick said. Everybody is upset.Odrick said theres no rift between players and the coaching staff. But the Dolphins are puzzled that theyve been riddled on the ground, because run defence was expected to be a strength.The defensive front is deep and experienced, with Wake, Odrick, Olivier Vernon, Randy Starks and Earl Mitchell part of a rotation that was formidable for much of the season.ddddddddddddYou always tell your group as a d-line, This game is on our backs. We need to carry this team, Odrick said.Lately theyre taking the team in the wrong direction. Three weeks ago the Dolphins ranked eighth in the NFL in run defence; now theyre 22nd.Miami is allowing 4.4 yards per carry, which ranks fifth-worst in the league and would be the teams highest average since 2007.Weve had self-inflicted wounds in the past few games, Wake said. That doesnt all of a sudden turn us into a bunch of bums.Coyle said the breakdowns of late have been a collective effort, with poor tackling part of the problem.We look at every single play, Coyle said. We look at every defence that we had called and we try to analyze what happened. Each one, theres a reason. Its not one thing you can pin it down on. We just have to do a better job in a lot of areas. Its very difficult because we take a lot of pride in that.Rectifying the situation becomes more complicated because of injuries to linebacker Koa Misi (hamstring) and Jelani Jenkins (foot), who sat out the part of practice the media were allowed to watch Tuesday. On the plus side, cornerback Cortland Finnegan (ankle) practiced and said he absolutely will play Sunday after missing four games.The Dolphins gave up only 89 yards rushing when they beat the Patriots 33-20 in the season opener. Miami pitched a shutout in the second half.Weve just got to go out and do what weve shown we can do, Wake said.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine ' ' '