Talk » turnovers. Pitt, meanwhile, matched it

VANCOUVER - A record-setting season earned Solomon Elimimian a piece of CFL history Thursday night.The B.C. Lions linebacker was named the leagues outstanding player, the first pure defensive performer to receive its highest individual accolade. The six-foot, 227-pound Elimimian also captured top defensive player honours during the CFL awards banquet at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.And for good reason. Elimimian, the 2010 CFL top rookie, posted 143 defensive tackles and 151 total tackles, both CFL records, and added five sacks. Elimimian, 28, registered the double in voting conducted by 53 members of the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.Man, I couldnt sleep, I was so nervous thinking about my speech, thinking about what I need, said Elimimian, who was up at 4 a.m. on Thursday. Its nerve-wracking because its something thats uncharted.Winning an award is great but something of this magnitude I probably wont fully comprehend, fully appreciate until later on. Its unbelievable.In his acceptance speech, Elimimian paid tribute to former Lions head coach Mike Benevides, who was in attendance, and invited teammates and family up on stage with him. And when Elimimian received the top defensive player award, he also recognized his presenter, five-time winner Willie Pless. Willie is the man, Elimimian said. I think its important to understand the guys whove paved the way for you.When you come to the CFL you have to look at a guy like Willie Pless, who has won (top) defensive player five times in a row. Who can say theyve done that? Im glad I was able to meet him.While this season was Elimimians most productive it was also an emotionally draining one. With each passing week, the Lions linebacker said he felt the heavy weight of expectation regarding the outstanding player award.I dont think people understand how mentally difficult it was every week to go out there and perform, he said. In a sport like football playing the position I play it was tough and the more and more we kept going the more pressure there was.It was the most emotional season Ive had in my whole career.And Elimimian had some bad news for opposing offences: Hes not reached his peak yet.I just feel like mentally Im starting to come into my own, he said. My thing was I knew I was going to dominate every game, it was just about how much I was going to dominate.Elimimian earned the outstanding player award by a 48-14 margin over Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray. Despite requiring off-season shoulder surgery, Ray, 35 was the CFLs passing leader with 4,595 yards and 28 touchdowns.Ray was also a finalist to Calgarys Jon Cornish for the award last year.Elimimian secured the top defensive player by a 58-4 margin over Montreal Alouettes linebacker Bear Woods, the CFLs second-leading tackler with 89.Cornish didnt come away empty-handed, capturing his third straight top Canadian award by a 50-12 margin over defensive lineman Ted Laurent of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Cornish led the CFL in rushing with 1,082 yards despite playing only nine regular-season games.Cornish became the second three-time winner, joining former Ottawa star Tony Gabriel in that exclusive group.Hes truly a remarkable Canadian, Cornish said of Gabriel. Im pretty happy to be compared to him.Laurent recorded a career-best nine sacks for Hamilton, which faces Calgary on Sunday in the Grey Cup game at B.C. Place Stadium.The other individual award winners included Toronto kicker/punter Swayze Waters (special-teams player), Calgary centre Brett Jones (top lineman) and Edmonton Eskimos linebacker Dexter McCoil (rookie).Veteran Calgary long-snapper Randy Chevrier captured the Tom Pate award for outstanding community service while Toronto linebacker James Yurichuk received the Jake Gaudaur Veteran Trophy.Mark Cohon presented the Commissioners award to Ottawa Redblacks owners Roger Greenberg, Jeff Hunt, John Pugh, John Ruddy and Bell Shenkman for returning the CFL to the Canadian capital. Saskatchewan Roughriders president Jim Hopson received the Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership award for his contributions to the CFL.Waters, 27, earned the special-teams award by a 51-11 margin over Lirim Hajrullahu of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Waters season began tragically as his best friend, Tait Hendrix, died in a motorcycle accident during training camp. Waters wore No. 34 — Hendrixs high school number — this year and dedicated the 14 season to Hendrixs memory.I wanted to do it to honour him, honour our friendship, said Waters. He was the kind of guy who lived life to the fullest every day.I hope I did him proud.The six-foot, 180-pound Waters led the CFL in scoring (192 points), field goals tried (52), made (47), punting (47.7 yards) and kickoffs (65.2 yards). Hajrullahu enjoyed a solid rookie campaign, making 40-of-46 field goals (87 per cent) while posting a 43.8-yard punting average 63.5-yard kickoff average.Jones was honoured for a second straight year after being named the CFLs top rookie in 2013. The six-foot-two, 318-pound Jones, a 23-year-old native of Weyburn, Sask., earned the top lineman honour by a 41-21 margin over Jeff Perrett of the Montreal Alouettes.Jones played all 18 regular-season games with Calgary and anchored an offensive line that allowed a league-low 26 sacks. The Stampeders also averaged a CFL-best 144 yards rushing per game but Jones feels he can continue to improve.I just know theres a lot of areas I can keep getting better, he said. Thats why I keep coming to work every day. McCoil was the top rookie by a 48-14 margin over Toronto defensive lineman Tristan Okpalaugo. McCoil, 23, scored three defensive TDs this season and also finished tied for the league lead in interceptions with six and had a team-high 67 tackles. But McCoil accepted the award with a heavy heart as Wednesday he attended his 58-year-old grandmothers funeral. McCoil was planning to bring her to Thursdays awards banquet but she died Nov. 18.She was the rock of the family, he said. I lived with her for a year and a half in high school and I learned a lot from her.I lost my grandfather when I was a freshman in college (Tulsa) so I was pretty much that person she looked to. I used to talk to her the day before games and my mom on the day of games. Im not sure what I will do now.Okpalaugo also had an impressive first year in the CFL with a team-high 12 sacks for Toronto. Cheap Fake Jerseys Free Shipping . – Team Canadas Brooke Henderson carded a 4-under 67 at Craigowan Golf and Country Club to jump into the lead at the Canadian Womens Amateur Championship on Wednesday. Cheap Jerseys From China . This week, topics cover the World Series champion Red Sox, John Farrell and what to look forward to this off-season. http://www.jerseyscheapcustom.com/ . The 22-year-old slugger, who is no stranger to adversity, made up for it at the end. Fake China Jerseys . Jonathan Crompton led the team to a 40-9 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Crompton threw three touchdown passes - two to Duron Carter and one to Brandon London - and Sean Whyte connected on four field goals to power the Alouettes to the win. Fake Jerseys 2020 . The NFLs Defensive Rookie of the Year will be named at the NFL Honours Award show on February 1. The 23-year-old 2013 second-rounder out of Oregon becomes the third Bills linebacker to win the honour after Jim Haslett (1979) and Shane Conlan (1987.ORLANDO, Fla. -- Unselfish offence, tenacious defence. When Pittsburgh plays like it did in routing Colorado 77-48 in the South Regional on Thursday, the ninth-seeded Panthers think they are capable of competing with anyone. It was difficult to argue against that after Talib Zanna scored 16 of his 18 points in the opening half and Pitt built a 28-point lead. However, coach Jamie Dixon and his players know they will have to be even better to go deeper in the NCAA tournament. "Were a better team now than we were earlier in the year," Dixon said. "Thats what you hope to be." The Panthers (26-9) shot 51 per cent from the field and played one of their best games of the season defensively in advancing to a third-round matchup Saturday against either No. 1 seed Florida or No. 16 seed Albany. Dixon said the Panthers have been feeling a lot better about themselves since winning two of three games in last weeks Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, including a quarterfinal victory over North Carolina. "I think last week opened our eyes," Dixon said. "We didnt win the tournament, but we thought we could have." Colorado (23-12) was eager to make amends for an early exit from the tournament a year ago, but had no answers for the 6-foot-9 Zanna. The Pitt centre made six of seven shots in the first half, and the Panthers didnt have any difficulty finishing off the overwhelmed Buffaloes. "Weve got to take care of the ball better and weve got to guard better and weve got to rebound better," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "We didnt do any of those things today. I dont know what Colorado team it was." Josh Scott led the Buffaloes with 14 points, however Colorado couldnt overcome a subpar performance from Askia Booker, who missed his first seven shots and didnt score from the field until 4 minutes into the second half. Cameron Wright had 11 points and Lamar Patterson finished with 10 for Pitt, which moved from the Big East to the ACC this season, where it finished fifth. Zanna, who had a monster game in the ACC tournament with 19 points and 21 rebounds against North Carolina, didnt attempt a shot in the second half, when Dixon gave his starters plenty of rest. Michael Young had nine points in 21 minutes and no regular played more than 30. "I was just trying to be patient. I know if Im open, the ball is going to come to me," said Zanna, a senior from Kaduna, NNigeria.dddddddddddd "I was wide open just trying to run the floor, and I was just having wide-open layups." Colorado, whose 23 wins are the second-most in school history, entered the game coming off one of their worst offensive performances of the season in 20-point loss to Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament. The Buffaloes were limited to a season-low 15 field goals while shooting 29 per cent from the field with Scott finishing with a season-low four points and two rebounds. It didnt get any better against Pitt, which is in the NCAA tournament for the 10th time in 11 seasons under Dixon. The Panthers lost in the second round to Wichita State a year ago and will be looking for their first trip to the round of 16 since 2009. "They came out from the start and got on us early and we werent able to recover," Colorados Xavier Johnson said. "No one wants to go out like that, so it hurts. But that will motivate us to get better in the off-season." Colorado shot 29.4 per cent from the field in the opening half, with Booker missing all four of his attempts from the field and being limited to two free throws. Scott had five points on 2-for-3 shooting, but an even bigger indication of the teams troubles: the Buffaloes had zero assists and 10 turnovers. Pitt, meanwhile, matched its point total for its previous game, a 51-48 loss to Virginia in the semifinals of last weeks ACC tournament. The Panthers had 13 assists on 18 baskets in the first 20 minutes, and they outscored Colorado 12-2 in points off turnovers in building the 28-point halftime lead. Booker, like Scott averaging 14 points per game, finished with six on 2-for-9 shooting. Johnson scored 11 points for the Buffaloes, who made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to avoid finishing with fewer points than Pitt scored in the opening half alone. "You go in at halftime down 28, theres not a lot you can say to your guys positively, other than the fact that we had to come out and compete -- and you shouldnt have to ask our guys to do that," Boyle said. "We never gave up. These guys kept battling. It just wasnt our day," he added. "You look at every statistical category you want to. When you have five assists and 17 turnovers, its hard." The 29-point defeat was the largest-ever for the Buffaloes in the NCAA tournament. The previous low point was a 73-46 loss to eventual national champion Cincinnati in 1962. ' ' '