where we want the Nationwide Series to be on a pedestal," Iowa Sp

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. Josh Towers Blue Jays Jersey . - Osi Umenyiora still goes online to play video games against his buddy Victor Cruz.Oddly enough, their game of choice is FIFA soccer. Cruz usually takes Manchester United, while Umenyiora prefers either Chelsea or Man City.Im not going to lie. He wins the majority of the time, Cruz said. But I come back when it matters, so Im cool with that.On Sunday, theyll be opponents in that other kind of football, in a game that really matters.Umenyiora, who spent the first decade of his career with the New York Giants, will line up for the first time against his former team as a defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons.It seems downright surreal to everyone involved.Umenyiora was such a key and immensely popular member of the Giants for so long, helping the team to a pair of Super Bowl titles. He made the Pro Bowl twice and had 75 sacks during his tenure with New York, including a career-best 14.5 in 2005.Im excited to see a lot of the familiar faces, Umenyiora said. I was there for 10 years, basically a third of my life, so I met a lot of people, have a lot of good friends there. Most of the good things in my life came from that organization.This certainly isnt a case like Steve Smith, who took such pleasure in beating his former team last week. The Baltimore Ravens receiver had 139 yards receiving and two touchdowns in a 38-10 rout of Carolina, then angrily spouted that the Panthers stabbed me in the back.There are no hard feelings for Umenyiora.I left there on really good terms with everybody, Umenyiora said. So I dont have any of that, I want to come back and kick the Giants in the teeth, stuff like that. Ive got a job to do. Weve got to get back to winning. We have a big one on the road this week. Thats pretty much all Im focused on.Umenyiora, who turns 33 next months, hasnt made much of an impact in his two seasons with the Falcons (2-2). While he had a team-high 7.5 sacks last season, the Falcons struggled to get pressure on the quarterback.This season, hes been demoted to a backup role. Umenyiora has six tackles through the first month of the season and is still looking for his first sack. He looks out of place in the Falcons preferred 3-4 alignment, not quite mobile enough to handle an outside linebacker role, not quite big enough to take an inside spot.Umenyiora hopes hell get an opportunity to go after Giants quarterback Eli Manning, a player who was always hands-off to him in practice when he played for the Giants.Ive never had a chance to get even close to him, Umenyiora said, trying to hold back a smile.He doesnt really recognized these Giants (2-2), who have gone through extensive turnover the last two seasons and this year brought in a new offensive co-ordinator, Ben McAdoo, to install a West Coast-style offence.Manning and the Giants struggled at first with the transition to a system that relies on quick reads and throws, losing their first two games. But theyve scored 75 points the last two weeks, looking particularly impressive in last weeks victory at Washington.If the Falcons tried to pick Umenyioras brain about what to expect from his old team, he wouldnt have much to offer.I dont know this offence at all, so theres nothing Ive been able to give our team, he said. Everything about that team looks different than when I was there.Well, not everything.The Giants still have Cruz, their flashy receiver. And offensive tackle Will Beatty, a player who still speaks fondly of Umenyiora (and vice versa). They all wish they could have stuck together a little longer.To see Osi in a different uniform is unfortunate, Cruz said.Even Tom Coughlin, the Giants hardscrabble coach, sounded a bit moved by the thought of Umenyiora wearing red instead of blue.Its still a little bit sad to see ol Osi over there, Coughlin said. He was such an integral part of our team.Notes: Falcons G Justin Blalock missed practice for the second day in a row. Blalocks absence makes it increasingly likely that Atlanta will have three new starters on the offensive line against the Giants. ... WR Harry Douglas, who didnt play last Sunday against the Vikings because of a foot injury, also missed practice.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 Juan Guzman Blue Jays Jersey . Team spokesman Donald Beauchamp said there was no new information on the 80-year-old Hall of Famers condition. The family has requested privacy. Kelly Gruber Blue Jays Jersey . On Thursday theyll learn even more. Despite the cloud of uncertainty that has followed them around from the moment general manager Masai Ujiri was brought in to put his stamp on the franchise, the Raptors have surpassed all pre-season expectations. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/3506h-reese-mcguire-jersey-blue-jays.html . - The Jacksonville Jaguars are leaning more toward playing injured quarterback Blake Bortles against Tennessee on Thursday night.NEWTON, Iowa -- Ryan Blaney became the youngest winner in the history of the NASCAR Truck Series at Iowa Speedway two years ago. On Sunday, hell attempt to become the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Nationwide race on Iowas short track. The 20-year-old Blaney wont be the only kid pushing a podium finish. Blaney will start from the pole for Sundays race at Iowa Speedway after finishing first in qualifying on Saturday. Blaney won a pole for the first time in the Nationwide Series, and he did so less than 24 hours after a disappointing 22nd-place finish in the trucks race in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday night. "Its been a busy 24 hours," Blaney said. My team "did a great job of getting everything ready, for me to just come to jump in the car and have it close to where we need it to be." Sam Hornish Jr. will join Blaney on the front row, followed by Michael McDowell, Regan Smith and Dylan Kwasniewski. Series points leader Chase Elliott will start sixth in the Nationwides first stand-alone race of the season -- which will feature three drivers aged 20 or younger in the top six starting spots. Elliott, a point ahead of Elliott Sadler, graduated from Kings Ridge Christian School in Georgia on Saturday morning and flew right back to Iowa for qualifying. "I definitely think it was worth it to go home and be part of that," Elliott said. "It was definitely weird to be here, and then gone, and then back just for qualifying. Its a little odd, but other than that were happy to get back." The rest of the field might wish Elliott stayed in Georgia. Elliott has already won twice this season, at Texas and Darlington, and he has led the standings for well over aa month. Jacob Waguespack Blue Jays Jersey. Hes also won at Iowa before, taking first in a K&N Pro Series race in 2012, and his No. 9 Chevrolet was the fastest car in two of the three practice sessions. Elliott said Saturday that hes looking forward to directing his focus on racing rather than school. "I was checked out way before they gave me that paper," Elliott joked. "To not have to go home and be worried about doing homework and getting stuff done on Monday morning will hopefully be an improvement." Sundays race will also feature a pair of hometown drivers coming off their best runs of the season. Fairfax, Iowa native Landon Cassill scored his first top 10 of the year when he finished eighth at Talladega two weeks ago. Joey Gase of Cedar Rapids finished a career-best 11th at Talladega despite having his engine run out of water on the last lap because it had overheated so often. "We had to take a baseball bat to the car a few times, but that was all right," Gase said. "It was really great to get our name out there." Cassill will start ninth, while Gase will be 29th. This will be the first of two Nationwide races this season at Iowa, which was bought by NASCAR in the off-season. The second will be held on Aug. 2, and NASCAR announced Saturday that it will be the final event in the four-race "Dash 4 Cash" program that could award up to $1 million to a series regular. The move is part of a push by NASCAR to make Iowa a featured track for a series often overshadowed by the top-tier Sprint Cup series. "This is where we want to make names, where we want the Nationwide Series to be on a pedestal," Iowa Speedway president Jimmy Small said. ' ' '