ROAR

Quote:TORONTO -- Tim Leiweke, the man who brought Jermain Defoe to Toronto FC, appears ready to show the England striker the door. NFL Store Online . Defoes future has been in doubt since Toronto manager Ryan Nelsen was fired Aug. 31 and the MLS team revealed it had turned down a club record bid for the 31-year-old forward. There has been rampant speculation that Defoe, currently nursing a groin injury back in England, wants to return to his homeland. "I personally dont think Defoe will come back. I think if he doesnt want to be here, you get rid of him," Leiweke, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, told Ryerson students at the Ted Rogers School of Management on Thursday. "My attitude if you want to be here and you want to buy into what were doing, lets go," he added. "Roll up your sleeves and well fight together. And I will be there with you every day. "If you dont want to be here, get the hell out of our way." Leiweke made his comment about Defoe not coming back after saying he expected some new designated players next year. The clubs three DPs this season are Defoe, American midfielder Michael Bradley and Brazilian forward Gilberto. Leiwekes TFC comments, in a question-and-answer session with the students, soon found their way to English media outlets, featured on both the Daily Mirror and BBC websites. The club had previously said that Defoe is expected back next week to continue his rehab and that he wants to be here. The former Spurs man is TFCs leading scorer with 11 goals. Toronto FC sits seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 9-11-6 record. And while saying the team was making progress, he took a swipe at the rest of the roster while saying the fans, media and club itself were stuck in a losing tradition. "The only two guys in our locker-room that are looking around and going we aint going down unless we go down fighting are Michael Bradley and (new manager) Greg Vanney. We have work to do there. Were not done by any means." "I pray that we make it to the playoffs this year," he added, "because you all deserve it. But I think we still have some hard decisions and hard work to do." Leiweke also said he made a mistake by retaining manager Ryan Nelsen and his coaching staff for the start of the season, saying he had done it out of loyalty to Nelsen. "Of the seven coaches we let go, not one of them had his coaching license," said Leiweke. The MLSE boss noted that Vanney had his coaching license and taught other coaches. In fact, former assistant coach Fran OLeary had just finished the two-year UEFA Pro Licence course, needing only to make a final presentation, when he joined Nelsen at his introductory news conference. And a club spokesman said goalie coach Stewart Kerr also had a coaching licence. Leiweke has announced he is leaving MLSE by June 2015 or sooner. But he continues to make headlines. Clearance NFL Shop . The lightning strike was in the parking lot of Crew Stadium on Saturday night, but its not known if the off-duty lieutenant was struck directly, Columbus Fire Department Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said. The firefighter, identified as Lt. Wholesale Jerseys For Sale . - A mixed martial arts fighter who changed his name to War Machine was ordered Friday to stand trial in Nevada state court on 34 felony charges including attempted murder, sexual assault and kidnapping that could get him life in prison for allegedly attacking his porn star ex-girlfriend and her friend. http://www.cheapnfljerseyswholesale.com/ . Jackson Houck added a goal and two assists for the Giants (28-23-10), who halted a five-game slide, while Tyler Morrison, Mason Geertsen and Dominik Volek each scored once. Matt Bellerive scored both goals for the Blazers (12-43-5), who are 1-9-0 in their last 10 outings.MIAMI -- A debated block at the buzzer. A season sweep of the NBA champions. Hello, Brooklyn -- the only NBA team this season to go unbeaten against the Miami Heat. Mason Plumlee denied LeBron James dunk attempt at the rim with 2 seconds left, and the Nets finished off a four-game sweep of Miami by beating the Heat 88-87 on Tuesday night. With Miami down by one and time running out, Rashard Lewis somehow got a pass from underneath the basket to James, who rose as Plumlee jumped to contest the play. Replays showed Joe Johnson made some contact with James as he started his move and that Plumlee hit the four-time MVPs hand on the dunk try, but the Heat never got the call they wanted. "My initial thought was to just foul and make him earn it at the free-throw line," Plumlee said. Thats precisely what the Heat thought he did. "He grabbed my right hand," James said. "He didnt do it on purpose, but he got my right hand." Said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: "It was a foul from my vantage point. But what can you do?" Time expired, and just like that, Miamis lead in the Eastern Conference was down to a half-game -- one in the loss column -- over Indiana. Johnson scored 19 points, reserve Marcus Thornton had 16 and Paul Pierce scored 14 for the Nets. Plumlee had two of his three blocks in the last 2 minutes, the first of them on a short try by Chris Bosh that Miami felt should have been whistled for goaltending. Still, his late work couldnt get Plumlee a one-night respite from rookie duty. "He still got to come in here and carry the bags and get the towels," Pierce said. Final score of the four Brooklyn-Miami games: Nets 389, Heat 377. Brooklyn won three of the games by a single point, becoming the third team in NBA history to have that many narrowest-of-margin wins over an opponent in the same regular season and the first team ever to do so without playing more than four times. And the fourth went to double overtime. All four could have gone Miamis way. None of them did. "Theyre a good team," Spoelstra said. "Theyre one of the hotter teams since All-Star break. Every single one of these games, however you want to slice it, however you get to that point, there are plays to be made in the fourth quarrter. Cheap Authentic Jerseys. And for whatever reason, theyve made more plays." Brooklyn became the first team in the last two years to sweep the Heat. Miami was the only team in the league to beat every team last season and would have repeated that feat with a win Tuesday. James had 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Heat, who got 12 points from Bosh and 10 from Norris Cole. Up by one, Johnson took a jumper that was way off with 11 seconds left. Miami has been down by one in the final seconds twice in the last couple weeks, with James not getting a chance at the last shot either time. This time he did, and Miami still couldnt break through. Each of the last three Heat losses have come by a single point -- and theyve dropped six in all by that margin this season. "Thats just basketball," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "You have the best player in the world going against a rookie and we got lucky." Thorntons steal and layup with 3:27 left put the Nets up one, before James answered seconds later with a dunk, part of a final quarter that featured seven lead changes. Deron Williams missed a pair of free throws with 2:17 left and Brooklyn down a point, but Plumlee blocked Boshs layup on the next Miami possession. Thornton hit a 3 from the right corner to put the Nets on top, Johnson followed with a beat-the-shot-clock score from the lane, and Brooklyn was suddenly up four with 1:01 left. A mere 5 1/2 seconds later, the lead was down to one. James drove past Johnson and got fouled by Pierce on the way to a three-point play, getting Miami within 86-85. The teams alternated baskets on their next possessions, but the Nets wouldnt trail again. Miamis Dwyane Wade (hamstring) missed his seventh straight game -- his 26th absence this season for the Heat, who were also without Greg Oden (back) and Udonis Haslem (stomach virus). Brooklyn sat Kevin Garnett, who is expected to play at Orlando on Wednesday. NOTES: Alonzo Mourning, the Heat player-turned-executive whose induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame was announced Monday, received a video tribute and loud ovation during the first half. ... U.S. Olympic speed skater Eddy Alvarez, a Miami native and silver medallist from the Sochi Games, was part of the sellout crowd. ' ' '