Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle sent Drew MacIntyre to replace Reimer

It shouldnt come as a disappointment anymore for England supporters. They are used to this. Losing. It isnt underachieving when the team isnt good enough. This is as good as it gets. Whenever Englands Brazilian journey comes to an end (they havent been eliminated, yet) the diehard support and those responsible for overseeing English football will hold on to the positive moments. Flashes of ability and promise are what constitute hope. "They werent that bad" is excused as progress. The play of the likes of Sturridge and Sterling, and the futures of Barkley and Shaw will be used as evidence brighter days ahead. Yawn. Weve heard this before. Weve done this song and dance. The days of a semi-final shoot-out loss in Italia 90 are long gone. Lets not go back to 1966. The failures have piled on, one less painful than the next. Success would be a surprise. Losses to more intelligent and superior football nations are the expectation. The English should be immune from the feeling of devastation or outrage. From a Golden Generation not good enough, to the likes of Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard who have failed to capture the imagination. Its a vicious cycle of mediocrity. A 2-1 loss to Uruguay is just the latest chapter. England was poor. Nothing new. The how it happened is what drives home the obvious. Too weak in too many areas and lacking true top talent to break down their competition. Out-managed. Out-witted. Out-classed. Uruguay only completed a pathetic 64 per cent of passes. The South Americans struggled in build up and were content to sit back. It was an astute page out of Italys book from Englands opening match; sit-back and force England to break you down. Dont get beat for speed. And counter-attack. Thats what Uruguay did, and credit for executing. They got stuck in and remained organized. Forget basic statistics telling you England dominated possession with Uruguay on the back-foot. It was calculated. It worked to perfection. A basic approach against a basic team. Simple. The game winning goal incredibly came directly from the Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. A ball put on the ground and a long ball played out. Simple to defend, right? Apparently not. Edinson Cavani dropped deep all match to expose long-in-the-tooth Steven Gerrard sitting on top of the England backline. For what the England captain has in experience, he lacks in legs because of the kilometers accumulated. Cavanis aerial challenge of Gerrard forced a wayward header backwards from the England midfielder. Luis Suarez, as proper poachers do, tucked in behind the backline looking for an advantage. He gambled and he won, as Gary Cahill got caught. Suarez was clinical in finish and again showed his special talent. A game breaker and match winner, something England doesnt have. Likewise on Suarez opener, he exposed Englands backline. The Uruguayan number nine did well to create the needed space on the far post behind Phil Jagielka. The ball played to Suarez by Cavani was all-world. But it was two Uruguayan players on six England defenders. Nobody put pressure on the ball. And to leave Suarez lurking on the far post wasnt good enough. Not to mention is was a missed tackle by Gerrard in the midfield, leading to the attack. Two England centre-backs and two mistakes leading to goals conceded. Cahill and Jagielka are experienced at the position, at least at the club level. They are the best in the country at the position and they were exposed. The best England has at an all-important position and not good enough. Its the same story at the other end of the field. Not good enough. Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge are more than fine players. They are very good. But they are not at the same levels of other top forwards in this tournament, let alone not the top forwards on their own club teams. Therein is the difference. The likes of Rooney and Sturridge require real substance around them to be at their best, and thats fine. They are better the complimentary piece rather than the focus at this level. When played appropriately, they can shine. In this England team, their play often times is representative of the whole. These are the best England has and they are not good enough. The midfield, a make-shift, comprised of decent parts with no direction on how its supposed to work. Jordan Henderson had a fine season on a good attacking Liverpool team. Yet something suggests he has the makings of becoming the next Sinclair, Wright-Phillips, Mills, or Parker – take your pick of the long list of players youll ask, "Did he really play for England?" Is he really the best England really has? The rest of the midfield is all over the place. The left-side exposed defensively and the movement in attack not creative or consistent. Passing the ball around without purpose wont break down a back line. Its no surprise this area of the field is stagnant and lacks influence. And the manager, oh the manager. Roy Hodgson saw fit to keep Englands double-pivot of Gerrard and Henderson on the field in a game begging for attacking players to breakdown the Uruguayan defensive wall. Comically, two holding players were preferable to keeping on Sterling or Welbeck, or even throwing on a Rickie Lambert until after England went down. The options at Hodgson arent flattering. But neither were the tactics. The very least Hodgson could have done was shuffle the deck. Bring off a defensive midfielder or ineffective wing-back in preference of another attacking player. Change the shape. Instead, the end result of a cautious approach was not good enough. Some will suggest Ashley Cole and Jermain Defoe should have been in the England set-up. Leighton Baines has struggled and another forward option off the bench could have proved decisive. Arguments can be made but how much of a difference they would have made most likely would have been negligible. It made more sense to include Michael Carrick in the squad as a holding midfielder able to provide distribution. But then again, this is a country deeming Paul Scholes not a proper fit to be an England regular over the course of his career. The best England had, but not good enough? Theres a pattern here. Selection issues are nothing new. But no matter who dons the England kit, are they ever good enough? There have been phenomenal performances over the course of the first week of the World Cup, both by individuals and team. Honest assessment would tell the standard of football played by the true top football nations is a step beyond England. Its all very disturbing considering important players for the likes of Chile and Colombia (etc…) are buried in the League Championship, or in some cases not deemed good enough for even that. This should trouble the English to the core. But it wont. Overrating their own talent has become a past-time and feeds the beast. Criticism and finding scapegoats has become a past time. In reality, these are the best players they have. And they are not good enough. The Premier League is the most entertaining league in the world and the most popular. It is not the best. Englands best players are not even the top talent in their own domestic league. Taking a look in the mirror doesnt always cast a pretty reflection. But the look in the mirror is necessary. Acceptance is needed. This was a day England will never have a better context to beat a Uruguay team as such on a stage made for a statement performance. The weather was an ideal 14 degrees Celsius for the hardened English. The opponent was missing two of their preferred back-four. The star player was not 100 per cent. And Uruguays confidence was shaky coming off a shock 3-1 loss. England didnt let it slip away. They were incapable of seizing the moment. It is possible England can still advance from the group stage, even though a team losing their first two games at a World Cup has never done so. Italy must beat Costa Rica then Uruguay, and England will need a comprehensive victory over the Ticos to have superior goal differential. But really, would that constitute success? Squeaking by would be as good as it gets for a team not good enough. Allan Houston Jersey . In the late match, Shinji Okazaki scored two goals to pace Mainz to a 3-2 victory at Werder Bremen. Goals from Milan Badelj, Maximilian Beister and Hakan Calhanoglu ended Hamburgs two-match losing run and kept Hannover winless in seven games. Bernard King Jersey . Bell Medias 12-year partnership with the Ottawa Senators includes five major components: - English-language regional television broadcast rights for TSN – a minimum of 52 regular season and pre-season games - French-language regional television broadcast rights for RDS – a minimum of 40 regular season and pre-season games - English-language broadcast rights for TSN Radio 1200 – all games - French-language radio broadcast rights – all games - Telecommunications and retail sponsorship and activation rights "We recognized early on that our regional broadcast rights coming up for renewal was a very important asset," said Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. http://www.knickssale.com/kids-carmelo-anthony-knicks-jersey/ . TSNs Farhan Lalji reports the Edmonton Eskimos non-import DT has a workout scheduled with an NFL team next week and isnt expected to sign a deal with any team until then. Mitchell Robinson Jersey . -- Derek Jeter says the New York Yankees have no choice but to move forward now that Alex Rodriguez has accepted his suspension for the 2014 season. Patrick Ewing Jersey . 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.ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- For Bills safety Jairus Byrd, there was nothing like the sight of watching Jets backup quarterback Matt Simms trot out on the field early in the fourth quarter Sunday. To Byrd, that was a signal that he and Buffalos defence had done its job in thoroughly rattling rookie starter Geno Smith. "It sits great with us," Byrd said. "Any time you can do that, it means were being relentless out there." That was the case from start to finish as the Bills defence and blustery winds gusting up to 30 mph proved too much for Smith and the Jets to handle in Buffalos dominating 37-14 victory. Byrd had two interceptions. Defensive tackle Kyle Williams had two sacks and forced a fumble. And, safety DaNorris Searcy returned another Smith interception 32 yards for a touchdown as Buffalo turned four turnovers by the quarterback into 17 points. The Bills got after Smith from the Jets opening possession. Thats when defensive tackle Marcell Dareus briefly knocked the quarterback out of the game by hitting him in the mid-section. "First play of the game, I knew that we had him," Dareus said. "We got a big lick on him, and he kind of rolled around. We knew right then we were in his head. From then on, he looked crazy, looked scattered." The Bills also didnt take too kindly upon hearing the Jets spent part of Saturday at Dave & Busters, a chain restaurant and entertainment venue in suburban Buffalo. "Me personally, I feel theyre disrespectful in the first place, so it didnt shock me," Bills defensive end Mario Williams said. Jets coach Rex Ryan defended the decision, saying it wasnt meant to be disrespectful. "I dont know why thats added motivation. We do different things when were on the road," Ryan said. "We went out as a team, so thats what we did." The Bills (4-7) snapped a three-game skid and enter their bye week by winning for only the second time in seven games. The Jets (5-5), coming off their bye, continued their string of inconsistent outings by becoming the NFLs first team to alternate wins and losses through the first 10 games of the season. Smith, a second-round pick out of West Virginia, went 8 of 23 for 103 yards passing, and was blunt in assessing his outing. "The way I can sum up this game is awful," Smith said. "I couldnt hit anything todday.dddddddddddd I just wasnt hitting the mark." Bills rookie quarterback EJ Manuel, selected 16th overall out of Florida State, was far better. He finished 20 of 28 for 245 yards passing and two scores. And he did so with Buffalo playing minus both starting receivers: Stevie Johnson (groin) and Robert Woods (sprained left ankle). Smith has now gone a combined 36 of 72 for 377 yards passing, with no touchdowns and five interceptions in his past three games. And hes particularly struggled on the road, where he dropped to 1-4 and thrown four touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. Overall, he has eight touchdowns, 16 interceptions and has lost four fumbles. Ryan attempted to deflect criticism directed at his quarterback by noting Smith had little protection. "With that protection, you couldve had Joe Namath back there and I dont think it wouldve mattered today," Ryan said. "Obviously, when you turn the ball over four times, thats a poor performance." It was so bad that the Jets managed just 267 yards offence and a season-low 12 first downs. Under Smith, the Jets produced 4 yards offence, no first downs and committed two turnovers on 13 plays over the final five possessions of the first half. Jets running back Chris Ivory scored on a 1-yard plunge on fourth down. Simms marched the Jets on a six-play, 62-yard drive, capped by a 13-yard pass to Jeff Cumberland with 9:36 left. The Bills took control in the final minutes of the first half. Starting with Manuels 34-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Graham with 4:05 left, Buffalo scored 17 points over a span of 2:50 to build a 20-0 lead with 65 seconds left in the first half. Kyle Williams sack and forced fumble led to fullback Frank Summers scoring on a 3-yard run. Then Byrds first interception set up Dan Carpenters 42-yard field goal. NOTES: The conditions were so tough that a tear-away portion of the football-field sized American flag came undone during the national anthem. ... Jets PK Nick Folk missed his first field-goal attempt of the season after a 48-yarder sailed wide right. Folks streak ended at 23 straight, one short of matching the franchise record set by Jay Feely from 2008-09. ... Among those in attendance was New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who played a big role last year in negotiating the Bills 10-year lease agreement to stay at Ralph Wilson Stadium. 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