(Ellenberger)." Zahabi has said that he has worked with MacDonald to

Yes I know numerous New Zealand rugby supporters take delight in ridiculing their Australian counterparts... and it can be so mind numbing.The Kiwi baiting has continued for some time, leading to a rugby inferiority complex this side of the Tasman; not surprising considering Australia has not sighted the Bledisloe Cup for 14 seasons.Painful as it is to admit, Australia still must give thanks to New Zealand this season for at least making the revamped Super Rugby tournament watchable, enjoyable at times.We even should not quibble if any of the New Zealand teams which have made the Super Rugby quarterfinals go on to win the title. It would be the right outcome, because the New Zealand conference has quality wise been by far the best of the four.For those who follow the Australian provinces, this seasons competition has been a tough ride.If just working out the logistics of a flawed and lopsided tournament format was bewildering enough, adding to the confusion was the dismal form of those in the Australian conference.A once confident, exuberant brand of rugby has become hesitant, lacking in intelligence and relying more on hope than instinct, to the extent that the winner of the Australian conference- the Brumbies- stumbled instead of marched their way into the finals.The Brumbies, while industrious, are not the team of enlightenment they once were. Solid rather than spectacular. Cautious rather than creative. They survive another week, but are spluttering. Even the benefit of hosting a final in Canberra on Friday night is not likely to be enough of an advantage against a special Highlanders outfit who could easily successfully defend their title.The figureheads of Australian Rugby- such as national coach Michael Cheika are making the necessary rallying the troops messages at the moment by arguing that it is not all doom and gloom. It is still impossible to avoid the fact that the fodder provided by the five Australian provinces over the past few months has often been dire.In a season where two of the provincial coaches- Richard Graham and Michael Foley- were replaced during the season and the Australian Rugby Union had to prop up several financially struggling provinces- its hardly startling that Australian teams have sometimes appeared distracted.With the talent spread too thinly across the five Australian provinces, it has led to numerous substandard matches, and late in the season when injuries took its toll, round 16 turned nightmarish when Australian teams were roundly humiliated by New Zealand sides in all four encounters- losing by a collective 140 points.The last round was a little more encouraging, with Rebels backrower Sean McMahon enlivening the match against the Reds by showing what actually can happen if someone has the courage to takes risks and the Waratahs pack providing some menace against the Blues.But this was countered by constant elementary errors in either game and that the Waratahs over the final two rounds badly wasted their opportunity to make the finals through poor finishing and average options.In another disconcerting sign for Australian Rugby, just two years after winning the Super Rugby title, the Waratahs have collapsed to tenth spot.Thankfully we have been able to watch the New Zealand local derbies to revive our faith in rugby, and remind us that when played properly, it can still enlighten and invigorate.Unlike the Australian conference, where the low skill level and predictable coaching methods were often exposed, the New Zealand matches have constantly been of the highest standard because the players are willing to trust their own abilities.Their skill set and level of fitness is exceptional, leading to a succession of high intensity games played at a frenetic rate, often with virtually no interruption. More often than not when under pressure they do not make mistakes. They instead lift.New Zealand coaches also trust their players to allow them to try something different and seize the moment, which has prompted numerous memorable individual performances.With this has come a constant stream of standout games- as good as anything witnessed at the top level in recent times. It doesnt get much better than what the Highlanders and Chiefs offered in Dunedin on Saturday night, which involved endless highlights, in particular the home team winger Waisake Naholos leap of faith that enabled him to score one of the best tries of the season.This followed a mighty performance by the Hurricanes in Christchurch, where through the ingenuity of such vast talents as their All Black five-eighth Beauden Barrett they succeeded in a bonus-point triumph over the Crusaders that saw them unexpectedly finish on top of the ladder.And so four New Zealand teams are in the finals to Australias paltry one.Even though a competition structure, which is stacked in favour of the South African conference, makes it difficult for the Crusaders and Chiefs to continue on as they are respectively off to Johannesburg and Cape Town for their finals match, they should never be under-estimated. Its again about faith. They dont get hung up about hardships.As for the Hurricanes and Highlanders, you really cannot complain if they continue on, as those with initiative who want to entertain deserve just rewards. Sale Nike Shoes . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Cheap Nike Running Shoes From China . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. http://www.cheapshoesnikechina.com/ . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Nike Shoes From China . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. Cheap Air Jordan From China . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness.SEATTLE - Jake (The Juggernaut) Ellenberger remembers training at Pat Miletichs camp in Iowa back in the day, enduring a trial of fire with a room full of unforgiving, hard-nosed veterans. "Youd go into the gym and they were like hurting people," said Ellenberger. "Between Jens (Pulver), Robbie (Lawler) and Pat, I probably got dropped with body shots more times in like three or four sparring sessions that I have in my whole life." That was back in 2005-06, after Ellenbergers stint in the U.S. marines. "Youre like, Why am I doing this? It sucks," Ellenberger recalled of his time at Miletichs where fighters either got better or got out. At the same time north of the border, a teenage Rory (Ares) MacDonald had already started his MMA journey at a gym in Kelowna, B.C. MacDonald is a new breed of MMA fighter. Instead of merging into the hybrid sport from wrestling, kick-boxing or another discipline, MacDonald started learning them all together. He made his pro debut in October 2005, with his parents signing off on the 16-year-old fighting. At 28, Ellenberger is just four years older than MacDonald so it will be hardly two generations of welterweights climbing into the cage Saturday night at KeyArena on a televised UFC card. But the fourth-ranked Ellenberger represents a stiff test for No. 3 MacDonald, seen by some as a future 170-pound champion. Ellenberger (29-6) has packed a lot into his MMA career, having fought in the IFL, Bodog, M-1 and Bellator before going 8-2 in the UFC. "Hes a phenomenal opponent," Firas Zahabi, who trains both MacDonald (14-1) and champion Georges St-Pierre, said of Ellenberger. "He could be a world champion, he could easily be a world champion right now. He hits hard, hes a great wrestler, hes game, his accuracy is great. Hes a phenomenal puncher, a phenomenal fighter." "Hes a very, very well-rounded fighter," added John Danaher, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach to both MacDonald and GSP. Ellenberger, a native of Nebraska who now lives and trains in California, is also more than a little mischievous. He has waged a one-sided Twitter war of words against the stony-faced MacDonald, who is less than comfortable opening up in front of strangers although he is getting better. MacDonalds conversation with a scrum of print reporters lasted two minutes 43 seconds Thursday. Ellenberger insists his pushing MacDonalds buttons is nothing personal. But his pre-fight hype has helped crank up interest in their co-main event and overshadow the main event title fight between flyweight champ Demetrious (Might Mouse) Johnson and relative unknown John Moraga. "Rory is talented. Top 10, No," Ellenberger says in his official ufc.com bio. "He has been invented by the media and sold to the fans like a new Justin Bieber song." Ellenberger believes he has got under MacDonalds skin. But he is also smart enough to know that winning the pre-fight war of words wont mean much when it comes to throwing down. "Were still going to fight. Whether I say something or not, were still going to fight and Ive got to perform, which is exactly what Im lookking forward to.dddddddddddd" MacDonalds flavour of the month status has wavered in recent times, perhaps due to a fight schedule that has only seen him in action twice since August 2011 due to injury. While he is 5-1 in the UFC and has won four straight, critics point to the fact that B.J. Penn and Nate Diaz are lightweights in reality while Che Mills and Mike Pyle were no world-beaters. That seems somewhat revisionist. MacDonald thumped all four, racking up a combined 229 significant strikes to his opponents 59. He also led 10-2 in takedowns, with seven of those coming against Diaz. At six foot, Macdonald has two inches in height and 2.5 inches in reach on Ellenberger. And these days, he exudes an icy-cold approach to fighting. He is not a man to be taken lightly. Ellenberger, perhaps not surprisingly, points to MacDonalds lone loss in the UFC - a TKO defeat at the hands of former WEC champion Carlos (Natural Born Killer) Condit in June 2010. "Ive seen what I needed to see, Ive seen him break," said Ellenberger. Of course, Ellenberger also lost to Condit when they fought in September 2009. MacDonald was due to face No. 2 Condit in a rematch at UFC 158 in March but the Montreal card was rejigged after the Canadian was sidelined with a neck injury. Johny Hendricks beat Condit to become the No. 1 contender while Ellenberger, who had been due to face Hendricks, knocked out former Strikeforce champion Nate (The Great) Marquardt. MacDonald had to watch from the sidelines. While MacDonald, who now calls Montreal home, is beginning to loosen up in the public eye, he is not your average cage-fighter. While many show up at post-fight news conference in a sponsors T-shirt, MacDonald dips deep into his extensive wardrobe. MacDonald has style inside and outside the cage. Lawler, who is also on Saturdays card, is looking forward to seeing MacDonald and Lawler scrap. "Its going to be a slugfest, I think," he said. "Technical (MacDonald) versus athleticism and brute force (Ellenberger)." Zahabi has said that he has worked with MacDonald to refine his training to avoid injury, trying to get the young fighter to sharpen his skills with more technical drills rather than "grinding out his body" in the gym. "Theres a time to train hard but that has to be periodical and thats what Rory has to learn." Should MacDonald win Saturday, there will be more talk of whether he will ever face St-Pierre for the title. Its been a constant issue with Zahabi forced to answer questions during this camp on why the champion was not helping MacDonald prepare for Ellenberger. Zahabi says the answer is simple. He has better Ellenberger lookalikes in camp and St-Pierre, who faces No. 1 contender Hendricks in November, is facing a totally different opponent that MacDonalds. "Its not really a question, its just a repetitive question," Zahabi said of a possible GSP-MacDonald matchup. "The answers always the same "Theyre not planning on fighting each other. Everybodys training well together and were getting along and there are more important things in life." ' ' '