turnout for a small town - we were impressed," the public relations person told me. Rod and Kate were in the show planning meeting when I got there, but were happy to meet up with me afterwards. Im accustomed to seeing Rod in a suit, so it was a surprise seeing him and Kate were wearing more cas

PARIS -- Five months after his first French Open title and completing a career Grand Slam in Paris, Novak Djokovics reign over mens tennis could be about to end in the City of Lights. Saucony Shoes Outlet .Djokovic, a three-time defending champion, lost in the Paris Masters quarterfinals on Friday, leaving his No. 1 ranking open to being snatched by Andy Murray.The British player can rise from No. 2 to 1 in the ATP list for the first time if he reaches the final. He needs one more win after beating Tomas Berdych 7-6 (9), 7-5. His semifinal opponent will be No. 5 Milos Raonic, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 7-6 (4).Murray was aware of Djokovics defeat when he took the court and was sometimes hesitant against Berdych. He rallied from 6-1 down in the tiebreak, and needed four match points to overcome the Czech.Before the match there were a few more nerves maybe than there was earlier in the week, Murray said. But once I got out there, I didnt feel any different to any other match. I didnt play the match differently to how I would have played other matches, which is good. Tomorrow will probably be the same, probably.So dominant on the Parisian red clay last June, Djokovic was far from his best on super-fast carpet and was beaten by Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6 (2), his first loss against the former U.S. Open champion in 15 matchups.Djokovic made uncharacteristic mistakes from the baseline, called the tournament doctor during the first set, struggled on his serve, and destroyed his hopes of a comeback when he served for the second set at 5-4, hit two double faults, and was broken.He fought until the end though, saving two match points in the 12th game with a fine backhand volley and crosscourt forehand winner, the rare moments when he looked like his usual self. But Cilic, who struck nine aces overall, served extremely well to prevail in the tiebreaker and end Djokovics 17-match winning streak in Paris.I wasnt on the level that I could have been on, Djokovic said. I was also, in this kind of circumstances and with this level of play, in a good position to take the match into the third set, and then two double faults. Just in important moments I wasnt able to deliver. He is a deserved winner.Djokovic has held the top spot for 122 consecutive weeks. But after winning the French Open for the first time in June, his form has yo-yoed. He lost in the third round at Wimbledon, and in the first round of the Olympics. At the U.S Open, he won the first set in the final but Stan Wawrinka rallied to beat him.He admitted his long-awaited victory at Roland Garros took a toll.There was pride and satisfaction in the success I have had with my team, but in the other hand, it was also very exhausting, he said. At a certain point, I had to reach this kind of phase where I had to reflect and say, `OK, I have played on the highest possible level for that much. The drop of form is normal in sports. Im not too concerned about how the future will go for me.If he makes the final, Murray, who has spent 76 weeks at No. 2, will become the 26th player to reach No. 1 since the rankings started in 1973.Hes definitely a player who deserves that, Djokovic said. Undoubtedly, much respect for what he has done. We have known each other since very, very early days. We were, I think, 11 years old when we first played against each other. And to see how he has raised his level in the last 12 months is quite extraordinary.Murray could become the oldest first-time No. 1 at 29 since John Newcombe made it at 30 in 1974.Getting to No. 1, like I said, is 12 months of work, basically, Murray said. Consistency. I have never done that before. My career, I have had periods where I have been consistent for a few months at a time and then dropoffs. I have put myself in a position to do something that takes a lot of consistency, a lot of concentration for a long period of time. Im happy about that.Cilic, who qualified for the ATP Finals this week, will take on American John Isner in the semifinals.The end of the season is just getting better and better, Cilic said.Isner won a hard-fought all-American contest against Jack Sock 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4.Tsongas loss combined with Berdychs exit played in favor of Dominic Thiem, who qualified for the ATP Finals in London for the first time. Thiem completed the elite field of Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils and Cilic. Saucony Shoes Online Australia . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Cheap Saucony Shoes Australia . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins. http://www.cheapsauconyaustralia.com/ . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season.Ive watched TSNs Kraft Celebration Tour for years. Ive seen the yelling, howling and screaming from the fans that showed up at these venues from coast to coast. But like millions of Canadians, I never got a chance to watch it live until Sunday. The tour came to Bridgewater on the south shore of Nova Scotia - about an hour from Halifax. I live 25 minutes away from Bridgewater in a place called Liverpool, so I took the opportunity to see for myself what the real deal was. And oh my, theres so much that the TV broadcast doesnt show. Now the production on Sunday was the very first time that a broadcast team (Rod Smith and Kate Beirness) did back-to-back shows in the history of this event. The pattern is usually the Western Canadian stop (with Jennifer Hedger and Darren Dutchyshen), followed the Eastern Canadian stop and so forth. But this year, the Western crew did the show from way up north in Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories. With the distance they had to travel with all the gear and equipment by truck and bus, it made more sense to have the Eastern crew do back-to-back shows. And there was a LOT of gear, as five trucks were needed to carry the TSN set and all that Kraft Tour paraphernalia. Now Rod and Kate finished in Morell, PEI on Saturday evening, boarded the bus and hit the road to touch down in Bridgewater around 2am on Sunday. And the crews for the tour usually have more than a day to get the next show ready. Not this time. "We usually set up some the day before or have most of it ready and on the day of the event do the rest," a crew staffer told me. But this was not the case in Bridgewater. Here, the crew got up early Sunday morning to set up and with an hour to go was still working on the set. And there are a lot of people involved with this prodigious production. It takes 40-50 people to do this, along with 100 volunteers from the area to help with the banners and make the signs - a lot of planning and lots of work to be done in a very short time. All those exhibits - the puck shooting game, the basketball hoops, the booths and other TSN-Kraft material - just dont appear, it takes many to do the work and they consume a lot of time. But the showcase piece of the tour is the SportsCentre set. And that in itself takes hours to prepare. It gets put up and taken down in one day, so every conceivable check and measure is done to ensure that its totally ready for the live broadcast. Cameramen focusing camera lens. Audio feeds and microphone chords being set up. All this and pre-show tests that still have to be done. It has to be done to perfection. Remember, this is a live show. It has to be done right or youll spot the mistakes right away. I arrived four hours before the on-air time and there were already a few hundred people. And that swelled to over 2,000 by showtime. "It was a terrific turnout for a small town - we were impressed," the public relations person told me. Rod and Kate were in the show planning meeting when I got there, but were happy to meet up with me afterwards. Im accustomed to seeing Rod in a suit, so it was a surprise seeing him and Kate were wearing more casual Kraft Celebration Tour T-Shirts. For Rod, Morell was his first ever tour expperience and an awesome eye-opener. Buy Saucony Shoes Australia. "Its everything that Ive heard about and more," he said. "This is just great. Morell on Saturday and Bridgewater today (Sunday) - its a great Canadian small town experience that I would probably never get. The people, their energy, and the enthusiasm is terrific. I like small town Canada and to be able to go to Kinsmen Field and run a few football plays was such an experience." And Kinsmen Field received $25,000 from Kraft - the reason that Bridgewater entered the competition for the Kraft Celebration tour. "The field has a serious drainage problem," explained Rod. "The money will help. It hasnt rained around here in two weeks and the field is still soggy." Kate, his co-host, and is already a veteran of the tour. "Ive been doing this for three summers and Im still amazed as to what happens," she said. "Here it is, hours before the show starts and there are hundreds of people. Theres going to be a thousand by air time, maybe more - amazing." Kate is a real competitive gal. She and Rod went fishing for Mackerel in PEI and emphatically said, "Rod caught two but I caught three," with a smile. She also took a series of pigskin passes from Rod and I must say the lady can catch. "Its so great to go into towns across Canada and highlight something that is important to them, thats terrific," said Kate. As for working with the Rod the Tour rookie? "Hes a real pro and a trooper," she said. And Rod was effusive in his praise about her, saying, "Shes dynamite and really knows her stuff." The idea of Bridgewater applying for the Tour started a year ago, when John Peters saw the show on television and said, "We should apply for this." And after finding a good cause to vouch for, he joined with the Bridgewater minor football program and decided to write a letter to TSN (And the minor football program was highlighted with kids around the SportsCentre set Sunday dressed in blue jerseys). A call later from TSN told Peters that they made the Top 20 places and they were matched against the town of Windsor, Nova Scotia in the 24-hour run off. "We called and got great cooperation from the local radio stations (CKBW and HANK-FM)," he told me. "We used Twitter, Facebook and other social media to get the word out and to get people all over Canada to vote for us." And it worked, as some 223,000 votes came in and made Bridgewater the winner. Local radio morning man Mike Richards summed it up very well when he said, "It was a terrific day for the South Shore of Nova Scotia and Bridgewater. Its a great community event and to think that over 2,000 people attended in this small town is spectacular." When I first saw this tour years ago, I thought it was the best thing Ive ever seen on TSN. It puts people whove watched this network - since its inception in 1984 - in touch with them. I still feel this way and after experiencing the Tour live, Im even stronger in my belief. Theres nothing like it in sports television. This is pure Canadianna. For TSN.ca, Im Alex J. Walling. Alex J. can be reached via email at: ajw@eastlink.ca ' ' '