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SOELDEN, Austria -- Ted Ligety will be the overwhelming favourite when the Olympic ski season opens on Sunday with a World Cup giant slalom on Rettenbach glacier. The American has won this race for the past two years and finished on the podium for the past five. A year ago, Ligety didnt just win here, he dominated with a massive victory margin of 2.75 seconds. Taking advantage of extensive preparation on newly shaped skis introduced last season, he went on to win six of eight giant slaloms on the circuit. "I hope to come close to that," Ligety said on Thursday. "But people have figured out the skis by now and I cant really expect to win GS by those kind of margins." Ligety also won three gold medals at last seasons world championships -- a feat no man had accomplished since French great Jean-Claude Killy won four 45 years earlier. So how does he find motivation having already achieved so much? "Ted is internally motivated, has always been internally motivated and thats never been a question," U.S. mens head coach Sasha Rearick said. "The challenge now, after a year like that, is everyone wants a piece of him -- media, industry, commercials, the foundation, marketing. So hes been busy. But hes done a good job to make sure that hasnt interfered with his training and keeping focused on what is important. Hes working on getting better every day." While Ligety is hoping to peak for the Sochi Games in February, he also wants to win the overall World Cup. Ligety broke the 1,000-point barrier for the first time last season but he still finished third overall behind Marcel Hirscher of Austria and Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway. "The overall challenge is going to be able to execute week in and week out," Rearick said. "He was able to do that in GS consistently, now its about taking that same kind of consistency into the slalom and super-G. Last year we saw a real, big gain in his super-G and now we need to make that same jump in slalom." Ligety showed his super-G potential by winning that event at the worlds, and his main emphasis in preseason training has been on slalom. "Hopefully thats the formula to win the overall," he said. "The overall is every World Cup skiers big goal and every year I round out my skiing. Its not easy though." To help Ligety achieve his overall goal, the U.S. squad has a special multi-event team of coaches to work exclusively with Ligety and fellow allrounder Bode Miller, who is back after taking a season off to let his surgically repaired left knee fully heal. "My knee is good. Its a little puffy but its been that way for a long time," Miller said. "Overall it feels better than it has since 01." Having sat out last season, the reshaped GS skis are completely new to Miller. "Its been difficult because I havent had a chance to ski at a very high level," he said. "So when I got on the race hill here it was a bit of a shock. ... Its less fun, more work, but it seems OK." Miller also has a solid record in Soelden. He won in 2003 and 2004 and has eight consecutive top-10 finishes. Still, having not raced for so long, Miller wasnt about to make any predictions for Sunday. "Its an intimidating race hill," he said. "I hope to be in touch and gain some points." Hirscher and Svindal are again the favourites for the overall title. Hirscher took the coveted crown the past two seasons and Svindal won it in 2007 and 2009. "Im ready," Svindal said. "Last year I made the overall exciting and I want to be a part of that excitement again. If its Ted or whoever I want to make it hard for them, too. I for sure want to win it." Another overall contender could be Alexis Pinturault, the Frenchman who was sixth overall last season with three victories in three different disciplines: Slalom, super-combined and giant slalom. The only racers to win in GS last season besides Ligety were Hirscher in Val dIsere, France, and Pinturault in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. After Soelden, the World Cup goes to Levi, Finland, for slaloms on Nov. 16-17, followed by stops in the United States and Canada before the traditional races in Europe. The Sochi Games run from Feb. 7-23. Brandon Pirri Jersey .J. - Pete Carroll is in support of the NFL looking further into whether medicinal marijuana could beneficial for players. Brayden McNabb Jersey . The moves were the first punitive steps taken by the Dolphins since a report on the NFLs investigation of the case was released last week. Investigators found that guard Richie Incognito and two teammates engaged in persistent harassment directed at tackle Jonathan Martin, another offensive lineman and an assistant trainer. http://www.goldenknightssale.com/authentic-ryan-reaves-golden-knights-jersey/ . The D-Backs came into being in 1998 and appear destined to finish second in the AL West after the Tsunami that is the Los Angeles Dodgers swept over them. I thought it might be interesting to see what the D-backs have done over their 16 years compared to what the Blue Jays have done over their past 16 campaigns. Tomas Nosek Golden Knights Jersey .com) - Graeme McDowell opened up with a first- round, 5-under 67 on Thursday and he holds a 2-shot lead at the WGC - HSBC Champions. Marc-Andre Fleury Jersey . - The Minnesota Vikings have ruled Christian Ponder out for Sundays game at Baltimore, because the quarterback has not yet passed all of his post-concussion tests.SAN DIEGO -- Cuban rookie Odrisamer Despaigne is undefeated in his two starts with the San Diego Padres, a small bright spot in a season that otherwise has gone so wrong. Again using an assortment of breaking pitches and arm angles, the 27-year-old Despaigne outdueled fellow rookie Michael Bolsinger to win his second straight start as the Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1 Sunday to pop out of their one-day stay in last place in the NL West. Cameron Maybin keyed the two-run fourth inning for San Diego, which scored their most runs in four games. "Hes got a nice pulse to him," manager Bud Black said of Despaigne, who defected last summer. "Our heartbeats down. He doesnt get fazed. Working his way through a 2 1/2 hour work day, he is pretty composed and clear-thinking. This guy knows how to pitch." Despaigne (2-0) held Arizona to one run and five hits in 6 2-3 innings, walking four and striking out two. He is the sixth Padres pitcher to win his first two starts, and the seventh San Diego pitcher overall to get a win in his first two appearances. In his big league debut last Monday at San Francisco, he held the Giants to four hits in seven shutout innings, striking out one and walking none in a 1-0 win. Despaigne allowed three of the first four Arizona batters to reach base, but allowed only one run. Leadoff batter Ender Inciarte beat out an infield single and stole second before Paul Goldschmidt walked. Miguel Montero singled in Inciarte before Despaigne got Aaron Hill to fly out to centre and struck out Martin Prado to strand runners on first and third. "He wasnt stressed a great deal last week in San Francisco," Black said. "He was stressed there in the first and hung in there. It was good that he didnt let that second run score. His heartbeats pretty good. He knows his game. He knows what he can do with the ball." Despaigne, who signed a minor league contract with the Padres on May 2, said he felt good in making his first start at Petco Park. "I was excited to pitch here in front of the fans," he said through interpreter Yasmani Grandal, who caught both of his starts. "We had lost two games so I wanted to get that win for us. "I felt good," said Despaigne, who played eight seasons with the Havana Industriales of Cubas Serie Nacional. "My breaking pitches were outside the zone so I had to make adjustments and I got it through.dddddddddddd" Grandal said he told Despaigne the same thing he did in San Francisco: "Make sure you dont shake me off. He did that the first six innings and at the end he wanted to throw something else. Youve got to give him the benefit of the doubt. If he wants to pitch his own game for an inning, hey, Ill give him that." The right-hander retired the first two batters in the sixth before allowing consecutive singles and making way for Kevin Quackenbush, who struck out pinch-hitter Roger Kieschnick to end the inning. Despaigne got the Diamondbacks to hit into three double plays. "A lot of deception," manager Kirk Gibson said. "We had some opportunities. Hes thrown two games and hes given up one run. Hes doing something right." The Padres scored their most runs in four games. Through 81 games, they had scored one or fewer runs 27 times. They swapped places with the Diamondbacks, who had leapfrogged the Padres into fourth place after winning 3-1 Saturday night. Huston Street pitched the ninth for his 21st save in as many chances. The Padres scored twice in the fourth on two hits, two walks and a sacrifice fly off Bolsinger (1-4). Chase Headley drew a leadoff walk, advanced on Tommy Medicas one-out single to left and scored on Maybins double down the right-field line. Medica scored on Alexi Amaristas sac fly. Bolsinger allowed two runs and three hits in six innings, struck out six and walked four. "Since I have been up here I prided myself on not walking people," Bolsinger said. "Kind of like the San Francisco game, where the one walk I gave up, the run scored. So, I just have to try to eliminate that. Besides that, everything else was pretty good." NOTES: Nick Ahmed was selected from Triple-A Reno before the game and made his big league debut for the Diamondbacks, starting at SS and batting eighth. He grounded into a double play in his first at-bat and got his first big league hit, a single, in the seventh. ... The Padres open a three-game series against Cincinnati on Monday night, when former San Diego ace Mat Latos (1-0, 2.89) is scheduled to start against rookie Jesse Hahn (3-1, 2.38). ... The Diamondbacks are off Monday before opening a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Tuesday, when the scheduled starters are Wade Miley (3-6, 4.78) against Jeff Locker (1-1, 3.74) in a matchup of lefties. ' ' '