a big day if the Titans can protect him. This will be their

TORONTO -- A Japanese comic book and a ubiquitous rodent combined to form the inspiration for the 2015 Pan American Games mascot. Pachi the Porcupine was unveiled on Wednesday after a nationwide contest was held among school children to design the international sporting events cartoon character. Four Grade 8 students from Buttonville Public School in Markham, Ont., had their design selected among 4,000 entries. "(The name) came to me once when I was reading my manga book, which is a Japanese comic book. There was a Japanese phrase called pachi pachi, and in English it translates to clapping with joy," said 14-year-old Paige Kunihiro shortly after the mascot was revealed in a ceremony in downtown Toronto. "We know that in the Pan Am Games theres going to be a lot of cheering on our favourite athletes and superstars." Kunihiro put together the winning entry with classmates Fiona Hong, Jenny Lee and Michelle Ing -- all of whom are 13 years old -- after physical education teacher Mari Ellery had them enter the contest as part of a school project. Pachi has 41 quills, one for each country participating in the Pan Am Games. The contest required that all entries use the official colours of the Games, so the quills are multicoloured, with each representing the qualities Pachi has: green for youth, fuchsia for passion, blue for collaboration, orange for determination and purple for creativity. "We saw that there were so many colours left, so we wanted to incorporate all of them so we put them on the quills," said Ing. Added Lee: "What better way to take advantage of the quills." The girls chose a porcupine for the anthropomorphic mascot because its indigenous across North and South America. "We were initially doing research about Canadian animals and Michelle came across the porcupine and we looked into that because we were like, well thats unique," said Lee. "She found out that they are found in all of the countries that are participating." Olympic gold medallist Rosie MacLennan, from Toronto, and Paralympic gold medallist Tyler Miller, from Kitchener, Ont., were also on hand to introduce Pachi in front of hundreds of children at Kids CBC Days. "Mascots are the face of the Games and something that I remember fondly from the Games I have competed at," said MacLennan in a statement. "Pachi is definitely lovable and memorable." China Shoes Cheap Free Shipping . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Cheap Shoes From China Wholesale . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. http://www.chinashoescheap.com/ . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Cheap Wholesale Shoes Free Shipping . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. China Shoes Cheap . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Jack Del Rio and his Raiders are busy tuning up a defense that has been as bad as their offense has been good, a unit weighing down some very high expectations for Oakland.The Tennessee Titans just want to win consecutive games for the first time in more than two seasons.It just shows that if we can win this game the new direction that our team is going in, and I think the guys are looking forward to that new challenge, Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey said.These teams know each other very well, with Sunday the third time theyve met in the past 10 months, counting a preseason game. Oakland won 24-21 in Nashville last November on a late touchdown scored only after a fourth down Titans coach Mike Mularkey said the NFL called poorly officiated. The Titans won the preseason game in Oakland 27-14 .The Raiders (1-1) are coming off a 35-28 loss to Atlanta in their home opener, while the Titans (1-1) rebounded from dropping their season opener at home to Minnesota by pulling out a 16-15 win at Detroit with Marcus Mariota notching his third comeback win in his 14th start. Tennessee has not won consecutive games since the end of the 2013 season.Hopefully we can get on a roll, Mariota said.After going 7-9 last season, Oakland was a popular playoff pick as a young and improving team. The Raiders have shown why on offense with the NFLs best attack thanks to quarterback Derek Carr leading a very balanced unit. Yet the Raiders have given up more yards than any team, turning their first two games into shootouts and cranking up the pressure on Del Rio.Its a collective effort, Del Rio said. We all share in it and so Im not going to throw any one person under the bus. Its not any one person thats at fault here. Collectively as a group, we have to pick it up. We have to do our share.Here are some things to know about Sundays game:POROUS DEFENSE: The Raiders are off to a historically bad start defensively , allowing 507 yards in a season-opening 35-34 win at New Orleans, and 528 in a 35-28 loss last week to Atlanta. The 1,035 yards are the most allowed through two weeks for any team since at least 1940, according to Pro Football Reference. No team since the 1970 merger allowed at least 500 yaards in each of the first two games.dddddddddddd Del Rio plans some changes this week, with rookies Karl Joseph and Cory James expected to get more time at safety and linebacker, respectively.WATCH THE TIGHT END: Delanie Walker went to the Pro Bowl for Tennessee as a first alternate last season with a career year, and hes off to another strong start. Going against Oakland offers plenty of opportunity after the Raiders allowed tight ends to put up 180 yards receiving last week. Walker did not practice Wednesday with a sore hamstring, but said he wont miss this game.HIGH POWERED O: Oaklands offense has been clicking, leading the league with 470 yards per game and putting up 63 points in two weeks. Latavius Murray and the running game are averaging 161 yards per week, while Carr has thrown for 618 yards and four TDs. The Raiders have also committed no turnovers and allowed just one sack.We turn the film on and we want to be so perfect on every play, Carr said. I think thats what drives us and drove us all offseason.THROW MARIOTA: The Raiders are giving up a league-worst 404 yards passing, so Mariota, already the NFLs most accurate passer in the fourth quarter, could have a big day if the Titans can protect him. This will be their first game without right guard Chance Warmack, out with a torn tendon in his right hand.HOME SWEET HOME?: The Titans, who opened their current stadium winning an NFL-record 12 straight, are 2-15 since the end of the 2013 season. Their last four home wins are against the Jaguars (three) and Houston (one). Mularkey, promoted from interim to head coach in January, already has as many wins (three) since taking over last November as predecessor Ken Whisenhunt managed in 23. The Titans visit Houston and Miami next, making the chance Sunday for consecutive wins with one at home crucial for a franchise needing proof their rebuilding is taking root.---AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker ' ' '