Pirate Galaxy » competing at the worlds in Russia, especially

STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford coach David Shaw?has named Ryan Burns the starting quarterback for the season opener.The redshirt junior had been locked in an even battle with redshirt sophomore Keller Chryst this offseason in a quest to replace Kevin Hogan, the winningest quarterback in program history.Shaw said that Chryst will also see some action when the Cardinal open their season at home on Sept. 2 against Kansas State.Ryan Burns will start and play a good chunk of the game, Shaw said. Keller Chryst will play as well. Were going to play both guys and try to win a game.But Burns will be Stanfords starter and is expected to see the majority of playing time.There hasnt been a huge separation between the two, Shaw said. Both guys have played extremely well. Ryan has just barely been enough ahead to get the nod.Both Burns and Chryst check in at 6-foot-5 and about 235 pounds, which is a build similar to that of former Stanford star QB?Andrew Luck?-- whom Shaw considers the physical prototype for the position.Burns and Chryst say that throughout their competition theyve watched film of Luck and Hogan, with the goal of emulating the strengths of those two onetime Stanford starters.Burns and Chryst have already taken at least one page from the playbook of their predecessors: Even as quarterbacks, they both enjoy the contact aspect of football, making them natural fits for Stanfords rugged offense in at least one way.We both enjoy hitting people, Burns said.Since Chryst was the first quarterback off the bench to relieve Hogan last season, some might consider Shaws selection of Burns as a moderate surprise. But the coach insisted the two were closely matched even last year, and that Burns has required some extra time to acclimate to Stanfords pro-style offense after running the triple-option in high school.His high school offense was very different from what we do, Shaw said. We knew when we recruited him that we were going to ask him to do things hes never done before. ... We knew he had the tools, but theres a lot of muscle memory in what we do. So we had to build up the reserve of experience.Burns, who is entering his fourth year on campus, said hes more comfortable with Stanfords system than ever before.Its been a long process, he said. There were no checks, no three-play calls in my high school offense. Ive been trying to get adapted over the past three years. But the toughness and downhill running that I learned in high school has carried over.Shaw called Burns and Chryst into his office on Wednesday morning to share his decision, emphasizing that Chryst would rotate in for some series against Kansas State.I just took that as, I still have to compete, Burns said. Nothing is solidified. Just because Im playing the first snap doesnt mean Im the starting quarterback for the year at all. Kellers a heck of a quarterback, and hell always be on my tail and Ill always be on his. I just have to come here and keep working my butt off every day.Stanford opens the season with a particularly challenging stretch of schedule -- games against USC, UCLA, Washington, Washington State and Notre Dame follow the opener versus Kansas State. For that reason, Shaw said hell need full productivity out of Burns from the get-go. The coach emphasized that early over-reliance on other offensive veterans like RB?Christian McCaffrey could doom the Cardinal.We need him to play quarterback, Shaw said. This is big-time college football. Were not spoon-feeding anybody. Louis Lipps Jersey . LOUIS -- St. Troy Polamalu Steelers Jersey . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Alejandro-Villanueva-Jersey/ .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Zach Gentry Womens Jersey . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. Greg Lloyd Youth Jersey . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). Germany will host this seasons bobsled and skeleton world championships, which were pulled out of Russia after numerous competitors considered a boycott in response to that nations widespread doping program.Koenigssee was the track selected by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation for the championships, which will be held Feb. 13-26 -- even though some nations felt they could be moved a week earlier. Koenigssee will also host a weekend of World Cup racing in January.Sochi lost the hosting rights last week in the fallout of the Russian doping scandal. The track at Krasnaya Polyana was used for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, which World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren concluded was corrupted by a state-backed doping program.That led to a number of athletes and teams talking boycott.For me personally, Im just happy that it was moved and we will still get to have a world championships with full participation from all nations, said U.S. skeleton slider Matt Antoine, who was going to boycott if the event was in Russia as scheduled. I still want to compete in the world championships. I just wasnt going to do it in Russia.Koenigssee has a history of stepping in as a replacement site. The 2011 world championships were originally awarded to Cortina dAmpezzo,, Italy, then moved to Koenigssee two years before the event because of track concerns.ddddddddddddhis time, they are moving with worlds less than two months away -- an unprecedented scramble following an unprecedented scandal.The Russians have said they will not boycott worlds, even going as far as to say that they understood why the IBSF made the decision.Many athletes cited the integrity of the doping process as their primary concern about competing at the worlds in Russia, especially after the second McLaren report was released showing the depth of the doping program there.McLarens report showed that some Russian gold medalists from the Sochi Games were tainted by doping. Russia won gold medals in two-man bobsled, four-man bobsled and mens skeleton at the Olympics, though none of the athletes who got those victories has been implicated by any known positive or tampered-with tests.We will come and prove that we are able to fight at any championship, Russian Bobsled Federation president Alexander Zubkov, a winner of two gold medals at the Sochi Games, told reporters from Russia last week.Park City, Utah, was also under consideration to host. ' ' '