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HOOVER, Ala. -- The Vanderbilt Commodores took a small step forward overall last season and a bigger one defensively.Sure, they lost four games by single-digit margins and improved on defense with coach Derek Mason pulling double duty as coordinator. But they still went 4-8, just one win better than in Masons debut season.This football team knows how to compete. Okay? Mason said Monday at Southeastern Conference media days. Its not about competing anymore, its about winning. We had the great fortune to win one more game. For some in here, thats not monumental enough. Thats OK. For us, we saw how we let some games slide. We missed some opportunities, OK, and that has not gone unnoticed by this football team.The Commodores dont want that to be considered normal for a program that had back-to-back 9-4 seasons before coach James Franklin left for Penn State.Theyve got some talent, like All-SEC linebacker Zach Cunningham and workhorse running back Ralph Webb. And Kyle Shurmur has already been anointed the starting quarterback going into his sophomore season.Vandy finished in the top half of the league in the four major defensive categories after ranking last in points allowed per game.Mason has gone 7-17 in his first two seasons but has 16 returning starters and more than 40 upperclassmen coming back. He also has six new assistants in a second straight year of high staff turnover.Cunningham said the team has a more together mind-set than we had last season.Mason likes the Commodores attitude as well.This teams got a team-first mentality, has established a team-first mantra, he said. We dont care about who is standing on the hill. We dont care about who takes the accolades. Its about this team collectively and what we need to do in order to move the needle and get up the hill.Vanderbilt gets a chance before most teams even take the field to give some evidence if theyve made real strides. They open Sept. 1 with a Thursday night game against South Carolina.I dont think its a measuring stick game but its definitely a game thats going to prove not only to the fans but to everyone else what we can do, Cunningham said.Eric Staal Jersey . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Luke Kunin Wild Jersey . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J. http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Matt-dumba-wild-jersey/ . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. Jason Zucker Jersey . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Alex Stalock Wild Jersey . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night.TROON, Scotland --?Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Branden Grace. Six players in the worlds top 10 who will not be teeing up in Rio next month -- a damning indictment of the Olympics standing on a golfers wanted list.The Games, which sees a return of golf for the first time since 1904, could really do with a win right about now. It got that on Tuesday when Masters champion Danny Willett and former U.S. Open winner Justin Rose?-- ranked 9th and 11th respectively -- all but confirmed they will represent Great Britain in Rio.As Willett and Rose prepare for the Open Championship in Troon, both clearly had one eye on a six-week run that will see them compete in two major championships before joining up with Team GB in Brazil.With around half of the 15 players to have officially ruled themselves out of the Olympics citing the threat of the Zika virus as their reason, new-dad Willett admits it was a tough decision to play.Theres been a few discussions with me and [my wife] Nic, he told reporters at Troon. Its a tricky one. The opportunity was there to be an Olympian and that to me [is] going to be pretty cool. You dont know how many times you will be in the Olympics, if [golf] will be in the Olympics again. Obviously with how people reacted to everything, youre not quite sure.I was pretty sure all along I wanted to go play unless the threat would have gotten worse, then it would have been a very different story. But from what I understand in speaking to the guys, the threat is lessening every day. Its obviously winter over there, and the guys are taking precautionary measures to make sure things are as safe as possible. So Im willing to take that little bit of risk that there is and go play.It was something I wanted to do was to be supporting team Britain in the Olympics and its something Im still very much set for going.Rose, meanwhile, said he is excited to be headed to Rio. Im treating it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he said. Its sort of been my tag line, I suppose. I hhope that Ill be able to play in Tokyo [in 2020].dddddddddddd We hope that golf will be in Tokyo, but for the most part, at this stage of my career its something that comes around once every four years [so] its something you can certainly make an exception for. Thats been my attitude towards it.Just being a part of Team GB, in a sense you feel like youre part of something bigger than just your individual sport as well.Its going to be a fun occasion, and Ive never been to an Olympic games in any capacity. To go as an athlete is a huge honour. But as part of the whole experience, I want to take in the Games as a whole. So its something that my family and I have been very excited about.Both players, though, expressed sympathy with those who have pulled out due to the threat of Zika -- a virus that can cause defects in new-born babies.You look at a lot of people down there in their own sports and a lot of them are inside, Willett said. Were one of the only sports that are going to be outside for such a long period of time. You look at the golf course, its obviously very close to the water down in old marshland.So if you break it down, the risks are probably slightly higher for us than other sports just because of the nature that you could be having five-hour rounds with an hour warm-up and still be outside for long periods of time. And obviously, the mosquitos are going to potentially be there. But its winter [in Brazil]. The threat level has been lessening every week.Rose added: Its a sad situation to see those sorts of guys pulling out. Its obviously weakened the field. But youve got to respect their position. You do have to put your health and family first from that point of view.Willett and Rose are expected to be announced on Wednesday as Team GBs representatives for Rio, with Englishman Chris Wood first reserve should either of his compatriots have a last-minute change of heart. ' ' '