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NORMAL, Ill. -- Paris Lee scored 18 points with six assists and Illinois State defeated IUPUI 77-63 on Wednesday night for the Redbirds second straight win.Lee was 7 of 9 from the floor, including 3 of 4 on 3-pointers with all five Illinois State starters in double figures. MiKyle McIntosh added 14 points, Deontae Hawkins 13, D.J. Clayton 12 and Phil Fayne 11 for the Redbirds (3-2), who shot 50 percent. All five had at least six rebounds with Clayton pulling down eight and Illinois State outrebounding the Jaguars 42-31.Matt OLeary scored 17 points, for his career-high sixth straight game in double figures and added seven rebounds for IUPUI (2-5). Ron Patterson, with three 3-pointers, scored 15 points and Darell Combs 13.A 14-2 run with six points from Fayne gave Illinois State a 25-14 lead with they extended to 44-29 at halftime. The Redbirds maintained a double-digit lead in the second half. Clearance Sale Shoes Uk . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Wholesale Clearance Shoes Uk . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. http://www.wholesaleshoesuk.com/ . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. Cheap Shoes Uk Wholesale . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. Wholesale Shoes Outlet Uk . Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on the indoor hard-court at Belgrade Arena. The victory improved the Czech pairs impressive cup doubles record to 14-1. To suggest this is an intriguing season for the St. Louis Blues would be understating things.This is a team, I would humbly opine, that is at an interesting crossroads.After reaching the Western Conference finals last season and unburdening themselves of some playoff demons in doing so, the Blues finally turned a powerhouse regular season into a spring of substance.But of interest to me now is where this team goes from here. Are the Blues taking that next step? Or is their window beginning to close? For one, this is Ken Hitchcocks last season behind the St. Louis bench -- with the team making the unusual arrangement that newly hired associate coach Mike Yeo will take over next season.Theres also the transition of leadership with longtime captain David Backes leaving via free agency, as did clutch playoff performer Troy Brouwer. And those departures came a year after star winger?T.J. Oshie was traded.This, more than ever, is now the team of new captain Alex Pietrangelo as well as Alexander Steen, one of the teams alternate captains and respected leaders.A bit of a change -- obviously Backes was the big piece that was here for a while, Pietrangelo said over the phone Wednesday from Edmonton. But if you look at the fact that Hitch is still here, you got myself, Steener, [Kevin Shattenkirk], [Patrik Berglund], [Jaden Schwartz] -- theres a bunch of guys, pretty much the same core thats been here a long stretch. While there has been change, at the same time for the most part its the same group of guys, with the same coaching philosophies. Pretty much the same identity weve had, just a bit younger.Yes, the core is a bit younger. Which is a good thing. Superstar winger Vladimir Tarasenko can take more ownership now of this team, ditto for two-way winger Schwartz. Center Paul Stastny has been terrific early on this season, feeding off his solid playoff performance of last spring.Nobody is going to pretend to be Backes, the fiery leader who would drop the gloves at a moments notice, the ultimate alpha male who left it all on the ice for the Blues over 10 seasons.But there are other ways to lead, too.Im not going to change who I am, said Pietrangelo, who last month helped Team Canada win the World Cup. I said the same thing to the guys: If Im not who I usually am, I expect these guys to let me know. Obviously, they gave me the C because they dont mind who I am. Im going to continue to be the same person. Im not going to change my personality.Nor are the Blues changing how they play all that much. Sure, they want to be a bit faster -- the San Jose Sharks made them look sllow while beating them in the conference finals -- but this is still Blues hockey that can suffocate you by coming in waves.dddddddddddd Theyre off to a fast start with seven out of eight points in four games.Theyre big, skilled and play a heavy game, said one Western Conference general manager who recently saw them play. This is still Hitchs team, so they play his style of hockey.The players insist having Hitchcocks replacement standing next to him during every game is no big deal.When you think about it, obviously its an odd situation, but Mike has been great, Pietrangelo said. Hes the first one to tell you that Hitch is the coach. The best part about Mike, he even told me and some of the other guys, he wants to learn from Hitch and wants to take this year to understand why a guy like Hitch has been so successful. You know, Im treating Hitch as the head coach and Mike is the assistant. It starts with me. If I dont do that, its not fair to Hitch. Different dynamic, obviously, but well deal with the transition in the summer when the time comes. So far it really hasnt come up. Mike has been nothing but professional, and that makes it a lot easier.Former executive Craig Button doesnt see anything unusual about the arrangement.This is a good succession plan, said Button, a former GM of the?Calgary Flames. Organizations, outside professional sports teams, do it all the time and it is not only important, it allows for an orderly transition. We only hear of firings in sport, and then that leads to other changes and the inevitable feeling-out process for players and coaching staff.There will be familiarity with Mike for the players, it will allow Mike to know the players better and, most importantly, it doesnt force player changes based on lack of knowledge. A new coach that knows the team can keep the group moving forward and continue the process that Doug believes in.A long season is ahead. But the intrigue with this team is undeniable. Can they take the next step?We made some big strides last year getting to the Western Conference finals, but after that excitement, and knowing we made it that far, that wears off and you wonder what went wrong [after losing] and how you get to that next level,? Pietrangelo said. That was a big topic of conversation throughout the summer and going into the season.The big thing for us is building and getting to our best hockey as quickly as we can and carrying that into the playoffs like we did last year. ' ' '