Ben Simmons needed advice.Hurting - both physically and emotionally - the Australian phenom craved some reassurance that the Oct. 4 surgery for a Jones fracture of his fifth metatarsal was something he could overcome. So who better to ask about triumphing over similar injury adversity than an NBA MVP and one of the purest scorers in todays game?First guy I did speak to was KD [Kevin Durant], Simmons told media before the 76ers home opener against Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. He had something similar [and] he just said, Listen, get advice from everybody and [youll] be good. Its good to reach out to people like that that have gone through it.Durant, then with Oklahoma City Thunder, suffered the injury to his right foot just before the start of the 2014-15 NBA season, but he required three surgeries in six months before he returned to full health.The Sixers hope that wont be the case with Simmons. Since the injury, there has been much speculation that Simmons may miss the entire season, and just last Friday at Sixers practice head coach Brett Brown intimated that Simmons would return in January - that would mark three months since the injury - but later backtracked on his statement.I was just getting excited about how soon he might be able to come back, Brown said. There is so much speculation and dates as a coach you sort of want to hear what you want to hear at a time. I did mention a January hopeful return. That is premature. [...] That is a coach doing a lot more wishing than receiving instruction. So we will play this out. Everything is on track with his rehabilitation.Simmons, too, maintained he has no return schedule yet. Ill come back when Im ready, he said.Theres no timetable to getting healthy. Im just working hard to get back and as soon as they tell me I can play, Ill get out there.Simmons absence from the Sixers lineup clouded an otherwise optimistic beginning to 2016-17 for a franchise that has struggled in recent years. Center Joel Embiid made his debut against the Thunder, and there is hope that a young core consisting of Simmons, Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor could blossom into a force in the Eastern Conference.Simmons feels the team can do well this season.I think we can still be good, he said.Obviously those guys, theyre losing a player, but theyre still players themselves. Theyve still got to go out there [and compete]. Weve got a young team, and I think we can do well.A best-case scenario for Simmons is a January return; in the meantime he is looking at the positive side of things, saying he will use his time on the sidelines to absorb how the NBA game is played and how he can adjust his game to the professional level.Its not the best start to my NBA career, but now Im looking at it as a positive, Simmons said.It gives me time to learn about the game; the systems; offence; defence. Its a good time for me to work on my shooting, plays, everything about the game, and work on [learning] the scouting reports.It gives me time to work on my body, flexibility. Theres a lot of things Im looking at as a positive.Given he wont be cleared to resume basketball activities for some time, Simmons is focused on rehab, and being around the team as much as possible. He says hes at the practice facility daily, and its important to him for his teammates to see him putting in the work coming back from the injury.Im still a part of the team. Im in there every day rehabbing; my teammates see me in there putting in the work and theyre doing the same. The only thing I can do is rehab, and thats what Im willing to do. Cheap Air Max 2019 Sale . 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). Supply Cheapest Air Max . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. http://www.cheapairmax2019.us.com/ .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. Wholesale Air Max 2019 .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Black Air Max 2019 Cheap . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. SAN DIEGO -- Tony Hawk says no.Mario Lopez says yes.Could there be anything more absurd than the worlds most famous skateboarder and an actor who appeared in Saved by the Bell taking opposite sides of the San Diego Chargers long, twisting and increasingly bitter push for a new stadium?Funny thing is, neither Hawk nor Lopez lives in San Diego proper. So they cant vote on Measure C, the ballot initiative that asks the public to approve an increase in the hotel occupancy tax to provide $1.15 billion for a $1.8 billion stadium and convention center annex in the southeast corner of downtown.Hawks anti-C comments, delivered with a dose of humor, were included in Bill Simmons anti-stadium segment on Any Given Wednesday on HBO. Lopezs TV ad in favor of Measure C was filmed in the Los Angeles area -- where the Chargers tried to move last year, angering a fan base thats been loyal since the Bolts moved here in 1961 from Los Angeles.The twisting stadium saga began in 2000, when Ryan Leaf was still the Chargers quarterback. It probably wont reach the finish line even after the votes are counted Tuesday night.Few people think Measure C will get the two-thirds super majority needed to pass. The Chargers, who have long sought a significant public subsidy to replace aging Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley, have said privately they hope to get the equivalent of a moral victory if the vote is close to 50 percent. If team chairman Dean Spanos really wants to stay in San Diego, as he keeps saying, hed likely be forced to negotiate a different plan with City Hall, the citys powerful tourism industry, and other stakeholders. None of those entities had a say in the 110-page initiative written by the Chargers.If the measure is badly beaten, Spanos could exercise his option to move to L.A., a concession granted by fellow NFL owners after they rebuffed his plans to build a stadium in Carson with the hated archrival Oakland Raiders as a partner.Is it possible that voters will stand up to the mighty NFL?Mayor Kevin Faulconer remains as optimistic as ever that something will get done on his watch. Hes moved past last year, when the Chargers pressured him to come up with a stadium plan, and then walked away from negotiations to focus on L.A.Look, I think San Diego has been part of the NFL for 50 years, said Faulconer, who clinched a second term in the June primary. San Diegans want the Chargers to stay. San Diegans want a deal that is fair for taxpayers. Those are not mutually exclusive.Heres the disconnect: While many San Diegans love the Chargers and want them to stay, many dont like what they consider a scorched-earth campaign Spanos waged last year in trying to beat Stan Kroenkes Rams to L.A. Spanos, whose team is valued at more than $2 billion, never utterred as much as Im sorry after fellow owners sent him back to San Diego to try again.dddddddddddd His lawyers hurriedly wrote Measure C in time to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.The tourism industry opposes both an increase in the hotel tax raised and a convention center annex several blocks from the bayfront convention center. The convention center needs expanding for big clients like Comic-Con, which also opposes Measure C, but attempts to do so have been blocked in court.Faulconer remained mum for months. Several civic and business leaders, led by Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, urged the mayor to oppose the project.The mayor finally endorsed C, but only after receiving assurances on certain financial safeguards from Spanos. However, that document is not legally binding.The Padres, who rode an appearance in the 1998 World Series to approval of a new downtown ballpark, want to see the Chargers stay in town, but have major concerns about the Chargers plan. If approved, a new football stadium approximately two blocks away would gobble up most of the Padres surface parking and compete for concerts and other events that swell the Padres coffers.Leading the coalition in favor of Measure C is Jerry Sanders, the president and CEO of the regional chamber of commerce. Interestingly, the Chargers complained for years that they couldnt get help from the city, and Sanders was mayor for a large chunk of that time, from 2005-12.Much like they criticized Faulconer last year, the Chargers have gotten personal toward city councilman Chris Cate and architect Rob Quigley for opposing their massive project. The Chargers took out Facebook ads asking why Cate wanted the team to move to Los Angeles, urging fans to call his office. In an op-ed piece on the website Voice of San Diego, Chargers spokesman Fred Maas called Quigley a small-town undertaker.Polling by City Hall shows Measure C getting less than 50 percent of the vote. Polling done for the hotel industry shows it getting 35 percent yes, with 13 percent undecided. A Chargers consultant would not divulge team-sponsored polling.Obviously it passing gives us the best chance to be here long term, quarterback Philip Rivers said. But Im still hopeful that if it doesnt, then its not the end-all. I dont know that, but certainly thats my hope that if its short of passing that there still has been enough progress made that theres still a way to get it figured out.Rivers, of course, will vote yes.Hawk and Lopez wont have a say.---Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson---Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '