PORTLAND, Ore. -- To be in Providence Park for the NWSL playoff game between the Portland Thorns and Western New York Flash was to experience a success story unlike any in womens professional team sports. One wholly independent of the outcome.A story that is tempting to believe can be more how-to manual than fairytale.After his team pulled off a memorable upset against the Thorns, winning 4-3 in overtime, Western New York coach Paul Riley admitted the Flashs resulting trip to the championship game will happen ahead of schedule. He described a blueprint borrowed from FC Kansas City, the back-to-back NWSL champion whose reign officially ends this weekend.Find good young players and be patient while they grow into both their own skills and a system.Both the Flash and the Washington Spirit, with just three players between them who were on the U.S. Olympic roster (and one of those an alternate), hew to that blueprint entering the final.Earlier in the week, Riley summed up why the game this season with the most historical significance wont be Sundays final in Houston but instead the semifinal already played.The one where 20,084 people showed up because they cared who won.I think all the clubs in the league should be trying to get to that point, Riley said of the Thorns before the semifinal. What theyve done for our sport is unbelievable. I think the more success they have, the better it is for our sport.That from a man left unemployed by that same organization just a year earlier. There is nothing new or particularly profound in noting that the Thorns are successful. The paradigm is different in Oregon. The attendance for the semifinal was not only a league postseason record but very nearly more people in one afternoon than the league drew during the entirety of any of its three previous postseasons. That, after the Thorns averaged more than 16,000 fans per game in the regular season, a franchise best and nearly twice as many as any other team in the league (or the majority of teams in the WNBA, for that matter).Some of that is market, not just Portlands overall soccer affinity but specifically its connection to the womens game. The University of Portland womens team led the NCAA in attendance every year from 2005 through 2014. Even while rarely ranked in the polls in recent seasons, the Pilots still ranked fourth in Division I attendance a year ago. Yet if market were everything, the WNBAs Connecticut Sun, a short drive from Storrs and all those NCAA banners, would do more than rank in the bottom half of the leagues attendance.What doesnt get told is the fact that we really put the strength of our organization behind it in a real material way, said Merritt Paulson, owner and CEO of both the Thorns and Major League Soccers Portland Timbers. Its not that weve got some magic soccer fairy dust in Portland where everything soccer turns to gold. Weve got a really good organization here.Paulson acknowledged that it was as much a societal as business motivation when he became the only MLS owner to respond to entreaties to participate in the NWSL at its inception. It was a good deed more than a good investment, certainly based on the two leagues that preceded the NWSL. But it wasnt treated as an afterthought, even before the support forced management to adjust numbers on even best-case expectations.Theres been a commitment here from the general manager, from the owner to do what we can -- reasonably, sensibly, do what we can to put the players in the best spot, said Mark Parsons, who took over for Riley in Portland this season after coaching the Spirit. I think that has been superb. Its not as easy as wanting to spend money. How do you spend it?Not just on international stars like midfielder Amandine Henry, or Vero Boquete and Nadine Angerer before her. This season, as one small example, the team stayed on the East Coast for two extended road trips rather than return home between games. It cost more but it cut down on fatigue. The Thorns arent a write-off or an exercise in altruism. They are a business that works.Obviously everything is just on a totally different scale with the Timbers, starting with the expenses, Paulson said. So its different levels of magnitude. But at the end of the day, its ironic because their bottom lines look really similar. The Timbers dont make that much money, but they make money. The Thorns dont make that much money, but they definitely make money.Paulson contested the notion that the Thorns are unique. He suggested the recent expansion franchises in Orlando and Houston, similarly joint ventures with MLS franchises and second and third in NWSL attendance, respectively, are kindred spirits. And he pointed to the Seattle Reign, whose attendance climbed to a four-year high even as the on-field fortunes waned, as a model of success for teams without the infrastructure of MLS connections. Still, those three teams combined drew not that many more fans than the Thorns alone.There was something gloriously different about the semifinal at Providence Park, about the hum of activity outside the stadium on an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon, the scarves and drum beats in the stands and even the profane baying for the referees (hopefully) figurative hide. It was so different it was easy to forget that, like their counterparts across the salary-capped league, few of the non-internationals on the Thorns make enough strictly on salary to call this a full-time job.For that to change, for it to matter which teams win titles, it has to look more like this past Sunday. Be it full-size replicas or scale models.You look at the growth trajectory weve had over the last three years, its really, really steep, Paulson said. Is that sustainable through 10 or 15 years? Probably not. But I think we will continue to be on a really, really steep growth trajectory for the next several years. I think youre going to see a very different league in the next two or three years. Hopefully a league that will have at least a handful of clubs that are very similar to the Thorns in their off-the-field success. Cheap Vapormax Sale . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. Nike Vapormax Plus Wholesale . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. http://www.cheapairvapormax.com/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Cheap Nike Vapormax China . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Cheap Air Vapormax .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Nothing like a matchup against a last-place team to regroup from a loss.So consider this good timing for the Minnesota Vikings.The NFC North leaders will try to get back to winning when they meet the returning Jay Cutler and last-place Chicago Bears on Monday night.Minnesota (5-1) had played well enough to overcome its flaws until a post-bye trip to Philadelphia last week.Sam Bradford was sacked six times against his former team playing behind a struggling offensive line, and the Vikings became the last team in the NFL to lose a game this season, falling 21-10 .Im anxious to see the determination this team has going forward, coach Mike Zimmer said. You never know, every team is different, but I think I have a pretty good feeling with these players, and typically, with this football team.If the Vikings need a lift, Chicago (1-6) could be the team to provide it.After all, the Bears are off to their worst start since they dropped seven of their first eight in 2000.Chicago is one of four teams with one or zero wins and comes into this game averaging a league-low 15.9 points. The Bears at least will have Cutler after he missed five games because of a sprained right thumb.But his future in Chicago appears up in the air after coach John Fox publicly wavered in his commitment to him as the starting quarterback.The Bears had no choice but to go with Cutler after he got medical clearance over the weekend, since Brian Hoyer broke his left arm in Thursdays 26-10 loss at Green Bay . He faces a tough assignment in his first game back going against the leagues No. 1 defense.It will be the lone game for Chicago in a 23-day span, with a bye next week.Obviously you have to have success in your division to be successful and thats our goal, coach John Fox said. At some point well get there, hopefully sooner rather later.Here are some things to look for as the Vikings try to bounce back against the Bears:COVERAGE VS. CUTLER: Cutler is 8-5 with 26 touchdown passes in 13 starts against the Vikings, the most victories he has against any team, but he has also thrown 14 interceptions. Hell face a defense that has been one of the toughest to pass against in the NFL, holding opponents to a league-low 63.7 passer rating. The Vikings are also the best in the NFL against the deep ball, limiting foes to 5-for-22 passing on throws traveling 20-plus yards with four interceptions and a paltry 14.dddddddddddd6 rating.We see one guy get one, we all want to get one, cornerback Trae Waynes said.Strong safety Andrew Sendejo, who has four takeaways, sprained his ankle last week at Philadelphia, putting his availability in question.HOLDING THE LINE: The Vikings have been patching together their offensive line, with both starting tackles on injured reserve. Mike Harris, the starting right guard who has also started at tackle throughout his career, has been unable to play because of an unspecified illness. The group struggled badly with pass protection against the Eagles.The Bears could be short-handed on the offensive line, after left guard Josh Sitton (ankle) sat out last weeks game and right guard Kyle Long left because of a pectoral muscle strain.CATCHING ON: Cutlers return could mean bigger numbers for Alshon Jeffery -- and maybe even a touchdown.Jeffery averaged 100.5 yards receiving with Cutler starting the first two games. In the five with Hoyer, who is less likely to look downfield, he averaged 63.8 yards.As for scoring a touchdown, Jeffery still doesnt have one this season. He finished with four in nine games last season and has never gone this long without a TD.Weve just got to find ways to get him the ball and capitalize on some of these big plays that weve had, and we will, Cutler said. Its a matter of time.RUNNING ROOM: The run blocking wasnt bad at Philadelphia, and the Vikings have been getting by without All-Pro Adrian Peterson with a group, including Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata. Ronnie Hillman, a member of Denvers Super Bowl-winning team last season, saw his first action against the Eagles. McKinnon scored his first career touchdown last December in Minnesotas victory at home over Chicago.PROMISING PERFORMANCE: While its been hard to find positives for the Bears, rookie outside linebacker Leonard Floyd was a bright spot last week. The No. 9 overall draft pick had two sacks, including a fumble recovery in the end zone.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '