St Kildas AFL form is tougher to read than Melbourne weather.The same team that was red-hot in the stunning round-14 win over Geelong also wilted a week later under the Gold Coast sun.Lowly Essendon led them in the last quarter, while Melbourne had them under pressure twice last weekend before the Saints kicked clear.But Western Bulldogs midfielder Liam Picken says the St Kilda they will face on Saturday night are an easy read.We always get St Kildas best when we play them, he said.They always seem to play really well against us and weve had some great games.Their pressure is right up there with the best.Its always hard and you probably expect nothing less on Saturday night.The Bulldogs bit St Kilda by 57 points in round two, but Picken was referring more to last years two clashes.The Saints roared back from 55 points down early in the third quarter to beat the Bulldogs.The return match was also a thriller, with the Dogs winning by a goal.There is also plenty riding on Saturday night, given the Bulldogs are a game clear in third spot.North Melbournes slump means 10th-placed St Kilda also can also keep dreaming big this season.Questions were asked of the Bulldogs after Geelong opened them up in round 13, but they have had three wins since and should be too good for the Saints.After two tight games against Sydney and Richmond, the Bulldogs kicked more than 100 points for the first time since round 12 when they took care of Gold Coast in Cairns.We were really disappointed after Geelong, said Picken.We didnt play well, we didnt execute, we learned a lot from that.But in saying that, were a young group and weve learned really quickly, especially this year.So we had the chance to work on a few things over the bye and things are coming together again.Under coach Luke Beveridge, Picken was reinvented last season and he has continued to enjoy his AFL renaissance.After establishing himself as a run-with player, Picken is now a much more attacking midfielder.Picken, who turns 30 on August 1, has played every game this season.Its always good to have a change, he said.You probably dont expect it, but when it happens, you just have to evolve.The game is always changing and you have to change with it or youre left behind.Its a completely different role to just following someone around and having one job. Nike Vapormax Flyknit Wholesale Cheap Air Vapormax . From filmmaker Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes), The Price of Gold revisits the saga that rocked the figure skating world ahead of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games: the assault on Nancy Kerrigan, and the plot that led its way back to her rival Tonya Harding. http://www.airvapormaxwholesale.com/vapormax-run-utility.html . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Nike Vapormax Plus Black Cheap . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Nike Vapormax Flyknit Cheap . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. There are unintended consequences for just about every rule, and the graduate transfer rule -- put in place by the NCAA five years ago to reward student-athletes -- is no different.Its forcing our hands to do something thats not good for education, one mid-major mens basketball coach said.So many of these mid-majors are getting crushed, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told ESPN. The fifth-year transfer is the one. I hate what it does for our profession.Another mid-major head coach, who lost one of his best players to a BCS school this past offseason, told ESPN he would be slowing down the graduating process for his players in order to ensure that he doesnt lose another to the high-major ranks.When asked to elaborate specifically on what slowing down the graduating process would entail, he said instead of enrolling a player into a pair of summer school classes in two sessions, they might not have that particular player take summer school at all -- or take just one class per session. Another prevailing thought is to put players in just the minimum 12 hours of classes each semester.What kid is going to argue and want to take more classes? one mid-major coach said. There arent many.Mid-majors have been penalized for doing their jobs well due to the grad transfer rule, which allows players who earn their degrees before completing their athletic eligibility to transfer elsewhere and play immediately.Some high-major schools admitted to ESPN that they are already compiling lengthy lists before the season of those who will be eligible to leave mid-majors and play their final season elsewhere.Many admittedly will call the high school or AAU coach of a player to make their interest clear, should that player have any desire to leave. Some coaches believe that players are being contacted directly by their peers.If thats the case, thats not good for our profession, Krzyzewski said.Sure, the intention of the rule was pure -- to reward academics. College of Charleston transfer Canyon Barry will take his 4.0 GPA to Florida this season, play for the Gators and major in nuclear engineering, which wasnt offered at Charleston.But lets face it: Barry is the minority here. The vast majority of the 125 or so mens basketball grad transfers this past year will be making the move primarily for athletic reasons. There are certainly some who wind up getting their graduate degree, but many remain in school for just one year in what is almost always a two-year program to earn a graduate degree.A year ago, Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters could have trotted out a starting lineup that included Trey Lewis and Anton Grady. Instead, Lewis spent the season at Louisville. Grady took a grad transfer year at Wichita State and Waters went just 9-23 and will have some pressure on him this season instead of working on a contract extension. Both Lewis and Grady are playing professionally overseas this season.Former Drexel coach Bruiser Flint got fired after going 6-25 this past season, something that wouldnt have haappened if he hadnt lost star Damion Lee, who wound up leading Rick Pitinos Louisville Cardinals in scoring a season ago.dddddddddddd.This isnt a university issue, or a student-athlete issue. Its blatantly an NCAA issue, Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson told ESPN.Hinson just lost his starting big man, Bola Olaniyan, to Alabama.You cant blame a student-athlete for looking at their options, and you cant blame coaches for doing whats in the guidelines of the rules, Hinson added. But the NCAA needs to do something about this -- and the reason they arent is because they are running scared of a lawsuit.Kent State coach Rob Senderoff lost one of his players, Kellon Thomas, to IUPUI as a grad transfer. He nearly lost his top player, Jimmy Hall.The rule is the rule. I get that, Senderoff said. But when you have guys getting recruited off a list thats passed around to coaches on who are potential fifth-year guys, thats just wrong to me. Theres no reason a list should be going around.Jimmy ultimately decided to stay, but he and his family were being called directly by coaches. Theres no gray area on whether or not that happened. To me, thats a problem. It shouldnt be happening.According to numerous coaches -- including current National Association of Basketball Coaches chairman Jeff Jones -- the prevailing thought is that the grad transfer rule isnt going anywhere, largely due to the legal implications.My impression and what I believe is that the ship has sailed and I dont see this rule as changing, said Jones, the coach at Old Dominion.Theres a strong opinion among school presidents and higher-ups who feel that if a kid comes to school and graduates, hes done his part, St. Joes coach Phil Martelli told ESPN. I just dont see the rule going anywhere. I get it and accept it.Kentucky coach John Calipari watched his good friend, Flint, be fired months ago and said he feels as though there should be more of a commitment for the coach who is taking the grad transfer.If the kid gets his grad degree in one year, fine, Calipari said. If he doesnt, youve got to use the scholarship for two years.I think that would penalize the kid, North Carolinas Roy Williams said. Lets face it: This is a great rule for the kids and a terrible one for the coaches that lose these kids. In principle, its OK. But its not very good for college basketball.Thats the overriding thought about the rule from the college coaching fraternity. The mid-majors dont like it because their top players get plucked, and the high-majors are almost forced to utilize because their competitors are doing so. Then theres the tampering issue.There may be no ideal solution, but Caliparis suggestion would temper the rising rate in grad transfers. Hinson also has an idea that would be an improvement over the current system.Just have people sit no matter what, he said. If you transfer, you have to sit a year. ' ' '