with the exception of some more money being available

As a die-hard Yuvraj Singh supporter, Ive always been perplexed as to how someone with his talent is not a permanent fixture in the Indian team. In and out of the national side since mid-2013, Yuvrajs performances in List A and first-class cricket have been my only avenues of tracking his cricketing career.Based in Delhi, finally the time came to watch my cricketing hero live as Punjab faced Baroda in a Group A Ranji Trophy match over the Diwali weekend - October 27-30.Batting first, Baroda amassed 529. In what was effectively a one-innings shootout, Yuvraj came in to bat on Day 3. I sat glued to score updates on ESPNcricinfo as he reached his century - regretting not heading to the Feroz Shah Kotla that day. My only solace was that Yuvraj was unbeaten on 179 at stumps. I was determined to head to the ground on Day 4 with a chance to witness a double century from a champion cricketer, though Diwali fell on that very day.On Sunday, October 30th, I started early from home, travelled by the Delhi Metro and stationed myself outside Gate No. 7. This gate is the one next to the DDCA office, and leads to the south stand where the tickets are usually quite expensive for international and IPL matches. A small group of about ten men slouched in their seats, watching the game. The men were in a wintery daze on this autumn morning which led me to presume that Yuvi was out and my trip to the stadium was in vain.The batsman at the crease, with his back towards us was right handed, clearly not Yuvraj. I asked around, but none of my fellow stadium attendees seemed to know what was happening. I looked at the scorecard at the ground. There were no names. One player was batting on 181 and the other (Manan Vohra) on 210. It was now clear that the batsman at the non-strikers end was Yuvraj Singh.Vohra, who was already past 200, dispatched all loose balls to the boundary. Yuvraj was a bit more circumspect - getting to a double century was more important than getting there quickly.After Vohra was dismissed, two spinners - Swapnil Singh and Yusuf Pathan - bowled in tandem. Yuvraj was at ease when facing Swapnil, a slow left-arm bowler, but found it rather trickier with Yusuf, who bowled with a flatter trajectory. Yuvraj was particularly nervous in the 190s, surviving a couple of lbw appeals. He soon brought up his double century though, with a casual flick of the wrists towards midwicket. Yuvraj raised his bat, and the smile on his face was visible from a distance. Having crossed 200, the time had now arrived to entertain the festive crowd in attendance.As Swapnil bowled the next over to Yuvraj, me and the fans around me yelled for a six. Long-on, long-off and midwicket were all in place. But Yuvrajs power and a small ground proved too much for the Baroda spinner. Yuvraj deposited the first ball from Swapnils over to the first tier of the southern stand, right where I was sitting. It was his first six in the innings. The ball landed a few rows over the sight screen, and since that area was vacant, I ran towards the ball, and gave it to the fielder at long-on. It is a moment I will cherish throughout my life - touching the ball hit by my favourite batsman, and one of the best stroke-players to have graced the game.The second six came off the very next ball, and was hit straight to the stand I was sitting in. By this time the men who were almost asleep at the start of the day were wide awake as they attempted and failed to catch the ball. The ball did cause a bit of damage to the Kotla seats though.Yuvraj would then go on to place a straight drive for four, hit another six to the south-west stand and finally smash another six while batting from the other end.As Yuvraj walked towards the dressing room at lunch, a few fans ran towards the restricted south-west stand where the players and staff were seated, with expectations of a selfie with Yuvi. While they had to face disappointment, for me it was all about witnessing those 60-odd runs scored in that session by my favourite cricketer.With Diwali celebrations lined up for the rest of the day I left the ground, but tracked the scores until Yuvraj was dismissed by offspinner Vishnu Solanki, which triggered a Punjab collapse. Yuvraj innings of 260 though was more than sufficient for Punjab to gain a crucial first-innings lead of 141 runs and claim a vital three points. 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"I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Fake Nike Baseball Jerseys China .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. After years of wondering in the desert, the Phoenix Coyotes ownership saga appears to be over. An arena lease out clause could bring into question where theyre playing five years from now, but on Monday the NHL finalized the sale of the Coyotes to the IceArizona group led by Renaissance Sports & Entertainments George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc. Approval of the US$170-million sale came from the board of governors, which ended the leagues ownership of the beleaguered franchise. "This was an incredibly complicated deal that didnt get wrapped up quite literally until 8 oclock this morning after pretty much a full weekend of working on it going through the night," LeBlanc said on a conference call. "No rest for the weary, as they say, and were jumping right in now." LeBlanc, Gosbee and nine other owners - the vast majority of whom are Canadian businessmen with connections to Arizona - are jumping in to a long process that includes adding staff on the business side and trying to sell tickets to grow the Coyotes reach. Part of the effort includes a name change to the Arizona Coyotes, likely effective for the 2014-15 season. The NHL had owned the Coyotes for the past four years, shortly after Jerry Moyes put the team into bankruptcy and through failed attempts by Ice Edge Holdings led by White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and then Chicago investor Matt Hulsizer to buy it. With IceArizona now officially in charge, the next step is strengthening the fan base. "What this franchise has not had over the past 12 years is theyve never had that combination that I think you need to be successful in the majority of sports markets," LeBlanc said. "That is strong, stable ownership combined with at least the understanding that you have the potential of your franchise winning." The Coyotes missed the playoffs during the lockout-shortened 2013 season but made it the three previous years under coach Dave Tippett. Before bankruptcy, the team most recently made the playoffs in 2001-02. LeBlanc had tried to purchase the team before as part of IceEdge. He teamed up with Gosbee last year, bringing in Daryl Jones, Avik Dey and others before securing NHL approval and financing. "I think its every Canadian boys dream to own a hockey team," Gosbee said. "Ive always wanted to. But it had to be the right deal. When I started talking with Anthony and Daryl over the years, I think the right deal was in the making here in January. I wanted to own the team because I thought, at the end of the day, its a sound investment." Negotiating a five-year out clause as part of a 15-year lease deal with the city of Glendale for Jobing.com Arena was made for business reasons, but it also raised skepticism, especially for a group of men with Canadian roots. "Im a good, solid Canadian like a good number of people in this ownership group and unfortunately its very difficult for people to accept that hockey can be successful in a non-traditional market," LeBlanc said. "But we like to point to markets like San Jose and Dallas, even in the Carolinas, where hockey has really thrived. We feel that the same will happen here. But the reality is its an investment and we have to protect ourselves, and hence the reason for the out clause." LeBlanc told the board of governors that the out clause was the most "negative" part of the Coyotes loong and winding sale process, which included contentious Glendale city council meetings that cast doubt on the final resolution.dddddddddddd "I think the onus is on us to put the product out there and to sell the suites and the tickets so that this is no longer a conversation piece," LeBlanc said. Even with that conversation piece, Gosbee was "ecstatic" about getting the deal finalized. His Calgary home was damaged in Junes flooding, but Monday brought some good news on the Coyotes front. "The home can be built up again," he said. "Ill start working on that project in the fall. Its a great day for me with the announcement that weve got this team." For general manager Don Maloney, Monday brought even stronger emotions than the arena lease deal that gave the Coyotes at least five years of security. "It feels like Christmas morning around here," Maloney said in an interview from his office in Glendale. "Were just very, very happy, relieved, grateful." The ownership group will be led by Gosbee and LeBlanc and include Dey, Jones, Gary J. Drummond, W. David Duckett, W.R. Dutton, Robert Gwin, Scott Saxberg, Craig Stewart and Richard Walter. Asked about the Edmonton Oilers large ownership group that existed before Daryl Katz took over, Gosbee likened the Coyotes structure more to that of the Calgary Flames after their move from Atlanta. "Theres a strong, tight-knit ownership group here," Gosbee said. "Everybody really knows of each other. If we werent doing this deal, theres a good chance a lot of us would be out for dinner next week or watching a football game." Instead, theyre working together to own a hockey team. "The National Hockey League believes in Arizona as an NHL market and that these new owners can provide the Coyotes the opportunity to secure a stable, long-term future in Glendale," commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. Giving the Coyotes a stable, long-term future has a lot to do with business, which LeBlanc and Gosbee will be heavily involved with. As far as hockey operations, not much is expected to change, with the exception of some more money being available. "Our involvement will be almost exclusively on the business side and let Don continue to work his magic," LeBlanc said. Magic off the ice involves trying to sell out the arena and building more of a following in Arizona. If IceArizona is successful at doing that and the franchise does not lose $50 million in the next five years, the out clause will be moot. "This is obviously a franchise that has historically lost money," LeBlanc said. "You look at the track records of the individuals: Nobody in this group gets into anything with the expectation of failing. Our view is this is a franchise that has not had the opportunity to really show its potential." The potential is there, finally, and LeBlanc and Gosbee hope winning and financial success follow. "This is an exciting franchise," LeBlanc said. "Now that were the owners we think weve got the Stanley Cup contender for the next 10 years, but we truly feel that fans are going to look at this club and say, This has a real strong potential of winning. And what do you know? For the first time in years this franchise, there is no question it is tied to Arizona, and we have good, strong local ownership." ' ' '