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CHICAGO -- Wrigley Field was dark and empty when a loud cheer reverberated throughout the neighborhood surrounding the iconic ballpark.While the Chicago Cubs decided to delay their party Thursday night, their long-downtrodden fans were ready to celebrate.Chicago wasted its first chance to clinch the National League Central title but became the first major league team this season to clinch a division crown when St. Louis?lost 6-2 at San Francisco.The Cubs lost 5-4 to the Milwaukee Brewers earlier Thursday night, but they captured their first NL Central crown since 2008 when the Giants finished off their victory over the Cardinals.Wrigley was quiet when Matt Adams made the final out on the West Coast. However, it touched off a celebration in Chicago that included honking horns and chanting in the streets.And late at night, the Cubs famous marquee lit up with a message:Led by a stellar pitching staff and MVP contenders Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, Chicago got off to a sizzling 25-6 start. After stumbling into the All-Star break, the Cubs pulled away with a 22-6 August that turned the NL Central race into a mere formality.This is just the first step, manager Joe Maddon said after the Cubs game but before the Cardinals loss. I mean, we have much larger baseball fish to fry in our skillet.The Cubs likely will enter the 2016 postseason as heavy favorites. According to the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook, they are 9-4 favorites to win the World Series.Indeed, the NL Central crown is not how this group of Cubs will be judged, not this year.After running roughshod over the rest of the majors for most of the season, Rizzo & Co. are trying to end the franchises famous championship drought, going all the way back to when the Cubs beat the Tigers in the 1908 World Series.Weve got a lot ahead of us. We really do, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said before the Cubs loss. It kind of all boils down to how you perform in October.This is the 16th time since the first World Series in 1903 that the Cubs have finished in first place in their league or division, but they are 2-for-15 when it comes to winning the World Series in those seasons and are on a run of 12 straight first-place finishes that didnt result in a World Series title.Its only the third time since 1903 that the Cubs have reached the postseason in consecutive seasons. They got in as a wild card last year and made it to the NL Championship Series before they were swept by the New York Mets.The offseason additions of Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward only added to the anticipation for the Cubs loyal fan base, and they have delivered up until this point. But many of those same fans also were around for the last division title, when the 2008 Cubs won 97 games and then were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division series.Theres no team Id rather be going into October with, Epstein said. But there are never favorites in October the same way there are in the regular season.Information from The Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.Adidas NMD Mujer Baratas . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Adidas Ultra Boost España . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. http://www.baratasnmd.com/adidas-nmd-r1-baratas/mujer.html . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask. Comprar Adidas Falcon baratas . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. Adidas Ultra Boost 19 Rebajas . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins.Giuseppe Rossi is getting his injury-hit career back on track at La Liga strugglers Levante. And with Euro 2016 around the corner, the former Manchester United prodigy is chasing his first call-up for a major tournament with Italy. Nick Wright reflects on his extraordinary journey...In the late 1950s, a young man named José Besalduch moved to Valencia and took a job in construction on a tower block overlooking Levantes old Vallejo stadium. The building was not yet fitted with elevators, but every other weekend he and his co-workers would climb the steps to the fifth floor and watch the action unfold on the pitch beneath them.Besalduch is 85 now, but those Sunday afternoons suspended above Vallejo were the beginning of an unlikely love affair with Valencias other club. My father was a Valencia fan, he told local newspaper Levante-EMV in 2014. He had already made it clear to me: Do not support Levante. You will suffer all your life and they will never win anything. But Besalduch ignored the advice, and has followed Levante religiously ever since - despite his father being proven right. Reaching the Copa del Rey semi-finals in 1935 remains the closest brush with silverware in their 106-year history, and Les Granotes spent four of the last six decades marooned in Spains second and third divisons. Giuseppe Rossi in action for Levante against his former side Villarreal It was enough to test anyones faith, but Besalduch was always there. Over half a century of dedication has earned him the nickname El Gasolina among fellow fans, and after years in the doldrums, Levante are now battling to make it seven straight seasons in La Liga. Now when I watch a match with 17,000 spectators, sometimes I cry with the emotion, said Besalduch. After all Ive seen before, I cry easily.In January, Besalduchs emotion was caught on television cameras at the unveiling of former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi. The Italy international, now 29, had agreed to swap Champions League-chasing Fiorentina for La Ligas bottom club in a bid to revive his career, and Besalduch was overcome with joy as he embraced their prestigious loan signing in a crowd of Levante fans.I am so happy to see you, he said, his voice cracking with emotion. Well see each other every day. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you so much for coming and for choosing our Levante. Thank you so much, because you had other clubs, we know that, and you chose our Levante. For Rossi, too, the journey has been emotional. The 29-year-old is well-known to Spanish football fans having scored 82 goals in 192 appearances for Villarreal from 2007 to 2012, but between bursts of brilliance his career has been punctuated by devastating injuries, repeated knee operations and endless months of rehabilitation.Rossi hails from New Jersey on the east coast of the United States, but at the age of 12 he crossed the Atlantic to join Parmas renowned youth academy in the homeland of his Italian-immigrant parents. Rossi was a rising star, and it wasnt long before Manchester United took advantage of financial turmoil at the Serie A club to steal the speedy little striker away to Old Trafford. Giuseppe Rossi poses with Sir Alex Ferguson after signing for Manchester United as a 16-year-old A 16-year-old Rossi made his first senior appearance in an FA Cup tie against Crystal Palace in November 2004, and 11 months later, he scored on his Premier League debut after replacing Ruud van Nistelrooy in a 3-1 win over Sunderland. Sir Alex Ferguson described him as the future of this club when he was handed a new contract in 2006, but it wasnt to be. Man Utds debut scorers From Rossi to Van Nistelrooy, what has become of Man Utds Premier League debut scorers? After an unsuccessful loan spell at Newcastle and a more prosperous one at his old club Parma in 2006/07, the 5ft 8ins striker was deemed too lightweight to make it in the Premier League. And with a long line of forwards ahead of him in the Old Trafford pecking order, he was granted a £6.7m move to Manuel Pellegrinis Villarreal, where he replaced his former team-mate Diego Forlan.In Spain, Rossi set about showing Ferguson what he was missing. His explosive speed, excellent close-control and instinctive finishing came to the fore in his new surroundings, and Villarreal secured an historic second-placed La Liga finish in his first season. From 13, to 15, to 17, his goal tallies just kept rising, and in a stunning 2010/11 campaign he netted a club-record 32 times in 56 games. Giuseppe Rossi vies with Reaal Madrids Xabi Alonso during his time at Villarreal Rossi had been a full Italy international since his debut in 2008 but he was surprisingly omitted from their 2010 World Cup squad, and in October 2011 his right knee agonisingly buckled in a challenge with Real Madrids Xabi Alonso at the Bernabeu.ddddddddddddSix months on the sidelines followed, but far worse was still to come.Rossi was just days away from returning to action the following April when his knee gave away again in training. As soon as I saw him, I knew it was the same thing, said Villarreal physio Manuel Telló at the time. Hes completely depressed. Rossi had hoped to play his way into Euro 2012 contention and Italy coach Cesare Prandelli was even planning a personal visit, but with that his hopes were dashed.It was a career-threatening setback, and it wasnt just Rossi who suffered. Without their talisman, Villarreal were relegated from La Liga for the first time since 1998/99. The striker had played his last game for the Yellow Submarine, and in January 2013, despite Rossi undergoing three knee ligament operations in the previous 18 months, Fiorentina paid 10 million euros to take him back to Italy. Giuseppe Rossi celebrates a goal for his former side Fiorentina Rossi was hoping to reward the Violas faith by returning for the final months of the 2012/13 Serie A season, but it wasnt until the last day of the campaign that he was able to make his long-awaited debut - 571 days on from that fateful day at the Bernabeu. Rossi had shown remarkable perseverance through the dark months on the sidelines, and in the first half of the 2013/14 campaign, he reminded everyone exactly what he was capable of. By Christmas, he was top of the Serie A scoring charts with 16 goals in 17 appearances - including a stunning 14-minute hat-trick in a 4-2 win over champions Juventus. Ronaldo hasnt been good enough Spanish football expert Guillem Balague on Cristiano Ronaldo, Atletico Madrid and more. His manager Vicenzo Montella described him as a genius of football and there was a return to the international fold too - but in January 2014, disaster struck again. Fiorentina were 1-0 up against Livorno when a cynical foul from defender Leandro Rinaudo damaged the same knee ligaments for a third time. As the realisation dawned on him, Rossi pulled his shirt over his face and left the field in tears.There would be no World Cup 2014 call-up, and complications eventually kept him out for the entirety of last season. When he finally returned as a late substitute in a 3-1 defeat to Torino last August, he had gone another 456 days without kicking a ball. This time, however, there was no explosive comeback. Giuseppe Rossi has scored seven goals in 30 appearances for Italy Rossi struggled to recapture his best form, and when the January transfer window came around, he had scored just twice in 16 games. After so many months on the sidelines and with Euro 2016 just around the corner, Rossi - still dreaming of a first major tournament appearance for his country - needed a change.He couldnt say no to Levantes offer of regular playing time in a league he knows well, and his arrival was a coup for one of Spains most unfashionable clubs. You can see from the first minute he got here that hes revolutionised not only the club, but his team-mates, said Levante manager Rubi. Theyre delighted to have a team-mate of his ilk, and that ultimately benefits us all. You can see from the first minute he got here that hes revolutionised not only the club but his team-mates. Levante manager Rubi on Giuseppe Rossi Rossis return to Villarreal on Sunday ended in a 3-0 defeat that kept Levante four points away from safety, but there have been encouraging signs too. Rossi scored on his first start for the club against Sevilla at the end of January, and there was another goal and an assist in a 3-0 win over Getafe.On Wednesday night, things will come full circle when Rossis new side host Real Madrid, the opponent against whom his injury hell started back in 2011. Around Levantes new stadium, there are no fifth-floor viewpoints for opportunist supporters, but Besalduch will be there. Hoping, waiting. Just like Rossi.Watch Levante v Real Madrid live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 7.45pm on Wednesday. Or watch for £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV.Also See:Van Gaals youngstersJuves new jewel ' ' '