purpose player Ben Zobrist and outfielders Dexter Fowler and Jason Heyward were signed last offseason.Chicago gave Epstein a new five-year contract in September. Now the challenge is to wi

Daniel Ricciardo says he was surprised by the lack of grip at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez circuit during Friday practice for the Mexican Grand Prix.The Australian was the quickest Red Bull driver on Friday in Mexico, finishing eighth in FP1 and fifth in FP2, but could only get within 0.658s of Sebastian Vettels fastest time in the afternoon session. Ricciardo admits he expected to find more grip after a number of races at the track since last years grand prix -- including the World Endurance Championship and Formula E, which ran on a modified layout.I think it will get better, to be honest today I expected the grip to be higher after a year and the WEC came here and other categories, Ricciardo said. I thought the track would have rubbered in a bit, but its still very slippery so it might take a bit more time.I think by the end of the weekend on Sunday the last half of the race will be better, but I think were going to be fighting the balance from now until the end, its just trying to get comfortable with a slippery sort of feeling on track.Ricciardo says the lack of grip has made finding the right set-up difficult but he remains confident that Red Bull will be able to discover a solution ahead of Sundays race.Its really tricky to actually find the right setup in these conditions, when its low grip you have a bit of understeer and you have a bit of oversteer, so knowing what way to really set the car up is tricky.I think we improved it today from the morning but I think theres still some progress to make, so well prepare for a pretty low grip track tomorrow and try and improve the balance from there.A number of drivers complained of high tyre degradation during both sessions, particularly on the super-soft tyre. Although he struggled himself on the softest compound during long runs, Ricciardo feels Red Bull has more pace to find over one lap ahead of qualifying.I think the super-soft on one lap will be quicker, but on the long run it was not lasting very long today. For a lot of us we had problems with that tyre, so I dont think well do many laps on that tyre on Sunday, well see what happens.Adidas Nmd Outlet . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Adidas Nmd XR1 Schweiz .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. http://www.nmdschweizkaufen.ch/eqt-outlet.html . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Nmd r2 Damen Schweiz . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. Nmd Schuhe Online . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars.SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Theo Epstein is rising to a new reality.For the last few years Ive had a semi-recurring dream, maybe five or six times, where Ive woken up, wow, we just won the World Series with the Cubs. Thats unbelievable, he recalled Monday night.And then about 10 seconds later I realize it was just a dream, and then the rest of the day stinks, right? Its a pretty great feeling and then back to reality. The last five days or whatever its been, Ive been waking up with the same realization and then it takes a couple seconds. Wow! It really happened!Days after the team he designed ended a long championship drought, Epstein was voted The Sporting News Major League Baseball Executive of the Year for revitalizing the Chicago Cubs.Balloting by 56 big league executives took place before the postseason. The Cubs led the majors with 103 wins during the regular season, then beat Cleveland in a seven-game World Series last week for their first title since 1908.During the parade I kept telling my wife we need to go home to change some diapers and do some laundry, because this is not real life, he said. Weve got to get our feet back on the ground.Epstein was presented with the award at the start of the annual general managers meeting. He received 13 votes, followed by Clevelands Chris Antonetti (nine), the New York Yankees Brian Cashman (eight), Texas Jon Daniels (seven), Clevelands Mike Chernoff and Washingtons Mike Rizzo (three each), and Baltimores Dan Duquette and the Cubs Jed Hoyer (two apiece).Now 42, Epstein was the youngest general manager in major league history when Boston hired him at age 28 in November 2002. He helped the Red Sox win the 2004 World Series, their first title since 1918, and a second championship in 2007.Winning at 42 vs. 30, I have a greater appreciation for how hard it is and how many people have to contribute and how lucky you have to get along the way, too, he said.Epstein left Boston after the 2011 season to become president of baseball operations with the Cubs, who lost 91 games that year. As he rebuilt the team, the Cubs dropped 101 games in 2012, 96 the following year and 89 in 2014. They won 97 games last year to gaiin a wild card, returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2008 only to get swept by the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series.ddddddddddddThis year, Chicago defeated San Francisco in the Division Series, overcame a 2-1 deficit against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series and then became the first team to rally from a 3-1 World Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals.Chicagos 10th-inning rally in Game 7 was sparked by Albert Almora Jr., the first player drafted under Epsteins regime, taken sixth overall in 2012. Third baseman Kris Bryant was drafted in 2013 and outfielder Kyle Schwarber in 2014, and the Cubs traded for pitcher Jake Arrieta (from Baltimore), first baseman Anthony Rizzo (San Diego) and shortstop Addison Russell (Oakland).Jon Lester was signed as a free agent after the 2014 season and fellow pitcher John Lackey, all-purpose player Ben Zobrist and outfielders Dexter Fowler and Jason Heyward were signed last offseason.Chicago gave Epstein a new five-year contract in September. Now the challenge is to win two in a row and match the 1907-08 Cubs.It does make you hungry just to validate it. When you can win two, I think it means even more, he said. Wed love to be the type of organization that national baseball fans think of when you think of October baseball.Aroldis Chapman, Fowler, Jason Hammel and Travis Wood have become free agents. Epstein already has been thinking about roster alterations.The mix has to change a little bit, he said. If you look to just bring back every single component and try to recreate the past, its going to change by definition. Group dynamics change. Human beings change. And so maybe its better to change it in some small ways on your terms and some intent behind it rather than just let it come back exactly the same and be stale. ... Well make some smaller changes, but I do have a feeling this nucleus is going to stay intact a lot longer than what we did in Boston.Founded in 1886, TSN ended its print edition in 2012 but remains available online. ' ' '