it will kick off its inaugural season in the spring of 2014.

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SAN DIEGO -- The United States Football League says it will kick off its inaugural season in the spring of 2014. The original USFL played from 1983-87, then went out of business after winning a lawsuit against the NFL and collecting only $3. When the reformation of the league was announced earlier this year, organizers targeted playing next March. Now, that date has been pushed back a year. Plans are for a 14-game season played by eight franchises, none of which has been identified yet. All players and coaches contracts will be owned by the USFL, and each team owner will be a member-operator of the league. www.hockeypenguinsstore.com/Black-Sidney-Crosby-Jersey/ . Iwakuma extended his scoreless innings streak on the road to 25 and Justin Smoak homered off Justin Verlander to help Seattle Mariners beat Detroit 8-0 on Wednesday night. www.hockeypenguinsstore.com/Black-Pascal-Dupuis-Jersey/ . Centre Tyler Bozak was between Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul on the first line, while James van Riemsdyk moved to a line with Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin. www.hockeypenguinsstore.com/Black-Matt-Niskanen-Jersey/ . The 31-year-old Safin will be one of the youngest members in the 450-seat legislature. Safin retired from tennis in 2009 after winning two Grand Slam titles and earning the No. www.hockeypenguinsstore.com/Black-Brooks-Orpik-Jersey/ . ODriscoll was picked for his 129th test in an Ireland jersey on Friday, but he wont continue his world record midfield partnership with Gordon DArcy. DArcy was laid low by a stomach bug at the start of the week and has recovered, but Luke Marshall edged him in training and will start. www.hockeypenguinsstore.com/Black-James-Neal-Jersey/ . -- The competition for a spot in the Royals rotation just got a little tougher.VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Whitecaps have four games left on their Major League Soccer schedule. Goalkeeper Joe Cannon is worried some players might have already quit for the season. A frustrated Cannon questioned the commitment of some of his teammates Sunday after Vancouver lost 1-0 to the Portland Timbers to spoil the Whitecaps first game at the newly refurbished BC Place Stadium. "I think in the future weve got to find out who has that heart," Cannon said. "Im not going to point any fingers. Im not different than any guy on this team. "We just need more heart. Thats the bottom line." Kenny Cooper scored in the 25th minute as Portland took advantage of Whitecaps defender Alain Rochats mistake at midfield for the games only goal. Portland midfielder Diego Chara fed Cooper a perfect ball and the big forward hammered a shot from the top of the box over Cannons outstretched fingers. "It was a huge win," said Cooper. "It feels good to get three points against them." It wasnt the way the Whitecaps wanted to christen their new home. The enthusiasm that bubbled before the match turned as flat as yesterdays champagne. "You went away frustrated and disappointed," Vancouver interim coach Tom Soehn said. "I didnt think we had the best energy in the first half. "Thats hard to explain when you look at this venue and the excitement. We gave away a bad goal. There is no looking back. Teams punish you for mistakes." Martin Rennie has already been signed to be Vancouvers coach next season and Cannon worries some of the current Whitecaps dont realize they could be playing themselves off the team. "If feel like every game is an audition," Cannon said. "You know the new coach is watching every single move you make. "There is no room for error anymore. You would think these guys, you would see a little bit more bite." Vancouver captain Jay DeMerit seemed surprised by Cannons comments. "Define heart," DeMerit said. "I think its just a level of effort and commitment. "Its a simple formula. When you put that in for 90 minutes a lot of times results go your way. A lot of times results havent gone our way. I think that says it all." The Whitecaps came close to tying the match in the dying moments when striker Eric Hassli missed on a header. The frustrated Frenchman was left pounding his fist into the turf. Portland and Vancouver, old rivals from past leagues, are both playing in their inaugural MLS seasons. The Timbers improved to 11-13-7 and remain in the playoff hunt. "I think that was one of our best performances on the road this year," Portland coach John Spencer said. "It gaave us an opportunity .dddddddddddd... to keep the guys focused on what we have to do. "If we can win two or three of the next couple of games we have a chance to make the playoffs. If we dont, we wont get there." The Whitecaps have the worst record in the league (4-16-10) and are playing for pride and jobs next season. Among the sold-out crowd of 21,000 celebrating the return to BC Place was a large contingent of Timbers fans. Dressed in green they sang and waved flags throughout the match. The Whitecaps supporters did their best to drown out the visitors by pounding drums and chanting. Included in the $563-million renovation is a retractable roof that opened moments before kickoff. A huge, centre-hung video board showed the action in HD so sharp it looked like you were watching at home on your own TV. The game was played on a modern Polytan synthetic surface, considered one of the best for soccer. Throughout the building there are 800 Wi-Fi points and 1,150 digital screens, wider seats, improved acoustics and enhanced concession and bathroom facilities. "Its a great venue," DeMerit said. "Its a fantastic facility. "Its our home now for the future and its a great place to be." The CFLs B.C. Lions played the first game in the new stadium Friday. Capacity for football is over 50,000, but that is reduced to 21,000 for soccer. When the Whitecaps play a special curtain is drawn to mask the unused seats in the upper tier. The seats are close to the field, making fans feel like they are part of the action. Beaming Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi looked around the stadium with the pride of a new father. "Im absolutely satisfied," Lenarduzzi said. "There are a lot of things we assumed would be good but we could never tell until we were in here. "Its everything I expected it to be." Jeff Mallett, one of the teams owners, loved the atmosphere. "From our standpoint it looks absolutely fantastic," said Mallett, the former Yahoo president who is a part-owner of the San Francisco Giants. "We are going to get that authentic soccer environment we know is critical. Its going to be a great place to watch a football match." MLS commissioner Don Garber also was impressed. "Its another home for clubs where they can control their destiny a bit more," he said. Notes: Rochat played the match wearing a mask to protect a broken nose suffered in a Sept. 17 game against the L.A. Galaxy. ... Lenarduzzi was a member of the NASL Whitecaps team that played the first game at BC Place on June 20, 1983, a 2-1 win over Seattle before 60,342 spectators. ... Portland won the first meeting of the season 2-1 on Aug. 20. ' ' '