beschreibung des Clans » good as advertised.As for Oklahoma, whi

NEW YORK -- New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a herniated disk in his lower back.Walker said the microdiscectomy procedure will require a three-month recovery time and has a high success rate. Walker contemplated trying to complete the season, but was strongly advised while seeking a third medical opinion on Wednesday that the disk condition would have worsened, resulting in additional leg weakness.It was a very difficult decision, Walker said Thursday afternoon. There were a lot of factors that were involved -- the way the team was playing, the way I felt. I did everything I could. Twice I played a couple of days, tried to give myself a couple of days off, and the biggest issue with it was that it was hitting a nerve. I still cant feel my toe. Thats caused just a chain reaction.Acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in December when the Mets determined they did not wish to extend a multiyear offer to Daniel Murphy, Walker hit .282 with a career-high-matching 23 homers and 55 RBIs in 412 at-bats this season. He is eligible for free agency this offseason, but insisted that played no part in the timing of the surgery.That was the farthest thing from my mind. My thought process has always been to help the team on the field, do whatever I can to help the team, said Walker, who expressed receptiveness to re-signing with the Mets.General manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins had expressed confidence as recently as Wednesday that Walker could play the remainder of the season with the disk issue as long as he received regular rest. The second and third medical opinions seemingly were more forceful in advocating immediate surgery than the initial recommendation from Mets doctors.After two or three eyes on the MRI, some of the best back specialists in the world, theyve told me that the best course of action is to get it done now, Walker said. The success rate of this is very high. Its something a lot of guys have gone through. So I feel very confident in my ability to return from this in good shape.Put it this way, I would have been playing probably at 60 percent, Walker added. With the way my back felt, it wasnt the swinging from either side. It was below the waist. It was the sliding, the diving, the leg weakness. At this time of year, with the possibility of breaking up double plays, diving for balls, trying to score from first, I just didnt feel like its the right thing for me to do, and to do to the team. And playing one day and taking a couple days off, or playing two days in a row and taking a day off, as much as I was willing to do that, after talking to the doctors, they felt like that was not a good thing to do.Collins said he expects Wilmer Flores and Kelly Johnson primarily will handle second base minus Walker.Neil has played absolutely great, Collins said. He had a little bit in the middle of the season where he struggled for a while. What he did early, he carried us in April and early May. Who would have expected all of the home runs? And then the way hes played lately. ... He had a great year for us. I sure hope that we get the opportunity to get him back. John Smoltz Jersey . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. Nick Markakis Braves Jersey .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. http://www.baseballbravesproshop.com/ronald-acuna-jr-braves-jersey/ . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Darren ODay Jersey . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Adam Duvall Jersey . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. The College Football Playoff selection committee was given something to ponder by Penn State.How much value does a conference championship have? How about a head-to-head victory? The Nittany Lions now have both of those over Ohio State heading into selection Sunday.We just won the toughest conference in college football, Penn State coach James Franklin said Saturday after the Nittany Lions beat Wisconsin for the Big Ten title. Its on you now, committee.Championship weekend ended with a couple wild games, but mostly the field of four fell into place.Alabama , Washington and Clemson all took care of their business -- though the Tigers had to work much harder than the other two -- and have to be feeling good about hearing their names called when the semifinals are set. Though Washington might not feel as comfortable as the other two.Ohio State (11-1) was home, hoping it was safely in the field after being No. 2 in the committees rankings last week. But how safe are they now from a surging Penn State? The Nittany Lions (11-2) ran their winning streak to nine games by wiping out a 21-point deficit to beat Wisconsin 38-31 in the Big Ten title game .The Nittany Lions, seventh in the last rankings, are the hottest team in the country that doesnt call Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home. They beat Ohio State in October. They won the division they share with the Buckeyes and now they are Big Ten champions for the first time since 2008.Ohio State has three victories against top-10 teams, including road wins against Wisconsin and Oklahoma.The selection committee protocol states that championships won and head-to-head results should be used by the committee to separate teams that have similar resumes. Basically, they are tiebreakers. Committee chairman Kirby Hocutt has said the margin between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes the last two weeks was not all that close.What about now?Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany was on ESPN earlier Saturday calling Ohio State a lock and lobbying for a second team from his conference. The committee has not been thrilled with Washingtons strength of schedule, but would it really dump the Huskies (12-1) for another Big Ten team after they pounded Colorado in the Pac-12 title game Friday night? And if it does, which one?Michigan was fifth last week by a razor thin margin, Hocutt said, behind the Huskies.But the Wolverines were home, too.Only Penn State was able to make a final statement and what a statement it was.Clemson (12-1) won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship by beating Virginia Tech 42-35, making it a lot more exciting thaan Tigers fans probably hoped.dddddddddddd Deshaun Watson added to his Heisman Trophy resume and Clemson needed every one of the five touchdowns he accounted to hold off the Hokies.Alabama (13-0) completed its rampage through the regular season earlier in the day, crushing Florida 54-16 just for the fun of it. The Crimson Tide (13-0) probably didnt even need to win, but the machine knows nothing but destruction.Two years ago Ohio State crashed the top four with a record-breaking rout of Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship, bumping TCU out of the playoff position it had held going into the final rankings.The circumstances are different in so many ways this time, starting with the fact the Penn State has more ground to make up than those Buckeyes and an extra loss on its resume.If nothing else, though, the Nittany Lions have made things interesting.BIG 12The Big 12 is about to be 1 for 3 in making the College Football Playoff.The last time the smallest Power Five conference was left out of the semifinal was 2014. The result was an 18-month existential crisis for the Big 12 that led to the return of its conference championship game in 2017 and a rather public exploration of expansion possibilities. That wont happen this time around.What the Big 12 needs most of all is a healthy and humming Texas program and for coach Tom Herman to be as good as advertised.As for Oklahoma, which ran the table in the Big 12 to win its 10th title under coach Bob Stoops, it is off to the Sugar Bowl.ROW THE BOATAny drama or complications that could have come with figuring out which Group of Five champion will get a bid to the Cotton Bowl ended with Temple beating Navy 34-10 in the American Athletic conference championship game.Barring the committee suddenly falling for Temple (10-3), Western Michigan (13-0) will be the highest-ranked G5 champion and go to the Cotton Bowl. The drama now is surrounding this question: Will P.J. Fleck still be coaching the undefeated Broncos? Fleck is going to draw interest from Purdue and maybe Oregon.----NEW YEARS SIX PROJECTIONSPeach Bowl semifinal -- No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 WashingtonFiesta Bowl semifinal -- No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio StateRose Bowl -- USC vs. Penn StateSugar Bowl -- Oklahoma vs. AuburnOrange Bowl -- Florida State vs. MichiganCotton Bowl -- Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin----Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP----More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org/ ' ' '