ondoleeza [Rice] and I really enjoyed her conversation and we spent s

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil -- Whitney Engen went to the Womens World Cup last year but didnt play in a single match. A year later at the Olympics, the 28-year-old American got her chance on a big stage.Engen was in the starting lineup for the 1-0 victory over France on Saturday night. While most of the attention was on United States goalkeeper Hope Solo, who made her 200th international appearance, Engen was steady at center back.Anytime you get the opportunity to put on our jersey and represent the United States is a tremendous honor. Obviously, the Olympics adds to that, Engen said. I was happy to get some minutes and get my feet wet in an international tournament.United States coach Jill Ellis made the move because defender Julie Johnston was out with a groin injury. Johnston is key to a stellar backline that is considered among the best in the game. During the World Cup last year, the group anchored by Solo went 540 minutes without conceding a goal.That Engen was so capably able to fill in on that solid line is testament to the U.S. teams depth.Mallory Pugh, the 18-year-old sensation who has been steadily winning playing time, was also held out of the match against France in Belo Horizonte because of an ankle injury in the group opener last week.Ellis later described Pughs availability for the match at 50-50. But she didnt need her. The team inserted Crystal Dunn into the lineup.Like Engen, Dunn was making her first start of the Olympics. In fact, both she and Engen were also making their first starts in a major tournament at the senior level. Allie Long, making just her 12th appearance with the senior team, got her second start.Those players are among 11 first-time Olympians on the U.S. national team, which has a decidedly different -- and younger -- look than the squad that won the World Cup.Veteran stars Abby Wambach and Lauren Holiday have retired. Sydney Leroux and Amy Rodriquez stayed home because of pregnancy.And the roster for Rio de Janeiro was also smaller, at 18 players, than the 23-player squad for the World Cup. So Ellis had to choose her players carefully with an eye on versatility.All 22 players that are here -- the 18 that were selected and the four reserves -- every single one of them could step on this field and play for this team, Engen said. So I knew I had a great cast around me and all I had to do is do my role and they would support me.While Engen was on the World Cup roster, Long stayed home last year, playing for the National Womens Soccer Leagues Portland Thorns. Dunn, the last player cut from the World Cup team, played for the Washington Spirit and was named the leagues most valuable player.The newcomers will be important as the Americans seek their fourth straight Olympic gold medal. Ranked No. 1 in the world, the United States is also vying to become the first to win and Olympics after earning a World Cup title.The team continues to wait for the return of veteran midfielder Meghan Rapinoe, who hasnt played since knee surgery late last year.Rapinoe, playing in her third Olympics, has looked strong in pregame warmups and could play as early as the quarterfinals.With the victory over France, the United States was assured a spot in the quarterfinals. Canada and host Brazil have also gone through to the knockout round with one match remaining in their groups.Weve got a great support staff here that keeps us ready no matter what, Engen said. And I think we knew coming into this tournament it was going to take 22 players to get the gold medal, and at the end of the day were all ready if our name is called.The United States will play Colombia on Tuesday in the final group match in Manaus, more than 1,700 miles away from Rio de Janeiro. Miikka Salomaki Predators Jersey . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Dan Hamhuis Predators Jersey . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. http://www.authenticpredatorspro.com/Dante-fabbro-predators-jersey/ . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. Filip Forsberg Predators Jersey . Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, made a testing six-foot putt to save par on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th before bogeying the final hole after a misjudged approach shot. American Kevin Streelman was in second place after shooting a 69. Nashville Predators Jerseys . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. One of the great mysteries of the College Football Playoff is the debate that occurs behind the closed doors of Selection Central, the selection committees meeting room at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas. On the week of the final ranking, a security guard is posted at the door, holding a list of whos allowed into the room. With the exception of the committee chairman, the members of the group are not allowed to speak to the media at all during the season.So we turn to the four committee members whose terms have officially expired for our only real insight as to what their tenure was like, and how difficult it was to analyze Baylor and TCU in Year 1. Here are highlights of individual interviews with former committee members Pat Haden, Mike Tranghese, Lt. Gen. Mike Gould and Tom Osborne:What do you want people to know about what you did?Mike Gould: I would hope people understand its not whichever conference has the biggest personality or whatever in the room. That really doesnt make any difference. Thats not their job.Pat Haden: I think there are some people who believe there are a lot of biases in the room, but there certainly arent. I know Bill Hancock has talked about it. You check all that at the door. But it wasnt just a symbol. There were people there representing the game of college football.Tom Osborne: I think the thing a lot of football fans might not realize was the depth of information we went through. We each had data available, and we tried to look at those things that seemed to correlate most heavily with predicting the best teams over the last 10 years. What data seemed to be indicative of the teams that would play for a national championship under the BCS system? For instance, average points per possession was a high predictor. Scoring defense, scoring offense adjusted for various factors and one thing we looked at pretty heavily was field position. In other words, if a team exchanged punts, on average, did they gain or lose yards? Because of turnovers did they end up with worse field position than their opponents? ... We looked pretty extensively at an awful lot of data, and of course the big one was schedule. We went into that pretty exhaustively in terms of who people played, how good the people were they played.Was the Baylor-TCU debate the most memorable part of your tenure?Mike Tranghese: Without question, yes. That was the debate for the last five weeks of the year. We probably spent more time just discussing Baylor and TCU but then in the end, Ohio State just played very well at the end, and the way they dominated Wisconsin in the end, the championship game really took the pressure of making that decision out of our hands.Osborne: That was a difficult one. I think the thing that was, as was mentioned many times, when you have a team that plays that 13th game against a supposedly good opponent and you win 59-0, decisively, then not having that championship game certainly was a factor to be considered. No question TCU and Baylor were really good teams and it was close, but its hard to turn your back on somebody that wins their conference championship by 59-0. The third quarterback played really well. It was a deal where you could say well, theyre going into the championship series with no quarterback because they obviously had one that could play.Gould: They were both very accomplished, they were good programs, had good players. Personally, I went back to who they had played. Even within the same conference, where everybody plays everybody, youre nonconference games, in some of the other conferences you get the luck of the draw the way the East and West or North and South, so strength of schedule mattered a lot and it should continue to play a role in that. Its hard to pinpoint anything in particular.?How much time did you spend on your individual rankings?Haden: I think I spent about 20 hours per week before I arrived. I work out very early every morning, so I would watch a game on the treadmill or a game and a half. At night Id do it again so then I had statistics I followed that were important to me. Everybody has their own metrics. I looked at those. On Sunday afternoons I put my 1-30 together and with the reasons why.Osborne: If you count travel time and the time youre down there, time spent watching games and film, I supposed you spent 40-50 hours a week, something like that. This was noot a burden to me because I enjoy football.ddddddddddddranghese: Saturday I just watched games. That started at noon-time and went until early Sunday morning, and then because Im in the Northeast, I couldnt make the meetings in time on Monday. So I basically flew on Sunday. Id look at my rankings on a Sunday and basically develop them on the plane, sleep on it Sunday night and wake up Monday morning because we didnt start our meetings until noon-time and basically refine them.Gould: If there was a game on Wednesday, which there were a few, and then Thursday there were usually two games, if you sit down and watch those games, theres several hours right there. Same with Friday nights. Saturday was really an all-day commitment. Games start at 10 in the morning Colorado time and finish at midnight. I set up one of the coolest rooms youve ever seen in my basement: weight room, bicycle, four televisions, all the clickers and notes. So Saturday was completely dedicated to it for 10 or 12 hours, and then you review for a couple hours Sunday, and Monday-Tuesday you travel.Do you feel like you got it right the past two years?Tranghese: Yeah. I think so. Year 1 was very difficult. I think Ohio State took us off the hook. If Ohio State hadnt beaten Wisconsin, or lets say hadnt won convincingly, we wouldve had a very, very difficult decision to make. I dont know how other people would have voted, but my sense was we were really split on it. Thats OK. We wouldve had to eventually reach a decision, because there was a great different of opinion just about Baylor and TCU. Some people felt strongly that Baylor had beaten TCU, but others felt that TCU was better. And then you had Ohio State in the mix at the end. It would have been very interesting, but we never got to that point. Ohio State made it clear who the fourth team is. We take them and they end up playing magnificently and running the table. And I didnt think there was much mystery in last year. When Ohio State lost to Michigan State, that probably cleared it up a little bit.Gould: I dont hear a whole lot of controversy. We had a little bit with the Texas schools that first year, but when No. 4 plays up like they did and wins it all, it kind of quieted folks. So yes, I think we got it about as right as anybody could for seasons one and two, anyways.Osborne: I think so. We did the best we could. Theres no perfect system. There are always people who want an eight-team playoff or a 16-team playoff, but if you have eight, youre going to have the ninth- and 10th-place teams unhappy, and if you have 16 then 17th- and 18th-place teams are going to be upset. I think the odds are really good that youre going to get the best two teams when you pick those four.What was the most enjoyable part?Haden: I think when we finally came to the first year final four, when we finally picked those four teams. That first year we werent exactly sure how it was all going to turn out, and the whole process was new. When it was released we realized some people were going to disagree with it, but I think there was a great deal of satisfaction in the room when we put those four out.Osborne: I sat next to Condoleeza [Rice] and I really enjoyed her conversation and we spent some time in Washington together and had that frame of reference. On the other side of me was Barry Alvarez. We had quite a bit of history and a lot of similar views on things, so that was good. Pat Haden was a guy I had recruited out of high school. I enjoyed talking to Pat. I really enjoyed all of them.What was it like being in the room?Tranghese: That was the most-often question I got from my friends. Whats it like in the room? Like something mysterious is going on. We talked about football. Thats what we did. On Mondays and Tuesdays wed talk about football in every conceivable way. When wed break Monday night, wed sit there and eat and talk about football. You talk about games, you talk about players, you talk about coaches.What advice would you have for new members?Haden: Its like high school math class. You dont want to be the least prepared guy going into the final exam. Everybody puts a lot of effort into it. Everybody loves the game of college football. You want to get it right and give back the best you can. ' ' '