TORONTO -- Artificial turf and Canadian talent were two of the topics that had Toronto FC supporters riled up at a recent question-and-answer session with the MLS teams braintrust. Sam Shields Jersey . Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, shot down the turf question by saying its a non-starter. But the issue of how the team treats its Canadians kept coming back to the microphone. "Id like to see Canadians being played," said one fan. "I think that was one of the draws to me coming to this is to see Canadians play. Im not seeing enough of it from this team." "My concern is how youve treated the Canadian players since the beginning," lamented another supporter. "Ive looked at the salaries every year and every year since Year One, the Canadian kids get almost the lowest pay across the board. Every year. And this will never work unless you start to respect the Canadian soccer player." Manager Ryan Nelsen patiently answered the questions, pointing to local defenders Ashtone Morgan and Doneil Henry and midfielder Jonathan Osorio currently starting with rookies Kyle Bekker and Emery Welshman also in the squad. Goalie Quillan Roberts completes the TFC Canadian contingent with homegrown player Manuel Aparicio newly promoted from the academy. Talented and young, said Nelsen. "We have to nurture them. We cant throw them in the deep end, we cant scar them," he added. Theyll get their chance, he added, pointing to Sporting Kansas City star midfielder Graham Zusi, who made just nine starts in his first two MLS seasons. Bottom line, said Nelsen, "I want more Canadian players on my team. "Even when the Canadian (national) team goes and plays in Spain and they take all my players away and I cant field them for TFC, Ill take that hit. Not a problem." The questions about the handling of Canadian talent took Nelsen by surprise. "I was expecting a lot worse questions, to tell you the truth, but on that one I was a wee bit let down because no other Canadian team is producing the young kids that were playing and giving them the opportunity," he said after practice Tuesday. The Vancouver Whitecaps roster features three Canadians: midfielders Bryce Alderson and Russell Teibert and goalie Simon Thomas. Another Canadian, 20-year-old midfielder Caleb Clarke, is on loan to FC Augsburg in Germany. The 20-year-old Teibert has seen action in 20 MLS games this season, starting 18, and is seen as a rising star. Alderson, 19, and Thomas, 23, have yet to play in the league in 2013. The Montreal Impact have four Canadians listed on their roster, including hard-nosed veteran midfielder Patrice Bernier. The others are 19-year-old goalie Maxime Crepeau and 21-year-old defenders Karl Ouimette and Maxim Tissot, who have a handful of games between them this year. Nelsen identified Osorio as a rising talent from Day 1 of pre-season and he has partnered the 20-year-old Henry with captain Steven Caldwell at centre back. Morgan has won back his job at left fullback. And he says he remains a big backer of Bekker and Welshman, who have played 200 minutes between them in the league this season. Nelsen says the two first-round draft choices perhaps got "blown up a wee bit in the media" when they arrived on the Toronto FC scene. "But theyre fantastic players, theyre very good players and we believe in them," he said. Its a tough learning curve, however, Bekker, 23, choose his words carefully when asked about his first pro season. "It hasnt been the easiest," he said Tuesday. "It is what it is," he added. "Its my first year. I just have to keep working ... and bide my time." Nelsen reminded his Saturday morning audience that his players have every day at practice to stake their claim to a place in the starting 11. "I dont pick the team. The players pick the team ... trust me. Young Canadian players? Ill play them, Ill play them when theyre ready." "Its all about production," added Toronto GM Tim Bezbatchenko. Leiweke had the last word on nationality when asked about where the club is conducting its hunt for designated players. The focus is on the English Premier League and Italys Serie A, he said, adding: "I know this. If we win, I dont care where theyre from. Youll love them." Marcus Peters Jersey . A criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court said his girlfriend told police they got into the argument early Thursday at his suburban Minneapolis home. Brandin Cooks Rams Jersey . -- Downcast before the final game of what had been a difficult road trip, the Ottawa Senators found a way to dig out a little momentum in the desert before heading home. http://www.laramsfansshop.com/c-83-rams-ramik-wilson-jersey.aspx . - Connor Brown and Dane Fox both scored in regulation and in the shootout, as the Erie Otters extended their win streak to 10 games by defeating the London Knights 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action.NEW YORK, N.Y. - The NBA and its television partners couldnt wait to extend their contracts.The league renewed its deals with ESPN and TNT even though two seasons remain on the old ones. With potential competition from Fox looming, both networks were willing to pay generously to secure the rights long term.The NBAs annual revenue from the agreements will increase from $930 million to more than $2.6 billion, according to a person familiar with the terms. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the league did not announce financial figures.We ultimately made a decision that this was the right time to go, Commissioner Adam Silver said at a news conference Monday. These are extraordinarily healthy deals financially.The contracts will run an additional nine years through the 2024-25 season. The previous eight-year agreements end after 2015-16.We believe at the end of the deal it will feel inexpensive, ESPN President John Skipper said. Its hard to imagine.What was painful to imagine for both companies was life without the NBA.Each year the playoffs help TNT win nights of television during all-important May sweeps, said David Levy, president of Turner Broadcasting System.The basics wont change: The NBA Finals remain on ABC, ESPNs broadcast partner. ESPN/ABC and TNT will continue to split the conference finals.Broadcasting rights fees have been skyrocketing across all sports as live events become increasingly valuable to advertisers. Few viewers will DVR an NBA game, which means they cant fast-forward through the commercials.Theres never been a better time to be an owner of an NBA franchise a€” or, frankly, any professional sports team, said Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, chairman of the leagues media committee.Players may remember that comment when they negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement with owners, which could happen in 2017. Owners insisted they needed a new financial structure during the 2011 talks and emerged with a deal that slashed the players guarantee of basketball revenues.The whole thing that went on with the last negotiation process was the owners were telling us they were losing money. Theres no way they can sit in front of us and tell us that right now, Clevelands LeBron James said. After we continue to see teams selling for billions of dollars, being purchased for $200 million, signing for $550, $750 and $2 billion and now (Mikhail) Prokhorov is possibly selling his majority stake in the Nets for over $1 billion. That will not fly with us this time.The league has relationships with both Fox and Comcast, NBCs parent company, which locally televise teams games on their regional sports networks. If the national contract had gone to the open market, NBC also could have pursued a return to NBA coverage to boost its 24-hour sports cable channel, NBCSN.Silver said the league took into consideration the potential interest of tech companies such as Google and Apple that could eventually bid on sports rights and change the model for how fans watch games. Joseph Noteboom Rams Jersey. But for the next decade and beyond, the NBA is sticking with what works.I dont think we left any money on the table, Silver said. Were confident that we maximized what our opportunity was in the marketplace.For ESPN, the value of the deal goes beyond games, though there are more of those, too: ESPN and ABC are adding 10 regular-season matchups, bringing their total to 100.The network also gets expanded rights to air highlights and will significantly expand its NBA studio shows. The goal is to make basketball a year-round topic of conversation as the NFL has become on ESPN.To that end, the agreement adds the NBAs Summer League and its developmental league. The network also extends its WNBA contract through 2025 and increases its offerings for ESPN International.And then there are the plans for a new service for mobile devices that ESPN will run, with the NBA receiving equity interest. Details on that have yet to be determined.ESPN now owns rights to the NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball, college football playoffs and four of the five power conferences through at least 2021. Only the Big Ten contract ends soon among the networks biggest sports properties.It will be at least another decade before Fox can try to put a substantial dent in ESPNs head start.TNT, meanwhile, cant offer its own 24-hour sports channel to the NBA. But it has deep business ties to the league through managing its digital properties, which includes NBA TV and NBA.com.The new deal includes expanded digital rights for Bleacher Report, the sports website acquired by Turner, TNTs parent company. TNT will televise an additional 12 games with playoff implications over the second half of the season on nights other than its traditional Thursday, bringing its total to 64.TNT will also air a new post-season awards show.When the NBA negotiated its last CBA, the union secured the ability for either side to opt out in 2017 so players could gauge the effects of the next television deals on revenue. One reason James signed for only two years with the Cavaliers was an expectation that the salary cap would rise significantly with more TV money pouring in, increasing maximum salaries.Silver said he would start discussions with National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts about the transition to a much larger cap.In a statement, Roberts called the new contracts good news for all of the stakeholders in the business of the NBA.Our job will be to ensure that the players receive their fair share of the results of their efforts, she added, and that we do everything possible to maintain the growth and popularity of the game.___AP Sports Writer Tom Withers in Independence, Ohio contributed to this report. 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