Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - So, what did you do this week? I guarantee it wasnt as much as what San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller did, as he completely transformed the identity, look, and overall perception of his team. San Diego drastically upgraded its lineup, as it acquired outfielders, Matt Kemp, Wil Myers and Justin Upton, along with catcher Derek Norris and third baseman Will Middlebrooks, while re-signing righty Josh Johnson and adding flamethrower Brandon Morrow. Did you get all that? You better believe San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean, new Dodgers baseball czar Andrew Friedman and a lot of other National League GMs did. Have these moves made San Diego the team to beat now in the NL? Absolutely not. Truth be told they are still probably the third best team in the NL West. But they have closed the gap on both the Dodgers and Giants and at the very least they are a legitimate wild card contender. And people are certainly now talking about the Padres. When was the last time you could have said that? The additions will certainly improve a lineup that ranked at the bottom of the majors with a .226 average, .292 on-base percentage and 535 runs scored. Their 109 homers were also the second-fewest in the bigs. San Diegos offense was historically bad in the first half of last season, as it was hitting just .210 through 83 games, including an abysmal .171 for the entire month of June. Just how bad is that? Well, Baseball-reference tracks team splits back to 1914. No other team in that time frame had hit below .175 in a calendar month. So, yes that lineup needed a complete facelift. And they probably arent done. If the Upton, Myers and Kemp triumvirate is now your starting outfield, that leaves no place for players like Cameron Maybin, Seth Smith, Wil Venable or Carlos Quentin. There are still some deals to be made. We will get to that in a bit. San Diegos strength last season was its starting pitching. Only the Washington Nationals had a better team ERA in the NL. And no team had a lower bullpen ERA in the NL than the Padres 2.59. Righty Tyson Ross emerged as an All-Star, Ian Kennedy and Andrew Cashner are solid, while Cuban project Odrisamer Despaigne showed flashes of brilliance. Of course, highly-regarded 24-year-old Jessie Hahn was dealt to Oakland in the Norris deal, but Morrow figures to step in and who knows what the oft-injured Johnson will give them. If the Padres go into the season with what they have, they are probably a wild card contender. Like 10 other teams in the league. But, why make all these moves if you, maybe, could contend. Yes its nice to create a little bit of buzz, but if you are going to go for it, go for it. And that means San Diego native Cole Hamels. Its no secret the Philadelphia Phillies are looking to move him. And even with all these moves this past week, the Padres still have the pieces to go and get him. San Diego can give the Phillies a major league ready outfielder. Plus they still have most of their top prospects in tact. Outfielder Hunter Renfroe, catcher Austin Hedges and righty Matt Wisler are all still in play. The Padres have a rotation good enough to compete. But, just imagine how much better that group is with someone like Hamels at the top of it. Plus you keep him away from the Dodgers, another team rumored to be in the mix for him. It makes too much sense now not to happen. Like we said. If you are going to go for it. Go for it. Air Max 97 Pas Cher Noir . The Arena das Dunas in the northeastern city of Natal sustained minor damage during the protests, but demonstrators stayed away on Sunday and officials said the stadium passed its first test, with only minor adjustments needed going forward. Vans Old Skool France . The incident occurred at 6:28 of the first period in Anaheims 6-3 home win over Dallas on Sunday. Garbutt left the penalty box and skated at Penner before leaving his skates to deliver a check. http://www.pascherbasketnike.fr/france-yeezy-700-solde.html . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins (5) – He had a brilliant game; it was a huge response for his average games before. Yeezy 700 France .S. Basketball Writers Association. McDermott, who finished his career at Creighton as college basketballs fifth-leading scorer, accepted the honour from Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson at AT&T Stadium, site of the Final Four. Yeezy 350 Noir Pas Cher .com) - Stephen Currys jumper with 3.LAKE LOUISE, Alta. -- Germanys Maria Hoefl-Riesch returned to the top of the podium at Lake Louise with a victory in a World Cup womens downhill Friday. Hoefl-Riesch won a pair of downhills at the Alberta resort in 2010 before Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. went on a run of seven straight wins on the mountain. But the American ski star was tentative. She finished well back in 40th in her first race since crashing and injuring her right knee at the world championship in February. Hoefl-Riesch was fastest in the final training run for Fridays downhill and carried her pace into the race. "Since the very first time when I came here at the age of 18 or 19, I was always skiing good here and also had some wins and some podiums," Hoefl-Riesch said. "The last two years were a little bit difficult because the year before I was winning two races and one second. Last year and the year before was not perfect, but now it seems its really good for me again. Its great that I had such a good run and finally went back to the podium here. Hoefl-Riesch posted a winning time of one minute 56.03 seconds on a clear, but bitterly cold day. Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden of Switzerland was .70 seconds back in second and Elena Fanchini of Italy was third in 1:57.23. A second downhill is scheduled for Saturday followed by a super-G on Sunday. Larisa Yurkiw of Owen Sound, Ont., was Canadas lone racer and she delivered a career-best seventh. Yurkiw was 51st in the start order and was initially tied for eighth with Stefanie Moser of Austria when the Canadian crossed the finish line. The disqualification of Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein in fifth bumped them up the rankings. The result was a triumph for Yurkiw, who was dropped from the Canadian ski team after last season. The 25-year-old raised about $150,000 on her own to fund her summer ski camps in Europe and pay for her own coaching and training expenses. Yurkiw embarked on the ambitious plan to find deep-pocketed sponsors because she wasnt ready to give up on her dream of competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics. She wasnt able to race in the 2010 Winter Games because of a catastrophic knee injury suffered just a few weeks before the opening ceremonies. Yurkiw needs one more top-12 result to meet Alpine Canadas criteria for nomination to the Olympic team. "Today feels like a dream," Yurkiw said. "I had this number seven in my head for some reason all day. When I came down in eighth I forgot about it and then someone mentioned I moved up one. "I was thinking riding up the chair that the pressure is so high, but finally I can say Im doing a good job of staying focused on the things that matter and the things that will make me fast. TThat part Im really proud of.dddddddddddd. "I always admired people who were able to perform under pressure and Im really happy I feel like I joined the club." Lake Louise is nicknamed "Lake Lindsey" because Vonns 14 victories here are more than any other skier at one venue. The reigning Olympic champion has charged through trials and tribulations to some of those victories, but she lacked her characteristic aggression Friday. "I was definitely very nervous having my first race in 10 months," Vonn said. "I was really optimistic that I could come down and first race right out of the blocks win. It was wishful thinking, but might as well shoot for the best. "I was just too nervous. I was really tight and I skied that way. I wasnt in a really deep tuck and pushing the line where I could have. I just kind of skied it. Thats not my style and not how I attack a race. "I think tomorrow is going to be a whole other story. Im going to be much more relaxed and hopefully more confident and able to ski more aggressively and more like myself." Vonn tore ligaments in knee and broke a bone in her lower leg when she crashed in the super-G at the world championships in Schladming, Austria. She partially tore a ligament in her surgically repaired knee while training in November, which kept her out of the first downhill race in Beaver Creek, Colo. Hoefl-Riesch and Vonn are friends as well as rivals. The German thought Vonn felt confident because Vonn had skipped the last training run. "Of course, its not an easy situation for her," Hoefl-Riesch said. "She wants to keep the season going and take a chance for the Olympics. Of course, she needs to do races. "I hope that she can get more confident for her knee. I spoke to her and she said her knee was kind of bothering her. Difficult situation for her definitely." But when Vonn was asked after the race how her knee felt, she replied "fine." The temperature was minus 25 for the race, but windchill pushed it to minus 31. The race was an hour late starting because of a pair of 30-minute delays. The first was to allow the temperature to rise a degree or two. The second was because the resorts snow guns created ice fog over the upper sections of the course. The racers had to wait for it to dissipate. Hoefl-Riesch had just got on the chairlift to the start hut when she heard of the delay. Rather than freeze at the top of the mountain, she stopped in at one of the lift houses to stay warm and passed the time chatting to a lift worker. "I was talking to the lift guy, who was from New Zealand," she said. "It was an interesting conversation." ' ' '