Mangena said he used thin rods and the beam from a laser mounted on a tripod to try to determine

Major League Soccer President and Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott met with the media in Portland on Tuesday ahead of the leagues All Star Game against German giants Bayern Munich (Wednesday night - live on TSN at 9:30pm et). Jimmie Ward Jersey . Abbott was the leagues first employee back in 1993. He discussed many of the big issues surrounding MLS at the moment including comments made by FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Toronto on Monday. Blatter said MLS is pressing ahead with plans to realign its schedule with the FIFA calendar, but Abbott maintains the leagues stance has not changed: "We looked at it last fall and concluded that at this point in time it is not a change we could make," he said. "There is nothing imminent." Here are some of the other highlights from Abbotts meeting with the media: On a big summer for soccer: "It has been a great week so far for us in a Portland and part of a tremendous summer for us. The World Cup had a breakthrough in cultural relevance that we hadnt really seen before. It showed how big the fan base is." On finding new buyers for Chivas USA: "Weve been spending a lot of time talking to potential buyers. I am very optimistic we can find a wonderful ownership group. I dont have a specific timetable yet but it is an area of high focus for me. I anticipate in a reasonable period of time we will have a new buyer for that club. We have been looking at USC as a potential site for a stadium. Our focus is on a central LA location. We are not going to publicly negotiate the price but it will be more than was paid by Orlando." On the stadium situation in Miami: "Clearly we were disappointed about the two sites we had been focused on. We are spending a lot if time trying to find a location for the stadium along with David Beckham and his people." On Canadian players being treated as domestic players in the United States: "There is a US law issue. Anybody who is not a US citizen has to be treated the same, that being said, we have committed to the Canadian Soccer Association that we will look at potential solutions that can help. In my experience, when people are committed to solving a problem, they will find a solution. We value our partnership with the CSA, and it is a focus for us." On Sacramentos bid for an expansion franchise, and potential ownership involving Sacramento Kings: "We always talk about three things we look at. The first is market dynamics, and there are a lot of really wonderful things going on in Sacramento. The second is, you have to have a facility. We are going to visit the market later this year. The third is the ownership group. There are significant people in Sacramento who have an interest in seeing MLS come there, including the Mayor. I do not want to get into specifics regarding potential ownership groups but we have great respect for what the ownership groups have done with the Kings and also Sacramento Republic." On an increase in salary cap: "Without taking about specifics, over time we will confine to invest more in players and we have shown that consistently. We recognize the importance of continuing to grow the product on the field. Over the last couple of years we have shown our desire to invest in players." On the upcoming CBA negotiations: "The Collective Bargaining Agreement is about investing in players. Those discussions will be about how we invest in players. We are not going into it looking for a work stoppage, we have a good partnership with our players and we talk a lot with them. We are tremendously proud of our players of the way they conduct themselves on and off the field. They are committed to helping build the sport. CBAs by their very nature involve contention. Sometimes that can get a little noisy, but if we can keep it all in the negotiation room, that provides everybody more flexibility to get things done. We met with the union not long a go and they would like the same thing. We dont go into it looking for a fight and nor do they." On introducing promotion or relegation: "I would say that never happens." On the playoff format: "From a general perspective, the format we have, we like. It doesnt mean we might not tinker with it, but we are happy with what we have. The playoffs are working. The basic concept is one we think makes sense and is correct." On seeing the league grow over the last two decades: "It has exceeded every expectation that I had. It is bigger in terms of its relevance. The sport has grown in a way none of us saw coming. It is the demographic shifts that you couldnt have seen 20 years ago. In every way we have exceed where we thought we would be, but we also recognize there is so much opportunity and more to be done." Jimmie Ward 49ers Jersey . Others describe it as taking the parrot for a walk. Mike McGlinchey 49ers Jersey ." Bach is in Rome for the European Olympic Committees general assembly and meetings with Pope Francis. He also visited with Italian Premier Enrico Letta. "The prime minister appeared to be interested in a bid from Italy for 24, because he has realized that the games can serve as a catalyst for development for a city and a country," Bach told The Associated Press on Saturday. http://www.thesf49ersshoponline.com/Youth-Cassius-Marsh-49ers-Jersey/ . Although Spain could still advance out of the group stage, the game may have signalled the end of the run by a generation of Spanish stars whose quick passing, "tiki-taka" style delighted the world and helped them win the last three major tournaments.PRETORIA, South Africa - South African police photographs of the blood-spattered scene where Oscar Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend show that evidence was moved around in violation of procedure during the investigation of the killing, the athletes chief defence lawyer said Tuesday. In later testimony, a police ballistics expert police described how he tried to reconstruct the angle of the gunfire, citing tests that suggest the bullets were fired about 2.2 metres (7.2 feet) from a toilet door in Pistorius home. The bullets punctured the door, and three of them hit girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who was in the toilet cubicle. Warrant officer Bennie van Staden, a police photographer, took hundreds of photos of the scene, including of blood stains, bullet casings, a gun and a cricket bat found inside Pistorius bathroom in the hours after the double-amputee Olympic runner shot Steenkamp before dawn on Feb. 14 last year. Lawyer Barry Roux has challenged previous police witnesses, seeking to uncover contradictions and reported mishaps to support his argument that officers bungled the investigation, an allegation made by Pistorius at the start of the trial when he pleaded not guilty to murder in Steenkamps killing. In a painstaking process Tuesday, Roux minutely examined many photos taken by van Staden and another police officer and pointed out that objects at the crime scene had been moved and were in different positions in photos. Roux also used time of day records on the images to show that the two policemen taking photographs were in the same room at points, even though van Staden testified he was working alone. Pistorius, 27, is charged with premeditated murder for killing Steenkamp, 29. He denies murder and sayys he shot his girlfriend accidentally, thinking she was an intruder in a toilet cubicle in the bathroom, and says that he struck the toilet door with a cricket bat to get to Steenkamp after realizing what he had done. Frank Gore 49ers Jersey. Prosecutors charge that Pistorius killed Steenkamp after an argument. Pistorius lawyer asked van Staden to explain differences in photographs of position of the 9 mm pistol that Pistorius used to shoot Steenkamp through a closed toilet door, and of a cricket bat that the Paralympian used to hit the door. "It seems there was movement of the bat" in the interval between two photographs taken by van Staden, Roux said. "It seems like that," van Staden conceded. The police photographer also acknowledged that two photographs of the gun indicated that a mat underneath it could have been shifted. Roux said one photo also differed from the other because it showed a wooden splinter on the gun handle. Capt. Christiaan Mangena, the police ballistics expert, said the bullets were fired at a slightly downward angle and entered the toilet door below the shoulder level of Pistorius, if he were standing without prosthetic limbs. Pistorius said he was on his stumps when he fired. Prosecutors do not dispute the assertion, after initially alleging he was on his prosthetic limbs when he killed Steenkamp. Mangena said he used thin rods and the beam from a laser mounted on a tripod to try to determine the trajectory of the bullets through the door. He also described entry and exit wounds on Steenkamps right arm and her head, and bruises on her chest where a "projectile" struck without penetrating. Associated Press writer Torchia reported from Johannesburg. 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