the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate v

Cricket gives me - has given me for as long as I can remember - a sense of time: a certain feeling or event in my life is referenced with the memory of a particular game. It also gives me a sense of place. This may be an extraordinarily blinkered way to look at the world (and you have to be extraordinarily blinkered to have Queens Park Oval flash across your mind the moment someone says Trinidad), but I think of cities in terms of their cricket grounds. It is the most enduring geography lesson I have ever had, and it brings closer and makes familiar places with which I have little acquaintance. It is, I have found, something that gives my life a coordinate, a kind of centre amid the changing clutter of daily life with which it is tough to keep up.But most of all, perhaps, cricket gives me a sense of myself. They say you only get a sense of yourself when you see yourself in relation to another. Cricket is that great other.Its like a relationship, this thing between the fan and his sport, some say. Well, only those who are not fans say that. Because it is not like any relationship that Ive ever known.On the average day, it is a relationship that is too full of shame and humiliation, too unrequited and too committed at the same time, too like a one-way street. If my wife had let me down half as many times as India have on the pitch, I would have walked out on her. But when it comes to the game, I can never, however great the disappointment in the last match and however certain I am of impending doom in this one, bring myself to turn away.Can you? If you can, you are not one of us. Which, come to think of it, is not such a bad thing. Because you are spared the painful pleasure of being a masochist. All fans - the ones like me who need sport to give a sort of shape to life - are masochists. What else can you be when you switch on the TV at three oclock in the morning knowing that your team is going to get a pasting - again?For those of us who are too far gone, gone far enough in fact to embrace torment (We lost 0-3 against Zimbabwe? No matter, throw us a defeat against Bangladesh. Well still watch), its not a choice. Its a compulsion. Addiction does not have rationality at its heart.The pact between a fan and his team is sacrosanct. It cannot be broken. It is not like the colas or the cars or the credit cards or the car tyres the players endorse. Dont like it? Flush it down the toilet. Sell it off. Exchange it for something better. Buy a new one.When things go wrong on the pitch, some of us go on mock funeral processions. Some of us threaten players families. (The first gesture is banal, the second despicable. But morality or ethics is not the issue here; it seldom is when you are talking about addiction.) Still few of us can stay away when our players walk out on to the field. Were we able to do that, TV ratings would slip and channels would not pay millions for satellite rights, companies would hesitate before pumping in billions to sponsor the team, and soft-drink majors would worry about putting their money where the nations heart isnt. The fact that they have not suggests that there are millions out there like me. Sometimes it feels like a brotherhood of misery.Every fan realises this: feeling miserable is part of the deal. But riding the misery and sticking with it is the deal. You cant support another team (Namibia?), or suddenly be passionate about another sport (ice hockey?). Its this or nothing. And nothing is so much worse. Custom Belgium Jerseys . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Youri Tielemans Belgium Jersey .Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. http://www.soccerbelgiumteamonline.com/Adnan-Januzaj-UEFA-European-Belgium-Jersey/ . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. Simon Mignolet Jersey . -- Adam Snyder returned to the San Francisco 49ers this season because the offensive lineman thought it was his best opportunity to win a championship. Thorgan Hazard Jersey . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Tarik Cohen ran for 256 yards and three second-half touchdowns, including a career-long 94-yarder late in the fourth quarter, and North Carolina A&T beat Hampton 31-9 on Thursday night.Cohen passed Stoney Polite (1984-87) on his first touchdown run to set the Aggies record with 42nd career rushing TDs -- a 15-yard run that give the Aggies a 17-3 lead late in the third quarter. He added a 30-yard score that made it a 21-point lead early in the fourth.The Aggies (3-1, 1-0 Mid-Eastern Athlletic Conference) were on their 6 with a 24-3 lead late in the fourth quarter when Cohen turned a dive run to the outside and outraced the Hampton (1-3, 1-1) defenders along the left sideline.ddddddddddddJaylian Williamson was 32 of 54 for 387 yards and a 59-yard scoring toss to Shakim Alonzo late in the fourth quarter for the Pirates. Rashawn Proctor added 188 yards receiving. ' ' '