Mark McMorris fractured rib is steadily improving

Mark McMorris fractured rib is steadily improving, so much so that the gold-medal favourite in Sochi plans to snowboard in a few days to "see how it goes." McMorris responded in an email to The Associated Press on Friday that he feels "pretty good" nearly a week after his crash during the Winter X Games slopestyle final. He has a few more days to heal with slopestyle qualifying at the Sochi Games not beginning until Feb. 6. Last weekend, the 20-year-old from Regina caught his snowboard on the lip of a rail and landed hard on the bar, then slid down on his right side before hitting the snow. "I was in a lot of pain and I couldnt breathe," he said in the email. "I just had to get up. I couldnt lay there. I was so disappointed." He made it down the hill that afternoon under his own power and headed to the hospital, where X-rays revealed he had a fractured rib but no other damage. And now McMorris refuses to let the fall derail his Olympic aspirations. "I am really blessed and lucky I get a second chance to try and give it a shot," he said. Asked if his rib might hamper him during competition, McMorris responded: "I cant predict it until I get out there and try." McMorris arrived in Europe early so he could get accustomed to the time difference. He said hes pretty much been "in a stationary place trying to get better. Feeling Ok but my rib is still broken so its not 100 per cent. ... Every day (the rib) gets better and I still have 4 or 5 days before I compete." Sore rib and all, McMorris will still be one of the favourites as slopestyle makes its Olympic debut. He could be the biggest challenger to Shaun White, who will also try to defend his title in the halfpipe. Pressure being the front-runner? "For sure," McMorris said in an interview at Winter X, a few days before his crash. "Whenever youre at the top of the sport, people look to you to keep going. Ive proven time and time again, that I can get the result. "Now, when were talking on an even bigger level, the Olympics, its really put on my shoulders. But everybody feels pressure. You can either take it in a positive or negative way. I try to feed off of it." McMorris doesnt view White so much with a sense of awe, but rather as simply another competitor in a talent-rich field that includes fellow Canadian rider Max Parrot, who won at Winter X with back-to-back triple-cork jumps. In fact, its White whos been doing most of the chasing in this event, because McMorris has been the snowboarder with the innovative tricks. "(White) is another guy youve got to beat," McMorris said in the interview before his crash. "I go to a contest to ride the best I can. Its in the judges hands after that. Thats what everybody does. I dont think its a sport where youre trying to take down any certain person. Youre trying to win a contest and do the best you can do." 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HOUSTON -- Ricardo Clark and Omar Cummings scored in the second half to lead Houston back from a two-goal halftime deficit, lifting the Dynamo into a 2-2 tie against the top-seeded New York Red Bulls in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday. The second part is Wednesday at New York. "Judging by the feel right now, it feels like a loss because we were winning 2-0," New York goalkeeper Luis Robles said. "Now, we have to go home and we have to win. Its as simple as that." Cummings, a second-half substitute, tied it in the 92nd minute when he tapped the ball in from just outside the net. Bobby Boswells header was stopped by Robles, but Cummings sent the rebound inside the near post. Cummings said the goal was a "will-goal." "You will that one in," Cummings said. "You need a push, you need a point. You need to go to New York at least level if not better. Thats the kind of goal you just will in." Clark scored in the 51st minute when New York was unable to clear the ball away and he sent it through traffic and inside the near post. "We didnt script it this way," said Houston assistant Wade Barrett, who helped run the team after Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear was suspended for running out of his box and onto the fielld late in the teams first-round game against Montreal.dddddddddddd "The first half didnt go as we had planned," Barrett said. "We gave up two goals and dug a hole, but it is 135 minutes from halftime and the guys came back with a fantastic attitude and got a goal back right away. . It was a fantastic performance in the second half. The way everything turned out, you feel real positive going into Wednesday." The Dynamo played the final 25 minutes with a man advantage after New Yorks Jamison Olave was given a straight red card for a reckless tackle from behind on Cummings in the 65th minute. Tim Cahill put the Red Bulls in front in the 22nd minute, taking Thierry Henrys cross from the left side and heading it inside the near post from just outside the upper goalkeepers box. Eric Alexander made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute, faking to his right, turning and hitting a shot from 14 yards out on the right box inside the near post. "I thought it was tremendous to go up 2-0 on the road in the first half," New York coach Mike Petke said. "I thought we gave them confidence with the deflection goal. The red card killed us. At the end of the day, those goals were our fault. It wasnt something created out of spectacular stuff. It was self-inflicted." 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