terview request earlier this month.Weve been through difficult

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The threshold for climbing into Kansas State coach Bill Snyders good graces is quite high.Take the case of running back Charles Jones, who earned an uneven grade despite gashing Texas on Saturday because of his goal-line fumble. Or quarterback Jesse Ertz, whose near-flawless first half was followed by a tough second half that drew Snyders infamous ire.That may be why defensive end Jordan Willis has stood out so much.The senior had a pair of sacks in Saturdays 24-21 victory , giving him 22 1/2 for his career and moving him past Monty Beisel for fourth-most in school history. Willis also tied for the team lead with seven tackles, including three for a loss, and batted down a crucial pass at the line of scrimmage.It led to a glowing review from Snyder, no qualifiers involved.Jordan just plays so hard and he prepares exactly that way, the 77-year-old coach said. There is not one-tenth of a second of any snap that he takes that is not the best effort that he can give. I admire him and appreciate him so very much.Thats the flip-side of the high bar that Snyder sets. When you manage to achieve it, the feeling is almost otherworldly -- like a player has somehow qualified for the most exclusive of clubs.Willis has managed to scratch and claw his way in over the past four years.He was a lightly recruited defensive end out of perennial power Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, and wound up choosing the Wildcats over an offer from Indiana and not much else. But he made big strides from the moment he set foot on campus, and even earned playing time as a freshman.That would be another rarity in Snyders program.He still remembers his first sack, too. It was against Iowa State as a freshman and he had gotten into the game in the fourth quarter. It was third down and Willis lost containment on the quarterback, but managed to track him down before he got across the line of scrimmage.It went down as a sack. Willis got bawled out by the coaches on the sideline.That was not only his only sack that season, it was his only tackle. But Willis fought his way into the lineup more as a sophomore, piling up 4 1/2 sacks in 11 games, and added 8 1/2 sacks and 14 tackles for loss last year, when he earned a reputation as one of the Big 12s best pass rushers.Hes made improvement in that area, Snyder said. He just reacts quicker to certain things that have allowed his pass rush to become better. It is a matter of experience again.Perhaps the reason that Willis has been so successful is that his own standard is quite high. And in that respect, he walks lock-step with his hard-to-please coach.I think my pass rush can always be better, he said. There are always small things like pad level that we can improve on, but as a team we need to get better at tackling. ... There were not a lot of communication issues last game, but we can still improve there.We did a lot of good things but there are still some small things we can improve on.The Wildcats (4-3, 2-2) are not a team of star power, like they were with Collin Klein or Tyler Lockett or Darren Sproles in years past. Their offense takes on a decidedly committee-like approach to moving the ball, and their defense is a collection of solid, blue-collar players.As a result, Willis has become one of the few players who have stood out.Yet of all the things that endears him to Snyder, his desire to put the team first might just top the list. Willis has made enough plays that his spot in the Kansas State record book is secure, but he would rather the record ultimately show that his team was a winner.Weve had our ups and downs, he said. Right now, were a team that is doing well and then not so well -- its just a matter of putting it all together. I know Coach Snyder has been speaking about it, so its just a matter of starting the game and finishing the game and doing it all the way.Fake Football Jerseys Online . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. Knockoff Football Jerseys . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. https://www.fakefootballjerseys.com/ . Zvonareva, who won the tournament in 2009 and 10, couldnt handle her opponents big groundstrokes in only her third event back after 17 months out with a shoulder injury. Zvonareva made her comeback in January in Shenzhen and played in the Australian Open but lost her first matches at both tournaments. Cheap Football Jerseys . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Fake Football Jerseys . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami.GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy doesnt believe its the right time to make any major changes to the teams football operation, but that doesnt mean hes pleased with the way the season has gone so far.With the Packers mired in a four-game losing streak and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008, Murphy told WTMJ radio in Milwaukee that he feels the same way about the teams 4-6 record as most fans do.I do hear from a lot of fans. And I tell fans: Like them, Im disappointed, Murphy said. Certainly, the season hasnt gone the way we had all hoped, but theres a lot of football left to be played. And the other thing I tell people is, youve got to look at Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthys track record.Thompson has been the Packers general manager since 2005, and he hired McCarthy as coach in 2006. Theyre on a run of seven straight playoff appearances, tying the New England Patriots for the longest active streak in the NFL. But with six games remaining, the Packers are two games out of first place in the NFC North.Last week, a team spokesman told ESPN.com that Murphy would not comment on this years team, because he defers football matters to Ted and Mike during the season. Thompson has not spoken to reporters since Aug. 30 and also was not made available after an interview request earlier this month.Weve been through difficult stretches before, Murphy said..ddddddddddddWeve had consistent success, and its hard to achieve that in the NFL, but I do sympathize with our fans. They want us to win, they want us to play better, and weve just got to work through a difficult patch. Im optimistic and Im hopeful. Weve done it in the past and, hopefully, we can do it again.Both Thompson and McCarthy have contracts that run through the 2018 season.Thompson oversees the football operation and reports to Murphy, who acts on behalf of the teams seven-member executive committee. Murphy said the teams public-ownership structure, which includes more than 5 million shares of stock held by more than 360,000 shareholders, does not impact the way football decisions are made.The [public perception] of that is, the Packers are really harmed because they dont have an individual owner who can go in and fire somebody, Murphy said. Well, if you look across the league, when those individual owners do things like that, it usually doesnt turn out very well. The answer isnt just to fire people midseason, especially, [given that] weve had a run of success.Our coaches and personnel people and Ted and Mike have shown in the past they can turn things around. I think that taking that approach certainly makes more sense than just firing people to fire people. ' ' '