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TORONTO -- To prepare his players for the biggest game of their lives, Raptors coach Dwane Casey borrowed from the 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. "I go back to my experience. (Mavericks coach) Rick Carlisle has a thing, Wipe off the blackboard. Just wipe it off," said Casey, an assistant under Carlisle on that 2011 Mavs squad. "Nothing on the blackboard is really going to make a difference at this time of year. At this game, Game 7, its mental." The Raptors host the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday in a game that will either advance them into the second round of the post-season for just the second time in the franchises 19-year history, or send them home. Sundays winner faces the two-time NBA defending champion Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning Tuesday in Miami. By wiping the blackboard, Casey trusts the Raptors that have scraped and clawed to so many huge wins in this unexpected season of success wont go down without a fight Sunday. The coach likens his team to Freddie Krueger -- the unkillable villain from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" movies and a name Casey has mentioned after virtually every unlikely victory this season. "Its our approach," Casey said Saturday. "Its our toughness. Its our persistence on getting open. Our persistence in defending. Our persistence in going for loose balls, rebounds. Thats what this game is going to be about." Casey had the Raptors at the Air Canada Centre for a long session Saturday, the morning after a woeful 97-83 loss to the Nets in Game 6 at Brooklyn. In a series that has been feisty since before the first ball was even thrown up, Nets centre Andray Blatche fired the latest shot Saturday night. "We guarantee were going to go there and take care of business and go to Miami," Blatche told reporters at Barclays Center. The Raptors shrugged off the comment. "I dont care what he said," said Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan. "He can say what he wants, honestly. He can go out there and say hes going to hit the lottery tomorrow, I could give a hell." Raptors backup guard Greivis Vasquez added: "I dont know who does he think he is. Hes not KG (Kevin Garnett) or Paul Pierce or Jason Kidd. Were not going to listen to his nonsense. Hes gotta earn that, and he hasnt yet." Vasquez said the Raptors are focused only on themselves, and with good reason. They could have closed out the series Friday night, but instead slogged out to their worst opening quarter of the series Saturday night, and trailed by as much as 26 points. Once again, Casey showed his players video footage of the bouncing and cheering mass of fans that turned out to watch the game at Maple Leaf Square. "This is what youre playing for," Casey told them. While the vastly-inexperienced Raptors battled nerves early on in the quarter-final series, Casey would have liked to have seen some Friday night. "I wanted nerves in the first quarter because we came out like we were in never-never-land," the coach said. "We want the passion. We want the feelings. I dont mind nerves because a couple of times up and down the floor you get hit, you get knocked down, those nerves go away. "Weve just got to come out with a stronger constitution out of the locker-room." DeRozan, who has shone in his first-ever play appearance, said theres more pressure on the Nets. Brooklyn assembled a star-studded squad with its sights set on an NBA title, signing all-stars Pierce and Garnett in the off-season. "Yeah, man. We aint got no 100 million, whatever payroll they got," DeRozan said -- the figure is actually US$180 million-plus with payroll and taxes. "Hey, thats all on them. At the end of the day they have more to lose than us." The Raptors know that this season will be considered a success even if they dont make it to the second round. They were all but written off when the season began, and played to the low expectations until the blockbuster seven-player deal in December that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento. The turnaround was remarkable. They went on to win their second Atlantic Division title, earning the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. The players -- the majority of whom had little to no playoff experience when this series began -- are soaking up every moment of their post-season run. "Honestly, this is what you live for, man -- to play and be in moments like this, honestly, because they last forever," DeRozan said. "Memories like that are going to last way after Im finished playing so youve definitely got to take advantage of it and understand youve got to go out there and play youre A-game." Vasquez was asked how exciting it is to play a Game 7 at home. "See, thats the best question," he replied. "Thats the best question. Were in a position right now to really make a solid push and then shut everybody up. You dont have to talk about our experience or anything like that, were going to get it done. "This is what you dream about. Thats when you go play at the park, you think about Game 7 against those guys. Its just fun." Chuck Hayes, acquired in the Sacramento trade, has played in two Game 7s with the Houston Rockets. The Rockets lost them both, and he talked to the team about playing with that win-or-go-home urgency and energy. "You should be exhausted by the time the game is over with," Hayes said. "You should be exhausted every timeout because the intensity is going to be risen, the atmosphere, everything. You probably wont even be able to hear yourself think. Its a fun experience though." DeRozan, who likes to go to the Air Canada Centre to shoot baskets late at night, said he planned to head home after practice Saturday and have a nap. Hed then watch Friday nights Game 6 again, and "get mentally ready for (Sunday)." Vasquez, a father of two children, said he would spend Saturday night relaxing with his family to take his mind off the game. "I dont really like thinking about the game, like Ahhh, putting so much pressure on myself," he said. "I think when you relax and let the game come to you -- obviously, you focus, you get your rest, you watch other NBA games -- thats the way I do it. "Im not going to lie, its a big game. Ive been in a Game 7 before to go in the conference finals and that was one of the best experiences I ever had. And (Sunday), I know for sure its going to be the best game of my life." Andrew Ference Jersey . Adding playoff teams. Monitoring instant replay from league headquarters. Possibly creating a set of guidelines to prevent locker-room bullying. Wayne Gretzky Jersey . 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Bill Ranford Jersey .com) - Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called Joe Flacco the NFLs best quarterback last week.A group of elite players has filed a lawsuit in Canada challenging plans to play the 2015 Womens World Cup on artificial turf.The players, led by U.S. womens national team forward Abby Wambach, filed Wednesday in the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal in Toronto, lawyer Hampton Dellinger told The Associated Press.The women claim that playing the sports premier tournament on fake grass amounts to gender discrimination under Canadian law. Their male counterparts have always played the World Cup on natural grass surfaces, and will for the foreseeable future.The players say they believe there is a greater risk of injury on turf and that an artificial surface impacts both how the game is played and how the ball behaves.Among the athletes joining Wambach are U.S. teammate Alex Morgan, Germanys Nadine Angerer, Brazils Fabiana Da Silva Simoes and Spains Veronica Boquete.The gifted athletes we represent are determined not to have the sport they love be belittled on their watch. Getting an equal playing field at the World Cup is a fight female players should not have to wage but one from which they do not shrink. In the end, we trust that fairness and equality will prevail over sexism and stubbornness, Dellinger said in a statement.On Tuesday, a FIFA official visiting Canada in advance of the tournament next year said there were no plans to reconsider using artificial turf.We play on artificial turf and theres no Plan B, said Tatjana Haenni, FIFAs head of womens competitions.FIFA has appointed an independent examiner to make sure the turf at the six venues meets its strict guidelines for top-tier tournaments. The consultant is travelling with a FIFA delegation currently inspecting the sites.FIFA rules stipulate that matches can be played on artificial turf if special dispensation is granted, as it was in Canadas case. The regulations also state that all matches in a tournament must be played on the same surface.Canadas bid for the event specified that the final match be played at Vancouvers BC Place, which seats 55,000 and has an artificial turf.But many players, including Wambach, have been voicing their objections since the bid was accepted. They sent a letter to FIFA and the CSA in July, saying they were prepared to take the legal action.Since then, there has been growingg support for the women on social media, with celebrities including actor Tom Hanks and NBA player Kobe Bryant joining the cause.ddddddddddddTim Howard, the goalkeeper for the U.S. mens team, also voiced his support on Twitter.Theres so many different debates around this. But the reality is, the men would never play (the World Cup) on field turf, Wambach told the AP. So for me its a womens rights issue, its an equality issue.The players have said they will not boycott the World Cup matches, which will be played in six Canadian cities.Many players believe that FIFA and the Canadian federation could cover the six fields that will be used with sod. The real stuff was rolled onto the artificial surface at Michigans Big House this summer for a match between Manchester United and Real Madrid.Its not ideal, they say, but better than the alternative.Is it going to cost them a little bit of money? Yeah. Maybe a drop in the bucket for FIFA for the amount of money that they have, U.S. player Megan Rapinoe said last month. It just seems like theyre kind of like, Oh, yeah, whatever, this is just what youre going to have. When theres an alternative option, thats frustrating.Wednesdays legal action, known as an application, names the Canadian Soccer Association and FIFA. Lawyers filed a brief detailing the facts and law in support of the discrimination claim, and also filed a motion to expedite the proceedings.The brief suggests that tournament venues in Vancouver (B.C. Place Stadium), Edmonton (Commonwealth Stadium), Ottawa (TD Place Stadium) and Winnipeg (Investors Group Field) replace their turf with permanent or temporary grass pitches.Games at Olympic Stadium in Montreal should be moved to Saputo Stadium, which has real grass, or a temporary grass surface could be installed. The brief also calls for a temporary grass surface at Moncton Stadium. It also suggests that games could be moved to Torontos BMO Field, which has a natural grass surface.The U.S. womens team is about to take part in the championships for soccers North and Central American and Caribbean region, which serves as qualifying for the World Cup next year. 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