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After?Aroldis Chapman said Cubs manager Joe Maddon misused him during the playoffs, Maddon on Friday defended his usage of the closer during the teams World Series run.Chapman admitted he never voiced his concerns to his manager, but stated he had a specific problem that he was sent out in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the World Series, despite a seven-run Chicago lead.The Cubs won the World Series, overcoming a two-run game-tying homer allowed by Chapman in the eighth inning of Game 7. Chapman said he was tired from his usage.Personally, I dont agree with the way he used me, but he is the manager and he has the strategy, Chapman said during a conference call to officially announce his new five-year, $86 million deal as the Yankees closer. My job is to be ready, to be ready to pitch, however that is, however many innings that is, I need to be ready for that. I need to go in and do my job.Chapman didnt think he should have gone out to the mound in the ninth inning of Game 6 with the Cubs up seven runs. Chapman had pitched in the seventh and eighth, throwing a total of 20 pitches. He faced one batter in the ninth.Maddon defended his moves later Friday.Would I do it differently? No, Maddon told the New York Post. There is no Game 7 without winning Game 6. And there is no Game 8 if you dont win Game 7. Thats why you do what you have to do.I appreciate what he said. If he feels that way, he did not tell me about that at the moment or after the moment, Maddon continued. At the end of the day, man, we would not have won without him, and I appreciate everything he did. But I promise everything we did do, we did with his consent by talking to him prior to the game.Maddon did admit having one regret in Game 6. Chapman entered the game in the seventh inning with the Cubs leading 7-2. After pitching a scoreless eighth, he then stayed in to start the ninth despite?Anthony Rizzo?belting a two-run homer to open the lead up to 9-2.The part I screwed up with I didnt have someone warming up in the ninth once Rizzo hit the home run, Maddon told the Post. But there is no next game, there is no tomorrow and you are not going to lose that game in a very weird way by not utilizing your best reliever.Every game I put him in, I talked to him and his interpreter to make sure that he was OK because this season he did not like pitching multiple innings so we stopped doing it. So I talked to him about if we did that in the playoffs, how would he feel about that and he said he was fine with that.Information from ESPNs Andrew Marchand was used in this report.Andrew Miller Jersey . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Ozzie Smith Jersey . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/cardinals-tim-mccarver-jersey/ . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Paul DeJong Cardinals Jersey . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Jedd Gyorko Cardinals Jersey .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For a pair of one-loss teams, there couldnt be much more at stake when No. 9 Nebraska clashes with No. 6 Ohio State on Saturday night.Wisconsin beat the Cornhuskers (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) in overtime last week, spoiling their perfect record, dropping them in the AP Top 25 poll and making it much harder for them to accomplish their postseason goals.Ohio State was upset by unranked Penn State two weeks ago. The Buckeyes continue to struggle in the vertical passing game and just squeaked by unranked Northwestern last week at home.The loser of Saturdays primetime game at Ohio Stadium will have its national playoff hopes all but dashed in front of a huge TV audience, and be saddled with a much more winding route to the conference crown.It will be a big chore for us, Nebraska coach Mike Riley said. We have to play a great, complete ballgame, and have to be ready to take advantage of any opportunities presented to us as we go.Nebraska wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp said the matchup has all the makings of a statement game for the Cornhuskers.The mood is good, he said. We are excited for this week -- huge opportunity for us. We control our own destiny. Guys are still pumped up, theyre jacked to go to Columbus to play a great team at Ohio State.Ohio State guard Billy Price said the team cant wait to play a Saturday game at home after being on the road for three of them this season.Night games here in the `Shoe are special, Price said. Its just one of these historical places, and its an absolutely electric atmosphere. Pretty much the city of Columbus shuts down, and everybodys worried about the Buckeyes game.Some other things to consider when Nebraska visits Ohio State:BUCKEYES ARE VULNERABLEWesterkamp said it gives Nebraska players extra confidence knowing that Ohio State was upset by Penn State and struggled until the last drive before beating Northwestern. But the Buckeyes, he said, must be respected. Theyre a different kind of animal,, Westerkamp said.dddddddddddd We know how good they are, but theyre beatable.Riley, in his second year at Nebraska, will be making his first trip to Ohio Stadium. Ive had a lot of respect for what theyve done and obviously their recruiting has been outstanding, he said. Theyve been that team in the league lately thats set the bar, but I think that theres teams rising too, so thats kind of exciting.ARMSTRONG VS. THE TOP 25Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. has struggled while going 0-3 against ranked opponents on the road in his career. Hes a combined 38 for 92 (41.3 percent) with one touchdown and five interceptions in those games. The fourth-year starter is 1-8 against ranked opponents, home and away, hitting 49.7 percent of his passes with 10 TDs and 14 interceptions.TOUGH IN FOURTH QUARTERNebraska will like its chances if its a close game in the fourth quarter. The Huskers have outscored opponents by a nation-best 95 points in the final quarter and were dominant even in their loss at Wisconsin last week, outscoring the Badgers 10-0 to force the extra session and holding the ball for 9:41. The Huskers average 10:05 in possession time in the fourth quarter.RANKINGS? WHAT RANKINGS?Ohio State is No. 6 in the first College Football Playoff rankings, and Nebraska is No. 10. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he doesnt really care. Oh, its important, (but) not for us, he said. I wont look at it. Im sure people will tell me about it. But, I mean, its not going to change the way we work.Barrett said the ranking is of little importance right now. I dont care about it too much, being that theres still a lot of football to be played, he said.---AP College Football Writer Eric Olson contributed from Lincoln, Nebraska.More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.orgFollow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.coo be played, he said.---AP College Footlesale Baseball Jerseys[/url] ' ' '