Dein erstes Forum » ntain Academy said it was devastated by Berlack

TORONTO - Two stars from the best teams in Toronto Raptors history are impressed with the current squad.I love the make-up of the team, Alvin Williams, a guard who played 417 regular games in a Toronto uniform between 1997 and 2006, said before Fridays game between the Raptors and Washington Wizards. I love how the camaraderie seems there, how the confidence seems there.With constant improvement and that attitude of getting better every day, I think theyll be a very good team in the East and I think theyll be a force to be reckoned with.Williams and former Toronto centre Antonio Davis were in town as part of the Raptors 20th anniversary celebrations. Both played for Toronto teams that made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons from 2000 to 2002. They won the only post-season series in team history in 2001 against the New York Knicks.Davis, who said a lot of great things happened here in my career, said hes thrilled to see the growth of the fan support in Toronto and across Canada for the Raptors and the game of basketball.It was great last year to watch all the fans outside, Davis said in reference to the large crowds in Maple Leaf Square watching playoff games on a big screen. Im just excited for this franchise.Davis, who played 310 regular season games for the Raptors, admitted misconceptions about coming to play in Canada may have hurt the team in signing some free agents but believes the word is spreading about how good it is in Toronto.Winning kind of solves everything, Davis said. If youre winning, guys want to come here.Williams said he thinks the current version of the Raptors has the same type of togetherness as the teams of the early 2000s. 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On the verge of a brilliant shutout and first complete game since Aug.Two prospects from the U.S. Ski Team were killed in an avalanche Monday while skiing near their European training base in the Austrian Alps.The team said Ronnie Berlack, 20, and Bryce Astle, 19, died in the incident near the Rettenbach glacier in the mountains over Soelden, the venue for the annual season-opening World Cup races.Berlack, from Franconia, New Hampshire, and Astle, from Sandy, Utah, were part of a group of six skiers who were descending from the 3,056-meter Gaislachkogel when they left the prepared slope and apparently set off the avalanche. The other four skied out of the slide and escaped unhurt.Officials in the Tyrolean region said an avalanche alert had been declared for the area after days of heavy snowfall and mild temperatures.Ronnie and Bryce were both outstanding ski racers who were passionate about their sport — both on the race course and skiing the mountain, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Tiger Shaw said. Our hearts go out to the Berlack and Astle families, as well as to their extended sport family. Both of them loved what they did and conveyed that to those around them.The tragedy has left the U.S. Ski Team in shock, Alpine director Patrick Riml told The Associated Press in Croatia, Zagreb, where the American slalom team was preparing for a World Cup race on Tuesday.Head coach Sascha Rearick left Zagreb shortly after being informed and travelled back to Austria to be with the so-called development team Berlack and Astle were part of.Riml said the athletes were free to decide whether they still wanted to compete in Tuesdays night race, adding the team planned to wear mourning bands.We are all very close, said Riml, an Austrian who was born and grew up in Soelden. We train a lot in Park City. Well see how they handle the whole thing and how they react.Riml added its a shock for everybody. Two great boys, great athletes, good skiers. They were fun to have around. We are all in shock, still. Its very tragic.Berlack and Astle were part of a group of 10 skiers on the development team who gained expperience in the Europa Cup and were preparing to race on the top-level World Cup.ddddddddddddThey all have the potential (to be on the World Cup), Riml said. These two boys were among the other eight boys who are our future. We believed in these guys, thats why we selected them.Berlack was a member of the Franconia Ski Club who recently trained at Vermonts Burke Mountain Academy. He had earned a spot on the development team in 2013 and finished 11th in downhill and 17th in super-G at the National championships that year in Squaw Valley.Berlack grew up in Franconia, the small town in the White Mountains that also produced U.S., world and Olympic champion Bode Miller. Rich Smith, program director at the Franconia Ski Club, said he had known Berlack since he was 7.Theres not enough words to say what a great guy Ronnie Berlack was and always will be, Smith said.In a statement, Burke Mountain Academy said it was devastated by Berlacks death. His father, Steve Berlack, is a coach at the academy. His mother, Cindy, is also a ski coach.Only last week Ronnie was here at BMA training with us, the school said. Ronnie was someone we all loved and deeply respected. He had a huge spirit. There is no one who better represents our core values than Ronnie. Our hearts go out to his parents Steve and Cindy, and his sister Carolyn.At the Dec. 5 World Cup downhill in Beaver Creek, Berlack was one of the five forerunners, who test a course before the actual race starts. Berlack was also set to be a forerunner during the world championships on the same course next month, U.S ski team spokeswoman Megan Harrod told the AP.Astle was invited to train with the development team this season after strong early season results, including two top-10 results at NorAm Cup races last month in Canada.He was hoping ... to be in the next Olympics, that was his goal, his mother Laura Astle said, and he was pretty much on his way.___Associated Press reporters Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City and Rik Stevens in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report. ' ' '