Blood is thicker than frozen water for Matthew Scannell, who shelved his stick and skates in hockey-crazed Canada and followed in the family footsteps by grabbing a steering wheel and gear shifter. Steven Matz Jersey . Four years later, the 17-year-old Scannell became the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 Rookie of the Year. Scannell, from Rockwood, Ontario, used to split his recreational time between hockey and racing, but when time commitments for the latter increased, the decision was easy. “It’s always been pretty much racing,” Scannell said. “It’s something I thought I wanted to do in the future. I enjoyed hockey at the time because my friends all did it, but I started go-karts when I was seven and I always dreamed of going to the [United] States and trying to make a living at racing.” Scannell is a third-generation driver. Howie Scannell Sr. was a Canadian stock car racer, as is the younger Scannell’s father, Howie Jr. A veteran of 26 Canadian Tire Series races, Scannell Jr. essentially vacated the driver’s seat for his son, for whom he now serves as the crew chief. Scannell took home the Canadian Tire Series first-year driver award with 56 rookie points behind the wheel of the No. 56 OMVIC Dodge. He recorded three top-10s in eight starts, and a 12th-place ranking in the championship points standings. “For what we had, I think we did fairly well,” Scannell said. “We had some good luck and some bad luck. I got a lot of seat time, good exposure, and I learned a lot. As far as the whole year goes, I think it was valuable towards my learning curve.” Scannell showed progress as the season went along. His two best finishes were the last two races of the season, ninth at Barrie Speedway and eighth at Kawartha Speedway, which served as inspiration for the 2015 season. “At the end [at Barrie] we were just as quick as the lead pack,” Scannell said. “It was a confidence boost to know that we could go out there and run competitive.” The Scannells are currently seeking sponsorship, with the intent to compete full-time in 2015. He hopes to make a home in the Canadian Tire Series moving forward. “It would be great to go run for championships in the Canadian Tire Series,” Scannell said. “The guys we’re going up against, they’ve been doing it for years, and it’s pretty tough to do. You’ve got to be on the ball every race, every week that you go to the track.” Scannell has a success story to point to as a blueprint. This year’s series champion, L.P. Dumoulin, earned the rookie award in 2011. The teen is appreciative of what it took to get him to this point, and of the opportunity he has been provided. “I have to thank my dad for working on the cars all year, the crew for all of their support, car owner Jim Bray for providing me with the opportunity to race, and my mom and my family for supporting me throughout the season,” Scannell said. Scannell’s accomplishment will be recognized at the NASCAR Touring Series Awards on Dec. 13 in the Charlotte (North Carolina) Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Adrian Gonzalez Jersey . The 40-year-old midfielder was put in charge on Tuesday when David Moyes reign ended after 10 months with the defending champions in seventh place in the English Premier League. Jason Vargas Jersey .Y. -- In a span of three days, Shabazz Napier and Connecticut knocked out both Philadelphia schools in the NCAA tournament. http://www.metsrookiestore.com/Mets-Noah-Syndergaard-Kids-Jersey/ . - The Oakland Athletics have finalized an agreement on a 10-year extension to play at the Coliseum through the 2024 season.(SportsNetwork.com) - The NBA-best Memphis Grizzlies aim to stay hot on their road trip when they visit the Sacramento Kings Sunday night. It will be a matchup of big men, as the Grizzlies feature two of the best in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, while the Kings have DeMarcus Cousins. The Grizzlies are 2-0 on the four-game junket and have won four in a row and eight of their last nine games, including Fridays 112-99 victory over the red-hot Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers had their nine-game win streak stopped, as Gasol led the way with 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Mike Conley scored 21 points to go with 10 rebounds and nine assists, Randolph had his 10th double-double with 14 points and 13 boards, and Courtney Lee netted 13 points for Memphis, which has the best record in the league at 14-2 and improved to 6-2 away from home. Memphis shot 53.6 percent and is 50-17 in the calendar year of 2014. It will close the trip Wednesday against the Houston Rockets. The Grizzlies are third in opponents scoring at 92.8 ppg and are making 46.3 percent of their shots on offense. Sacramento has lost two in a row since winning three straight and will start a five-game homestand Sunday versus Memphis, Toronto, Indiana, Orlando and Utah. The Kings went 2-2 on a recent trek and dropped a 112-104 decision to the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Tony Parker finished with a game-high 27 points and eight assists to lead the hosts. Rudy Gay paced the Kings with 23 points, eight assists and eight rebounds and Ryan Hollins aand Darren Collison each chipped in 15 points apiece for the Kings, who defeated the Spurs, 94-91, on Nov. Amed Rosario Jersey. 15. Gay and Collison missed the previous two games. We werent in a position where we needed to be most of the time as far as our rotation, Collison said. You cant do that against a team like the San Antonio Spurs. We werent good last game against Houston and this game against San Antonio we were worse than we were last game. Ben McLemore had 14 points and Carl Landry recorded his first double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Sacramento, which outrebounded the Spurs by a 46-33 margin, shot well at 50.7 percent, but committed 15 turnovers. Leading scorer and rebounder Cousins did not play because of an illness and is listed as questionable Sunday. He is posting an average of 23.5 points and 12.6 rebounds, and has scored 20 or more points in seven straight games. Cousins has recorded double-doubles in each of the last eight games and is second in the league with 12 on the season. Orlandos Nikola Vucevic has 13. The Kings are 9-7 this season and dropped a controversial 111-110 decision in Memphis on Nov. 13. Lee made a layup at the buzzer after catching Vince Carters inbounds feed. The play was reviewed for several minutes before being upheld. The Kings protested the game, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver denied the request on Friday. Memphis has won eight in a row and 15 of the last 17 meetings with Sacramento, and is unbeaten in the last four trips to Californias capital. ' ' '