WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama can appreciate a team overcoming long odds. Welcoming the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks to the White House on Wednesday, Obama took note that some football analysts hadnt seen Seattle as a top-tier team. A die-hard fan of his hometown Chicago Bears, Obama nevertheless said he felt a certain kinship with the overachieving Seahawks. "As a guy who was elected president named Barack Obama, I root for the underdog," the president joked. The Seahawks clinched their first Super Bowl victory in the history of the franchise in February by beating the Denver Broncos 43-8. The distinction for the team and by extension for the NFL came a day after a group of retired players accused the league in a lawsuit of turning a blind eye to the use of painkillers by teams that later led to serious complications. Obama has expressed misgivings about the violence of the sport, saying in an interview with the New Yorker published early this year that if he had a son he would not let him play pro football. Next week, Obama will hold a White House meeting on concussions and sports safety at the White House that will include young athletes, professional athletes, parents, coaches and health experts. In a nod to that controversy, Obama took note of Seahawks owner Paul Allens charitable foundation that has donated millions of dollars to research traumatic brain injuries. "Obviously this is a concern of the NFL, but is also a concern of our troops," Obama said. Obama singled out the teams outspoken cornerback, Richard Sherman, for being a role model to young people. Sherman was born in Compton, California, once a centre of gang activity and a city that suffered from severely underperforming schools. Sherman however was a standout student who attended Stanford University on a scholarship. "If he seems a little brash, its because youve got to have attitude sometimes if you are going to overcome some of this adversity," Obama said. He also recognized Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who many scouts believed would be too small to succeed in the NFL only to set a record for most wins in two first seasons by any quarterback. "He also became only the second African-American quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl," Obama said. "And the best part about it is nobody commented on it, which tells you the progress that weve made, although weve got more progress to make." Nike Roshe Buy Online . Its the second of three meetings between these teams this season. Vancouver was a 2-1 winner on home ice December 22nd. Nike Roshes Cheap Online . The (35-35-10) Jets have 80 points and are also playing .500 hockey on home ice this season with a 17-17-6 record. Michael Hutchinson will start his second straight game in goal. http://www.cheapnikeroshe.com/ . Peter Dawson took his long before he started the job. "I was playing an American one year at Oxford Golf Club, and he introduced me to this travelling mulligan," Dawson said. Roshes On Sale . Samir Nasris 88th-minute equalizer at Etihad Stadium will be of little consolation to City, which is now six points behind league leader Liverpool and four points behind second-place Chelsea. Third-place City has a game in hand but the surprise result against Sunderland, coupled with Sundays 3-2 loss at Liverpool, may be a setback too far in its bid for a second championship in three seasons. Clearance Nike Roshe .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday.MI MINNEAPOLIS -- Needing a big hit, the Minnesota Twins instead turned a little tapper back to the mound into big trouble for the Kansas City Royals. Pitcher Wade Davis made a wild flip home on a comebacker in the eighth inning and the Twins rallied past the Royals 4-3 Sunday for a three-game sweep. "Had the play right there in front of me, just didnt make it," Davis said. A madcap sequence put the Twins ahead and a crazy play ended it, too. With two outs and none on in the ninth, Mike Moustakas popped a ball straight up. As he stood to watch it in the batters box, catcher Kurt Suzuki tripped over him, resulting in an interference call for the final out. "Thats always on the hitter," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Thats not going to be on the defender. He has a right to catch the ball." After the Royals scored three times in the eighth for a 3-2 lead, reliever Aaron Crow (0-1) walked two Minnesota batters to start the bottom half. Davis struck out Joe Mauer, but Trevor Plouffe walked to load the bases. Chris Herrmann then hit a grounder back to the mound and Davis, hoping to begin an easy double play, hesitated briefly after getting the ball out of his glove. Davis toss sailed past catcher Salvador Perez. Pedro Florimon scored the tying run and Dozier slid home under Perezs return throw to Davis, who was a step late covering the plate. "You got to be aggressive, you cant lose that," Dozier said. "I saw the throw. I saw Davis just hanging out a good 10 yards away from the thing, so might as well take a shot." The lapse by Davis compounded an already frustrating series for the Royals. Kansas City was outscored 21-5 in the sweep. "I got frustrated and made a mental mistake by not being there," Davis said. "Its unacceptable." Casey Fien (1-0) goot one out and Glen Perkins posted his third save.dddddddddddd. The Royals have lost their first five road games this season, managing just nine runs. "I think everybodys trying to do too much right now," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "When you go in a slump everybody tries to do more, and thats only natural for a team when youre having trouble scoring runs." Josmil Pinto hit his third homer in the seventh inning to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. Twins starter Kevin Correia cruised through seven innings before running into trouble in the eighth. He allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings. Eric Hosmers RBI double capped the Royals three-run eighth. Not wearing sleeves despite a gametime temperature of 42 degrees, Jason Vargas held the Twins to two runs on five hits over seven innings for his third straight quality start this season. That type of outing would have been more than enough last season, when the Royals won 15 of 19 from Minnesota. But the Twins now have the upper hand to start 2014. NOTES: The Twins swept the Royals for the first time since winning four in a row in June 2011. ... A CT scan revealed a small fracture in LF Josh Willinghams hand. Twins assistant GM Rob Antony said the team will consult hand specialists, but remains hopeful that Willingham wont need more than 15 days on the disabled list. ... Gardenhire returned after missing the previous two games to attend a funeral. ... Both teams are off on Monday. When the Royals begin a three-game series in Houston on Tuesday, hard-throwing Dominican rookie Yordano Ventura will make his second start against RHP Lucas Harrell (0-2, 11.05). ... The Twins begin a three-game series at Target Field with Toronto on Tuesday. RHP Phil Hughes will look for his first win in a Twins uniform against RHP Brandon Morrow (1-1, 5.73). ' ' '