PROFILES » other and get each other to that point where they can really

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After the Los Angeles Angels stumbled to their ninth loss in 10 games Wednesday, manager Mike Scioscia held a closed-door meeting before they packed up and flew to Boston.Although everybody described the meeting as relatively upbeat, the Angels didnt emerge with any big ideas on how to slow a season going south. With too many injured players and not enough big hitters, the Angels (32-47) are on pace for the worst record in franchise history.We know weve seen some guys performing at their absolute worst for the first half, and we know theyre better than that, Scioscia said. Thats going to be our goal, to get those guys going in the right direction ... I dont think these guys are taking losing in stride. I think thats a positive.If so, its one of the few positives in Anaheim these days.Houston completed a three-game sweep of the Angels on Wednesday, outscoring its AL West rivals by a combined 21-7. The Angels been swept in seven series already this season, and their 8-19 record in June was their worst in the month since 1980.Those 1980 Angels lost 95 games. The current Angels are on pace for 96 defeats, less than two years after they won 98 games for the majors best record.Mike Trout is still performing brilliantly, going 18 for 30 with three homers during their six-game homestand. Just about everybody else in an Angels uniform is struggling to some degree -- when theyre healthy enough to put on the uniform, that is.Our team has to be more than Mike, Scioscia said. Weve been struggling to get our lineup a little deeper. ... Were looking forward to getting some guys back, but the guys that are in that room should be playing better than we are, and thats what were going to focus on. Were all looking in the mirror and trying to get us going in the right direction. We all need to get better.Injuries are the most obvious cause for the Angels woes, particularly on the mound. Few teams could thrive after the loss of three top-of-the-rotation starters -- in the Angels case, Garrett Richards, Andrew Heaney and C.J. Wilson. Several key regulars also have missed extended time, from shortstop Andrelton Simmons and third baseman Yunel Escobar to top reliever Joe Smith.The Angels have already used 43 players in their first 79 games.The injuries are something Ive never been a part of, said Jered Weaver, who dropped to 6-7 with a 5.51 ERA after losing to Houston. Theres been a lot of people going down, a lot of people getting called up and back and forth. But its no excuse. Its nothing that any other team hasnt gone through. No one is going to feel sorry for us.Yet the Angels slide also is rooted in decisions made years ago.Their depleted farm system has produced very few candidates to replace those injured players, and owner Arte Moreno already devoted a huge chunk of the Angels payroll to Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton this season and into the future. Combined with Morenos unwillingness to spend past the luxury tax threshold, even this big-budget club cant buy its way out of trouble now.The Angels have some salary relief in sight: Weaver and Wilson, who are making $20 million apiece, will be off the books this winter. But Hamilton is owed another $17 million in 2017 while he plays for Texas, and Pujols will make $140 million over the next five years while he jogs well past his 40th birthday.At least Pujols plays every day and keeps things interesting by climbing the career homers list, passing Harmon Killebrew for 11th place last week with his 574th. The three-time NL MVP is second on the team with 50 RBI, but is batting .247 with a meager .417 slugging percentage.General manager Billy Eppler hasnt had much early luck in his first year on the job. Eppler said this week that Scioscias job isnt in jeopardy during his 17th season, acknowledging that the Angels injuries and depth problems can hardly be solved by the longest-tenured manager in baseball.Eppler said the Angels have too many financial resources to be forced to enter a rebuilding phase. He wont trade Trout, but its possible the Yankees former professional scouting director could restock his largely barren cupboard by trading the Angels few valuable assets once this hard-luck season officially becomes lost.There is no doubt we want to be a contending team, year in and year out, Eppler said. Every move that we are going to make, whether its in July or the offseason, is for the betterment of the team. Cheap NFL Jerseys .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Cheap China Jerseys . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. http://www.cheapauthenticnfljerseys.net/ . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. China NFL Jerseys . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Noah Browns circus TD catch against Oklahoma last Saturday was replayed over and over and retweeted for days, but his Ohio State teammates werent as impressed as everyone else. Theyve seen it all before.Brown, a wide receiver whod caught one pass at Ohio State prior to this season, had four touchdown receptions in the Buckeyes 45-24 victory over the Sooners. But the one everyone is still talking about happened at the end of the first half when Brown grabbed a J.T. Barrett pass and hugged the ball against the back of defensive back Michiah Quick as they fell out of bounds.A great catch? Sure, said Barrett, but not a huge deal. The quarterback has been raving about Browns suction-cup hands for months already.I guess thats the funny thing, we see him practice so its almost like its no big deal, Barrett said. And then it happens in a game, when everybody else sees it in the country and its blown up like that, I guess we forget that not everybody has seen that.Brown, a 6-foot-2 New Jersey native, saw limited playing time as a freshman in the 2014 national championship season and was expected to play a huge role last year before breaking a leg during fall training camp. This year, hes second on the team with nine catches for 134 yards, and he leads the way with five touchdowns.But the catch with Quick draped all over him in a nationally televised Saturday night game suddenly put him on college footballs radar.Any time J.T. puts the ball in the air hes putting trust in me, and I try to come down with the ball for him, Brown said. I have to have my quarterbacks back. It felt good to make that play and put some points on the board for us.Like Barrett, coach Urban Meyer said he already knew what Brown could do. And he also knows that Brown is still recovering from the broken leg that sidelined him all of last season.Hes still not at the top end of speed, Meyer said. He still not quite 100 percent, which shows you just how good he can become. We all know he has the ability, but Id say the quality of competition he did it against is always a little sshocking when you have that kind of night.ddddddddddddWORKING ON THE LITTLE THINGSOhio State players said they are using the off week to work on their mistakes and try to improve before embarking on the grueling nine-game Big Ten schedule beginning Oct. 1. Ohio State is No. 2 in the AP Top 25 Poll .Barrett said hes working on communicating better with receivers who had trouble getting lined up in time at various points during the Oklahoma game, leading to forced time outs and a delay-of-game penalty. Also hes striving to get the ball out of his hands quicker and trust his playmakers.Everybody is looking for ways to get better, said H-back Curtis Samuel, who leads the team in receiving yards and is second in rushing behind tailback Mike Weber. Nobody is satisfied with where theyre at. Everybody is just looking to push each other and get each other to that point where they can really explode and really show their talents.HUG A BIG GUYBarrett said he didnt even want to think about what would happen if an Ohio State player dropped the ball right before crossing the goal line. There has been an epidemic the last couple of weekends of players nonchalantly letting go of the ball a stride before crossing the plane.I can only imagine what that day would be like for that man, the rest of the year, from coach Meyer, Barrett said with a grin. I couldnt tell you how awful that might be.Replays showed Oklahomas Joe Mixon dropping the ball early on a 97-yard kick return, but the officials didnt catch it. The gaffe has already cost Clemson and California touchdowns this season.The Buckeyes even have a rule about it.We always make sure we keep the ball high and tight, Samuel said. Thats coach Meyer, keep the ball high and tight. After you score, give the ball to the official and go hug a big guy. Thats what we do.---Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacyFor some of his other recent stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mitch-stacy ' ' '