BATON ROUGE, La. -- The topic of discussion in Les Miles second-floor office at LSUs expansive football complex centered on how the coach intended to handle the ever-heightening scrutiny upon him this season -- particularly in light of the raging speculation that he was on the brink of being fired last November.At one point, Miles casually leaned forward from the sofa he sat upon, peaked inside a crinkled paper bag on the coffee table in front of him and uttered, Thats a bummer.Either his wife, Kathy, or 13-year-old daughter, Macy, had finished the tortilla chips while dining with Miles following LSUs evening practice, and the coach asked, How the heck are you supposed to eat guacamole without chips?That might have been the toughest question facing LSUs charismatic, hat-wearing, grass-chewing coach that evening. When it came to how hell deal with the perception of uncertainty swirling around him heading into his 12th season with the Tigers, Miles offered a straight-forward response that seemed obvious to him.Our plan would be to win and to play very, very well and not to really worry or commiserate and waste time about things you cannot control, Miles said in an interview with The Associated Press. You can only put the plan in place to win. ... You cant be the best you can be if youre not fully consumed with that very, very specific goal.In Baton Rouge, many fans are fed up with the Tigers five-game losing streak against Alabama and question why a program with LSUs profile, highly rated recruiting classes and first-class facilities hasnt played in an elite bowl game for four seasons. Thats why pressure mounted on LSUs administration to fire Miles during a three-game skid late last season.But Miles and his famously unconventional syntax are back for what many see as make-or-break campaign.In terms of pure numbers, the Miles era has involved plenty of winning -- 112 victories in 11 seasons, second only at LSU to Charlie McClendons 137 victories in 18 seasons (1962-79). Miles highlights include the 2007 national title. Hed never lost three straight at LSU before last year.Miles backers see him as a friendly, funny, well-grounded family man who is committed to his community for the long-term. All four of his children have spent at least part of their childhood in Baton Rouge, and the 62-year-old Miles doesnt sound inclined to entertain leaving, even if his tenure as LSU coach ends before hed prefer.I see four kids who grew up here and have lifetime friends here and will always want to come back to Baton Rouge, Miles said. Ive had tremendous experiences in Tiger Stadium with young men Ive been fortunate to coach and I am not going to minimize that for a moment.Kathy Miles said her husband has always been steady through rough patches, even last season.In terms of Les, (last season) never felt any different at all from the first day we got here, she said. You just put your head down, you just try to win and you hope that you do that a great majority of the time -- especially at LSU -- because the expectations are high. But Les knew that when he got here.Similar sentiments echo from Miles players.All the speculation that was going on, I know he had to feel some type of way about it, receiver Malachi Dupre said. But through that whole process, seeing him stay the same just shows the way you have to handle things in life.He did a great job of handling it and taught us all a lesson about fighting through it and doing the best you possibly can.Miles said that when he travels around Louisiana, fans continue to greet him graciously.Some thank him for making LSU football a bright spot during tough times, such as in his first season in 2005, when the Tigers had a strong season amid disruptions caused by devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita. More recently, Miles has sought to lend moral support to law enforcement in the wake of a deadly police shooting in Baton Rouge in July. Now Miles is eyeing ways to help victims of flooding that has damaged an estimated 40,000 south Louisiana homes; LSU players were helping out at a shelter for flood victims this past week.Miles backers were out in force during LSUs regular season finale last season, when his job status appeared in doubt. They roared for him when he walked from the team bus to the stadium, and again when he appeared on the field.But it wasnt until after the Tigers triumph in that game that LSU confirmed Miles return in 2016 -- an unpopular decision among fans who believe LSU should have won more in recent years -- particularly against rival Alabama and coach Nick Saban, a former LSU coach who has won four national titles with the Crimson Tide since 2009.The reason LSU fired Charlie McClendon was he couldnt beat Bear Bryant, but nobody would take a step back and realize nobody else could beat Bear Bryant, either, said Baton Rouge sports talk radio host Derek Ponamsky. Now people are saying Miles has got to beat Saban. Who else is consistently doing that?The Tigers host Alabama on Nov. 5. Before that, LSUs slate includes a challenging season opener against Wisconsin at Green Bays Lambeau Field and a visit to resurgent Florida.Most starters have returned to a Tigers squad that won nine games last season, including a lopsided bowl victory over Texas Tech. Those back on offense include junior running back Leonard Fournette, who is a Heisman Trophy candidate, along with junior quarterback Brandon Harris and his top two receivers, senior Travin Dural and Dupre. The defensive standouts returning include linebacker Kendell Beckwith, cornerback TreDavious White and lineman Arden Key.Yet, if LSU falls short of the College Football Playoff, Miles could be blamed for squandering what many view as LSUs best team since 2011.Harris grinned when asked if hes noticed anything different about Miles this season and called Miles the chilliest coach Ive ever been around.A lot of fans dont like me, either, but I dont think me or coach cares, Harris said. The only thing that matters is what your family thinks about you and were his family and we love the dude to death.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.orgNike Shoes China . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. Wholesale Nike Shoes . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. Argentina boasts Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. https://www.fakenikeshoeswholesale.com/ .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Clearance Nike Shoes . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. Fake Nike Shoes From China . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. CHICAGO -- Soccer injuries are sending soaring numbers of U.S. kids to emergency rooms, a trend driven in part by young players with concussions seeking urgent medical care, a study has found.The findings, based on 25 years of data, partly reflect soccers growing popularity. But the researchers and sports medicine experts believe the trend also is a result of greater awareness about concussions and their potential risks. Coaches and parents are likely seeking emergency treatment for symptoms that in previous years might have been downplayed or overlooked.Nearly 3 million players aged 7 through 17 received ER treatment for soccer-related injuries in the 2000-2014 study. The overall rate of injuries, which takes into account soccers rising popularity, more than doubled to 220 per 10,000 players in 2013, from 106 per 10,000 players in 1990. Researchers did not have enough data to calculate 2014 rates.More than 200,000 concussions or head injuries were treated in emergency rooms, or 7 percent of injuries. The rate jumped to almost 30 per 10,000 people in 2013 from just under 2 per 10,000 players in 1990.That trend underscores a need for better safety education and injury prevention in youth soccer, said Dr. Huiyun Xiang, the lead author and a researcher at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.Concussions can have significant consequences in terms of cognitive function and brain development, Xiang said.His study is an analysis of data from a national injury surveillance system and was published Monday in Pediatrics.According to U.S. Youth Soccer, there were more than 3 million registered soccer players younger than 19 in 2014, almost twice as many as in 1990.The rate of injuries from playing soccer has ranked second behind football in other studies on youth sports, including an analysis of 2015-2016 data from Reporting Information Online, an internet-based injury survveillance system for high school sports.ddddddddddddFor boys, football-related concussions result in more ER visits than other sports, according to previous research. For girls, its soccer, according to an analysis of 2001-2012 data by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The current study lacks information on gender-specific soccer injury rates.Sprains and fractures were the most common injuries; most players were not hospitalized. Falling and getting hit by another player or the ball were among leading causes of injury but theres no data in the study on whether many injuries were from heading the ball.Concern about kids injuries from heading led to the U.S. Soccer Federations recent restrictions including a ban for kids aged 10 and younger and limits on heading for those aged 11-13.Many concussions in soccer occur when heads collide as two players jump up to head the ball, said Dr. Cynthia LaBella, a sport medicine specialist at Chicagos Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens Hospital. She said learning proper technique including tensing neck muscles can help kids avoid injury while heading the ball.Labella noted that soccer has become so popular that it attracts kids with a wide range of athletic ability, and that many injuries she treats are in kids who lack adequate strength and conditioning for their soccer level.Everyones so eager to join the soccer team. Theyre signing up because they want to be with their buddies, she said. The range of athleticism especially at the youth and preteen level is pretty broad.---Online:CDC: http://www.cdc.govYouth Soccer: http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/Heading rules: http://bit.ly/2cgjEWr---Follow AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner . Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/lindsey-tanner . ' ' '