ttle bit longer than usual.When youre at a place like Penn State, everybody

Mark Selby won a marathon semi-final against Marco Fu to set up a World Snooker Championship final against Ding Junhui.Selby overcame Fu with a 17-15 victory which included a frame which set the record for the longest in the tournament, at 76 minutes and 11 seconds.Selby and Fu took an hour over the closing frame of the match too, with several long safety battles, before it went the way of Leicester City fan Selby, who will be hoping for a double title celebration this Bank Holiday weekend. Chinese star Ding earlier booked his place in the Crucible final when he fired his seventh century of the semi-final, a classy 123 to complete a 17-11 victory over Scottish veteran Alan McManus.Before Dings masterclass, the record in Sheffield stood at six centuries in a match, achieved by Mark Selby and Ronnie OSullivan, but he set a new mark as he became Asias first World Championship finalist.His earlier tons in the match were 100, 131, 100, 128, 138 and 113, and in a startling run of scoring he also fired breaks of 84, 62, 90, 97, 80 and 60 as well as narrowly missing out on a maximum 147 break.The 29-year-old has been tipped to dominate snooker since his teenage years. Ding rattled in seven centuries during his victory over McManus He won the UK Championship at the age of 18 and in 2013/14 matched Stephen Hendrys record of five ranking titles in a season, becoming world No 1 in December 2014.A drastic dip in fortunes saw him recently slide outside the top 16, meaning he had to go through qualifying for this tournament.But sweeping through three preliminaries bolstered his confidence for an assault on the event in which he has previously underachieved, providing what has proven to be the ideal preparation.I feel peaceful at the moment, just like normal. I want to be excited but my heart tells me its like normal, said Ding after beating McManus. Alan McManus enjoyed a superb run at the Crucible The tournament hasnt finished yet so I want to stay focused. In the first few years of playing snooker I didnt really know about the World Championship because they didnt show this tournament much on TV in China.The first dream was to win any tournament, then after turning professional in 2003 I wanted to win the World Championship title.Theres more and more supporters in China, its crazy like that. I want to stay away from that and keep calm. Ive had a lot of messages. My phones almost blown up.Also See:Selby levels after marathonCue tip loss hits FuTyler Saladino Jersey .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. Tyler Austin Jersey . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/1919y-ryan-braun-jersey-brewers.html . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Ray Black Brewers Jersey . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Zach Davies Jersey . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year.STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- James Franklin leaned down and squeezed his oldest daughter, Shola, like he never wanted to let go.I love you, I love you, the coach repeated to Shola, who was up way past her bedtime, but nobody seemed to notice.Not on this night, one of the best nights theyve had around here in a long time. It was White Out Night at Beaver Stadium, and the Nittany Lions broke out with their first signature win under Franklin. Penn State rallied from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to send No. 2 Ohio State packing, 24-21, setting off one of those wild scenes weve become accustomed to in college football.Just minutes after Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett was sacked on fourth down, ending any hope the Buckeyes had of pulling this one off, the field was a sea of blue-and-white-clad (and delirious) Penn State fans. One middle-aged (and bare-chested) fan exclaimed, I forgot what this felt like. All weve had around here is misery.For Franklin, the last 2? years probably seemed more like dog years, as he weathered massive scholarship reductions and back-to-back 7-6 seasons in his first two with the Nittany Lions.His eyes were still moist 20 minutes after the game, as he soaked it all in.I dont even know that you can explain it, everything this program has been through the last five years, Franklin told ESPN.com. No one understands what were still going through. Nobody understands, so to see us all come together as a family and as a community, we dont do that by ourselves. It took all 107,000 fans in there going crazy.Franklins athletic director, Sandy Barbour, stood close by as Franklin hugged everybody within sight. Franklins been a regular on coaching hot seat lists since the start of the season, which probably isnt fair when you consider this is the first year Penn State has been back close to the full 85 scholarships. Barbour and Penn State president Eric Barron both came out publicly in support of Franklin three weeks ago.I want to thank president Barron and Sandy for coming out and having my back, because this doesnt happen tonight without that, without their support, said Franklin, his voice rising with conviction.He took a deep breath, wiped his brow -- the emotion of the night still etched all over his face -- and conceded that the enormity of what he walked into at Penn State was even more daunting than he thought.As much as I looked into it before coming here, there are so many complexities to it that you dont really understand until you get here, Franklin said. Thats with any job, but this job probably more so than any job in the country, with everything this university has gone through.It was Franklins first win over a nationally ranked foe since he arrived in Happy Valley in 2014, and he had been as frustrated as anybbody that some of the Nittany Lions gains in the program had not translated into more wins on the field.ddddddddddddWeve redshirted kids, Franklin said. Weve tried to build this for the long term, and there are times that I question if I should have done that. But it was the right thing to do for Penn State, and its also the right thing for us.Franklin never wavered in his belief he had the right kind of kids in the program, and perhaps that was never more apparent than on Saturday night, when the Nittany Lions made two huge special-teams?plays to fight back from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter.Ohio State was lining up to kick a 45-yard field goal that would have given the Buckeyes a 24-17 lead, but Marcus Allen burst through to block it. Grant Haley scooped it up on the run and raced 60 yards for the touchdown, sending tremors throughout Happy Valley.It was just a huge sigh of relief for this whole program, the coaches, the players, everything weve been through the last three years, the alumni and fans too, Haley said. It was an exhilarating experience for all of us. Weve worked so hard and to have this moment against the No. 2 team in the country and come out on top was an amazing experience.As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Penn State sideline erupting in celebration, Haley looked over at his head coach, and it was then that he realized how big this was for Franklin.The moment Ill always remember was seeing Coach Franklin after the game and seeing the tears come out of his eyes, because you could see how much it means to him and how much he cares about us, Haley said. I gave him a big hug. That was the moment, with everything that has happened to us these last few years, that made it all worth it.Hes our head coach. Were going to win for him and fight for him until the end.Franklin, who did the unthinkable at Vanderbilt in leading the Commodores to back-to-back, nine-win seasons, has never been one to hang on too long to any win.Forgive him, though, if he hangs onto this one just a little bit longer than usual.When youre at a place like Penn State, everybody wants you to just come in and wave a magic wand, but again, if you list out all the things weve been through, I cant tell you what this means to the guys in this locker room, to everybody associated with this great university, Franklin said. I had some unbelievable experiences at Vanderbilt and have some of those players here with me tonight. (Former kicker) Carey Spear is here. We have guys come all the time and even parents from there come sometimes.Im grateful for all the experiences Ive had, but this was special in so many ways. ' ' '