The European Tour and Asian Tour have formalised a strategic alliance after protracted merger talks failed. Steve Bono Jersey .A significant exchange of playing opportunities has been promised but both organisations -- working from a joint office in Singapore -- will retain brand and logo identities and continue to be managed by separate boards.European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said in a statement on Monday: Following successful discussions over the past year to develop our joint vision, we are delighted to announce this Strategic Alliance which we believe will be of immense benefit to both organisations.We have enjoyed a very strong and prosperous relationship with the Asian Tour over the past 17 years and this formalises that partnership, representing an exciting new era in our association.Ryder Cup vice-captain Thomas Bjorn, chairman of the European Tours tournament committee, had described a merger as the only way forward, but some Asian players opposed the move amid fears of a reduction in their playing opportunities.Speaking last May, commissioner Kyi Hla Han said the Asian Tour would have disappeared in the merger, and he welcomed the diluted partnership approach on Monday.Han said: This is a very positive step forward in our desire to further grow professional golf in Asia and around the world.We believe it will also greatly enhance the careers of our membership, who have embraced this exciting development.We are also confident a greater collaboration between the Asian Tour and European Tour will deliver a stronger product to our partners and appeal to new sponsors to get involved with the game. The future looks very exciting for the Asian Tour and European Tour. Steve Nelson Jersey . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Raymond Clayborn Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/custom-jim-nance-jersey-large-501f.html .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Not even a defeat could stop Daniel Hourcade from taking pleasure in his surroundings. The head coach of Argentinas rugby team expressed a good many regrets at the end of a 33-21 loss to Australia this month, from his teams failure to capitalize on key opportunities to a shortage of contested scrums. But the decision to give up home-field advantage and stage this game in England was not among them.It was a great experience. Playing here at Twickenham [Stadium] is really an honor, said Hourcade. He went on to describe the venue as the cathedral of rugby.Time will tell whether Twickenham can make a similar impression on Jeff Fisher. The Los Angeles Rams head coach could be forgiven for feeling unenthusiastic about surrendering one of his teams home games to host the New York Giants in London at a potentially pivotal moment in the NFL season.Fisher took the Rams across the pond once before, in 2012. They were shellacked 45-7 by the New England Patriots in what remains the most lopsided NFL International Series result.That game, though, was held at Wembley Stadium. Sunday will mark the NFLs first visit to Twickenham. This change of setting might not mean much to Fisher, whose only focus right now will be on picking his team up after consecutive defeats. The rest of us, though, might find intrigue in the prospect of an American football game being staged at the spiritual home of English rugby.Humble beginningsThere was a time when people might have scoffed at the suggestion that Twickenham should host any sport other than rugby. Then again, there was a time when people scoffed at the suggestion that it could host any sporting event at all.The decision by Englands fledgling Rugby Football Union to invest almost ￡5,600 on a 10?-acre parcel of land on the southwest outskirts of London back in 1907 was greeted with incredulity by the national press. For journalists who lived and worked in the city center, Twickenham might as well have been Timbuktu -- 12 or so miles from Piccadilly Circus and with poor transport links.This was not prime real estate but farming land -- previously in use as a mix of orchards and market gardens. Worse, it was located in a flood plain. The RFU had to arrange for the field to be raised using dirt excavated during the creation of the London Undergrounds Metropolitan line.The venue was quickly nicknamed Billy Williams Cabbage Patch -- a jab at the RFU committee member who had proposed the site. More pointed words were chosen by the Daily Mirror newspaper, which characterized the whole project as a costly white elephant.Twickenham would defy such dire assessments. Despite occasional flirtations with different venues, England Rugby has never left. Instead, the stadium has gradually expanded -- with stands rebuilt on the same site several times over -- from a capacity of 18,000 at its first international game through to 82,000 today (although various NFL-specific modifications will reduce this to 75,000 on Sunday).As it has grown, the stadium has been modernized. It now incorporates a fitness center and a Marriott hotel, with suites looking out over the field. But this is not a place that has lost touch with its history. The east stand is home to the World Rugby Museum, where Phil McGowan, who authored a history of the stadium in 2014, works as the interpretation and education officer. McGowan is quick to point out that at least one part of Twickenham remains forever unchanged.The pitch is still in the exact same place as it was in 1909, McGowan said. The grass itself has been relaid many times over, and in 2012, it was upgraded with a partially artificial base that helps to keep the playing surface in better condition. Otherwise, McGowan said, Its still exactly the same height. When theres a game, theyre still playing on top of the old dirt dug out from the Metropolitan line.That field has been the stage for iconic rugby games, from Englands win over Wales in Twickenhams first full international game, in 1910, right through to World Cup games in 1991, 1999 and 2015. And yet some of the most important chapters in its history have nothing to do with rugby. During World War I, Twickenham was used by the British army to graze and train horses before they were sent out to the front.Then, during the second world war, the whole stadium was given over to the war office, and it became a civil service depot, McGowan said. The West Car Park was turned into a coal dump. The fire brigade took over the south terrace and put all their vehicles underneath, which were then used during the Blitz. The west stand was turned into a medical response center, so there were lots of hospital beds put there, to be used in the event of a chemical attack in London.Only the RFU secretary remained in his office, which he kept to himself. After the war had finished, there are photos with the roofs of the stands covered in holes from shrapnel damage during the Blitz. That was the case for 20, 30 years after -- you could see these patched-up holes in the roof of the stands.Bathing in a century of historyThe Rams and Giants are not in London for a history lesson. It seems unlikely that players will use what little free time they do have to visit the World Rugby Museum. But they will get at leasst a flavor of what makes this place unique as they make their way into the stadium. Aaron Hernandez Jersey. On the drive in, team buses are routed through the West Car Park. This is the spot where fans gather before games to eat and drink before kickoff.If that sounds like a familiar ritual to any NFL fan, then the devil is in the detail. Rugby union, in part because of its long-standing commitment to amateurism that lasted right up until the mid-1990s -- with the effect that only those with money could afford to give up the time required to compete at a high level -- has historically drawn a well-heeled crowd. Instead of beer and brats, the West Car Park was famous for champagne and caviar.I mean, its tailgating in the States, isnt it? Martin Johnson, a former World Cup-winning captain for England, said with a chuckle. But its having a spot of lunch in the West Car Park at Twickenham.The scene has become less genteel in recent years, with food concessions and beer tents encroaching into areas where parking is no longer permitted. It might look different this Sunday, in any case, with the NFL using that area for its own official tailgate.Once inside the stadium, though, players will walk down a tunnel adorned with great names and games from English rugby history. Inside the home locker room, cubicles are adorned with the names of the countrys most capped players at each position. An adjoining corridor carries the list of every player who ever represented England.More vivid than any of these things might be the two standalone iron baths positioned beside the new hydrotherapy baths in the home locker room. First purchased back as part of a set of six in 1931, these were for many decades the primary means of players getting clean after a game. They would be half-filled with cold water before kickoff, then topped up with hot at full-time.For a lot of the boys, that used to be part of the fun after a game, Johnson said. Just to sit in there and soak it all up. When they rebuilt the west stand in the 1990s, we didnt know if they would keep them. While they were doing it, [then England prop] Jason Leonard tried to walk off with one. He drove up with his van and tried to take one away. But they caught him in the act.Anyway, when they rebuilt the stand, they did put a couple of them back in there. But now theyve started filling the baths with ice instead of warm water, so its not quite so good!A surprising hymnSundays game will be preceded, as with every other NFL International Series game in London, with the singing of both the American and British national anthems. But perhaps the most fascinating question before this game at Twickenham is whether there will be enough rugby fans in the crowd to follow that up with another song that has become a part of the lore of this place.A rendition of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,?the spiritual originally sung by slaves in the U.S. in the 19th century,?became the unofficial anthem of English rugby more than a century later.Precisely how that happened is a matter of dispute. The most popular story has it that the song was first introduced to Twickenham by a group of schoolboys celebrating a virtuoso performance by Chris Oti, Englands first black player in more than 80 years, against Ireland in 1988.Whatever the truth of that account, however, it is known that Swing Low, Sweet Chariot had been sung in English rugby clubhouses for years before it became associated with the national team. Johnson recalls it being popular when he was playing as teenager in the 1980s.Ill be frank, when most teams used to do it, that used to involve taking their clothes off, as well, he said. That was part of it. It was with a few pints, and half the time half the team would be naked by the end.Stripping in the stands at Twickenham is generally frowned upon -- even if one exhibit in the World Rugby Museum does claim that this stadium was the setting for the first streaker at a professional sporting event. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, however, has persisted to this day.Ive been lucky enough to play for England against New Zealand at Twickenham, said Northampton back Ben Foden. Obviously, they have the Haka [New Zealands pregame war dance], which is something thats steeped in tradition, as well. But when they do that at Twickenham, our fans always sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot at the top of their lungs to drown it out. Its pretty special. You really notice the crowd and the impact they can have on a game.When planning out Twickenhams latest major redesign, in 1988, architect Terry Ward stated his intention to create a stadium for England that would give them a five-point advantage in every home game. Whether he succeeded on that front is difficult to quantify, but certainly he created a venue that can get deafeningly loud at times.That much will be nothing new to NFL players. But a round of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot would certainly feel unique. English fans serenaded Argentina and Australia with the song during that game earlier this month at Twickenham. What sort of cathedral, after all, would let a new congregation leave without hearing its most stirring hymn? ' ' '