Essendon defender Michael Hurley believes Jobe Watson has overcome the disappointment of handing back his 2012 Brownlow Medal.Watsons AFL career appeared in doubt after Bombers coach John Worsfold admitted his passion for the game had waned after returning his Brownlow Medal on November 11.The 200-game veterans difficult decision pre-empted an AFL Commission meeting convened to debate stripping him of the award after he was one of 34 past and present Essendon players banned for anti-doping violations arising from the clubs 2012 supplements program.But Hurley, who had his famous beard shaved for charity on Monday, told reporters Watson seemed like his old self again after weeks of soul searching.Obviously, it was a pretty tough time for Jobe and his family, Hurley said.But Ive noticed just lately, just over the last two or three days, hes really sparked up and looks like his old self.I think the support that hes got I hope that it was enough to get through that situation and moving forward he can be positive.Hurley even backed the 31-year-old to resume the captaincy taken on by Brendon Goddard on interim basis in his absence.I think he definitely could, he said.(But) whether or not thats the plan Jobe has in mind or is something he wants to do ... the way it looks next year, Im not sure.Hurley raised nearly $36,000 for the MAD Foundation to go towards the purchase of equipment for five-year-old for cerebral palsy sufferer Rye Johnson.The star defender wasnt sure about the symbolism of renewal in shaving off the beard he grew while he served a season-long ban, but he believes Essendon feels like a better football club than the one he left in January.The 10 players who returned to the club on November 7 after serving their suspensions will remain on modified training programs until at least Christmas.Its been a bit of a shock to the system, Hurley admitted.My bodys felt pretty sore, Im starting to feel a bit old, but Ill get there. Custom Chicago Cubs Jerseys . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Custom Colorado Rockies Jerseys . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. http://www.customjerseysbaseball.com/custom-new-york-mets-jerseys-574x.html . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. Custom San Diego Padres Jerseys . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Custom Cincinnati Reds Jerseys . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Its that time of year -- the final stretch -- when the Pac-12s nine-game conference schedule comes up.Washington is undefeated, at No. 4 in the AP Top 25 , and at No. 5 in the first College Football Playoff rankings. The Huskies appear to have a good shot at one of the four playoff spots -- if all the pieces fall into place.Last season, Stanford, with one loss on the road in the opener against Northwestern, looked like a possible contender for one of the four playoff spots, if only the Cardinal could finish strong. The Ducks proved to be spoilers, upsetting the Cardinal 38-36 at Stanford Stadium on Nov. 14.That sparked discussion about the leagues nine-game schedule. In the Power Five conferences, the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference play eight-game slates. The Big Ten went to nine games this season.The nine-game schedule has been criticized because its obviously more difficult, and theres less likelihood that a team will finish undefeated -- which therefore lowers the odds of getting coveted playoff berths. That challenges a conference where some key matchups are played late, impacting visibility.On the other side, there are those who say the tougher schedule, paired with a conference championship, creates better teams.We discuss it every couple of years, it comes up, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said this weekend. I think with the new college football playoff we were thinking, `Is this the best model? Is there a different model? But I think we all believe strength of schedule will be rewarded by the selection committee if there are teams with similar records.That said, Scott said hed like to see the other conferences rise to the nine-game level.Across the league, coaches said theyd just like it to be equal -- at either eight or nine games -- across all conferences.If I just give you my own opinion of it, its pretty simple for me: All Power 5 teams should do the exact same thing. If they dont, its not fair. That being said, they all dont. Because its very, very difficult when you say youre going to play nine games within your schedule and then youre going to go beat each other up. But if everybody else is beating each other up, then I think its fine, Oregon State coach Gary Andersen said.Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham agreed: I dont lobby for it, but in my opinion all the Power 5 conferences should play the same amount of conference games and make it a level playing ffield and some standardization there.ddddddddddddBecause when you play a ninth game that gives everyone in the conference a chance to get another loss.Whittingham took it a step further, saying that hed like to see the playoffs expanded so that all the conference champions get in.To me it doesnt make any sense to not have a level playing field and then not have every champion get in. It doesnt make sense to me at all, he said.If were all feeding into a playoff system lets just play by the same rules, said Stanford coach David Shaw, who also suggested across-the-board consistency in non-conference scheduling against lower-tier teams.Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said playing fewer games certainly hasnt hampered the SEC -- raising the point that the conference likely wont fix something that isnt broken for them.I think its a good thing that we do it, but I dont know if its really an advantage or not. I think its more talk that they keep playing those eight games and nothing happens, MacIntyre said.Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said the nine-game schedule means that theres uneven home and away games, which also seems inequitable.The only thing about nine is there are five on the road and four at home, so its uneven every year and not every Power 5 conference has that, he said. That, and the championship game, makes the road to the playoffs so much harder in our league than maybe in others.The Huskies play at California this weekend, then host USC and Arizona State. The key game for Washington could turn out to be the Apple Cup rivalry game on Nov. 25 against Washington State, which popped into the AP rankings this week.It was no surprise that Washington coach Chris Petersen said he was in favor of uniformity across the conference landscape.I think so. And I know everyones conference is different, but I think you just look at the NFL and its pretty cut and dry. Theres only 32 teams, but everybodys doing the same thing, he said. And so how can you make it as much the same thing? Well, lets play the same amount of conference games, at least, so were on the same page there.---AP Sports Writer Tim Booth in Seattle, AP Sports Writer Kareem Copeland in Salt Lake City, and AP freelancers Monica Costello in Colorado and Michael Wagaman in California, contributed to this report. ' ' '