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CALGARY -- Olympic show jumping champion Eric Lamaze hit the reset button on his career by taking a hiatus from the sport and acquiring some new horsepower. The 45-year-old from Schomberg, Ont., had an emotionally exhausting 2012 following the shocking death of Hickstead, the horse he won Olympic gold and silver with in 2008. A grieving Lamaze scrambled to find a suitable mount for the 2012 Summer Games in London, where he finished 22nd in the individual event and fifth with the Canadian team aboard an inexperienced Derly Chin de Muze. Lamaze announced after the Masters at Calgarys Spruce Meadows in September that he would not compete again for the remainder of the years. Instead, he played golf and went on safari in Africa. "The break was something I really needed," Lamaze said Tuesday at Spruce Meadows. "I was sort of running on empty. It had been quite some time at the top level of the sport and I just was not fired up like I needed to be to compete at that level." Lamaze intended to fly under the radar on his return to competition in 2013 by developing younger horses away from the world spotlight. Two developments changed his mind. The former No. 1 rider in the world realized while watching Grand Prix events in Florida that he wanted back in the game against the best in the world. Then came the opportunity to acquire a pair of elite international horses. "I didnt know if I was really going to miss it or not, but I ended up really missing it," Lamaze said. "These new horses werent planned. I was willing to sacrifice the year at making young horses and coming back next year. "I tried to make the process a little quicker by purchasing some going horses ... horses already competing at the top level. We were lucky enough to find such horses." With Carlene and Andy Ziegler of Artisan Farms as co-investors, Lamaze just recently acquired Powerplay from Swiss rider Pius Schwizer and Quelmec du Gery from co-owner and rider Penelope Leprevost of France. Both are nine-year-old geldings. Lamaze will ride both horses in competition for the first time at the National Tournament at Spruce Meadows starting Wednesday. The annual event offers more than $1 million in prize money and is the first of five consecutive tournaments at Spruce Meadows. The international stars of the sport, including Canadas Ian Millar and Beezie Madden of the U.S., will also compete in the National. Lamaze won the tournaments premiere event, the $400,000 CN Reliability Grand Prix, in both 2010 and 2008. Millar won the Grand Prix aboard In Style in 2009. Even though Lamaze had yet to ride Powerplay or Quelmec du Gery in competition, he already put them at the top of his depth chart in his stable. "Theyre world-class horses and I think they really suit me," he said. "Tomorrow will be my first time in the ring with them. We just received them from Europe a few days ago, so I dont know much about them. "Thats the beauty of Spruce Meadows. Youve got plenty of time to get to know your horse, plenty of height to choose depending on how you feel, so this is a perfect venue to get myself acquainted with them. Obviously I wish I had six weeks prior to Spruce Meadows because I love competing here and I love arriving with my guns loaded ready to fire because I love winning here." Lamaze was twice the No. 1-ranked rider in the world with Hickstead. They won Olympic gold in the individual event and silver with the Canadian team in 2008. They also won approximately $3.7 million in prize money and a large portion of that came at Spruce Meadows. Lamaze once joked Hicksteads name should be "ATM." But at age 15, Hickstead collapsed and died of a ruptured aorta while competing in Verona, Italy, in November 2011, with Lamaze still on his back. While the equestrian world mourned the loss of its superstar, a devastated Lamaze considered retirement. There was little time to get his feet back under him in the rush for London. For Lamaze, the last few months have been about setting a new course "We were obviously planning to have Hickstead a little longer than we had him," Lamaze said. "I needed to reorganize. Along with the young horses that will eventually become superstars, we just acquired two superstars. "I think Im really set and looking forward to going back to the top of the sport." SWell Marble Bottle Uk . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Swell White Marble Bottle .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. http://www.ukswellbottle.com/ .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. Swell Bottles Uk . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Swell Water Bottle Sale Uk .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. LINCOLN, Neb. -- Less than an hour after he was loaded into an ambulance after getting knocked unconscious against Ohio State, Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. was back on the sideline with teammates.His rapid return was encouraging to anyone who saw Armstrong lay motionless following a hit by Malik Hooker on Saturday night. It also was a bit surprising.Dr. Robert Cantu, a concussion expert and co-founder of a center that studies head trauma at Boston University Medical School, on Tuesday told The Associated Press a raucous football sideline typically wouldnt be the ideal environment for a person who just sustained a concussion.We normally dont encourage people to be in stimulating circumstances right after a concussion, Cantu said. So we normally wouldnt bring someone back to the sideline. Wed keep him in a quiet environment -- not a dark room and all that, but not the stimulation of a football field. So thats a bit atypical.But I dont know what his symptomatic status was, Cantu added. If everything cleared up real quickly, it wasnt necessarily wrong.Armstrong, according to Nebraska director of athletic medicine Dr. Lonnie Albers, went through a very thorough medical and imaging process at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and left the hospital without symptoms.A member of the Nebraska medical staff was present throughout the evaluation at the hospital, through the dismissal process, and on the sideline upon Tommys return to the stadium, Albers said in a statement. Tommy left the hospital symptom-free and reported no symptoms during post-dismissal monitoring at the stadium.Coach Mike Riley said Monday that Armstrong was going through a concussion protocol and would require clearance from the athletic departments medical staff in order to play in this Saturdays game against Minnesota. Riley characterized Armstrong as day to day.ddddddddddddantu, a consultant to the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee, said if Armstrongs symptoms cleared up quickly, it would not be unreasonable to expect him to be ready to play in the next game.The important thing is how fast the symptoms cleared up, Cantu said. The fact he was briefly unconscious is largely not important in terms of severity of the concussion. The severity of the concussion is much more correlated to how long it takes for symptoms to clear. So the fact he was unconscious for a few seconds, that means he had a concussion and needs to be checked out, but it doesnt necessarily mean its going to be a long period of time hes away.Nebraskas concussion protocol will require Armstrong to complete a computerized neurocognitive test to show he has returned to his normal neurological state. He then will be monitored to see how he tolerates increasing levels of activity. If he shows he can handle activity without worsening or new symptoms, hes allowed to return to competition.Dr. Arthur Maerlender, director of clinical research at the universitys Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, is charged with interpreting Armstrongs neuropsychological test results in the protocol.There is no magic window of time to stay out, Maerlender wrote in an email to the AP. Loss of consciousness (LOC) is not a very good predictor of anything. Given current knowledge, athletes can return to contact if all signs, symptoms and test scores are back to baseline and they complete a step-wise physical exertion process.Future research may show that to be inadequate, but we have no solid evidence of that yet, he said.---More AP college football at http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '