SARASOTA, Florida – On a pristine, cloudless Saturday morning before his Blue Jays took to the field to play the Orioles, manager John Gibbons assumed his familiar perch behind home plate to watch his charges take batting practice. wholesale nfl jerseys . That time around, the cage is as much a part of baseballs daily routine as a beer and a hotdog is to a fan in the stands. Coaches, scouts, broadcasters and other media hover, tossing verbal barbs, telling stories and sharing laughs. Occasionally, especially in spring when the atmosphere is relatively laid back, the list of invited guests expands and on this day, Gibbons welcomed two men strongly influential in his life. To his left stood his high school baseball coach, Syl Perez and on his right, Frank Arnold, Gibbons high school football coach. The two are spending these early days of camp with the man they mentored. Its a chance for the men to catch up, reminisce about old times, and for Gibbons to share his pro experience with two people whove helped him along the way. "Your high school years are very big years in forming who youre going to be," Gibbons told TSN.ca. "When youre in athletics, if you get the right guys, it can steer you the right direction, teach you discipline, the work ethic and all the right stuff that benefit you in life." Arnold, 72, is a legend in Texas high school football, a state where "football is king," as Gibbons likes to remind the uninitiated. Gibbons played but didnt start at MacArthur High School in San Antonio. He was a running back, although in hindsight, Arnold thinks Gibbons was better suited to play linebacker because he was athletically inclined and had good instincts. Arnold also took notice, almost immediately, of Gibbons upbringing, especially his supportive parents, William and Sally. "Great kid, great family, never had, you know you have some parents who are a little overbearing, his parents were right there to support him," said Arnold. He had a knack for baseball, although Gibbons admits he was a late bloomer, especially offensively. A senior catcher graduated after Gibbons sophomore season, a year in which Gibbons played the outfield, and Perez had someone else pegged as the teams next catcher. Gibbons was still an unknown commodity. The coaching staff tried him at third base. It wasnt the right fit. "I dont care where I put John Gibbons, he was a catcher," said Perez. "I mean, it was in his DNA. He carries himself like a catcher." Perez had Gibbons and the would-be catching successor get behind the plate and simulate throwing out base stealers. "I timed him," said Perez. "From the time the sound hit the mitt to the time it hit the shortstop or second baseman at the bag. The other young man was very accurate but John was kind of like a Nolan Ryan. He was not very accurate, or not as accurate, but he would only average two seconds and sometimes slightly less than that. The other kid was 2.3, 2.4." Funny thing, Gibbons ended up catching that year. The other kid played third base. Both were all district at the end of the season, Gibbons in spite of a batting average below .200. He was that good defensively. His game rounded into form in his senior year, thanks to a scout named Buzzy Keller, who in advance of the baseball season, instructed Perez on a new hitting philosophy featuring a more compact swing. Perez coached up Gibbons and the results were immediate. "John batted .500 in 19 games and he hit 10 home runs," said Perez. "Its not that he hit 10 home runs, its how far he hit those 10 home runs that really got him to be a lot more noticed. A lot of our practices were very, very well attended and of course, he went 24th overall in the first round (1980) to the Mets." A series of injuries derailed Gibbons big league playing career, the nail in the coffin being the Mets acquisition of Gary Carter before the 1985 season. He stayed around the game, coached at various levels over a number of years, and by 2004, was into his first run as manager of the Blue Jays. "Hes old school and the old school way of thinking is, good catchers become good managers," said Perez. "Theyre the only ones looking the other way at the entire defence. Lets face it, he may have been not a starter in his major league life but when hes in the bullpen catching and working with folks like the Dwight Goodens and such, Im sure hes going to learn some things." Gibbons credits Arnold and Perez with teaching him some of the tactics he employs to this day. "You get to this level, its a little different," said Gibbons. "Guys are very successful when they get to this level so theyve got a good idea of what they do. Theres not as much coaching, teaching and things like that and you give these guys a little more leeway because theyre adults. But theres a lot of the same principles that work. I dont care if youre in high school or big league baseball, you have to have discipline. You still have to play the right way." Gibbons fair, jovial but stern-when-he-needs-to-be personality endears him to those who know him best and have known him the longest. "Personally, I think he has the demeanour, the ability to work with people," said Arnold. "I hope he gets lucky this year because last year they had some bad luck, in my opinion, with injuries and other things. I follow him, I watch him all the time and Im very proud to say that I was around him." Arnold continued, "John is going to be the same on the docks with some dock workers as he is at some high class place with the boss. I just think hes a quality person. Hes not flashy, he is what he is but hes always good to people." Coming off a disappointing 74-88 season, a startling and uncomfortable thud after the offseason hype of a year ago, Gibbons knows there is pressure to rebound. His mentors know it, too. "Nobody wants you unless you win," said Arnold. "I dont care what level, what league so I wish him well and hope he has some great luck this year. I hope some of the guys have some great years because I think he deserves it." Gibbons is aware the fan base is angst-ridden, unsure of whether the Blue Jays can compete in the ultra-tough American League East. He knows about the Twitter faction thats popularized the "FireGibby" hashtag, understands and accepts its a fans right to be upset, but wants to be clear about something he says wont change, win or lose. "I want people to know that I care about Toronto, I care about Canada, and nobody wants to win for the fan base more than I do because I know they deserve it." wholesale jerseys . 14 TCU, 50-48, snapping the Horned Frogs 25-game regular season winning streak in epic fashion. The back-and-forth thriller featured eight lead changes, none more unlikely than Ross Evans splitting the uprights from 27 yards out to give the Horned Frogs a 48-47 edge after they trailed by 24 entering the final 15 minutes. cheap jerseys from china . Rex Ryan and the New York Jets are giving him that second chance. "Im just grateful," a confident yet humble Burress said Sunday night. http://www.cheapnfljerseyfromchina.us/ . -- Masters champion Bubba Watson struck one of his fans in the head with a hooked drive during Fridays second round of the Zurich Classic. NEW YORK -- The last time the New York Rangers had a game to forget, they responded with five straight wins that put them on the cusp of the Stanley Cup finals. They are still there, and the Montreal Canadiens arent going away without a fight. New York needs one more victory to reach the championship round for the first time in 20 years. The Rangers know that Game 6 at home on Thursday is their best chance to get it. They returned home from Montreal on Wednesday, one day after a wild 7-4 loss cut their series lead to 3-2. If New York doesnt end it Thursday, the Rangers will have to go back to Montreal for a deciding Game 7. New York, which went the full seven games in each of the first two rounds of this years playoffs, will be playing its 20th post-season game. No team that played a pair of seven-game series before the conference finals has reached the Stanley Cup finals. "Its an opportunity to win the game to go to the Stanley Cup final," Rangers forward Brad Richards said. "I think everybody is alert and ready that way. We were talking about it all (Tuesday) how excited we were to get on the ice and start playing. "We had some mental breakdowns, but I dont think it had anything to do with (fatigue). Weve had a lot of rest this series. The opportunity that faces us right now, were pretty excited about it. I dont think there is too much letdown." In the second round, a poor performance at home in Game 4 against Pittsburgh dropped the Rangers into a 3-1 series hole. But New York won Game 5 on the road, took Game 6 at home, and won the clincher back in Pittsburgh to set up the matchup with Montreal. Now that the Canadiens have staved off elimination once, the Rangers are wary of giving them any more hope they can turn the tables. "You learn a lot from it. Thats why experience is experience," Richards said. "You go through many situations. (Tuesday) night was a bad feeling, but today were getting on a plane to go back to our city, and we get to play in front of our fans. "Its always, forget as quick as possible and try to remember the good things that were doing. It was one bad night, but weve been doing a lot of good things in this series." The Rangers won the opening two games in Montreal and then split a pair of overtime decisions at home. Even though they have had success on the road and in recent Game 7s, they know that going the distance again works against them. "Its a dessperate time," Richards said. cheap nfl jerseys. "You dont want to go back to a Game 7 where anything can happen. We want to get this done. Theyre a good team anywhere. "Were going to have to be a lot better, and we will be." This is as far as New York has advanced since captain Mark Messier led the club to the 1994 Stanley Cup title -- breaking the Rangers 54-year drought. The Garden will be ready to celebrate again Thursday. After the Rangers lost Game 4 to Pittsburgh, the loyal fans thought they might not see their team again until next season. That will be the situation again if the Canadiens pull off another victory. "You win a game, and things change in your locker room and you start feeling better about yourselves," Rangers defenceman Marc Staal said. "We know how it feels coming back in a series, but it doesnt change anything in our room. We are as confident as ever going into our building, and looking forward to it." So are the Canadiens. They know that if they wouldve scored in overtime of Game 4 as they did in Game 3, they wouldve had a two-game sweep at the Garden and would be the ones looking to advance Thursday. "Well be ready for one of those tight-checking games," defenceman Josh Gorges said Wednesday after an optional practice in Montreal. "Im sure it will be again one of those hard-fought games that well have to make sure that were even better than we were last game." Montreal will have rugged forward Brandon Prust back in the lineup after he served a two-game suspension for a late hit on Derek Stepan in Game 3 that broke the Rangers forwards jaw. Stepan returned Tuesday and scored two goals while wearing a full faceguard. The Rangers will be without defenceman John Moore. He was suspended for two games Wednesday after receiving a match penalty Tuesday night for a hit to Montreal forward Dale Weises head. Henrik Lundqvist will be back in goal for the Rangers after he was pulled in Game 5 on a rare off night in which he allowed four goals on 19 shots in less than two periods. He avoided the loss when New York rallied from a 4-1 deficit to get even. Backup goalie Cam Talbot gave up two goals in relief. "(Tuesday) night was probably the best game weve played in this series," Canadiens forward Lars Eller said. "If we keep doing a lot of those things, I think the end result will be good." cheap jerseys ' ' '
