absolutely a redemption year. "We want to be feared

DUNEDIN, Florida - Whether the approach translates to on-field success will only be revealed with the passage of time but its obvious to those whove been around the first two weeks of camp: the 2014 Blue Jays, constructed and built to win beginning in 2013, have no intention of repeating the misery that befell the ballclub a season ago. Soccer Jerseys 2020 . The attitude is all business. One of the major pieces of the clubs puzzle knows it ought to be, given whats happened and what could happen if Torontos fortunes dont turn around. "I think guys are singularly focused on trying to get the most out of what we have collectively here," knuckleballer R.A. Dickey told TSN.ca. "I think last year we were kind of handcuffed a little bit by a few different variables but this year guys are together and they know its basically we need to make this work or it could all get blown up. "We know that and we dont want that to happen so guys are focused." Theres been no speech alluding to a closing window of opportunity but the veteran players, all too familiar with the business of baseball, sense that after falling flat in the season after club ownership increased payroll by some $40-million, another failed year wont be tolerated. You can have one bad year as a group. A second consecutive down season and the "this team cant get it done" narrative cements itself in reality. Dickey, himself, is looking for a bounce back season. The trend is positive, dating back to last year. In 20 first half (pre-All Star Break) starts, Dickey was 8-10 with a 4.69 ERA, 20 home runs allowed and a strikeout to walk ratio of less than two-to-one. He threw 128 2/3 innings, averaging a little more than 6 1/3 per start. After the break, in 14 starts, Dickey went 6-3, 3.56, 15 home runs allowed and stuck out more than three-and-a-half hitters for every walk. Dickeys 96 second half innings work out to almost seven per start. While still prone to the long ball, everything else improved, including his health. Dickey pitched through a strained muscle in his neck, something that began in spring training but by mid-April had mushroomed into a pain that forced him to consider a stint on the disabled list. "You know how things progress," said Dickey. "It starts as something very mild and you just keep going on and thinking its probably going to go away and then something happens and it gets much more significant. It had been there in the spring. When everything gets cranked back up some things arent necessarily in the right places yet." There are no such concerns now. "Physically, Im stronger," said Dickey. Mentally, Dickeys refreshed. The trade to Toronto wasnt the only matter on his plate last offseason. He was promoting his book, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, working with child sex victims in Mumbai and by the time camp started, was being followed by a reporter and camera crew from 60 Minutes. Aside from a fundraiser in New York City and a family vacation to Florida, Dickey had a much quieter winter this year. "That was intentional," said Dickey. "Anne and I both felt like it was a season to be at home together. With the year before, with the trade and the book and India and the Cy Young and all of that, just really spread me very thin. Having a good mate, she realized that was one of the things that should probably change this offseason and she was right." When its pointed out to Dickey that the American League East likely will be stronger this year than last - the Red Sox are the defending World Series champions, the Rays have great starting pitching, the Orioles added pitching in support of a potent offense and the Yankees retooled - the knuckleballer acknowledged the Blue Jays will need a diamond in the rough, maybe more than one, to emerge. "I think that every championship club has to have a guy on the team that you dont expect a ton out of that steps up and does something special for you," said Dickey. "Whether its a position player or a pitcher, in our case I think the hope is theres going to be a pitcher that steps up and gives you something that you werent anticipating and its going to lift you into the next place." Drew Hutchison could be the guy, based on early camp returns. "I think Drews a name," Dickey concurred. "I think Todd Redmonds a name. There are others in this clubhouse that I think, by the end of the year, well have a conversation about this day and youll say, Yeah, that was the guy that you were talking about and heres what happened. Thats the hope. Thats what were hopeful for." JAYS HAMMERED BY TWINS The Blue Jays longest spring trip, not including two games in Montreal later this month, got out of hand early and finished with a 12-2 drubbing at the hands of the Twins in Lee County, near Fort Myers. J.A. Happ struggled badly, retiring one of only seven hitters he faced. He allowed four runs on two hits, walking four in a third of an inning of work. The game was the first played under MLBs new replay rules. In the sixth inning, manager John Gibbons challenged a close play at first base in which the Twins Chris Rahl was ruled safe when shortstop Munenori Kawasakis high throw brought first baseman Jared Goedert off the bag. After a review lasting more than two and a half minutes, the umpires upheld the call on the field. DELABARS BEARD While it isnt yet long enough or messy enough to be mistaken for the facial hair you see on Duck Dynasty, Steve Delabar is committed to the beard hes wearing in camp. Where this odyssey will take him, he doesnt know. "No plan," said Delabar. "Its not a bother to me. It doesnt itch. It doesnt get in my way. I get good comments from it." He wouldnt be the first late-game reliever to create a specific look but Delabar, typically low-key and easy going, isnt trying to strike fear in opposing hitters. This was a concoction for the hunting season. "Its not an intimidation thing at all," said Delabar. "I started growing it in the offseason, Ive trimmed it a couple of times and Im just letting it go." There will be no dying his facial hair, like Brian Wilson of the Dodgers. Itll have its natural tinges of red, white and brown. "Its going to become what it becomes on its own and Im going to let it do what it does," said Delabar. What about his wife, Jamie? Is she agreeable to all of this? "My wife tells me Ive got stuff hanging off of it all the time but its not intentional. "She puts up with it," Delabar continued. "Its not like, Ooh, I like the beard, its not like that. Shed rather me trim it and have it groomed nicely and keep it clean but that aint me." Soccer Jerseys . A spokeswoman for the NLRB says its "a very incremental move" and does not necessarily indicate the board is close to a finding in the case. NFL owners filed an unfair labour charge against the players union in February, arguing that the union was not negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement in good faith. Cheap Soccer Jerseys . Sam, who joined the Cowboys in early September, has spent the entire season on the practice roster. https://www.cheapsoccerjerseysjustwholesale.com/ . The eighth-year point guard played in his 500th career game on Sunday, a 98-93 win over the Orlando Magic. Does he feel like hes played in that many games? "No," he said initially, before reconsidering. SURREY, B.C. -- Wally Buono is glad he was wrong about Andrew Harris. Then the B.C. Lions head coach and general manager, Buono had a different vision for the Winnipeg native than the one that has played out since he became the clubs feature running back midway through the 2011 season. "Smart as I was, I wanted to make a safety out of him," said Buono, now the Lions GM and vice-president of operations. "I think it just shows you the kind of athlete Andrew is. Football has never been too big for him. Its just finding a place for him." That place is in Vancouver for at least the next two seasons after the Lions signed Harris to a contract extension witha guaranteed base salary of $145,000 on Wednesday that will keep him with the team through 2015. With incentives, the deal could be worth as much as $175,000. Harris was a junior football star in the province before signing with the Lions, first making the practice roster and then special teams. "My career has been a bit of journey and I wouldnt want to have it any other way," Harris said as he met the media at the Lions practice facility. "Its been ups and downs and thats part of a career. The one nice thing about this is its another step to another chapter." The soon-to-be 27-year-old Harris decided to move to Vancouver full-time this off-season despite a trying 2013 campaign that saw B.C.s running game struggle for long stretches. "For me its a very good day, and I think for the province and the organization its a good day," said Buono. "For an individual to call this place home after going back and forth I think speaks volumes for what Andrew wants to be a part of. In the organization, you want to keep your assets and hes been a tremendous asset for us." The five-foot-11, 213-pound Harris has rushed for 2,568 yards on 481 carries (5.3-yard average) with 15 TDs during his career, quickly making him one of the premier Canadian running backs in the game. "Hes an elite player," said Lions head coach Mike Benevides. "Hes dynamic, and the combination of he and the other guys weve got on our roster will bode well for us." Harris rushed for 998 yards and seven touchdowns last season, while leading all CFL backs with 61 receptions for 513 yards. His 1,511 yards from scrimmage in 2013 not only led his team, it was more than 400 yards ahead of the next player. But the Lions ground attack lost its way last season, going 10 games without a 100-yard rusher. Soccer Jerseys Online. Harris totalled just 10 yards on two separate occasions during that dry spell, but he never let the adversity affect him, at least in public. "It was tremendously frustrating for all of us, not just Andrew," said Benevides. "He was the byproduct of everything around him. The biggest thing that I think people discredit is the teammate that he is, the pro that hes matured into." The addition of running back Stefan Logan, who started his career with the Lions back in 2008 before jumping to the NFL, and new blocking schemes on the leaky offensive line helped get the ground game back on track by October. "At the end of the day there was still a solid nucleus. I had faith in the coaches, I had a feeling the coaches still had faith in me and it was just a matter of getting everything put together," said Harris, who has never missed a game in his four CFL seasons. "Sometimes it takes a while to get things on the right course and get things going. "Thats what makes a team and makes a brotherhood and a family. I really think that more than ever the nucleus of this team is really close and were building towards a championship team." Now the diminutive Logan and the power-running Harris are set to spend an entire season together sharing the workload for new offensive co-ordinator Khari Jones. "Its one of those things where someone makes a play, you want to make a play as well and we feed off each other," said Harris. "Thats one side of it, and then staying healthy. Were both going to be very fresh. Its going to be a great season and Im very excited about it." The pressure will be on to produce title-calibre results in 2014, with the Lions set to host the Grey Cup at B.C. Place Stadium in November. Harris is one of the constants on a team that has seen a huge exodus of both assistant coaches and players this off-season following an 11-7 campaign that ended with a loss to the eventual Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West Division semifinal. "Ive always been part of championship teams and this organization is looked on as a championship team. Any time you dont get to the championship its unsuccessful," said Harris. "Thats the goal. Thats the mindset. This 2014 season with the Grey Cup here is absolutely a redemption year. "We want to be feared at the end of the season going into the playoffs." ' ' '