Flirt » . He stopped a combined 55 shots in Canadas

TORONTO - Blue Jays manager John Gibbons sat down with TSN.ca before Saturdays game against the Kansas City Royals to discuss his status, the degree to which leadership matters in baseball, and whether hell make significant adjustments to next Februarys spring training schedule. Listen to the interview here or read the transcript below. TSN.ca: Some heat around here, John, the hot seat is a little warm. Look, its been a tough year. Im giving you an opportunity to say your piece. Youre on the hot seat. Is it fair? Is it unfair? Does fairness matter? GIBBONS: Scott, fairness doesnt matter. Thats the business were in. Its the entertainment business but its serious sports. I dont get caught up in all of that to be honest with you. Yeah, it hurts, nobody likes to be ripped and things like that but on the flip side of that, Im responsible for what happens with this team on the field and it hasnt been a good year. You just grind it out. Ive said before, I show up every day and its a new day. You go out there, I love competing. You go out there and try to win that game and do the best job you can. At the end of the day, you know, all the decisions you make, do they all work? Of course not. Some of the best decisions you make backfire on you. Some of the worst ones you make, you come out smelling like a rose. Thats just the way the game is but you deal with it, you learn to deal with it, you expect it and if you cant handle it, youre in trouble. TSN.ca: You look at this team heading into the offseason, and Alex has said youre going to be back next year so you have that security, the support of your general manager, which we knew that you had. Can this team, as currently constituted, come back in spring training and head into next April and be a winning group? GIBBONS: Scott, we like the core group of this team. Theres no question, we liked it going into this year with all the big moves made and we still like it. But we have to make some additions to upgrade some areas, thats no secret. In saying that, thats not always easy. Alex, weve talked about it, I think everybody understands its pretty obvious what we need to do and hell attempt to do that. Its not easy because you go around to most teams in the game, theyre basically in a lot of ways. One thing about Alex, hes tireless, hes not afraid to make some things happen and hell put his best foot forward. Its still a good group out there but theres no question to be a better team we need to make a few changes. TSN.ca: When you assess this season, John, that 11-game win streak stands out obviously as the high point and there have been some down points both before that and after that. So lets talk about that 11-game win streak. Does that tell you that theres something in there that we just havent seen enough of or was that an outlier? Because a lot of teams dont win 11 in a row, not even the best. GIBBONS: No question about that. What really happened there is it all came together for that period of time. We pitched well during that stretch, you know we played good, solid defence and the bats, we were swinging the bats. It was one of those stretches when everything was clicking. You dont always get that over the season. Some stretches you pitch well and youre not hitting and the defence, the defence needs to be the constant. Youre going to have some bad games but thats one thing you can control a little bit of. That needs to be there every day. Pitching and offence can be hit or miss but for that stretch, it all came together for a length of time there. Everybody goes through those ups and downs but you know what those good teams do, they may not have the 11-game streak but theres more consistency throughout the year. The best teams in baseball go through their down stretches where theyll lose five, six, sometimes seven games in a row, something like that. Thats because maybe theyre not pitching good, their bats went silent or whatever it is. Over 162 games, thats the norm but the better teams, they do it better and they generally, their pitching day in and day out gives you a shot. When we talk about good pitching, it doesnt mean you have to go out and throw shutouts every night but its really, they keep you in the game and give you a shot and let your offence maybe take over. In fairness to our pitching also this year, we havent played good enough defence at times and theyve suffered for that. Im not just talking about errors and things like that. I mean, there are some balls we havent gotten to that you really need to at this level. Some double plays you need to turn at the big league level to bail you out of a tough inning that we havent always done. Lets face it, at the big league level, you have to take away hits, too. You need the routine play made but you know what, you still need to take away hits because thats what the better teams do. TSN.ca: In hockey, theres a player on each team that wears a C and that denotes leadership. What value do you place on leadership in such an individual sport like baseball? GIBBONS: Thats a good question that will always be debated. First off, youre not going to win anything without talent, in any sport, thats just a given. But still there needs to be a couple of guys, they have to be guys with credentials, those are the guys they look to, and youve got to be able to snap somebody back in place, snap a team back in and say, Listen, were not doing this well, lets go guys, lets pick it up and things like that. If its always got to be the manager or the coach, I mean its not going to work. Sooner or later, if you talk too much, they tune you out. Its just like your own children or your teacher at school, whatever it might be, talk is cheap and if you have to do it too often, apparently somebodys not listening. It always helps to have a couple of guys on a team, they take that role whether they like it or not and its not always talking, its how they carry themselves and their actions. That can be very valuable. That point will probably always be debated because Ive been on some teams where you have a bunch of renegades, you know talented teams but it can be a mess but yet they play as a team, they show up to win and that usually overrides the day. TSN.ca: The kids that have come up have injected, I guess, some refreshing air into the environment here. What have you seen, I guess you take your pick on who you want to talk about but what have you seen from Goins, Gose, Pillar and Sierra? GIBBONS: Ive been really, pleasantly surprised. Theyve all helped one way or the other and theyre doing a nice job. Like Ive said before, some guys never get opportunities in this game so when you get it, you know you may only get one so take advantage of it. Theyre all showing us something right now. Goins has been in the spotlight lately with some great defensive plays and some big hits. Hes really doing everything right now. You know, Gosey, (Friday) night had the big triple to set up an inning in a tight ball game to plate a big run for us and hes playing great defence and throwing his hits in along the way. Pillar, its been kind of hit or miss for him, he hasnt really settled in offensively but you look, hes been a good base runner, hes been good in the outfielder and things like that. Sierra, hes starting to heat up a little bit. When he keeps his swing under control, theres a lot in that bat. Hes a good, solid outfielder with a great arm. He can be a difference maker with that arm. Theyve all, one way or another, done some things to benefit us and you get excited about that and youre happy for them because, like I said, there are only so many opportunities you get in this business so it always helps to make that good impression and theyre all doing that. TSN.ca: Next year cant be this year with the record. The expectations were high coming in and you havent lived up to them this season. Do you change your approach at all heading into spring training next year? Do you make some adjustments next season based on what youve seen out of the group this year to give yourself a better chance to have a better record? GIBBONS: What you always do, game-to-game, you reflect on the game and from a managers standpoint, what might have I done different that might have affected the outcome, this and that. Youre constantly doing that and of course, at the end of the year and were getting there, you always reflect and think you know what, maybe we need to do this, more of this, less of that, what have you. Going into spring training, there will be some adjustments that will be made. Well look at the personnel and well deal with that. We were ready coming out of spring training, no doubt in my mind, we just didnt play well. We just didnt handle expectations well, whether we were a little bit tight, what have you, thats just the way it went. But you need to make some adjustments and do some things to change some things because theres no question that, you know, you need a better year next year. A lot was put into this team and we were really hyped up, as we should have been, everybody liked all the moves and there were a number of them. We like the group that we have, of course there needs to be some additions, but you know were always optimistic. Like Ive said before, the fans have turned out this year. Theyve done their part of it and this place will explode with a winning team out there and we dont think were that far off and this city and this country deserve that. Custom Buffalo Bills Jerseys . Price also posted the longest shutout sequence since 1960 at 164:19 minutes. He stopped a combined 55 shots in Canadas final two games and 70 of 71 shots in Canadas three elimination games, allowing only a breakaway goal to Lauris Darzins of Latvia. For his efforts, Price was named best goalkeeper by the tournament directorate. Prices outstanding play is marred only by the extremely strong defensive play of Canadas top six defencemen; Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. Marshall Newhouse Bills Jersey . -- Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer will be out three to six weeks with a stress fracture of the third finger of his right hand. http://www.billsnflgears.com/Black-Harrison-Phillips-Bills-Jersey.html?cat=988 . Marian Gaborik had two goals and an assist and Martin Jones made just 17 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season as the Kings snapped a three-game losing skid with a 3-0 victory over the lowly Oilers on Thursday. Josh Allen Bills Jersey . Coverage on TSN is underway now while action resumes on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. TSN GO also offers TSN subscribers bonus online coverage, with live streams of all four venues. Eddie Yarbrough Bills Jersey . Geovany Soto had an RBI for the Cubs. Carlos Silva gave up one run on three hits over six innings to pick up the win. Josh Willingham drove in the lone run for the Nationals, who had just four hits.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Clippers will try to press on amidst the on-going controversy with owner Donald Sterling Tuesday night when their series with the Golden State Warriors returns to the Staples Center tied 2-2. After Sterling was allegedly caught on tape making hideous racially insensitive remarks, he did not attend Game 4s loss at Oracle Arena. You can see the action live on TSN2 at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Commissioner Adam Silver will have a 2 p.m. ET press conference Tuesday afternoon, where its expected he will make some announcement about Sterlings punishment. The team has taken the high road to this point, allowing head coach Doc Rivers to speak on the teams behalf. "We are all trying to figure out everything as it goes and just do our best and we hope that it is the right answer," Rivers said in a statement. "Im still going to do my best and do what I think is best for the team and for everybody in this case. It is very difficult because there are so many emotions in this. This is a very emotional subject, this is personal." The Clippers players staged a silent protest prior to tip-off Sunday by wearing their pregame shirts inside-out with the teams logo out of sight. They wore black arm or wrist bands and black socks but appeared stuck in warmup mode when the game got underway. The Warriors blew out the Clippers in Sundays Game 4, 118-97. "Its my job as a coach to get them ready and I just didnt feel like I did the right stuff," said Rivers. "I gotta do a better job. Whatever the distractions, whatever, I gotta do a better job. I didnt do my job tonight. I take that personally." Stephen Curry jumped out to a fast start in Game 4 and thhe Warriors shot 55 percent from the field in rolling to the win.ddddddddddddCurry finished with 33 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, while Andre Iguodala netted 22 points for the Warriors, who had dropped back-to-back games after stealing the opener in LA. Klay Thompson, David Lee and Harrison Barnes all finished with 15 points. Curry raced out with 17 points in the first 8:30, hitting all five of his 3- point attempts as the Warriors opened a 20-point lead in the first quarter. "We tried to come out with a sense of urgency. Thats been a big problem in the first three games," said Curry. "As a team we havent started games off well and theyve gotten a double-digit lead each first quarter. So we moved the ball well, guys set great screens and we executed at a higher pace. When we do that, were tough to guard." Warriors head coach Mark Jackson inserted Draymond Green into the starting lineup in place of Jermaine ONeal. Green only finished with four points, but Golden State got the victory. The Clippers pulled within nine in the fourth but did not climb out of the mammoth hole. Jamal Crawford and Blake Griffin led the club with 26 and 21 points, respectively. Chris Paul finished with 16 points, followed by 12 from J.J. Redick and 10 out of Matt Barnes. By Tuesdays tip, the Clippers should know the fate of Sterling and hopefully will get closer to closure. Either way, the series must go on. "I just believe when the game starts, the game starts and nobody cares anymore," Rivers said following the loss. "Golden State surely didnt care." Game 6 will be Thursday night back at Oracle Arena. Cheap Bills Jerseys Authentic Dolphins Jerseys Cheap Patriots Store Cyber Monday Jets Jerseys Cyber Monday Texans Jerseys Black Friday Colts Jerseys Cheap Jaguars Jerseys Cheap Titans Store Black Friday Broncos Jerseys Cheap Chiefs Jerseys Cheap Raiders Jerseys Authentic Chargers Jerseys Cheap Ravens Store Black Friday Steelers Jerseys Black Friday Cowboys Jerseys Cheap Giants Store Cheap Eagles Store Black Friday Redskins Jerseys Falcons Jerseys Online Panthers Jerseys Online Authentic Saints Jerseys Cheap Buccaneers Jerseys Authentic Cardinals Jerseys Black Friday 49ers Jerseys Black Friday Seahawks Jerseys Cyber Monday Rams Jerseys Black Friday Bears Jerseys Wholesale Lions Jerseys Packers Jerseys Online Authentic Vikings Jerseys Cyber Monday Bengals Jerseys Cyber Monday Browns Jerseys ' ' '