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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. 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." 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Will Compton Titans Jersey . Speaking on Leafs Lunch with Bryan Hayes and Jamie McLennan on Thursday, Bernier said it was "very hard" at times being entrenched behind Jonathan Quick and is now excited at the prospect of getting an opportunity to compete with Reimer for the top spot with the Leafs.EDMONTON - The fourth line answered the bell for the Edmonton Oilers in a showdown of the leagues two worst clubs on Thursday.Anton Lander and Matt Fraser each had a goal and two assists as the Oilers beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2. Oscar Klefbom also scored for the Oilers (13-27-9), who have won three of their last four and now sit four points ahead of last-place Buffalo. The Oilers are now 6-5-2 since interim head coach Todd Nelson took over as full-time head coach.Nelson, who has spent plenty of time watching Landers progress in the American Hockey League, is thrilled to see him start to shine at the NHL level.Thank goodness Anton Lander had the game that he did tonight. He was exceptional, by far the best player on the ice, Nelson said. I think he feels really comfortable and more confident when he looks behind and sees me. Ive been working with him every year since he came over from Europe, so I think that helps. Hes really improved his game. He has earned the opportunity. I thought he was outstanding tonight.Lander shrugged off his personal best three-point performance.I think we played all right, we can still get better, he said. You dont have to play great all the time, but if you get a win thats the most important thing. Its nice to get wins here the last couple of games. Its a good thing we have going on now, we have to keep it going.Tyler Myers and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for the Sabres (14-31-3), who have lost a franchise-worst 13 games in a row and only have one win in their last 18.The defence were involved, but it wasnt a 60-minute effort for all of us, said Sabres centre Torrey Mitchell. We play the first two periods well or we score the first goal, and get off to good starts and we just cant build on it right now.It is clear the frustration level is running very high for the Sabres at the moment.We had our chances, said Buffalo head coach Ted Nolan. With this team we need everyone, we cant afford two or three guys not playing well or not giving what they have to give. It seems like the same ones over and over again, but we only have 20 players, who else are you going to put in?I think we need to stay positive and just keep approaching every game like were going to win the game, added goalie Jhonas Enroth.dddddddddddd We cant go into every game thinking were going to lose the game. We have to stay positive and still believe that we can win games.The Sabres started the scoring just 2:22 into the first period as Mitchell won a battle behind the net and dished the puck out in front to Myers, who slipped a shot under the arm of Ben Scrivens— on a play the Oilers goalie would likely want to have a second chance at. It was Myers second goal of the season.Edmonton tied the game 1-1 with seven-and-a-half minutes left in the opening frame when Lander fed a puck from behind the goal line to Fraser, who beat Sabres starter Enroth with a slap shot for his sixth of the year.The Oilers surged ahead with five minutes to play in the first as Lander sent a backhand pass to Klefbom at the top of the circle and the young defenceman blasted his first goal of the season into the Sabres net.Scrivens was forced to make a couple timely kick saves in an otherwise uneventful and scoreless second period.Edmonton outshot Buffalo 24-16 through 40 minutes.The Oilers were down a defenceman six minutes into the third period as Buffalos Zemgus Girgensons directed Nikita Nikitin into the boards and the Edmonton blue-liner left the game clutching his shoulder.Edmonton took a 3-1 lead eight minutes into the third as a turnover allowed a two-man breakaway with Teddy Purcell feeding Lander for his first goal in 65 games- also giving him his first three-point game of his career. Fraser picked up an assist on the play, also giving him three points in the game.Buffalo closed to within a goal with 2:02 remaining as Ristolainen followed up on the play to bang home a rebound through Scrivens legs.However, the Sabres took a late penalty and couldnt complete the comeback, allowing the Oilers to run out the clock. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '