Injuries. Schedule. Practice facilities. All have been talked about as being detrimental to the Toronto Argonauts over the first 10 games this CFL season, but talk has become cheap, and its time for the team to move on. Players are coming back from sick bay. Andre Durie and SirVincent Rogers were both back taking regular snaps on Tuesday, which was also the Argos first day in their new practice facility. "I thought our guys did a good job of not making too many excuses," Scott Milanovich told TSN.ca, "But you wonder, as a coach, how much of that is in the back of their mind." That said, seeing familiar faces on the field buoyed spirits, especially the sight of Durie, who was second in the CFL in catches a year ago. A broken clavicle in Week 2 has sidelined him since then, but his return to the first-team offence was something that lifted spirits at the Tuesday session, as did practicing at a location the team could actually call its own. "Its almost refreshing to be here," continued the coach. "The guys are loose today and they just seem happy, and thats a big part of it when youve got 60 guys together for a whole season." From afar, the lack of a permanent home may not have seemed like a big deal. After all, theyre professional athletes and a football field, is a football field, is a football field. Milanovich says that theres much more to it than that. "Coaches consider themselves teachers," said the third-year Argo head coach. "When you have some sort of a traditional meeting space that has everything that the players can have, whether it be boards or video, or the ability to copy sheets right there in the building, all those things matter to us as coaches because we want to give our players everything they possibly can have so that they can learn." As for the schedule, the Argos are in the middle of a 48-day stretch where they dont have a home game. In August they played three games in 11 days. "We knew this season was going to be difficult in the beginning," admitted Milanovich. "Certainly we didnt expect to be 3-7 at this point, but we knew that if we could hang in there we would have a chance to make some hay down the stretch if we needed to." Consider this as time to harvest. The chore will be made easier by the return of Durie. "I think maybe now that the guys are getting back were starting to pick up the tempo a little bit," Durie told TSN.ca, "And (the veterans) are showing the guys that this is the important part of the season where we have to buckle down and bring a lot of energy over the next couple of weeks." What did he learn from his extended stay on the injured list? "I watched (the games) very critically," said the product of York University. "We just need to take care of that ball a little bit more and with the (high number of) penalties, you see it a little differently from the outside looking in, so coming back you want to key on those things and make sure that you help the guys around you focus on those key issues." The Argos are coming off the Labour Day game in Hamilton where they allowed just three points over the final three quarters, but still lost 13-12. Middle linebacker Shea Emry noticed the jump in the teams step on Tuesday. "With what went down last week and with the record that we have," said Emry, "Coming into the locker room and having a great, energetic practice is all we can ask for out of the guys right now." Hes also a believer in the personnel the team has assembled. "For sure," said Emry, who signed with the club in the off season as a free agent. "Its why I came over here. Weve got a great locker room. Weve been riddled with some injuries and there have been guys moving in and out and we just havent been able to finish games, but at the same time I think beginnings of the season like this build character." The run to the post season is underway and next opportunity to test that character will be Saturday in Calgary. .com) - Generally you want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced the legend. . The best round belonged to Pat Perez. Tiger Woods didnt come close to claiming either Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open, where the seven-time champion failed to break par in the opening round for first time in his career.
http://www.cheappiratesjerseysauthentic ... mes-jersey. -- For one night, Nick Calathes provided a big reason to believe the Memphis Grizzlies might be able to withstand the loss of Mike Conley on a short-term basis. . Alen, 28, hit .315 with five home runs, 59 RBI and a career-high nine stolen bases for the Goldeyes last season. He is the longest serving catcher in Goldeyes history, having already spent five seasons with the organization. . TSN 1290s Jordan Cieciwa, Big Marv and Toby are here to give their predictions on who will leave with the belt and who will take some of the other key bouts on the card. Johny Hendricks vs.JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch deservedly draw the attention for what theyve done in getting the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl. Players like Jermaine Kearse, Walter Thurmond and Malcolm Smith are just as big a reason why Seattle is facing Denver in Sundays championship game. Seattle may have one of the better starting lineups in the NFL, but the depth that general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll have amassed is equally impressive. Its the reason they can rotate eight different defensive linemen. Its why when Brandon Browner was injured and Thurmond suspended, Byron Maxwell could step in and the play in Seattles secondary not suffer. Its a regular refrain in the Seattle locker room to hear teammates say the Seahawks reserves could be starters on other teams. And there is some proof: in the past year 23 players once with Seattle have spent time on the 53-man roster of other teams. "Its crazy because were always saying our backups could be starters. We always say that," strong safety Kam Chancellor said. "Those guys, people dont see this, but in practice those guys play just as good as us. Theyre making plays, getting the ball. Those guys contribute on special teams. Our special teams are probably one of the best. "Those guys put in work on special teams and it just goes unseen." When Carroll and Schneider took over, there was a revolving door of roster moves --839 in total since before the start of the 2010 season -- that followed in an effort to make a roster that was competitive beyond just the starters on each side of the ball. They wanted a depth chart that was the envy of the NFL. They wanted their reserves coveted by other teams. They wanted guys they were going to be released grabbed off the waiver wire the second they were made available. Seattle got its wish. Of the players released in the past year, five ended up in Jacksonville and four landed in Kansas City. "John and I have joined together aggressively to compete at every single turn, at every opportunity whatever it may be, to see if theres something in there for us," Carroll said. "Hes done a great job of having the competitive will to keep pushing and fighting and clawing and scratching to have the opportunity that has sent us down thhe road early on with the hundreds of guys that came through the program.dddddddddddd" Kearse, Thurmond and Smith are just three examples of players not counted on as full-time starters that have proven invaluable. Seattles seen contributions from Michael Bowie, Clinton McDonald, Jeremy Lane and Heath Farwell just to name a few more. Kearse was an undrafted free agent that signed with Seattle in 2012 and became a needed option as a third and fourth receiver this season with Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice suffering through injuries. Kearse finished with 22 receptions and four touchdowns in the regular season, but his biggest catch came in the NFC championship game when his 35-yard TD grab in the fourth quarter gave Seattle a 20-17 lead. Thurmond missed four games late in the season when he was suspended for violating the leagues substance-abuse policy. But hes started three games at cornerback this season and is Seattles best option as the fifth defensive back covering slot receivers -- a big emphasis this week with the amount of times the Broncos throw. Smith has shown the same kind of versatility at linebacker. Hes played both outside spot this season, first when Bruce Irvin was suspended and later when injuries to K.J. Wright and Bobby Wagner forced shuffling. "Through all the stuff we have gone through there has always been a guy who stepped up and made plays," Wagner said. "Last year it was Walter, this year it was Walter and Maxwell and guys like Malcolm, everybody. We have a bunch of players that if someone went down can step in and do a great job." One of the ways Seattle was able to create such a dynamic roster came from the three-way quarterback competition that Carroll had last season and which Wilson eventually won. It sent the message to the entire roster and to any free agents -- big-name or small-time -- that Seattle was a place they could come and have a chance. "You could tell looking at our board of players that we had fast, confident, intelligent individuals," Schneider said last week. "Guys who knew they were going to come in and compete for positions because the previous year we had a three person quarterback competition. "You know you have a shot when you have a three person quarterback competition as a player." ' ' '
