extended his career-best hitting streak to 18 game | Forum
miaowang123
Jan 18 '18
CALGARY -- The Calgary Stampeders are less crowded at quarterback this season, but there is still heavy competition for the starters job. Samson Ebukam Jersey . The Stampeders employed a three-man rotation in 2013 mainly because of an early-season injury to Drew Tate. Kevin Glenn started the majority of games, but Bo Levi Mitchell was a busy third-stringer. He won his three starts and came off the bench to lead Calgary to another when Glenn was also injured. Glenn was taken in the off-season expansion draft by the Ottawa Redblacks and subsequently dealt to the B.C. Lions, which leaves Tate and Mitchell vying to lead the offence of a team that posted a league-best 14-4 record last season. "It brings out the best in us and I think that being said, we could be a starting point for the team," Tate said Sunday on the first day of training camp. "If the quarterbacks are battling, everyone else is battling kind of thing." Tate, 29, was anointed Calgarys starter two years ago when Henry Burris was dealt to Hamilton. But injuries have limited the six-foot, 190-pound pivot to 153 completions over the past two seasons. A throwing arm injury on July 6 last year and a subsequent setback sidelined him until October. Training camp reps will test the durability of the arm, Tate says. "Feels good right now. Just trying to be smart with it," he said. "I feel its all moderation with the volume we have. Its a lot of volume and its really hard to mimic that in the off-season, the kind of volume we have, especially in camp. "Ever since I was three feet tall, Ive only had one speed and getting injuries, it make you have to change your approach. So far so good. Its only the a.m. of Day 1, so a lot of ball left." Mitchell, 24, completed 69 per cent of his passes for 1,156 yards and 10 touchdowns last year. Six-foot-four and 204 pounds, Mitchell says theres no jealousy between he and Tate. "Were friends through and through, no matter what," Mitchell says. "When he makes a great play, Im not looking down saying Ive got to make a better one. Im going out there, congratulating him and slapping him on the butt and saying good play. "If you look at last year, we went with three quarterbacks. I know theres not many teams in the league that are going to play one guy for 18 games every single snap, so youve got to be ready. Were going to do whatever we can to help each other prepare for the season." The two Texans both signed contract extensions in the off-season and bring different qualities to the table, says head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. "I guess the best way I could explain it is Drew is more of a jitterbug," Hufnagel explained. "Hell make plays out of nothing, just because of his mobility and elusiveness and great vision and accuracy. "Bo is a little bit of a stronger-armed guy. He has the ability to move around and make plays, but hes more of a pocket guy and throw the ball down the field." The Stampeders lost in the 2013 West Division final to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who went onto win the Grey Cup in Regina. In addition to taking Glenn in the expansion draft, the Redblacks also selected Stampeder offensive lineman JMicheal Deane and safety Eric Fraser. Ottawa also hired away defensive co-ordinator Rick Campbell to be their head coach. Rich Stubler replaced Campbell after two seasons as B.C.s defensive co-ordinator. Stampeder offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson signed a three-year contract extension in November. Hufnagel swung a deal with Ottawa to obtain the first overall pick the Canadian college draft in May and used it to choose Laval offensive lineman Pierre Lavertu. The hope is hes a fast adapter to the CFL as centre Brett Jones was in winning the leagues rookie award last season. Among Calgarys significant contract extensions in the off-season were CFL sack leader Charleston Hughes, receivers Maurice Price, Jabari Arthur and Joe West, as well as middle linebacker Juwan Simpson and linebacker Keon Raymond. To get some experience in his backfield, Hufnagel signed halfbacks Lin-J Shell and Josh Bell, who have experience working with Stubler in Vancouver, as well as former Hamilton Tiger-Cat Dee Webb. "In the defensive backfield, it will be interesting because of the loss of players weve had in the off-season," Hufnagel said. "Theres spots to be won." Running back Jon Cornish, the CFLs leading rusher for two seasons and most outstanding player in 2013, adopted the practice of tai chi, a Chinese martial art, in the off-season. "After doing six months of it, I understand that a lot of my movement patterns were not as efficient as they could be," said Cornish. "A lot of the things I could do on the field could be optimized. Thats what Im trying to focus on this year. "Mentally I felt I could add some aspects to my game." The Stampeders also have at camp running back Martell Mallett, the CFLs rookie of the year in 2009 when he played for the Lions. Calgarys off-season was not without its drama. The team suspended defensive back Quincy Butler nine days before main camp. He was charged with two counts of assault following an incident outside a Calgary casino. Hes due to appear in court June 26. Concordia defensive tackle Quinn Smith, Calgarys seventh overall pick in the college draft, tested positive for a steroid which he says he inadvertently ingested via a supplement. The Toronto native faces a two-year ban from Canadian university football. Smith is currently at Calgarys main camp and is subject to mandatory drug testing under the CFLs drug policy. And Price chose the first day of training camp to apologize both in a press release and in a scrum with reporters for remarks he made on Twitter over a month ago that criticized gay NFL draft pick Michael Sam. The CFL fined Price for those comments. "I just wanted to come here and be face to face with the guys and not do it from a distance," Price said. "Thats why I waited until this day to just apologize. Im aware my comments were offensive and I just want to apologize to the Stamps fans, the CFL and especially Mr. Michael Sam himself." The Stampeders are training on new turf at McMahon Stadium, which makes the pounding of two-a-days feel a little less painful. "Its a lot better, 1,000 per cent better," Price said. "Thats vacation for the joints, the ankles, the knees. Im glad they got that done. That old turf was worn out and hard. When it was snowing it was icy and hard and just rough on the legs." Robert Woods Jersey . They kicked off the still-going trend of host cities winning the Grey Cup and sent Hall of Fame head coach Wally Buono to the front office a champion. Jacob McQuaide Jersey . But back-up Peter Budaj has put up two wins and an overtime loss while starting three games in four nights since Price went down with a suspected groin injury. PHOENIX -- Dan Haren brought his disappointing season with Washington to a strong conclusion on Saturday night, blanking the Arizona Diamondbacks on four hits through seven innings in the Nationals 2-0 victory. Haren (10-14), the former Diamondbacks pitcher who signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Nationals and struggled mightily for much of the season, struck out five and walked one. The 33-year-old right-hander, a free agent at the end of the season, was 6-2 in his last 12 starts. Brandon McCarthy (5-11) gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings. With the loss, Arizona fell to 80-81, the first time the Diamondbacks have been under .500 all season. Arizona threatened against Rafael Soriano in the ninth. Paul Goldschmidt flied out to deep centre, then Martin Prado singled and Miguel Montero walked. A wild pitch advanced the runners to third and second, but Soriano struck out Matt Davidson and retired Chris Owings on a fly ball for his 43rd save. Drew Storen threw a scoreless eighth as the third link of the shutout. Denard Span and Chad Tracy scored the games only runs. Span tripled to the right-field corner leading off the sixth and scored when Ryan Zimmerman grounded out. In the sseventh, Tracy hit a solo shot that landed on the far side of the swimming pool in right field and bounced back into the water. Alec Ogletree Jersey. Meanwhile, Arizona didnt do much against Haren, with all four of its hits coming with two outs. McCarthy had a solid final outing in an injury-plagued season but got no offensive support from the Diamondbacks, who lost their fourth straight. The right-hander retired the first 11 batters before Jayson Werth singled. The game whizzed by in 2 hours, 25 minutes. The Diamondbacks need to win the series finale on Sunday to finish 81-81, the same record they had a year ago. Sundays game will be the last for 70-year-old Davey Johnson as Washington manager. He is retiring after three decades in the majors as player and as a manager who directed four teams to the playoffs, including the Nationals. NOTES: After the game, Johnson said he had scratched RHP Gio Gonzalez from Sundays start and would go with Tanner Roark (7-1, 1.74). LHP Wade Miley (10-10, 3.63) goes for Arizona. ... Goldschmidt extended his career-best hitting streak to 18 games. Goldschmidt fell into a tie for the NL lead in homers when Pedro Alvarez of Pittsburgh hit his 36th on Saturday. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
Share:
