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DETROIT – Alex Anthopoulos likes to say the perception of a player is directly tied to his production. Blake Wheeler USA Jersey . If a team is winning and a player is excelling, the guy becomes known as a "leader" or a "positive clubhouse influence." When a team is losing and a player is struggling, his character is questioned. Its easy to be enamoured with Mark Buehrle because of the year hes having. By now you know the statistics: 10-1, a 2.10 ERA and in his only no-decision of the season, Buehrle left with the lead. Even last season, when Buehrle struggled through the first half of the Blue Jays haltingly poor year, he drew no negative attention. He went about his between-starts routine despite his weight-related self-deprecation. He was always approachable despite his claims that he detests speaking into a microphone. What became clear, quickly, was Buehrles devotion to his family. Married with two kids, he looks in advance at the schedule and plots out homestands that will facilitate relatively lengthy visits. His father, John and mother, Pat, seem to be constants around the ballclub, even though John estimates they attend about 30 games per season. When this reporter renewed acquaintances with Buehrle on the first day of spring training and casually asked how his offseason had gone, it took the pitcher less than five seconds to begin to explain the difficulty he had saying goodbye to his children, who are now old enough to understand their dad has to leave home to go to work but wish that he wouldnt. John is in Detroit for the brief road trip, having scheduled a personal matter in the Motor City to coincide with the Jays lone visit to the Tigers. Hed have it no other way. "Our whole family was brought up as a family," said John Buehrle. "Everything we failed in or excelled in we shared as a family, our trials and tribulations if you will. When Mark did well in school, high school, college, everybody shared. When my other sons did well, everybody shared. They were brought up as a family, just as I was. They were brought up with respect." Mark Buehrle is making $18 million this season and is due $19 million in 2015, the final year of the four-year pact he inked with the Miami Marlins in the 2011-2012 offseason. When it comes to respect, money isnt an object in the Buehrle household. Johns three sons, Mike, 40, Jason, 37, and Mark, 35, and his one daughter Amy, 32, are expected to adhere to a set of rules when they visit. "Even today, they come to my house, they sit down at my table, their hat comes off," said John Buehrle. "Ill sit there and Ill stare them down. They wont even look at me, they can feel it. They can feel me looking at them because its manners. Theyll say Yes sir, no sir and Yes maam, no maam and open the door for the wives and their wives because thats the way they were raised." Mark is four wins shy of 200 for his career. Not many pitchers make it to the big leagues, let alone last long enough to win that many games. Johns son has never been placed on the disabled list. Hes pitching in his 15th big league season. John is pleased for Marks success but shows his youngest son no favoritism. "Any parent is proud anytime their child excels or succeeds at anything, regardless of what it is," said Buehrle. "Im just as proud of Mark for being where he is today as I am of my one son whos driving a concrete truck whos never had an accident. And thats a lot to say for concrete truck drivers, believe me, because I used to be one." Asked about Toronto, John returns to what matters most. "Toronto is as much of a family-oriented town as what we had found Chicago to be," said Buehrle. "We were there 12-and-a-half years in Chicago. Everybody in Chicago was like family. Every place we went, they were so nice." He admitted to uncertainty about Toronto after the trade with the Marlins and no, the fact Johns sons pitbull dog wasnt allowed to move to Ontario wasnt his top concern. "We didnt know, coming to Toronto, big city, we didnt know what it was going to be like," said Buehrle. "From day one, the people, everyone, not just the team, the staff, the people we ran into in the restaurants, it was genuine, you can tell when someones putting it on, but you could really tell there was a genuine Were glad youre here." The Blue Jays are glad to have Buehrle. Since last years All-Star Break, Mark is 17-5 with a 2.66 ERA. With an impending second knee replacement surgery scheduled soon, John hopes to be able to travel to Minneapolis for this years All-Star Game. He expects Mark will be a participant. "Hes having a real good year and I couldnt want or wish any better for him or the team," said Buehrle. "Im really happy for the fans, too, because the fans, I guess in a certain way through Mark see a little hope and glimmer and think, Oh, we may just pull it off this year. Its not just Mark. You look at Joey Bats, Edwin, Melky. Everyones having an awesome year." http://www.hockeyusaonline.com/Phil-Kessel-Jersey/ . Kowalczuk has spent four seasons with the Bombers. He spent most of 2013 on the reserve list but played in four games. Lucas is entering his sixth CFL season and third with the Bombers. Phil Kessel Jersey . Gerrard stroked home the spot kick after Sascha Riether fouled Daniel Sturridge in the 90th minute. After routing Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield on Saturday, Liverpool had to come from behind twice for a precious victory at Craven Cottage.ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues were 2 for 2 to open the shootout. Robin Lehner was thinking, oh no, not again. The Ottawa Senators backup goalie shut the door the rest of the way and ended a career oh-fer in shootouts. "Hopefully, this will break a curse," Lehner said after Kyle Turris scored the deciding goal in the fifth round for a 5-4 Senators victory Tuesday night. "I know I can be good at it. Ive had a few bad ones in the beginning that snowballed and got in my head." Lehner had been 0-6 in shootouts, allowing 12 goals on 24 shots. It was 14 goals on 26 attempts after T.J. Oshie and Alexander Steen scored for St. Louis, but Lehner regrouped to stop Vladimir Tarasenko, Kevin Shattenkirk and Maxim Lapierre. Mika Zibanejad and Stephane Da Costa also scored in the tiebreaker for Ottawa. Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak had been 4-1 in shootouts, allowing just three goals on 16 shots. "To have the type of response we had in the third, to tie it up, to get the two points in a tough building against a very good team is huge," Turris said. "Robbie played unreal. Stood on his head." Oshie had a goal and an assist in regulation for the Blues, who lost at home to an Eastern Conference opponent for the first time in 10 games this season. St. Louis had a season-high 50 shots but squandered a two-goal cushion in the third period and missed two chances to close it out in the shootout. The Blues were 0 for 7 on the power play. St. Louis gave up a 2-1 lead in its last game at Nashville, then won in a shootout. "Were probably taking a step the wrong way when weve got the game in good hands," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Were turning pretty comfortable games into track meets." Jason Spezza had his third three-point game of the season and capped a three-goal flurry in a span of 2:35 that gave Ottawa a 4-3 lead midway through the third. Erik Karlsson had a goal and an assist to give him 53 points, best among NHL defencemen. Turris also scored a goal. Blues defenceman Jordan Leopold tied it at 11:08 with his first of the season on an odd-angled shot that banged off Lehner. The attendance of 14,758 was more than 4,000 shy of capacity at the Scottrade Center, the crowd held down by a snowstorm that left roadways cloggeed. Tim Thomas Jersey. The Blues also set a season best with 23 shots in a two-goal second period, seemingly taking control with a 3-1 lead despite coming up empty with more than 2 minutes of a two-man advantage. "I think theres things weve got to clean up," Oshie said. "I dont think weve got to get too down on ourselves. "The guys that made the mistakes, they know that they made them. Well clean them up. Were going to be fine." The puck got lodged in the netting on Oshies goal that made it 3-2, a score that went unannounced until after Oshie pointed out the pucks location and then the play was reviewed. "It was still hanging there and people started shovelling the ice and I wanted to argue my case," Oshie said. "I knew it was in." Ottawa beat Jaroslav Halak for three goals in a span of four shots in the third, with Milan Michalek and Turris scoring. The Senators bounced back from a 2-1 overtime loss at Pittsburgh a night earlier. Besides scoring his first goal in 38 games with St. Louis over two seasons, Leopold also saved one in the second period. Karlssons shot trickled between Halaks pads and was on the goal line and still sliding when the defenceman swatted it away. The game began with the promise of fisticuffs from the Blues as retribution for an elbow to the head by Ottawas Zack Smith that was blamed for the concussion that sidelined Steen for 11 games in late December. Rugged Ryan Reaves was picked to take the opening faceoff for the Blues, presumably set to square off with Smith, but both players were whistled for minor unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the opening minute and both teams settled down. Turris tied it on a pass that deflected off the skate of a Blues player at 7:02, and Spezza capitalized when the Blues failed to clear the puck out of the zone and beat Halak with a high drive that ticked off the stick of a defenceman for his 15th goal of the season and a 4-3 lead. NOTES: The Blues had outscored Eastern Conference foes 43-13 while going 9-0 to start the season. ... Leopold has six points in 22 games this season. ... Ottawa D Chris Phillips (lower body) missed his fifth straight game. ... Blues backup goalie Brian Elliott started for Ottawa in a 5-2 loss the last time the Senators played in St. Louis on Nov. 19, 2010. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' ' nfl jerseys cheap
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