Jets held their training camp at Dutton Arena on the grounds of my high

The Toronto Blue Jays got out of the gate with a dismal 10-17 record last season and dug themselves a hole they could never really get out of. Its a scenario they really cant afford to repeat in 2014. Prior to last season, 39 of the last 60 teams that were in first place in their division on June 1 went on to make the post-season. If you look at last years races division by division, there were only two teams that werent in first or second in June who went on to make the playoffs. In the American League West, Texas was in first through April and May with a 34-21 - two games ahead of Oakland.  The As went on a 63-32 tear the rest of the way and won the division by five games over the Rangers, who played and lost a sudden death tie-breaker. In the Central, Detroit and Cleveland hit June 1firsy and second in the division with the Tigers leading by a half-game. Detroit wound up taking the division by one game over the Indians. In the East, Boston was on top at 34-23. This is one division where there was a slight exception. Tampa Bay was actually in 4th place heading into the games of June 1 at 30-25. But the Rays were only a half-game back of Baltimore and one game behind the second place Yankees. The Rays finished 61-46 to take second place. The Blue Jays were 23-33 through the first two months and never really came close to getting back in the race, even with that 11 game win streak. In the National League East, Atlanta was 33-22 through April and May and won the division easily with a 96-66 mark. Washington, a pre-season favourite, was 28-28 and missed the playoffs altogether. In the Central, St. Louis got off to a 37-18 start and led the division wire-to-wire on the way to a Major League best 97-65 record. Pittsburgh was third two months in, but overhauled Cincinnati for second place, though both teams won 90 or more and both made the post season. The National League West was the one division where all bets were off after two months. Arizona was on top at 31-24 with a two-and-a-half game lead on the Giants and Rockies. The Dodgers were seven-and-a-half games out through April and May at 23-31. The division practically turned upside down the rest of the way. The D-Backs faded and finished at 81-81 for the second year in a row. San Francisco and Colorado collapsed and both finished 10 or more games below .500. The Dodgers, though, inspired in large part by the arrival of Yasiel Puig went a scorching 69-39 down the stretch and won the division with a 92-70 mark. So it pretty much goes without saying, the Blue Jays need to be at least slightly above .500 through April and May to have any hope of competing in the tough American League East. Their schedule is, by no means, easy with 22 of their 57 games through the first two months against the A.L East, including six against Boston and seven versus Tampa Bay - the two playoff favourites in the division. The Jays only have 10 games over April and May against "lesser" opponents, with three against Houston, three versus Minnesota and a four-game interleague series against Philadelphia. 25 of the 57 are against teams that either made the playoffs last season or were involved in tie-breakers. The Jays also have just one day off in the month of May; a real test of the pitching staff. No team will ever admit theyre out of it after just two months. The Blue Jays didnt a year ago. But in five of the six divisions last season, the two-month mark painted a pretty vivid picture of where teams are really at. The other day I was reading about the new head of the Players Association, Tony Clark, when another name in the article caught my name. It was Steve Rogers, who also works for the Association as a liaison to the players among his many duties. I actually had to double check that it was the same Steve Rogers who once pitched for the Expos. It was. If you get into a conversation with anyone as to who the greatest pitcher in Expos history was, some might suggest Pedro Martinez, who went 55-33 in his four seasons in Montreal. Others might say Dennis Martinez for his perfect game, maybe Bill Stoneman for his two no-hitters or Ross Grimsley for being the Expos first 20-game winner. In my mind, though, it was Steve Rogers. I was surprised to see his career record was only 158-152, but its his other numbers that blow you away. Over 13 seasons, all with Montreal, he pitched over 200 innings in nine of them. Six times he was over 250 innings, four times over 270 and in 1977 when he won 17 games he pitched an incredible 300.2 innings. He actually pitched more innings per season than Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax and had a better career ERA at 3.17 than another Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. Rogers was a five-time all-star and finished second in the rookie of the year voting and one year was second in the Cy Young balloting. It was a different era, but compare Rogers numbers to one of the Blue Jays all-time greats Roy Halladay in a couple of categories. Rogers had 129 complete games and 37 shutouts and Halladay had 67 complete games and 20 shutouts. Rogers, 64 now, had to retire at 35 when his shoulder essentially gave out on him. He is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame at St, Marys and tries to get back for the Induction Ceremonies every year.  He concedes he might even have had a shot at Cooperstown if he had been able to pitch another 5-7 years and could have won another 70 games. The Expos only made the playoffs once in their history - 1981. Steve Rogers beat Phillies legend Steve Carlton twice in the division series and then defeated the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLCS. But say his name today and many will only remember his relief appearance on "Blue Monday" at the Big "0," when he gave up the series deciding homer to the Dodgers Rick Monday. If you look at the numbers and the character of the man, Steve Rogers should be remembered for much more than that. Hernanes Jersey . A roar erupted at Omnilife Stadium when the large contingent of Canadian athletes walked into the stadium Friday night, led by flag-bearer Christine Sinclair. Victor Brazil Jersey . The Indiana centre just kept playing and ended up having a big finish to help the pull out a tough road win. Hibbert, the Pacers second-leading scorer, left the court with the broken nose after fouling Kobe Bryant with 6:46 left in the first quarter. http://www.brazilsoccerteamstore.com/World-Cup-Fred-Brazil-Jersey.html . -- Stephen Curry found other ways to contribute when his shooting skills let him down a bit. Dante Soccer Jersey . Murphy made his season debut Thursday, three days after the birth of son Noah. He called staying in Florida an extra day "the right decision to make" following wife Victorias cesarean section and said "we felt the best thing for our family was for me to stay. Hernanes Soccer Jersey .Y. - The NFL may be on the hook for more money than it expected if a federal judge cant be convinced that its $765 million concussion settlement with more than 4,500 former players will be adequate to pay out benefits over the 65-year life of the agreement.If theres one thing Ive learned about Winnipeg from having grown up there, its that its citizens are fiercely proud of what they consider the fabric of their community. Sure, we soldier through long, cold winters and slap ourselves silly in the summers to kill persistent swarms of mosquitoes. However, if anybody belittles our city because of the aforementioned sterotypes, woe befall he who does so out of ignorance or spite. Or so we see it. Its okay for Winnipeggers to criticize our home, but you better not. For that reason, I am not surprised that Winnipeggers are overwhelmingly insisting on resurrecting the name "Jets". For the vast majority, it is not an option to accept or even consider a different nickname. Over the past few months as the NHLs return to Winnipeg drew closer to reality, Ive been observing the blogs, Facebook posts and my colleague Jay Onrait (a temporary, but honorary Winnipegger) all lobbying the "Jets" cause. I have come to believe it is not actually the name that Winnipeg hockey fans cling to, but rather, what the Jets symbolize to them. That is, the nickname is a vehicle for the sentiments that accompany the Jets being a part of their community and lives. They are attached to the ritual of going to Jets games with Dad or Mom or brother or sister. There was something quintessentially "Winnipeg" about going back to an icy car at Polo Park and running the engine for 15 minutes to warm it up, but not caring because they had their Jets pennants in hand and the satisfaction of cheering their team to victory. Its a ritual as comfortable, familiar and warm as Sunday dinners and road trips to Grand Forks, North Dakota to shop at Target. They are attached to their first experience as armchair GMs or budding entrepeneurs when they and their classmates would hoard Jets hockey cards for some far less attractive player. Its the only time in the real world that one could acquire Dale Hawerchuk or Teemu Selanne for a fourth line winger without having to throw in a draft choice, unless you consider the leathery, pink bubble gum, coated with clammy white powder the equivalent of future considerations. Future considerations like tooth decay. They are attached to the memory of going to a Jets game on a date with somebody they ended up marrying. When they tell people the story of how they met, they recount the score of the game (as if it mattered to a lovestruck young couple) and how massive the Queens portrait appeared when they took their seats, arms laden with popcorn, hot dogs and soda. They are attached to the funnest, craziest time they ever had at a live event when thousands of fans, clad in white and waving towels in unison, would scream at the tops of their lungs at Jets playoff games in the late 80s through mid 90s. Those crazy times were even more cherished for the rare games in which the Jets beat the mighty (and hated) Oilers and Flames. They are attached to the sadness of the impending reality of their team being ripped from their tight embrace, when tens of thousands of fans rallied together in May 1995 to futilely prevent the Jets from leaving. They cant bear to sacrifice the connection of the Jets to the proud stories of kids emptying their piggy banks and exotic dancers offering their tip money to put in the pot to save their team. I get it. I understand it, and I empathize with those intense feelings because I have my own great memories that I accumulated from the Jets being a part of my hometown.dddddddddddd I remember watching Patrick Roy skate out onto the ice in the bleu, blanc et rouge he would soon refuse to don any longer. I witnessed Wayne Gretzky becoming the first player to reach the 2,000-point plateau while wearing the Kings black and silver. For both of those games, I was with a childhood buddy whom Ive known since kindergarten and who was eventually the best man at my wedding. I once saw Norris Trophy winner Randy Carlyle walking through the bowels of Winnipeg Arena after a game and was surprised that he was not as tall as he appeared in televised games. Years later as a TSN reporter, I would meet Carlyle, the Anaheim Ducks head coach at the 2007 Western Conference Final. I told him that I used to be a big fan of his when I was a teenager. Yeah, that made him feel young. Having the Jets in Winnipeg allowed me to spot Chris Chelios hanging out at the Rorie Street Marble Club after a Canadiens road game. I didnt approach him because he appeared to be busy, beer in hand and checking out the action. Of course, he was having far more success than my friends and I were. In their last season in the WHA, the Jets held their training camp at Dutton Arena on the grounds of my high school alma mater, St. Johns Ravenscourt. During recess or after lunch, I would go autograph hunting and managed to meet the likes of Morris Lukowich, Terry Ruskowski and Kim Clackson. As a naïve school kid, I couldnt fathom how Ruskowski could possibly play just as hard for the Chicago Blackhawks as he did for my hometown team after Winnipeg lost him in the reclamation draft upon entering the NHL. Those were lean times -- the Jets roster raided and laid bare and the team learning to crawl in the big league. So, yes, I have an attachment to the Jets for a variety of reasons, but I am willing to let go of the name. Part of that willingness comes from the fact that the Jets won only two of thirteen playoff series in their original NHL incarnation. They also currently hang in limbo in the Sonoran Desert. Not exactly a glowing legacy or dignified end. That crystallizes the sober fact that the Jets havent come back to Winnipeg; NHL hockey has. Maybe its time to consider sacrificing the name "Jets", but commit to holding on to the memories. Those can never be taken away. Please be prepared to accept without bitterness that True North Sports and Entertainment may want to usher in a fresh era under a different monicker, not just capitalize on a marketing opportunity. Be open to a new name for your hockey team and to creating attachments and memories that can be an extension of your Jets, but also a brand new hockey identity for your infants and toddlers, whom youll likely clad in tiny hockey jerseys and take to the MTS Centre once they are old enough to attend games. Be as open to a new name for your hockey team as you are inviting, hospitable and courteous to visitors, strangers and each other. Because if theres another thing Ive learned about Winnipeg from having grown up there, its that its citizens arms are always wide open to somebody new to their community and it doesnt matter what the newcomers name is. John Lu is TSNs Montreal Bureau Reporter and a long-time Winnipegger cheap jerseys ' ' '