DUNEDIN, Florida – The Yankees roughed up R.A. Dickey on Wednesday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, Dickeys final appearance before he throws his second consecutive Opening Day for the Blue Jays. Dickey met with the media to preview the season, discuss the clubs decision to keep Josh Thole over Erik Kratz and outline his plans for the next few days. He will not travel with the team to Montreal. Here is a transcript of the conversation: QUESTION: R.A., kind of one last chance to work a few things out as opposed to looking at it as a regular season game? DICKEY: Oh yeah. Today was not a day about results for me. I mean, ideally, it would be great to get out of there with some clean innings but what was paramount for me was to exercise my arm in a way where I felt good and I was able to use a large range of velocities and mix in pitches that I would never throw during the regular season maybe to put it in their head that thats another weapon that I might use on them later. So I did exactly what I wanted to do. I got my exercise. I came out of spring feeling good. It was a good spring for me. My velocity is there. Now its just a matter of going to work." QUESTION: Not to say anything bad about Kratz but with Thole now being named your guy, I mean he has more experience with you than pretty much any catcher. Is that a good feeling to know that Tholes going to be your guy this year? DICKEY: Yeah. Look, Kratz did a great job. He improved every time out. There is, obviously, no replacement for experience and I think thats probably the angle that the leadership was coming from in making the decision to stick with Thole. Its important for us to get off to a good start, I think, this year and whatevers going to help us do that, so to take that doubt, even if it was just a miniscule doubt, out of the equation completely is good for me. Its good for everybody. QUESTION: But they didnt ask you personally what you thought? DICKEY: No and I didnt want them to. I wanted them to evaluate it on their own. They have enough baseball people in place to be able to see with their own eyes and make the decision accordingly. Thats a tough position for a teammate to be put in and I didnt want any part of it. QUESTION: Are you comfortable throwing to (Kratz) if that happens later in the season? DICKEY: Absolutely. I thought he did a very good job of improving every time out. QUESTION: Are you as ready as you think you can be for your Opening Day assignment? DICKEY: Yes. I feel prepared. I feel confident, which is great. Last year, I didnt feel very confident simply because I didnt feel as prepared. Im really looking forward to getting started and being able to adjust my schedule this year in a way that really maximizes my preparedness has been great. To have the two games where I pitched eight innings and then to have this taper down outing is great. QUESTION: R.A., what are your plans for the two or three days the team is in Montreal? DICKEY: Well, Im going to be hanging back and staying with Josh. Josh is going to stay back. Well throw a bullpen on Friday and then well probably head over together on Saturday, meet the team and it will become regimen after that. The season will begin and Ill just be working out at the minor league complex until its time to go. QUESTION: At the beginning of camp, you were talking about how hopefully somebody steps up and becomes that surprise guy. Now youve got McGowan and Hutchison making the rotation. Has camp pretty much gone as you expected that, you know, you get some kids that come out and maybe a McGowan that no one expected? DICKEY: Yeah, I dont think it ever goes as you expect it to. Theres always a knuckleball thrown in there, you know, for lack of a better word. This year, you know, some guys have been called on to step up that maybe werent expected to. McGowan probably didnt come into spring training thinking he was going to be a starter. He may be our fourth guy in the rotation and great, hes got the stuff for it and I think he wants to do it. Like I said early on, its going to take one or two guys that you dont really count on when you come into camp stepping up and doing something special and weve got those guys in place right now. QUESTION: R.A., the routine you got back to this spring, was it very similar to what you would have done in New York or were their adjustments? DICKEY: No, its almost exactly like 2011, 2012 for me where I was able to pitch a lot early on and then get to a place where I felt comfortable with my stuff and could just go out there and get my exercise that last outing. Again, this outing in particular for me was not at all about results. It was much more just about conditioning. QUESTION: You had that upper back and neck issue, obviously, last year. Was that something that was even bothering you at the end of camp or was that something that didnt really pop up until later? DICKEY: No, I was having to kind of step on the gas. A lot of times you labour to get to where you want to get to and I was labouring last year. This year, I feel like its just coming pretty naturally for me so thats a big encouragement. QUESTION: Is there an overall different feeling with the team as you get set to break camp compared to last year? There was so much going on, expectations were different. Whats the difference in feeling this year? DICKEY: I think the heartbeat is a lot different this year. I think, one, were very comfortable. If I had a word to describe what this camp has been, its been comfortable. Guys really know that this is a big year for us collectively. Were kind of getting a mulligan this year. Last year, a lot of things went wrong. This year, were pretty much all healthy, were here, weve been here all spring, weve been able to do relationship with one another and now were in a much different place than we were last year and its a much more comfortable place. QUESTION: So does that mean it was uncomfortable a year ago? DICKEY: It was for me, sure. I mean, coming in and out of camp, WBC, people flying all over the place, people getting hurt, yeah it was uncomfortable. I dont think it was what anybody wanted last year but every team has to deal with adversity throughout the season. We just were forced to deal with it very early on. Hopefully, this year, we will not have to do that. QUESTION: Your thoughts on pitching Opening Dday. You got to do it last year but theres got to be something special about taking the mound in that first game? DICKEY: Yeah, Ive worked my whole career to try to be trustworthy. I think thats something Ive always longed to be for a team is a trustworthy component. When you get the ball on Opening Day, the manager is saying, We trust you. Thats a special thing and its not something I take lightly at all and so Im very excited and very honoured to have the honour. QUESTION: Getting back to the health issues, did you do anything differently in the offseason to change your conditioning regimen in response or in a way that might curb the possibility of a recurrence? DICKEY: Yeah, I started earlier. I started earlier in the sense that last year, at the World Baseball Classic, I had to be game-ready a lot earlier in the spring than I did this year because youre competing in, basically what it came down to, an Olympic event. You just had to really step on the gas and my body just wasnt ready for that. This year, I didnt have that. I could really take my time and I did take my time. I started a little bit earlier and I was able to pump the brakes a little bit when I needed to and get to a place where I felt very comfortable taking the next step and then the next step. Youre always trying to eliminate excuses. You dont want to have to say, well I dont feel great, or I have a WBC or we werent together. Now were starting to eliminate all those excuses out there that you could hold on to that could make you less than who you should be. So for me, being prepared and being healthy, those are not excuses for me. Sammie Coates Texans Jersey . The agreement comes a little more than one week after the video game manufacturer agreed to a $40 million settlement in a similar but separate case, bringing the total payout planned for athletes to $60 million, said Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, and the NCAA. Tyrann Mathieu Jersey . - The Florida Panthers are getting some Army training to finish off their preparations for the season. http://www.officialauthentictexansstore.com/authentic-aaron-colvin-jersey.html . New Zealand brushed aside England 26-7 to win the event and reclaim top spot in the overall standings. The All Blacks, the defending World Series champions, won their third tournament this season in style, running four tries past England to claim their 11th Cup championship in Hong Kong and first since 2011. Keke Coutee Texans Jersey . The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders are giving it a try, too. Justin Reid Texans Jersey . Here at TSN.ca we will take a look back at the season by bringing together a panel of experts to help pick the best 50 players of the season.WASHINGTON -- With a desperate wave of his stick, Ryan Miller somehow kept a point-blank shot out of the net, saving the Buffalo Sabres from matching the longest road losing streak in franchise history. Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. "I was looking down at my papers for the next line combination, and the boys tell me I missed the save of the year," Buffalo interim coach Ted Nolan said. "He was really good." Miller finished with 28 saves, Tyler Ennis scored in the first period, and Cody Hodgson had the only goal in the shootout for the Sabres, whose 11-game road skid was the second-longest in club history, behind a 12-game streak in the 2011-12 season. "We didnt want to make it 12 in a row. Its already gotten too far," Miller said. "But its something the guys can feel good about." Miller provided a big lift for Buffalo with his terrific stop after Grabovski gathered a rebound in front of the crease. As skilful as it looked, Miller said he was more lucky than anything. "Thats one of those ones where youre just completely out of options," said Miller, who will represent the U.S. next month at the Sochi Olympics. "The puck came through traffic, hit me right in the pads instead of the stick, and I knew I was in trouble. I saw him kind of reload and get position, and those can certainly go wrong for you. More often than not, those guys are going to score, and I dont think he quite got all of it." Jason Chimera scored in the first period, and Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves for the Capitals, who have lost five of seven, including a pair of 2-1 shootout losses to the worst-in-NHL Sabres. NHL rules require that every game have a winner, which seemed a generous gesture in a game in which both teams played as if tthey were already on the Olympic break.dddddddddddd. The mascots and youngsters who played a mini-game during the first intermission generated more riveting scoring chances than the Capitals and Sabres did for long stretches of the second and third periods. "I think the guys are a little tired," Washington coach Adam Oates said. "I dont think we had the energy we should." But Buffalo will take any win it can get. The Sabres actually put the puck in the net twice in the first period -- once for themselves and once for the Capitals. Brian Flynn, trying to stop a pass from Chimera to Marcus Johansson, got his stick on the puck and directed it past his own goalie to give Washington the early lead. Chimera was given credit for the goal. Ennis tied it late in the period on a power play. With 53 seconds remaining in regulation, Karl Alnzer put the puck in the net for the Capitals, but the goal didnt count because Nicklas Backstrom had tripped Hodgson to give Alzner the clear shot. The Sabres were given a power play that carried into overtime. The Sabres welcomed back Hodgson, who had missed eight games with a hand injury, and Ville Leino, who had been out for three games with a lower body injury. Not on the ice was prospect Mikhail Grigorenko, who is refusing to accept an assignment to the juniors. The Sabres, who have scored by far the fewest goals scored in the league, are trying to steady themselves during a period of upheaval. Sundays game was the second under new general manager Tim Murphy. "I think today was a good opportunity to reset and say were going to play a hard-nosed game," Miller said, "and we did a nice job." NOTES: Washington D Connor Carrick got his first NHL assist on Chimeras goal. ... A blue tarp hung in the rafters at the Verizon Center, one day after a Washington Wizards NBA game was delayed twice because of a leak in the roof. There were no such weather delays Sunday. Stitched College Jerseys Cheap UCLA Jerseys NCAA Louisville Cardinals Jerseys North Carolina Jerseys Stitched Kentucky Wildcats Jerseys Stitched Alabama Crimson Tide Jerseys Cheap Basketball Wisconsin Badgers Jerseys Authentic NCAA Jerseys Store Wholesale Basketball NCAA Jerseys Cheap Duke Gear Stitched Alabama Jerseys Stitched Georgia Jerseys Cheap Clemson Jerseys Authentic Authentic Texas Jerseys Wholesale USC Jerseys Stitched Oklahoma Jerseys Stitched Ohio State Jerseys Cheap Notre Dame Gear UCLA Jerseys From China Cheap Louisville Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap North Carolina Jerseys Authentic Cheap Kentucky Jerseys Authentic Wisconsin Jerseys From China Cheap Michigan Gear Cheap Florida Gear Wholesale Arizona State Jerseys Cheap LSU Gear Cheap Auburn Gear Cheap California Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Miami Jerseys Authentic Cheap Michigan State Gear Cheap Tennessee Jerseys Authentic Texas A&M Jerseys From China Authentic Wake Forest Jerseys West Virginia Jerseys From China ' ' '