Pirate Galaxy » is planning to head up to Augusta early to get

Q: To say the least, you performed on some massive stages during your career. Have you found something in your retired life to fill that adrenaline void that you got used to for so many yearsJM: I dont think its possible to fill it. Once youve played, no matter what those guys say coaching is just not the same. The only real exciting thing, that may even be tougher, is my two boys were playing college football until recently, and so you follow them a little bit, live and die with them (laughs). But after that, theres not a whole lot that compares. You wish that everybody else could experience a Sunday afternoon and then youd realize why guys try to play for so long.Q: Youve been retired for more than a few years now, is there another sport that youve really grown to love watching, that maybe you didnt get a chance to watch a whole lot during your playing days?JM: Um, (thinking). Theres way too many baseball games (laughs), I always have a hard time with it. Lets see, this year the team that will win the pennant will lose more games than I lost in my whole career. This just doesnt make sense. But Ive started to watch, believe it or not, soccer and golf.Q: So you watched a lot of the World Cup earlier this summer?JM: Ya, I did, that was a lot of fun.(2013 World Series Winning Boston Red Sox Record:Joe Montanas career record was 117-47.)Q: Favourite QB/WR tandem in NFL history, other than yourself and Rice?JM: Oh my gosh, theres way too many, um. (Thinking) Im gonna go back and say Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann.Q: Richard Sherman, talks a lot of trash, gets under peoples skin. If you had to pick one, which opposing defensive back over your career did you love throwing touchdowns against, a little more than everyone else?JM: No, we werent very picky, me and Jerry. But Jerry made it easy, Jerry and John. Well I wont say easy, but we didnt really focus on individuals, we hoped they had to focus on us. We didnt care whether it was Dion or Darrell Green, it didnt really matter where they were, who they were covering. We felt that our guys were as good or better on our side then them.Q: Which one of your former teammates used to talk the most trash to you during practice?JM: Well, not really in practice, but in games, when Tim Harris, when he was with Green Bay, he was the worst. Because we didnt have the little things that coaches talk to you now in your helmet, so we had to get signals from the sidelines. So youd be standing there and hed be trying everything he possibly could to distract you. And it wasnt really trash talk it was like, "Hey, hey, what are you looking over there for? No, Im talking to you, talk to me! Whered you go last night? Whatd you do? Whered you go to dinner? Did you go out after?" You know just the stupidest stuff.(photo: jcgsports)Q: And who was the guy on offense for you that always stood up for you and tried to shut up Tim Harris?JM: We didnt have a lot of guys that really talked. That was thing that Bill always said, just let your play do the talking, well let everybody else do that bit. He didnt really like to see a lot of that, so you didnt see that from our guys. On either side of the ball.Q: So, Johnny Football. Are you more disappointed "as a legendary quarterback" that he is squandering such a great opportunity to play in the best league on the planet OR are you more upset "as a man of great nicknames" (like Joe Cool and Comeback Kid) that he is squandering the opportunity.JM: Well, I think hes just finding out that its not as easy as he thought it was gonna be. And you know some people make the transition, some people were just tremendous college quarterbacks and never made it in the NFL. You can go back and look at a lot, even Heisman guys, that were around, but dont really make it. Because its not as easy at it seems, but he made it look easy in college. Its a little bit of a different game when you get up to where they are and I think hes finding that out.Q: Who was the guy for you, when you came into the league that really took you under their wing and taught you what it meant to be a pro?JM: Well actually I was lucky because my quarterback coach at the time, Sam Wyche, played in the NFL for a long period of time and really kind of steered me in the things I needed to be doing and shouldnt be doing. Along with Bill, between the two of them.(Carl Iwasaki/Sports Illustrated)Q: Do you have favourite Super Bowl halftime show?JM: Never saw one! (laughs).Have you ever gone BarDown?JM: Oh yeah! But off the top of my head it was too many years ago. Clay Buchholz Blue Jays Jersey . LOUIS -- Known for his game-managing and defensive skills, Yadier Molina made another statement with his bat. Joe Carter Blue Jays Jersey . - The Pittsburgh Pirates plan on keeping promising left fielder Starling Marte playing alongside National League MVP Andrew McCutchen for years to come. http://www.bluejaysonline.com/blue-jays-ken-giles-jersey/. -- Keith Aulie has joined the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dalton Pompey Jersey . They find themselves trying to knock each other out in the Western Conference finals for the second straight year. The Blackhawks prevailed last year on their way to the Stanley Cup, and they have the early lead this time after taking the opener, 3-1. Toronto Blue Jays . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks seven-game homestand.Graham DeLaet starts his first tournament of 2014 this week in San Diego, teeing it up at the Farmers Insurance Open. While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. While every stop is important for the Canadian golfer, he is more than just a little excited about his first opportunity to play the Masters. "When I look at the schedule, thats the one thing that stands out," he said just prior to heading out to San Diego. "I feel like I know the course so well already, the breaks on the green and where to hit it. Its my highlight sporting event of the year to watch." DeLaet earned his spot in the field through his stellar 2013 season making it to the Tour Championship as well as finishing inside the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking. He even Tweeted out a picture of the official invitation, which now sits framed on a shelf in his living room. DeLaet is planning to head up to Augusta early to get a look at the course and hell have a pretty good tour guide with him. While playing the Shark Shootout in December with Mike Weir, the two Canadians made a plan for a side trip, likely on the Monday of one of the Florida stops. "It wont be hard to make time for that," he said. "Ive been told by a lot of people that my game suits the course, so Im excited to get up there and see it." There are a few stops prior to Augusta of course and DeLaet is hoping he can continue to play as he did for much of 2013, a year that saw him break out and become a bona fide world-class player. It was also a year that left him out of gas at the end, running on fumes as he hit the Christmas break. "It was a good off season," he stated. "I was really burned at the end of last year but now my battery has been recharged and Im ready to get going." The recharging included he and his wife Ruby moving to Phoenix, Ariz., although hell maintain a residence in Boise where hes lived since his school days. He also took in the Winter Classic hockey game in Ann Arbor, Mi., which he described as crazy (he was one of the few fans in attendance at the Leafs-Red Wings game wearing a Calgary Flames sweater). And, as he got closer to returning to play, there was also a lot of practice, trying to find the feel of his almost-pure swing that statistically has him as one of the games best ball-strikers. Thhe off-season was also busy from a sponsorship standpoint as most of his deals expired.ddddddddddddHe signed a new clothing contract with Puma that will see him don some bright hues, including a regular red and white outfit every Sunday. He followed that by inking a deal with Canadian communications company Shaw, whose logo will appear on his hat and bag. And, despite some very lucrative offers - one reportedly with seven figures before the decimal point - he stayed with Titleist clubs and ball. "He was one of the hottest commodities out there. Everyone wanted him," said one equipment company executive. That, of course, is because they - like just about every Canadian golf fan, sees the great potential in DeLaet. He sees it too and is hoping this will be the year he notches his first victory along with a few other goals. "Im excited," stated the Weyburn, Sask., produce who turns 32 on Wednesday. "I want to try and put myself in that position to get the first win. The Presidents Cup again, staying inside the top 50 in the world and even moving up. Those are all outcome goals. I know that they come with how I play. Ive been working hard, putting in the proper practice and using the Monday, Tuesday Wednesday to take care of what I need to take care of so Im ready on Thursday." His tremendous play, perhaps highlighted by his Presidents Cup appearance, has meant other changes as well. First off, his schedule will be different in 2014. In fact, it already is. He skipped the SONY Open in Hawaii, and event in which hes performed well in the past and loves to attend. And there will be other tournaments that have been on his itinerary that will be squeezed out to make room for all four majors as well as the lucrative no-cut World Golf Championship events. There is a stretch starting with the British Open where hell play eight out of nine weeks, an exhausting but unavoidable itinerary. With the great play has also come a crushing demand on his time. More autograph requests. More sponsor requests. And more media requests. "It comes with the territory," DeLaet said. "As I rise up the rankings, I get more attention. You try to limit it as much as you can but at the same time you know its part of the job and you know that its important to talk to certain people." This week marks the start of what could be a very big year for DeLaet. Hes pumped and ready for it. So is most of Canada. ' ' '