Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 19, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C1 SPORTS ON TV C5 SPORTS RECORD C5 AMERICAN ASSOCIATION: Sioux Falls 6 Winnipeg 5 / MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, Interleague / N. Y. Yankees 6 Atlanta 2 / Cleveland 10 Cincinnati 9 / N. Y. Mets 5 Baltimore 0 / Houston 9 Kansas City 7 / Chicago Cubs 12 Chicago White Sox 3 / Milwaukee 7 Toronto 6 / Arizona 7 Seattle 1 / San Francisco at L. A. Angels, late / Texas at San Diego, late / FOR LATE RESULTS : www. winnipegfreepress. com SPORTS EDITOR: STEVE LYONS 697- 7285 sports@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com I CLASSIFIED C6 TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012 Roger Clemens acquitted of lying to Congress about juice C 4 Spain, Italy advance at Euro 2012 C 2 C 1 SPORTS TICKER THE Jets have constructed a Winnipeg- friendly exhibition schedule for their second NHL season. Last fall, the team simply inherited the pre- season menu from the Atlanta Thrashers and it involved a split- squad day and some onerous travel hours. This fall, the Jets play four of their seven exhibition games in the MTS Centre and have only day trips to Edmonton, Saskatoon and Minnesota for contests elsewhere. " One of the things we had the benefit of was to reach out and ( make) our own exhibition schedule this year," Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said Monday. " Zinger ( assistant GM Craig Heisinger) did a great job putting this in place and created some good travel options and some good pairings as far as teams to go see. " It's a good opportunity spread out over the course of training camp to view all of our players." The Jets begin on Sept. 24 with a trip to Edmonton, then return to the MTS Centre to play the Oilers the next night. Winnipeg will also play Minnesota and Boston in a pair of games, including one outing against the Bruins in Saskatoon on Sept. 29. Ottawa, Oct. 6 at the MTS Centre, is the Jets' other opponent. All games in Winnipeg will start at 7 p. m. Last fall's exhibition schedule created some travel nightmares for Cheveldayoff, Heisinger and others to see all games. In one stretch, the team played Saturday in Nashville, Sunday in Charlotte, N. C. and Monday afternoon in St. John's, N. L. " It was a high number ( of hours) relative to what the rest of the league was doing but this year all our trips are day trips," Cheveldayoff said. " We'll be able to fly in the day of the game and we shouldn't kill too much practice time. " We'll get a lot accomplished and our entire organization will be able to view the players. We won't be doing any back- to- backs on the same day with coaching staffs split like what happened last year." Of course, now all there is to do is hope the games will get played. The NHL's collective bargaining agreement with the NHL Players Association expires on Sept. 15. tim. campbell@ freepress. mb. ca By Tim Campbell Oil as starter fluid The Winnipeg Jets pre- season schedule: Sept. 24 @ Edmonton Oilers Rexall Place 8: 00 p. m. Sept. 25 Edmonton Oilers MTS Centre 7: 00 p. m. Sept. 29 Boston Bruins Credit Union Centre 8: 00 p. m. (@ Saskatoon) Sept. 30 Boston Bruins MTS Centre 7: 00 p. m. Oct. 2 @ Minnesota Wild Xcel Energy Center 7: 00 p. m. Oct. 4 Minnesota Wild MTS Centre 7: 00 p. m. Oct. 6 Ottawa Senators MTS Centre 7: 00 p. m. Jets' exhibition schedule sees big improvement B Y this point, you already know everything you could ever want to know about the minutiae of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive line. You have been treated to reams of coverage about the battle at the middle linebacker spot this year between Pierre- Luc Labbe and Henoc Muamba. You know what Jovon Johnson thinks about cowbells, which Bomber player's girlfriend makes the best cupcakes and what the wind tolerance is for putting a steel girder in place on the roof of a football stadium. You know all those things - and much, much more - if you've been paying even a little attention to the comings and goings in Bombers training camp this month. But what you haven't heard much about - at least not until this week changes all that - is the state, health and mindset of Hutchinson, Kan. native Buck James Pierce. You remember him, right? He's the starting quarterback for the Bombers. " I'm excited to put the last few weeks into motion a bit," Pierce said after practice Monday, referencing what will be his 2012 debut Wednesday evening when he leads the Bombers against the Hamilton Tiger- Cats at Canad Inns Stadium in the final pre- season game for both teams. " It's going to be exciting being at home." It is a monument to two important changes in the atmosphere around Bombers training camp this season that the single most- important man on the Bombers roster this coming season has managed to mostly fly under the radar through the better part of three weeks of training camp. First and foremost, that's a function of how much more at ease everyone - Bombers management, coaching staff, fans, Pierce's Mom - are these days with the state of Pierce's overall health. It was just a year ago at this time, of course, that the single biggest question mark hovering over the Bombers was the state of Pierce's health. Pierce's 2010 season had ended with a dislocated elbow on Labour Day and Pierce at this time last year was attempting to become the first professional quarterback to return to play after suffering such an injury to his throwing arm. And on top of the elbow, there were nagging questions generally about Pierce's overall reliability after an injury- filled CFL career. But after a 2011 season in which Pierce started a career- high 16 games, the durability questions are on the back burner and the battle between quarterbacks Joey Elliott and Alex Brink over who will become Pierce's immediate backup is more of a curiosity this year than the makeor- break issue it seemed like it might be last year. " People have confidence that I'm going to go out there and help us win," says Pierce, adding that with confidence comes some expectations too. " I have to continue to improve in areas I need to improve on. And that's what I'll do. " For me, it's learning some new schemes and helping bring some of the young guys together in some key spots." The second reason Pierce has flown under the radar so far this pre- season is less reassuring. Bluntly speaking, the reason someone as important as the starting quarterback has been largely overlooked in the discussions about the Bombers so far this year is simply because many of the other issues facing this team are so serious right now. Topping that list is the offensive line, of course, where Steve Morley is the only returnee from last year who is currently both on the roster and healthy enough to play. But there are other big question marks - on the defensive line, at middle linebacker, at receiver - that need to be resolved before the regular season opens next week and have eclipsed Pierce as the thing that keeps Bombers GM Joe Mack up at night. Still, this is the CFL where the pass is king and Pierce's time in the shadows has now drawn to a close with the eight- year CFL veteran poised to see his first action of the season Wednesday night. So what can we all expect to see? How about we let Gary Crowton, the club's new offensive co- ordinator, tell you what he's seen in the man he's entrusted to install the new offensive scheme. " My first impressions of him have been very good," says Crowton. " He's a very coachable. And from a talent standpoint, he's got a very quick release, he's a very tough competitor and he's a pretty accurate passer. " And what's been happening is his experience level and his talent are starting to come together as he's matured as a professional. He started 16 games last year and it just seems like everything is coming together for him. And so hopefully, he just keeps getting better and better and has a good year." Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice agrees that there appears to be a hard- won maturity to Pierce this spring, but says the task in front of his starting quarterback remains the same it's been the last two seasons. " What I'd like to see him do is move the football, put us in a position to score and lead the team." The curtain rises Wednesday night. paul. wiecek@ freepress. mb. ca Buck back in spotlight Has flown under radar in camp, but that's about to change No. 1 QB sees first action Wednesday By Paul Wiecek ' People have confidence that I'm going to go out there and help us win' - Bombers QB Buck Pierce PHOTO BY KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS C_ 01_ Jun- 19- 12_ FP_ 01. indd C1 6/ 18/ 12 11: 14: 02 PM ;