MONTREAL -- Sarah Koltuns Yukon rink may be paving the way for a new generation of northern curlers. Darnell Nurse Jersey . The team representing the Territories lost twice at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Monday -- both by a score of 9-3 after eight ends -- to Team Canadas Rachel Homan in the afternoon and Quebecs Allison Ross in the evening. But theres promise in the Yukons (1-4) play. Theyre the youngest team at this years Scotties. Skip Sarah Koltun, lead Andrea Sinclair and second Patty Wallingham are all 20 years old, while third Chelsea Duncan is 21. The young women from Whitehorse have put their studies on hold for the year in order to stay in the Yukon and train for the season. "Its just something we decided was worth it in order to become more successful," said Koltun. "In the sport in general, teams are becoming more successful at a young age." They raise money year-round and receive funding from the Yukon government to offset the cost of travel expenses to tournaments. After skipping seven consecutive years at the Canadian junior championship, Koltun is now the youngest skip ever to play in this, her first Scotties. "Its been really good so far," she said. "And to have the crowd on our side is really cool. Weve been enjoying it a lot. The teams here are a lot stronger." In their evening match, Quebec Ross (1-4) broke a deadlock in the seventh end, putting up a four-spot with her last stone. "It wasnt my first instinct," Ross said of the tough shot that ultimately gave her the victory. "I was just going to draw for two. And my lead (Pamela Nugent) said, Is the double there? We went and looked. We figured it was, and that we might as well try it out." Quebec stole another two in the eighth to record their first victory of the Scotties to the delight of the hometown fans. "We made some shots that made it worth the crowd cheering for us," said Ross. "It feels really good -- finally. We played as well as we played in the other games, but it actually went our way this time. Nice change." The evening draw saw tight finishes across all other sheets. Newfoundlands Heather Strong (4-1) and P.E.I.s Kim Dolan (2-3) took a 4-4 tie into the 10th end, where Strong scored a deuce for the 6-4 victory. Nova Scotias Heather Smith (1-4) was involved in a seesaw battle with British Columbias Kesa Van Osch (2-3). Van Osch made her final rock count in the 10th end to win 9-8 after giving up the two-point lead in the ninth. Nova Scotia has given up leads in each of its four Scotties losses. "Weve had chances to win all four," said Smith. "An end or a shot, here or there, are the difference in our games so far. We just cant find a way to win. "In a week like this one, you just have to hope to get more wins than losses on those close ones." Albertas Val Sweeting (4-1) needed extra ends to beat New Brunswicks Andrea Crawford (2-3) by a score of 9-8 in the 11th. Sweeting put two points on the board in the eighth, and another two in the ninth, before Crawford tied the game with the hammer in the 10th. In afternoon matches Monday, Dolan edged Ontarios Allison Flaxey (1-3) by a count of 7-5. Flaxey scored one in the seventh end, and another in the eighth, but couldnt complete the comeback. Manitobas Chelsea Carey (3-1) scored four in the ninth against Nova Scotia, which conceded right after. The afternoon draw also saw a Saskatchewan team that could do no wrong, beating New Brunswick 9-3 after eight ends. Saskatchewan skip Stefanie Lawton (3-1) stole four in the third and another three in the fifth to seal the victory. "Theres always room for improvement," said Lawton, who called the four-point steal in the third end a game changer. "It definitely gave us an advantage and we were able to capitalize on that throughout the game. We played strong and put the pressure on." Homan scored three to take the lead over the Yukon in the third end, and never looked back. With the score 4-1 in the fourth, Koltun had a chance to reduce the deficit, but overthrew her final rock. "Unfortunately we didnt play our best, but we just need to learn from it," said Koltun. Still-unbeaten Canada (4-0) added another four in the seventh for an impressive victory. "Were playing well," said Homan. "We have to fine-tune a few things here and there. We got an early head start, and it was tough (for the Yukon) to catch up. "Were feeling good. We just need to keep rolling." Homan said she recognized a slightly younger version of herself in the Yukons skip, and suggested their styles of play were similar. Koltun couldnt agree more. "We try to play and train similarly, putting in the effort, the time, thats necessary to be successful," said Koltun, whos admired Homan since seeing her play at the 2007 Winter Canada Games in Whitehorse. "That hard work will eventually pay off." Cheap NHL Jerseys . -- Falcons running back Steven Jackson, who has missed the last four games with a hamstring injury, is expected to practice on Wednesday. Ryan Strome Jersey . - Kobe Bryant and LeBron James traded hugs, big shots and verbal jabs all night with warmth and humour. http://www.oilersauthority.com/authentic-iiro-pakarinen-oilers-jersey/ . Meanwhile, the Jets extended their winning streak to four and remain perfect under Paul Maurice. Its the Jets second four-game winning streak of the season, the other coming in mid-November.TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips answers several questions each week. This week, topics cover the Blue Jays sudden success, Anthony Goses role with the Blue Jays, keeping confidence in tough times and scouts who keep the MLB alive. 1) Why are the Toronto Blue Jays winning so much of late when they scuffled last season with virtually the same roster? Is it purely the return to health of key players (Reyes, Bautista, Janssen)? Is it John Gibbons assigning personal catchers, managing the pen, managing team attitude? How do you explain the difference? Or is this just a short blip for a team that will eventually crash back to earth? So will the real Blue Jays please stand up? What are we to believe? Are the Jays the team that terribly disappointed us last year or are they this years surprising first place club? How is it possible that effectively the same team could have been so bad last year yet so good this year? All very legitimate questions for sure. There are clearly three major differences from 2013 to 2014. Firstly, the offense is hitting on all cylinders. The Jays are leading the AL in runs scored so far this season. They have the most home runs and the best OPS. They are slugging the ball like the team they were constructed to be. Clearly health is a major factor the turnaround from last year to this year as well. A healthy Jose Reyes at the top of the lineup establishes the offences as aggressive. His speed provides more fastball for the hitters behind him in the lineup and they are capitalizing on those opportunities. Jose Batisista looks like the same guy from 2010-11 who hit for average and power and was a run producer. He is showing no ill effects of past injuries. Edwin Encarnacion has literally been Mickey Mantle in the month of May as he tied Mantles AL record for most homers in a month with 16. Melky Cabrera is slugging like the Melky Cabrera who used steroids in the past. Oops did I say that out loud? I dont think he is using again. It was just a joke. The second major turnaround from last year to this year is in starting pitching. In 2013, the Jays starters ranked 14th in the league with a 4.81 ERA. They struggled, often leaving the club in an early hole which was nearly impossible to dig out of, as it affected the quality of the at bats that the hitters delivered. This season the Jays starters are ranked fifth in the AL with a 3.83 ERA. They are almost a whole run per game better. This is a huge difference. The starters have a win-loss record of 26-13 where as they only won 46 games all season a year ago. This is proving that with such a vaunted offense, if the starters can keep it close, the Jays have a chance to win. The third major improvement for the Jays has been their defence. They have committed the second fewest errors in the AL so far this season. A year ago, they committed the fourth-most errors. This means that the pitching staff doesnt have to get nearly as many extra outs. One thing to beware of is the schedule. The Jays are 32-23 so far. But they have only played 13 games against teams with a record over .500. In those games they are 7-6. I believe Toronto can sustain their success because they have a winning formula: Good starting pitching with a solid defence and a powerful offence. They have some vulnerability in the rotation as Mark Buehrle just cant continue at this pace and the back end has been a bit inconsistent. They really need to add another starter. The bullpen hasnt been nearly as consistent as a year ago which means they may need to address that at some point as well. They certainly have some flaws but quite honestly, so does everyone else in the AL East. They can win this division! 2) Anthony Gose has thrived in centre field with the Toronto Blue Jays since Colby Rasmus went down with injury. With the team in first place and riding a hot streak, whats the best way to get him in the lineup when Rasmus returns? Or does Gose just go back to the bench (or the minors) and wait for his next chance? It is time to figure out what Anthony Gose can become. The Jays need to figure out if he is part of the problem or solution by the seasons end. Goses speed can energize a team when they are struggling to score. He could bolster his teammates on day games after night games when everyone else feels a bit sluggish. He has a chance to be a valuable asset. Melky Cabrera and Colby Rasmus are both free agents at the end of the year. The Jays need to know if they have a low-cost alternative for one of their outfield spots for next year. The only way to figure that out is to let the young man play at the major league level and get some at bats. Colby Rasmus gives up too many at bats. He loses focus or concentration and strikes out far too much. Yes, Rasmus has more power than Gose but Goses speed adds an element to the Jays offence that can be tough for the opposition to deal with. I think Colby Rasmus needs competition. He needs to fight and produce for playing time. There is a way to manage the outfield with Rasmus and Gose splitting time in CF and giving occasional days off to Cabrera and Batista. John Gibbons can keep everyone hungry and everyone sharp. When I was Mets general manager I made a trade with the Dodgers for Roger Cedeno, a speedy outfielder, who had not proven himself at the major league level. I was able to keep him in the majors and paired him up with Rickey Henderson. Hendersons knowledge and experience rubbed off on Cedeno and we developed a player with discipline at the plate and blazing speed on the bases. Gose needs to be in Jose Reyes hip pocket and learn as much as possible. The Jays need to win now and develop for the future as well. 3) Earlier in the week, Jeff Samardzija finally picked up his first win of the season. He had gone 16 starts without a win, despite having one of the lowest ERAs in the majors this season. You were an executive with the Mets when Anthony Young lost 27 straight decisions (both as a starter and as a reliever) in the early 90s, despite being a decent pitcher. How does the team best manage a players psyche when they go through stretches like this? And how much of that kind of mental health massaging actually goes on in the Big Leagues? So many of todays young baseball executives are administrators. They have a mathematical or statistical background. They are number crunchers. Paul Depodesta, who was Billy Beanes assistant in Oakland (the Jonah Hill character in Moneyball) and later the GM for the Los Angeles Dodgers once said that if he couldnt quantify something about a player then it didnt matter. But what he missed was that it is people who play the game not robotss. Wayne Gretzky Jersey. The way a player feels affects how he plays. I have a psychology degree. It doesnt give me the ability to read peoples minds but it certainly added to my understanding of what makes people tick. Plus as a player, my mind is what held me back from being a big leaguer. I experienced how the mental part of the game can impact a players performance. I could run. I was strong. I had a good arm. I made myself into a more than adequate defender. I was a good teammate. But I was a "try-er." When things went wrong I pushed harder and worked more. I took extra batting practice almost every day of my professional career. I told myself, "No one will ever out-work me. If I dont get to the big leagues it wont be because I didnt put enough effort in to it." I realize now that I tried too hard. I worked too much. If I took nine good swings in batting practice but a bad one on my 10th swing I held on to the bad swing. I beat myself up over it. If I struck out I didnt feel the pain of one strike out, I carried the weight of the fifty before it as well. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go around. Players with the most confidence ever and least confidence never can reach the major leagues, but the players with the right balance of confidence, humility, concentration, intensity, etc. are the ones who best sustain success. I am living a life of recovery now and one of the tools of the program is the Serenity Prayer. It reads like this: God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;the Courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference. One of the toughest lessons for players to accept is that they dont control the outcome of everything in the game. They can only control what they can control. You would be shocked by the fine line that baseball players walk between confidence and complete and utter fear of failure, even among the very best players. I asked New York Mets star third baseman David Wright in spring training if he ever thought when he signed to play ball out of high school if he would have this kind of career. He said he didnt and then added that he questions himself all of the time if he can still do it. When he has a bad day he battles those (voices) that make him wonder if he might not be good anymore. If he has those thoughts, I clearly had no chance with the way I thought. When players struggle like Anthony Young and Jeff Jeff Samardzija they can feel helpless and hopeless. They wonder what they can possibly do differently. They start to feel like they need to be perfect. Striving for perfection is dangerous. When a pitcher isnt getting run support he feels like he needs to miss bats and pitch a shutout. When pitchers try too hard they often compound their problems. The same for batters. It is not a matter of trying harder to perform better in baseball. It takes concentration and intensity. Unfortunately, "trying" to generate intensity often leads to tension. Tension leads to overthinking and over trying which leads to more struggles. It is a vicious circle that can start all over again. The key to overcoming struggles is to maintain ones composure and confidence. Players truly need to understand that they dont have to be perfect. Remember, this is a game where hitters fail 70% of the time and are deemed extremely successful. Coping with failure is the attribute that separates the men from the boys in the major leagues. It was my downfall. Failure devoured me. I actually felt physical pain when I was struggling. I obsessed about it, it ate me up. Remarkably, Anthony Young and Jeff Samardzija had the ability to not get paralyzed by their failure because within the failure they were able to see some success. They learned that a loss didnt mean they were a loser. They didnt let their performance or their job become their identity. The ability to own their role in the result and not take on the entire responsibility of the result was critical. My experience is that when people share their personal struggles around failure it helps the person going through a tough time. That is what sponsors do in recovery and coaches do in baseball. I am still so amazed by athletes that can cope with failure. I know the challenge it can be. I still have to battle the negative thoughts that come with failure. I am better at it than I have ever been mainly because I have given myself a lot of practice. In recovery we talk about "Progress not perfection." It works in baseball too. 4) Next week baseball will hold the First-Year Player Draft. Eligible high school and college kids in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico can be drafted in the forty rounds (plus compensation picks) of the draft. Once drafted the kids will negotiate a contract with the selecting team and when they sign they will enter the minor league system for their organization and start to work their way to the majors. Many fans show up at major league games and have no idea about where the players come from. Baseball develops its own players. It is one of the things that distinguishes it from football and basketball. The NFL and NBA are satisfied in letting the NCAA develop their players. Fans dont understand the investment that baseball makes to acquire and develop its talent. Each organization in baseball spends about $15-$20 million on their minor leagues and scouting department. Those departments are the research and development areas of the operations. The money to pay for that comes directly off of the bottom line of the revenues generated by the major league team. Teams reinvest in themselves every year. If a team calls up four rookies in a season then they are effectively spending about $5 million per player per year. That is a significant investment. The men and women that make up the minor league and scouting departments are the lifeline of every organization. They are the foundation upon which the organization is built. Without them there would be no need for a business operations department, accounting department, ticket department or marketing department. There would be no stadiums or ground crews if not for the people who choose and develop the players. For the most part this is a group of no-name faceless baseball lifers who love the game and are committed to their respective organization. They have a keen eye for talent and a knack for getting to know what kids are made of. They rarely get recognition beyond that which they give themselves at a banquet at the Baseball Winter Meetings. Each year a scout or two is recognized for long and meritorious service. As we approach the draft give some thought and thanksgiving for those who have committed their lives to your baseball enjoyment. They love the game like you do and their only hope is that they can pick players who will make you happy. They never get the attention they deserve. I hope one or two read this. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys China Wholesale Baseball Jerseys China Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Near Me Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Throwback Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '