Die Macht » and although its frrustrating, there

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Tim Tebow threw a wrinkle into the baseball season when he enticed dozens of reporters and scouts to trek to Los Angeles in late August to watch him run a 60-yard dash, shag fly balls and crank batting practice fastballs over the fence.For his next trick, Tebow will ascend to the ranks of the Spruce Bluff Preserve, the Botanical Gardens and the Treasure Coast Model Railroad Club as a Port St. Lucie tourist attraction.Tebows professional journey begins for real Monday when he joins 57 other aspiring New York Mets for the teams three-week instructional league at Tradition Field. The event is open to the public, and the Mets have fielded enough inquiries to expect more than the usual trickle of back field stragglers.Ive never seen more than seven people at our instructional league before, Ian Levin, the Mets director of minor league operations, said with a laugh. Im making that up, obviously, but its typically just family and friends. This will definitely be a different instructional league.Tebow, a former Heisman Trophy winner, two-time national champion at Florida and NFL quarterback with the Denver Broncos, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles, is taking a high-profile plunge into a new sport. After signing with the Mets for a $100,000 bonus, hell try to buck convention and carve out a career in baseball despite an 11-year absence from the game.Ever since Tebow revealed his plans to pursue baseball, he has been the focus of a debate over the worthiness of the experiment. Supporters are intrigued by the entertainment value of a natural athlete chasing his dream. Skeptics dismiss the Tebow story as a publicity stunt and think hes receiving an inordinate amount of attention for someone with a minuscule chance of reaching the big leagues. Tebow also has received criticism for his plan to leave the instructional league for a day or two each week to continue his TV work with ESPNs SEC Nation.Amid the dissenting views, Tebow approaches his quest with his typical brand of can-do optimism.Im excited about it. I really am, Tebow told Newsday last week during a national media tour. Ive loved the game of baseball. Hitting a baseball is one of my favorite things to do in sports. Im excited about the journey, the challenge, the difficulties, all of it. Its going to be a lot of fun and its something thats definitely exciting for me.The Mets signed Tebow knowing that hes raw and has a big learning curve ahead of him, so instructional league is a natural place to start. Its a compressed learning lab that allows young players to polish their skills in a structured environment with an emphasis on individual instruction. Tebows progress in Florida will help determine whether hes ready for the Arizona Fall League or winter ball, or if hes better served working one-on-one with coaches during the offseason heading into spring training.The Mets are sending 24 coaches to Port St. Lucie to oversee 29 pitchers, eight catchers, 12 infielders and nine outfielders (a group that includes Tebow). Tebow and his fellow instructional leaguers will arrive at the park at 7:30 or 8 a.m. each day. After breakfast and morning meetings, theyll hit the field from 10 a.m. to 1 or 2 p.m.The Mets minor leaguers are scheduled to play five games against other organizations and several more intrasquad games in Port St. Lucie. Factor in weight training before or after games, and Tebow will be logging some days of eight hours or more in the 90-degree heat. Former Boston College pitcher Justin Dunn, New Yorks top pick in Junes first-year player draft, has the highest profile among the other 57 players in camp. The oldest instructional leaguer after the 29-year-old Tebow is pitcher Cameron Griffin, who turned 25 in June.The youngest attendee, Venezuelan outfielder Raul Beracierta, turned 17 in May. Dominican shortstop Gregory Guerrero, who signed for a $1.2 million bonus in 2015, is also 17. Hes the nephew of former big league All-Star Vladimir Guerrero.Mets general manager Sandy Alderson has expressed the hope that Tebow will have an impact on New Yorks prospects with his energy and wide range of life experiences. Tebows give-and-take with players of high school and college age is likely to be one of the more intriguing facets of his instructional league experience.Development comes from all different areas, Levin said. Theres on-field development that comes from the coaches and playing games, and theres off-field development from your peers and the environment. I havent spoken to Tim yet, but from everything Ive seen about him, hes a very positive person and obviously a hard worker whos become successful in his own right.Im looking forward to seeing him interact with the players. It brings another perspective and another viewpoint that could rub off on our guys in a positive way.Judging from the media attention and the number of Mets fans wholl be dropping by Tradition Field this week, Levin and his colleagues in New Yorks front office arent the only ones who are curious how Tebow will fare in his strange new world.Air Jordan Outlet .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Jordan China . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. https://www.jordanchina.us/ . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Fake Jordan . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Wholesale Air Jordan . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad.Derbyshire v Northamptonshire - match abandoned without a ball being bowled Derbyshire suffered their first complete wash-out in the County Championship in 35 years after no play was possible for the third day running against Northamptonshire at Chesterfield.Play was abandoned after umpires Neil Mallender and Ian Blackwell decided the bowlers run-ups were still unsafe and the match was officially called off in mid-afternoon following an inspection by umpires, captain and coaches.Although no rain has fallen during the hours of play in recent days, the Queens Park ground is still saturated from heavy rainfall through June.Northamptonshire captain Alex Wakely said: Its one of the most bizarre games of cricket Ive ever been involved in.Its a great ground and great place to play cricket but unfortunately the weather had taken its toll from the previous week with the heavy rain completely saturating the run-ups and theyre still unstable.I think if you bowled on them for four or five overs you would be churning up mud. We got bowlers to run in but they didnt feel confident and with our injury issues we had to be pretty careful.But it wasnt our decision, the umpires deemed it unfit and although its frrustrating, theres nothing we can do about it.ddddddddddddThe washout is a major setback for the Chesterfield festival, which has also lost the chance to host Sundays NatWest T20 Blast fixture against Yorkshire after the club made the decision to shift the fixture to Derby.Chief Executive, Simon Storey said: Chesterfield is a special venue and everyone puts a huge amount of time, planning and preparation into delivering a successful festival each year.Unfortunately, following the recent bad weather over the last few weeks, the outfield has taken on a huge amount of water and is still saturated despite the recent sunshine. In the interest of player safety, no play has been possible.Its clearly very disappointing that the weather has beaten us this year but we remain committed to bringing county cricket to Queens Park.The Festival is so much more than just cricket and helps put Chesterfield on the map. Since county cricket returned to Chesterfield in 2006, we have been able to build strong partnerships with Chesterfield Cricket Club and Chesterfield Borough Council. ' ' '