game reliever to create a specific look but Delaba

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Receiver Stevie Johnson is heading to his hometown San Francisco 49ers after being the odd man out in Buffalo. The Bills traded Johnson to the 49ers on Friday in a deal made before the start of the second round of the NFL draft. In exchange, Buffalo acquired an undisclosed pick next year. ESPN reported it was a conditional fourth-round selection. The deal was made a day after the Bills traded up five spots to select Clemson receiver Sammy Watkins with the fourth pick. Watkins addition was the latest in a series of moves the Bills have made to restock their receiver position, and it led to Johnson being expendable after six seasons in Buffalo. The Bills also acquired receiver Mike Williams in a trade with Tampa Bay last month. Last year, Buffalo used second- and third-round picks to draft Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin. Johnson left Buffalo on Thursday, when he was spotted on a flight that landed in Las Vegas about an hour after Buffalo drafted Watkins. "Todays decision was not an easy one to make, especially involving a player like Stevie, who leaves everything he has on the field and is an emotional leader in our locker room," Bills general manager Doug Whaley said. "All of the decisions we make are done so in the best interest of our team." The 49ers, by comparison, had a need for receiver and were expected to address the position in the draft. San Francisco instead gained an experienced player in Johnson to fill a key spot as San Franciscos likely No. 3 receiver behind Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin. While Boldin received a new $12 million, two-year contract in March, Crabtree is entering the final season of his contract and San Francisco lost Mario Manningham in free agency. Johnson spent the past four seasons as a starter in Buffalo. He became the Bills first player to break 1,000 yards receiving in consecutive seasons in 2010-11, and extended the streak in 2012. 49ers first-round draft pick safety Jimmie Ward was thrilled to learn of the addition of Johnson as the defender made the rounds at team headquarters Friday. "Its awesome," Ward said. "Im a competitor so I like to play against the best guys. If youve got a lot of best guys on your team, thats only going to get me better at the end of the day." Johnsons numbers dropped last year, when he finished with 52 catches for 597 yards in 12 games. Aside from being slowed by an assortment of injuries, he was excused by the team for the final two games of the season following the death of his mother. Overall, he has 301 catches for 3,842 yards and 28 touchdowns in 75 games. Johnson is from San Francisco and played collegiately at Kentucky. The Bills selected him in the seventh round in 2008. At 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds, Johnson can play on the outside, but is best suited to play an inside slot position. Johnson is known for his outgoing personality and colorful touchdown celebrations that have, on occasion, gotten him into trouble. Former Bills coach Chan Gailey benched Johnson for the final three quarters of Buffalos 2011 season finale. The discipline occurred after Johnson was penalized a second time that season for an excessive touchdown celebration. The Bills, who havent made the playoffs in 14 seasons, are counting on Watkins to add a dynamic threat to an offence that lacked consistency last season under rookie quarterback EJ Manuel. Whaley acknowledged the risk he took with a "win-now" approach by giving up a No. 9 pick this year, plus a first- and fourth-round pick next year in trade with Cleveland to select Watkins. Thats fine with Watkins, who arrived in Buffalo earlier in the day. "Throughout my whole life Ive had high expectations of myself," Watkins said. "I cant wait to get it started." In three seasons, Watkins set 23 school records, including career marks with 240 catches and 3,391 yards. His 27 career touchdowns matched a school record. AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in Santa Clara, California, contributed to this report. Soccer Jerseys Outlet . Like a magic trick, the puck popped out behind Stalock in the San Jose net. While Sharks coach Todd McLellan decried the legality of the tiebreaking goal, the Los Angeles Kings celebrated their latest, greatest escape yet. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys .Y. -- A month ago, Syracuse was unbeaten, ranked No. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseys.co/. Messis father, Jorge Horacio Messi, is apparently still under investigation for an alleged 4 million euros ($5.3 million) in unpaid taxes from Messis image rights from 2007-09. Messis public relations firm confirmed Spanish media reports that the state prosecutor has asked for Messi to be dropped from the investigation that began in June 2013. 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"I think guys are singularly focused on trying to get the most out of what we have collectively here," knuckleballer R.A. Dickey told TSN.ca. "I think last year we were kind of handcuffed a little bit by a few different variables but this year guys are together and they know its basically we need to make this work or it could all get blown up. "We know that and we dont want that to happen so guys are focused." Theres been no speech alluding to a closing window of opportunity but the veteran players, all too familiar with the business of baseball, sense that after falling flat in the season after club ownership increased payroll by some $40-million, another failed year wont be tolerated. You can have one bad year as a group. A second consecutive down season and the "this team cant get it done" narrative cements itself in reality. Dickey, himself, is looking for a bounce back season. The trend is positive, dating back to last year. In 20 first half (pre-All Star Break) starts, Dickey was 8-10 with a 4.69 ERA, 20 home runs allowed and a strikeout to walk ratio of less than two-to-one. He threw 128 2/3 innings, averaging a little more than 6 1/3 per start. After the break, in 14 starts, Dickey went 6-3, 3.56, 15 home runs allowed and stuck out more than three-and-a-half hitters for every walk. Dickeys 96 second half innings work out to almost seven per start. While still prone to the long ball, everything else improved, including his health. Dickey pitched through a strained muscle in his neck, something that began in spring training but by mid-April had mushroomed into a pain that forced him to consider a stint on the disabled list. "You know how things progress," said Dickey. "It starts as something very mild and you just keep going on and thinking its probably going to go away and then something happens and it gets much more significant. It had been there in the spring. When everything gets cranked back up some things arent necessarily in the right places yet." There are no such concerns now. "Physically, Im stronger," said Dickey. Mentally, Dickeys refreshed. The trade to Toronto wasnt the only matter on his plate last offseason. He was promoting his book, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, working with child sex victims in Mumbai and by the time camp started, was being followed by a reporter and camera crew from 60 Minutes. Aside from a fundraiser in New York City and a family vacation to Florida, Dickey had a much quieter winter this year. "That was intentional," said Dickey. "Anne and I both felt like it was a season to be at home together. With the year before, with the trade and the book and India and the Cy Young and all of that, just really spread me very thin. Having a good mate, she realized that was one of the things that should probably change this offseason and sshe was right.dddddddddddd" When its pointed out to Dickey that the American League East likely will be stronger this year than last - the Red Sox are the defending World Series champions, the Rays have great starting pitching, the Orioles added pitching in support of a potent offense and the Yankees retooled - the knuckleballer acknowledged the Blue Jays will need a diamond in the rough, maybe more than one, to emerge. "I think that every championship club has to have a guy on the team that you dont expect a ton out of that steps up and does something special for you," said Dickey. "Whether its a position player or a pitcher, in our case I think the hope is theres going to be a pitcher that steps up and gives you something that you werent anticipating and its going to lift you into the next place." Drew Hutchison could be the guy, based on early camp returns. "I think Drews a name," Dickey concurred. "I think Todd Redmonds a name. There are others in this clubhouse that I think, by the end of the year, well have a conversation about this day and youll say, Yeah, that was the guy that you were talking about and heres what happened. Thats the hope. Thats what were hopeful for." JAYS HAMMERED BY TWINS The Blue Jays longest spring trip, not including two games in Montreal later this month, got out of hand early and finished with a 12-2 drubbing at the hands of the Twins in Lee County, near Fort Myers. J.A. Happ struggled badly, retiring one of only seven hitters he faced. He allowed four runs on two hits, walking four in a third of an inning of work. The game was the first played under MLBs new replay rules. In the sixth inning, manager John Gibbons challenged a close play at first base in which the Twins Chris Rahl was ruled safe when shortstop Munenori Kawasakis high throw brought first baseman Jared Goedert off the bag. After a review lasting more than two and a half minutes, the umpires upheld the call on the field. DELABARS BEARD While it isnt yet long enough or messy enough to be mistaken for the facial hair you see on Duck Dynasty, Steve Delabar is committed to the beard hes wearing in camp. Where this odyssey will take him, he doesnt know. "No plan," said Delabar. "Its not a bother to me. It doesnt itch. It doesnt get in my way. I get good comments from it." He wouldnt be the first late-game reliever to create a specific look but Delabar, typically low-key and easy going, isnt trying to strike fear in opposing hitters. This was a concoction for the hunting season. "Its not an intimidation thing at all," said Delabar. "I started growing it in the offseason, Ive trimmed it a couple of times and Im just letting it go." There will be no dying his facial hair, like Brian Wilson of the Dodgers. Itll have its natural tinges of red, white and brown. "Its going to become what it becomes on its own and Im going to let it do what it does," said Delabar. What about his wife, Jamie? Is she agreeable to all of this? "My wife tells me Ive got stuff hanging off of it all the time but its not intentional. "She puts up with it," Delabar continued. "Its not like, Ooh, I like the beard, its not like that. Shed rather me trim it and have it groomed nicely and keep it clean but that aint me." ' ' '