Following the tragic passing of Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, retiring Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz requested that the Tampa Bay Rays cancel their pregame ceremony honoring his career. The Rays obliged.Instead, Chris Archer and Evan Longoria of the Rays presented Ortiz his gifts in private before the game. The 40-year-old received an oil painting commemorating his 500th career home run, which he hit at Tropicana Field last year, and 34 handmade Diamond Crown Maximus cigars.Fernandez, 24, was killed in a boating accident in Florida early Sunday morning. The Rays, like the rest of major league baseball, held a moment of silence for the pitcher before their game; cameras caught tears streaming down Ortizs face.Ortiz took to Twitter on Sunday to address Fernandezs passing.Ortiz also honored Fernandez on his hat by writing 16 JF in silver marker.Fernandez was a big fan of Ortizs and famously said before this years All-Star game in San Diego that he was going to groove the slugger three fastballs down the middle of the plate in hopes that Ortiz would hit a home run off him. Facing Ortiz in the third inning, Fernandez walked him on a full count. Balenciaga False . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Air Max 90 Outlet Italia . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. http://www.yeezyscarpeitaliaoutlet.it/scontate-vans-online.html .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. Yeezy Italia . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. Saucony Offerte . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. HOOVER, Ala. -- The SEC East is relying heavily on three former Nick Saban assistants to restore balance to the league.The division that once reigned with the likes of Steve Spurrier, Phillip Fulmer, Mark Richt and Urban Meyer hasnt won a Southeastern Conference title in eight years. Saban and Alabama still lead a formidable parade of Western Division teams but theres an abundance of new blood in that sometimes overlooked East.Georgia hired Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, South Carolina turned to ex-Saban defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and Missouri promoted defensive coordinator Barry Odom.Not that the East is getting defensive about that one-sided recent history. Florida, after all, had already turned a year earlier to former `Bama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain.I think balance and parity is a key for any conference, said Smart, a former Georgia player in his first head coaching turn. I think if you ask the commissioner, he would like to have that balance. Thats why they divided the conference the way they did.It certainly hasnt been that way. Its our job on the East to do something about that. Weve got to do a great job on our side to compete, recruit, get the right facilities, put the right programs in place to be successful.Missouri won back-to-back East titles before falling to 5-7 in Gary Pinkels final season. The Tigers allowed 101 points in a pair of title-game defeats.An indication of how cyclical these things can be, the East won six of the first seven SEC championship games. And Meyers Florida teams contributed a couple of championships during the SECs current run of eight national titles in 10 years.Tim Tebow and the Gators topped Alabama in the 2008 league title game, but the East hasnt won since. Six of the last seven games havent even been decided by double-digit margins, including scores like 42-13 (Alabama-Missouri), 42-10 (LSU-Georgia) and 56-17 (Auburn-South Carolina).McElwain is entering his second season at Fllorida, where he debuted with an SEC East title and a 29-15 loss to the Tide in Atlanta.dddddddddddd McElwain was part of Alabamas national championships in 2009 and 2011.Its not something you can really just go and talk about, McElwain said. Its something that you have to live every single day in the development of getting a little bit better. And for us, having an opportunity to play in that game was huge because I think it was a class of guys in the University of Florida history that might have been the first one to miss Atlanta since ... they started playing that SEC championship game.Georgia hammered home the urgency of catching up with the likes of Alabama and LSU by firing Richt, who won 74 percent of his games but only one SEC title -- way back in 2005.The Bulldogs turned to longtime Saban assistant Smart, who helped the Tide win four national titles over the past seven seasons. Georgia filled up Sanford Stadium for the spring game, much as Alabama did at Bryant-Denny Stadium after Sabans hiring.This year I think fans do expect a lot, you could see that from our spring game, 93,000 and probably more, Bulldogs tight end Jeb Blazevich said. I am sure a lot more people could fit into those stands, so that is a unique environment.I think the fans are ready, were ready, so I think they should expect a lot and that is the culture we want around here. A culture of high expectations because we surely set it for ourselves so we want our fans to expect the same.Muschamp, who worked under Saban at LSU, takes over a South Carolina team coming off a 3-9 season that marked the first losing season since Spurrier took over in 2005. The Gamecocks had three straight 11-2 seasons from 2011-13 before falling off.Coach Spurrier and his staff have bought this program to relevance nationally, and thats what we plan to build on, Muschamp said. ' ' '
