V-Day Jays, Yay! Blue Jays Links For Valentine's Day

Hey single people! Do you all know that it is Valentine's day today? It is the day when all couples celebrate their love for each other and all single folks celebrate the existence of Bobby Valentine. If you are one half of a couple, be sure to get your love a Valentine's Day card this year. Try these great ones from Archi Zuber which are unapologetically branded with the Drunk Jays Fans logo (be sure to check out part 2 here), or Captain Latte's Valentine's Jay cards (part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). The great thing about the Internet is that you can download these and print them in full colour at the office for $0.

As you're printing those out, why don't you check out these Blue Jays links?

The National Post's John Lott spoke with John Gibbons, who is trying to temper Jays' fans' expectations, as well as former Jays John McDonald and Frank Catalanotto about their former boss. Lott also reports on the media posse surrounding R.A. Dickey, from 60 Minutes to the New York Times to Sports Illustrated. Will the increased media attention keep Dickey from focusing on the task at hand?

Speaking of the New York Times, Tyler Kepner (whom I was a big fan / insanely jealous of as a kid since he started writing--and I mean handwriting--a magazine about baseball when he was 13) wrote a very good piece about our knuckleballer and the Blue Jays that began with this line: "R.A. Dickey wore a black Star Wars T-shirt to work on Wednesday."

Mark Buehrle spoke with Sportsnet's Martine Gaillard (warning: autoplaying video). When asked about whether he was happy to be a Blue Jay, he said yes (eventually) but he echoed Josh Johnson in talking about the shock he was in after finding out he got traded one year into his contract with the Miami Marlins. He minces no words when talking about his former team, saying that he does still harbour bad feelings about the Marlins, especially because of the lies he was told. Shi Davidi's piece on Buehrle is also in that link, with some detail about Ontario MPP Randy Hillier's plan to reintroduce a private member's bill to repeal the pit bull ban.

Also from Sportsnet, Bob McCown and Stephen Brunt interviews R.A. Dickey (warning: autoplaying video) and the Canadian Press (in the same link) has a little article about Dickey giving all the Jays' catchers new gloves. Dickey says that there is a danger for the club to become too full of itself because of the new acquisitions and heightened expectations.

Over at The Blue Jay Hunter, Ian takes a deep look at Adam Lind and how he has changed as a hitter since his 2009 Silver Slugger year.

And the article's picture features catcher Jack Murphy. He may be fifth or sixth in the Blue Jays' depth chart at catcher, but he is first overall in moustache and mullet quality. He looks so awesome, San Diego named a stadium after him. Newest MLB Fan Cave top 30 finalist April Whitzman (congrats!) spoke to him early last year--she didn't mention about his hair but did talk about a certain PED in Murphy's living quarters.

UPDATE

For those heading down to Dunedin for spring training, it is important to know that a new Florida law demands that all foreign drivers--including Canadians--must possess an international driving permit. Apparently the law passed on January 1, but no one noticed this until last week. Legislators are now considering waiving the requirements for anyone with an English-language license (sorry, Quebecers).

UPDATE 2

Apparently enforcing the law may be as illegal as waterboarding! (Not really.)

Florida hwy patrol: Won't enforce rule on int'l permit . New rule may violate Geneva Convention on Road Traffic.

— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) February 14, 2013