BY DEREK PRITCHETT - FAN FUEL BLOGGER
On Monday's Tim & Sid show, on Sportsnet 590 The FAN in Toronto, we got a glimpse into the mind of Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia. It took all of 30 seconds to see that he has a great sense of humour and is a great story teller. Arencibia was on the program to talk about his time in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI ( the interview is available here, just scroll to the 17-minute mark).
Hearing an athlete talking about being at the biggest sporting event in North America was informative. But what stood out for me was what J.P. said in the last few minutes of the interview. He was there to see Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo, his long time friend, and former college roommate at Tennessee.
Have your say: Do you have a great idea for a blog and want to write for Fan Fuel? Email us here. | Jays have a playoff bullpenArencibia referred to Mayo as the captain of the defence, and "the man out there." Arencibia also referred to something that was different for him, something that never happens at a stadium, he got nervous. He never feels that feeling, as in his words "it's what I've done my whole life." That in itself is something to think about. J.P. went on to reflect on how he and Mayo spoke after the game. They talked about how the Patriot defence is young and the team as a whole is young, but that the Patriots expected to return to the Super Bowl.
So how does this affect the Toronto Blue Jays for 2012? As pitchers and catchers report in less than two weeks, the offseason is winding down. Arencibia took some valuable lessons from his conversation with Mayo, something more valuable than a trainer pushing him to the next mile or the next 10 pounds on the bar. He saw the confidence that Mayo has in expecting his team to make it back to the Super Bowl as well as learning that you can only control what you can control.
Having that confidence this time on the baseball calendar is huge. Arencibia is going to spend time in two weeks with Henderson Alvarez (someone who had success but now in his second go around could falter), Brett Cecil (who has faltered and needs that extra boost to find his game again) and Kyle Drabek (such a valuable piece in the Roy Halladay trade who has a career 5.83 ERA).
Arencibia will now go into camp and can tell these guys that they should expect to be there and that they should just worry about controlling what they can control. These words are magical to young pitchers on a young team that is trying to gel at the right time to catch Boston and Tampa napping in 2012.
Who knows if it will be enough, but there is more to catching that hitting 30 homers each year. I know for a fact that for J.P. to spend some time with an old friend, an elite level athlete, the 2012 Blue Jays can only benefit.
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