LAWRENCE, Kan. -- David Beaty could stand at a pulpit and go toe-to-toe with the most long-winded, passionate and downright positive preachers to ever step foot inside a church.Its a nice ability to have when youre trying to sell Kansas.By now, the depths of the Jayhawks ineptitude the past five years are well known: the 15-game losing streak, the poor recruiting classes under Turner Gill and Charlie Weis, the winless season in Beatys debut, the subpar stadium and apathetic fan base.Yet as Beaty stood at a lectern inside a team meeting room this week, appraising the first three weeks of the season, he launched into an unscripted address brimming with optimism.Were excited about moving forward, he said. Really as we get into it, you start looking at it, theres a lot of surprising things that youre actually doing a little better than you thought.Like passing yards allowed, where the Jayhawks rank ninth nationally. And in total defense, where they have gone from 120th out of 125 schools last season to 62nd through their first three games.Similar improvements have been made on offense and special teams, too.Beaty is also a realist, though. He understands the only statistic that truly matters is number of wins, and a victory over Rhode Island followed by losses to Ohio and Memphis is hardly progress.Theres some positive things there, he said while meeting with reporters during the Jayhawks bye week, but the details are in the things were not doing well, but they need to hear about the ways were improving as a team because we are making improvements. We just havent done enough yet, so the details are going to be huge for us as we go through this week.Two major areas of emphasis: ball security and field position.Turnovers have destroyed any chance of winning the past two weeks -- nine of them in total. The Jayhawks lost a pair of fumbles and threw a pick against the Bobcats, and last week coughed it up four times and threw two interceptions in a six-turnover meltdown against the Tigers.Kansas has no prayer against Big 12 foes making those kinds of mistakes.The thing that we learned as we look at the tape is its never as simple as you think it is. Ball security is an everybody deal, Beaty said. All those things are coached, and weve just got to coach them harder, because when we do, the results will be a lot different. Theyll fall in suit.The same rings true for trouble with field position, where the Jayhawks have made a habit of starting in the shadows of its own goalposts. The turnovers have contributed to the problem, but so has a mixed bag on offense and scattershot performances by special teams.Starting drives inside your 5 or inside your 10, that makes it tough sledding, and conversely, if were not making our opponents start their drives inside their 20, that makes it tough sledding, Beaty said. I want to say of 14 drives or 15 drives last week, Memphis started inside their 25 twice, and we started inside of our 12 six times.That certainly wont fly against the high-powered offense of Texas Tech, which kicks off Big 12 play next week. The meet Thursday night for a game that will be showcased on national television.There were still questions for Beaty to answer Tuesday after his lengthy oratory, ranging from the future of decrepit Memorial Stadium -- our fan base deserves a quality, wonderful, great fan experience -- to his own self-scout, where he admitted to a number of personal faults.But one point he drove home time after time was his steadfast belief in progress.These arent the same old Jayhawks. Beaty is sure of it.Youre never going to be there. We are always going to be developing, he said. Youre going to hear me say that from now until we win a conference championship, which we will do. Im not sure when, but we will get to it, and we will always be developing. Paul LaDue Jersey . The news was first reported on Gonzalezs Twitter account and confirmed by the Rockies. Gonzalez has a six-week window before position players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona. Tiger Williams Jersey . Self was acquired from the Buffalo Bandits in a trade for Alex Hill midway through last season, and made his debut in Rochester on March 16, 2013. http://www.nhlkingsauthority.com/authentic-brooks-laich-kings-jersey/ . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. Custom Los Angeles Kings Jerseys . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. Nic Dowd Jersey .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Bruce Bochy all but had his mind made up days ago: Madison Bumgarner would hit in an AL ballpark for interleague rather than using a designated hitter.All the San Francisco Giants manager had to do was ask the ace pitcher himself, knowing full well the big left-hander would want to swing the bat. At first, MadBum thought Bochy was joking, then quickly said: No, Id love to. Id rather hit.Bumgarner doubled leading off the third inning of the finale of a four-game series against lefty Dillon Overton and the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night as San Francisco tried to avoid a sweep. The Giants batted around and he also ended the inning with an infield popup.This wasnt a tough call for me, the way he swings the bat, the numbers, facing a left-hander, Bochy said. All of these things came into play. Its nothing against our guys, but hes a pretty good hitter and its a pretty good matchup. ... It keeps him in the game, the flow of his normal game being in the National League. He was all for it. And he would have been fine the other way. He didnt come to me, he didnt push for it. I went to him and said, `Hey, Im thinking about letting you hit for yourself and not use the DH.It will be the first time a team intentionally used a pitcher to hit instead of a DH since the Chicago White Sox allowed Ken Brett to do it in 1976 -- the Rays were forced to bat pitcher Andy Sonnanstine in 2009 because of a lineup card mixup.Thats a long time, As manager Bob Melvin said. I would love to have someone like that you could plug into the lineup depending on what yourr roster looked like.dddddddddddd Not too many guys like him. I dont know what that feels like. Theyre a little banged up, too. Hes got some power, swings the bat well. Hes a real hitter, so hes not the kind of guy that youre consistently looking to try to get to the bottom of the order so you can walk somebody to get to him.Bumgarner began the day batting .175 with two homers and five RBI in 40 at-bats. He even made a public plea to enter into the All-Star Home Run Derby, but Bochy said that idea is now off the table.The players union didnt want a Derby slot being taken by a pitcher, Bochy said, but the plan is to review the idea again of having a pitchers derby.There is no Home Run Derby for Madison, Bochy said. Its been nixed.Yankees manager Joe Girardi said letting a pitcher hit in the Derby could be devastating, so he wouldnt do it.I would like to, but, again, theyre not used to taking swings year-round, he said. If youre the San Francisco Giants, and hes a great hitter, Madison Bumgarner, he pulls a ribcage muscle, whos going to deal with that? Jake Arrieta pulls a ribcage muscle, whos going to deal with that? To me, its different if its a position player that plays every day, and youd love to reward the guy and say, `Go have fun. But a lot of times theres a lot on the line, and I would hate to see one of those guys go down because of the home run derby.---AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys China Wholesale Baseball Jerseys China Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Near Me Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Throwback Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '