TORONTO -- Rudy Gay had no idea how bad his vision was until he went to renew his drivers license last year and nearly failed the test. "They said Do you wear glasses? I said no. They said, Well you need to wear glasses," Gay recounted, with a laugh. He wasnt laughing at the time. For a guy who makes his living tossing a ball through a hoop from a distance, the news was rather disconcerting. So after a brief and unsuccessful experiment with corrective goggles, the Toronto Raptors small forward underwent surgery to correct his vision during an off-season that was otherwise devoted to improving his shooting, and beefing up his body. One day into training camp, and Gay said hes feeling like a much-improved player than the one who led the Raptors in scoring last season but also had career lows in both field goal and three-point percentage. He joked that any improvement in his game this season will be credited solely to his better vision. "Honestly, I was talking to my trainer, and he said if you come out and have a great season its going to be because of your eye, not because of the work you put in," Gay said. The 27-year-old Gay wouldnt wear contact lenses, as he had an aversion to touching his eyes. The Raptors medical staff provided him with prescription goggles but he wasnt keen on those either. So he underwent surgery early in the summer, which he said wasnt fun. "Recovery was horrible, it was terrible," Gay said. "Probably (lasted) about two weeks. First week I couldnt see, second week I could. And then months and months of putting eye drops in. "But it was one of those things that needed to happen if I wanted to continue my career." Gay averaged 19.5 points to top Toronto in scoring after he was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies in a mid-season trade. The Raptors went 16-30 prior to the trade, and finished 18-18 with Gay on the roster. Still, he was far from his best, shooting a career-low 40.8 per cent -- down from his career high of 47.1 per cent two seasons earlier -- and 31 per cent from three-point range. So he committed every day of the off-season, he said, to being a better shooter. "I started from the basics. . . form, worked on my form. From there just rhythm, shooting, shooting, shooting, becoming comfortable with it. "I made about 300 shots a day, sometimes more, on a light day probably 300." Gay has been criticized for taking low-percentage shots -- namely long two-pointers. But at the urging of Raptors coach Dwane Casey, he sounds like hes starting to see the light when it comes to shot selection. Casey said hes been drilling Gay and Torontos other sharpshooter DeMar DeRozan about higher percentage shots. "Corner threes, paint, get to the rim, get to the free throw line, and subsequently shooting percentage is going to go up," Casey said. Gay spent a lot of summer working on his three-point shooting, and pointed out that at the end of Monday mornings practice, the entire team was doing a three-point drills. "I got it from the coaches that were going to be a team thats going to get a lot of threes up, and obviously if it comes from the top, youve got to practise it," he said. Gay also said he put on 20 pounds of muscle working with his trainer Dustin Gray back home in Baltimore. "Hopefully you can see it," Gay said laughing, puffing out his chest ever so slightly. "Maybe I should do some push-ups or something. "My trainer basically lived with me." The weight gain, said Casey, was by design, and with the intention of using Gay at power forward rather than small forward. "We talked about it, because when you look at the Eastern Conference, youve got Carmelo, LeBron, big threes playing fours, and he wants to do that and it fits us really well too, him going to the four," Casey said. "What he doesnt want to do is gain a lot of unneeded weight, just some good solid (muscle), which hes done. Hes really solid in his upper body. You can see it, it looks good. If it helps him psychologically, making contact, getting to the rim, its great. "Its going to help him be in the paint a little bit more. When you get caught outside in that non-paint area, to drop that shoulder, use your body to get into the paint to create a foul, contact, and get to the free-throw line." Casey calls Gay one of the top offensive players in the league, and said the main thing missing that could make him an all-star is winning. "Winning gets you in that conversation of being one of the top players in this league," Casey said. "The league rewards winners." Granted training camp is only a day old, but Gay has seemed more at ease, cracking jokes with reporters. When someone pointed out to Casey that Gay seems happier than he did last season, the coach said everyone was. "I think theres a different vibe," Casey said. The coach said it starts with Masai Ujiri, the Raptors new president and general manager. "Masai gave them an impassioned speech (Monday) night about what he expects from them, the passion guys have to play with, leaving all the problems all the issues, check them at the door. It sets a tone, and thats been huge," Casey said. "Hes empowered everybody to do their job. The cop-outs are gone, now its about playing and having fun, and the way you have fun is by kicking peoples butts and competing." The Raptors practise at the Air Canada Centre until Thursday and then training camp moves to Halifax for two days. They open the pre-season Monday at Boston, and are back home to host the Minnesota Timberwolves next Wednesday. cheap soccer jerseys . Giguere stopped 30 shots, Ryan OReilly had a goal and an assist and Colorado beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 on Friday night. cheap soccer jerseys from china . -- Arizona knocked off some quality opponents, rolled over a few overmatched ones and grinded out victories even when things didnt go so well. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseys.us.com/... . On a minor league field at the New York Yankees complex in Florida, he took batting practice, fielded grounders and chatted with teammates. [url=http://www.cheapsoccerjerseys.us.com/]cheap soccer jerseys for sale . Calgary finished atop the CFL standings with a 14-4 record and earned the right to host the West Division final at McMahon Stadium on Nov. wholesale soccer jerseys . Iguodala hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, David Lee scored 23 points and the Warriors won their eighth straight game with a 101-100 victory over the Hawks.MONTREAL -- All things considered, Chelsea Carey would rather be in Sochi, Russia. But qualifying for her first Scotties Tournament of Hearts after years of falling short in tough Manitoba provincial championships is as good as consolation prizes get for the 29-year-old from Winnipegs Fort Rouge Curling Club. And Carey is making the most of it, taking her record to 7-1 after an 8-4 victory over New Brunswicks Andrea Crawford (5-4) on Wednesday night. Earlier, the Carey rink trounced Quebecs Allison Ross (1-8) by 15-3. The 15 points tied the Scotties record set in 1989, when Alberta beat Newfoundland 15-6. Carey reached the Manitoba finals twice, losing in 2011 to Cathy Overton-Clapham and in 2012 to Jennifer Jones, the four-time Scotties champion who will represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Games. "We wanted to be here badly and lost a couple of heartbreakers and thats no fun, but it wasnt the only thing for us," said Carey. "The (Olympic) trials was our first goal and this was our second goal." Her only loss so far was an 8-3 setback this week to defending champion Rachel Homans seemingly unstoppable Canada team. Homans Ottawa foursome extended its unbeaten string to eight games with a 9-4 victory over Prince Edward Islands Kim Dolan. They have outscored their opponents 62-26 and have yet to play a full 10 ends. Saskatchewans Stefanie Lawton (7-1) posted an 8-6 win over Nova Scotia (3-6) and Ontarios Allison Flaxey (3-5) completed a sweep of her sides two games on Wednesday with a 12-2 victory over the Yukons Sarah Koltun (1-8). Flaxey had the upset of the day in the afternoon draw with a 6-5 win over Albertas Val Sweeting (6-3). Carey put together her team with lead Lindsay Titheridge, second Kristen Foster and third Kristy McDonald specifically to take a shot at the Olympics. The rink has been among Canadas best for a few years, winning often in national and regional events, and did well enough to earn an invitation to the Canadian Olympic trials in Winnipeg. When that dream died with a fourth-place finish, Carey admits it was tough to find the energy to go to last months provincial championship, let alone win it. "I took a week off and didnt throw," she said. "I forced myself to go back, but I wanted no part of it. "I was just going through the motions. It took a long time to get our heads back there, but wed played in a lot of provincials before and we knew going into the trials that it was something wed have to transition to. It wasnt easy, but we did a good enough job to pull off the win there." Once she got her Manitoba team jacket and got to Montreal, she was thrilled to finally have a chance to represent her province at the Scotties. On the team website, Carey describes herself as "Unemployed, AKA Starving Curler." She worked as a sales representative for a mattress company for six years, but was finally told to choose between curling and her job. "It was the yeear of the trials and Im not going to pick that job over curling," she said.dddddddddddd. "My initial thought was to get a new job, but with trials in December its hard to start a new job and say I need six weeks of holidays. "Ive been unemployed since then. It will have to change after this because I cant pay my bills." Manitobas win over Quebec had some wondering if curling needs a mercy rule. It was Quebecs worst beating since a 13-1 setback to Alberta in 1991. A rule obliges teams to play at least eight ends no matter how badly theyre trailing. "Im not so sure I believe in the eight-end rule," said Manitobas McDonald. "If things arent going well, the other team should be able to get out when they feel its time. "Theyre a good team. Theyre much better than that. But theyre just having a tough go. When things go sour, they go sour." Ross had plenty of support among the 1,790 spectators at the Maurice Richard Arena, but her squad has been off the target consistently all week. She was also missing second Brittany ORourke to the flu bug that has sidelined several players and officials during the week. "Todays game was tough for sure," said Ross, whose team also lost 6-5 to B.C. in the morning draw. "We didnt play well at all." Flaxey turned around what had been a dismal week with her win over Alberta. Ontario held off a charge that saw Alberta score two in the ninth end. She took out Sweetings stone on the button in the 10th to prevent a steal and secure the victory. "We havent been playing as well as we could have all week," said Flaxey, the 2001 Manitoba junior champion now based out of Listowel, Ont. "To show that we are a good, solid team and that we belong with the favourites and can play with the favourites, it shows people why were here." Ontario is all but eliminated from playoff contention, but can still play the role of spoiler with three round-robin games remaining, including a match Thursday afternoon with Manitoba. "Its all we have left so youve got to love doing it," said Flaxey. "Weve got a couple of tough ones left and hopefully we can at least shake things up." The afternoon draw saw Homan put up a 7-3 victory over British Columbia (5-4). Homan has a shot at being the first skip to go undefeated in the tournament since B.C.s Linda Moore in 1985. Jennifer Jones went undefeated in the round robin last year but lost to Homan in the final. "Im confident we can win the rest of our games," said Homan. "You have to be confident in your abilities. "You put in the practice and the hours and the work. I believe 100 per cent in our team. Were in a good spot now and we have to keep playing the way were playing." Lawton downed Newfoundlands Heather Strong (4-4) by 7-3. Other early matches saw Alberta top Newfoundland 9-5, New Brunswick beat P.E.I. 9-6 and Nova Scotia down Yukon 7-3. Cheap Jerseys UK Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys NFL Jerseys From China Jerseys NFL Cheap ' ' '