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There’s still work to be done, but the Whitecaps are on the cusp of a playoff berth, an MLS club record point haul, with CONCACAF Champions league representation already sewn up. Wilmar Barrios Colombia Jersey . And it was all achieved with a younger squad, and without a 22 goal scorer. The great untold story of this campaign has been the recruitment of quality characters who have contributed to a new dressing room culture. It may be the most difficult and risky aspect of building a club because, how do you measure character? There are no analytics for it. It comes down to networks, gut, and trust in the guts of others. And it also requires hours upon hours of cross referencing. Gone are the days when YouTube clips and an agent’s word are good enough to sign someone. The Whitecaps off season recruitment began with the acquisitions of Mehdi Ballouchy and Steven Beitashour. Carl Robinson knew Ballouchy from his time in New York, while Beitashour’s reputation was impeccable. Between them; almost 300 MLS games played. Then came the unheralded signings of Nicholas Mezquida and Sebastien Fernandez, from an obscure club in Uruguay. At the time, many thought these were simply squad signings to improve the club’s overall depth. The quality was evident from day one. The work ethic was infectious. The personalities were magnetic. The most important transactions occurred during the Whitecaps pre-season stint in Portland, where they landed their two DP’s, Mattias Laba and Pedro Morales. If there’s one truth about Major League Soccer it’s that you must get your designated players right. They need to be your best players. They need to justify the designation and they need to be respected by their teammates. The on field contributions were instantly recognizable. But no-one could have expected the off-field roles both Laba and Morales would play. They became the new leaders in the Whitecaps dressing room. The Mauro Rosales trade was a one sided transaction in the maintenance department. Rosales is a consummate professional with an elite class resume and an abundance of MLS moxy. He too became an instant Lieutenant. But it was the signing of Kendall Waston which may have been the coup of the summer. It wasn’t as if Waston was some random pick from the Central American ether. He had a trial with Real Salt Lake, but they ultimately weren’t interested. The background research on Waston’s character was as thorough as all of the previous recruits, but Waston still represented a sizable leap of faith given his patchy form and the league he played in. The club’s technical team wanted to know everything about the player. His background, where he lived, what he ate, going even so far as calling opposition coaches to get their impressions of the strapping Saprissa Centre back. Carl Robinson and Martyn Pert have bird-dogs in virtually every corner of the world, long standing relationships built exclusively on trust. It may be the most important and exciting factor going into the off season, because there are more Wastons and Morales’s scattered around the globe and the Whitecaps know where to find them. Waston’s play of late has already attracted attention from other clubs. It’s just a matter time before the Whitecaps get an offer they can’t refuse for any number of their players. As hard as that may be to understand for the fans, the selling-on of talent is a huge part of the long term building of any club. The trick will be to maximize the value, while ensuring there’s always a pipeline of talent to fill the vacancies. Character is a critical aspect of any successful organization. In a short period of time, the Whitecaps have proven an ability to find players who have it. Now if they can find someone who’s exemplary temperament can match his ability to score, the club could be in for a banner 2015. Custom Colombia Jerseys . The Canadiens captain, who underwent surgery on his injured biceps in the off-season, had been skating with the team in a non-contact capacity since last week. Jose Izquierdo Jersey . -- Brandon Hope stopped 46 shots and Kurtis MacDermid scored with 27 seconds remaining in overtime as the Owen Sound Attack edged the visiting Kingston Frontenacs 5-4 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.nationalcolombiafootball.com/jefferson-lerma-colombia-jersey/ . The Red Wings hadnt played the night before. The Boston Bruins had. A month from now, or two months from now, it doesnt matter. But right now it does matter, when you start and you play back to back, its wear and tear on you for sure, Babcock said.DETROIT (11-5) at DALLAS (12-4)Sunday, 4:40 p.m. CT, FoxOPENING LINE — Cowboys by 6 1/2RECORD VS. SPREAD — Detroit 7-9, Dallas 10-6SERIES RECORD — Cowboys lead 13-12LAST MEETING — Lions beat Cowboys 31-30, Oct. 27, 2013LAST WEEK — Lions lost to Packers 30-20; Cowboys beat Redskins 44-17AP PRO32 RANKING — Lions No. 7, Cowboys No. 4LIONS OFFENSE — OVERALL (19), RUSH (28), PASS (12)LIONS Defence — OVERALL (2), RUSH (1), PASS (13)COWBOYS OFFENSE — OVERALL (7), RUSH (2), PASS (16)COWBOYS Defence — OVERALL (19), RUSH (8), PASS (26)STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Teams have split two previous playoff meetings. Cowboys won 5-0 in 1970, and Lions won 38-6 in 1991 season. ... Detroit defence allowed just two teams to rush for at least 100 yards, tying NFL record. Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray had 12 100-yard games, breaking all-time league rushing leader Emmitt Smiths franchise record of 11. ... Cowboys were second in league with 31 takeaways, Lions tied for seventh with 27. ... Lions QB Matthew Stafford, who lost only playoff start at New Orleans in 2011 season, is third QB in NFL history with four 4,000-yard seasons in first six years (Peyton Manning, Dan Marino). ... WR Calvin Johnson (74 TDs receiving, 1 rushing) is second Detroit player with 75 total TDs. ... Johnson (1,077 yards) and Golden Tate (1,331) are first pair of Detroit WRs with 1,000-yard seasons since Roy Williams and Mike Furrey in 2006. James Rodriguez Jersey. ... Ndamukong Suh, whose one-game suspension for stepping on Aaron Rodgers leg last weekend was rescinded, had career-high 21 tackles for loss, surpassing Hall of Famer Warren Sapp for most by defensive tackle since at least 2000. ... S Glover Quin had seven interceptions and was first Detroit player to lead NFL since Hall of Famer Lem Barney had 10 in 1967. ... Cowboys QB Tony Romo is 1-3 in playoffs, splitting two in most recent post-season appearance during 2009 season. Room led NFL with franchise-record 113.2 rating and was 4-0 in December with 12 TDs and one INT. ... Murray led league with team-record 1,845 yards rushing. ... WR Dez Bryant led NFL with franchise-record 16 TDs receiving, and is only player in league with at least 12 TDs each of past three seasons. ... Jason Witten (703 yards receiving) is second TE with 11 straight 700-yard seasons (Tony Gonzalez). ... Bruce Carter led NFL linebackers with career-high five interceptions. ... DE Jeremy Mincey led team with six sacks, has five in past seven games.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '