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TORONTO -- Throughout his football career Swayze Waters never thought much about the significance of a jersey number. He was issued No. 94 as a freshman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, then various other numbers by the five pro teams he auditioned for, including the No. 30 he has worn since 2012 as a punter/kicker with the Toronto Argonauts. His latest number will mean much more. Waters will don No. 34 this season in honour of his best friend, Tait Hendrix. Hendrix, 27, died recently in a motorcycle accident. Waters, also 27, took three days away from Torontos training camp to be family and friends as they paid their final respects to Hendrix. Upon returning to the Argos, Waters decided to wear Hendrixs No. 34 and dedicate the season to his memory. "For me, Ive never had a reason to put significance in a number until now," Waters said following Mondays practice. "That was Taits number . . . hes the guy I grew up playing any kind of sport you could think of with. "Its just my way of honouring him, the life he lived, all the things he taught me and the times we had." At the request of the Hendrix family, Waters spoke at the funeral. Waters also wrote about Hendrix on his website (www.swayzewaters.com). "First off, I just communicated to everyone there I was suffering with them," Waters said. "Then I talked about some of the good memories I had, not specifically stories of me and Tait personally but just the kind of guy he was, his smile, his laugh, his character. "He was just one of those guys you couldnt be around and not have a good time and not smile. He had this work ethic and mindset to get better every day . . . so I left everyone with that challenge: No matter what you do, get better at everything you do every day, keep alive that little piece of Tait thats in all of us. Thats how we can honour him as we go forward without him. It will never be the same, its going to be way different but as we move forward be the best we can every day." Trouble was, No. 34 in Toronto belonged to rookie defensive back Eric Black. However, its the number the Argos issued Black and it held no significance to him so when approached by Waters, Black willingly gave it up. Waters said hell forever be indebted to the Argos and his teammates for their support. "It was anything but a vacation," Waters said. "But Im very thankful to the Argonauts for allowing me that opportunity to go home and be a part of that and just be with the family. "I know in this business not a lot of teams wouldve done that but its family around here and I really appreciate what everyone did for me." Waters said the three days he spent at home were invaluable to him. "It was huge," he said. "I think that was the biggest thing I could do, just be there. "There was a lot of laughing and a lot of crying. I got home and hugged my wife. We cried it out then went over to his house. Not a lot of words needed to be said. For me, that was a big part of it. Weve got to go on and things are going to be different but this is just one thing I wanted to do to honour my best friend." Waters said Hendrixs death is a sobering reminder of just how precious life is. "When you go through something like this it just puts everything in perspective," he said. "Youre reminded how short life is and that football is just a game." Its a perspective the Argos third-year kicker plans to lean on heavily this season. "Dont get me wrong I love football, its my job and Im always going to work as hard as I can to be the best I can to help my team," Waters said. "But football is not life. "Theres already enough pressure in professional sports. Youre playing in front of one million people on TV and 30,000 to 40,000 people in the stands. Youve got your job, your house payments, all that kind of stuff on the line. Theres no need to add any more pressure and this is one of those things that reminds me this is just a game. "Im going to go out there and do the best I can and the rest will take care of itself. Im just going to mainly take the kind of guy Tait was, work hard and get better at everything every day, into the season. Every day I put No. 34 on will remind me of that." Channing Frye Jersey .com) - Mike Miller scored a season-high 21 points in a rare start and the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their worst loss of the season with a 95-91 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Terrell Brandon Jersey . The freestyle skier from Calgary finished sixth in the qualification round with a total of 82.00 points. Groenewoud won a silver medal at the X Games last month, just over five weeks after undergoing double knee surgery. http://www.cavaliersbasketballpro.info/s...valiers-jersey/. - Even with a new coach, the Denver Nuggets still love to push the basketball. Ante Zizic Jersey . Los Angeles announced its new deal for Kupchak late in the fourth quarter of a 145-130 loss to the Houston Rockets. Kupchak had one year left on his current contract. LeBron James Jersey . - Hitting was supposed to be the Pittsburgh Pirates weakness coming into the season yet they lead the major leagues in home runs through the first 16 games of the season.If the detour leads to the ultimate destination for Tim Cahill and the Socceroos, Australians wont be worried at all about the route the national team has taken to the Asian Cup final.Australia takes on the United Arab Emirates in the semifinals on Tuesday at Newcastle, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Sydney. Organizers no doubt would have preferred a semifinal at a heaving former Olympic stadium in Sydney on Australia Day, Jan. 26, but the Socceroos missed out on that by losing their last group game 1-0 to South Korea.The South Koreans instead took that slot — at Australias marquee stadium on the national holiday — for their semifinal against 2007 champion Iraq.Australians widely expected, then, that their team would be meeting defending champion Japan in the 33,000-seat stadium at Newcastle, in a rematch of the 2011 Asian Cup decider. But the UAE ensured that wouldnt happen with a surprising quarterfinal win on penalties over the four-time champions.And so both teams will be aiming for their first continental title when Australia hosts the UAE, a team that is growing in confidence and self-belief.Cahill produced two spectacular goals to deliver Australia a 2-0 quarterfinal win over China last week.The United Arab Emirates earned their place after a thrilling 5-4 upset win on penalties after their quarterfinal with regional powerhouse Japan finished 1-1 after extra time.While Australia has enviable attacking options with the likes of Cahill, Massimo Luongo, Robbie Kruse and captain Mile Jedinak, the UAE boasts the most prolific forward in the tournament in Ali Mabkhout, who has found the net four times.The 35-year-old Cahill has three goals this tournament and has captured the imagination of home fans with his uncanny ability to turn a game with pinpoint headers and inspired shots at goal.UAE playmaker Omar Abdulrahman, meanwhile,, has proved a formidable foe this Asian Cup.ddddddddddddAbdulrahman is a good player, so is Mabkhout up front, Australia coach Ange Postecoglou said, before adding that he was more concerned with the threat posed by the team as a whole than by individual players.They are probably one of the few national teams in this region, and particularly the Middle East, who have been pretty stable in terms of their coach and their team, Postecoglou said. They look more cohesive than some of the other sides that tend to chop and change a bit. That is where the danger lies, rather than with the individuals.Australia and the UAE have never met in a competitive match, and their last two friendlies have ended in scoreless draws. Australia joined the Asian confederation in 2006 and its best run at the continental championships was a runner-up finish to Japan in 2011, when the UAE finished 13th.Two quarterfinals were decided on penalties but that didnt concern Postecoglou, who didnt leave any doubt about his approach in the knockout stage.What they do becomes a little bit irrelevant ... we want to dictate the game, he said. So whether they sit back or come at us, we have to make sure in either scenario we are the ones on the front foot and dominating the game.UAE coach Mahdi Ali said the win over reigning champion Japan had given his team renewed confidence.Of course ... its a great thing it will give the players more confidence and more motivation, Ali said. We fought for the 120 minutes for this game and thank God that we win this game.He knows, though, that the game against Australia will rise to another level.Of course playing against Australia in Australia will be a very tough game, Ali said. It will be a very tough game and the stadium will be very crowded and we hope that we do the same in the next game (as we did against Japan). 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