Clan-Members » is part of the reason Gibbons considers Baltimor

NEW YORK -- Liberty guard Brittany Boyd sat on the bench with her head bowed in prayer during the national anthem before a WNBA playoff game.Hours earlier, college football players for Michigan and Michigan State, along with a group of students at North Carolina, raised their fists during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner on Saturday.Since 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the anthem before NFL preseason games, citing racial injustice and police brutality, his movement has slowly spread across fields and courts in the U.S. On Saturday, college and professional athletes joined together to follow his lead after a week punctuated by riots in Charlotte, North Carolina , and the killing of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma .This wasnt the first time Boyd sat during the anthem. She said she also did it at the last few games.I dont want to stand up. I choose not to stand up and I sit down and pray, the second-year guard said. Colin and his message about social injustice going on in this country today is something I believe needs change.The Berkeley, California, native had a Kaepernick jersey hanging in her locker and wore it to the arena Saturday night.Her New York teammates stood, arms locked with their heads bowed before their WNBA playoff game with Phoenix. Mercury players Mistie Bass and Kelsey Bone kneeled, just as they had done during their first-round playoff game. Bass was inspired that younger athletes were joining an effort that until this weekend had been mostly led by the pros.I think it shows that the younger generations are about this and they did it together, she said. They are understanding what is going on in our society. Its perfect because they are so caught up in their phones. To see them standing up for social injustices and wanting things to be right in their communities I think is awesome.Three Michigan State players -- Delton Williams, Kenney Lyke and Gabe Sherrod -- held their right fists in the air while standing on the sideline before the No. 8 Spartans hosted No. 11 Wisconsin.Whether somebody salutes, puts the hand over their heart or does something else, everybody has a choice to make, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio added after the Spartans 30-6 loss. Our young people are in college, and I can promise you one thing, that when the flag is presented in some respect, I guess it becomes much more important now. Its not just, oh by the way, well just stand for `The Star-Spangled Banner.All I can do is try and lead the best way I can, and be positive and accepting to our football team and our players, the coach added.Several players for No. 4 Michigan also had their fists up before facing Penn State in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Among them were Khalid Hill, Mike McCray, Devin Bush, Elysee Mbem-Bosse and Jourdan Lewis.Most college conferences play the anthem before the teams take the field. The Big Ten is among the exceptions.The University of Michigan is 6 miles from Eastern Michigan University, where chanting students marched on the field Friday night after the schools 27-24 victory over Wyoming. The students were protesting racist graffiti on the campus earlier in the week.We have great respect for our students engaged in the constructive efforts underway to address the issues we face, Eastern Michigan President James Smith said in a statement.Before North Carolina hosted Pittsburgh, students wearing black shirts remained seated with fists raised. Roughly 100 black and white students wearing the shirts participated, as well as at least two UNC band members who took a knee, one while raising a fist. Chapel Hill is about 140 miles northeast of Charlotte.Nebraska players Michael Rose-Ivey, Daishon Neal and Mohamed Barry also kneeled before the No. 20 Cornhuskers game at Northwestern.Not everyone has supported the protests. The 49ers quarterback and some of the other athletes have gotten some backlash from fans and Kaepernick said he even got some death threats .Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was Kaepernicks coach for four seasons in San Francisco. Last month, Harbaugh said he supported Kaepernicks motivation to speak out but took exception to his method.After Saturdays game, Harbaugh said he had been thinking a lot about the issue the past couple of weeks and that he supports his players.This is something thats not going away. Its going to keep happening, Harbaugh said after the Wolverines 49-10 victory. Its not something thats going to keep them out of heaven. So Im not going to worry about it. As long as it doesnt keep them out of heaven for supporting their minds, I support it.Kaepernick was at a high school football game on Friday night. He spoke to players from Castlemont High School and joined them on the sideline before the game. A photo by former NFL linebacker Kirk Morrison on Twitter shows Kaepernick kneeling while the rest of the team laid on their backs with their hands up during the anthem.Saturdays gestures came a day after it was announced that Tommie Smith and John Carlos will join the U.S. Olympic team at the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama. The raised-fist salutes by the American sprinters on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics became a political flash point.---AP Sports Writers Joe Reedy, Noah Trister and Aaron Beard contributed to this story. Sale Custom College Jerseys .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Cheap Custom College Jerseys . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. http://www.customjerseyscollege.com/custom-ucla-bruins-jerseys-74s.html . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Wholesale Custom College Jerseys . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Clearance Custom College Jerseys .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. TORONTO -- Whenever his Toronto Blue Jays face the Baltimore Orioles, manager John Gibbons has a pretty good idea what kind of game its going to be.Theyre normally slugfests, Gibbons said Monday as the Blue Jays prepared to host Baltimore in the American League wild-card game.The Orioles led the major leagues with 253 home runs this season and hit 28 in their 19 games against Toronto. The Blue Jays were fourth in baseball with 221 homers and hit 29 against Baltimore.Were really very similar teams, if you break it down, Gibbons said. We know everything about them. They know everything about us. When youre playing a team from your division, theres really no secrets.Still, with a berth in the best-of-five division series against Texas on the line, long balls might be a little harder to come by in Tuesday nights winner-take-all affair between these AL East foes.The challenge of controlling two powerful lineups will fall on the starting pitchers. Marcus Stroman (9-10, 4.37 ERA) gets the nod for Toronto, with fellow right-hander Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.77) going for the Orioles.I think Stro is the perfect guy, Gibbons said. Big game, weve seen him do it before. He did that a couple of times for us last year. You know hes going to come out throwing strikes. Were glad hes available.Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said choosing Tillman was a good, tough decision.We had probably three options, and Chris is one of those good options, Showalter said.The Orioles went 4-0 in Tillmans four starts against the Blue Jays this season. Last year, he was 0-4 in six starts against Toronto, with an ugly 11.32 ERA.I dont think Ive gone out of my way to do anything different with these guys, Tillman said. Its just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Last year didnt go so well. This year has been a little better.Tillman took a no-decision against the Blue Jays in his final start of the regular season. He allowed two runs, one earned, and six hits in 5 2/3 innings on Wednesday. In 13 career sttarts at Rogers Centre, he is 2-6 with a 7.dddddddddddd1 ERA.If the Orioles have a late lead, theyll like their chances of locking it down. Closer Zach Britton was perfect in 47 save opportunities this season. Given the stakes, Showalter said hed consider using Britton for an extended outing.You dont worry about tomorrow or the next day, the manager said. Everything is about that nine innings. There are some times during the course of the game that it may happen earlier than usual that you may attack it differently.Stroman lost to Baltimore in his final regular-season outing. He yielded four runs and nine hits in seven innings Thursday. He is 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA in four starts against Baltimore this season.Its an unbelievable lineup, Stroman said. One through nine, there are no easy outs. There are no pitches you can take off. You make a mistake, and they make you pay.Orioles slugger Mark Trumbo led the majors with 47 home runs and is part of the reason Gibbons considers Baltimore probably the top quick-strike offense in baseball.There are so many power threats in their lineup, Gibbons said.Power was in short supply for the Blue Jays in the final weeks of the season. Toronto averaged 3.69 runs in September and October, their worst month of the season.Even so, a pair of one-run wins at Boston in the final two games of the season gave the Blue Jays home-field advantage against Baltimore and got them ready for the postseason, Gibbons said.Theres got to be something said for experiencing those kind of games, he said. You play enough of them, you get used to them.Toronto did not put right-hander R.A. Dickey on its postseason roster. Including Stroman, the Blue Jays will have 10 pitchers available. The Orioles have not yet finalized their roster.The winner of Tuesdays game will head to Texas to play the AL West champion Rangers beginning Thursday. ' ' '