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A look ahead to top enterprise and feature stories planned globally by AP Sports. New digests will go out each Thursday and Monday and will be repeated on other weekdays. Please note that story plans may change depending on news and other issues.
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NOTE: The story slugged FBN–Wentz’s Comeback will now be moving on Wednesday P.J. Hall Color Rush Jersey , June 13, not this Friday.
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FRIDAY, June 8
SOC–WCUP-SADIO MANE
One fan thumps his chest with his fist. Another raises a Senegalese flag high in the air. Around them, hundreds of others holler, jump and dart about in wild celebration. Sadio Mane has scored. Described as a quiet kid, even shy Tony Conigliaro Boston Red Sox Jersey , the Liverpool forward showed determination and focus at a young age to emerge form a rural village and find international stardom in Europe. Senegal now expects him to deliver at the World Cup. By Ken Maguire. UPCOMING: 850 words, photos by 5 a.m. Friday.
MONDAY, June 11
BRAZIL-WCUP-STICKERS
SAO PAULO – Teacher Ari Mascarenhas could have picked a high-tech gadget or flashy app to help his eighth grade students with their Portuguese language grammar, reading and text interpretation. Instead, he is finding a creative way to use something completely analog: the World Cup sticker book, which features national team players of countries getting ready to compete in Russia later this month. The album is all the rage among soccer fans in Brazil and around the world Geron Christian Color Rush Jersey , even if it is decidedly old school. ”In such a divisive world we can still swap, trade and have something in common,” said Mascarenhas, who like many adults, does his own buying and trading of stickers. By Mauricio Savarese. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos by 3 a.m. Monday.
WEDNESDAY Barkevious Mingo Color Rush Jersey , June 13
FBN–WENTZ’S COMEBACK
PHILADELPHIA – Carson Wentz was having an MVP season before a torn ACL forced him to the sideline where he watched Nick Foles lead the Philadelphia Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory. Wentz has a mission to return for Week 1 but his return comes with interesting circumstances: He’s got no pressure to return right away because the Eagles can lean on the Super Bowl MVP to start the season. And that’s not necessarily a threat to Wentz, whose friendship with Foles appears without the strain seen in other famed NFL tandems like Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers or Joe Montana and Steve Young. That has allowed Wentz to pursue other interests while rehabbing, like building a sports complex during a mission trip to Haiti, with the comfort of knowing his job is reasonably safe if he plays well once he comes back. By Rob Maaddi. UPCOMING: 850 words, photos by 3 a.m. Friday.
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Again, if you have questions about the Sports Showcase Digest or the material listed Brian O'Neill Color Rush Jersey , please reach out to Oskar Garcia at 215-446-6632 or ogarcia(at)ap.org.
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AP Sports
.The Los Angeles Lakers announced the signing of LeBron James as a free agent
Monday night http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-d.j.-fluker-jersey ,
confirming the seismic shift created by the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player’s
decision to leave Cleveland for the 16-time champion franchise on the West
Coast
.
James’ representatives at Klutch Sports Group tweeted a photo of James signing his contract with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka. James’ agency already announced last week that the superstar had agreed to a four-year deal worth $153.3 million with Los Angeles.
The Lakers have missed the playoffs in a franchise-record five consecutive seasons, while James has played in the past eight NBA Finals with the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, winning three titles.
The 33-year-old budding entertainment mogul immediately becomes the focus of the Lakers franchise and a possible foundation for the NBA’s next superteam, depending on whether James and the Lakers can persuade more superstars to join him in the next year or two.
Magic Johnson http://www.lionsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-tracy-walker-jersey , the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, called James ”the best player in the world” in a news release.
”He loves to compete and is an awesome leader who is about winning and making sure that his teammates are successful,” Johnson said. ”The Lakers players are excited to have a teammate who has been to nine NBA Finals. It’s a huge step closer to returning the Lakers to the playoffs and to the NBA Finals.”
James is coming off one of his greatest NBA seasons, playing in all 82 regular-season games for the Cavaliers while finishing third in the NBA with 27.5 points per game and hitting career highs with 8.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists. He then carried Cleveland to its fourth consecutive NBA Finals Brandon Guyer Cleveland Indians Jersey , where the Cavs were swept by Golden State.
”This is a historic moment for the Lakers, and we could not feel more grateful and honored,” Pelinka said. ”When LeBron James – a perennial NBA MVP and champion who is playing at the most astonishing levels of his career – chooses to join the Lakers, it serves as the ultimate validation for what we are building here. However http://www.bearsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-anthony-miller-jersey , we all know that the work is not yet done.”
James’ arrival is indeed validation for Johnson and Pelinka, who took over the Lakers’ front office in February 2017 with a specific plan to rebuild the franchise by persuading established superstars to join as free agents.
The Lakers already have begun assembling a revamped team around James by acquiring Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee and Lance Stephenson in free agency while retaining guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Los Angeles also assembled a reasonably talented young core before James’ arrival with Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball Bo Scarbrough Color Rush Jersey , Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart.
But they didn’t even get a meeting with star scorer Paul George before the Southern California native re-signed with Oklahoma City, and their efforts to acquire disgruntled two-way superstar Kawhi Leonard from San Antonio haven’t borne fruit so far.
The Lakers don’t appear to be planning a public event to welcome James to Los Angeles, where he already owns multiple homes and spends summers with his family.
But Blaze Pizza – the growing pizza chain in which James is an investor – announced a three-hour pizza giveaway on Tuesday to welcome James to LA.
LeBron responded with a tweet , his first since June 26: ”Haven’t been to a pizza party in a minute … Culver City?”
—
.
His power proved to be the difference.
Turner hit the Dodgers’ s
eventh home run of the game, a go-ahead drive in the
11th inning that led Los Angeles over the New York Mets 8-7 Sunday.
”I was hoping we didn’t need one,” said Turner, who went 1 for 9 in the first two games of the series before getting the day off. ”But it kind of worked out.”
Cody Bellinger and Kike Hernandez each homered twice as the Dodgers beat the Mets for the 12th straight time dating to 2016. Max Muncy and Joc Pederson also connected for Los Angeles. Hernandez and Muncy led off the game with back-to-back shots.
The Dodgers’ team record for home runs in a game is eight, set in 2002 against Milwaukee.
The defending NL champs have gone 25-9 since falling behind 10 games under .500 on May 16, and have won three straight after losing the last two games of a three-game series last week at Wrigley Field against Chicago.
The Dodgers are now 2 1/2 games behind NL West-leading Arizona.
”We had a lot of injuries, a lot of bad luck and nothing was going our way http://www.broncosauthorizedshops.com/authentic-daesean-hamilton-jersey ,” Hernandez said. ”Slowly things started to turn around. It was just a matter of time because if you look at our team, even now that we’re doing really good, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have the record we have now.”
The Mets matched a team record for the most homers allowed in a game, and lost their sixth in a row overall.
Turner, a former Met, homered off Chris Flexen (0-1) with two outs to put the Dodgers up for good. Los Angeles had squandered a 7-4 lead in the eighth when Kevin Plawecki hit a tying, three-run shot.
Daniel Hudson (2-2) picked up the victory with two scoreless innings. He worked around a leadoff walk in the 10th and stranded a runner at second in the 11th.
The Mets lost for the 13th time in 14 games at Citi Field. They previously allowed seven home runs on April 30 http://www.jetsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-clive-walford-jersey , 2017, at Washington.
”We just can’t sync up exactly what we’re trying to do every day,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. ”If we swing the bats, we give up seven homers. If we pitch and swing the bats good, our defense isn’t quite there.”
The depleted Mets were forced to start longtime reliever Jerry Blevins in place of Jason Vargas, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list Saturday due to a strained right calf.
”I showed up to the ballpark today and they were like, `Hey Kolton Miller Color Rush Jersey , how do you feel about starting?”’ Blevins said.
Making his first major league start in 533 appearances, Blevins gave up back-to-back homers by Hernandez and Muncy to begin the game. It was just the second time since 1900 that a pitcher had allowed two straight home runs to begin his first start in the majors, the Elias Sports Bureau said – Don Hendrickson did it in 1945 with the Boston Braves.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (right rib microfracture) threw in the bullpen before the game. The 23-year-old rookie, who is 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA in nine starts this season, has been on the disabled list since June 12.
Mets: Flexen was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas, taking Vargas’ spot in the 25-man roster. … OF Brandon Nimmo was removed from the game due to a sore right pinkie. He injured it when he was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning and was replaced by Conforto in the top of the seventh. X-rays were negative but he will undergo an MRI on Monday. ”I’m optimistic because it’s not what I think that a broken bone would feel like,” Nimmo said.
SITTING IT OUT
Mets SS Amed Rosario was held out of the starting lineup as part of a mental break over the next couple of days. His mentor http://www.jaguarsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dj-chark-jersey , Jose Reyes, started in his place, Rosario entered to play short in the top of the 11th. The struggling 22-year-old, who’s hitting just .249 with four home runs and 21 RBIs over 71 games, has had a tough time adjusting to major league pitching after hitting .328 with seven homers and 58 RBI at Triple-A Las Vegas before making his big league debut last season on Aug. 1, 2017.
”I’m just having a couple of days for me to relax and enjoy the game,” said Rosario http://www.billsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-marshall-newhouse-jersey , who has hit only .212 (14 for 66) through 19 games in June.
Callaway and his staff sat down with the youngster to come up with a plan heading into their three-game series with Pittsburgh on Monday.
”We brought him in and talked to him, sat him down and we’re going to make sure that we take these next couple of days to work on some things in his overall game,” Callaway said. ”This young kid is still trying to develop at the major league level and these couple of days will allow him to get some work done in the cage, some work done in the field tomorrow taking groundballs and things like that. So we thought this would be really good for him.”
UP NEXT
Dodgers: RHP Kenta Maeda (4-4, 3.11 ERA) starts the opener of a 10-game homestand with the first of four against the Chicago Cubs.
Mets: RHP Seth Lugo (2-2, 2.85) starts the first game of a three-game set against Pittsburgh. It will be Lugo’s fifth start of the season.
.—
A junior hockey team was en route to a cru
cial playoff game Friday when a
tractor-trailer slammed into their chartered bus, killing 15 and sending shock
waves through a small town on the Canadian plain.
More than half the passengers on the Humboldt Broncos’ bus were killed. Most were players who hailed from the prairie provinces known for farming, but victims also included coaches, a radio announcer, team statistician and a bus driver accustomed to weathering hazardous road conditions.
The team’s first line, including the team captain and the son of a former NHL player, all died. Three of the young players killed were named Logan.
Family members, friends and former team managers provided a glimpse of most of those who died:
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FIRST LINE DOWN
Logan Schatz http://www.dolphinsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jason-sanders-jersey , 20, was a four-year veteran of the Broncos and had been captain for more than half his time with the team. The high-scoring center was the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s player of the month twice this season.
Schatz’s wingmen on the team’s top line, Jaxon Joseph and Conner Lukan, were also killed.
Schatz had praised the two publicly in January. ”I’ve really clicked with Joseph and Lukan,” he said on the team’s website. ”I can’t say enough good things about them.”
Joseph, 20, the son of former NHL player Chris Joseph, was among the leading scorers in the league playoffs. He had previously played on the St. Albert Raiders with Lukan.
The death of Lukan, 21, of Slave Lake, Alberta, was announced by the Raiders on Twitter.
Two other Raiders alumni also died in the crash: Stephen Wack and Logan Hunter.
Wack http://www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jeremiah-attaochu-jersey , 21, had played two seasons with the Broncos and ”absolutely lived and breathed hockey,” his cousin Alicia Wack said.
”Stephen has always been an amazing person, son, big brother, and cousin,” she said on Facebook. ”He is one of the most adventurous, ambitious, and loving people that I have ever been blessed to know.”
Hunter was a great hockey player and a smart kid with a great sense of humor, said Kevin Porter, president of the Raiders. ”He always had a smile on his face,” Porter said.
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COACHES KILLED
Tributes to head coach Darcy Haugan described him as a great person Josh Sweat Color Rush Jersey , coach and mentor.
”He will always be a great man in our hearts,” said his sister, who posted on Twitter under the name Debbie Jayne. ”The tears just keep coming.”
Haugan played in the junior hockey league in the 1990s.
Steven Wilson, a radio play-by-play announcer, called Haugan ”the classiest guy” in the league. The last time they saw each other, Haugan was playing video games in his office with one of his two young sons.
”He was very dedicated to his family and at the same time he was a hockey guy,” Wilson said.
Haugan’s wife, Christina George-Haugan, is the team’s office manager.
One of Haugan’s assistants was Mark Cross, who had joined the team after being named most valuable player last year while playing with the Maroons in the Highway Hockey League.
”I can honestly say I didn’t know a more kind-hearted, generous, caring and overall nice person http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-deadrin-senat-jersey ,” cousin Graeme Cross said in an online tribute.
”Mark was one of those people that just made you feel safe and brought a special spark when you were in his presence.”
—
ROUGH RIDER
Bus driver Glen Doerksen was accustomed to driving routes between rinks for Charlie’s Charters, the official carrier for more than a half dozen hockey teams. He was no stranger to the storms that sweep across the plain during the long winter.
”Our trips to Foam Lake and Allan were on horrible highways due to winter storms,” Kris Babbings, manager of the Kinistino Tigers, said on Twitter. ”We got on that bus and trusted him with our lives and both times he got us home safely. Tragically yesterday he and many others didn’t make it home and our hearts are broken for your families and friends.”
Babbings said he would never forget the smile on Doerksen’s face after the Tigers won their championship in Allan last month. The team asked the driver to honk his horn twice ”for the cup.”
”Tonight, Glen, we give two honks for you,” he wrote. ”Rest easy sir.”
—
CALLING THE SHOTS ON AIR AND PLAYS ON SIDELINES
Tyler Bieber was in his first season as the team’s play-by-play announcer for Humboldt radio station CHBO, where he also covered news.
”He definitely had a natural talent,” said Wilson, a co-worker in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. ”He was just passionate about sports.”
Bieber was also mentoring Brody Hinz http://www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-cassius-marsh-jersey , 18, the team statistician and radio station intern who died in the crash, Lydon Frieson, president of Golden West Radio, said in a statement posted on the station’s website.
”Tragedy has hit our community and it reaches into every corner of life in Humboldt,” Frieson said.
Bieber also coached the Humboldt high school’s basketball and football teams, Wilson said.
—
GIVING LIFE TO OTHERS
Logan Boulet signed his organ dono.
SACRAMENTO http://www.titansauthorizedshops.com/authentic-harold-landry-jersey , Calif. — If given their choice and presented with an opportunity to be honest, the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings probably would both admit they would rather not even play their regular-season finale.
But they don’t have a choice, and no such admission is coming.
So, the Rockets and Kings will suit up and insist they won’t just go through the motions when they play Wednesday at the Golden 1 Center.
“People pay for their tickets http://www.eaglesauthorizedshops.com/authentic-markus-wheaton-jersey ,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni told the Houston Chronicle last week.
The folks in Houston are getting a better bang for their buck than the Sacramento fans.
The Rockets (65-16) long ago wrapped up the NBA’s best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The only mystery for them is which team they will play, and the path that might await them.
Houston may not find out its opponent until after its contest with the Kings.
Minnesota and Denver entered Tuesday’s action tied for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and they both were one game behind San Antonio, Oklahoma City and New Orleans. All of those teams play their finale on Wednesday.
“The ultimate goal is holdin
g that trophy up Olivier
Rodrigue Oilers Jersey ,” Houston guard James Harden told the
Houston Chronicle. “So, until we do that, there’s no celebrations. We haven’t
done anything yet.”
Harden enters the finale averaging 30.4 points, more than two per game better than runner-up Anthony Davis of New Orleans Rashaad Penny Color Rush Jersey , and he could win his first scoring title. He also needs nine points to reach 2,200 points for the fourth straight season.
Houston’s bigger concern is injuries.
Forward Luc Mbah a Moute, who averages 26 minutes per game, suffered a dislocated right shoulder in Houston’s 105-99 road win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. The Rockets already were without forward Ryan Anderson (ankle).
Houston’s 105-99 win over the Lakers prevented the Rockets from having their first two-game losing streak since January. The Rockets have gone 38-5 since that skid.
Summer vacation starts early for the 12th straight year in Sacramento.
The Kings (26-55) will wind up with their lowest win total over a full campaign since a 24-58 finish in 2010-11. But they haven’t stopped playing hard James Daniels Color Rush Jersey , as evidenced by a 98-85 loss in San Antonio on Monday.
“We fought, we scrapped,” coach Dave Joerger told the Sacramento Bee. “We were not out there just soaking up minutes.”
The Kings’ season has been in keeping with what Sacramento said it would offer. General manager Vlade Divac made it clear before the season even started that the Kings were starting anew and playing for the future.
The season will be known for the development of guards Buddy Hield (13.5 points per game in his first full season since being acquired for DeMarcus Cousins); top draft pick De’Aaron Fox (11.6 points per game and a team-best 4.4 assists) and European transplant Bogdan Bogdanovic (11.8 points per game, including 12.4 per game since the All-Star break).
It also will be remembered for the surreal nature of their last long homestand http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-will-hernandez-jersey , during which protests against a police shooting of a Sacramento man was the backdrop to four losses in six games.
The Kings’ 13 home victories overall are the second fewest in basketball, behind only the Phoenix Suns (10). The Kings opened their home campaign and season with a 105-100 loss to the Rockets. They will close out the season against the same team they opened it against for the first time since winning the opener and finale against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011-12.
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