fter speaking to wave and after wave | Forum
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Mar 6 '18
Minnesota and Chicago both had games this past weekend they needed to win to get back on track, and both were victorious. Asics Gel Kinsei 6 Womens . The difference is how far off the track they were.For the Lynx, in a three-game losing skid after starting the season 13-0, it was like having an unexpected flat tire by the side of the road that needed to be fixed. Theyre now 14-3 and trail only 16-1 Los Angeles in the standings.For the Sky, though, it was the continuing search to make sure theyre even on the right road to the playoffs. They are 7-9 and part of the logjam of teams battling for the postseason.When the Lynx and Sky meet Tuesday in Minnesota (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET), those storylines remain in focus, along with the background that lingers between them in regard to center Sylvia Fowles.You could see some parallel between what Fowles did in 2015 -- sitting out and forcing a trade from Chicago to Minnesota -- to what Kevin Durant did Monday in leaving Oklahoma City to sign as a free agent with Golden State.In both cases, these are players in the primes of their careers who didnt win a title with the organization that drafted them (Durant moved with the franchise from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008), opting to go to a team that recently had won a championship.Obviously, the WNBA and NBA are completely different worlds in regard to salaries and exposure, but another way its different is that Durant really was free to go wherever he chose. Fowles was not, despite having been in the league for seven years at the point she wanted out of Chicago.She had the core-player designation, which meant she wasnt free to leave, but she could veto any trade she didnt want. Everyone knew she wanted to go to the Lynx and was willing to sit out all last season if that didnt happen. So, actually, neither Fowles nor the Sky were in great bargaining position, which is why the situation lingered into late July 2015.Then a three-team deal involving Atlanta got done, and Fowles joined Minnesota. Though it did take a little work, she was successfully incorporated into the Lynx and helped them win the league championship, being named WNBA Finals MVP.The Sky, who went to the WNBA Finals in Fowles last year there, 2014, still havent overcome her absence. Elena Delle Donne was league MVP last year, will be on the U.S. Olympic squad this year, and is having another strong season (20.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.1 APG).Veteran guards Cappie Pondexter (13.0 PPG), Allie Quigley (9.0 PPG) and Courtney Vandersloot (8.2 PPG, 4.8 APG) continue to power the perimeter for the Sky. But their interior game is made up of players who are capable and serviceable, but not stars who consistently put up big numbers.Rookie center Imani Boyette, 21, is the youngest of that crew and also the tallest at 6-foot-7. She has averaged 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds, which is decent production for a first-year post acclimating herself to the league.But it all means a lot once again is riding on the shoulders of Delle Donne, who is one of the premier players in the world. But she is still just one player.Its very difficult -- theyre a championship team, Delle Donne said of facing the Lynx, who beat the Sky 97-80 on May 18 in the second game of the season for both squads.Obviously, the season hasnt started off exactly as wed want it to. Weve had defensive lapses, and weve been working on it all season. But its one of those things: You cant talk about it, youve got to do it. Its something were trying to figure out.Delle Donne had her first double-double of the season Friday with 28 points and 11 rebounds as Chicago edged Washington 86-84 in overtime, with Vandersloot hitting the game-winning shot with 4.6 seconds left.Saturday, the Lynx got back to their winning ways by taking out their frustrations on San Antonio, winning 91-68 behind 21 points off the bench from Natasha Howard.Minnesota had lost at home to Los Angeles, at Washington, and back home to New York going into the game with San Antonio. The Lynx just needed to find their bearings.Hiccups like this arent unusual during the course of a season, even for a team as good as Minnesota. The Lynx have been through things like this before. The important thing for them is maintaining one of the top two spots in the standings in order to get the early bye in the playoffs.I think we focus on coming together even more, guard Lindsay Whalen said of the mindset of the three-time champions. We have to hone in on the little things on court as far as communicating. Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66 Yellow . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Asics Gel Lyte III For Sale . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said. http://www.kliqplan.com/cheap-gel-lyte-v.html . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. She could keep her public remarks simple and bland. Lord knows enough athletes do that. Anyway, her bio is exemplary: She went to Duke on an academic scholarship and graduated in 2009 with a double major in international relations and African-American studies, and a minor in Arabic. She was also a three-time All-American in fencing. Shes a suburban Jersey kid by birth whose father is a retired narcotics detective, and her mother is a soon-to-be retired special ed teacher. And she shares their zeal for public service.Since committing full time to chase an Olympic berth in 2009, shes ridden the PATH train to nearby New York City to train on weekdays and to mentor the 200 or so kids who show up every Saturday morning at a fencing foundation run by six-time U.S. Olympian Peter Westbrook. When she speaks to those kids or to other groups, which is often, she frequently closes her talks by urging people to be proactive in their communities, and she encourages women and girls to overcome their timidity, dream big, think outside the box -- same as she once did.She has a poise thats striking, a smile thats hard to forget, and a tenderness that is palpable. She makes no claims to phony toughness, admitting, I struggled as a kid, with feeling different. She now runs her own clothing business, Louella, which is named after her grandmother, on top of everything else and counts herself as an eloquent example of the way sports can change someones life. Her mother, Denise, sometimes worries about her -- I dont want her to lose sight of having fun, she told ESPN in 2011. I tell her, You dont have to carry our entire community on your shoulders.A devout Muslim, Ibtihaj Muhammad says, I feel I can handle it. (Pronounced: Ib-tee-haj.)Yet none of that spared 30-year-old Muhammad from having a total stranger ask her if she was a terrorist who intended to blow something up as she walked through Times Square in mid-April, minding her own business. Muhammad photographed the man and posted his image on Twitter.?Nor was Muhammad spared from having an official in Austin at the South by Southwest conference in March from ordering her to remove her hijab -- the religious head covering that she wears -- before hed take her photo for her panelist credential. When Muhammad explained why she couldnt remove it, the man scoffed and said, Well, youre in Texas now.She says, At first I thought he was kidding.Muhammad, who will become the first American athlete to compete at the Olympics in a hijab at the Rio Olympics in August, is philosophical about such incidents as she calmly recounts them. Her gaze is direct. Her temperament even. Yes, she couldve chosen to deflect questions about her Muslim faith and being one of the few African-Americans in her sport. But its a fallacy to think that wouldve made her life any easier.So, as shes jokingly said, Im just your basic Hijabi Zorro.There will be other athletes in Rio who are better known than Muhammad, though she is a legitimate medal hopeful in the team and individual sabre events. But it is hard to think of anyone whose symbolism is more important. She has taken her messages of tolerance and what life as a Muslim-American woman is like everywhere she goes, be it The Ellen DeGeneres Show (where she did a hilarious fencing demonstration with DeGeneres sidekick Andy Zeron), to interviews she did after she was named to Time Magazines list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2016. In February, she was invited to a private meeting that President Barack Obama held with other prominent Muslim-Americans before he gave a speech at the Islamic Society of Baltimore, his first visit in office to an American mosque.Wheres my Olympian? Stand up, Obama said before his talk, scanning the audience of hundreds that Muhammad was sitting among, wanting her to rise and hear the applause.Muhammad prefers to emphasize positive examples like that when describing what her path to the Olympics has become. But she does not shrink from asserting Muslims and minorities should enjoy the same rights and protections in America as anyone else because, I feel like I owe it to my community, I owe it to people who look like me and fight struggles every day, to hear something different. Its up to all us to combat these things. I have to speak up because I know there were people before me that did it.She constantly says, Im blessed to be in this position.And this: I wasnt going to allow other peoples misconceptions to change my journey.So, when reporters inquire about what kind of online harassment she receives on her Twitter or Instagram accounts, Muhammad smiles and says, Oh, sure, there are internet trolls everywhere. But thats what the delete button is for. And I use it. If asked for examples of prejudice shes experienced, she often diverts the discussion instead to thhe hundreds of positive messages that cancel them out, or how after taking up fencing for the first time as a 13-year-old girl, she felt wearing the masked headgear and full-length uniform that covered her body had much the same effect as wearing the hijab: She feels it liberates her. Asics Gel Noosa Tri 8 Mens. .Something I definitely struggled with as a kid was traveling to different schools and different communities and hearing that I made people uncomfortable because of my skin color, because of my religion, she says. Being covered allows people to see me for my skills and my ideas.Muhammad knows history. She knows the regard that Muslims are experiencing now in America has had ugly precedents and parallels in our past. The Japanese kamikaze pilots of World War II were regarded with the same horror around the world that jihadist suicide bombers are now. Americas response then -- ripping Japanese-Americans out of their homes and throwing them into internment camps -- remains an ugly blot on our history. Similarly, African-Americans have spoken out about being punished for the crime of being black since the founding of this country.What America promises all of its people and what it delivers is often at odds with Dr. Martin Luther Kings famous wish that everyone be judged for the content of his or her character. Muhammad feels to be silent, especially at this point in American history, would be indefensible. After the 9/11 attacks on New Yorks World Trade Center happened 30 minutes away from her familys home in New Jersey, her mother said there was panic in their home that night. In the weeks to come, her five children were harassed and she was sometimes screamed at as she drove down the street wearing her hijab. Fifteen years later, it could still happen.Muhammad has traveled to 30 countries as part of her work and admits shes had to trim in even how late she goes out at night for dinner. She has feared being prevented from boarding flights on the way to her Olympic qualifying meets because of her hijab or fencing equipment she carries.Were living in a time where people feel comfortable spewing their hate and harassing the innocent on our streets. We need change, Muhammad tweeted after her incident with the heckler in Times Square.After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump demanded that all Muslims be barred from entering the country in response to terror attacks in San Bernardino, California, and around the world, and suggested a national registry for Muslims, Muhammad spoke out forcefully again.Unfortunately, we have people who are in the presidential race who are providing a platform for hate speech and fearmongering, Muhammad told Londons Daily Mail, and theyre creating a space where its acceptable to speak out against immigrants, to speak out against Muslims and to really publicize this inherent racism that I feel a lot of people have. It creates a really scary environment, and I fear for the safety of minorities in our country. Its becoming more and more acceptable for people to voice their fascist beliefs and its upsetting.Im hopeful that things will change and soon, because I fear that history is repeating itself. The Civil Rights Movement wasnt that long ago. Segregation wasnt that long ago. Japanese internment wasnt that long ago. And when you think things like you want to ban Muslims from entering the country or you want to build a wall to separate the U.S. from Mexico [as Trump has also said], I think these are things that are reminiscent of really dark times within, not just our country, but worldwide.Sometimes fear and prejudice talk louder than fairness.When I hear people here say they want to throw all Muslims back to their country, Muhammad says, I think, Well, where am I going to go? Im American, you know? Ive never questioned myself as an American or my position here. This is my home. This is who I am. My family has always been here. Were American by birth. This is all that I know. I feel American to my bones.Muhammad happened to be standing in the middle of Times Square again as she said that. This time there wasnt a bigot taunting her. She was appearing in late April along with dozens of other American athletes at the U.S. Olympic Committees 100 Days from Rio event that was open to the public. She had just spent part of her morning teaching first lady Michelle Obama and 15 to 20 children a few tips about fencing, at times jousting with comically long foam swords that made them laugh.When asked a couple hours later how she was holding up after speaking to wave and after wave of visitors and reporters, Muhammad sighed and said, Oh, do I look tired?No, someone responded, you seem buoyant.Laughing now, she said, I try. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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