Only for Guild Members » This one definitely stings

Digging deeper into a culture war that he’s repeatedly stoked Odell Beckham Jr Giants Jersey , President Donald Trump called off a visit to the White House by the Philadelphia Eagles, citing the dispute over whether NFL players protesting racial injustice must stand during the playing of the national anthem.

Trump said in a statement Monday that some members of the Super Bowl championship team ”disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.”

He said the team wanted to send a smaller delegation Tuesday, but ”the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better.”

Instead, Trump said he would be hosting ”a different type of ceremony,” featuring the U.S. Marine Band and the U.S. Army Chorus, that ”will honor our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem.”

None of the Eagles took a knee during the anthem in 2017.

One of the people set to attend the ceremony told The Associated Press less than half of the team’s 53-man roster planned to go. The person spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the decision.

PRO HOCKEY

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Washington Capitals are one win away from the first Stanley Cup in franchise history after a 6-2 blowout of the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 gave them a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals will get their first chance to hoist the Cup in Game 5 on Thursday night in Las Vegas. No team since the Detroit Red Wings in 1942 has blown a 3-1 lead in the Cup Final.

Evgeny Kuznetsov dished out four assists, T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson Authentic Derrius Guice Jersey , Devante Smith-Pelly, John Carlson, Michal Kempny and Brett Connolly scored and Braden Holtby stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced.

The desperate Golden Knights outchanced the Capitals by a wide margin but fell apart after James Neal clanked a shot off the post instead of hitting a wide-open net early in the first period. The expansion team’s Cinderella run is in danger of coming to a quick end.

Marc-Andre Fleury allowed six goals on 23 shots, and by the time Neal and Reilly Smith scored in the third period, it was too late.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Kyler Murray says he is committed to playing football for Oklahoma this season even after becoming a top-10 pick in the Major League Baseball draft.

Murray, the favorite to replace Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield as the Sooners’ starting quarterback, was selected ninth overall by the Oakland Athletics on Monday night, putting him in position for a signing bonus of about $4.8 million to play baseball.

The speedy Murray has been a major league prospect since high school. He played outfield for the Sooners and hit .296 with 10 homers, 13 doubles and three triples in 189 at-bats this season.

Still, his selection so early in the first round was a surprise, and it could mean a change in career paths for the former five-star football recruit.

The slot value for the No. 9 pick is $4,761,500. If the A’s don’t sign him Michael Gallup Jersey Elite , they would lose that amount from their available bonus pool of $9,553,200 this year but would get the No. 8 pick as compensation next year. The deadline for Murray to sign is July 6.

SOCCER

ZURICH (AP) – FIFA can afford to have Morocco host the 2026 World Cup, according to President Gianni Infantino, even if the rival North American bid promises billions of dollars more in revenue.

Ahead of next week’s vote by FIFA member federations in Moscow, Infantino said: ”FIFA can afford whatever the congress decides.”

”We have to live with that and to make the best of any decision which is taken,” said the FIFA leader, who Moroccan bid leaders have publicly suspected of favoring the joint United States-Canada-Mexico bid.

In a FIFA panel’s evaluation of the candidates, the North American bid got the only maximum mark for its tickets and corporate hospitality sales plan.

A difference in projected ticket sales of $1.3 billion between the two bids helped lead the report to note ”significantly higher” forecast revenue of $14.3 billion from North Americans and $7.2 billion from Morocco.

TENNIS

PARIS (AP) – Serena Williams called off her Grand Slam comeback, pulling out of the French Open because of a chest injury before she was supposed to play Maria Sharapova.

Williams announced her withdrawal at a news conference at Roland Garros on Monday.

Williams’ voice quivered as she said she can’t serve because of a problem with her tight pectoral muscle.

She and Sharapova were scheduled to play a fourth-round match Monday.

The Columbus Blue Jackets played one more playoff game this season than last, but it’s all the same to general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and coach John Tortorella. Not good enough.

And apparently there’s plenty of blame to go around.

”Everybody has to give skin here, from the coaches right on through, as far as what happened Baker Mayfield Jersey Elite ,” Tortorella said in his exit interview with reporters Thursday.

The Blue Jackets promising season fizzled out in the end. They overcame injuries to key players and finished the regular season strong, making the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second season in a row. They won the first two in the first-round playoff series on the road against the Washington Capitals, only to drop the next four straight.

It ended with a thud in a 6-3 loss in Game 6 on home ice Monday night.

Despite how all that sounds, the team didn’t implode, Tortorella said.

”We were a good enough team to beat Washington this year,” he said. ”We just did not make that big play and or get that big save at key times, and they did.

”I like our team, I like our personnel,” he said. ”The biggest thing is we need to change our mindset here, (so) that we feel we belong in the playoffs. We need to think stronger in how to find a way. I want us to be more aggressive in our thinking and expect some more.”

The Blue Jackets undoubtedly will have some different faces next season. Just how many remains to be seen. Kekalainen was coy when asked if the team needs more talented players to get deeper into the playoffs.

”We’re always looking to upgrade, one way or another,” he said. ”I think we’re going to get better again from inside. It’s going to be the same approach.”

Kekalainen cited the surprise trade last summer that brought star winger Artemi Panarin to town and the swift emergence of rookie center Pierre-Luc Dubois. But he won’t talk strategy.

One the goals likely will be to sign Panarin and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky – the team’s biggest stars – to contract extensions. Both will be unrestricted free agents in 2019, and the team would like to lock them up before that.

Defenseman Jack Johnson and forward Matt Calvert will be unrestricted free agents on July 1 Vita Vea Color Rush Jersey , so the Blue Jackets will have to make a decision on whether to sign them to new contracts. The 28-year-old Calvert, the longest tenured Blue Jacket at eight seasons but never more than a bottom six player, tied his career-high season point total with 24 and had three playoff goals.

The Blue Jackets also will have to decide whether to re-sign forwards Thomas Vanek and Mark Letestu and defensemen Ian Cole, all of whom were added at the trade deadline.

Columbus finished with 97 points, second most in franchise history after last season’s 108, and qualified for the playoffs as a wildcard. The team punctuated a furious comeback down the stretch with a 10-game winning streak in March.

But the playoffs were a bust. Again.

”We expected more out of ourselves this year,” defenseman Zach Werenski said on his way out this week. ”Go up 2-0 on the road, come back home we don’t get a win. I just think we have higher expectations, and we should. We are a good hockey team and we fell short of our goals this year. At the end of the day, if you are not holding the Stanley Cup, it’s kind of a failed season. This one definitely stings.”

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