NATIONAL ANTHEM PROTESTSWASHINGTON -- Tommie Smith and John Carlos voiced their support for Colin Kaepernick and other athletes staging national anthem protests, 48 years after they raised their gloved fists on the medals stand in a symbolic protest at the Olympics.The American sprinters who were sent home from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics for what they called a human rights salute say the San Francisco 49ers quarterback and others are right to use their platform to raise awareness about racial inequality and police brutality.Speaking Wednesday at the Team USA Awards, the first U.S. Olympic Committee event theyve been invited to since their protest, Smith says hes backing Kaepernick because his protest is proactive and Carlos says theres no better platform than sports to stand up for something, even if it brings criticism.LINCOLN, Neb. -- Gov. Pete Ricketts has agreed to meet next week with one of the Nebraska football players he criticized for kneeling during the national anthem at the Cornhuskers most recent game.Michael Rose-Ivey and two teammates each took a knee before last Saturdays game at Northwestern as a protest against police brutality and racial injustice.Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage said a day for the meeting had not been set but that it would be held next week, at Rose-Iveys request, so it doesnt interfere with football game preparation. The Cornhuskers dont have a game on Oct. 8.After Ricketts called the act disgraceful and disrespectful on his radio show Monday, Rose-Ivey tweeted at Ricketts that he would like to discuss the issue with him.Ricketts on Tuesday night responded on Twitter: Thanks for reaching out. Direct message me your information, and we will get something set up right away!Also Tuesday, Rose-Ivey and teammates Mohamed Barry and DaiShon Neal were criticized by two university regents, but received support from the university president Hank Bounds.PRO FOOTBALLPHILADELPHIA -- A second petition has been filed asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the $1 billion settlement of NFL concussion lawsuits because of how it treats current brain injuries versus future ones.The former players who filed the petition complain that chronic traumatic encephalopathy diagnosed before the April 2015 cutoff can bring $4 million while future CTE diagnoses arent compensated. They say that violates Supreme Court rulings that insist each subgroup in a class action settlement be treated fairly.The petition, filed Monday, echoes earlier complaints that the lead players lawyers signed a quick deal with the NFL in 2013 favoring their clients over thousands of others.Lawyers on the Plaintiffs Steering Committee, who negotiated the deal, reject those arguments and say the appeals are holding up payments that ailing retirees need. The NFL declined to comment.BASEBALLMIAMI -- Somber Marlins players and personnel escorted a hearse carrying the body of star pitcher Jose Fernandez from the teams ballpark, as the farewell for their beloved teammate marched on.As players and fans honored Fernandezs memory, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio sought a safety probe into the rock jetty where a boat crash claimed the lives of the baseball star and two friends.Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, manager Don Mattingly, hitting coach Barry Bonds and the players including Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton wore white T-shirts emblazoned with Fernandezs image and the letters RIP as they slowly walked the hearse away from Marlins Park in Miamis Little Havana neighborhood. Many in the crowd of about 1,000 chanted Jose! Jose! and some waved Cuban flags in honor of the popular Cuban-American player.CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs announced a five-year contract extension with president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, rewarding him for an overhaul that has the long-suffering franchise eyeing its first championship since 1908.The extension comes with the Cubs wrapping up one of the greatest seasons in franchise history and their fans believing that this just might be the team to end the 108-year World Series title drought.They reached 100 wins for the first time since 1935 and were a major league-leading 101-56 heading into Wednesdays game at Pittsburgh. Chicago clinched the best record in the majors with more than a week left in the regular season.Terms were not disclosed. Chairman Tom Ricketts said the contract ensures the baseball operations team assembled by Epstein will continue its remarkable tenure of building a consistent championship contender.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Pete Rose has appealed directly to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in an effort to restore his eligibility to be elected.In a seven-page letter to the Halls president, Roses longtime attorney Raymond Genco makes the case that the career hits leaders ban from baseball for gambling in 1989 was not intended to make him ineligible for the Hall of Fame.The Hall of Fame changed its bylaws two years after Roses banishment to make banned players ineligible for the Hall. Rose argues that it wasnt then-Commissioner Bart Giamattis intention to keep him out of the Hall when the two reached a settlement that banned him from baseball.Genco said new commissioner Rob Manfred denying Roses reinstatement last December opened the door for the new argument. Air Max 98 Canada . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Nike Air Max Canada Replica . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. http://www.clearanceairmaxcanada.com/air-max-tailwind-canada-sale.html . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. Nike Air Max Uptempo Canada . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Air Max2 Light Canada . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- So, in the wake of Arrogates devastating, track-record, runaway score in Saturdays Travers Stakes, who is the best 3-year-old male in the land?It might well be Arrogate. What he did in the Travers was amazing stuff, setting a fast pace under pressure and running away through the stretch like he went the first half in 50.84 seconds instead of the 46.84 he did post. And as if racking up a 13-1/2-length victory wasnt enough, Arrogate ran the fastest 1-1/4 miles in the history of Saratoga at 1:59.36, smashing General Assemblys 37-year-old track record.Powerful, powerful stuff. Maybe one of the three or four best performances weve seen all year.But where did this effort come from?Its not like Arrogate hadnt demonstrated considerable potential at the launch of his career in Southern California. He finished third sprinting in his debut last April and then won three straight going two turns, victories that earned him a trip to the Travers.However, none of Arrogates prior three scores were in the same universe as what he did on Saturday. I mean, he freaked in the most extreme sense of the term. In fact, his Travers performance, brilliant as it was, was in such contrast to his prior efforts that it seems only reasonable to require some validation.Arrogate might well be the best 3-year-old in the land, and it might not even be close. But I need to see him perform even fairly close to the way he did Saturday before I consider his Travers effort to be something I buy into completely.No question, the biggest disappointment in the Travers was Exaggerator, who was a distant trailer early, made a brief run late on the far turn, and then backed off to be eased under the wire, finishing 11th of 13.This dismal effort by Exaggerator on a fast track, into a fast pace, makes a very strong case that he is indeed not only pace dependent, but also dependent on a wet track to perform at his best. After all, Exaggerators wins in the Haskell, Preakness, and Santa Anita Derby, and his second in the Kentucky Derby (on a track that was plenty wet despite its fast designation) were all set up by pace and surface.But his last two dry-track starts resulted in 11th-place place finishes in both the Travers and Belmont. And all of this begs the question of whether its wise to award a horse who to this point has been a creation of fantastic pace setups and wet tracks.Nyquist, on the strength of honest wins in the Kentucky Derby and Florida Derby and a third in the Preakness that I think was the best performance in that race, might still be the ranking 3-year-old male. But his grasp on the division is very shaky.Which means that perhaps in no small respect, the door is open for Arrogate. But lets see him do what he did in the Travers again. Like in the Breeders Cup Classic.Quick Saturday Saratoga notes* Lady Eli might have been caught late by Strike Charmer in the Ballston Spa for the first defeat in her seven-race career, but she was a winner Saturday in every other sense of the word.Lady Eli ran big considering she was beaten less than a length off a 14-month layoff. She ran huge considering that layoff was due to laminitis. And what she did Saturday was tremendous when you take into account that shes lucky to be alive, let alone racing again, and racing effectively.Lady Eli made a very strong wide run around the far turn in the Ballston Spa, and even if her move was nicely set up by a fast early pace, that move says Lady Eli is still the Lady Eli we remember and will be a force to be reckoned with going forward.* Flintshire is so much the best in the male turf division its silly, and I say that with all due respect to Ironicus, who was a very good second to Flintshire in the Manhattan last June.However, as tremendously entertaining as Flintshires victories at this Saratoga meet were, lets not forget that he wasnt exactly beating horses who will invoke the memory of Manila. The group who tried to box him in in last months Bowling Green wasnt remotely good enough to pull off the gambit.ddddddddddddThere were no such machinations Saturday in the Sword Dancer - although Flintshire got two rail passes when barnmates Money Multiplier opened the rail for him around the far turn the final time and rabbit Inordinate did the same turning for home - but the competition really wasnt all that much stronger.I do not note this to denigrate Flintshire. He is very, very good, and I am a fan. However, European horsemen will soon get serious about sending real horses over here for the big fall grass stakes, and the competition Flintshire will face will become stronger by many multiples. And he might very well be good enough to meet the challenge. And that, for me, anyway, will be more entertaining than seeing Flintshire again victimize seriously overmatched competition.* If there was any doubt about Cavortings status as the top older dirt female east of Beholder and Stellar Wind, it was eliminated with her better-than-it-looked victory in the Personal Ensign.With a pace that bordered between deliberate and slow, the Personal Ensign quickly became a race that put a premium on tactics. And Cavorting, in her first career start around two turns or at a distance as far as 1-1/8 miles after winning the Ogden Phipps and Ruffian at Belmont in her last two starts, was up against it tactically, trailing early in the solid field of five.Yet despite an unfavorable setup, Cavorting was still able to produce a stretch rally from the outside to get up in time, which is very much to her credit. She was decidedly better than her half-length win margin would suggest.* Likewise, there was little question going into the Forego that A. P. Indian, the winner of his last three starts, including the Alfred G. Vanderbilt earlier in the meet, was the best male sprinter in the East. There was even less doubt after the Forego as A. P. Indian was decidedly best. That said, this edition of the Forego lured a less-than-inspiring field, and the East Coast sprinters are not an especially tough group, at least right now.* No matter what, Drefong was the speediest and best horse in the Kings Bishop. But it would have been nice to see him have to use his speed to prove his superiority. Instead, the Kings Bishop was giftwrapped for him only a quarter of a mile in.Drefong was in front and clear in a flash after the start of the Kings Bishop because he is, well, California speed. But when 23.11 was posted for a first-quarter fraction, it was clear there was no California speed, or any other speed, at work. That was walking for Drefong, and because he is a good horse, he thoroughly capitalized on his good fortune with a clear-cut score.Still, I suggest not penalizing the closers who were soundly beaten by Drefong this time too severely. They had no shot with the way the Kings Bishop was run.* Much credit to Haveyougoneaway, who made the Ballerina her second graded stakes victory of the Saratoga meet (she won last months Honorable Miss). But I do think several Ballerina contestants, for whatever reason, just did not deliver representative performances.Sheer Drama never moved a muscle, and Wavell Avenue barely did better. Carina Mia finished third as the even-money favorite despite being a 3-year-old against older opponents, but she really shouldnt have weakened after contesting a first quarter of 23.39, which was slow for a seven-furlong stakes race on a fast track, and her stretch drift was troubling.* The final times of the three big seven-furlong stakes ranked in predictable order. A. P. Indian went in 1:20.99, Drefong went in 1:21.25, and Haveyougoneaway went in 1:21.63. But frankly, I was a little surprised there wasnt more of a spread between these times. ' ' '