The Original Game » en named interim head coach for the upcoming se

LOS ANGELES -- At this point, after all that has happened in the past year, this latest insult barely registers. Allen Crabbe Hawks Jersey . Ten players were named to the WNBAs first and second teams on Friday, and not one of them was the woman who is still considered by many to be one of the best female basketball players in the world: Candace Parker.Less than a week earlier, shed been honored pregame as one of the 20 best players in the 20-year history of the WNBA, and somehow, at age 30, after leading Los Angeles to the WNBA Finals, she wasnt even recognized as one of the 10 best players in the league after a season in which she finished top 10 in points, rebounds, assists and steals?Its ridiculous. But this is what happens when a star female athlete doesnt play the role thats been expected of her.Parker hasnt won WNBA championships like she was expected to coming out of the University of Tennessee. Perhaps shes complained a bit too often for some tastes about working conditions or the need for physical and mental rest after year-round competition. She most assuredly didnt kiss the rings of the officials in charge of the Olympic team selection process, who could get away with leaving her off the squad that competed in Rio de Janeiro because the United States is so much better than the rest of the world that it can win without her.Yes, Parker can be inconsistent in her effort and play. But based on ability, production and talent, shes still one of the best two or three players in the womens game. So how in the world can she be left off the Olympic team and the all-WNBA teams?All season Parker has had to control her anger and disappointment at these slights.All season, shes kept it inside.She couldnt let these insults become the latest reason she hasnt won a WNBA championship after an illustrious career at Tennessee.Her legacy is on the line. One more win, and the title shes been searching for the past nine years will be hers. One more win, and all the dislocated shoulders, knee surgeries and ankle sprains will be worth it.That Maya Moore stands in the way of Parkers actualizing on the great promise she entered the league with as the No. 1 overall pick in 2008 is kind of perfect. Moore has had the career Parker was expected to have. The former Connecticut star, in her sixth season, already has three titles and an MVP award.Moore has also had a more stable, well-run organization and talented rosters with longtime co-stars Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles and Lindsay Whalen. The Lynx have been one of the WNBAs best franchises. The Sparks nearly moved two years ago before a group led by the Los Angeles Dodgers owners stepped in to buy them at the last minute.The Sparks wouldnt be poised to win the WNBA Finals without Parker, and frankly, they wont be able to finish off Minnesota without Parker at her absolute best. Shes the engine who drives everything for L.A. Which is not a knock on the relentless Nneka Ogwumike, the WNBAs MVP, but more a reflection of Parkers unique all-around game. Think of Ogwumike as Draymond Green and Parker as some sort of combination of Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala.For L.A. to win, Parker has to make her teammates better and be dominant at both ends of the court. She must create for others and herself. She must defend and rebound and force steals.Moore has to be phenomenal as well, but Minnesota has the depth and talent to survive an off night or off half from Moore. In Game 1, for example, Moore was scoreless in the first half. But the Lynx kept the game close because Whalen got it going.Parker has been fully aware of whats expected of her throughout her WNBA career: carry the league, her team, womens sports. Become a crossover star in the second-largest media market in the country. Win titles and MVP awards.Oh, and be quiet as the Sparks lurched aimlessly from one owner to the next. Say nothing and stay classy when shes snubbed by the Olympic team.Raise her daughter, Laila. Mourn her friend, coach and mentor, Pat Summitt.It is a familiar burden for the gifted and talented. An impossible standard that Parker has paid a heavy price for not conforming to.She can change that Sunday. All eyes, as always, will be on her. Spud Webb Hawks Jersey . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. Alex Len Hawks Jersey . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. https://www.thehawkslockerroom.com/Alex-...Edition-Jersey/ . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. MINNEAPOLIS -- Longtime Minnesota wrestling coach J Robinson was fired Wednesday, after the university said an investigation into an alleged drug ring within the program revealed he wasnt forthcoming to school officials and made unauthorized promises of amnesty to his athletes.Robinson coached the Gophers for 30 years and led the team to three national championships, developing a reputation as a hard-nosed, outspoken and occasionally combative figure on campus. His teams had as much success as any Gophers coach of his era, but he became embroiled in the drug scandal this spring when police investigated allegations that more than a dozen wrestlers sold and used the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.Police previously declined to file charges in the case, citing a lack of evidence.In a letter sent to Robinson on Wednesday, new athletic director Mark Coyle said Robinson directed his wrestlers to turn the drugs in to him and disposed of the pills. Coyle also said the coach disobeyed reasonable directives from me and university to share information regarding the drug activities within the team.You have not accepted responsibility or expressed remorse for your conduct, Coyle wrote to Robinson. As a result, I cannot trust you to refrain from such conduct in the future.Robinson signed a contract extension last summer that ran through 2020, paying him $146,000 annually. Coyle said at a news conference that the coach was fired for cause, meaning no settlement agreement was reached with Robinson and his representatives. Coyle declined to speculate about whether Robinson could have kept his job if he had fully cooperated with the investigation.Robinsons agent and attorney didnt respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.I do not intend to address each inaccuracy and/or omission in the report because there are far too many, Robinson wrote Aug. 30 to the university, which made his letter public along with the 31-page summary of the investigation led by university attorney Brent Benrud. For now, suffice it to say that the report sacrifices accuracy to create a narrative to support a pre-determined outcome to find fault with me and exculpate the university and senior employees in the athletic department.Robinson said he didnt promise his wrestlers hed keep their identities confidential. He said he complied with university regulations and informed his superiors, including former interim athletic director Beth Goetz, of the drug issues within his team. Atlanta Hawks Jerseys. He also devised a form of discipline for the wrestlers involved, demanding that they inform their parents of their actions, write an essay about the effects those actions had on themselves, their families and the university and requiring them to submit to drug testing and a chemical dependency assessment.Coyle granted that Robinson did inform his superiors of possible drug issues within his team, but the AD said the coach needed to do more.He did not fully cooperate with our investigation into the matter, Coyle said at the news conference. He did not meet with us for interviews promptly, and when he did, he did not answer some of our most critical questions.Coyle, who placed Robinson on administrative leave on his first official day on the job on June 1, about a week after the allegations first surfaced, said he met with Robinson on several occasions to try to get him to offer details on the situation.The report is filled with excuses for the universitys failure to act and masks the lack of adequate policy guidance and support to assist coaches in addressing situations involving and helping student athletes with drug issues, Robinson wrote in his response.According to Benruds summary of the investigation, a wrestler who brought forward an ethics complaint to the university reported hearing some members of the team turned in to Robinson marijuana, Adderall and Oxycodone in addition to the Xanax, of which about 1,500 pills were produced to the coach.Assistant coach Brandon Eggum has been named interim head coach for the upcoming season.Wrestling coaches at power-conference schools often toil with their teams in relative anonymity, but not Robinson.He became a well-known figure for developing the program into one of the best in the nation and also for his outspoken and polarizing views. He has long been a critic of Title IX, the federal law enacted to provide equal opportunities for men and women at public schools.The school once investigated Robinson for forcing participants in his youth wrestling camp to write an anti-Title IX letter to elected officials. He also was investigated in 2005 after three high school athletes were treated at a hospital for heat exhaustion from a late-night workout at a hockey camp overseen by Robinson. ' ' '