ur former first-round picks -- Tunsil, tackles Branden Albe

MINNEAPOLIS -- The four Minnesota Lynx captains awoke Thursday in Connecticut to disturbing news back home: the shooting death of Philando Castile, a black man, during a traffic stop in the Twin Cities suburb of Falcon Heights, Minnesota.Two days earlier, the death of another black man, Alton Sterling, in an encounter with police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, deeply shook Lynx star Seimone Augustus, a Baton Rouge native familiar with the gas station where it occurred. At Minnesotas shootaround Thursday before their game at the Connecticut Sun, the captains -- Augustus, Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson, who are black, plus Lindsay Whalen -- initiated a long, thoughtful discussion with coach Cheryl Reeve.They shared stories with Reeve, who is white, about their experiences growing up black in America. Later that day and the next, they shared horror over the slayings of five white police officers by a black sniper in Dallas.So Saturday, before Minnesotas home game with the Dallas Wings at the Target Center, the Lynx captains used their public platform to call for healing, compassion and dialogue.The entire team wore black warm-up shirts with the message Change Starts With Us -- Justice and Accountability on the front. (Accountability is a Lynx team mantra.) The back featured the names of Castile and Sterling, the Dallas Police Department shield and, at the bottom, Black Lives Matter.In the wake of the tragedies that have continued to plague our society, we have decided it is important to take a stand and raise our voices, said Brunson, reading from a statement at a pregame news conference. Racial profiling is a problem. Senseless violence is a problem. The divide is way too big between our community and those who have vowed to protect and serve us.Brunson and Moore spoke for the group while Whalen and Augustus sat alongside. Moore noted the tragic irony of the attack in Dallas, where de-escalation training has dramatically reduced the number of police shootings and complaints about excessive use of force since 2009.We do not in any way condone violence against the men and women who serve in our police force, Moore said. Senseless violence and retaliation do not bring us peace.Moore added: We as a nation can decide to stand up for what is right, no matter your race, background or social status. It is time we take a deep look at our ability to be compassionate and empathetic to those suffering from the problems that are deep within our society.On Sunday the New York Liberty added their own statement, black warm-up shirts with #BlackLivesMatter and #Dallas5 on the front and a haunting #___________ on the back.Being on the platform we have [we should] definitely use our voice, Liberty star Tina Charles said. We have family, we have close friends, relatives that are affected by everything that is going on, and we relate to it as well.Reeve said the Lynx told the league its players planned to make a statement of support.The overriding thing for me is, I feel incredibly proud of our group, and particularly our captains, Reeve said after the Lynx routed Dallas 93-56. Everything we do, were led by those four.This is a group that is incredibly compassionate, intelligent, measured, responsible. They were very affected. Were people. We also understand that what we do is more than sport, and were blessed to have an opportunity to be a part of opening minds, changing minds, making the world a better place.The conversation between the players and Reeve was at times emotional. Brunson, for the first time, told her teammates about a scary encounter with police as an 8-year-old in Oxon Hills, Maryland. Brunson said she and some friends were playing in the bottom level hallway connecting their three apartment buildings when police arrived, weapons drawn.I think weve all been touched deeply by the things that are happening, Brunson said. The memory just kind of came back to me, and I started thinking about it and said this is something I should share at this time.I dont know why they were there. I dont know who they were looking for. But I feel like when youre approaching children, theres no reason and no place for that. The fact that they felt like it was OK then was an issue, and the fact that they feel like its OK now is an issue. Its something everybody has to start thinking about.Speaking out against injustice was ingrained in Brunson by her grandmother, Helma Brunson, who grew up in Nazi Germany and was sentenced to hang for treason in the final days of World War II before the Allies liberated her village.Then she came to the U.S., married a black guy, had a mixed kid, and had to stand up to a whole nother set of issues, said Brunson, a Georgetown graduate. Ive never been taught to just be silent.The Lynx held a pregame moment of silence Saturday honoring all the victims. Two Lynx tweets about the shirts drew more than 1,800 likes, far outnumbering critical responses from tweeps who appeared to overlook the Dallas police shield or objected to the inclusion of Black Lives Matter.Many Americans feel the same way we do, as far as the heartbreak -- all of it, Moore said after the game. The only appropriate step now is to talk about the things that are needing to be talked about. Thats one thing we can do. We have a platform to use our voice. Especially having players who have experienced some of the similar experiences some of the victims had, it just didnt sit right with us to not do something more than feel sorry and sad.Hopefully, the response were showing will encourage positive change.Reeve, in her postgame news conference, paused for about 15 seconds and tried to fight back tears as she recalled the discussion with her players.First and foremost, I wanted them to know as a white person, how sorry I was for what they experienced in racial profiling, she said. Its very painful. Every black person has experienced it on some level. So I went to them and let them know how painful it was for me to know thats what goes on, and as a white person, I wanted to help. Lets create a dialogue to be able to get something out.I just thought the whole thing was moving for me, to experience the courage of this group, knowing that it wasnt necessarily going to be popular, maybe. ... Its about both sides working together. Its not, Were right and youre wrong. Clearly, its been a problem for a long time, and everybody can and needs to be better.Nike Tns Wholesale Australia .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Nike Vapormax Mens Australia . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. http://www.vapormaxaustraliashoes.com/air-vapormax-97-australia.html . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Air Max Tn Australia . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. Nike Air Vapormax Australia ., for the next three years with the signings on Monday of Daryl Townsend and Michael Carter.DAVIE, Fla. -- The outlook is cloudy for the Miami Dolphins offense, so its no surprise rain began to fall during practice Monday, making it difficult to hold onto the ball, much less advance it up the field.How did the Dolphins do?We didnt look good enough, offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said. I was disappointed. Were going to play in some rain games, and that was great work for us. But we fumbled a couple of snaps, and thats unacceptable.Alas, the offense hasnt looked good in dry weather, either. Christensens unit was manhandled in an early training camp scrimmage, and in a brief test in the exhibition opener Friday at the Giants, the first-team offense netted 8 yards in seven snaps.Theres been no sign of improvement from last year, when Miami ranked 28th in points and went 6-10. Progress needs to come soon, Christensen said.Weve got to protect our quarterback better, weve got to run it better, weve got to throw and catch it better, weve got to do everything better, he said. These next two weeks, if we dont see some big improvements, then we better get a little bit nervous.The Dolphins play Friday at Dallas and on Aug. 25 against Atlanta in Orlando. It would be fair to predict the starters will see more action in those games, except Christensen and head coach Adam Gase arent sure who some of the starters are.Both guard jobs remain open, and theres a competition between Jay Ajayi and Arian Foster at running back. Its difficult to evaluate personnel, Christensen said, because the offense is not yet operating at full speed while learning a new playbook from a new coaching staff.Theres too much thinking, he said. Weve given them a lot to think about it, annd it slows folks down.dddddddddddd We look like a team thats thinking and making sure were trying to do the right thing.As a result, familiar problems persist, with blocking the most worrisome issue. The line has struggled to protect Ryan Tannehill in practice, and the Giants pressured him plenty.Some observers wonder why first-round draft pick Laremy Tunsil keeps lining up with the second team at guard, while holdovers Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner work with the first unit despite their shaky play in the past. But first-year coach Gase said he wants his staff to thoroughly assess every player on the roster.I know everybody is really itching to fire everybody and bench everybody, Gase said. But everybody has a fresh start with this crew. Our job is to evaluate what we see. Anything that happened in the past is irrelevant. It doesnt matter to me. Every guy is going to get a true evaluation, and well make our final decision before the first game of the season. This is going to be the process that we go through.Christensen said the line will be fine by the time the season begins Sept. 11. The group includes four former first-round picks -- Tunsil, tackles Branden Albert and JaWuan James, and center Mike Pouncey.I think were going to end up with not only a good offensive line, but a deep one, Christensen said. Were going to end up pretty good.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve-Wine . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/steven-wine ' ' '