FOOTBALLCORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Miami threw two | Forum

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. Matt Benning Jersey . -- As expected, NASCARs four championship rivals were cordial, candid and comical.No one tried to swing a chair, or even take a verbal jab.UFC, this isnt.Sorry were letting you down, six-time champion Jimmie Johnson quipped Thursday.The winner-take-all championship race Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway should be creating a semblance of tension between four rival drivers. But this quartet went bike riding together in one of their many stops on a seemingly sunshine-and-roses media tour. A week after Conor McGregor nearly threw a chair at Eddie Alvarez in a UFC pre-fight hype session, NASCARs ferocious four let trash-talking take a backseat on an easy afternoon full of heaping accolades for each other.NASCAR had the four pull up a chair on the stage during a cozy championship introduction Thursday -- you know, just like a late night talk show -- and the drivers delivered the yuks. They joked among each other, Kyle Busch repeatedly wise-cracked under his mic to teammate Carl Edwards and everybody grinned like it was Christmas morning.Come Sunday, theyll have to psychologically flip a switch and turn against each other. Even Busch and Edwards, teammates in a proud Toyota effort for Joe Gibbs who have shared everything in an open-book organization, must now toss aside professional courtesy to be the last man standing on the championship stage.But why do they have to be so chummy?You know that youre not going to beat up on a guy in a media session and make his car go any slower, said Busch, the reigning champion. To be honest with you, youre probably going to make (the car) go faster. Youre going to make him want it more. Theres no sense is doing any of that. Thats why with UFC fighters, they egg each other on, youre just going to get hit harder.This group is void of any conflict, and there are plenty of other storylines. Johnson is trying to tie Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with a record seventh title. Busch is trying to repeat, and beat his teammate. Logano wants a title to go with the IndyCar championship Team Penske already won this year in its 50th season of racing. And Edwards? Hes finally got another shot after losing the 2011 title on a tie-breaker.Theres a Chevrolet, a Ford and a pair of Toyotas. The group is represented by Roger Penske, Rick Hendrick and Gibbs, three of the heaviest hitters in auto racing.Yet with all that on the line, this group is like four buddies putting on a one-act play. Theyve been asked and answered the same questions so many times this week, they can almost finish each others sentences. Theyve got oft-told anecdotes for the repeated topics, everything is good-natured.Part of it is because its a genuinely likable group of drivers. Even Busch, so surly so many times, is at heart a good person.Theres really nothing bad to say to one another.Jimmie is one of those guys you want to hate but you cant because hes too nice, Logano said.On race day, it becomes driver vs. driver, the brutal length of the NASCAR schedule has turned all of the racers into a traveling community. They spend up to four nights a week inches apart in motorhomes, run into each other in the infield playgrounds and gyms.Bad blood doesnt boil very long in these parts.We do have a rapport, and we also do learn how to socialize outside of the car and then how to flip the switch, Johnson said. Its just something that I guess we grow up dealing with from a young age racing, however we did it as youngsters up until now. A fighter is somebody, they might see that guy one or twice in that moment, and oh, by the way, in the UFC they try to kill each other anyway, so its all about killing the guy.Logano doesnt think this cordial attitude is any different than any other sport. The drivers do their jobs when the green flag falls, and they co-exist when they climb from their cars.You watch a football game, after the game theyre all shaking each others hands after they just knocked the heck out of each other, Logano said. That happens. You even watch a hockey game, afterward they all shake hands, whether they want to or not. Its enforced.But I do think theres obviously a switch that everyone, maybe when they put their helmet on, things change. Were all out there as competitors, but right now were outside the car, we also get along, right? Zack Kassian Jersey . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Benoit Pouliot Oilers Jersey . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. http://www.hockeyoilersshop.com/ryan-nugent-hopkins-jersey/ .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. PRO FOOTBALLSANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Colin Kaepernick plans to sit through the national anthem for as long as he feels is appropriate and until he sees major change in America, specifically when it comes to race relations.He knows he could be cut for this stand. Criticized, ostracized -- and hell go it alone if need be. The quarterback realizes he might be treated poorly in some road cities, and hes ready for that, too, saying hes not overly concerned about his safety, but if something happens thats only proving my point.Two days after he refused to stand for the The Star Spangled Banner before the 49ers preseason loss to the Packers, Kaepernick said his stand will continue. He addressed his teammates Sunday morning, some agreeing with his message but not necessarily his method.Kaepernick criticized presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, whom he called a racist; called out police brutality against minorities; and pushed for accountability.Kaepernick insists his stand is not against men and women in the military fighting for Americans rights and freedoms.FRISCO, Texas -- Tony Romo is out with yet another back injury and its unknown when he will return, although Dallas coach Jason Garrett says he expects his star quarterback to play this season.Garrett said Romo sustained a broken bone in his back when he was hit from behind by Seattles Cliff Avrill and slid awkwardly on the third play of a preseason game.Romo tried to get back into Thursdays game and said afterward that he was OK. But Garrett said the 36-year-old woke up Friday with stiffness, and an MRI revealed Romos fourth back injury in less than four years. The injury will not require surgery.Garrett wouldnt rule out Romo for the regular-season opener Sept. 11 against the New York Giants. Rookie Dak Prescott, a fourth-round pick who has had a strong preseason, is the presumed starter, although Garrett wouldnt acknowledge that either.OLYMPICSNEW YORK -- Olympic gymnastics star Gabby Douglas was hospitalized, forcing her to miss a scheduled appearance with her U.S. teammates at the MTV Video Music Awards.Gabby is back in the hospital tonight being treated for a seriously infected past mouth injury. She continues to have deep swelling and adverse reactions to medications, publicist Lesley Burbridge said in an email to The Associated Press.Earlier Sunday, 20-year-old Douglas posted on social media that she was out of the hospital.Out of the hospital & resting comfortably, Douglas said on Instagram. (hash)FinalFive so sad I cant be with u all to present tonite (at)MTV thank u xoxo (hash)VMAs (hash)myview.Douglas had been scheduled to present an award alongside teammates Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian and Aly Raisman at Madison Square Garden.UNDATED -- Hope Solo has taken an indefinite leave from the Seattle Reign of the National Womens Soccer League, less than a week after being suspended for six months by the U.S. national team for disparaging remarks about Sweden. Grant Fuhr Jersey. The move was announced by the Reign, saying that the Olympic goaltender has been granted personal leave. The team did not say how long Solo would be away.Its been a rough time for the record-breaking goalkeeper. On Wednesday, she was suspended after calling the Swedes cowards for their defensive style of play after the U.S. was ousted by Sweden in the quarterfinals of the Rio Games.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazilian officials say an Irish businessman arrested at the beginning of the Rio Games in a ticket-scalping probe has been released on bail.Rios department of penitentiaries said Kevin Mallon left the Bangu prison complex late Saturday on condition that he doesnt leave Brazil.Investigators are still building a case against Mallon that also involves the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, Patrick Hickey. The 71-year-old OCI leader was arrested on Aug. 17 in his hotel room.Mallon is the head of the British ticket and hospitality provider THG Sports. He was arrested with hundreds of tickets, including some that were officially allocated to Irelands committee.Police believe sports executives and businessmen plotted to transfer the tickets illegally and set high fees disguised as hospitality packages.DWYANE WADECHICAGO -- Two brothers who were on parole for prior criminal activity have been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade, Chicago police announced.Darwin Sorrells Jr., 26, and Derren Sorrells, 22, also were charged with attempted murder in Fridays shooting. They appeared in court Sunday and were ordered held without bail.Nykea Aldridge, a 32-year-old mother of four, was pushing her baby in a stroller near a school where shed planned to register her children when she was shot in the head and arm. She wasnt the intended target, Cmdr. Brendan Deenihan said at a news conference Sunday, but rather a driver who had just dropped off passengers in the neighborhood.There is video of the incident, Deenihan said, but no weapon was recovered and police dont know where the weapon is.COLLEGE FOOTBALLCORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Miami threw two defensive starters off its football team for NCAA violations, after a months-long probe into whether players had access to luxury rental cars.Defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad and linebacker Jermaine Grace were permanently dismissed from the team, though the school is offering to continue providing financial aid until they graduate from Miami. It was not immediately clear if either player is planning to remain at the university, which remains on probation over the actions of a former rogue booster.Another linebacker, Juwon Young, left Miami several weeks ago and was part of the same rental-car probe. He now is on Marshalls roster. ' ' '