About 45 minutes before the College of the Ozarks volleyball team’s match on Friday, a man walked in with a box of new uniforms.

Head coach Stacy Muckenthaler said she didn’t know what they’d look like. All she knew was that they wouldn’t have a Nike swoosh.

The College of the Ozarks volleyball team played its first games since the school announced it would “choose its country over company“ and remove all athletic uniforms purchased from Nike that contain the brand’s famous swoosh emblem. 

The private Christian college of about 1,500 students announced in a news release Wednesday that student-athletes will no longer wear the brand in response to the company’s 30th-anniversary ad campaign featuring former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. 

“In their new ad campaign, we believe Nike executives are promoting an attitude of division and disrespect toward America,” College of the Ozarks President Jerry C. Davis said in the release. “If Nike is ashamed of America, we are ashamed of them. We also believe that those who know what sacrifice is all about are more likely to be wearing a military uniform than an athletic uniform.”

When the team opened the box, they found gray T-shirts with numbers on the front and back with “OZARKS” across the back.

According to Muckenthaler, the team only cares about having their school name on their jerseys. One player declined to comment after the C of O’s sweep of Williams Baptist in straight games at the Evangel Classic and referred questions about Nike to Muckenthaler. 

Muckenthaler said the program will switch to Adidas uniforms, and players wore Adidas shorts Saturday. 

The Nike swoosh was part of the volleyball team’s shirts and shorts prior. 

“They don’t care what T-shirt they’re wearing,” Muckenthaler said. “They just want to play volleyball.”

With some extra attention on the school’s latest stance, Muckenthaler said it was nice to get away from the Point Lookout campus and to focus on volleyball.

She said it wasn’t hard to keep the team focused on the sport. 

Unlike major athletics programs that have long-term contracts that pay millions, College of the Ozarks had no such arrangement with Nike. C of O spokesperson Valorie Coleman told USA TODAY Sports earlier this week the coaches would no longer to be able to purchase Nike gear as result of the new mandate. 

The school has taken stands against protests involving Kaepernick in the past. 

The college announced in September 2017 that the school’s teams would walk away from any game where the opposing team takes a knee, sits or turns its back on the American flag or national anthem. 

In response, the 2018 Men’s Division II NAIA Basketball National Tournament was moved from the school, which had hosted the tournament for the previous 18 seasons. The tournament is now played in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

“Our school is very consistent,” Muckenthaler said. “They are tried and true. They have a belief system and they hold true to that. It’s not easy to make decisions that they make. I’m just very proud of the institution and I’m happy to wear ‘Ozarks’ on the back of our jerseys right now, even if it is a T-shirt.”

The head coach said her father is in the military, while her husband is a police officer. She’s proud of where she works. 

“I’m just so proud of the college for taking a stand,” she said. “Those two positions are very important to me and the school is very important to me. I’m just very proud of them.”

UFC 228: Tyron Woodley v Darren Till – welterweight title fight – BBC Sport

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Nike’s decision to put Colin Kaepernick at the center of its latest “Just Do It” ad campaign did not come without scrutiny, drawing criticism from President Donald Trump and prompting fans to burn their merchandise in protest. 

But from a sales perspective, the company came out of the week a winner, according to one study. Research conducted by Edison Trends revealed that Nike’s online sales surged 31% from Sunday through Tuesday. Nike ran its first ad featuring Kaepernick on Monday. 

“There was speculation that the Nike/Kaepernick campaign would lead to a drop in sales, but our data over the last week does not support that theory,” Edison Trends co-founder Hetal Pandya said in a statement issued by the digital commerce company. 

Edison Trends’ analysis was based on “anonymised and aggregated e-receipts from more than 3 million consumers.” 

Nike had not responded to a USA TODAY Sports message on Saturday afternoon. 

Nike’s stock initially dropped after the ad but has since steadied, according to MarketWatch. It was up 1% on Friday. Apex Marketing Group estimated that the Kaepernick ad had a $163 million payoff in media exposure. 

Nike ran a separate ad, a commercial that featured other prominent athletes and was narrated by Kaepernick, during Thursday night’s first NFL game of the 2018 season between the Eagles and Falcons. 

Kaepernick, a free agent, was the first player to kneel during the national anthem before an NFL game as a peaceful protest against social injustice and police brutality. He hasn’t been with an NFL team since 2016. 

MORE: Jerry Falwell Jr. exploring whether Liberty should drop Nike after Colin Kaepernick ads

MORE: Why college football programs can’t ditch Nike in wake of Colin Kaepernick ad campaign

 

 

 

Most sports fans don’t know the names of umpires or referees, who eschew the spotlight in efforts to call a fair game. Everyone will remember Carlos Ramos.

Ramos, a Portuguese tennis umpire with several decades of experience, was accused Saturday of sexism by perhaps the greatest women’s tennis player of all time.

Ramos was thrust into headlines and the target of social media vitriol  thanks to a heated U.S. Open final exchange with Serena Williams, in which the tennis superstar called Ramos a thief and demanded an apology from the umpire for dishing out two penalties — one for coaching and one for smashing her racket.

After the match, the Flushing Meadows crowd was booing the 47-year-old umpire and the outcome, and Ramos was escorted off the court. Chair umpires usually are given a gift afterward during the trophy ceremony. 

Williams suggested after her loss that Ramos would not have assessed a code violation on a male player for calling him a thief.

According to tennis experts and former tennis officials, Ramos is one of the few umpires who isn’t afraid to call a rules violation against elite players.

Ramos also is one of the sport’s few “gold badge” umpires, which is a distinction given only a handful of chair umpires based on extensive experience officiating major matches.

“Has a chair umpire ever been a bigger villain?” ESPN commentator Michael Wilbon tweeted.

While Williams acknowledged in her postgame news conference that Ramos has a strong pedigree as a chair umpire, she didn’t back down on her feelings that her being penalized was an act of sexism because she said men’s players have done much worse. 

“I can’t sit here and say I wouldn’t say he’s a thief because I feel like he took the game from me,” Williams said. “I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things and I’m here fighting for women’s rights and women’s equality. And for him to take a game? It made me feel like it was a sexist remark. I mean, like he’s never taken a game from a man because he’s said thief. It blows my mind. But I’m gonna continue to fight for women.”

Williams wasn’t alone in suggesting Ramos’ ruling was sexist. 

“The hypocrisy of the umpire to penalize Serena Williams in a sport that celebrated the antics of John McEnroe…is a blatant display of sexism,” actor Wendell Pierce tweeted. 

More: Serena’s dispute with umpire sparks outrage, then admiration

More: Serena diminished herself with behavior at US Open

More: Novak Djokovic to face Juan Martin del Potro in final

ESPN analyst Chris Evert, who won six US Open titles among her 18 Grand Slam championships, said: “The third time, to call somebody a thief, when we’ve heard other players, mostly men, saying four-letter words, I kind of wonder if that (impacted) the game.”

Novak Djokovic went on a furious tantrum at Ramos during Wimbledon this year, and was not issued a game violation. Djokovic was upset that he received a violation for scraping his racket on the grass during his outburst, while opponent Kei Nishikori did not.

At the 2017 French Open, a furious Rafael Nadal told Ramos about the time warnings he was receiving: “Give me the warnings you can because you will not referee me any more.” 

And in 2016, Australian Nick Kyrgios – who is well-known for his on-court outbursts – went on an expletive-laced rant at Ramos, one of several disputes he’s had with the umpire. 

“I just feel like the fact that I have to go through this is an example for the next person that has emotions, wants to express themselves, want to be a strong woman,” Williams said. “They’re gonna be allowed to do that because of today. Maybe it didn’t work out for me, but it’s gonna work out for the next person.”

Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who admitted in an ESPN interview he was coaching, said that Ramos showed a double standard for singling Williams out for something “when 100% of the coaches in 100% of the matches” are doing the same thing. 

The WTA issued a statement saying it would look into the dispute between Williams and Ramos. 

Contributing: Josh Peter

 

Jos Buttler’s 89 drags England back into the fifth Test before the home bowlers take control against India on day two of the fifth Test at The Oval.

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During one of several intense exchanges with U.S. Open officials in her finals loss to first-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams argued she was being treated differently because she’s a woman after calling the chair umpire a “thief.”

Williams was handed multiple controversial penalties in the match, including one that cost her a game and put Osaka up, 5-3, in the second (and final) set.

“Because I’m a woman, you’re going to take this away from me?” she demanded to officials.

As her longtime coach, Patrick Mouratoglou — who caused the first penalty with a coaching violation — claimed, “100 percent of the coaches in 100 percent of the matches” are coaching when men and women are on the court but are seldom called out for it. And Williams — along with several players, including now-ESPN commentator Chris Evert — pointed out that men who call the umpires names are not usually penalized a game, if penalized at all.

In her post-match press conference, Serena continued that argument:

“I can’t sit here and say I wouldn’t say he’s a thief because I thought he took a game from me. But I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things, and I’m here, fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff. And for me to say ‘thief’ and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. He’s never (taken) a game from a man because they said, ‘thief.’ For me, it blows my mind.

“But I’m going to continue to fight for women and to fight for us to have (equality). Like, (Alizé) Cornet should be able to take her shirt off without getting a fine. This is outrageous, you know? And I just feel like the fact that I have to go through this is just an example for the next person that has emotions and that want to express themselves, and they want to be a strong woman. And they’re going to be allowed to do that because of today. Maybe it didn’t work out for me, but it’s going to work out for the next person.”

Williams is referencing an incident from last week when French player Alizé Cornet was penalized for briefly taking her shirt off mid-match. After a break because of the oppressive heat at the tournament, she returned to the court and realized her shirt was on backward, so she fixed it.

While this sparked a debate about sexism at the U.S. Open, the discussion was further fueled after Novak Djovokic sat in his chair shirtless for several minutes during a break in his quarterfinals match. He was not penalized.

Here’s what Mouratoglou said after the match about the double standard he and Williams believe she is held to.

Amir Khan survived a second-round knockdown to maintain momentum in his comeback to the sport with a unanimous points win over Samuel Vargas.

The Briton, 31, floored his rival with a straight right in the second round but took an overhand right to go down and stun those at Arena Birmingham.

The bell arrived to save Khan, who scored another knockdown in the third before the pace gradually slowed.

He maintained control late on for a 119-108 119-109 118-110 victory.

‘I want Manny over Kell’

After his 39-second demolition of Phil Lo Greco in April, this proved a far stiffer test for Khan, who showed his trademark hand speed early on. But, as has been the case in the past, the vulnerability of his chin remains a question mark.

Only seconds of the second round remained when he quickly stood back up after the knockdown, and in the 10th round he was again tagged heavily with a right hand moments before the bell.

This is his second bout since his 23-month break from the sport, and it was watched closely at ringside by Kell Brook, who remains keen on facing Khan and says he will drop down to the 147lbs welterweight division to secure a bout.

“The only fight that works for me over Kell Brook is Manny Pacquiao,” Khan said after the fight. “I want him. He is my number one pick. If not, we go back to the drawing board and if it’s Kell Brook it’s Kell Brook.”

Eddie Hearn – who promotes both Brook and Khan – said the domestic bout between his fighters “has to happen next or it never will”.

Brook responded: “He hasn’t got the greatest chin. I wouldn’t have let him off the hook and he would have stayed on the floor.”

Khan has little time for improvement

Seven years have passed since Khan held two world titles at super-lightweight.

He had not been taken 12 rounds since a points win over Chris Algieri in May 2015. Since then, he has suffered a brutal knockdown at the hands of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, spent time in the jungle on a reality TV series and then outclassed Lo Greco.

Toronto-based Vargas – who now has four defeats in 35 bouts – was undoubtedly more game, but he was visibly thrown by Khan’s hand speed early on. The Colombian-born fighter repeatedly ducked after throwing shots, making himself a static target and his nose quickly displayed heavy damage.

Khan – working with trainer Joe Goossen for the second time – seemed to engage with more caution after the third round, when Vargas, 29, protested that his second knockdown of the night came after he was hit on the back of the head.

And late on, Khan sensibly moved away from trouble, boxing close to the ropes and thrusting himself into sporadic attacks, notably finding his target when a right hand sent Vargas back to the ropes in the ninth.

There was a scare late in the 10th but again Khan only needed to survive for seconds before the bell and the victory at least afforded him valuable ring time.

Goossen will surely look to bolster his fighter’s defence before any meeting with Brook or Pacquiao and with Khan intent on competing again this year, time for preparing for such a step up in opponent is minimal.

Eggington stunned, Welborn defends title

Elsewhere on the card, former European welterweight champion Sam Eggington fell to a shock defeat to Tanzania fighter Hassan Mwakinyo.

Eggington had been eyeing a place on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s bout with Alexander Povetkin on 22 September but was stopped under heavy attack by a fighter who took the contest at short notice.

Jason Welborn won an enthralling rematch with fellow Midlands fighter Tommy Langford to defend his British middleweight title in a split-decision on the cards.

Welborn, who took the title from Langford in May, put his rival down twice early on but a gutsy comeback saw the challenger finish with momentum.

Newcastle’s unbeaten lightweight Lewis Ritson continued his preparation for a European title shot in his home city against Francesco Pantera on 13 October with an early stoppage of Oscar Amador.

Ariana Grande is mourning the death of her late ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller.

One day after the 26-year-old rapper was pronounced dead from an apparent overdose, Grande, 25, shared a black-and-white photograph of her former boyfriend via Instagram on Saturday.

In the picture, Miller stares up at the camera while sitting on the grass. A pair of tennis shoes, presumably Grande’s, can be seen between his legs.

Choosing to let the image speak for itself, Grande shared the image without a caption.

The “God Is a Woman” singer disabled comments on the social media platform after some fans began to blame her for Miller’s death on Friday.

Miller, whose real name was Malcolm McCormick, was pronounced dead at 11:51 a.m. at his Studio City, California, home on Friday, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE.

A cause of death is yet to be determined, but a source told PEOPLE that Miller had gone into cardiac arrest after appearing to suffer a drug overdose.

Minutes before Grande broke her silence on Miller’s death, the rapper’s mother also shared a photograph of her smiling son learning his head against her while they enjoyed a baseball game together.

She captioned the image with a broken-heart emoji.

Following Miller’s death, his family released a statement thanking everybody for their “prayers.”

“Malcolm McCormick, known and adored by fans as Mac Miller, has tragically passed away at the age of 26,” they said in a statement provided to multiple outlets. “He was a bright light in this world for his family, friends and fans. Thank you for your prayers. Please respect our privacy. There are no further details as to the cause of his death at this time.”

The rapper’s tragic death comes months after his split from Grande in May.

Grande and Miller first went public with their relationship in September 2016 — three years after they collaborated on her hit single “The Way.”

“This is one of my best friends in the whole world and favorite people on the planet,” she wrote of Miller in an Instagram Story days after their breakup in May. “I respect and adore him endlessly and am grateful to have him in my life in any form, at all times regardless of how our relationship changes or what the universe holds for each of us!”

Shortly after their breakup, Grande began dating Pete Davidson, to whom she became engaged in June.

In July, Miller opened up about his past relationship with Grande during an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 on Apple Music and explained that they had both moved on since their split.

“I was in love with somebody. We were together for two years. We worked through good times, bad times, stress and everything else. And then it came to an end and we both moved on. And it’s that simple,” he said.

Miller also went on to add that while some fans have assumed he’d “been on the Internet” following up on his ex’s every move after the news of her whirlwind romance with fiancé Davidson, that wasn’t the case.

Explaining why he’d taken a step back from things, the rapper remarked that not only was he about to drop his new album, “It just all seemed kind of unimportant you know — the need to show people I was OK.”

“It’s all positive energy,” he added. “I am happy for her and [the fact that she’s] moving forward with her life, just as I’m sure she is with me.”

“It honestly seemed he was over the Ariana situation,” the source reveals, adding that Miller had said at one point, “I’ve matured and my ex hasn’t.”