Craig Sager was a king who dressed like a court jester and mixed with royalty and commoners alike.He also was a reporter. Lets not forget that.It will get lost amid all the tributes and colorful video now that he succumbed to cancer, but Sager could gather information and tell stories with the best of them.We were both covering an NBA playoff game in Denver in 2012, when a woman wandered onto the court while the ball was in play. By the time I made my way from my seat down to the court level to poke around and learn more, Sager had already spoken to police and arena personnel and had all of the details and background. Then Sager, being Sager, proceeded to share everything he knew with me. He had provided his update on air, so he was willing to help out another reporter working for another company.Id like to think this was because of our Northwestern bond (he was class of 1973; I was 1992), but he probably would have done it for anybody. He saw everyone who was in and around the league as part of the NBA family. That included the fans, for whom he always took time to take pictures and talk NBA.Ive known him for much of the time Ive been covering the NBA. To have gone to big games over the past 2? decades was to have spent time with Sager. It doesnt feel like our friendship evolved over that time, because it seemed like he was as warm and friendly with me from the beginning as he was so many years and job changes (for me) later.But outside of Sagers wife and children, his colleagues at Turner Sports were closest to him, and they are feeling his loss in ways the rest of us cant imagine.He never had a bad day, Turner Sports Vice President of Talent Relations Tara August said via text message. He once drove me around the ropes in a golf cart at the PGA Championship and told me the entire story of how he fell in love with Stacy on their first date and slept on her couch until she fell in love with him. He always had a story.August doles out the assignments for Turners on-air talent. She bosses around the likes of Charles Barkley and Shaquille ONeal, gets them to move at her whim in a way that a generation of NBA big men failed to do. (Shaq jokingly calls her She-del Castro.) Their obedience often comes with a lot of grumbling. That wasnt the case with Sager.I loved him very much. He was always great to me, August said. Never complained about working a game, no matter how big or small.For one game, we at ESPN called Sager a colleague. Turner loaned him to the Mouse to give him the chance to work Game 6 of the NBA Finals in June.?We should elevate Sagers performance alongside LeBrons when we look back on the 2016 Finals. The reason Sager couldnt work the earlier games -- the guaranteed games -- was because he was getting eight days of chemotherapy treatment in Houston. He came back from eight days of poisonous IVs to do his job when it was an optional assignment. In the ranking of gutsy Finals performances, Im going with Sager grabbing the mic first, Willis Reed limping out of the tunnel second.To see that man ... , said Doris Burke, ESPNs sideline reporter for the series who gladly shared duties with Sager for this special event, with those marks on his face -- lesions, whatever they were -- to know he had to be in extraordinary pain, and to fight through that and to want to be a part of an NBA game. ...If that doesnt tell you about the passion and the drive he had for what he did, I dont know what could.It makes those of us who do NBA sideline reporting more appreciative of what we do. But his mere existence was a little intimidating, because we knew wed never match up to him. Only Sager was getting a hug and a love ya from Pop.Burke had long admired Sagers work from afar and had a unique understanding of how good he was from having done the same job herself.He had such great love for the game of basketball that it allowed him to pull off the outlandish clothing and giant personality, while still commanding the utmost respect from every player and every coach, Burke said. I dont know if people understand how hard that is to do. Theres only one person that I know thats been able to do it, and thats him.When she walked around Quicken Loans Arena with Sager, it reminded Burke of entering an NBA building with Hubie Brown. There was a similar reverence from everyone they came across. Then she saw Sager go to work in the pregame meetings with the coaches.It probably shouldnt have surprised me, but he took it so seriously, Burke said. He embraced the opportunity to work a Finals game. He went into work mode, but it was really cool for me to watch him in work mode. My man started firing questions, and they were all on point. For somebody I had watched work for so long and who I had admired for so long, it was an incredibly special chance to watch him do the behind-the-scenes work.Ive been fortunate enough to see the non-work side of Sager as well. You could usually find him at the bar following the game. Or the night before the game.?One of my enduring memories of Sager comes from after the 2008 All-Star Game in New Orleans. Sunday night had turned into Monday morning, and I had an early flight looming. We crossed paths on Canal Street, chatted a bit, and then I called it a night, while Sager, 19 years my elder, marched off into the French Quarter to see what awaited.Thats the way I prefer to think of him now. Not departed, but moving on, in search of another adventure, in search of another story. China Wholesale Nike Air Max Shoes . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. Wholesale Air Max Shoes .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. http://www.wholesaleairmaxforsale.com/ .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Wholesale Air Max For Sale . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Wholesale Air Max Shoes Sale . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem before a U.S. womens national team match against Thailand on Thursday night.Rapinoe first knelt during the anthem Sept. 4 before a game with her National Womens Soccer League team, the Seattle Reign. She said she wanted to express solidarity with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who is not standing during the anthem to bring attention to racial inequality.After Thursday nights game, which the United States won 9-0, U.S. Soccer issued a statement to ESPN that said representing the country is a privilege and honor for any player or coach associated with the national teams.Therefore, our national anthem has particular significance for U.S. Soccer. In front of national and often global audiences, the playing of our national anthem is an opportunity for our Mens and Womens National Team players and coaches to reflect upon the liberties and freedom we all appreciate in this country.As part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the national anthem is played.It was unclear whether Rapinoe would face any sanctions from the federation.Im very proud to pull on this shirt and play for this country, and also represent my country in a different way in speaking out for people that are oppressed, she told the network, which broadcast the game.Rapinoe did not start the game at Mapfre stadium. She knelt from a spot near the bench while the fellow reserves around her stood for the anthem.The 31-year-old, who helped the U.S. win the World Cup last year and played in the Rio Olympics, came into the match at the start of the second half.At a game Sunday night in Seattle, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she stood and linked armms with her Reign teammates.ddddddddddddLast week before a Reign match against the Washington Spirit in Maryland, the anthem was played before the teams took the field rather than subject our fans and friends to the disrespect we feel such an act would represent, said a Spirit statement that cited the personal beliefs of the team owner.There was speculation that Rapinoe might refrain from kneeling before Thursday nights game because she was playing for the United States and not her club team. It was also the final game for midfielder Heather OReilly, who was retiring after 15 years with the national team.Kaepernicks refusal to stand for the anthem first came to public notice when he remained seated on the bench before an NFL preseason game against Green Bay. Since then numerous players have joined the protest, taking a knee or raising a fist.Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it, Rapinoe told American Soccer Now about her motivation for the protest.Since coming out in 2012, Rapinoe has been devoted advocate for LGBT rights and has worked with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and other organizations.Rapinoe also has been vocal about pay equity, and was among five national team players who lent their names to a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging wage discrimination. The players claim that members of the team make in some cases up to four times less than their male national team counterparts. 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