CLEVELAND - A main characteristic of 21st century sports is a volume of statistics and factoids so enormous that it requires the mind-numbing gymnastics of parsing what matters and what ridiculously does not.Game 1 will be the first time the Cleveland Indians have hosted a World Series opener in their 116-year history ... The Cubs are 8-1 when scoring first on days ending with y ... Terry Francona owns a 66-10 record as manager when he leans 7 degrees to his left, when both starting pitchers are right-handed, but only 44-20 when he leans to his right. To the surprise of no one paying attention during ninth-grade physics, it only stands to reason that a ball hit hard enough to travel 385 feet for a home run would travel faster than the speed with which it was pitched, yet exit velocity is a thing.There then, within this framework of numbers and history both meaningful and ephemeral, sat Dexter Fowler, the 30-year old Chicago Cubs outfielder, born in 1986, 41 years after the Cubs were last in the World Series, laughing that his parents werent born in 1945 when the Cubs lost to the Tigers, and his grandparents were really, really young. As the Chicago leadoff hitter, Fowler was enjoying his expected place in history when he steps into the batters box Tuesday night as the first African-American to take the field for the Cubs in a World Series game in their 140-year history. But nevertheless, like most of the people asking him questions, he was unable to say for certain whether his place in history is significant or simply cool.The cool factors are apparent. As much as baseball has an industry-wide complex about the NFL, the lineage of the game, its ability to reach back and tie history together is baseballs power; its magic lines of dead ball eras and integration link families as much as history. That baseball, football, basketball, the military and hundreds of school districts were segregated and World War II had ended only 38 days earlier is a social studies class by itself. That the Cubs still play in the same ballpark where they lost 9-3 in Game 7 to Hal Newhouser on Oct. 10, 1945 certainly qualifies as cool.Through the innocence of Fowlers smile, happy and proud to be a pioneer -- a word he mentioned more than a dozen times Monday -- the cruelty of the game was also obvious: Ernie Banks, the greatest of the Cubs, never played in the Series. Banks was 14 years old in 1945, died in 2015, and never got to see any Cub of any stripe, black or white, play in the Series once he joined the organization. Neither did Buck ONeil, who was the first black scout in major league baseball history. ONeil was hired by, yes, the Cubs, in 1961. Leon Durham could have been first, but in 1984 the Cubs -- oh, never mind. Dusty Bakers 2003 team had its shot, too. The picture is clear. The game creates its own river of time.Yet Fowler stepping to the plate Tuesday night does not only represent celebratory trivia, a chance to remind ourselves that Velcro did not exist in 1945. There is more than a cool factor to his presence. It matters because this is a broken and heartbroken country, fractured by the rhetoric of the bitterest election cycle most Americans have ever witnessed, where African-Americans have been essentially told to shut up about racial conditions. Yet there are still so many basic things that black people have yet to experience. Fowlers groundbreaking moment will be more a result of mediocrity than racism. And on scale, a black person playing baseball in a Cubs uniform is at its core a first-world problem. Nevertheless, its part of a list that has never happened before. And it matters.It matters because of the impatience and rage of so much of the white public, so often offended by the mere mention of a racial component in American culture. The white response to the black request -- no, the demand -- for equality has been to insist that the existence of these historical barriers is merely coincidental and not designed. The Red Sox, Phillies, Cardinals, Yankees, Braves, As, Tigers and Twins, all of which, in one city or another, have been around since at least 1901, have never had a black manager. And the Dodgers, established in 1884, hired its first in 2016. The insistence of fairness and the nonexistence of racism is loud and hostile and whites feel aggrieved, yet in addition to those eight teams, four more -- the Diamondbacks, Padres, Angels and Marlins -- have also never hired a black manager. As tired as people may be of hearing about race, African-Americans are equally tired of talking about it, but the facts cannot be shouted away: 12 of 30 teams have never lifted the barrier.It matters because baseball is not only talking about its past through Fowler but tacitly, its future. Fowler was once accepted to attend Harvard but chose to play baseball, an interesting intersection in a sport that has, through its demand of Ivy League credentials as the pathway to the front office, virtually guaranteed a racial disparity in hiring. Only in baseball, with its winnowing of black participation, is it entirely possible for the Cubs to make the World Series five years from now, and the group of Fowler, Carl Edwards Jr., Jason Heyward and Addison Russell to still have been the only blacks on a Cubs World Series roster.It matters because Fowlers pride of being a nice answer to a trivia question has often been met by a white response not of shared pride but of telling African-Americans to not make such a big deal out of everything, even as the black presence is being erased in the game. That Dexter Fowler, in 2016, refers to himself as a pioneer speaks to a different truth. While baseball celebrates a cool linkage of the past and present with the Cubs, it also knows the underbelly of the celebration is quite serious -- a permanent seat at the table for African-Americans in baseball has never felt less secure. Clearance Running Shoes Online . 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"Martyn is a highly-respected coach with experience at the top levels in England," said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. Cheap Running Shoes Online .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee is unsure about the status of its two top linebackers as it prepares to visit Texas A&M in a matchup of undefeated teams.Darrin Kirkland Jr. has missed three straight games with a high ankle sprain. Jalen Reeves-Maybin missed the entirety of a 34-31 triumph at Georgia last week after sitting out the majority of victories over Ohio and Florida.That means No. 9 Tennessee (5-0, 2-0 SEC) again could be missing some of its best defensive performers when the Volunteers face No. 8 Texas A&M (5-0, 3-0). The Vols already are without cornerback Cam Sutton, who will miss a third straight game with a fractured right ankle.Reeves-Maybin, the Vols leading tackler last season, underwent an MRI last week. Reeves-Maybin and Sutton are two of Tennessees four team captains.Were continuing to gather information on Jalen Reeves-Maybin and trying to make the best decision to present to him with his different options, coach Butch Jones said. Ill know a little bit more later in the week.Kirkland had a team-leading 16 tackles through the first two weeks of the season before getting hurt. Jones said Kirkland ran Thursday and Friday, and the team planned to put him through cutting drills Monday to see if he can match the movements that the linebacker position brings about, different bursts and accelerations.Jones said cornerback Justin Martin should be available this weekend after serving a suspension last week for a violation of team rules. He also said running back Jalen Hurd will be full go this week and available to play against Texas A&M after missing portions of the Georgia game for what was described as a lower extremity injury.The Aggies also have been dealing with injuries. Texas A&M beat South Carolina 24-13 last week without four injured starters, including 2015 SEC sacks leader Myles Garrett. The other Aggies to miss the game were offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunnor and receivers Speedy Noil and Ricky Seals-Jones.ddddddddddddTexas A&M didnt have a media availability Monday, so there was no update on the foursomes status for this weeks game.Tennessee thus far has withstood all the injuries on defense thanks largely to the performance of its front four. The deep defensive line has played its best late in games to help the Vols outscore opponents 76-21 in the fourth quarter and overtime.Were going to need our defensive front to be that way each and every week, Jones said.The defensive line has benefited from being the healthiest element of Tennessees defense, with the only notable injury being an ankle problem that sidelined end LaTroy Lewis against Ohio. Tennessee knew even before the season its defensive line would be a strength.Before all the injuries, thats what our goal was before the season started, to be a D-line-led team, defensive tackle Kendal Vickers said. When the pressures on, we want it to be on our shoulders.That defensive line is led by Derek Barnett, who has recorded two sacks in each of Tennessees last two games. Barnett sacked Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason and forced a fumble that defensive end Corey Vereen recovered in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter last week.But the injuries across the defense have made a difference, particularly in the secondary. Tennessee has allowed four pass completions of at least 40 yards the last two weeks. The Vols yielded just one pass completion of 40-plus yards in the three games that Sutton played.Tennessees secondary could face an even tougher challenge Saturday against a talented Texas A&M receiving corps, particularly if Seals-Jones and Noil are healthy enough to play.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '