The football teams from Old Dominion and Charlotte will form a circle of unity on the field before the national anthem is played at their Conference USA game Saturday night.The circle of unity is an idea that Monarchs players came up with when they met with coaches to discuss how to respond to recent police shootings in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Charlotte, North Carolina, ODU coach Bobby Wilder said Friday.We were looking and seeing what was going on around the world, but more specifically in Tulsa and Charlotte, and we were trying to decide as a team how could we express ourselves in a way that would bring unity, and that was what the team came up with, Wilder told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.Many Monarchs players wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts during warmups before ODUs home game against Texas-San Antonio last Saturday, and the team joined hands in a circle and raised their arms before the game.Last Saturday was the platform to launch what we see as a reaction to whats going on in our country, to do something to make a difference, and were hoping more people will try to do something to make a difference instead of adding to the noise, Wilder said, referring to protests during the national anthem that started with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling in protest to police shootings in the country.Other NFL and college players have since joined Kaepernick in protesting during the anthem.Were hoping that this is something that, instead of a protest before the national anthem, that teams will consider doing before games to show unity. You look at a football team generally and its a microcosm of society in terms of all the races and religions that are represented, Wilder said. If we can take the lead and try to develop unity and get a better dialog going, that is what we would like to see happen.Wilder said he called Charlotte coach Brad Lambert this week, and Lambert said his team would like to take part in the circle before the game at Jerry Richardson Stadium. The city was the site of several days of rioting and unrest in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott by police on Sept. 21. Cheap Custom Kings Jersey . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. "We just dont know what the results from Torino will be," Budgett said. 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CHICAGO -- When the?Chicago Cubs?acquired controversial, flame-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman from the New York Yankees on Monday, there were sure to be repercussions beyond any baseball-related debate.After issuing a written statement to the media through the Cubs upon being traded, Chapman was introduced to the local media Tuesday in a 20-minute news conference in the visiting dugout at U.S. Cellular Field.Speaking to about 30 reporters and six television cameras through the Cubs designated Spanish translator, coach Henry Blanco, Chapman seemed to skirt around several questions about the domestic-abuse incident that led to the 30-day suspension he served at the beginning of this season.When asked what the Cubs asked him in regard to the off-the-field incident, Blanco translated for Chapman: They told him what they expected for him, welcomed him to the club and hes going to be a part of the team. Hopefully, a guy that helps us to the World Series.Variations of the response were repeated a few times to a media group that grew more impatient as the conference progressed.At one point, when asked about the precise substance of a conference call between the pitcher, agent Barry Praver, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and owner Tom Ricketts, Chapman paused for several seconds, and, after offering a brief response in Spanish, Blanco translated, He was sleeping when they had a meeting with him on the phone, so hes trying to remember what he talked about.However, after the group news conference ended, Chapman participated in a one-on-one interview with ESPNs Pedro Gomez that was conducted in Spanish. In that conversation, Chapman was more successful in offering answers to some of the same questions he had just been asked.I knew that no matter where I was traded to, this would resurface -- that the controversy is going to follow me, Chapman told Gomez. But Im with my girlfriend. Our family is together. Were working toward making things better in our lives. And really, its going to be with me.When asked what he has learned from the incident, Chapman told Gomez, Ive grown tremendously from that time. Im with my girlfriend still, with the family, and I feel that I have absolutelyy changed as a person.dddddddddddd Im working to be a better person.And now that I remember -- because they just asked me in the previous press conference what the owners asked me -- one of the things they did ask me was about being a better person and being a better neighbor to people. And thats something that I think that I am now, much more so.Those sentiments were echoed a bit later in an impromptu news conference with Epstein in the dugout.I think there is a lot to be said that he was nervous and not speaking his native language and being translated, Epstein said. Look, I was on the call. Tom was on the call. Aroldis was on the call, and Barry Praver, his agent, was on the call. It happened, and it was real. We talked to him about the incident and made sure that statement reflected his real feelings on it.Because that was important to us, and to hear it directly from him. Tom laid out the exact same standards that he lays out to everyone in spring training.Cubs manager Joe Maddon also suggested that the message of Chapmans group news conference was lost in translation.I think it shows that he may not have understood the question, Maddon sad. You have to understand, this kid comes from Cuba, doesnt speak the language very well. Its easy to misunderstand.Maddon?said that incumbent closer Hector Rondon was OK with the clubs acquisition of Chapman, whose average fastball velocity of 100 mph is the highest in the majors, according to ESPN Stats & Information.That, of course, is why the Cubs made the lightning-rod deal in the first place as the club tries to position itself for the franchises first championship in 108 years. If that happens, it could well be Chapman on the mound finishing off the historic accomplishment.I dont feel any different pressure at all, Chapman said in his interview with Gomez. I dont think that you have to put any pressure on yourself. Im still the closer. Im going to do the same job I always have.Chapman was available to pitch Tuesday, but didnt even get the chance to warm up as the Cubs were shut out 3-0?by the crosstown?White Sox.? ' ' '