President Trump last night and this morning doubled down on his comments toward pregame protests. Trump this morning tweeted, "So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans. They won't put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag - they said it loud and clear! ... Many people booed the players who kneeled yesterday (which was a small percentage of total). These are fans who demand respect for our Flag! ... The issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. NFL must respect this!" Trump last night added, "Sports fans should never condone players that do not stand proud for their National Anthem or their Country. NFL should change policy!" Donald Trump Jr. also criticized the NFL on Twitter, posting, "If only Roger Goodell cared as much about domestic abuse and traumatic brain injury as he does about disrespecting America" (TWITTER).

Trump commented on Patriots Owner Robert Kraft’s comment yesterday saying he was "deeply disappointed" in the President's comments. Trump said, "That’s OK. He has to take his ideas and go with what he wants. I think it's very disrespectful to our country. I think it's very, very disrespectful to our flag." Trump added, "He's a good friend of mine, and I want him to do what he wants to do" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/25).

The N.Y. TIMES writes Trump is "unlikely to back down in the face of criticism." The PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE writes, "Welcome to the most bizarre Sunday in NFL history." The Bergen RECORD writes yesterday was a "decidedly unsettled NFL day, when the games somehow felt secondary to the off-the-field conversations." CBS' Armen Keteyian yesterday tweeted, "I've been covering sports in one form or another for 45 years. I've never seen a day like today. The NFL stood strong. On a knee."

The situation around Trump and the NFL remained front-page news today for several major publications:

Washington Post: "NFL Players Stand In Solidarity"
N.Y. Times: "Protesters Refuse To Stand On The Sidelines"
L.A. Times: "An NFL Sunday Of Quiet Protest"
Dallas Morning News: "Anthem Protest Expands"
Chicago Tribune: "Protests Sweep NFL After Trump's Swipes"
Boston Globe: "Patriots Display Solidarity"
USA Today: "NFL Finds Unity In Its Rebuke of Trump"
N.Y. Post: "Knee The People"
N.Y. Daily News: "Knee To The Groin" 

More than 200 players around the NFL were observed “kneeling or sitting during the national anthem” yesterday. The highest total was in the Raiders-Redskins “SNF” game, where “nearly the entire” Raiders team protested, in addition to six Redskins. No one sat or knelt at the Steelers-Bears game, although the Steelers “stayed in the tunnel.” Both the Titans and Seahawks “remained inside through the anthem.” Only “four players were observed kneeling or sitting last weekend, and two others raised their fists” (AP, 9/25). A league source said that “no players will be fined this week for protesting or failing to be on the field for the anthem” (USATODAY.com, 9/24).

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said of Trump, “He has created more kneelers today, which I regret. Trump went too far, but the overwhelming majority of Americans do not want to see football players disrespect the national anthem” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/25).

Fans at Gillette Stadium "booed during the anthem and some shouted, 'Stand up!'" as more than a dozen Patriots players took a knee (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/25). The crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium for Browns-Colts was "booing loudly as players on both teams chose to either lock arms or kneel” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/25). Three Chargers "sat on the bench and three more knelt during the anthem" at StubHub Center, with a "few catcalls of 'Stand up!' from the crowd" (L.A. TIMES, 9/25).

Members of the WNBA L.A. Sparks last night “joined in the protest” of President Trump’s comments. In a team decision to “demonstrate unity,” Sparks players “remained in the locker room during the national anthem” before WNBA Finals Game 1 against the Lynx in Minneapolis (L.A. TIMES, 9/25). Meanwhile, Hornets Owner Michael Jordan said, “At a time of increasing divisiveness and hate in this country, we should be looking for ways to work together and support each other and not create more division” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/25). NBA Kings Owner & Chair Vivek Ranadive in a statement said, “The President’s recent comments are deeply disappointing, because our focus should be on fostering a culture of sensitivity and inclusion” (Kings).

76ers and Devils co-Owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer have created a new entity called Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) that puts both franchises, along with Prudential Center, into a single organization. 76ers, Devils and Prudential Center CEO Scott O’Neil has been named HBSE CEO. Devils President Hugh Weber will continue his job and also has been named HBSE President. 76ers Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Chris Heck has been promoted to President of Business Operations, while Exec VP Lara Price becomes COO. Jake Reynolds becomes 76ers CRO, but will retain his role as Senior VP/Ticket Sales & Service for both the 76ers and Devils. “I will focus on growing the company and we want to continue on that path,” O’Neil said.

Many business operations of the teams are being combined under the new structure, but O’Neil would not disclose any specific job cuts across the franchises. “All the logical places where you would find scale is what we have done,” he said. Other Blitzer and Harris owned properties, such as its esports franchise Team Dignitas, the NBA G-League Delaware 87ers and the Sixers Innovation Lab, are included under HBSE.

Prospective Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta is “scheduled to meet” with the NBA BOG exec committee this week, according to a source. The meeting is the “next step toward gaining approval for the transfer of the Rockets ownership" from Les Alexander. The approval vote “is not part of the agenda for the annual fall meetings to begin next Thursday.” Fertitta, however, will “meet with the committee as it begins the review of information that the committee will present” to the full BOG, which is “expected to schedule an electronic vote sometime in the first week of October” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/23).

Riot Games will keep the top North American circuit for “League of Legends” at 10 teams next year, despite extraordinary demand from investors seeking one of the new permanent spots in the league. After Riot announced in June it would abandon its promotion-and-relegation system and sell slots in the League Championships Series for $10M, scores of current teams and new investors applied, and Riot did not initially rule out taking more teams than planned. In an update posted late Friday, Riot said its vetting process was mostly completed, with its team having gone through two phases of cutdowns. The winners of the permanent spots will be announced in November.

Separately, Riot also confirmed it had hired the Barrett Sports Group to help review the applications, with work being led by Founder & Principal Owner Dan Barrett.

Acushnet President & CEO Wally Uihlein will retire Jan. 1 and be replaced by COO David Maher. Uihlein started with the company in '76, and has been the company's senior golf exec since '95. He will remain on the Acushnet BOD and also become advisor to the Chair. Maher joined the company in '91 and became COO in June of last year. Acushnet's brands include Titleist and FootJoy (Acushnet).

New Hampshire Motor Speedway yesterday hosted the ISM Connect 300, marking the track's final fall race as part of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. There may have been “more fans attending this race than back in July, but it still didn’t come close to the heyday” of the late ‘90s and ‘00s. The fans that did arrive Sunday, though “not in the same numbers as years past, were loud” (CONCORD MONITOR, 9/25). Las Vegas Motor Speedway next year will take over the fall date that NHMS has had (THE DAILY).

WADA's HQ is "one step closer to staying in Montreal after negotiations in Paris last weekend." Senior Montreal Cabinet Minister Marc Garneau said that WADA has "agreed to renegotiate its current deal with Montreal to keep the organization's head office in the city." Garneau said that WADA's 12-member executive committee yesterday decided "not to hold a bidding process for a new host city after its deal with Montreal ends" in '21. However, "there's no guarantee for Montreal yet," as the final decision will be "made by the 38-member WADA foundation board in Seoul this November" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/25).

The announced crowd of 25,386 at StubHub Center yesterday for Chiefs-Chargers was “probably a 50/50 split" between the fans of the two teams (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/25).

NBC Sports’ Premier League Pass paid-subscription service crashed on Saturday, “causing an avalanche of social media vitriol toward NBC.” An NBC Sports spokesperson said the crash was caused by a “technical problem” (SI.com, 9/24).

Tough Mudder has struck a deal with the new Facebook Watch platform to live stream its Championship Series and weekly bootcamp classes from the brand’s new franchise fitness studio chain. The series will start with live coverage from Englishtown, N.J., on Oct. 7 and run through November (Ben Fischer, Staff Writer).

“Battle of the Sexes,” the film based on the Billie Jean King-Bobby Riggs tennis match, “had a promising start in 21 theatres with a $25K per-theatre average” (SHOWBUZZDAILY.com, 9/24).

"The way we reacted today, and this weekend, made me proud. I’m proud of our league" -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, on the league's response yesterday to President Trump's comments over the weekend (MMQB.SI.com, 9/25).

"It needs to be done like we've got here. I don't know why every stadium in the league doesn't have it. It should have been done 30 years ago" -- Mets P Seth Lugo, on failing to understand why the Yankees have yet to extend their ballpark safety netting (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 9/25).

"They indicated to me that they wanted me to go as long as I was willing to go. I'll be 73 at the end of (the extension), and I don't know if I can make any promises beyond that" -- Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, on his future after signing an extension through '25 last week (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/24).

The WALL STREET JOURNAL goes with, "Never Mind Jemele Hill, ESPN Isn't Doomed." ESPN's "flailings" have "lately become America’s favorite -- and overstated -- business story." But the net is simply losing a "cord-cutter who never watched" anyway, as its remaining customer base "consists increasingly of those who value ESPN." 

THE ATHLETIC wrote under the header, "NBA Hopes Venture Into eSports Pays Off Big For The League." The upcoming league is the "latest sign of growth in the rapidly growing world of eSports." Now plans are "taking shape" with 17 NBA teams participating and gamers "have a few months to build themselves up."

Also:

• Empty Univ. of Missouri dorms housing parents for football games.
• Big college sports business "about to get bigger."
• MLB Giants, Airbnb partner to help the homeless.

Crazy money in golf, but at least it's equitable. Rookies in other sports are paid the same if they win. In golf, you earn that bottom line.

— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelESPN) September 24, 2017

I love Phil Simms. Worked with him for six years. But Tony Romo is a revelation.

— Armen Keteyian (@ArmenKeteyian) September 24, 2017

Ah yes. It's the most optimistic day on NBA calendar, when everybody is in career-best shape and ready to compete for a title. #NBAMediaDay

— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) September 25, 2017

A yr ago we lost a legendary golfer, husband, father, philanthropist & businessman but most of all, we lost a friend. Miss you #ArnoldPalmer

— Kelly Tilghman (@KellyTilghmanGC) September 25, 2017

A 3-minute hit on the stories you need to know ... Subscribe on iTunes ... Check out our podcast home.

Friday night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Poets.”

“In an 1855 poem he wrote, ‘I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.’”

“Who was Walt Whitman?”

The excerpt is from Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.”