third when Finlands Sami Lepisto caught Swedens Mikael Ba

The kneeling was noticeable quickly enough. To some, the raised fists seem almost ominous.On the first week of the NFL season there was almost as much going on during the national anthem as there was on the field. Players were making statements, and they didnt seem afraid of disrupting the highly choreographed spectacle that is an NFL game.At some point the league may have to find a way to deal with the newfound social consciousness of some of its employees. Theres no upside for the NFL if images of players holding clenched fists aloft during the national anthem begin to overshadow those of men colliding with each other on the field of play.So far that hasnt happened, though the season is young. Still, the sight of players making silent protests during the national anthem has to be disconcerting to a league that has always demanded conformity and blind obedience from its workers.It barely qualified as an NFL issue before Colin Kaepernick took a knee during an exhibition game. Now Commissioner Roger Goodell walks a fine line, voicing support for the right of players to speak out while in the same breath saying he wants them to respect the flag and most everyone who has ever put on a uniform.Goodell has so far been relatively restrained, and he has reason to tread lightly. The league he heads has profited greatly over the years, in no small part because it wraps itself around the flag and embraces the military and police at every opportunity.But two-thirds of its players are black. And they -- fueled by the constant feedback from social media -- are finding their voice about things they see wrong in the communities they grew up in.And sports may never be the same.I think weve come to a point in the history of sports that really for the first time in my lifetime -- and Ive spent 50 years doing this -- youre seeing athletes getting involved in social justice issues, said Richard Lapchick, director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. You had the occasional heroic athlete stand up in the `60s or `70s, but they were very few and far between and they paid the price for it.Some may pay the price for this, too. Denvers Brandon Marshall quickly lost two endorsements after he took a knee before last weeks opener. The outcry against Kaepernick and others on social media has been ugly at times.And in a league where players are desperate to make rosters, it wouldnt be a surprise if taking a stand meant a greater chance of being told to hit the road.That wasnt an issue when LeBron James and fellow members of the Miami Heat donned hoodies in 2012 for a team picture in support of slain Miami teen-ager Trayvon Martin. Too much star power there, and the NBA is a little more socially aware than the NFL.Lapchick points to the hoodie protest as the start of a new generation of athletes becoming socially active. Some WNBA members also took a stand, wearing warmup shirts on behalf of Black Lives Matter this summer.The handling of that by the WNBA was botched a bit, and surely the NFL learned lessons from that. Goodell has said all the right things so far, but its still early in the game.Its an issue that sports is going to have to make an informed decision on how they are going to treat it, Lapchick said. This isnt something that is going to go away, whether its in the form of the national anthem or wearing T-shirts or other paraphernalia. From my viewpoint its here into the indefinite future.That may worry some, but it pleases Lapchick to no end. Hes not only crusaded for civil rights his entire life, but paid the price for it himself.Lapchick was a 5-year-old when he looked out his bedroom window in New York to see men hanging an image of his father. Joe Lapchick was the coach of the New York Knicks, and his crime was to sign Nat Sweetwater Clifton, the first black player in the NBA in 1950.Years later, as an anti-apartheid activist, Lapchick was attacked by two men in a library at Virginia Wesleyan College, who held him down and carved the N-word into his stomach.Hell be watching closely as Goodell navigates his way through uncharted waters. Well all be watching to see how a commissioner who fancies himself to be a disciplinarian deals with things that discipline cant solve.The way the NFL handles anthem protests may turn out to be as significant in the long run as the protests themselves.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg Deion Sanders Youth Jersey . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Qadree-Ollison-Jersey/ . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Takkarist McKinley Youth Jersey .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. Brett Favre Jersey .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. TORONTO -- The old Henrik Lundqvist was back in net for Sweden.The 34-year-old Lundqvist made 36 saves to help Sweden beat Finland 2-0 in the World Cup of Hockey on Tuesday.We were confident with him coming in today, even after?Jacob [Markstrom]?played such a good game like he did [on Sunday], Swedish captain Henrik Sedin said. Being around Henrik for a few weeks now, we knew he was going to come in and have a great game.Anton Stralman and Loui Eriksson scored as the Swedes (2-0-0) got a firm grip on the top spot in Group B. Finland (0-2-0) is facing long odds for advancing to the semifinals.Lundqvist, who missed Swedens first game of the tournament due to an illness, struggled in pre-tournament competition, posting a 4.49 goals-against average and a .778 save percentage in two appearances. The Rangers goaltender was pulled from last Wednesdays game against Team Europe after allowing five goals on 22 shots in a 6-2 loss.I felt pretty rusty out there the first period, not as aware as I wanted to be, but I got some really good help with some loose pucks and stuff like that, Lundqvist said. Second and third, I felt more comfortable, but it was fun. I really enjoyed being out there playing. Big game, important game, not being able to play the first, you never know where its going when youre not healthy.Tuukka Rask, starting in the Finnish goal over Pekka Rinne, stopped 27 shots.We played such a great game, started off well, created so many good scoring chances, but we didnt score, Finnish coach Lauri Marjamaki said. Off course, the goalie Lundqvist was impressive.dddddddddddd But so proud of my players and our team effort. It was great today. But it is not enough.Finlands Mikael Granlund had two excellent scoring chances just past the midway mark of the third, but Lundqvist got his right pad on the first shot and Granlund put his rebound off the post.The matchup got physical in the third when Finlands Sami Lepisto caught Swedens Mikael Backlund with a questionable high hit just inside Swedens blue line with a little over nine minutes to play. Lepisto was assessed a minor penalty for roughing, while Backlund received treatment on the Swedish bench.It was a shoulder hit to the head, or towards the nose, Sweden coach Rikard Gronborg said. I know he was bleeding a little bit [from] his nose.Sweden led 1-0 after two periods. Stralman, a defenseman for the Tampa Bay Lightning, put a backhand feed from Sedin past Rask at 9:57 of the middle period.Finlands Patrik Laine had a strong scoring opportunity in the final minute of the second, but Lundqvist was able to get his glove on Laines one-timer.Every single Finnish player had a shot on goal. Laine, a first-round pick by the Winnipeg Jets, led the way with five.We had many good scoring chances, but he was playing awesome in the net, Laine said.Sweden concludes the preliminary round on Wednesday against Team North America, and Finland meets Russia on Thursday. ' ' '